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Archive for September, 2010

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Monday Musing

Monday, September 13th, 2010

I had a very busy and eclectic week-end, but today, I had no energy and no get up and go. So this will be a short post as I think I am coming down with one of those pesky viruses.

Tonight, I finally spent some time in the studio and made this little fiber sketch. I titled it serenity because the colors and the simplicity made me feel calm and happy.

I am in the process of basting Allegro so that I can remove the pins. It is slippery silk and giving me fits.

I wanted to share this photo of Jayme, our daughter in law, with our son. She is officially starting medical school and on Friday, she had her white coat ceremony. Only two people could attend, so Mark and her Mom were there. Her family descended on San Francisco to celebrate. We were sorry that we could not be there.

We have plans to go down next month for my birthday and will get to see every one then. I am going to sign off and get to bed early.

Posted in Family, Sketchbook Project | 2 Comments »

No Kvetching

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

Our weather is cold and dreary and drippy again. The weatherman says we will have a colder than normal winter with higher precipitation which translates to snow. I have decided that I want to embrace what ever comes my way. I do not want to spend the next two seasons kvetching about the weather. Do you think I am up to it?

Yesterday was a very busy day and I never got around to blogging. After my two meetings and a trip to the farmer’s market, I found several SDA website things that needed to get done. I decided to get those things done last night so that I could have a studio day today. Unfortunately, my computer work extended through most of this morning. I really didn’t get much done today.

The photo above is a basket of the felted soaps that I made. I created little tags with the ingredients of the soap and directions on how to use them. I gave them as gifts to the guild members who served on my board.

This is Yellow Dot, my latest fiber sketch. It is the same background as the last one I did.

I mentioned some time ago that my photo was going to be used in a show by Susan Lenz. There are about 170 different portraits of people and their decisions. Mine was to have a mastectomy. She sent me the following which is an ad for the show with my portrait. I was very excited to see this. Click on the image to see it larger. You can read about the installation here.

Today, I read Jane Dunnewold’s blog, Existential Neighborhood. It was about paying attention to details, but this paragraph really spoke to me:

I think that’s why eventually we have to get away from other people and focus on working alone. How can you discover your voice if you are always singing with a choir? Your timing, the phrasing, that lilt at the end of a line – you need the courage to go solo in order to unfold.

I sometimes feel lonely and wish for the camaraderie of other artists, but I also know that I am growing as an artist as I work alone in my studio. I do miss my monthly critiques with Terry and June.

Also, please take a look at the fantastic Mistyfuse badge that Iris Karp made for me. Isn’t it cool?

Posted in My creations, Sketchbook Project | 8 Comments »

Finishing

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

I have Allegro pinned in place and hanging on the design wall. I want to get this finished and move on to other things. I am really itching to make some new cloth. I want to work a little on the white section and make it a more fluid and less staid.

Here is my latest fiber sketch.

Tomorrow, I will finish my term as president of the Columbia Fiberarts Guild. So, today I have spent a lot of time finishing up details for the meeting tomorrow. A couple of years ago, on a whim, I agreed to be president-elect. I was new to this guild, but I have run a business and been president of many organizations. Still, I think there was some skepticism about me. I spent a year as president elect, not doing much at all. This past year has been a pleasant experience for me. The guild is small and the members who volunteer for board positions are very competent so my job has been to facilitate and nag. We have accomplished quite a lot. And, I gave my president-elect lots of jobs to do. She is going to do a great job in this coming year.

After the guild meeting, I have a SAQA meeting. It will be a longish day. I am thrilled that SAQA in Oregon is finally active. Our first juried show will debut at the end of this month at the Northwest Quilting Expo.

Posted in Columbia FiberArts Guild, My creations, Sketchbook Project | 4 Comments »

Great Week-end & a Book Cover

Monday, September 6th, 2010

We had so much fun this week-end. Saturday afternoon, we parked our car at the cathedral and took a nice walk down to Art in the Pearl. The weather was perfect for walking through the city. I had my camera and got some nice photos.

We hadn’t been for the last couple of years. We really enjoyed it. The art seemed better than the last time we went. Here is a 3-D aspen piece – tree art always catches my eye.

I loved these sculptures.

In one area, they had work that was a collaboration of artists working in different media.

The little dangling things are fabric with printing. I guess the other part is ceramic. This piece was ceramic with basket weaving.

This guy didn’t get juried in, I guess, so he set up business out of his truck on the street, next to the venue.

We stopped by our favorite garden art store, Dig. I saw this galvanized table on sale, but Mr C was not in to buying me a cool table for messing around on my studio patio!!

We went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner, Genoa, which is small and the service was impeccable. You pay a fixed price for a 5 course Italian dinner with wine pairings.

Yesterday, we went to the movies and saw The American, the new George Clooney movie. It was intense and wonderful. I recommend it.

And now, here is a little tease – the cover of our book! The book is due for release in March 2011. I hope the time flies by. You can go to our Twelve by Twelve website and join our mailing list to receive updates about the book.

Posted in 12X12 challenge, Out and About in Portland, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

It Felt Good

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

I have spent most of today felting bars of soap. It is fairly easy to do, but a bit time consuming. I am coordinating the color of felt with the scent of the soap. The purples are lavender and the red/pinks are peppermint.

The green/yellow is citrus and the beige turquoise is honey almond.

I have several more of these to do. I need to redo some of these because I used too much felt or stopped the felting too soon. Still, it is a very relaxing thing to do.

Basically, you lay out roving fibers in layers, alternating the direction. Then wrap the soap in the fibers. Stick it in a nylon stocking and run some hot water on it. The you just start squishing the soap and fibers as if you were washing your hands. You can speed up the process by rubbing the bundle on something like bubble wrap.

So that has been my day.

It is labor day week-end which is usually our anniversary. On Sunday, we will have our 46th wedding anniversary, We are going out to a very special restaurant tomorrow night.

Hope you have a great holiday week-end here in the states.

Posted in Felting | 9 Comments »

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