UPDATE: FOUND!!!!

Thank the Creator and the ancestors!

My granddads are home safe and sound! Many thanks to my curator Dr. Mazloomi for figuring things out!

Missing Piece: UPDATE

I don't even know where to begin. Dr. Mazloomi has been trying her best to get to the bottom of this. Turns out the museum is saying they sent it back 2 YEARS ago. WTF?! I do not have it. It's all so crazy and sad. I almost wish it was just the deal with 2 months. Somebody out there signed "L.Moore" for it and it wasn't me. I always sign things "L. Holland-Moore." I notoriously never ever go by L. Moore. As it was so long ago, there is no record of the digital signature or even if FedEx really did properly deliver it to my home (It happens. I've had things that needed to be signed for to wrongfully go to other homes). This is all so horrifying to me.

All I know is that my piece is not at home with me. I have no reason to lie. I don't even want compensation for it because there is NO AMOUNT OF MONEY that can make up for its loss. I just want it back.

Does this sound like someone who has it just sitting at their home? Why would I even be making a stink about this now if I had it or had known? I'm not that kind of person and I don't have time for blame-placing either. All I know is that if you see this piece somewhere, please know that it isn't theirs and the person did not buy it from me and it was not a gift. Please contact me or Dr Mazloomi if you see it.

This piece means a lot to me. It was created in honor of my ancestors. My heart is broken regarding it and aside from commissions or personal pieces for family and friends, I am not sure I wish to continue creating the Natal portrait series. I just want it to come home to me...PLEASE!

Missing Piece: MINE!

This is my piece "Wildest Dreams" and if I am lucky I will see it again...

It was supposed to have been exhibited at the "Journey of Hope" travelling exhibit at the Hampton U. Museum. I RSVPd for it and popped through since I was actually in the Hampton Roads area, which is 3 hours from my home. I looked for my "Guest Artist" tag and it wasn't there although I said I was one of the artists when I called. When I found one of the curators and let them know, they didn't try to find at least an empty one for me to write my name on. I felt as if they shrugged and kept on eating their hor d'oeuvres. Then, insult to injury, as I walked around I noticed my piece wasn't there. My name was listed, but no piece. While it was lovely and my fellow artists' works were too and the Museum itself has an awesome collection, I was personally so disappointed and angry-feeling.

I spoke to another coordinator, who asked me to sign my page in the official book/catalogue. When she saw my piece's photo she said "Oh! Yours is one that didn't make it." I was so confused. I thought perhaps because it was a smaller venue that the curators made the exhibit smaller. I...was...really...wrong.

I was so upset that I left almost right away. After firing off an email that evening to my main curator--who has capably handled all of my pieces in different exhibits so far--to let her know what happened, she was like "You ARE supposed to be in the exhibit!" and promised to find out more. Turns out the Hampton curator informed the NAAMCC in Ohio (where it has been for years) that 3 pieces didn't make it two months ago. There was no follow up  and no one informed my curator, who is positively mortified.

To say that this is a clusterf**k is an understatement. Right now, the idea that my granddads' portraits might be misplaced, lost, or stolen is heartbreaking to me. I just want them back. 

SOMEBODY BETTER FIND MY GODDAMN PIECE!!!!!!!!!!

Under the Sea: DONE!

 Here is my latest project: "Under the Sea"...

My best friend asked me if I would make a piece for her infant son, my godson Tavian. I knew his nursery had a nautical theme, so I thought I'd base it upon that and created a sketch. You can see Alex's scribbles at the top of it. I guess he was trying to help...

My workspace is still less than ideal, but hey, I make it work! I started by laying out fabric from my stash. I don't use as much commercial fabric in my other pieces, so it was fun for me to see what I had...

Here is a detail photo of it. I used fused applique. Machine stitched, but hand embroidered...

Didn't involve as much work as my handpainted fine art quilt pieces, but it was a lot of fun to create! My favorite part of it? The giant squid!

Sew Chick the Student!

Yikes, I haven't updated in a while to even let you all know how the portrait quilt competition worked out for me. It didn't (ha!), but I am still happy with how "Pom Pom" turned out. I still plan on entering it in other exhibits, so here's a snippet detail pic of it:

In other news...Sew Chick is going back to school. That's right, I'm a grad student! I was a journalism and history major in undergrad. I LOVE historic architecture and always have and would like to start fresh with a new career doing something I think is cool, so I am working on my Master's in Historic Preservation at Goucher College in Towson, MD! Right now I am interested in becoming a preservation officer or architectural historian. Here I am on campus during the two-week summer residency this month. It is a distance learning program so it it mostly online, but I got to meet the faculty and my classmates and they are all great. Not to mention I got to relive dorm life again, which was a blast! It was really nice being with people who were all into the same thing. I know it will be a lot of work, but it'll not only be do-able, but totally worth it! Can you tell that I'm really excited?

Which One Will It Be?

As I have mentioned, I am going to enter the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. I haven't finished the piece yet, but I can give you a glimpse as to what I'm working on. The catch? I'm not revealing which one I decided to go with until the piece is finished. So, with that in mind you'll have to wait and see if it will be "Girls Night Out" or "Pom Pom."

Wish me luck!

Where Has Sew Chick Been?

Long story! The short of it being...I had a baby! I had a rough pregnancy including hospital bedrest for two months (yikes and more yikes!) He was a preemie, but you'd never know it now since he is so big and super-healthy. His name is Alex and he has been keeping me very busy. Look at that smile...

He has also had me thinking about getting back to doing what I do well: My art. Sewing. Being creative again in a way so that I hopefully don't have to return to an office environment. I've had an Etsy account since '06, but now I am going to actually open up shop. Put some things in there soon that I hope folks will like. Oo la la, you know?! Pretty darn exciting to see what my brain will crank out.

I also want to enter the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. What's that? Every three years, the Smithsonian Nat'l Portrait Gallery has a portrait competition open to artists of all mediums. My art quilt specialty is portraiture, so I figured that I would enter. The deadline is Halloween. I figure I'd see what happens. As my youngest sister would say "YayZ!"

In the immortal words of Futurama's Bender Bending Rodriguez: "I'm back baby!"