I am very proud to share with you...

Some months ago Liz Kalloch contacted me and asked if I would participate in a project she was working on.  In her words:

I'm working on a year-long story/painting project called Tools & Talismans—a series of vignette paintings I'm creating based on photos of tools and talismans from 100 different women that relate to how each of them expresses herself.

We hear a lot these days about the importance of story—from story telling slams to marketers and media specialists creating full blown brands based around a story. Story is how we learn, it's how we connect to each other and to the larger world, and story is not limited to words alone.

I'm contacting creators and healers, thinkers and makers, wordsmiths and visionaries—women whose expression and voice in the world is passionate, strong and brave—asking them to participate. I've already gathered some amazing submissions, the project has momentum and the people who've participated have told me that it’s been an amazing experience for them.

Your needlepoint work is aMAZing, and I love how you've taken a craft that many might consider "old-fashioned" and made it relevant again. I'd love to include your "story" through a gathering of tools and talismans that you use to do your work and tell your stories. 

I was intrigued and interested in being a part of Liz's project. Tools, Liz explained are ones that I use nearly everyday in my work or personal life. Talismans, she explained, refers to anything that is potent or magical or filled with goodness—for me.

I spent some time thinking about what I would like to present that was both useful and meaningful to me.  The photo below is what I sent to Liz.

This is what I wrote:
I am: A Taster of Color
I believe that “presentation” sets the tone of our aesthetic journey. I love to make things look beautiful, the more mundane the objects, the more I search for just the right way to make them hopelessly appealing. Hence my addiction with glass vials, with perfect boxes, with a custom hanging system for all my fibers, (and fibers, and fibers). A little notebook for jotting down lists, an array of lip-glosses for lips that need a little perking up, and my mini business cards that introduce me visually, these are always with me. Sumptuous fibers to drool over, along with my gold plated needles that are, to me, the epitome of indulgence and Ultrasuede, one of man’s great contributions to our world; these are what I make my art with. Tools make me happy, and with my little hammer I form a sheet of metal into an object, what wonder! And then there is the gold bracelet that my grandmother gave me when I was born, with my name beautifully engraved in Hebrew letters. This is where I came from; all the others are where I’m going. When you don’t know where you came from, the journey forward will be very poorly lit.

Liz has entered my story in her Journal. You can see the painting and the story on her site.  Take a look CLICK.

Cool, eh?

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I am nothing without.

I am nothing without my wonderful friends, who help make my work possible.

I am nothing without Kathy Gordon, who with her enthusiasm, her brilliant stitching, and her intelligent and thoughtful suggestions, makes my designs look their best.  Today I received a package from her that included 4 pieces, stitched and proofed.

I could not do what I love doing, and do it well without my friend, Kathy.

I am nothing without my stitching friends who come to spend time with me, who allow me to share with them what I have learned, and who ask for more.

Holding Joseph's coat in our hands

Thank you Buff and Lori, Linda and Lisa, Patrick and Karen, Ann and Carol, Jo and Father B, for spending the last three days with me, letting me lead them to places they did not know they wanted to see. 

Thank you!

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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

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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)!

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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!

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You have heard so much about it... Here it was!

The flowers are being picked up and will be arranged in little vases.

If you get a shipment of threads with a bit of wine, will you complain? Just kidding!!  My studio is a hub central.

The jazz band warming up.

Caterers are prepping, things are looking yummy and smelling to die for!!

The room is alive!

I love how the runners are laid in different directions.

Each table is very similar but really nothing is the same.

At first I didn't think I wanted candles, but they looked lovely along the window sills.

The menu...  so good!

 

The doorbell rings...

Beginning to arrive...

See my threads peeking out from the right?

Wine in hand, chit chatting away.

Beverages are poured

Scrapbook  pages laid out and guests write wishes for Nina.

Reid giving a wonderfully funny and touching speech.

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57 is the new 57.

It's actually pretty cool that today is my 57th birthday and I was born in 1957!
It's been such a wonderful day and it's only 9am!

Here is what Reid got me for my birthday...

It's a painting by one of my favorite artists, who happens to be a friend as well, Ira Upin.  The painting is traveling in Europe at the moment, but will be here at the end of the month. I'm SO excited! (You've seen his work back in 2012 on my walls here).

Shiri wrote the most amazing birthday message for me on Facebook, (Imma is mother in Hebrew).

Reid woke me up with fresh orange juice and coffee, Nina came into bed with a funny card with a beautiful personal message in it, friends and family have been calling and writing and I'm so happy!


PS. here is photo of those turkey-loaves from here.

PPS. do you have a Silpat?  They are amazing!!

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A letter to you.

My window sills are blooming with orchids and cacti

Good morning!  It's the first week of summer vacation here.  Nina will be turning 12 in a couple of weeks, going into 7th grade next year.  Some of you remember her as a toddler, a tiny, very cute toddler.  She is now a teenager, a beautiful, thoughtful, and very creative young person. 

When she was much younger I remember trying to keep her busy and "doing" as much as possible all through the summer.  When both my girls were very young I knew I would be full-time busy with them over the summer.  I forgot, (as I have with many other aspects of child rearing), that they need just as much attention, care and supervision as they grow older.  In fact, I am reminded, they actually need more.  A tub of building blocks and a juice box just don't cut it anymore.  The older they get the more they need presence, watchfulness and lots of chatting time.  What am I leading to? I have been a bit absent from you all, here on the blog, and I wanted to explain why.  I don't want to seem as if I'm floating in and out of your lives, with no rhyme or reason.  This is the reason and I really appreciate your understanding.

On to another matter... I am quite ashamed of having found a few errors on one of my new cuff charts :(  My very dear friend and best proof stitcher in the world, Kathy, did not get to see this instruction manual. She is so kind with her time and I didn't want to abuse it, but after this cuff issue, I'm going to have to go back and abuse it!  Do you hear me Kathy?  If you ordered a kit of my new "Flower Cuff", please write to me and I will send you the corrections. 

I am leaving for our trip to Israel soon and therefore need to send out all the models for the ANG 2014 Seminar before I leave.  I will also be teaching an ANG Cyberworkshop and those models need to be sent out as well.  Stitch stitch stitch along with Wimbledon tennis is actually nice.  Most of this is done in the wee hours of the night.  Anyone else stitching to the sounds of balls hitting racquets or grunts of certain tennis pros?  

Each of the orchids has re-bloomed and I am very proud of them!

 

Lastly, I promised a sale before I leave.  You will hear all about it by the end of the week.

Enjoy your week, my friends!

Orna

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Prior warning!

Dramatic opening, eh?   I wanted to let you know about my summer travels.  I will be leaving for Israel on July 16th and coming back August 25th.  I know, long long trip!  I haven't been home in two years.  It's time, and I plan on spending some quality time with my family, my friends, as well as some planned studio visits with artists.  During that time I will not be able to send out orders so please don't worry if you don't receive your merchandise.  If you do place an order, I will send you a reminder with the date I return to my studio.

While in Israel, I try to plan at least one project with my mother, some type of home improvement.  This time we are redoing her bathroom, taking out the bathtub and putting in a nice spa shower.  I actually enjoy these projects, and feel satisfied when I leave and know something has been done to improve my mother's quality of life.  Nina will be going to a two week overnight camp, (OMG! she has never even spent one overnight at a camp but she wants to do this).  It a great place for kids from Israel and all over the world who love computers, photography, digital music, robotics, and all that jazz.  Cross your fingers that we don't need to make a middle of the night trip to bring an unhappy camper home...

Between now and my trip I plan on having an amazing, blow out sale for you!   Sign up for updates and notices on the right side of this blog.  Perfect time to load up on projects for the holidays, gifts, much needed "I don't have anything to stitch" type kits...  Should be coming soon.

In the meantime, what are your plans for the summer?  

Talk soon!

O

 

a MOST amazing website of graphic designers, phenomenal talent!!  HERE

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Bursting with pride!!

I just LOVE it when stitchers send me photos of my designs that they have completed stitching,  LOVE it!

Here are a few of late...

Hanging Gardens, (one of my Cyberworkshops),  stitched by Suzanne Allen.  

How exquisite!  Thank you for making my design dance and sing!!

 

Sunflower stitched by Diane Trobaugh.  Diane's ANG chapter

stitched this design and Diane chose colors and 

canvas with a daring spirit and I am so proud!

Do you have any of my designs that you stitched?  Have you changed colors?

 Even better!  Send me your photos!!
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THANK YOU!  Ada Haydon answered my plea and here are 3 pieces she stitched years ago...

 From left to right:  Cedars of Lebanon, Reflections of Joy and Magic

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Nemo is on his way.

This morning I was listening to NPR. They were talking about how the Weather Channel was giving storms names nowadays.  For instance the big storm that is coming to the Northeast today, it's been named Nemo by none other than The Weather Channel!  And you know what else?  Since they are a broadcasting company, when these storms and tornadoes and other such catastrophes come along,  they get the highest number of viewers and ratings.  And you what else? Their revenues are the highest.  And you know what I think?  When we go to a channel to get important, sometimes crucial information for our safety, shouldn't it be void of any commercial interests?

Nina, Andrea and Willie in a Philadelphia snow storm circa 2009

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Exceptional talent on my walls.

Nothing quite like having artists for friends.  And when they are as talented and thought provoking as Ira Upin, you really consider yourself lucky!  The impact of his work on me has always been like some sort of sonic BOOM!  I'm particularly in love with his portraits, he studies faces and shows you what he sees.  These two pieces have been gracing my walls. 

The funny thing - I did NOT choose these two because of our furniture.  It just happened and it may be too matchy matchy for me.  But I just can't give up those faces!

Ira and Jenny are leaving tomorrow for one of his many shows, this time New Orleans.  See his work here and enjoy his fearless use of color and imagery.

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"Whatcha been up to?" ... this...

Seminar is practically over and so is my very tightly packed week.  It was a very special week, I met some lovely new friends, reunited with some favorite old ones.  I taught my class, a wonderful experience.  It wasn't your traditional type class, (if you know me you are now saying, "well, duh"), and my students came along this unique path with me, at first terrified and later just sailing beautifully along!  My heart burst with pride, do you hear me Nancy, Beth, Sandy, Barb, Laura and Lynn?  You were phenomenal!

Nancy promised Manhattan skyline when Philly is done.

The city of Philadelphia is coming to life.

Smiles!

Lots of progress from a super stitcher!

Notes on stitch variations

Taking care of some Seminar business

I have so much more to tell, a little each day.  Our loft looks like it had a hurricane sweep thru it, really!!  Don't believe me?  here!!!:

I'll be back very soon - xo

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