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Archive for the ‘Solo Show’ Category

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Hurry Up and Wait

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

Today, Mr C and I ventured out in the Jeep with 4 wheel drive to get lots of errands done before the next storm arrives. I had a coupon for 40% off at Paper Zone and they had 30% off all holiday stuff. We got Christmas cards, mailing envelopes for Christmas presents (everyone is getting a copy of Stephanie’s Book!!), ledger size card stock for journal pages for my show and wrapping paper and ribbon. Mr C needed something from the hardware store, and I needed to pick up some more food to get us through the next few days. We had yummy roasted salmon and potatoes with broccoli for dinner – mmmm good. We are ready for the next storm due to arrive in the morning. It is still in the 20s so it will mean more ice and slip sliding. The main roads are pretty clear, but the side streets and neighborhood streets are sheets of ice.

I have finished What If? I also thought I could call it No Road to the Inn.

whatiffinished

I decided it needed some sheep!

whatifdetail

I made a stencil for the star and stenciled some foiling glue. Then I ironed on silver foil.

starstencil

I have enjoyed working on this piece probably because it fits the season so nicely.

Today was a day for out with the old and in with the new. Last night the UPS guys delivered several large packages. I had ordered a new Cuisinart with my Amex points. They were on special. So out with the really old and in with the streamlined new. Ha, the new one has a funny face – see it?

oldcuisinart newcuisinart

We have had these lights on the front porch:

oldlight

Mr C found these lights on line. Four of these arrived – 2 for the porch and 2 for the garage. Aren’t they much more fitting for our 50s house?

newlight

Mr C is getting cabin fever so he installed the lights even though it was freezing. He kept running back into the house to warm his hands! I am going to get him busy making hanging rods for my quilts, very soon.

I have noticed that a lot of the blogs I read have received a “Kreativ Blogger award”. (I guess the spelling is creative!) What do you think makes a blog creative — the writing, the photos, the work done by the blogger or a combination. I love some blogs for their photography – ie: 3191 and Jane Dunnewald. I love some for their thoughtful writing about art— ie:  Elizabeth Barton and Jeanne Williamson. I love some for their ability to communicate with me about  their lives, from the mundane to the special — ie: my good friends Terry and Kristin. I love some for their humor — my friend Dee and From Down the Well. And some for their gorgeous work— ie: Constance Rose and Joanie San Chirico. Those are my creative blog awards for tonight.

Posted in Blog Awards, Solo Show, Stuff I Buy, Surface Design Techniques, This and that | 7 Comments »

Slip Sliding

Monday, December 15th, 2008

I think I am up an running with photos. At least the dashboard is looking better. Today, the sun came out, but we didn’t get any snow melt as the temps never got above 28° F. We took Maggie for a walk in the late morning and slipped and slid our way through the neighborhood. It was especially treacherous crossing the streets. I think I will have to get out my exercise videos if I am going to get any workouts this week. We are due for continued freezing temperatures and more snow on Wednesday and Thursday. This is very disappointing as I was looking forward to a shopping trip with Mia on Wednesday for her birthday. On Thursday the STASH group had a holiday lunch and tour of the Pittock Mansion planned. I think we will need to cancel that, too.

I took a couple of photos while we were on our walk.

leavesonsnow

The snow made our landscaping look like strange hairy critters.

snowcritters

hairysnow

I think my fall/winter garden is done in.

snowygarden

I have been working diligently in the studio on the What If piece. It is almost finished. I am going to foil a silver star over the nativity. The graffiti on the wall says Peace on Earth. As I said yesterday, I am going for a story book illustration look.

peaceonearth

Guess what came today? The fabric! I don’t know if I have time to make the piece I had planned to do with it.

Posted in My creations, photography, Solo Show | 5 Comments »

What If?

Friday, December 12th, 2008

I have finally worked out the kinks in creating my latest piece for the show. When we were in Israel, one of the most poignant experiences was going through the big cement security fence from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. I thought about the Christmas story and what if there had been a big wall separating the two areas at that time.

Here is the beginning of the piece.

whatifprogress

I am using gray organza for the wall so that both sides can be seen. The figures are what have been giving me fits. I first tried Terry’s method of fusing, but had a problem with all the tiny pieces. Then I went to the Chicago School of Fusing method, using Wonder Under, by drawing the patterns on the paper. When I went to bed last night, I was ready to give up on that. I was going to do whole cloth silk painting.

When I got up this morning, I thought I should at least try to assemble the pieces that I had drawn. I did the nativity first and then the shepherds. I really had fun selecting the fabrics and I am very happy with the results. I now have to do the Wise Men. I used a children’s coloring book for the patterns.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

whatifnativity

whatifshepherds

I have to do something about the feet for my shepherds. The scenes are fused together, but not to the background. Working out the background comes next.

We are expecting snow this week-end – it is very big on the local news. I always get a kick out of that. Tonight, Mr C took me out to dinner. I had one of the specials – duck breast on creamy polenta with caramelized cipollini onions and a most divine red wine sauce. I could have licked the platter.

I still have not gotten a tracking number or any communication regarding my fabric order.

Posted in Eating out, Fusing, Israel/Holy Land trip, Solo Show, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Potpourri of Activities

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Here I am, coming to you from my new IBook Photo Booth. I picked up the new computer yesterday and have been having getting familiar with the new things, like the photo booth – a camera in the laptop.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr C and I drove out to the country to cut our Noble Fir Christmas tree. We met the most delightful owner, who took us way out to the back forty where trees had not been cut and found us the perfect one. We also learned a lot about Christmas tree farming. We will go back there from now on. The tree is up with the new color lights, waiting for M & M to come and help me with the decorating.

This morning, I went to the quarterly Columbia Stitchery Guild meeting. We had a wonderful speaker who is an expert in Kumihimo, Japanese silk braiding. She gave a slide lecture on the history of the braids. We also had our annual silent auction. I scored this gorgeous scarf, made by Carol Heist. The photo was taken from the computer and does not do it justice.

I have been still getting the run around about the fabric. After two promises of a return phone call on the status of my order, today, I e-mailed them and said to cancel the order. Tonight, I got an e-mail saying it had been shipped and they would send me the tracking number tomorrow. Ha! I will believe that when I see it. In the meantime, I came up with another way to print large pieces of fabric that is working very well. I spray basting glue to a large sheet of poster board and then brayer fabric to it, trim and print.

I have been stuck on a piece that should have been very easy to do. Perhaps, I have been over-thinking it. I wanted a collage for the beginning of the show which would highlight “Pilgrimage.” I have played with lots of different images and different backgrounds. I wanted it to represent a page from my journal, so I decided I had to do some handwriting. I am not ecstatic about my final result, but I decided that I had to finish this tonight and move on. I did a few lines of machine stitching and am now hand stitching with some lovely hand-dyed perle cotton.

Here is a close-up.

Posted in art auctions, Collage, My creations, Solo Show | 5 Comments »

Catharsis

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

It feels so good to get rid of stuff that clutters your life or to use up food in the fridge. I did both of these things today. I have a pile of very nice things to take to the consignment shop. I was excited to hear that I do not need to make an appointment — just drop and run. I also have a big bag of things that I was going to take to the Goodwill, but I think I will give them to my cleaning lady, Maryama. She is in Cuba for a few weeks visiting her family and helping them clean up from the hurricanes. We miss her.

I also cooked up the remaining turkey carcass yesterday, and today I made a huge pot of turkey and brown and wild rice and veggie soup. It was so good. I have 3 containers to put in the freezer for future meals.

I have almost completed the quilting on the Jerusalem Cross quilt. I am using one of the programmed stitches on the Janome and doing very simple quilting after doing some stitch in the ditch to hold everything in place. I found this hand-dyed quilt backing fabric that I am using. Here you can see some of the quilting from the back.

Our house guest has not arrived yet. His plane was due in at 9:30 tonight so he should be here soon. I am tired from all the closet cleaning, cooking and quilting so I hope he is not too late. I am ready for beddy bye!!

Posted in Solo Show, This and that | 4 Comments »

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