Work in Progress by Claudine Intner

Time for a major decision! This large collage has been haunting me for almost a year now. It is 24 x 48 inches. I am in the final stretch with it, but now I realize it needs a frame! I had not planned a frame and the piece is on a gallery wrap canvas. Ugh! (For non-artists, that is a canvas with an extra deep stretcher bar that is usually presented without a frame.  I frequently use gallery wrap canvases or create collage frames that match the piece.

After the Storm by Claudine Intner

This piece, After the Storm, was created on a panel and framed with a collage frame that I created to match it. I am thinking that a collaged frame would just be too much for the large sailboat collage. So now I am thinking about making a rustic looking frame.

This is a rough idea of what a thin wood frame would look like.

Hmm. Maybe a little thicker piece of wood? I think I will give it a driftwood look with stain. What do you think?

Magothy in the Morning by Claudine Intner

Good Morning! I hope this post finds you in a happy place. I snapped this beautiful shot of the Magothy River and thought I would share because it is so peaceful.

I fell behind on Follow Friday posts and now I have a really random collection of links today.

• A number of friends on Facebook shared these really amazing photos from the Depression and World War II era in COLOR. To see this time period in color is very surreal. Some of the images look like they could be from today. They are on the Denver Post’s photo blog. After looking at those, I started going through the ON WAR section. They have very graphic photos of Hiroshima as well as recent shots from Afghanistan and Iraq. Very powerful. There is also a PICTURES OF THE WEEK section.
• Pencil sculptures! Dalton Ghetti carves into pencils. Check it out!
• If you aren’t a a follower of Kelly Rae’s blog already, you really must stop by and see her recently renovated house. It is so adorable.
• Need a cute fall project for the kids? I just saw the most adorable paper mache pumpkins. They are on my list to make!
• And a great idea for Legos, Duplos or MegaBloks… word blocks!
• Words you can eat?

And here is a final Follow Friday… I started a fan page on Facebook! Yeah! I will be sharing new art, blog posts, news, and other goodies. So please come and join The Art of Claudine Intner.

Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend! I look forward to sharing some new art with you next week.

Sketch of Temple Grandin by Claudine Intner

So technically Wednesday is Mostly Wordless Wednesday on my blog. But some days I can’t be wordless!

Did you see the Emmys this weekend? I was so excited to see one of my heroes Temple Grandin there. Temple is an inspiring women with autism. HBO made a movie about her life this year, and it won numerous Emmys. Yeah! It was such a joy to see Temple there among a see of evening gowns in her customary western shirt. I just love Temple!

Monday morning I was watching the following clip of Temple at TED and decided that I should really do a piece about her. So I quickly grabbed my markers and sketched out an idea for an art quilt. I am thinking that the actual quilt will have one of her quotes on it. I just need to find one first! I am very excited about this idea.

Autism Mom by Claudine Intner. Art quilt. 12 x 12 inches. 2010.

Autism Mom is dedicated to all the mothers of kids on the autism spectrum. We work so hard to get the best for our children and frequently put everyone else first especially the child with autism.

This piece was an experiment for me. I have been exploring ways to get the women in my sketchbook on to final works of art. This time I used fabric paint on plain white cotton fabric. I did a couple of pieces with the paint and now want to try combining the paint with additional pieces of colored fabric. Isn’t experimenting fun?

Self Portrait by Jacob Intner with the help from Claudine Intner. Art Quilt. 12 x 12 inches. 2010.

For the second piece for the exhibit, I decided I wanted to work with my son Jacob who is 9 and has autism. I thought it would be a great edition to the exhibit to have work by a child with autism. Jacob drew the self portrait and included one of his favorite things — NUMBERS! Jacob has had a passion for numbers and letters since an early age. He drew the picture and then I added the background color in his absolute favorite color red. I also did the quilting and binding. Now Jacob wants to make a quilt for his bed!

A special thank you to Lynn Krawczyk for putting together the Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit! I look forward to seeing everyone’s submissions.The exhibit will debut at the American Sewing Expo from September 24-September 26, 2010 in Novi, Michigan. The exhibit will then be on tour during 2011. If you would like to make a donation to Art Now for Autism’s fundraising efforts on behalf of Autism Speaks, please visit our donation page. THANK YOU!

If you don’t recall what things looked like before, take a second and view the before post. My studio and office space were both in our den. After a lot of work, I have moved the studio to the basement.

The Studio

One of the best things about this area is that it is away from the rest of the house! No need to worry about little fingers getting into my supplies or unexpected guests seeing the art chaos in the den. And I love that I now have two work tables! Would you believe I already have plans for a third?

The Wall of Organization

I certainly should have bought stock in Sterilite before taking on this project. I have bought lots of different plastic bins and drawers for the studio. I sorted like crazy and organized the containers on rolling metal shelving units. I couldn’t believe all of the wonderful supplies I found that I had forgotten about. To keep the kids happy, I set up their easel so they can create while I work, too.

Close Up of Fabric Shelves

Here is a close up of the fabric shelving unit. Notice my lovely lime green phone on the upper left?

Paper Drawers

While I am not a scrapbooker, I really appreciate the wide selection of storage now available because of the scrapbook craze. I now have my small sheets of paper sorted into these wonderful drawers. My large sheets are stored in a flat file.

Card Catalog

This old library card catalog is another great organization tool. I painted it gray many years ago, and I am thinking I might paint it something brighter now.

The Sewing Area

The Collage and Mixed Media Zone

Studio Mascots

And here are my studio mascots, the Wicked Witch of the West and Frida Kahlo!

I hope you enjoyed checking out my new space. I still have some work to do and will share some more pictures as things changed. I am trying to come up with some ideas on how to “warm up” the space so it doesn’t look so cave like. I am on the hunt for some sort of area rug or floor mat that can handle being in the basement. Upstairs the office still has some floorganization going on, but I hope to share some pics of that room later.

Have a fabulous weekend!