"From Paintings to Fabric" Art Show

Here is a detail of painting that will be used
in my next collection named "Painted Summer".

Daydreaming of Summer? Come to Island Quilter's new location on Vashon Island this until January 31st to see the original paintings that two quilting fabric collections have been made from. And, get a sneak peek of the art and color ways created for Painted Summer, my newest collection with In The Beginning Fabrics. It's filled with warm, sunshiny images of Summer in full swing and is a good reminder of what's to come.
Also, on display are quilts and samples sewn using my fabric by wonderful local pattern designers and quilters.
Please visit www.islandquilter.com for hours and ferry schedule. Thank you!

Sidewalk Crack Cookies

Here are some photos of the cookies I made for the wonderful Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators yearly cookie competition.

Why "Sidewalk Crack Cookies?". When I was a kid, while playing on our street, I discovered cracks in the concrete... so I hid little precious things like beads, tiny notes, bits of string -  inside the cracks. Later, when I was at school or going to sleep, I loved to think about how, on my unassuming street, there were hidden places filled with beauty.

So that's what I wanted to do with cookies! Plain on the outside, a celebration of exuberant love, wild happiness and beauty just waiting to be discovered on the inside.

The discussion at last night's meeting was about inspiration - and that's what making art it is for me. Witnessing, then presenting the magic happening in the periphery of the commonplace.

For anyone who would like to create their own "Sidewalk Crack Cookies", you can use the recipe that I posted for my "Crazy Face Cookies" from two years ago.

The thing to do differently is to buy yourself some little Pyrex bowls, turn them upside down on a cookie sheet, cut the dough into a circle and lay it over the top of the bowl, gently forming it to the bowl.

When it bakes, the dough will relax and form a bowl shape. (If the dough falls apart on the bowl, knead it some more and work more flour into it). Then, of course, you will need to make "lids" too.

Here is a photo of how the cookies looked before opening them.
Then, surprise surprise!

I hope that you enjoy this post. I really loved painting these cookies. Here is my appropriately named dog, Cookie, in her modeling debut, sporting the awesome felt covered medal I won for entering the "Most Creative" cookie! THANK YOU, SCBWI!

Four Baby Oak Trees

Here is a newly commissioned painting of four baby oak trees that I just finished yesterday. It will be shipped off to England as a Christmas present. How nice!

Here are a few details.... I like to think of them as paintings within paintings. 

From Tree to Table

I recently got home from a long camping trip to find this in my mailbox - my very first illustrated and published book!. It's called "From Tree to Table - Growing backyard fruit trees in the Pacific Maritime Climate" by Barbara Edwards and Mary Olivella for The Mountaineers Books publishing house. The book is filled with useful and fun advice on how to grow and care for all different types of fruit trees on the far west coast - it even has some great recipes. You can click here to read more about what's included in the book. Here are some photos of a few of the chapter pages.

The Wait is Over!

My first fabric collection, named "September Light" for In the Beginning Fabrics just arrived from the mill and I am so happy to post images of a labor of love that has finally come full circle! All of the 32 patterns are on quilting-quality 100% cotton and I am happy to say that it is nice and soft and has a high thread count, so it's great for quilts and any other sewing projects.

This collection is inspired by the beautiful world I see around me every day and nature's reminders to enjoy it.

Because no matter what is on the nightly news - outside, there patiently stands the old tree that shades my yard. Do dragonflies worry about the stock market? Don't think so. I take comfort and find such pleasure in being reminded that there is so much more to our world than errands, to-do lists and the dreaded news.

And I find that the month of September and it's magical light is when these lovely reminders are all around us. From the impossibly inky blue sky, to the glow of a bunch of flowers at dusk,

or the incredible smell of a dried grass field that becomes an impromptu stage for dancing sparrows. These are a few of the things that I thought about while painting these patterns.

So, I'm going to get sewing and we'll see what I can cook up! Also, I just created a blog especially for sharing fun fabric info and I would also love to use it as a place to see and share your creations, so please check it out and send me photos! :)

The fabric should start to arrive at local shops by the end of August and there will even be a launch party at the small but mighty West Seattle Fabric Company in September. Thank you, Monica for being a supporter of your local artist!

Lastly, thank you, In the Beginning Fabrics for taking a leap of faith that my paintings would translate successfully onto fabric. I am so grateful that I was able to work with a high quality local company and meet the friendly faces that were going to make this dream happen.

Beautiful Black and White

That's the challenge - to paint a subject (fresh fruit and plants at their peak) beautifully using only the black paint on my brush. It's a big jump from color and such a puzzle. Here are a few illustrations from the book "From Tree to Table: Growing Backyard Fruit Trees in the Pacific Maritime Climate" by Barbara Edwards and Mary Olivella for Skipstone Publishing that will fill some of the inside pages.  Now that I am done with black and white for awhile, I am painting full speed ahead with color color color for my second cotton fabric collection. Picking up a paint brush loaded with sunny-sky cobalt blue is like a celebration unto itself!

"From Tree to Table" Cover

Now that the cover is done, I have been busily illustrating the interior art. And after painting with color, it's such a shift to transition to "beautiful black and white" and how to translate color and freshness with a stark palette. It's made me remember my first painting teacher, John Halaka, starting us all out with only black and white, and every week we would do a new painting and maybe get to add a color to our palette. Some lessons in working with what you already have never lose their value. (Design by Jane Jeszeck of Jigsaw Design, published by Skipstone/The Mountaineers Publishers)

Up in a Fig Tree

Whoopee! The publishing house liked the sketch for the cover, and now, it seems that the painting that I created from it has gotten the green light as well! Just as soon I get the go-ahead, I will post the cover design for the book and also links to get more info about it.  :)

This will wrap around the book from the back cover to the front.

This is what will be on the front cover.

Amazing Fruit Tree Karma Comes Full Circle

Last Summer, I was working in my quiet studio when all of a sudden, I heard a chainsaw. My otherwise good neighbor was happily chopping down a very old espaliered apple tree and a big, beautiful Italian plum tree in the alley behind my home. These trees were perennially generous, healthy, and made delicious fruit without fail year after year. It made me so sad to see them turned into firewood... As a result, we decided to go on a fruit tree spree and planted an apple, fig and pear. And just a few weeks ago, an Italian plum. So was it amazing coincidence or divine karma that I recently received an email from the Editor in Chief of a well-respected publishing house about illustrating a book that's all about planting and caring for - you guessed it - fruit trees! Here are a couple of initial drawings for the cover art. If these sketches go over well, I will make a full color painting in the style of the top banner art on my blog.

Get Ready to Sew!

© 2011 Lida Enche for In The Beginning Fabrics

Here is a sampling of the 32 fabrics that will make up my "September Light" 100% cotton quilting fabric for In The Beginning Fabrics, due in local fabric stores August 2011. To view the complete line, please go to http://www.inthebeginningfabrics.com/cgi-server/itb/displayfab.cgi?product=septlght