Passing it on!

I had a treat earlier this week when I learned that Janet Bottomley, a quilter and teacher from the UK, has nominated me for the Liebster Award, a kind of moveable feast in the low end of the blog world.  The idea is to give a little appreciation to smaller blogs (those with fewer than 300 followers) that you particularly enjoy.  (I believe that it started in Germany, hence the name, which means "favorite.")

So first, my thanks to Janet, who blogs about her quilts and her studies for the City and Guilds continuing education program.  I think it's marvelous that the internet makes it possible to have friends on other continents, and that we so often realize how much we have in common with people so far away geographically but so close in terms of everything important.

But now the hard part -- who will I pass this honor along to?  I have many blogs that I read religiously, often to the detriment of actually going into my studio to make art.  It was hard to choose just three.

First on my list has to be Thru Linda's Eyes, in which Linda McLaughlin posts a photograph every day.  First, because that's the blog I read first every morning when I sit down at the computer.  I've written about how Linda has been a role model for my own similar project and how I suspect we are twins separated at birth. 

Second is Margaret Cooter, another Brit, whose blog I have become addicted to in the last six months or so.  Margaret has been particularly prolific and productive since she enrolled in a course on book arts.  As a typophile myself I have loved watching the nifty projects she's making when she's not doing fiber art or photography.

Third is Terry Jarrard-Dimond, whom I have the pleasure of knowing because like me, she is a repeat offender at Nancy Crow's classes.  Terry has written extensively about her experiments with surface design, complete with tutorials that have inspired lots of readers to try flour resist and other exotic techniques.  But I really love her thoughts on art in general, and her insights gleaned from many decades in the art world (I'm always jealous of people who went to art school the first time around and have been doing it for their whole careers, in contrast to latecomers like myself).

I could suggest many more blogs worthy of honor but I'll stick with the rules for now.  Thanks, Janet, and my thanks also to Linda, Margaret and Terry who have given me so many hours of good reading and thinking.