';
Powered by Blogger.

Nach·es ˈnäKHəs/ noun: nachas pride or gratification, especially at the achievements of one's children.

That's it, that's what I'm brimming with; Naches.

Naches #1: We brought Nina to her camp/music school in New Hampshire this weekend.  5 weeks of immersion in music, composition, nature.  She didn't want to go, I felt guilty, as I always do.  Last night she called and the first thing she said was...  today we heard a piano concert that was so amazing!  To think that if I hadn't come here I would not have heard this concert...
This is where she is: http://waldenschool.org/young-musicians-program/

Nachas #2, 3, and more: My Color Inspiration students.  I don't need to say anything, you can see it yourself.

Lynn's work

Carole's work

Pat's work
Nancy's work
I sound schmaltzy, (schmaltz·y ˈSHmôltsē,ˈSHmältsē/ adjective informal excessively sentimental), but I can't help it, I have tears in my eyes.

Read more...

Hey, wait up, you're going too fast!

This little one just graduated from 8th grade, i.e. she is a high schooler!?!?!  How could that be?  Someone messed with the clock, someone made things move fast forward, someone made a big mistake!  Time doesn't fly by so fast.  She's still just my baby.

Next week she is off to a wonderful camp/school/retreat for young musicians. It's a composition camp where Nina, along with 50 other kids from across the States and even overseas, will be together for 5 weeks and compose music.  The staff is mostly professional musicians who help these young budding composers and at the end of each week these same musicians preform the compositions that their young protege's composed in a concert setting.  How amazing to be a young talented musician and to be taken so seriously!

On the phone with my friend Keli.

Helping me out with a 1000 piece puzzle.
Gosh, I love that child!

And speaking of children, here is my other baby, Shiri, (OK, she's not a baby, she actually has two little ones who happen to be sitting in the stroller).  My mother, (the exceptionally young looking great grandmother), my sister, Anat, (kneeling next to Nomi discussing "Frozen"), above Nomi you see Yuval, my niece, who is a magician with children, (as well as a magician on her violin), and of course Nomi and Ruben, (who are so cute I want to gobble them up), all of them on the street in Tel Aviv.

Read more...

Rona's Masterpiece, (yes, it's Rona, not Orna)


Rona was in my class this past weekend.  This past weekend, as in 2 days ago.  This evening I received an email from her with these photos.  Her interpretation of the room on the left using the piece I designed for the class.  

What an amazing job.  I am so very proud of you, Rona!



The hues, the light, the bohemian touches, all of these were captured by Rona's choices of colors and textures.  This "Color Inspiration" class always warms my heart.  Students come in with a big question mark on their faces.  By the end of class they have a new found confidence, a belief in their ability to see color, to understand color and to form a relationship with color.

Please keep your pieces coming!

Here are a few more from past classes.  They are all the same design, each inspired by a different room.

Bonnie Beer


Kathy Larsen

Sara Leigh Merrey


Karen West

Join us July 17-19 for another Color Inspiration class here in Philadelphia!



Read more...

Come to my studio for a COLOR INSPIRATION class!


Check out the first day of class this past weekend HERE!


Read more...

Check out our first day of class here at the studio!!

This morning we started our first day of the "Color Inspiration" class here at my home/studio. What a lovely group of stitchers!  So much fun to host classes here.  Introducing everyone to Reid, Nina and Esther.  The group decided that they didn't want to stop for lunch, so everyone brought their lunch, we ate quickly, and got right back to stitching.  

I decided that instead of writing about today myself, I would ask each of these stitchers to write their thoughts.  They sat them down at my computer, one at a time, and this is what they wrote...


I found it interesting that many of us in the class were "locked" into looking at the picture and trying to find all the colors that we would need.  It was challenging to try to "feel" the picture as a whole and have the threads, beads, etc. reflect the "feel" of the picture.  It helped me a lot to scan the picture quickly and then see if what I chose actually created the same look and balance of color.  This is really helping me to see things differently.    Linda M.


I took this same class 2 years ago with Brandywine EGA and found it fun to do. It took me out of my comfort zone, but the results of the finished piece was fantastic.  When Mainline ANG decided to offer the course to its members I jumped at the chance to take it again.   I am learning more about color and how to place it on the canvas. The picture given to me is totally different from any I have stitched in the past. I am sure that this project will turn out even better than the first one.  Better get back to stitching   Patrick B.


Hi, my name is Rona Goldberg.  I am an ORNA (anagram of Rona!) fan.  She is an artist ... color is her genius.  I am only one quarter of the way through the class and have already learned to look at photos differently.  My thanks to Melita of Mainline ANG for organizing this class.  Orna's home is warm and inviting and her studio is A M A Z I N G.  I am enjoying the warmth of the students who are all so creative and supportive.  Be warned ... you will never look at, think of or feel color the same way again!  Thanks to Orna, Reid , Nina and Esther.


Taking my first class with Orna.  I'm really trying to think outside of my comfort zone. Looking at a wonderful range of colors.  I'm learning a lot about how to design with color and various fibers. This is a fun class. Carole Bell


Hi - Suzy Florian, from Bear, DE.  This is my first ever needlepoint class.  I am really enjoying coming together with Orna and all of the other folks and learning about picking out colors and various different stitches.  This is definitely a good investment in my needlepoint future.


This is working out to be a fantastic day!  So much fun and such a great opportunity to learn too.  This is the second class I've taken with Orna.  She has such a sense of how color and the spirit of color work together.  Before we came to class, Orna sent each of us two pictures to choose where the spirit lead us.  One of the pictures I received used mostly colors I am very comfortable with and use all the time.  The other photo had deeper colors of mostly blues, gold, and brown.  I am working with this piece.  Orna has really opened my eyes and my spirit today.  I'm sure I'll be absolutely in love with the result. ~Lori C.


What an amazing workshop this is.  I love the thought of changing colors out of my comfort zone but am always nervous that what I'm picking really goes together. Working with a color photo and picking out colors to reflect the feel of the picture without "duplicating" the exact picture is a great feeling of accomplishment - I'm excited to see how the project turns out and hope that I will be able to do this again confident in my color choices. Confident that I can "trust my gut" in that the shades and colors are complimentary. Thank you Orna for this opportunity and sharing your color inspirations! - Nancy Molka


This is a great, color-filled day with the most fantastic ideas and textures and brainstorming. Everyone's inspiration picture is different so we have all been enthralled with the color ideas to use. I can't believe my inspiration piece is a wonderful combination of speckled croton leaves, bacon and berries... and what fabulous overdyed threads would represent them! Fun!   Marnie King, Delaware


Color.  one of my favorite things in the world.  Today we've been cooking with color.  Orna has expressed thinking of about our piece as a soup, I think of it as a meal.  Beginning with colors as an introduction of whats to come.  Using restraint to not rush the story.  I love the idea of the slow start not yet knowing whats to come and how my picture will ultimately be expressed.  Karen Milano

Great space, wonderful class, fantastic teacher, having an astonishing lesson in color - like I have never experienced it before. Thank you Orna. ~ Mvmg


Today I am venturing out of my comfort zone!  I am taking a color Class with Orna Willis and enjoying it a lot.  Looking at a color photo of a room and interpreting the colors from the room into a needlepoint piece is very interesting....and not something I am very good with....but hope to get better.  She is a delight and very patience with all of us!  Hope to take another class with her in the future.  Can't wait to see how the needlepoint develops.  Thanks a lot!  Buff Biddle


This is the second time I have taken this class.  The first time I got all of my favorite colors so I did not venture out of my comfort zone.   I also learned so much from listening to Orna and watching her move colors around and make suggestions in our designs.  She is a genius with bringing a piece to life by throwing in one or two extra colors.  This time I am expanding out of my comfort zone.  The class is a real pleasure.  Lisa O'Brien


WOW - Orna's studio is amazing & she is making me see color in a way I had not imagined was possible. Seeing the group develop their pieces was as informative as working on my own. Looking forward to continuing the journey!! Melita Glavin



Read more...

Everything is ready!

All the threads are displayed, all the tables set up, all the canvas is cut and the guides are laminated. Everything is ready for 15 lovely ladies who will be here at the studio/home tomorrow for a fun journey into color!








*Let me know if you'd like to come join me here at the studio for another Color Journey in July!

Read more...

The weekend workshop coming up!

Getting ready for my weekend workshop here at the studio.  Restocking my walls of fiber with so much wonderful color and textures.  The only thing that has been in my way is a nasty cold, fever and respiratory stuff that have slowing me down!  I hate to be slowed down, no time for such nonsense!



Neon Rays is one of my very best friends.  You should try it, probably a fiber I couldn't do without!


This is how it looks from the floor, when I had to lay down and rest my body a bit while giving Esther a good Belly rub.


Read more...

Gifts from the ladies!

A lovely moment at Syracuse was when my dear friend, Pat, presented me with this beautiful box and a stitched pen.  How elegant!! The box reminds me of the beautiful treasures I saw in Cambodia years ago.  I love the gold embellishment.  Just as rich is the pen, stitched by Pat, in silver and light blue, sparkling and elegant.  Pat is not only a fantastic stitcher, she is also responsible for 10 new wrinkles, 5 on each side of my mouth, for laughing so hard and being quite naughty!

To think of the time and effort in choosing and stitching!  Thank you so very much, Pat. Thank you to my friends in Syracuse.  




Off to hear Nina in a school concert.  It's the end of the school year, and I feel I should get a commencement diploma as well, (graduating 8th grade)!

Read more...

I'm not dissin' men, really!

I got back from my week in Syracuse just a few hours ago.  6 days of teaching, back to back.  I'm tired, my back is aching from a 5 hour drive. I've got tons of laundry and did lots of shlepping... but what a wonderful time! Yes, I was working, but being together with a group of  giving women, well there is nothing quite like it!  I don't think men have this.  I spent the week with 25 women, some I knew, some I didn't, but it didn't matter. We learned, we discussed, we contemplated, we talked.  We laughed and even cried, (from laughing too hard). Even if you weren't there, if you are reading this, and you are a woman, you still know exactly what I mean, right?  Men don't have this.  I'm not dissin' them, they just don't have this.

Take a look at all the fibers these fab ladies placed on tables in color groups...



These two are Kathy's boys, Jake and Elwood. Kathy lives near Syracuse and is one of the most exquisite stitchers I've met!





Read more...

About This Blog

©Orna Willis
All images, text, and content on this site are the sole property of Orna Willis and may not be used, copied or transmitted without the express consent of Orna Willis. Any other inquiries please email me at orna@ornadesign.com

Blog Archive