Birds, Roses, Bridges, Wood Cuts and Pickles...What a Week!

These are cucumbers from my garden...this is another project I'm going to work on this week..pickling cucumbers....Wed or Thurs the first batch should be the right size to pick and pickle and I'm gathering all the supplies tomorrow on the way home from bowling...easy recipe, not too much fuss in prep and the final product. I love dill pickles, so that's what I'm making in abundance...now everyone will know what they are getting for Christmas!!!!!!!!!



My late husband was an aritst and this stack of wood cuts have been collecting dust in the garage...it hit me like a rock the other day...why aren't I using them...why not try rubbings and/or block prints over pieces of fabric to see what can be created from the outcome....so, they are now out of the garage and stacked on one of my desks in the studio...I'm thinking I'll do some rubbings first to see what they actually look like once printed as everything is in reverse...my first husband was a very creative artist, but his work was toward the dark side at times and some of these just might be to "dark" in content for me as I'm not from that side of the world. But whatever they are, they will be exquisite as the blocks are magnificant as they are pieces of art as they appear. Should be fun and I'm curious at the outcome.

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And this is a piece I'm now sewing on the surface...I took a photo of the Golden Gate bridge, added the lettering in photoshop and printed it onto organza which was then fused onto another fabric with the large blotches on it that show through and add a different look to the overall surface design....NOW I'm sewing each area to enhance and shadow the original piece. I love to use my needle on the machine like a pencil or pen to add to the overall picture.




And this is the beginnings of one of my pieces I'll submit for Arts Visalia CFA exhibit coming up in October...I created the green background by sandwiching green netting and different colors of tensel, sewing through the water soluble plastic with metallic threads, washing away the plastic and now I have a new piece of fabric to work on...the plan is to create three to four green woven bases that a separate rose will sit upon each base...all will be mounted against a black background inside a long shadow box frame...theme being "layer upon layer". Now the cutting and weaving begins before I create the roses/leaves to attach to the base.





Well, the birds are cut from their muslin nest and are waiting to fly onto their background for permanent placement...I think this is the background piece I'm going to use..I'll add limbs and leaves and the birds will be sitting/chatting - "tweet".
At least that's the plan today.

Going to the Birds

I'm creating a new piece of work and as you can see, the subject matter is BIRDS...I really like birds and have been wanting to do something like this for quite a while..finally just said to self....do it! So, now I'm fusing pieces of fabic together and creating a bunch of birds that will be cut individually and placed on the surface design as a collection of birds. The first birds are Robin Redbreasts..my sisters name is Robin and we always teased her about being a bird.



Here's just one of the meadowlarks...she's screeching about something for sure....this is one of seven that's I'm put together.




These birds are finch...I'll be making more of these in different colors as finch do come in many different and a variety of colors.




This is the chicadee....that's what I have nicknamed my granddaughter Rachel...she's always been my Chic-a-Dee...like a little birdie.




And finally my blue birds....that are blue for sure..might have to make some more in different shades of blue as these are quite strong and might clash with the background.....which I haven't even thought about yet....I'm just having fun creating the birds. Birds are such lovely creatures...they sing in the morning, snooze during the day and search for bugs and seed just before the sun sets...and the large swarms of birds are so wonderful to watch...if you have the time, take the time and watch some birds today.

Down and Out in Sacramento

I have been "down and out" in Sacramento since last weekend....each day my cough and what I thought was sinus turned out to be a full fledged sinus infection and cough and dread...yes, dread...I felt like hell to tell the truth...and on top of this, my hubby was ill also and we all know how "men" are when they are sick....lordy, some attention please. The doc took pictures of his chest and thought he saw the beginning of what "might" be pheumonia and you would have through my husband was headed toward the grave. He still is a little over the top dramatic about it while I cough and hack up everything under the sun. He finished his meds way before me...I still have one day left of antibees..but I will say I'm feeling like my ole self again...I haven't ventured out into my studio for over a week...I couldn't find it for all the stuff in my head...fever, chills, cough, cough, cough...stuffy head and it's still a little stuffy...the cough is smaller but still there...thank god for Vick's...I've got the vaporizer on, I've been cooking vicks on the stovetop and vending myself over the pot, I even did an experiment where my sister in law said to lather it on the bottom on my feet, put socks on and I should be able to sleep the night through without coughing......didn't work...all I got was stinky hot feet..I actually found this on the internet also. I have been known to get these types of infections, but had been doing very well for over a year and a half of not having anything like a cold, flu, etc...and then "pow"...it got me. I ran out of my probiotics and lacked at getting them replaced and here I am in the middle of being sick again......each day I'm better, so I know I'm on the mend...I'd just like to not have to cough for a while...my throat is a mess and my rib muscles are very sore from the constant coughing spells. All I know is I'm giving my hubby an award for the best drama in a documentary role....when the chips are down and you aren't feeling well, you'd like to have someone baby you a bit...didn't happen on my home front and now I know...when the big chips are down and I have something serious, I'm going to have to look elsewhere for help!!!

Hydrangas, Graduations and more

Another graduation ceremony this morning for my 11 year old grand-daughter Rachel, graduating from 6th grade into middle school. And all the girls looks so grown up and the all the boys "didn't". Times never change, even from when I was that age.
This graduation ceremony was shorter and quicker which was appreciated by all, especially those of us who had to stand through the entire program. What happened to when a man offered a woman a chair, especially an older woman or a woman with a small child...it's gone!!! It was interesting standing at the back of the cafeteria with my son and his wife on one side of me and Rachels Mom standing on the other...this divorce was not civil and was not and continues to be not a happy thing.
Old wife still wants to control my son and it's like being around two pit bulls...best they stay as far apart as possible.

Hubby's been ill all week...doc took x-rays yesterday and found possible signs of pneumonia, so he's on antibotics and an in-haler and already I'm seeing a difference plus he gave him some new meds as he suspects the side/rib pain to be spasic colon, so he's got another bevy of meds to add to the already growing pharmacy we have on our kitchen counter.

Been working on a few new things this week, but nothing solid or completed..seem to be jumping from one thing to another not progressing much on anything...need to settle down and get to work.

Finished "The Sun Also Rises" by Hemingway last night...interesting story for the period of time it was written...I'll have to read more of his work to form a more concrete opinion.

Back in the studio this morning as the weather is perfect for my studio time...the summer heat has NOT made it's way into our valley yet, which is a good thing and we're all happy its been so pleasant and we're all hoping for a nice cool summer. Dream on ole gal, dream on.

Always Be Prepared

Here's my latest coil pot...."Be Prepared".....I created the coiled pot, then started to paint it and that went crazy..counldn't make it work the way I envisioned so I got fed up and painted it a bronze color...and then decided to embellish with the gold safey pins. Because of the layers of paint on the surface, it was like pushing the pins through leather..my hands suffered front this exercise for sure.
Anyway, it's complete...definitely "unexpected" and that's what I wanted.

Attended a CFA Critique session this past Wednesday at the home/studio of Margie McWilliams in Woodland, Ca....she does all her dying down in the cellar of her old victorian home and that's where we met....we only had a few pieces to critique and then we had a mini workshop in wet felting. For some reason I'm not really into this latest felting faze....I guess because I just haven't seen anything that felted that get's my interest up...but I participated and now I really know I'm not interested....Need way too much in supplies, it's messy and the results aren't always the greatest....We did flat and we created felted balls....now that was easy, quick and after we put them in the washing machine, they all came out fairly OK...I could see creating a bunch of the balls and putting them in a glass or ceramic bowl, but that's the extent for me....I'm not looking to find a new technique that I can use to create a bunch of small stuff to sell...I think I've pasted that stage in my art career. What I want not to happen with our critique group is for it to turn into a workshop group instead of the critique group, as I feel the critique helps more than learning how to make felted balls. Enough said!

For the first time in my art career, I have multiple projects going...that's not my usual MO, but that's what seems to be happening...which to me means I'm in a certain state of mind to be able to juggle this many projects at one time. I've started my large abstract rose project, I'm in the beginning stages of creating a piece using birds, I've started another coil pot to house my plastic charms feet, I'm working on several pieces using the netting fabric I created using the sulvy product and yesterday I put together yet another piece to surface sew..I took a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, tweeked it in Photoshop, then wrote some words on the left side about my experience of living in San Fran during the 60's (in my youth), printed it into four organza 8x10's that when put together they form the picture..layered the organza pieces onto another piece of painted fabric and then fused the entire thing to heavy thick interfacing and now I'm going to machine sew all over the surface design and embellish with beading after that......so far I still like it!!!
Now I need to get out there a finish a few things.............right!!!!!

Week that Was..............

My hydos are in full bloom this week, more and more each day...they are one of my favorite flowers and remember the 12 foot hedges of them in SF Golden Gate Park...and they last a long time and make your garden look full and wonderful. Of course mine are all purple or slightly pink..purple being my favorite garden color. My front yard is looking great right now while the back is clean and groomed, it does not have grass, but red cinder rock and plants around the perimeter...hard to keep watered but using soakers and that seems to be working well.

Finished my current coil pot that I embellished with gold safety pins...still not sure if I like it or not, but that's a mute point at this point in time since it's finished..need to photograph it this morning as I'm submitting to an exhibit in Washington state and need to produce the CD for entry. Starting a new coil pot to embellish the feet that I purchased...can't wait for that one to be finished as it's really "unexpected".

Worked on creating an exhibit for Art in Embassies and all I got back was message upon message about "cold fusion"...not sure what that is, so I'm stumped at this point..back to the drawing board. I send an email to the group, but not return message yet..maybe their cold fusion has taken over.

Cutting and fusing my large fiber piece that I think I'm going to title "He Never Promised Me a Rose Garden"....grid over color over large roses...we'll see how it all turns out as I progress.

Started reading "The Sun Also Rises" by Hemingway this week...I've never read any of his books and they are a strange read...stories are set in very old settings, the way the characters talk is set in the '20's so it's very different from how we communicate now...but it's a good read....have to mix some of the classics into my reading once in a while to keep it solid. My favorite is still "To Kill A Mockingbird".

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose / New Work

The layered netting process is still keeping my interest and I've created a new piece with a floral theme...roses. My original idea was to layer different colors of netting and a photo of a rose in the wash-away plastic, but when I washed all the plastic away after sewing all over it with metallic threads, the ink bleed a bit tooooo much and I sort of lost the color on the flower...not to worry, I cut out the same shape of flower in dark maroon organza, fused it to the back and it gave me just enough color so you could make our the flower..which is the focus I wanted. Cut the strips to weave, but when woven the rose just didn't pop out like I wanted...back to the drawing board...layered another set but this time I cut the rose out of the netting, wove random pieces to create the background and them placed the netted rose on top of the background, used fused angelina for leaves and presto, I have my completed piece. The hardest part has been the photographing of the piece...because it's so light and airy and see through and fuzzy, it's been difficult to get a solid shot....still not happy with my photo, but I'll keep working on it. The more I play with this netting, the more I like it except when it gets snagged on my sleeve or my fingernail and moves the entire piece or it all falls apart..kind of springy but once secured it's not going anywhere. The fish piece that I still haven't finished is starting to tell me how it should be finished, so on to that one....I need to call my son to see if he has an hold fishing pole to hang it from..seems appropriate.

I drafted a new piece idea and I've gotten the fabric out for it and I'm just about ready to start...grid piece so lots of fusing and color...with some changes I hope I can pull off.

I continue with the coil pot that I'm embellishing with golden safety pins..it's a long process because my hand/fingers wear out pushing the pins through the painted cording...lesson learned!!!