Hey, it's been a while! Thanks for your patience with me while we worked on settling into our new home. We're almost there!

The kid started school this week and I'm actually really looking forward to settling into our new routine. So far so good with the new school - he especially likes the menu here. 😆

And although I haven't been writing much to share what I've been working on lately, tomorrow I'm driving about an hour out of town to deliver two of my fiber artworks that were selected for the LaGrange Southeast Regional; it will be my first art show in Georgia!

Here they are:

One is the red colorfield that was shown in Fiber Hawai'i 2024 and the other is a brand new piece that I crocheted and mounted here in Georgia (you saw it on the blocking mats in my last email). I'm super excited to see what other sorts of art will be in the show. There seems to be a pretty strong creative community here!

Tomorrow is also the first day of The Ocean Within, a mini exhibition at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, CA, hosted during their Sharks After Dark event!

I have three small works in that show, one of which is the center image of the graphic above.

Unfortunately, I won't be attending that one in person, but I'm hoping to see lots of photos and maybe even a video walkthrough from Frieda, the Founder and Director of Moku Art Studio. I think it's going to be a super cool event.

So! Even though I've been quiet, I've also been as busy as I could manage to be after a trans-Pacific move while also unpacking and entertaining a ten year old during summer break, ha ha.

Oh and I also joined the Columbus Artists' Guild! I've only been to one meeting so far, but it was really great to meet some other creative folks - including a local fiber artist who was the guest speaker!

She creates super textured works using weaving, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and even felting. Here's one of her larger, more detailed pieces that was inspired by the photo above it on the easel.

Isn't it amazing!?

Her name is Brandy Hartshorn and you can follow her on Instagram here or check out her Etsy shop to see more of her work.

Speaking of Etsy, I've unpacked my handspun yarn as well as my art cards, so I plan on working on my own shop over the next week or so. I'll also have the finished skeins of those purple and orange rolags ready to list soon. Just need to take pictures!

Currently on my spinning wheel is this vibrant yellow beauty, which is more rolags from Fellview Fibres! She does some really stunning colorways and I've decided I need to stop saving them for later!

So this one will be available soon, too. And if anyone has any requests for handspun yarn or cards, let me know!

I've been sharing what I've been working on over on Patreon pretty regularly still, so if you've been missing seeing updates from me, I'd love to have you join me there. Just $2+ a month gets you a Connie-made art postcard in the mail!

My monkshood flower painting from the Toxic Florals Collection is what's going out this month:

And it was entirely unplanned that the two yarns I just finished spinning kind of match the painting! But I love unexpected surprises like that, don't you?

Okay, I better hush. I wanted to add a hanging wire to the red tapestry tonight before starting dinner and I'm running out of time!

It was nice to chat with you again, though. Talk more soon!

-Connie

P.S. We got the Bird Buddy set up! This guy is so far our most frequent visitor:

He's a house finch, which is one of the first birds I learned the name of when I started paying attention to them back when we lived in Texas. So it's fun to see them around again - though we DID have a few in Hawaii. They just never visited the feeder there!

So far I've also gotten snaps of a tufted titmouse, carolina wren, and the cardinals even finally decided it was safe enough to eat from! I can't wait to see what fun pictures of birds I get here in Georgia. There might not be any bright green parakeets or feral chickens here, but some of these little guys sure are cute.