When you consider my many years of working with fibre, my two years of longarming is not a big number and my textile interests are wide and varied. So, when we chose classes at Road to California with our focus on quilting, I still was most certainly not passing up the opportunity to take a class that involved paint and brush! I have been a fan of Mickey Lawler and her fabric painting technique for a very long time, so the chance to spend a day with her was the icing on the cake, so to speak, for me.
Even though she suffered a painful injury on the first day at Road, Mickey was delightful! She was very organized and informative, the class was fast paced, and best of all, Mickey is funny! She had us laughing over and over as she recounted personal anecdotes, all the while showing us new and creative ways to paint our fabric.
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| Mickey demonstrates one of her techniques |
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| Mickey’s beautiful work |
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| Mickey’s color chart |
Mickey's class was on the last day of Road and after a full week, Lorette and I had new places to go and familiar to us people to meet, so we packed up quickly and set off as soon as the class was done. My hubby had just flown into the busy LAX and while I painted, was picking up this fun Escapevan for our next weeks journey.
We hit the road and headed out, and the next day my freshly painted, damp fabric got to dry at the Joshua Tree National Park.
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| We were amazed by how many thumbs up we got as we travelled in our van! |
The days were wonderfully hot, the nights surprisingly cold and the area incredibly interesting!
After what was already feeling like a long winter back home, the heat of the desert was so inviting and welcome to us.
We basked in our surroundings and marvelled at the views, especially enjoying the sunsets.
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| This man always keeps me laughing! |
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| Cholla Cactus |
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| Octillo |
We basked in our surroundings and marvelled at the views, especially enjoying the sunsets.
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| Sun setting over Joshua Tree National Park |
We often meet interesting people when we travel. After a night in the Anza-Borrego Desert and while hiking one of the trails, we crossed paths with a lovely couple from Washington, DC who are sheep farmers. She is a spinner and weaver and we ended up having a lovely chat about fibres as we stood in the middle of the path under the hot desert sun. I love that my travels randomly put me in contact with so many people with common interests. I think the key is to be open to the possibility and to wear a welcoming smile.
Love the dry heat of the desert! We could use a bit of that now... will summer ever get here? Love your photos of that vacation! Sounds like it was incredibly relaxing after our hectic week of classes at Road! I wouldn't trade that week for anything in the world! It was great sharing that experience with you Jennifer. You're a wealth of information and I soooo enjoyed that time! Loved Mickey's class... I will use up all for those samples we made that week... 3 down... many more to go!
ReplyDeleteLooks like so much fun!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like an amazing class and I love the photos of your time in the desert.
ReplyDeleteIt really was, Marjorie! Loved the desert areas - and so, so happy we didn’t see any snakes!
ReplyDeleteMickey was a great teacher and it was so neat to meet her after all the years of following her work! And I still would like to go back to see Death Valley - I hear it is the be all end all of Californian deserts.
ReplyDeleteI would take any heat right about now - as long as it isn’t by turning on my furnace!! I have so many goosebumps these days..so sad..And thanks again to you, Lorette! It was your invite that got our grand adventure started!
ReplyDeleteoh I imagine you were!!!! we've had them as pets when one of our sons lived at home, but still don't like them. and out there......nooooooo!!! Lol. Love the van!
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