What's New?

Robin Atkins, bead artist

The following sections are in rough chronological order,
with my more recent artistic passions at the top.
Clicking on any topic below will take you directly to that section.

Corona Diary
Nature Journaling
Zentangle Art
Beaded Quilts
A Few of My Other Quilts
Water Color Painting
Bead Journal Project
Painting decorative papers
Handmade Books

Corona Diary

During the first four months of the Covid-19 Pandemic, I had no artistic energy whatsoever... no beading, no quilting, no painting. The only creative thing I did was to write journal entries and a few poems. Then in May when the Textile Guild started "Woven Together in Pandemania" Zoom meetings where we all shared our art or lack of art experiences, my creative mojo finally returned. The very next day I began making the first of what will eventually be 24 visual journal pieces, each of them based on a written journal entry or one of my poems, and all of them intended to capture some elements of my personal experiences and feelings during the Pandemic. Each piece is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. The front of each piece is what you see below. But, many have something meaningful on the back and/or a secret sandwiched between the front and back. All have a card attached to the back with hand-written information about the piece (the title, the date and a few descriptive words from my original journal entry or poem, and my signature). Techniques include weaving, beading, collage, quilting, crochet, felting, embroidery, Zentangle, etc. Making them is challenging, exciting, and healing. Below are thumbnail pictures of 18 of my Corona Diary pieces. You can click below any thumbnail to see a larger image and read the text from the back of the piece.
click to enlarge Duma January 22, 2020	click to enlarge Just Sad, Just Very Sad March 6, 2020
click to enlarge Baking Bread March 14, 2020	click to enlarge Something's Broken March 27, 2020
click to enlarge No Flour March 30, 2020	click to enlarge Masks April 3, 2020
click to enlarge Redemption Song April 9, 2020	click to enlarge Corona Time April 17, 2020
click to enlarge Dancing Alone April 25, 2020	click to enlarge Addiction April 26, 2020
click to enlarge Corona Numbers May 1, 2020	click to enlarge Safe Place May 2, 2020
click to enlarge Family Gathering May 3, 2020	click to enlarge Thorny Love May 11, 2020
click to enlarge Corona Silver Linings May 16, 2020	click to enlarge Woven Together May 18, 2020
click to enlarge Corona Tenacity May 23, 2020

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Nature Journaling

Nature Journaling is all about training our minds to observe, question and record (with sketches, words, and numbers) what we see around us in nature. Being brought up by two parents with keen interest and careers in biological sciences, who easily reeled off the Latin names of birds, trees, insects, and plants, gives me a good background for nature journaling, especially when combined with the artistic elements in it. I've only just started, but am totally looking forward to completing many more pages in my Nature Journal. Below is one of my first pages. Techniques include ink drawing and colored pencil work.

click to view entire journal page Black Locust, Robinia pseudoacacia (detail)

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Zentangle Art

My interest in learning to Zentangle began in 2018 when I taught myself a couple dozen Zentangle patterns, and made a little reference book to showcase them.
Book of Zentange Motifs, handmade book by Robin Atkins
Below are thumbnail pictures of some of my Zentangle pieces. You can click below any thumbnail to see a larger image.
click to enlarge Zen Fish	click to enlarge Zen Necklace
click to enlarge Forest Friends	click to enlarge Summer's Coming
click to enlarge Layers	click to enlarge My Dog Wears Socks
click to enlarge Octopus	click to enlarge Splashing in the Stream
click to enlarge Lone Ginili Tree	click to enlarge Zen Dragonfly
click to enlarge Maisie and Friends	click to enlarge Bala
click to enlarge Crazy Huggins and Friends	click to enlarge Fancy Huggins

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Beaded Quilts

My first quilts, dating back to 1974, were the "just do it" or "seat of the pants" type, but turned out OK, because Mom taught me how to sew at a young age, and I'd sewn a lot of clothes in the past. When my husband and I acquired a new, king sized bed, it made sense to make a quilt for it. So, I joined the local Quilt Guild and got to work. Soon after finishing our new quilt, the Guild sponsored a class in making a "wonky log cabin" quilt, which was supposed to have hearts appliqued in the center of each block. But I got the idea of beading the centers, or more specifically of beading a piece of linen to look like a bead manufacturer's sample card, and using that instead of hearts for the centers. Then, why not hand quilt the thing using a seed bead in every stitch? Why not skip the traditional binding, and use a picot bead edge stitch all around the quilt instead. Not only was it fun, but also it got me started on a whole series of beaded quilts. Here are some of them.

click to view detail of one beaded block Order & Chaos 36 x 45 inches, 2006

click to view detail of one beaded block Intersections 36 x 36 inches, 2012

Beadlust 13 x 14 inches, 2008

Waterfall 9.5 x 13 inches, 2009

Five Cats in the Yard 12.5 x 14 inches, 2012

Grandpa's Gifts 15 x 15 inches, 1997

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A Few of My Other Quilts

In the past 20 years or so, I've made more than 2 dozen quilts, of which about half are bed size. Many of them are completely hand pieced and hand quilted, because the meditative process of stitching by hand appeals to me, and satisfies a need to sit quietly, working with my hands (like beading). I also enjoy thread embroidery, which you will see featured in a couple of the quilts below. Along the way, I developed a passion for the hexagon shape, which eventually resulted in six "hexie quilts," each of which is entirely hand sewn and hand quilted. All of them are "scrappy," using small pieces of many, many different fabrics both from my own stash and donated to me by others. My on-going calculations revealed that these six quilts contain a total of 11,196 individual 3/4th inch hexies and 2,058 unique fabrics. To cut and stitch the hexies and then to hand quilt these treasures took the equivalent of slightly more than two years of full time work, but I spread it out over seven years. Each time upon finishing one of them, I would swear that it was the last. Then after a while, the siren song of the hexie would call me back again.

Eclipse scrappy, improvisational, applique quilt; embroidered 18 x 24 inches, 2018

click to view several small quiltlets from this assemblage quilt Travel Diary small quiltlets with embroidered and beaded photos printed on fabric assembled to tell story of my travels during this year 37 x 43 inches, 2015

Chicks embroidered and beaded, wool-felt applique; hand quilted my version of a Sue Spargo quilt 12 x 15 inches, 2015

Wedding Chicks embroidered and beaded, wool-felt applique; hand quilted original design, 7 x 5 inches, 2015

Grandma's Flower Garden hand-pieced, hand-quilted, traditional hexie quilt 72 x 92 inches, 2015

A Few of My Favorite Things - Rhododendrons, Mt. Baker, Summer Sunsets hand-pieced, hand-quilted, original, hexie quilt triptych 104 x 74 inches, 2019

Simply Peaceful hand-stitched applique, hand-quilted, hexie quilt 60 x 70 inches, 2018

Indigo Haiku hand-stitched applique, hand-quilted, hexie quilt Japanese fabrics, 40 x 45 inches, 2018

click to view details of embroidered animals Forest Friends mouse designs original, all other animal embroidery designs by Kathy Schmitz quilted with embroidery stitches 46 x 58 inches, 2020

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Water Color Paintings

I joined an on-line program called the Sketch Book Revival 2021, which offered 29 art lessons, including several in watercolor painting techniques. Because I'd never done any landscape, still life, or realistic painting or worked with watercolors, these lessons were somewhat daunting. However, it seems my experiences beading and painting decorative papers with acrylics, gave me a decent foundation for the new lessons. Below are some of the works I created during the Revival. I look forward to more watercolor painting in the future.

Landscape #1 watercolor, 9 x 6 inches, 2021

Landscape #2 watercolor, 9 x 6 inches, 2021

Great Horned Owl in the Snow watercolor, 6 x 9 inches, 2021

Color Study #3 watercolor, India ink, 5 x 7 inches, 2021

Pair of Pears still life, watercolor, 9 x 6 inches, 2021

Wreath watercolor, 4 x 5 inches, 2021

Wild Flowers watercolor, ink, 7.5 x 5.5 inches, 2021

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Bead Journal Project

What is the Bead Journal Project? An invitation to make a 1-year beading commitment. Journal, visually, with bead embroidery (and other types of beading). Started 2007. Still running in 2021! Create twelve beaded journal pieces, one per month for a year. Share your work (optional) on your website or blog, and/or on the BJP Facebook page. Guidelines for your work may change from year to year, and can be found on the Facebook page. Joining the Bead Journal Project Registration for the BJP is open all year around to anybody willing to make a commitment to follow the guidelines. To sign up, go to the BJP on Facebook and ask to become a member. My involvement with Bead Journal Project Inspired by the Quilt Journal Project, I started the BJP in 2007 and actively participated through 2013. The work I did each month is absolutely the most important, meaningful, and beautiful beadwork of my life; I treasure each piece because each is a marker of what what happening and how I felt about it at the time. In addition I (and many other participants) upped the challenge to ourselves each year by seeking to learn and apply new techniques and design ideas to our work. All of the participants, whatever their level of experience, were always supportive and encouraging of each other, making it the perfect atmosphere for growing both skills and confidence. Many have become lasting friends.

Home my BJP piece for October, 2012 It's Only Money my BJP piece for August, 2007

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Painting decorative papers with layers of acrylic paints

Recipe for fun: 3 or 4 tubes or jars of acrylic paint ~ luscious colors you adore. small foam paint roller. a few foam or rubber stamps. cardboard or plastic stencils. big sheets of drawing paper. To the right are some examples of papers I've painted. How can they be used? Sky's the limit: Use them for bookmaking, and as cover papers for small journals and booklets. Make cards, postcards, and fancy envelopes. Wrap special gifts with them. Sew beads on them. Cover boxes. Frame them. Add them to your collage art. Line your drawers with them. Sometimes you make a sheet of decorative paper so fabulous that you can't bring yourself to use it... You just like to have it around where you can look at it.

Layers of acrylic paint over gesso texture. Layers of acrylic paint, stamped, stenciled.

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The Book of Plenty
Hand made book using painted decorative papers

Below are some pictures of two books I made using some of the papers shown above. You can enjoy the colors and details much better in the enlarged versions by clicking below each picture.
click to enlarge The Book of Plenty Handmade book, painted papers 8" H x 5.5" W x 1.75" D	click to enlarge Mini Prayer Book Handmade book, painted papers 2.4" H x 2" W x .5" D
click to enlarge Mini Prayer Book and The Book of Plenty	click to enlarge Mini Prayer Book and The Book of Plenty
While the Book of Plenty contains a sampling of various types of decorative papers along with the "recipes" for how to make them, most of my hand made books are blank books for journaling. I also make miniature books to use as charms in my bead embroidery pieces. This section is currently under construction, with more book photos coming.

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