Honoring Wanda Fudge and Her Fabulous Art

 

The September meeting was highlighted with a homage to our long-time Phoebe, Wanda Fudge. Over the years she had attended our meetings, inspired us with her amazing artistic creations, invited some of us to craft with her at her Goose Cottage (see above), planned art exhibits for us there and at other venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, and kept us in stitches with her hilarious tales and jokes. There was never a dull moment until she had a stroke two years ago and was under special care and unable to join us. During the past year her loving son and daughter found a way to transport her to our meetings. This month she wanted to share some of her fabulous art with us, which some members had never seen before. You will find pictures of many of them in this post. Pay special attention to the very fine details in all of her art. We are all so happy to have her join us again.   

Calendar

On October 11th the Phoebes will be meeting at Marcella's to celebrate our 38th Anniversary. 

We will meet around 11:30 A.M. and will be enjoying a catered lunch. Look for details in the minutes and emails from Jennifer.

Wanda's Art

 

This is the Frida Kahlo cloth doll she needle sculpted.

Such a lovely combination of beautiful fabrics, lace and jewels.

Pay special attention to all the fine details.

She also made these cloth dolls of Frida, and the love of her life, Diego Rivera, with whom Frida had a tempestuous relationship and a shared passion for art and political radicalism throughout her life. Many of the Phoebes were inspired to make an assortment of items featuring Frida, using fabrics, mosaics, paper, paints, clay, and more.

Wanda made so many wonderful mosaics, as well as many fabulous pieces of art to display in her always beautiful and magical garden at Goose Cottage.

Last month, in anticipation of Wanda joining us in September, members were asked to bring items she made that were in our homes. Bonnie brought Wanda's flower necklace.

Wanda had a period when she made many, many purses of all kinds, which she sold. Daisy bought this one from her. It includes Japanese Sashiko stitching.

And Donna purchased this one made from Japanese fabric.

Wanda sewed many of these darling cat hot pads and gave them away to friends. Donna received this one for her birthday. It says Happy Birthday on the back.

Wanda led us in a Halloween card exchange, and this is the one Donna received from her.

Wanda also had a hot pad exchange, and this is the one Donna was so happy to receive from Wanda.

This purse that Bonnie cherishes was also a Wanda creation.

Show and Tell

Bonnie displayed some pages from one of her wonderful journals.

Three Phoebes displayed the folded books they completed after Sally's enrichment session last month. Suzanne, our favorite Oakland Zoo docent, decorated her front page with a rabbit. Caroline chose abstract faces, and Jennifer added trees and flowers. Wonderful!

Betts had stenciled a webbed pattern across two pages and added glued French paper ephemera. 

Betts also displayed her completed mermaid, as well as a "hanger" that included mermaid related items. Always wonderful!

She also handed out numerous blank tags for us to decorate as a challenge for the October get-together, as well as pieces of ephemera we could attach. These are some of her samples to inspire us. 

And, she also brought the mermaid chair she had assembled. 

Bonnie displayed her Tilly Tea Pot, a cloth doll she made in the past. More similar items were published in 

Daisy's last newsletter. Check them out!

Another recent challenge was to make a story board for an art project. Daisy created this adorable cloth bird with a hat, glasses and very cute shoes. Below is the story board she assembled beforehand. 

Enrichment

The September enrichment was led by Jennifer and Caroline, who brought many boxes of beautiful decorative yarns and taught the Phoebes how to make lovely necklaces with them. 

Jennifer handed out boards to wrap with the yarns and fasten them together. It took some manual dexterity and patience, but it was well worth it. 

Here are a few of the completed necklaces. Aren't they beautiful?

 We were so thrilled that Rosie was in the Bay Area and could join us. And she and Suzanne were obviously thrilled to complete their necklaces and display them for all to admire.

 BEAUTIFUL!

 

Let's Make Some Folded Cards!!!!

The August Enrichment was all about Sally showing us how to make painted folded cards. And—it was so much fun! Check the enrichment section for examples and ideas.

Calendar

The September 13th Phoebe meeting will be at Marcella's. 

The drop-in social and lunch is from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.  Please bring your own lunch or maybe something to share.

 Betts story board challenge continues. It is all about gathering together items and ideas that will be a part of an artistic creation. Sometimes it is called auditioning, and we can take the time to gather multiple groups of materials, which are then boxed or bagged for future use. When you feel that urge to create, it is convenient to just grab a container and jump right into your project!

Please bring your newly completed folded cards, story boards, and any other recent projects for us to see next month.

Jennifer and Caroline will be leading Enrichment in September, and at the moment the topic is undecided. Watch your emails for more information. 

Enrichment

Sally's enrichment session for August was exceptional. All of us were engrossed, inspired, and having a lot of fun. It was exciting to learn how to make a folded card with 8 printed pages from a single piece of paper and how decorate it in various ways. Most of us were not able to finish our cards completely but were anxious to finish them when we got home.

Sally brought a lot of materials for us to use, such as colored ink pads, paints, stamps, stencils, pens, large pieces of paper, and a ton of wonderful graphics that she handed out and shared. She was so generous to let us take so many items home. 

She also brought some of her printed and painted cards as samples, like the following six photos. The joy comes from not pre-planning the design but following where the art takes you. Sally, thank you so much!

Bonnie lives close to Sally and they often get together to create. They share techniques and make cards and especially books. These are pages from the "Therapy Scrapbook" Bonnie is working on.

Dress a Girl Around the World

 Rosie, our Phoebe who lives in La Quinta, sent us some recent photos and a thank you for fabrics and trims that the Phoebes often donate. Her sewing group, "Dress a Girl Around the World." continues to assemble the dresses that have pockets and include a doll they also make. 

Since last September they have sewn and sent out 1,250 dresses, most recently to the Philippines and Compeche Mexico.

They have often sent the dresses to parts of Africa, South America, and many other places. Some of the girls have never had a dress of their own before.

Show and Tell

Anne had found that one of her ceramic pots had broken when she was making them for her recent (and very successful) art show. She salvaged these pieces and formed them into little wall hangers, and she is successfully selling them.    

They are adorable!

These are her "Little People" that she modeled from clay scraps and also sells.

Anne also showed us this colorful cloth she slow-stitched some time ago--a great example of embroidery.

Elaine completed her slow stitched project, which features not only cute people, but very cute cats!

Sue recently completed this lovely garden fairy that now has a special place in her yard. But that's not all! Below are photos of a variety of her recent projects.

Sue is a master at photoshopping photos by replacing faces with photos of family member, as seen above. She also has a photo of the top of her decorated box, a male figure she is sculpting, a corset she has assembled, and various Alice in Wonderland figures she has created. All of her family members are very creative people!

Marcella completed her decorated cigar box. She lined the inside with fabric and also used fabrics to cover the top. Very attractive.

Daisy's favorite subjects are animals and birds. This month she brought three examples we have not seen before. This one is "A bird with cute shoes."

This one is her "Dancing Crane."

And this one that looks like a rooster must be the "Early Bird." So clever and cute!

Betts brought 4 more of her story boards. Each, on their own, is actually work of art.

Bonnie has made and embellished her Scottish medallions with her favorite types of hand-made decorations. Lovely color palettes and as always, so creative.

I think Bonnie also made this shoe.

Bett's suggested we could bring dolls we have received from other artists. Here are some examples. For sure, Bonnie made the doll and gave it to Betts.