"Inspire your Heart with Art" Day

In honor of "Inspire your Heart with Art" Day, I present one of my newer works: "Abundance".  This piece uses a gourd as a foundation.  Mounds of fibers in assorted textures and colors spill forth from the mouth of the gourd.  Nestled in the fibers are assorted crystals.  The movement and energy flow like liquid.  Abundance!

 

"Inspire your Heart with Art" Day

Accolades at Sealed with love.com

Elizabeth Harper has a wonderful blog on topics of holistic health, wellness, spirituality, and self-empowerment.  She was nice enough to link her energy with mine.  Thanks.

Vibration
Bailey Earith is a professional fiber artist. Her blog contains so many interesting posts and snippets of information that it truly resonated with my creative soul. One of the most intriguing is a small piece entitled, Cymatics:The Mandalas of Sound. Cymatics is the study of sound wave vibration and its effects on physical matter.

http://www.sealedwithlove.com/index.php/love/blog/

Accolades at Sealed with love.com

Dogwood Arts House and Garden Show

ANNOUNCING:  I will be one of six exhibiting artists as part of the Artist In Action program at the Dogwood Arts House & Garden show.  I will have live demonstrations during the show.  I will also be selling my works.  Please come by.  Dates: Feb. 20-22, 2009 Knoxville Convention Center

http://www.dogwoodarts.com/hgshow.htm

Dogwood Arts House and Garden Show

My Journey: How I got where I am (because you asked)

Blog reader TexasRed requested this info (see 1/15/09 post).

My training is in Occupational Therapy, hence my love for working with people with disabilities.  I fell in love with fabric after dabbling in a variety of art forms over the years.  After deciding to become a professional artist, I worked as a free-lance designer, writing for numerous magazine and book publishers and working with product manufacturers.  (You can see a complete list on my web site "about me" page www.BaileyFiberArt.com). I eventually grew to where I am now, working in my studio creating major works and empowering people with disabilities through art.I love the play of textures and colors found in nature. I am influenced by African, Asian, & Tibetan cultures. Many of my pieces are mandalas (energy circles).I have been making wall hangings since the beginning of my career. More recently, I have been enjoying the engineering challenge of creating 3-dimentional vessels.

My Philosophy:

I am committed to bringing peace to the world through art. The world is full of turmoil, anger, and strife.  These negative energies are very draining and destructive.  It is my mission to combat these negative forces with positive energy.  Each of my works is created in a peace-filled, uplifting, positive, joyful environment.  This inspiring energy becomes infused into the art piece.  Those who view the finished art, experience a sense of joy and serenity.  They then carry that positive energy out into the world where it is multiplied.

My Journey: How I got where I am (because you asked)

Million Mandala #133

My Rose Window Mandala has been added as #133 to the Million Mandalas for Peace project. http://millionmandalasforpeace.blogspot.com/2009/01/mandala-133-by-bailey.html

Million Mandala #133

Brain Dance

I have started using BrainDance as a warm-up in my special ed classes before beginning work on our visual art project. The theories are consistent with those I learned in my Occupational Therapy training. I plan to teach some classes on the use of BrainDance. Follow this blog for updates. Please pass this post along to those who may be interested in this information.

The BRAINDANCE aids in creating stimulus to the brain to enhance
learning. Howard Gardner's work with multiple Intelligences, supports the theories of dance educators, that specific movement patterns can offer entry points into the learning process.
The BRAINDANCE is based on the latest in brain and learning research.
This movement sequence "explores the developmental movement patterns
human beings move thorough in the first year of life to wire the central
nervous system so the brain can operate fully, thus creating the
important mind-body connection needed for all learning. These student-centered experiences present developmentally appropriate material for all ages and levels of movement training. With four million children labeled ADHD and nearly 80% of all Americans that could be suffering with other learning challenges including loss of focus, disruptive behavior, erratic and unbalanced motor skills, sleep
disorders, stress, depression, and other medical ailments, the BrainDance can help to address these concerns regarding the teaching-learning process.

Brain Dance

Emu

Title: Emu

My friend Joyce raises Emus in Wisconsin.  She challenged me to create a piece using naturally molted feathers from her birds.  I found 2 African prints and sewed them alternating the right and reverse sides, framed them in black, then applied the Emu feathers.

Emu

You're Invited!!!

You are invited!!

Please join me at the Knoxville Visitor Center (301 S. Gay st.) on Friday 1/23/09 from 10 – 2 as part of the “Uniquely Friday” program. I will be demonstrating art quilting on stage and will be displaying several pieces of recent work. I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity and I would greatly appreciate your attendance and support at this event.  Thanks for your interest.  Hope to see you on the 23^rd.

You're Invited!!!

Rose Window Mandala

Title: Rose Window

By using hand dyed fabrics in clear colors, this piece glows as if the sun was streaming through.  It was fun to create a circular quilt.  It offers a peaceful calm, just like being in a sanctuary.

Rose Window Mandala

"Get to know your customers" day

Today is National "Get to know your customers" day (and Saturday is National "Customer Service" day).  In honor of this, I would like to hear from you.  Please leave a comment.  Tell me what you like about this blog. Tell me what like to see more (or less) of.  Or simply say "Hi", so I know you're out there! Looking forward to hearing from you...

"Get to know your customers" day

Engaging in Creativity Increases Longevity

Great News!  I will live forever!

"...There's evidence that their (creative) professions, more than any particular lifestyle choice, may have contributed to their longevity. "The very act of engaging one's mind in creative ways directly affects health," says Dr. Gene Cohen, director of the Center on Aging, Health & Humanities at George Washington University. In 2001, Cohen undertook a study of 150 adults ages 65 to 100 to examine the effects of various pursuits on their well-being. The control group was engaged in noncreative community activities and the other group participated in community-based art programs. After one year, Cohen found that the group engaged in creative activities, such as painting or singing in a choir, had started fewer new medications, experienced fewer falls and made fewer doctor's visits than the control group. "Anything that stimulates the brain, reduces stress, and promotes a more balanced emotional response will trigger positive changes in the body," he says..."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/173346

Engaging in Creativity Increases Longevity

Cymatics: the Mandalas of Sound

"Welcome. I'd like to introduce you to the Great, Great, Great Grandmother Goddess of all Mandalas. It is what science calls "Cymatics". It is the study of sound wave vibration and it's affects on physical matter.
In Cymatics, we have two forces at work. We have matter and we have energy/sound vibration.

The photographs above are examples of many experiments of sound vibrational frequencies upon different types of matter, which could be sand, liquid, gel or any number of different powdered substances. Each wave frequency creates another unique pattern in the matter. When the frequency is turned off, the matter falls out of pattern into chaos. You can read a little bit about the history of Cymatics here or in the side bar under "Mandala Sites". 

Prepare for your mind to be blown away :-)

There are questions that come to my mind... If we could discover the vibrational frequency of a plant, animal, person, thing, planet...could we recreate it? Could we discover the vibration of health, of peace, of joy?"

http://millionmandalasforpeace.blogspot.com/2008/12/cymatics-mandalas-of-sound.html

Cymatics: the Mandalas of Sound

Puzzle Quilt

Title: Puzzle

This is a large piece that was built using a design wall.  After choosing my fabrics, I laid out 6 focal squares, then added fabrics to make connecting units.  I enjoyed that there was absolutely no measuring!

Puzzle Quilt

getting it done for a great '09!

Hi all,

I hope '09 is going as well for you as it is for me. With all the tremendous help from my friends Terri Brooks, virtual assistant bar none (avirtualbiz.com) and Janet Edkins, web designer extraordinare (JayDesigns.net), I was able to transfer all my contacts, etc from AOL. This enables me to simplify my e-mail process and look more professional by using my domain name 'BaileyFiberArt.com'.

I am creating several beautiful, uplifting screen savers which I will offer as free downloads on my web site. They should be available by mid Feb. I will keep you posted.

Have a powerful and prosperous '09 and don't forget to update your address book. Bailey@BaileyFiberArt.com

getting it done for a great '09!

Autism Support Network

".....AutismSupportNetwork.com is an amazing web site which acts as an online portal in connecting various people having Autism spectrum disorder across the globe.This web site helps you come in contact with a lot of people having autism and share your views and opinions.If you are seeking any treatments or therapies for autism,they can also been found in the web site.Lots and lots of information like diet and nutrition for people with autism,education for the autism people is present in the web site.You can find the latest news and updates in the field of autism in a separate section in the web site.Also,you can have various newsletters on autism sent to your mail by just entering your e mail id in the web site.If you are seeking autism help,then this is the right web site for you.This community web site would come as a great relief to all those across the globe who are having Autism spectrum disorder..."

http://www.nickhaasdesign.com/2008/12/autism-support-network.html

Autism Support Network

How to make a Mandala

"It's a meditation you know. Anyone can do this- even those with little to no artistic experience because it's not about creating art. Any art that is created upon completion is incidental to the feeling of release that you will experience while getting lost in the mandala process.
Many people bottle their emotions and have nowhere to release it. Unexpressed emotion will only lead to misery and dis-ease. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow - but it will eventually cause problems that could be relieved if you could only find a creative outlet in which to express yourself.

To create a mandala, you must fist release all judgments about your ability to aesthetically put pen to paper. Throw those thoughts out the window because no one has to ever see it but you, (unless you choose to share it) and it's totally your prerogative to destroy it once completed. It's a good idea to try this in a safe, quiet environment, (soft pleasing music is fine) because you want to be able to work on it until you are finished.

To draw a mandala, start at the center, which is in essence, your core. Start with a dot, a circle, a cross, any symmetrical shape that you can work around in a circle. What you are going to do after making your first mark, is to make another mark, a small mark or pattern that can be repeated in a concentric pattern around the center. After that, make another mark and continue in another concentric circle, repeating layer after layer. Make it as big as you want, as detailed as you want, the only thing is that you just stay mindful of the marks you are making. (don't allow yourself to become distracted, and if you do, gently bring your mind back into focusing on what you are doing) None of the marks need be perfect, ever. They just need to be.

Remember to keep from judging yourself on the choices you are making for the design, the straightness of your lines, or roundness of your circles. Just stay with the pattern and keep moving round the circle..."--Stephanie Smith http://www.biffybeans.com/2008/12/oh-mandala.html

How to make a Mandala