Thimbles 'n Stitches

finishes 2011....

2012-01-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

I guess I should have kept a list and made photos of quilts that I sarted, finished, or both...in 2011. I didn't. So I think that I'll just do this as I go and, in between talking about other things, squeeze in a quilt or two from last year. More and more, I've been piecing my quilt backs...in a style more like improv. This quilt is a little different. It's actually two sided...the back, an echo of the front, but with larger blocks and using a darker colors for the solid patches. I also used two solids rather than sticking to one as on its reverse. Here's a look at both sides.

The best seat in the house......

2012-01-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my favorite little corner of the world. Here's where I play with fabrics, colors and patterns...then figure out how to turn them into all kinds of quilty things. And some not so quilty. The wonderful Miss Janome and her walking foot helped me quilt that colorful bit of patchwork on the left just this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll make a pillow cover using that piece on the back.

And here's the front....two fronts really ....because I have two pillows in the works. I think that they're going to be a fun and colorful addition to the purple (yes, purple) love seat in my family room. The pattern for this scrap rainbow is from a terrific new book, Scrap Republic.

I'm looking forward to making some of the other quilts from this book too. This particular pattern takes the old, thrift based, scrap savers standby: string piecing, and gives it a fresh, new look. Using scraps that I can't bring myself to throw away also helps me feel less guilty about those days when I can't stand it anymore and have to stop a my local quilt shop for a browse....which always turns into a buy. The quilter's addiction....fabric. There should be a fabri-holics anonymous for those like me...who find that the lure of cotton-on-the-bolt is irresistible.

it's only been a year......?

2012-01-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

2011 came and went...and my little blog was silent. It's not that I had nothing to say...or to show. I just got busy with things...simple, everyday things that, at the time, didn't seem to require a narrative or photos. Just the normal stuff of living. But now I think that I want to dust off my keyboard and try it again...blogging, I mean. No promises. I have a new camera and have taken some pictures. In a day or three I'll download a few and do a little writing...a sort of digital show and tell. So 'bye for now. I'll be back soon.

Still Quilting After All These Years

2011-01-18T09:31:00.002-08:00

I'm back after a long silence. After my last post a lot of things happened. I think that I mentioned something about traveling to Turkey for the wedding of my husband's daughter, Autumn....well....we did go in mid-July. I fell ill almost as soon as we got to Istanbul...got through the next 10 days with lots of pain and fever reducers...and landed in the hospital a couple of days after returning home. There I stayed for a week. Then two more weeks of slow recovery at home until I got back on my feet again. That about describes my great travel adventure. It's the old story....something I ate. My husband ate the same things that I did and nothing happened. Anyway...I'm not in any hurry to leave the country again.

For the New Year....2011....how time does fly....I've resolved to stop making so much "art" to swap and start finishing...and of course, starting....projects to keep. As for the finishing....I completed a quilt that had been three years in the making (I'm such a procrastinator). It was originally supposed to be a baby quilt for my Granddaughter, Lily. It would up being this year's Christmas gift. It's not a very good photo, but it turned out to be a very cute quilt. And I'm going to count it as my first finish of the New Year.

I found another UFO (Unfinished Object) in a box on a shelf. This consisted of a couple of completed and one partial block for a quilt that I began a couple of years ago. A Sue Spargo pattern....Ginger Grove. I've managed to complete all of the applique and embroidery on ALL of the blocks. The next step is sewing them together, layering the quilt top, batting and backing.....and.....quilting the thing. But first (something that I couldn't resist) another quilt begged to be started. This one is from a Kim McLean pattern called Roseville Album. I'm working on the second of the 16"x16" blocks. It's another applique project. I love applique. It's something I can do while watching TV. Actually, I don't really watch TV...I sort of half-listen and look up occasionally to see what's on the screen. Anyway...here's a sampling of both of these quilts. I'll be very lucky to post the photos in the right place....they usually wind up at the top. Still haven't figured that one out. Oh, well.

Bye for now.

Just Doodling

2010-06-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I like to just take a Micron pen and a piece of drawing or watercolor paper and just play...see what, if anything, develops. So I doodled for a couple of hours today and up came this doodle-flower. I added a little color...simple black and white can be interesting...but my paper was not a bright white...sort of a light cream. From the beginning, this doodle wanted to be bright black and white with touches of grey....so it sort of decided that I should add some color to make it sing a little. So here's the result. I placed it on a piece of fun dotty, green paper that I thought would add a fun look....notice that it's the same paper that I used for yesterday's birthday card. I like this paper. I like dotty patterns...especially on bright backgrounds. So that's my big accomplishment for today....a doodle-flower on a dotty paper background. Some days just turn out that way too....a bit dotty.

So Here's the Final Version!

2010-06-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

.....And it's going into the mail today. I hope that Millie loves it as much as I loved making it for her. I hope that it makes her smile because it's been an especially difficult year for her. Well, it's off to the Post Office for me now. Then...back home. I need to finish a couple of unfinished art projects. My head is also full of ideas for new stuff. Art is my "drug" of choice. The more I do....the more I want and have to do. It's a good addiction.

Happy Birthday Millie

2010-06-07T20:51:00.001-07:00

My baby sister's 67th birthday is in about a week...so I decided to take advantage of all that I was learning about Digital Layering in Gail Schmidt's class and created a special card for the occasion. I found a battered black & white photo of my sister taken when she was about 1 or so. I restored the photo and colorized it...then sat her at the head of the table...a birthday party with a few friends (digital elements from Scrapbook Graphics). Every element in the collage...each cup, saucer, chair, etc...were placed on layers of their own...then manipulated, shaded, colored, etc. until they looked like they all belonged together. The hardest part was the old photo that I had to start with...I really had to work to get it to look natural. I couldn't have done it without layers...and a couple of my favorite toys: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and Corel Painter 11.

The Octopus and The Squid

2010-05-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Except for my original line drawings of Mr Octopus and Ms Squid...which I scanned and loaded into Photoshop Elements...the rest of this little under-sea frolic was made digitally on my computer. I'm beginning to collaborate with a machine!
I was introduced to computers rather late in life. Now, every time I sit down in front of my PC, I feel the magic. The computer opens a window to the world. I communicate, I learn, I dig for information, I send photos or even videos to one or a dozen people at the touch of a key. I share my art and thoughts with those who care to look at or read my blog. And now I use my computer as I would use a canvas and paint. I would sorely miss this wonderful tool if I couldn't have it. Oh, sure, I would still have real paint, real paper, pencils, inks, brushes, books, telephones, radios, TVs etc...but now that I've made friends with this new and ever more powerful tool (it boggles the mind when you realize just how quickly advances are being made) I wouldn't want to let go it go.

When I was a kid....Dick Tracy's wrist radio seemed like a fun idea but impossible. And going to the moon?......the stuff of science fiction. Well, the future got here at lightening speed, didn't it? I think that asking Scotty to "beam me up" will be something that I'll be able to do in my lifetime. Interesting to think about. It sure is!

Dreaming of Venice

2010-05-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

As usual....I'm taking several online workshops....at the same time. I've already talked about Pam Carriker's year long "365 Journal" workshop. Now I've also signed up for two of Gail Schmidt's Digital Art classes. All of these are at Creative Workshops.

After struggling and failing to understand how one goes about merging wonderful images into a unified whole...a piece of art created digitally...I decided that taking a class was the only way for me to go. So go I did. The Dreaming of Venice piece is my first successful piece of digital art. I'm beginning to understand how to manipulate and layer images. I'm using Photoshop Elements 8 to create art! It's a very powerful program that is not only for touching up and cropping photos...it's also a tool for art making. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of all that Elements can do. But I am going to learn. Not only because of the challenge of learning something new...but because it's a whole lot of fun. Art is Fun. Learning is Fun. Living is Fun....yes it is!

30 Years Ago - May 18, 1980

2010-05-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

It's not a great photo....but it sure brought back memories when I got it in an e-mail from my son, Chris this morning. The picture was taken from the deck of my home in Gresham, Oregon (south of the volcano)...probably at the time of a later eruption (there were several....and ongoing eruptions) of Mount St. Helens. I'm guessing that the ash plume in this picture is probably more steam than ash...because of its color. You can see what was left of the mountain (extreme left of the photo) looking more like a cloud caught on the distant hills, than a mountain.

I remember the day of the first, and most violent, eruption. The mountain had been threatening, with small plumes and puffs of steam and ash for weeks. There had been earthquakes on the mountain too...not big ones...but rumblings...occurring with greater and greater frequency in the weeks prior to the eruption. We were all aware that something big might happen. But no one, including geologists with the USGS, could predict with any certainty, what or when that something would occur.

I was standing at my kitchen window, looking out (I had the same view of the mountain from the window as from my deck where the photo was taken). I had my morning cup of coffee in my hand and I was talking to my Mom (in California) on the phone. I turned away from the window briefly, then turned toward it again. In the minute or two that my back was turned...the whole landscape had changed. All that I could say was "Oh my God!" Then I told my Mom what I was seeing. You've all seen photos and film footage of the eruption and its aftermath. Well...I saw it from my kitchen...and all I can tell you is that all the photos and film just don't compare to what it was to see the eruption in person. I can't even find words to describe what I saw and felt. It was everything at once.....Amazing. Unbelievable. Terrible. Fascinating. Even beautiful, in a strange way. I've never seen such force and power. Nature really put on a show...and I feel privileged to have been there to see it. And no...I never even thought of taking photos that morning or any other day during the mountain's most spectacular eruptions. I knew that there would be plenty of film used and shown...and I also knew that no picture that I could take would ever be as real to me as what I had actually seen.

I Am Who.

2010-05-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

I Am Who is the answer...at least on this journal page. The question : Who Am I ? Being Who is not at all strange. After all, Horton heard them...so they exist. And there you are. I strayed from the one-color scheme. I didn't set out to break that rule (month 2 of 365 Journal workshop)...but as soon as I had sketched her, she demanded color. That happens to me a lot. I start out with something in mind...a plan...and wind up with something completely different. I drew an exaggerated figure on purpose....because that was where my head was today (on a flight of fancy)...but then the drawing decided that being monochromatic was not in her future. So I went with the new plan. I usually have no choice. Things just happen. That's the way it was today. So here she is, minimalist palette and all...asking, almost whispering, "Who Am I ?" ....and answering her own question with: "I Am Who." I'm not going to try to figure out what the heck that means...it just is. Bye for now.

365 Journal Workshop

2010-05-03T16:27:00.001-07:00

I've been so busy with on-line workshops...learning about and doing art...that I haven't made time to write anything in my blog. So here I am again. Hello.

Today's picture is something I did this afternoon for my 365 Journal workshop taught by Pam Carriker. This is actually a technique for month 2 of this workshop. I made a couple of 2-page journal spreads for the 1st month of this course...you can see them on my Flickr site if you want.

The portrait class (Suzi Blu's) is coming along well. After I decided which of my drawings was going to be Elizabeth Tudor...I charged ahead to draw the young King Henry VIII. And before I could scan the drawing I attached him to my wood substrate and went to painting and collaging. Now that made him too big for my scanner....so once I finish the piece I'll have to take a digital photo (I always forget how to use the camera...so I'll need a how-to-use-the-camera lesson...again...it's a good thing that my husband is understanding and patient)....then I can download him (Henry) to the computer and display his royal highness in all his royal glory. There was a time...when still a young man...that Henry was really not bad looking. His fat and sloppy days came on later....after several marriages, lots of trouble with the church, a Pope, France, Spain, a revolt, a war, a plague, a jousting injury that wouldn't heal, and whatever else came down the pike to stress him out as King of England. I've been watching several seasons of the Tudor series that ran on Showtime. Interesting stuff....not unlike a soap opera in that there's plenty of intrigue, murder, adultery, heads rolling off the chopping block...but this soap opera will only last until after Henry has married and gotten rid of six wives and jumped into the sack (randy goat that he was) with more Ladies in Waiting than one can keep track of....yes, there are a lot of female breasts and male buttocks exposed in Showtime's version of The Tudors...but it's a cable channel (a pay cable channel at that)...so that's to be expected...I guess.

Anyway....I've finished watching season 3 and just have season 4 left. The costumes are beautiful. The characters are all gorgeous and have great teeth....and look like they actually bathed every day and didn't stink. The castles look quite comfortable...as if they had central heating and working ACs in Summer. Fleas and bad teeth weren't in the script.

So I've come to the end of this post...and all I have for show-and-tell is one journal page...and a paragraph or two about Tudor World. That's the way it is some days. Maybe I'll be more entertaining next time. And then maybe I won't.

The Growing Picture Gallery

2010-04-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Still working on this little faerie person. Eventually I'll paint in a background and add color to her hair. I have to leave her unfinished for now because I'm taking another on-line class from Suzi Blu....part 2 of the Goddess and Poet class. This one is called Piety and Passion...all about the Tudor Dynasty. Royalty, intrigue, love, hate, passion, murder....lots of material here. Our first work will be a 3/4 face portrait of Elizabeth Tudor...before she became Queen after the death of her father, Henry VIII (who excecuted her mother, Anne Bolyn, because she couldn't produce a male heir).
So here's one of the pencil drawings that I did for the Princess-who-became-Queen....now that's a story in itself. First, she was female....and second, she didn't have the right place in line to succeed Henry to the throne....it was just fate with an assist from couple or three deaths that put her there. Interesting....the whole Tudor Dynasty thing is interesting.

This is another of my pencil drawings that might wind up being my Elizabeth....I kind of favor the other because there is softness and youth (almost innocence) there....but I like the strength in this face. This is someone who, from very early childhood, learned to survive...she was in effect an exile and at one time was even imprisoned in that same Tower from which her mother was taken to be executed. This Elizabeth would have had courage. She was a great Queen...smart, wise, cunning......all that stuff. So I'm still thinking this all through. I've done a couple of other drawings that are not worth spending more time on. I won't throw them out because I learn something from every piece that I do.....but I won't show them either.

So there is the story of my last few days. Drawing, painting and long, painful sessions in the dentist's chair is how it's been for me. Oh...Dr. Ismail loved his Tooth Fairy painting. More about dental problems later....maybe. I know that I'll wind up with a beautiful smile and perfect teeth. It's only a matter of time....and some more construction work in my mouth. So far my teeth have been drilled, hammered, sawed and glued. I can only eat very, very soft foods right now because my mouth is filled with temporary teeth that look OK (except last week, when I looked like the white rabbit) but don't chew well at all. But I know....that soon....my smile will be gorgeous...and I'll be able to eat real meat with my great, new porcelain teeth. Soon. Soon. Yup....soon.

Dr. Ismail's Tooth Fairy

2010-03-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that I haven't written anything in my blog for about 2 weeks....I have a good excuse (of course). About three days after my Art & Soul experience I came down with a horrible head cold...my first in a long, long time. I'd almost forgotten how mushy my brain gets when I am sick...there's no hope for anything resembling rational thought...just little jumbles of
pictures and words that dissolve almost as quickly as they appear. I always feel as if my brain melts when I have a cold. It's not a runny nose that I get...it's brain melt. Almost two weeks of brain melt, disposed of on hundreds of squares of Kleenex and Puffs tissues. I'm all better now so it's time to get writing and doing stuff again.

I just finished this 12x16" mixed media piece I call Dr. Ismail's Tooth Fairy. She's going to be a gift to my wonderful dentist who is in the process of reconstructing my entire mouth. I've been very hard on my teeth, what with grinding and clenching. Wound up with TMJ....first my jaws started to hurt....then, with every movement, it seems...I would hear pop...pop....pop....pop. I could feel the pops too. Over the years my pearly whites changed from pearly to a sickly yellow...and, due to the grinding and clenching...they started to wear away and crack and shift. For years I haven't smiled a toothy smile in a photo....it was hardly worth it because my teeth had been ground down to ugly little nubbins with sharp, serrated edges. It's not a pretty picture. Well, all that is changing. I've been wearing, what Dr. Ismail calls a splint...kind of a retainer...to correct my bite and stop the jaw popping TMJ. Not too long ago I had to be fitted for a new splint....because, while eating my lunch one day (the only time that I was supposed to remove the thing)...one of my dogs managed to get hold of it (I still don't know how that happened) and next thing I know....he's chewing my expensive retainer into little plastic pieces. And he seemed to be enjoying himself too! I felt like a little kid having to call and tell the Dr. that the dog had eaten my splint. The Dr. didn't scold me (he had apparently heard quite a few"the dog ate it" stories)...he simply made me a new one (just as expensive as the first). Next week the real work starts....my mouth is going to become a construction zone...or re-construction zone. When done...I'll have a gorgeous smile. The sexiest smile an almost-70-year-old ever had. And you can bet that I'll be showing those teeth off in every photo that's taken of me from then on!

Back to the painting: My scanner couldn't scan the whole 12x16 inch size of the painting....and I still have one more thing to do before I can call it finished: I have to attach the TOOTH! I carved a golden molar out of polymer clay....that tooth, along with its own tiny wings, is going to live in the Tooth Fairy's hair. Then, I'll probably take a photo and post a picture of the entire painting.....with fewer words. I realize that, because this is My Blog, I can write as much or as little as I wish.....but then you, as reader, don't have to read what I've written. So I guess that's fair. I wish you all a wonderful St. Patrick's Day and rest of the week.

xoxo

More Art & Soul 2010, Las Vegas, NV

2010-02-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here's an example of the kind of papers we created for our art journals in Carla Sonheim's workshop on 02-24-2010. It's hard to believe that all of this beautiful, textured paper started out as simple pieces of junk mail...envelopes, advertising flyers, etc. The binder rings are temporary...I'll eventually replace the rings with beaded ribbon or twine...something much more interesting than plain old binder rings. My little book is now ready for the addition of art and journaling. The scans don't really show how beautiful the color and texture really is. Yes, hiding behind one of the pages you see what looks like a face. That was an advertisement for Las Vegas Ballet Company's Nutcracker before Christmas. I left some of the Nutcracker's face exposed for interest on that page. I noticed that he was peeking out from behind the pages I was scanning...there are lots of surprises like that on these pages. It was easy, fun, and resulted in what you see here. It was a great class!

Art & Soul

2010-02-27T14:23:00.000-08:00

This week I spent two wonderful, inspiring days in workshops at the Art & Soul Retreat. Art & Soul has been an annual happening in Portland, Oregon for
about 10 years. It got started there at about the same time I moved to Las Vegas. And for all of those years I have wanted to go, but one thing or another had always come up. Some months ago I discovered that Art & Soul was expanding and in 2010 the workshops were going to be given, not only in Portland but in Las Vegas and one or two additional locations. The minute that I read: Las Vegas!!!!....I got to my computer and signed up for two days of workshops....and, of course two days of shopping at the vendors who would tempt me with wonderful arty things that I just couldn't live without. Quite a better deal than the casinos around here offer. At Art & Soul you always come out winners. Learn a lot, buy a lot, and come away enriched and inspired.

Well...February finally came and on the 23rd I spent the whole day learning about encaustic painting and collage. What you see above (or wherever the pictures land once I publish/post this bit of writing) is the result of my day at the Encaustic painting workshop...the brochure called the class "Dreams in Wax". And it was just that...a wonderful and productive dream-of-a-day. The piece of the woman with blue hair was a combination of collage and my drawing of her face in pencil and acrylic on paper...the whole on a painted wood substrate. The other piece was done in pencil, acrylic paints, found images (ink jet prints) on a painted/stained wood substrate. I am just amazed at the depth of color that the final application of wax brings out. I loved the process...which was completely new to me...and I love the result. I'm definitely going to frame and hang both paintings. I'm just amazed at what I was able to do.

On the second day, the 24th, I made a journal out of junk mail. The instructor was Carla Sonheim who was wonderful to work with. She showed us some painting techniques that I had once thought impossible...to make beautiful paper out of plain old junk mail....envelopes, advertising flyers, etc....and then how to bind these odd sized pages to create a journal in which to write, paint, collage, or whatever else one might want to do. I may never throw another piece of junk mail away. I'll just transform the junk into art. I'll have to take a photo or scan some pages to show you....but right now the dogs are getting restless...the dog park (and their dog-friends) await our arrival.

Not a Face in the Crowd...Almost

2010-02-20T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well...it's another day. I was rummaging through the chaos that I call my 'Art Room' when I came across two collages that I made a couple of years ago when I was just making the transition from doing all watercolor and ink paintings to collage. For some reason, I found them much more interesting now than when I first made them. The colors are juicy....I love when colors burst out of a page and jangle and clang against one another. And both paintings say something (at least to me they do...they didn't when I made them and that's probably why they ended up in my Box of Odds & Ends). Others might disagree with me...and that's OK. ......"eye of the beholder" and all. But that said...I'm pretty pleased with them. Pleased enough that I might just have to frame and hang them. And there you are. The only face in these is 1. a clock and 2. the little jester on the card in the second painting....and I don't think that either really counts. So, no faces today....just color and pattern and color and color. Ciao for now.

Another Day...Another Face

2010-02-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

Today I painted a dark skinned woman. I really struggled with getting the skin tone natural looking and not cloudy or muddy. I was trying to paint a woman with beautiful skin and large, gorgeous eyes....and I think that I might have done OK. I did a painting a few months ago where

my subject had a darker complexion....but that was by accident. It just happened. This portrait was deliberate. I had to really think about what I was doing. Several times I almost gave up...but, being stubborn, I knew that this was something I had to do. And...for it being my first time...I think that I did pretty well. I'm happy with the result. But I know that I'll do better next time. I'm convinced that to paint well, to draw well, even to plaster walls well....practice is the key. And practice is what I'll be doing. So I'll be boring all who read my little Blog with more paintings and more babble about playing with paints, crayons, mediums, pencils, etc. etc. It's good to be a kid again.

....A Certain Family Resemblance.

2010-02-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

If I seem to be working in a series....I am. Not only do these paintings have similar backgrounds and floral collages but they have "a certain family resemblance"...they're, in a way, all sisters. Except for minor changes, they all began as the same pencil drawing. Even if they didn't have that in common...they would have probably resembled one another anyway. I've noticed that the more faces I paint, the more they look alike...especially if I'm working in color. I guess that's because they're all "born" of the same painter's hand. They came out of my imagination rather than being life portraits. This is my interesting-discovery-of-the-day.

I'm been happy with my artist-self lately. The more I paint, the more I've learned about painting and using a wide variety of media. There have been many ah-ha! moments. And I've become a lot more willing to experiment. My fear of "what if" is disappearing. This is all good. Of course, the house is a bit dustier and there are a few more dishes in the sink...but, for now, it's been a good trade-off. I'm so very fortunate to have a loving sweetie of a husband who encourages my art and is willing, not only to overlook dust and dishes, but who also pitches in to help whenever he can. It's no wonder that I love him. Oh....and he bakes some of the most delicious bread that I've ever eaten.

Well....that's all for today. I think that I'll go and put some dishes in the dishwasher. I'll play with my paints later. Bye to y'all.

And The Faces Just Keep On a-Comin'

2010-02-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well....you can see that I've been keeping myself busy. I'm in two on-line workshops now! So now...there's double the homework. The pictures you see above, I painted yesterday and today for Sharon Tomlinson's class. They're little...only 6 x 6 each. It's hard to believe that I used my exact same pencil drawing of the face to come up with two such opposites. One, a demure and shy young lady...and the second, The Painted Lady of Bourbon Street...that's what I've named her. Could it have been the influence of the New Orleans Saints win in yesterday's Superbowl game that came to life in my red-head. Or was it the mischievous little being that sometimes just takes charge of my paint-pots and pencils? I'll never figure it out. But just seeing them side by side....what a Hoot! And I did have a good time painting the Belle of Bourbon Street.

#3

2010-02-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

Took a day off yesterday....from portraits....so that I could catch up with other art projects on which I'm working. What I really should have done is clean house...dust at the very least. But the urge to play with my paints and pencils was just too strong to resist. So the dusting still waits to be done....as does dancing with my vacuum cleaner. As Scarlett O'Hara says in Gone with the Wind....Fiddle-dee-dee, tomorrow is another day. I better get dinner on the stove though...and soon....because Rhett Butler will come through that door any minute now. Bye!

Yes, Another One!

2010-02-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Sat dowm this morning...just after I posted the previous entry ...and didn't get up again until Portrait #2 was done. There's something about doing art....I lose all sense of time. Tomorrow I must get to work on another project...a tiny journal in the style of Teesha Moore that several of us are doing as a round robin in one of my groups. The fun never stops! On Friday I start another online class with an artist whose work I really love...she paints such compelling portraits...Sharon Tomlinson. I found her work by sheer accident when her last name caught my attention on one of my journeys through cyber-space. I went to school with three sisters whose last name was Tomlinson....I'm talking 50+ years ago! None of them were named Sharon....but, as I said, the name really brought back lots of school-girl memories. So on Friday....another class! More art! Are you sick of me yet? I warn you....more's on the way. I'll be silent tomorrow....so you'll get a well deserved break from my blogging.

COLOR!

2010-02-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

Week 2 of Willowing's class...and I get to play with my paint pots again. The technique that she uses is completely different than what I learned with SuziBlu. I'm learning how to make color and shade by combining water media that I never thought was combinable (I'm not sure that's a real word). I just never thought that one could mix watercolor anything with acrylic paints. I do know that acrylics are a type of water color...but thought that once they were dry...nothing except ink, or graphite could live happily on top of it. Was I ever wrong! I'm using acrylics with watersoluble crayons and pencils...and everything seems to be blending happily. For me: an eye-opener. And here's my first attempt. I'm happy with how she turned out.

Portrait #4 Week 1

2010-01-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hi...y'all getting bored yet? Well, this class runs for six weeks and you'll probably be seeing

many more faces before it's over. Next week we do full face again...but this time we'll be painting onto our drawing. Subsequent weeks will have us drawing and painting and (later) adding collage to our work. So far, I'm pretty pleased with how it's going...for me and for everone else in the class (we're up to 81 now...and growing). Then, in late February, I'll be boring you with stories of my adventures in wonderland at Art and Soul...here in Las Vegas for the first time. Yes...and I'll be posting more artwork from that. So Exciting...I can hardly stay on an even keel even with the thought of being able to attend, much less doing two all-day workshops. That's all I have to say for now. Time for bed soon...I'm starting to yawn.

Another Class Begins

2010-01-25T21:58:00.001-08:00

Fabulous Faces....that's what the new workshop is called. First session (PDF & Video) was up today...so, of course, I watched and read, took a few notes on materials, and started drawing. I haven't done many faces lately because I've been doing MailArt and trades with a couple of other groups to which I belong...so I've gotten a little rusty. The first attempt was OK...not great, but OK. I think that I got more graphite on my hands and fingers than I did on the paper. I had to really wash my hands before I could even begin to erase all of the smudges on the paper. For #2 I decided that I'd get a better result if I used better quality paper and got control of my pencil-work. None of this starting with a heavy hand and a 2B graphite crayon right off the bat. I started with a very light touch and built up the layers of shading....and I'm pretty happy with the result. Off to bed now. Tomorrow: more drawing, dentist appt., and more drawing. There's no way to be unhappy when you're making art. I'm convinced that art and music heal the soul and bring you to a peaceful place in this chaotic world. Got a little philosophical there, didn't I? Well...G'night all.

And The Pen Just Keeps Filling Squares

2010-01-22T22:20:00.000-08:00

Here are my Daily Drawing Pages....as far as I've gotten, anyway. Tomorrow hasn't happened yet so what you see here is through today. Makes sense? Every day I seem to be able to come up with something new...all to amuse myself. Hey, one day someone might thumb through this little book and try to figure out what it's meaning or purpose was. I can save them the trouble and tell them right now that the only purpose it has is to keep me drawing. And as far as meaning...I can explain every 3x3 square...but to figure out what they all mean...even I can't tell you that.

Doin' What Comes Naturally

2010-01-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

I've often wondered why, when I make art, I can't seem to settle on a certain style of art that says ME. I guess I'ts probably a good thing that I do what I feel at any given moment. I've started a Daily Drawing Pages ...which is quite cartoon like. I saw something like it in Teesha Moore's Blog...she calls hers Daily Drawing Diary...and her divisions are bigger than the 3x3 size which I chose for mine....takes less time to fill a 3x3 square. It's all in black ink on white drawing paper and even though it tells about my day...I don't know how clear my telling of the day's events (or the day's most important event)will be to the viewer. The main goal is to draw...daily...and if I don't get going, I'll be working on today's and tomorrow's....tomorrow. So that might be something to draw about. Procrastination. Then there's the piece in the middle...a kind of a dreamy, girly piece that I did recently...in a kind of dreamy, girly style. Who is the real me? Probably all of them and then some. Confusion usually reigns supreme in my mind. And surprisingly, I'm quite comfortable with that. ......and just take a look at's what below Dream-Girl here.....

Saved the 'best' (?) for last...... I made a piece of MailArt today that is almost Dali-esque...I don't even understand from where in my head it came. Will the real me please stand up?

A Little MailArt

2010-01-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

Been keeping busy today creating a little MailArt that will be off tomorrow. One is going to Canada and the other to Japan...both in envelopes that I made by hand from an old map and scrapbooking paper. Mail is so much more fun to get when the envelope says something besides To: and From:

I haven't decided which of these are going where yet. That decision will have to wait until morning.

We had the most beautiful sunset here today....the sky turned all salmon and turquoise and lit up the inside of the house with a kind of magical, rosy glow....WOW! is all I have to say about that. Ain't life grand? And then there are those occasional sunsets or sunrises or flowers that bloom unexpectedly...or even something like noticing the beautiful, liquid gold color in the dog's eyes...which, in Mopsy's case could be a clear, sparkly blue...and life suddenly gets grander.

Hey! It's 2010!

2010-01-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here we go again! A new year! I refuse to make any resolutions....because I never seem to be able to stick to them. I'm looking forward to the year ahead...lots of exciting happenings for me. First...there's a new on-line art class that I've signed up for. Portraits again...but this one is being taught by Tam LaPorte..."Willowing and Artist Friends" is the NING site. She's teaching the how-to's of full face, 3/4 face and face in profile. Should be a great class! Another exciting happening for me....I'm signed up for two workshops at "Art and Soul"! To get to A & S has been a dream of mine for years. At one time the event was only in Portland, OR. This year it's come to Las Vegas! As soon as I found out about it....I had my little Pay-Pal thing ready to go. So, in February I'll be in an all day Encaustic Painting workshop...and, on the following day, all day...an Junk/Art Journal class. Basically it's using junk-mail as a substrate for art journal pages.....my gesso is ready to go! More exciting stuff....our little piece of land in the deep North woods now has it's very own well! Soon there will be a pump, etc, etc,...and maybe, before long....a real house! In the meantime...the cabin is getting more and more comfortable at two rooms, sleeping loft, wonderful wood burning stove and....a huge covered porch on which to sit and dream. Cool! Also exciting....and almost beyond my imagination...is that we'll be going to Turkey for a wedding in the summer! For someone who's hardly ever gone anywhere....to travel to places like Istanbul and Ankara (where the wedding is going to be) is blowing out the circuits in my brain. Just the thought of it gets my imagination spinning. I think this is going to be a memorable year....and isn't anticipation a thrill-and-a-half ? If I have any resolutions at all for this or any other year.....it's that I make the most of every moment of my life. I wish this for all who read this.....take joy in living. There's beauty to be found everywhere...you just have to open your heart. Talk to you all later. xoxo

Cock-a-doodle-2

2009-12-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

So I've made another artistamp. This may not come as a surprize...or thrill you as much as it does me. But, hey, it doesn't take much to make me happy. A completed art project (even a mini-art project like this one) will almost always do it. Let me play with my paper, pencils, paint, ephemera and computer and I'll happily stay occupied for hours. Sometimes I go right through the day without noticing the time or that I was or wasn't hungry. Kind of obsessive I am...when I'm working at what I love best....making art. And I'm happiest when I make art.

Today I'm going to make a few pieces of mail-art...so I can have something ready to send to other mail-art people after the holidays. Then I have to set time aside to re-organize and majorly clean up my messy art spaces (they seem to have sprung up all over the house)....and I feel the need to make some art for myself....something bigger than stamps or mail art....something that will maybe hang on a wall or sit on a shelf. Not all of this will get done today. But it will get done. Yes, it will.

To Get Mail.....You Must Send Mail

2009-12-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

To get mail, send mail.....that's the Mail Artist's mantra. And to think that I almost forgot to tell you that in my earlier post. Besides, I wanted to show you another of my MailArt postcards....and a few of my Artistamps. The one above is first in a series of stamps I've been working on. Issued by The Camel Islands (a tiny grouping of five islands in the Dromedary Archipelago)...(Hey, they're my pretend stamps!...I can do pretend countries too!)

This is the first in a series of stamps issued under my very own name (the Greek version) that honors humble household vessels.

This issue is from another of my little kingdoms, Apiary Island, the home to myriad beautiful insects and ruled by Queen Bee. Maybe I should refer to it as a queendom.

And this, of course, is Queen Bee. And wonderful creatures they are indeed.....aerodynamically not at all suited for flight; they DO! Which just goes to show you that nothing is impossible. Bees fly because they believe they can. Now I've just given you a meme to think about and incorporate in your deepest self. Or not. Your choice.

And this is a postcard. This is the non-minimalist version. I my previous post I showed the minimalist version...which I mailed to a wonderful artist in Japan.

Still Here...still making art & stuff.

2009-12-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hello! In case you thought that I might have dropped off the side of a mountain...I want to assure you that I'm back and still making stuff. My latest passion is MailArt.

I Joined the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA) a couple of months ago so now I'm doing mixed media pieces that I send out as postcards. I'm also creating Artistamps (Faux Postage) with which to decorate my postcard pieces...or envelopes (if whatever I've made would fall apart unless enclosed).

So far I've limited myself to postcards....they,re a lot less expensive to mail. And, yes, even though I make "phony postage stamps"...I do affix the real thing to where it's supposed to be affixed: the upper right-hand corner. Did you know that postage for mailing a postard to Japan, Australia or Russia is $0.98? I found that the USPS provides a handy-dandy list of weights, sizes, prices, etc. for just about any kind of mail....and on-line too! I love my computer!

Most of the mail we find in our 'real' mailboxes these days consists of junk, junk, more junk, and maybe a few bills (very few, we hope). We communicate by emailing, texting, twittering or phoning....and a lot of of that is in code-speak (you know....LOL, DH, etc.).

Remember how you felt the last time your mailbox contained a real letter from a friend, a postcard from someone on vacation....written in the senders own hand, doodled hearts or stars...whatever...in the margins??? That's what MailArt is all about....sending and getting mail from all over the world...and....more than that, you send and receive little offerings of your creative self. It's taking the time to make something, send it away, and imagining what the reaction to your little piece of mail will be. And it's also opening your mailbox and finding more than junk and bills. It's more than fun....I think that it brings something more human into this digital world in which now live. My pictures are of four cards that I sent out the other day. Happy landings!

The Last Peep

2009-10-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

I've just finished the last of the Bird People for the swap in which I'm participating. Onward and forward...I guess. I still have two more half-hearts to make for the Heart Journal swap and then I'm on my own. I want to get back to painting for a while with no deadlines. Probably not for long though because every time that I get on the computer to see what's happening in my art groups...I find something that I just have to jump in to. Sometimes it's a workshop and sometimes it's a swap or other kind of project....but they always seem irresistible. That's all for now. Bye.

More Peeps

2009-10-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Two more Bird-Peeps for the swap. I'm having fun creating these characters...but one more, and I'll be done. I may just make two....and keep one for myself. Once the swap is complete I'll have five of these little birds from five different artists...and, of course mine too. I'm thinking of making a front and back covers for the set and making a tiny book to keep them together. I have a gizmo with which I can make a spiral binding. That's all. Talk to y'all later.

Bird Peeps

2009-10-13T17:23:00.001-07:00

Well here we are again...this time, as I told you in my last post, doing Bird Peeps. My first two are more of the Quack or Honk variety...but they are birds anyway...Birds in Fancy Dress. I had a heck of a time getting started. I think that I got to overthinking the project and temporarily fried my brain. But after a totally wasted day...and some thought about what I was doing that made my day so frustrating...I decided that I had sabotaged my work before I even started it. I curled up in my favorite chair with all 5 dogs either next to or on top of me and tried to work on a clipboard. Today I moved my work to a table and got a couple of these bird-ladies finished. I also managed to get the background work done for about 4 more. I may get this wrapped up in a day or two. Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!

Busy...busy...busy....

2009-10-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

Over the last week or so I've been concentrating on getting pages drawn-collaged-painted-etc. for a heart journal page swap. Although I've made a lot of ATC sized (2 1/2 x 3 1/2) art in the past....I've been working on larger works lately. This swap is forcing me to work small again...and it's a challenge...but fun too. The rules are to do the front and back sides of a half-heart page....4" long and 2 1/4" at the widest part of the heart. Each participant has chosen a theme....so every half-heart page you make is different. You can also make a front and back cover for your little art journal. I only have two hearts to do...and I'm done! My theme is "Time for Tea"...and my front and back covers are all ready to go. You can see my heart pages on Flickr. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdsong89130/ Well...got to get busy finishing up the hearts. My next challenge is making Bird People (or Bird Peeps)....I can't wait to get started. (Bird Peeps look like birds dressed up as people) It's a 5/5 swap with no limit to the number of participants. If you send 5 of your pieces...you'll get 5 back...each by a different artist. Time is a ticking....got to go.

La Flora

2009-09-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest mixed media painting. She's on wood. This is the first time that I've tried to paint a darker skin tone...and I think that I might have done something right...because I'm really pleased with the result. The on-line workshops that I've been taking are really paying off...I'm much more comfortable with the process of drawing, collage, under-painting, etc.
La Flora is 12x12....about 4" of the painting (to the right of the figure) is cut off due to the limitations of my scanner. I know that I should use a camera...but it's so much easier and faster just to scan stuff. xoxo

My New Pink Dress

2009-09-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

I am finishing up some little Petite Doll paintings that I sketched during the time I was taking SuziBlu's class. This one is painted on a 6x8 canvas panel. The flowers are hand carved stamps that I made a couple of nights ago while watching TV. I have two additional paintings on the same kind of substrate that I want to finish...and then I think that I'll play around with doing paintings on small canvases (6x6 and 6x8) which are stretched over frames that are 1 3/8" thick. I think that it would be fun to run the painting right over the edge of the canvas. The pieces wouldn't even have to be framed because they'd have a finished profile. Yesterday I went to my favorite art supply store...Dick Blick...and found that they were having their annual 50% off canvas sale...so I bought what I came for (a bottle of white acrylic ink and a kneaded eraser)...and then added a supply of canvases too.

I'm taking another on-line portrait class...this time it's straight acrylic paints...and learning how to work with values. It's being taught by Jane DesRosier...she does wonderful paintings. Love her work. I took a textures class from her earlier in the year. What I find so exciting is that as I'm learning...and practicing (that's the key here, I think)...I can see my work improving. Well...that's all for today. I'm going to do some pencil sketching, play with the dogs, and cook up a little dinner.

Another Petite Doll

2009-09-01T09:31:00.001-07:00

Just one more little doll to add to my collection. These are so much fun to do (except the one that has the boy & girl on it....I've re-done that one three times since publishing them in this blog...and I still don't like the result...so-o-o-o I think that I'll just paint them out and do something else on that 6 x 12 board). So that's that!

SuziBlu is going to do a "Goddess & Poet Part II" portrait class in December. I'm going to sign up as soon as she opens the sign-ups. We're hoping that she'll teach 3/4 and profile views of the face...I'd prefer 3/4 because there's so much more mystery in a partially turned face (I think). Whatever....I'll be looking forward to it.

Gypsy Goddess

2009-08-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is my last mixed media piece for the Goddess and Poet workshop. My Gypsy Goddess. I'm really going to miss that class...although I still have a couple of weeks (or maybe just one) left for Petite Dolls and I just started a journal writing workshop...I'm still going to miss sharing and getting feedback on the work. I know that I'll keep doing mixed media paintings...I love working with everything but the kitchen sink. And I love doing art.

Petite Dolls

2009-08-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

Taking another class from SuziBlu on-line. This one is Petite Dolls. Three lessons so far...and having so much fun creating these little doll people. It's a completely different kind of face than I've been doing...so my first attempts really looked like space aliens...but then I discovered that if I made a slight change to the eyes...which really means doing it my way...I got a face that looked like a doll and not an alien. Here are three of my finished pieces.

My Latest Mixed Media Piece

2009-08-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

This started out as a graphite pencil drawing on white paper. Then I glued it to a wood substrate and used acrylic paint, ink, graphite and colored pencils, oil pastels, in many layers with at least three layers of clear gesso in between layers to give the surface some tooth in order to allow the layering of the various media. It also has collage and molding paste added for additional texture.

It's Getting Easier

2009-08-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

I posted the mostly un-colored version of this piece on July 22nd. Now that I've messed around with it for a few hours...here it is again...the finished painting. I like the way it turned out. I'm learning so much in this on-line class that I'm taking...never knew that I could do what I'm now doing. On Saturday, another of the workshops for which I signed up got started. So I'd better hustle and work on the drawings for that class....already behind on my homework.

Just Add Color

2009-08-01T01:25:00.000-07:00

Remember a week ago (Friday, July 24th to be exact) I posted the beginnings of a portrait that I called The Girl With the Wild Hair? She's back. This time in color and with embellishments. In one week she went from a delicate little pretty to Princess? Maybe. Goddess?...probably. Colorful?...most certainly! During the process of her conversion I learned a lot about working in a journal and using acrylic paints over colored pencil and on an Italian paper with which I had no experiance. What a trip! Tomorrow I'm working on another 2-page spread. Same journal. We'll see what happens.

An Artist's Work is Never Done

2009-07-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Before week three of my class begins...tomorrow...I thought that I would just do two more of my pretties in the Moleskine Journal (butter fantastico!) Yesterday I used plain white sketchpaper to do the one on the bottom. Sometimes these ladies just ask for white paper...it's the pale, etherial ones that seem to crave white.

Part Two...Week Two

2009-07-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

This is my 2-page, girl-with-the-wild-hair, drawing. I've forgotten if we're supposed to paint the hair on our journal goddesses or if we're supposed to leave the painting of hair, backgrounds, etc. until next week. The brain is first to go, I hear. I might just have to watch the week 2 videos again for the answers. I wouldn't hurt me a bit if I watched the videos again...watching Suzi do a drawing and hearing her explain what she's doing and why she's doing it will just help me in the long run. OK...so I'll watch the videos again.
XOXO

Just Playing Around

2009-07-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Decided to practice a little on my shading...so I used plain white sketchbook paper. I probably should have used my wonderful cream colored, buttery Molskine sketchbook...it takes graphite and colored pencil so well and is such a pleasure to use when drawing. Oh well...live 'n learn. It was a good exercise anyway.

Color!!! Love Color!!!

2009-07-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

This week's workshop uses what was presented and practiced last week but adds color to the mix. I'm finally working in the beautiful creamy butter colored Moleskine sketch book. I love the way the paper takes the pencil and the soft effects that are possible by light applications of even pale colors. These pages have a way to go before they're finished. Suzi says that we'll be working on the eyes and backgrounds next week. This week is for faces...and subtlety. So far I think that I'm pleased with what I've drawn. I'm way more than pleased with the improvement in my ability to draw a face. This was a Woo-Hoo!!!!! day for me. Woo-Hoo!!!!

More Bald Goddesses and an Art Deco Princess

2009-07-21T09:55:00.001-07:00

I'm spending the better part of each day drawing. Who needs housework when one has ART!!! I think that I'm just bursting with excitement about

having learned this new and wonderful thing. I finally understand how to draw a face!

It all starts with some basic math....and a ruler. The weird thing is that once I understood the proportions of a face (that's the math part) and how to draw a face map (just like a street map...except this one helps you find where the eyes, nose and mouth usually live)...the rest just fell into place. Like magic....except it helps if you've practiced drawing eyes, noses, lips, gray scales and spheres first. My bald goddesses will eventually have something like hair on their heads...maybe not hair...but something. Tomorrow is class #2. Color.

2009-07-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yes...she's bald. I plan to paint over her with clear gesso and glue her down on a different substrate....maybe wood. Then I can add whatever I want to her head with paint or collage....hair, a beret, a wreath of flowers, even grass.....kind of like a chia-pet.

2009-07-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here's my first portrait using the method which I'm learning in my on-line class. I know that with each portrait that I draw...it's going to get easier and I'll do a better job. Next week I think that we're going to start adding color. I'm really enjoying this.

Practice...practice...practice!!!

2009-07-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

There you see my first homework assignments in...oh....30 years or so. I did these for my Goddess and the Poet drawing class. On the left is my gray scale and sphere...on the right, noses, eyes and lips. This afternoon I'm going to work on putting these together...and putting what I've learned so far...to draw a face or two. I'm 68 and am just now learning to draw what I always thought was an impossible stretch for me....faces. Suzi's a wonder...think that I'll start an I Luv Suzi-Blu fan club. The first thing that she teaches is that you've got to get rid of the notion of "I can't". I CAN!!!!! I think that I picked up this gem on her website: As long as you're breathing and above ground...you can! Well...that's all that I have to say today. XOXO

Another Drawing?

2009-07-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well...here I am again. And here's my latest practice face. The class (for which I'm practicing) starts on Wednesday. I can't wait. It's called: The Goddess and the Poet. We'll be learning how to make stylistic/realistic faces and poetry in our art journals. I've just been playing around with an art journal for some time now...but in a more whimsical style than what I'll be doing for this class. I've been using bright colors...wild patterns...lots of black and white borders or accents. This class presents a challenge because the style will be much more subtle than what I do now. The instructor (this is an on-line class) is Suzi-Blu....and if you've ever seen her work, been to her website or seen any of her You-Tube videos...you'll know how terrific she is...both as an artist and teacher. Many of her videos are free of charge...so check her out. You'll love her. Click on the little Suzi-Blu box at the left of the screen...it will connect you. I know that I'll be taking other classes from her.....why don't you join me?(and about a hundred other people) I've never met her in person but already think of her as the kind of friend I'd love to have. Enough already with the blogging. As the class progresses I'll be posting my stuff for all to see....and, if you want, comments are OK too.

Practice doesn't make Perfect....just makes Better

2009-07-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well here she is: The Girl with the Giraffe Neck!!! Can you believe that I actually meant for her to have a long neck? I did....yes I did. Why. I'm not drawing to make realistic portraits...I'm going for highly stylized drawings of non-existant females. These are imaginary people...and I'm the artist...so I'll do as I please. And this little lady just cried out for a long neck and a tiny head. Who knows, she might wind up as a character in one of my mixed media paintings. Anyway...I drew her yesterday afternoon. She's #3 in my rogues gallery of faces...and, in her case, necks.
The portrait on the top, I'm quite pleased with. I'll definately use her in another piece. I like her simplicity of line...the way that her hair is just suggested, her gaze (which to me looks a little bit dreamy...like her thoughts are somewhere far away), and the tilt of her head. I worked on her late last night...which tells me that maybe my drawings are better when I don't overthink them.
Well...that's all for now. Tonight, when it's a little cooler outside (remember that I live in Las Vegas) we're taking the fur babies to the dog park. They really love to have that social time with other dogs. Sniff other dogs and each others rear ends...pee on as many trees and clumps of grass as they can...drink lots of water...and pee some more. Communication. Humans leave post-it notes...dogs pee.
That's life.

One a Day

2009-07-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

My goal is to make a piece of art every day. Here I'm posting another sketch. It's of no one in particular...just an exercize in drawing faces. I love doing little pieces of work like this...I'm using a sketchpad that't only about 5 x 8 inches...a small, white sheet of sketchpad paper is not as intimidating as a large blank canvas. And it's only an exercize....a practice piece. I don't have to show it to the world, or put it on my blog...but I think it helps me with my confidance. Maybe it will encourage someone else to bring their work out of the closet. Being a secret artist is safe but unfulfilling. So I'm going to show you my art...good or bad. You can comment or not. That's all I wanted to blog about today. Maybe I'll go work in my art journal...paint a few backgrounds or draw a few borders. And have a little afternoon snack....there are some delicious grapes in the kitchen. Yoo-Hoo!...little grapes....here I come!

Just Sketching

2009-07-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today I thought that I'd practice a little face drawing in my little sketch pad. I'm going to be taking an on-line class which, I think, begins on the 15th of July. The class is called: Godesses and Poets. It's all about drawing a more realistic, though stylized, female face....and adding some poetic language to the journal page. I'm excited about learning more about how to draw. Up to now, I've been working in my art journal but doing faces which are more in the catagory of 'cute doll'. I don't think that you can learn art without actually doing art....lots and lots of art. And now I know that I can't label my art as good or bad....it's mine, that's all. There's a lesson in every mark on every page. And I guess that's about all for now....except....that I became a Great Grandmother on the 1st of July!!!! And he is beautiful. His name is Armando Jay. Now that was a good day to write about, wasn't it?

The Circus Comes to Town and OTHER STUFF!!!

2009-07-01T08:49:00.001-07:00

Painted a little circus piece while I was half-watching TV last night.You might ask, "Why fish?".....your guess is a good as mine. They just seemed to need to swim through. So there they are.
As far as the other stuff is concerned: I was just adding bubbles to my fish when the phone rang....it was my daughter telling me that I am about to become a GREAT Grandma! Of course...that will make my daughter a Grandmother. Where does the time go????!! The birthing process is moving along this morning...it looks as if Baby Armando Nicholas (we know that it's a boy) will be getting his first look at the world some time today...The First of July...2009. Now I've REALLY got to get busy and finish that quilt!!!

The Good Witch Glenda

2009-06-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

This is another page from my little Art Journal.....I started doodling again....it all seems to start with a doodle....and then my thoughts and my drawing seemed to go to witches...good and bad. Good are best, of course...and the best good witch I know is Glenda.

Whenever I think about the movie 'Wizard of Oz' I always remember how I felt when the screen went from the familiar black and white to TECHNICOLOR!!! I remember the collective gasp from the audience. It was the mid 1940s and most of us had never seen a color movie...or those dreaded flying monkeys that made me hide my face in my hands and just peek at the screen through a crack between my fingers. Quite wonderful, it was. Movie Magic

The Art Journal

2009-06-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again...but this time with a couple of pages that I just did in my Art Journal. You'll notice that there are very few words and lots of color and stuff...that's why it's called an Art Journal, I guess. On the top...the one I call Canary Fandango....is my version of what happens when you have a male canary and add a sweet little female to keep him company. In our case three eggs happened....and then three chicks...and then a much larger canary "condo" to house them all. The Dad's and Mom's names are Twitter and Tweet. I keep referring to the little ones as Huey, Duey & Louie...but I think that only one is actually a male: the one that sings. And sing he does...Wow is all I can say about his singing. It's pretty impressive to say the least...he trills, yodels, and chirps while balancing on the little swing at the top of their Canary Condo.

The page with the two little girls/females/women (take your pick) is how I feel about my sister. Neither of us is as young as I pictured...except in our hearts and heads. I'm a short & chubby brunette and she is taller, much thinner and a blonde...but hey, I can take artistic license and show me with purple hair and her with orange....and....get away with it. Cause I can use any color that I want when I play with my paints, pencils and crayons. So that's that. Except to say that I once upon a time about 40 years ago had a dress exactly like the one that I dressed my "cute self"...on the left...yes, the one with purple hair...in. (isn't that the worst sentence...gramatically...that ever was?) I made that dress on my little Singer...and it looked exactly like that...except that the red dots were actually red strawberries with little green tops. It's funny how things...way out of the past...come back to you from their storage compartment somewhere in the brain. Things that existed once but were forgotten (so you thought). I only noticed it (the dress) hours after I had completed the drawing. I wonder what else I might have stored in the deep recesses of my good old brain. More pictures could unveil more memories. Interesting thought. But enough for now. Blog at y'all later.

A Little More Carving

2009-06-25T13:28:00.001-07:00

Well, here I am again. Carved a carrot yesterday. This might just become one of a series of vegatable stamps that I make. Who knows, I may just wind up with a giant rubber salad. No carving today...at least none as of now (1:30 pm Pacific Time)...I think that I'll try working on my Art Journal. I always have plenty of stuff that I want to draw and paint...I don't always have a lot to say. I might have whatever it is that I draw be a prompt for my writing. I know for sure that I'll be able to squeeze out a word or three....just take this blog, for instance....I'm writing a lot but have said very little. When I was about 12 I decided that I needed to have a diary (now it's called a journal...makes it sound more important somehow). I was overjoyed when I got a diary for Christmas. Decided that the 1st of January was going to be the day when I started writing about my daily doings. On New Year's Day I opened my wonderful, new diary...and on the first page wrote: Dear Diary....and that, was about the extent of it. I think that I was intimidated by the blank page followed by just a whole lot of other blank pages...and gave up right there and then. I would have probably written a lot of stupid stuff....but it would have been fun for me to read later...like now. It would have been fun to see who that 12 yr old girl was back then. As it is...I can't remember a thing about what I did or thought about then. Sad, isn't it? But a good reason to try again...without the "Dear Diary" part.

A Little Carving

2009-06-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

I did a little carving last night while watching TV. I love the look that hand carved stamps give to a piece of work...card, collage, or painting. I especially like the little wispy lines that appear around an image because of not carving deeply enough in spots. These images show the finished stamp and the first proof. I did just a tiny bit (a teeny, tiny bit) of clean-up carving after the first proof.

I recently visited one of my favorite art stores...Dick Blick...and bought several sheets of their 1/4" thick rubber, which carves like butter and is as easy to work with as the way more expensive brand name carving blocks. I usually carve just on one side of the 1/4" stuff. When I do buy the brand name rubber (1/2") I usually use all flat surfaces for carving. Thinking with the cheap side of my brain here.

Bye for now.

2009-06-14T18:53:00.001-07:00

Haven't been around lately.

2009-06-14T17:55:00.001-07:00

Well...it's been about a month since my last post. That's because 1st: I was getting ready to go on vacation...2nd: I went on vacation...and 3rd: I came back from vacation. I announced my joy to my journal on May 1 when I drew this silly little picture of me all excited about leaving on the 15th. Between the 1st and 15th I did a lot of thinking and reading about cabins, log houses, and what to do with our existing one-room cabin (12x16...propane stove and heat, dry sink, ice chest cooler and sleeping loft)...the best part being the 8x16 covered porch and the pair of rocking chairs that we set out there to watch the sun go down. So I day dreamed a lot...and just before we left I decided to picture the cabin in collage. There it is, porch and all, on a heavily wooded lot in North-Central Washington. The drive from Las Vegas to our cabin is something in the neighborhood of 1200 miles! We take all five dogs and our cranky, old parrot (who has, during every one of our three trips there, turned into a sweet old thing...during both long, long, long, long, car rides and for our entire vacation...go figure...when at home, she's a screechy, demanding, evil-green-thing...and on vacation, she's an entirely changed bird. Just a luv.) This spring we managed a three week stay at the cabin...and...hired carpenters to build a second room onto the cabin....it's now double the original size....and so is that even more wonderful porch. At 32x8, we have room on the porch for several more rocking chairs. Our little cabin has even sprouted a smoke stack....that connects to a new wood stove! I feel like I'm living the dream. The cabin has been joined by a couple of friends....a nice big storage shed and a tool shed for my husband. A regular compound, we have there. We'll have a well drilled in October....and maybe....just maybe....get a start on our little retirement-cottage-in-the-woods. I get excited thinking about it....and then worry when thoughts about the economy and housing market creep in. Oh, well. In the movie, "Field of Dreams", our hero says something like: "If you build it, they will come"....I figure that I'll just take a lesson from him.....maybe if I dream it (really, really hard) it will happen. We'll make it happen. Our vacation wasn't without it's adventures....the third entry in my journal (top-center) explains all.

A Time for Angels

2009-05-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

Lately I seem to have angels on the mind. Winged and halo'd forms are tailor made for collage...so many possibilities. But I'm, at least for the time being, turning my angel fixation off. I still want to paint beings of some sort...not necessarily beautiful beings, but with elaborate (heavily patterned) and abstract collaged garments , head coverings and backgrounds. No halos. No wings....unless oversized, kimono-like, sleeves can be translated as wings. I'm excited about creating my own papers for collage using a technique I learned from a couple of workshop videos. I'm creating a series of hand-cut rubber stamps and stencils for this project....and using tissue paper for collage and something more substantial as the ground. Until now, I've been tearing or cutting pre-printed scrapbook paper into the bits for collage. I guess that I'm taking a leap into the unknown....a whole new direction. I think that I may have lost my fear of calling what I do art...and calling myself an artist. Finally! I'm going up to my Washington retreat for three weeks of peace & quiet....some good Zen time. When I get back I'll be stamping, stenciling and painting. Can't wait to see what happens.

2009-04-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

On the left is a little watercolor & ink painting that I did for the card I sent to my grandson, Noah, for his 9th birthday. I can't believe how the years are just flying by.... yesterday I saw him being born and today he's 9!...on April 15th...Tax day. Now that's a memorable day to be born!

I'm still painting and doing almost no needlework. I tend to work in spurts...first I'll pick up a needle and then put it down in favor of a paintbrush. Lately the brush has been winning. Painting is where I get to gear up my imagination and transfer what my brain conjures up onto paper, canvas, wood or whatever. Needlework is, admittedly, more relaxing...I almost always stitch what someone else designed...maybe with changes in color...but still not quite all mine. I do more of my own design work in quilting/applique. But it's all me, a surface on which to work, and whatever I'm using (brush, pen, pencil, etc.) when I make art....or make a mess. It's kinda scary sometimes. But once in a while I come up with something that I like. The lady on the right is one of those. I like what I did. I'm happy with the color. I think that she's a keeper. And she almost drew herself...which is a new experience for me. I'm usually grunting and groaning and erasing and groaning some more when I draw. This one was different. I didn't even have a problem with giving her a face....that's really new for me. I've been practicing...but faces have always been near impossible. Maybe all that practice is finally paying off. Do you suppose?

2009-04-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here I am again...and with another little watercolor to show. I'm practicing how to do faces. At this rate...I might never get to hands or bodies...but that's OK...I can leave that part to the imagination of the viewer. In fact...maybe if I fill the painting with lots of pattern and color....just maybe...no one will notice. Anyway...I kind of like the way this little painting turned out. She looks a little wistful and a little sad...but at least her eyes, nose and mouth seem to be in pretty much the right place on her head. That's no small victory.

Our poor little Pooper Dog still seems a little under the weather...I'm wondering if maybe she's had a little stroke. She's eating well, drinking her water, and going outside to do all of the things that dogs are supposed to do when they're outside (unless, of course, they've already done it inside). Pooper just doesn't seem to want to move. Acts as if even the smallest footstool is much to high for her...and when she sits (waiting for someone to come along, pick her up, and place her in her favorite chair) she sits like an Eeore....head lowered, back hunched, and tail tucked in like she's carrying the sadness of the world on her shoulders. Makes me sad just thinking about it. She doesn't seem in pain...she just seems faded somehow. We're taking her to the Vet tomorrow...maybe he can figure it all out. We're giving her lots of love and tummy rubs and hope that whatever is ailing her gets all better soon.

Blue Kimono....and no doves today!

2009-04-08T17:42:00.001-07:00

Well...here I am again today. Did another watercolor...I'll have to stitch after dinner today. Besides my paint pots I was trying to play nurse to my little miniature dachshund, Pooper (yes, that's really her name). She's 13 yrs. old now....and getting a little dotty...but she is such a sweet, lovey little dog...and I hate it when she seems sick. I have a feeling it's just her old bones creaking....I gave her an anti-inflammatory that we got at the Vet's office. She seemed a little better after a while. She's eating and drinking....but just seems to want to cuddle and sleep. That's OK with me...I'll give her lots of love and tummy rubs....and hope that she's back to her normal self again soon.

I'm happy to report that no doves entered the premises today....so I had no dove catching or feather picking-up to do today. Hooray!!!

Girl in the Red Dress

2009-04-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just have to get my inks, watercolors and paper out and have some play time. Actually, almost everything that I do can count as play time...except for dishes, of course, and vaccuuming. I just spent about 20 minutes trying to catch a dove that flew into the house. Success! First I had to get the dogs outside...the other day (thank goodness John was at home) three doves (yes 3) all flew into or were chased into the house through the open patio door. Dogs + birds = chaos. We herded the dogs into our bedroom and went about trying to collect the panicy doves. Found one in the living room trying to catch its breath on the ottoman. Towels are indispensible for bird catching. We breathed a sigh of relief when we released it into the wild...and it flew away as fast as its little wings could flap. #2 wasn't as fortunate. We found it...behind the couch...and minus a tail. (The tail feathers were in the kitchen where the excited pack-o-dogs had plucked them)....another maneuver with a towel and that one was given it's freedom. Surprisingly, it too flew off into the wild blue yonder and out of our yard. The third wasn't as lucky. At first we couldn't find it. Then we heard a commotion in our bedroom. John and I looked at each other with horror and just about bashed in the door while yelling NO!!! during the entire run down the hall. We went in....and there was Kujo and company surrounding an almost dead dove...feathers all over the place. It was a sad and sorry sight. John had to dispatch the poor dove to end its suffering as quickly as possible....and I spent the next half hour picking up bird feathers. The dogs looked quite proud of themselves for the rest of the day. We were sad...the dogs were happy....and such is life, I guess

Art is Fun.....!!! My Two Cents Worth

2009-03-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

a few of my ATCs

(Which are now living in a box...in the closet)

Once upon a time....well maybe I should say: Not once but almost always and almost upon everytime....I go off track. The result of a cluttered brain. I have a compulsion to learn and to try something new and something else...again...and again....and.....well, you get the idea.

In the beginning there was needlepoint....I made a case for my glasses (which I've since lost...the case, not the glasses) and a bargello pillow. That pillow was the end of my journey into needlepoint. I realized that I could go out and buy a piece of upholstery fabric that looked exactly like my needlepoint and it wouldn't attract moths...like the project to which I had given many hours of my life. While my bargello was hiding in a closet...it was, except for the canvas, devoured!!! Scraped clean of those tiny, woolen stitches.

Then...my mom gave me her watercolors (she liked oils better)....and I was off again. I painted and painted and then packed all of the paintings and paints into a box...and into a closet (there's something about my relationship to closets that might be interesting to explore some day). Twenty years later I found that box and had four of the paintings framed (decided that they weren't too bad after all...and they hadn't been touched by moths!).

I made a quick trip into embroidery...then decided that I needed a bigger canvas. I explored quilting. True, about it being a bigger canvas....but it also (as what doesn't?) takes a lot of time....and room. Have you ever tried to prepare a king-size quilt top for the actual quilting? The only space large enough for this process was the living room floor. My dog, Mishka (I only lived with one at that time...but he was a BIG, 100-pound, dog) and my cat, Weird ol' Willie (just take my word for it...he was) loved that part of the process. They offered themselves up as quilt sitters. I could coax Willie off of almost anything with an empty carboard box....but Mish was happiest when he sat on my quilts. I had to pin around him. He loved to help.

Cross stitch was next. Then I took up quilting again...(Mish) had taken up residence in Dog Heaven by then....and....I had purchased a very large cutting table on which to work. I made pieced quilts, then applique, then crazy (quilts...not me...not yet). Discovered that, as much as I love making quilt tops I tend to put off quilting them. Which means that I have a pretty good collection of tops and very few finished quilts.

The next adventure was in Paper. On tiny bits of cardstock or watercolor paper...2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch bits...I made ATCs (Artist Trading Cards)...hundreds of them. I even managed to trade bunches of them with other makers of ATCs. I have a huge collection....in a box....in the closet.

Such is the sad story of my creative life.I'm again heavily into Cross Stitch...but also have the urge to journal (this blog is kind of a journal, I guess) and to make ATCs and maybe even do some quilting. What I once did one-at-a-time....I can now try doing it all.

Some of it takes time....but I've got time. I'm retired!

Love Bees! Love Dogs!

2009-03-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I've thimbled and stitched through another little project....this one measures 5"x5". It's from a book by Sheena Rogers...'Mini Cushions in Cross Stitch'. It's going to become a nice, fat pincushion!

As I sit writing this blog entry, the 5 'kids' are having adventures of their own. Heard a thump a bit ago. It seemed to interest the whole pack...so, of course they went off to investigate. Nothing happens around here without immediate investigation of the thump, the squeak, meow or chirp...any sound, in fact, usual or unusual...that occurs within ear shot (theirs, not mine) in this house. The Four-legged Doggie Detective Agency is always on the job. The chief of this little band is, of course, Mopsy Blue-eye (only one of her eyes is blue...and when viewed in the right light her face takes on the slightly sinister look of a pirate).

Today's investigation was rewarded with (now this is sad) the still-warm corpse of a Mourning Dove that, having cooed its last coo, promptly smashed, head first, into a plate glass, sliding door.

Suddenly, from the family room, came menacing growls...the kind that say: this is MINE....YOU TOUCH--YOU DIE!!!! I quickly decided that death threats take priority over blogs and went to investigate. There was Mopsy, surrounded by the other four dogs, spitting her warnings at them and jealously guarding her trophy.....inside the house, of course, and with dove feathers strewn like rose petals on the family room rug. Since I'm a lot bigger than the 5-pound Mopsy and (sometimes) have more authority...I managed to take the poor, dead dove away from her. The dove now rests in a shroud of plastic grocery bag. Until trash day on Thursday its coffin will have to be the large, Rubbermaid, garbage can...in the garage.

It's funny how quickly dogs can find other amusement. Mopsy is now contentedly chewing up a pine cone...which I'll have to vacuum off of the family room (that poor family room again) rug when she tires of this new game.

Xs & Other Stuff

2009-02-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

My collection of done (X-stitch) stuff...so far...includes 20 Santas, 10 birdies (all Prairie Schooler.......Miss Mary Mack (La-D-Da) and Anna's Bird (The Goode Huswife). Works in progress? I'm on the 7th block of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow (Carriage House) and have stitched a bit of the upper left hand corner on a Moira Blackburn Sampler: Growing Like a Tree. I'll not bore you with photos of my ATCs, painted furniture, carvings, quilts, or mosaics..........yet.

A Second Cuppa Koffee

2009-02-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

Having had a restless night, it may be a stretch to think that I'll be able to write anything that makes any sense to the reader. I find it peculiar that I always make perfect sense to myself...in my head...but by the time my thoughts become text things seem to become quite garbley. Well, garbley or not...my compulsion to write has overcome any embarrassment that I might feel at exposing my blog as the product of a messy mind......so......here 'goes. And here's where that second cuppa-koffee comes in handy.

Today, I thought that I'd show you some of what I do that keeps me just on the safe side of sane. One must not only fill the hours of ones life with stuff to do...it is certain to look better (to others) if some of the stuff has value. When I worked at the bank (it's better if I keep this 'bank' part generic...because there might come a day when, after another restless night, I might want to rant about banking) my 'value' was measured by the size and regularity of my salary...well, maybe just by the regularity. Now, it's not salary...but stuff produced...that validates my existence. And I do a lot of stuff. Most of questionable value, I admit (just like the ol' salary), but none the less a validation. Samplers often bear the motto: When this you see, remember me. I guess it's why I do what I do...so I'll be remembered...at least until after the garage sale.

Sitting & Stitching & Watching the Economy Tank

2009-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's good to have something to do with my hands (besides biting my fingernails) while everything around me slides deeper into recession. It is just for times like these that I collected my stash in the first place.....what I call my Just-in-Case stuff. It makes things harder to move...even to find, sometimes. But I'm never without something to do...keep those hands busy, I say...I say (yes, I meant to say that twice :). Sewing machine, lots of thread, needles, thimbles, a roomful of storage cabinets for my huge collection of fabric, art supplies, cross-stitch supplies, mosaic tiles & glass, cutters, carvers, grinders, books (to read and to learn from), etc. etc. etc. I am a 'stuff-to- do' collector and my DH (a practical kind of guy) is the 'food-for-hard-times' collector. Buckets of wheat, beans, freeze dried meals etc...I could go on....and on....and on....and.....on.

In a couple or three years....if times is still tuff...and even if times is not so tuff....we can retire and run off to our cabin in the mountains of Washington state...where I can make quilts, stitch, carve, paint, tile anything that doesn't move and enjoy the music of wind in the trees...and DH can split logs, grind wheat, bake bread. shovel snow, and build stuff (he's thinking of stuff like root cellars and geodesic domes). We'll keep a couple or four laying hens...and maybe a goat or two. The dogs will happily flush rabbits and pheasants and act like country dogs act.

It's a great day-dream, isn't it? Kind of like Little-House-on-the-Prairie meets Green Acres. Co-o-o-o-o-o-l !!!

The Fur Babies

2009-02-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

Only two of the five amigos shared my bed last night. The other three seemed content enough to curl up in their kennels next to the bed. Baxter (L) and Angus (2nd from top) kept me warm and the other three: Archie (3rd), Mopsy (top) and Pooper (shown exploring with Mopsy) slept in their own cozy spaces. I could hear little Pooper snoring soft, little snores before I even got into bed.

It Must Be Love

2009-02-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

DH is scheduled for classes on Mon and Tue...in Redlands, CA. So he rented a car and drove there from here (Las Vegas)...stop and go the whole way. What was to be about a 3+ hr drive turned into a 6 1/2 hr ordeal. He finally called me from his hotel. Exhausted but safe.

Every time he has to be away from home for something or other I realize again just how much I love and miss him. I know that it's just for two nights this trip...but it's like being half of a whole. I guess that's what being soul mates is. When together some kind of something happens that allows our two halves to become more than just a whole. The bud becomes the flower. (isn't that the most cornball thing to say. or what?!...he brings out the weird in me sometimes.) I love our marriage...and I love saying it...and I guess I will happily anticipate his call tomorrow. Tonight...it's just me and the 5 dogs...and I might just let them all sleep with me in the bed.

Lots of X's...no O's

2009-02-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

Love doing counted cross stitch...it's sort of Zen. Meditating on the X...pretty soon the bit becomes part of the whole. Neat, huh? And I don't have to think about anything while doing this....just the X. Not (completely) mindless....almost never boring...and, like the steady, resonant sound of the hall clock's pendulum....a great reliever of stress. If more people did cross stitch....there would be fewer wars. Just a great, smiling mass of humanity focused on......The X. At peace.

2009!

2009-02-13T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here it is.....another year (a little late in getting started on mine). Another leaf turned....well maybe another leaf turned. One year is about as good as another for turning leaves...resolving unresolved resolutions....especially if one is just starting their year in February...the middle of February, at that. Anyway, here it is.