Dot Dot Dash

In Dot Dot Dash, I set out to explore visual rhythms. We know that I love stripes. Turns out, I love dots too.

I had so many fun fabrics to choose from. Some donated to the Community First! Quilters, some I purchased myself. In particular, I've been in love with this Dottie Jean Jacket print by Rashida Coleman-Hale for Cotton + Steel.

Does it get any better than strip-piecing?

So much fun to quilt this thing!

Aah, texture.

On the back: cream-colored flannel, and a variegated blue thread.

Along one edge, Community First! is spelled out in Morse code, using buttons. Light buttons for dashes, dark buttons for dots.

Dot Dot Dash was donated to the Community First! village, an innovative housing solution in Austin, TX.

Learn more about Mobile Loaves & FishesWhat is the Community First! Village?Contribute your quilting skills to the Community First! Quilters

Piece of Pie

Piece of Pie is a quilt completed in 2016 for an expert pie-baker (and her new baby).

I love improvisational curves! There's so much room to make mistakes.

Banana-shaped free-motion quilting to go with the upcycled sock monkey bedsheets.

Quilting lines, seen from the back.

The seal of approval.

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Cheers! Martini: Head Clog II

Martini: Head Clog II. Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee. $1,080 For purchase inquiries, contact Cerulean Gallery at 214.564.1199.

This post first appeared on my Patreon page.

I would like to thank the fine folks at Cerulean Gallery for hosting my paintings these last few weeks; I’m honored to be working with you. I would also like to thank my Patreon patrons for your ongoing support – you guys are the best!

Martini: Head Clog II (Detail view 1). Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee.

Remember that first head-clogging Martini? Here's round two.

About the Glitch Series

In the Glitch series, I use vibrant acrylic paintings to reimagine traditional still lifes for the digital age. My recent compositions combine tempting, succulent foods with "glitches" painted directly onto the canvas. An avocado is interrupted by the irregular curves of a cracked screen. The natural beauty of an heirloom tomato is marred by low-resolution errors and broken pixels.

Historically, still life paintings are windows onto impossibly perfect worlds. This illusion of perfection continues into our daily lives on the Internet, as we live from one Insta-worthy moment to another. Why not use the flaws of online technology to break into that illusion?

Martini: Head Clog II (Detail view 2). Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee.

Thanks to everyone who came to see the show!

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672 Tiny Paintings

Sushi Leftovers Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 18 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee. $910 For purchase inquiries, contact Cerulean Gallery at 214.564.1199 or caroline@theceruleangallery.com. UPDATE: SOLD

This post first appeared on my Patreon page. Join today for all the goodies!

How did I complete 672 tiny paintings?

One at a time.

I'm loving the grid these days. We're old friends. It's a beautiful device, bringing order out of chaos, or merely giving chaos something to lean against.

I often use a grid for making a preliminary pencil drawing on a canvas. It saves me a lot of time, and it's easy to cover up with subsequent layers of paint. The fun starts when I decide to let some or all of the grid be part of the final image.

In the case of Sushi Leftovers, I created a much smaller grid than normal. This is an 18" x 18" canvas broken down into three-quarter-inch squares. 24 squares times 24 is 576. But wait, where are the other 96 tiny paintings? Answer: I always paint my edges. That's four more groups of 24 for a grand total of 672.

I thought based on my experience that breaking one complicated image down into a bunch of smaller, simpler ones might make things easier. Not in this case! But this series is all about the play between digital imagery and traditional painting. So the squares became pixels. Some of the pixels are functioning normally. Others are ...broken.

Enjoy!

Sushi Leftovers will be part of the On Edge exhibition at Cerulean Gallery, 16 September - 28 October 2016.

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Lap Work

Lap Work. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches, 2016 by Sarah Atlee. $895 For purchase inquiries, contact Cerulean Gallery at 214.564.1199 or caroline@theceruleangallery.com.

Note: This entry first appeared on my Patreon page. Join to see the newest news and receive art rewards!

What is this a painting of?

Well, it's my lap. My lap while I was working on hand-binding a quilt. See the pins? Can you spot the needle and thread? That's the back of the quilt I was finishing.

The burgundy in the upper left is my yoga pants'ed leg. (I'm wearing those pants right now. How about that?) Below that, the hem of a sundress. The lower portion of the painting is dominated by my 100% cotton, Fair Trade, hand-woven-in-Guatemala apron. (Thanks, Mom!)

Did I paint all those little squiggles by hand? You bet I did. Here's a close-up:

I'm very pleased with how this painting turned out. Some of them just come out right on the first try - this is one of those.

Coming Soon

Lap Work will be in my next major exhibition at Cerulean Gallery (Amarillo, Texas) which opens on September 16, 2016. I'd love to see you there!