Happy New Year! Thank you for coming along on my artistic journey. You come from all corners of the globe, from Croatia to Australia and from Brazil to South Africa, helping to link the wee folk world with the big wide world. It’s been such a pleasure doing “show and tell” with you for 10 years now! Choosing images and writing about different projects and goings-on not only connects my artwork with the world outside my studio, it’s helped me develop a clearer sense of purpose. Through this forum, I can share my own needle and thread universe in a free and independent way. When what you make doesn’t easily fit into any category, it’s nice to have a place to call home.  

From time to time in this wee folk world, the not-so-docile fairies stir things up on Facebook, Instagram and this blog, delighting most of my followers, while upsetting a few who wag their fingers in disapproval. The feisty fairies have taught me so much. They’ve given me a voice that will not be scolded into silence. As Rep. John Lewis says, “Get into good trouble.” The images I share are precious and poignant for the most part, but sometimes they are provocative. I am aware that calling attention to the angst around us can be jarring to those who don’t expect it, but I don’t see mixing it up like this as incongruous. It reflects both the beauty and the struggle of life in these tumultuous times. And that is the story I wish to tell. Every now and then, when things get to the point when the fairies can’t hold back any longer, they’ll shake a little hot pepper into the sweet sauce. So, with that in mind, I invite you to join the fairies and me as we venture into a new decade. May we all face the New Year with brave hearts and undaunted spirits!

To help review the year, I’ve organized a list of posts published on this blog in 2019. They are grouped by topic, including a miscellaneous category at the end.
But first, I want to mention a special event that I will participate in very soon:

Film Screening and Presentations:
Thursday, Jan. 9th at 5:30 pm at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, MA:
“Liberty and Justice” – Three presentations on the role of civil disobedience in a healthy democracy.
There will be a screening of my politically satirical animation, “Liberty and Justice: A Cautionary Tale in the Land of the Free” as well as a reading of Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and A First Hand Account of the Hong Kong Protests by Cole Silva. Discussion to Follow. The event is not intended for young children.

Links to blog posts from 2019:

Exhibitions:
More is More
Once Upon a Stitch
The Art of Cute
finding my voice
The stitching lady speaks!
Liberty and Justice exhibit in Cotuit
Migration exhibit
3 upcoming exhibits

“My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World” will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in Sept. 2020. The following posts give behind the scenes peeks at the process of illustrating the book. For information about the upcoming touring exhibition of the original art from the book, please go to this page.

Bed book peek: Duck
Bed book peek: Camel
Bed book peek: Bunny
Bed book peek: North America part 1, part 2, part 3
Bed book peek: Scandinavia part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
My Bed is made
bed book delivered

Wee Folk:
Euphoria Ltd. Edition Fairy
Judy Sue in miniature
Polly dresses for the seashore
Wee Folk playing cards

Miscellaneous:
shifting focus
Self Portrait poster is back
Studio goings-on
create your own wee world
Behind the Glass – part 1
Behind the Glass – part 2

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Banners:
baby banner for Xavier
Wedding Banner: Shawn & Max

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