Spring is Finally Here!

Our May meeting was a very special event. We met at the Anderson Gallery on the Stanford University campus to view the Nick Cave exhibit. His signature pieces are larger than life beings, many performance art pieces, and each embellished with intricate or unusual, often recycled items. From there we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Corner Bakery, and afterward proceeded to Anne's home in Los Altos for the Phoebe meeting and a polymer clay demonstration conducted by Anne. See more photos below.

Calendar Of Events 

The Phoebe Meeting for May was held on Sunday, May 7, and there will not be another Phoebe meeting until next month!

Wishing everyone a "Happy Mother's Day" on Sunday, May 14.

May 28 (Sunday), Downtown Pleasanton Antiques and Collectibles Faire, 8 A.M. to 4 P.M., Main Street. Free.

June 15, (Thursday), Stitchin' for Kids Workday, 1 P.M. to 4 P.M. (before the Phoebe meeting), Alameda County Education Building, Hayward. Let Daisy know if you are attending and able to bring a sewing machine. If you have flannel with children's prints (6" squares or larger) or 1/2" to 3/4" ribbon to donate, please bring that too, along with some crinkle paper found in cereal and cracker boxes.

June 15, (Thursday), Phoebe Meeting, 6:30 P.M., Alameda County Education Building, Hayward. A challenge will be due at this meeting. Use buttons, or anything you have a lot of. Bring any bead donations (medium to larger sizes with medium holes for stringing). Harlene is collecting them for the children's "Beads of Courage" program.

July 17 (Monday), Daisy's Fabric Leggy Bird or Dancing Mouse Workshop, 9 A.M. to 4 P.M., Education Building. Contact Daisy to sign up at daisyforreal@gmail.com

August 13 (Sunday), Daytime Phoebe Meeting at Recrafters in Alameda, 2449 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. Time to be determined. Bring any craft materials, including fabric and yarn, that you would like to put on consignment. We will also be free to shop the store. There will be no evening meeting this month!

September will be the Phoebe's 30th Anniversary Celebration Month.  We will be making tiny dolls and fairies to bring to this meeting and later use for the Castro Valley Library exhibit in March 2018. A gala celebration party is being planned, date TBD.

October 16, (Monday), Elinor Wiley's Meditation Bead Workshop, 9 A.M. to 4 P.M., Main Street. Free. Contact Daisy for information and to sign up.

Nick Cave Exhibit

The photo above and the two below are of Nick's button-encrusted figures. These were the inspiration for our button challenge due at the June meeting.

Several of the figures incorporated fibers, knitted and crocheted pieces, and other embellishments of all sorts.

This one was made of long-fiber plush fabric.

And this one has parts that are from a crocheted afghan and many metal floral home décor items.

Challenges and Exchanges

The exchange for this meeting was to bring a flower basket in celebration of spring and May Day. Sue brought little heart hangers which she wove from paper—filled with chocolate kisses. Thank you, Sue! Daisy made tiny filled flower baskets for those who didn't bring one. Very thoughtful ladies!

Above are clever flower baskets Shawn made with artificial flowers and recycled plastic mesh and medical tubing.

Several people had made items for the little paper dress challenge. Sue added a polymer head and hands to make this lovely little lady. Love the cute dancer below.

Above is a greeting card Donna made with the paper dress.

Zanaib brought a sample of the "loaded bags and envelopes" she has been exchanging with a friend. Each folded paper bag or envelope is brimming with wonderful craft supplies and beautifully is decorated. She said there are many examples to be found on Pinterest. What a wonderful gift to get in an exchange!

Demonstration and Meeting at Anne's

Anne is switching from polymer and ceramic work to ceramic work exclusively. She brought out some of her polymer, including a box of truly amazing polymer canes. She demonstrated how to make several types, and then gave us samples to take home. The canes have been exquisite elements in her past polymer figures, and we were thrilled to have the ones she gave us and the knowledge to make some of our own.

Visiting Anne's home is an absolute delight. It is filled with the most wonderful and inspiring art. Above is a candelabra made of cut and painted tin leaves and flying figures. 

Here is a close-up of some of the figures.

Above is a small part of her tiny chair collection on display.

Absolutely love this ceramic lady, as well as the one below with birds on her sleeves, who greets us as we enter the house.

Above and below are just a few of the assembled items she has made. She also collects the art of other artists, evident by the Christy Silacci dolls on the right.

The figure on the left is made with an antique bicycle seat (there are other photos of this and other works in previous blog posts). The two near the middle have vintage shoe stretcher bodies, and the one on the right an antique bicycle pump. Don't you just love them all?

And this figure is simply wonderful!

Here's a sample of the colorful whimsical décor... the black and white table, the ceramic fruit plate, and the amazing sculpted banana tree in the background.

And, her yard and gardens are a fairyland of whimsical objects, a few of which are shown above and below. We all had such a fabulous time on this adventure and cannot thank Anne enough for planning and hosting it. What a wonderful day!

The April Phoebe meeting was preceded by a paper mache workshop conducted by well-known artist Melissa Tereck. At 9:30 A.M. we assembled at the Education Building to begin an exciting day filled with learning many techniques for building and embellishing fairy houses using paper and glue. Melissa (right) is seen showing Geri how to assemble the upper story of her fairy house. 

Calendar Of Events 

May 5, 6 and 7, Clay Arts Guild Spring Sale, (Fri. 5 P.M. to 9 P.M., Sat. 10 A.M. to 6 P.M., Sun. 10 A.M.to 5 P.M.)  Civic Park, 1365 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. www.clayartsguild.com

May 6, Doll and Teddy Bear Show (9:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.), Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton. www.crossroadsshows.com

May 7 (Sunday), Day-time Phoebe Meeting at Anne Klocko's House. She will be demonstrating a floral caning technique used with polymer clay and in decorative glass-making. In the morning we will meet in the Nick Cave Exhibit on the Stanford campus and then again for lunch at a nearby café, followed by the meeting at Anne's.

May 28 (Sunday), Downtown Pleasanton Antiques and Collectibles Faire, 8 A.M. to 4 P.M., Main Street. Free.

April Workshop

Melissa brought several examples of her fairy houses to fire up our imagination.

She has made pumpkin, gourd and heart-shaped houses... some single story and some multiple story. To cut down the time needed to let the many layers of paper mache dry, she supplied the bottom stump bases which she had pre-made, giving us more time to make our upper stories and any other architectural features we wanted to add.

Harlene, Rosie, Colleen, Sally and Elizabeth are seen intently working on their houses. (Well, maybe not Rosie and Colleen at this particular moment!)

Sharon and Elise watch as Melissa demonstrates the technique of adding wires to the windows to simulate panes.

Sue's is a fast worker, and it looks like her fairy house was completed by the end of the day! Below are more examples of the day's accomplishments. We are looking forward to seeing all of the completed houses at the June meeting.

Mary also showed us her notions doll made from thread spools.

Enrichment

A very special part of the meeting was the enrichment Geri provided. It was a make-it-and-take-it hands on experience. Geri provided blank cards and envelopes, and the most amazing assortment of dried flowers we had ever seen. A few examples are shown below. Truly delicate natural beauty!

Geri went on to explain the process, the various types of glue to use, and supplied beautiful papers for us to use as backgrounds. Above are a couple of the finished ones. Hopefully Phoebes will bring more of them to the June meeting so more photos can be posted.

Show and Tell

A wonderful array of artful creations were displayed during the meeting's show and tell portion. Above is a cell phone bag knitted by Zoe.

Betts assembled fabulous color-related items from her stash, including one of her signature flat dolls dressed in a beautiful gown. They will be mounted in one of Betts exquisite shadow box collages.

Betts also brought her completed doll from her Barbara Willis challenge. So French, so beautiful!

Bonnie has been busy making colorful fabric wall hangers. The green and purple one on the right is a house made with the 2 1/2" strips from the noodle challenge.

Shawn brought some samples from her unique doll collection, including a Pee Wee Herman and a Rosanne doll.

Elizabeth displayed her "dangerous puppet" spider she purchased at Halloween and Vine last fall.

Jennifer and her mother Carolyn brought a little paper basket with a candy-filled egg for each of the Phoebes. So thoughtful! Thanks to you both. Also shown is a chicken made from an egg carton.

The necklace above is Rosie's new twist on her noodle necklaces. The "hand book" was made by Rosie's neighbor, the boy shown in the photo. She has been showing him how to trace his hand to make the cover and pages of the book, and then how to color and decorate each page with art that is meaningful to him. What a lucky boy to have Rosie as a neighbor!

Elise from Washington state was in town and we were all so happy to see her at the meeting. She brought various samples of Christmas decorations she and some of her artist friends have been making and exchanging. Elise is famous for setting up a unique themed Christmas tree in every room in her house during the holidays. I think there are photos of some of them in older posts on this blog. The ornaments above are so beautiful!

Sue's husband, Randy, brought his completed Hawaiian ceremonial helmet. The intricacy of this fine weaving is absolutely amazing!