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I am trying to manage my life – my job, my art and my household duties. I spent time doing SDA work this morning and then went to the dentist to get my new night guard fitted. I got a quick trip in to Millends where I bought batting and hot pink cotton for the kid quilts. I have been cutting green sashing strips for one of them. Back at home, I walked Scooter, packed up the Christmas decor and then spent the afternoon working on SDA stuff. I am so excited because we have gone over our needed amount of money needed to keep going.
Tonight, I met a friend at Trinity where we made a proposal to the arts committee for a special exhibit next year. More about that later. We are still waiting for our proposal to make its way through channels.
I hoped to spend some time on this knitting project I am doing for my daughter in law, Clay. She saw the pattern at Dharma Trading and liked it and picked out some yarn. It is a fun pattern.
Tomorrow night, I am starting a 6 week drawing class at Trinity. One of our fine artists is teaching the classical method of drawing. We will be using charcoal. It is a multi-generational class so I am not going to be intimidated! I am looking forward to it.
Old world maps was the theme for December – given to us by Lisa Chin. This was a real challenge for me. I started by Binging old world maps. I saw a theme of symbols that were used, but I felt it was a graphic that would be used by others. I wanted something different and I like to try different methods of image transfer. In my search, I came across this pirate treasure map.
My creative brain kicked in and I decided to do a Citrasolve transfer and then color in some details with Inktense color pencils. First, I found a great fabric in my stash of hand dyes that resembled the map. Then I photoshopped the map to black and white, printed it in reverse and then made copies on my old Canon copier with carbon based toner.
Here is a very bad photo of my supplies: Citrasolve, bowl and cotton balls.
It is very easy to do this transfer. You put the toner side down on the fabric and rub with cotton ball wet with Citrasolve.
I did not take many process photos – sorry – I just got involved in getting it done because we were going to be in CA for the last week of December. Once I was happy with the transfer and it was dry, I colored in details with Inktense color pencils. To set the color, I dampened a piece of muslin with water, placed it on the fabric and ironed it until it was dry.
Here is the 9″ by 16″ piece for Linda:
Here is the six inch piece for the giveaway. For a chance to win this collection of fabrics, leave a comment on our Printed Fabric Bee blog or on Lisa’s blog.
I promise – this will not be only pictures of Paige. She is, however, very photogenic and adorable. She chooses her outfits and usually has a tutu on or at least under her dress. Very girly and very strong willed. She is 2 1/2 and carries a tune perfectly. She knows all the words to let it go and several Christmas songs. She is just something special. As are all my grandchildren!! I am prejudiced!!
We arrived on Christmas day and enjoyed a seafood meal caught and prepared by my son.
Jayme and her mom made an assortment of Christmas cookies. One batch was gluten free which I enjoyed. Paige did the sprinkles.
We stayed at an AirBnB which was a ten minute walk from Mark’s home. It was very simple and cold. We did not spend much time there. We slept there, ate our breakfast and spent the rest of the day with family.
On Friday, we drove to downtown SF to see the big tree in Union Square and the ice skaters. Then, we walked up, up, up a steep hill to the Fairmont Hotel to see the gingerbread house. I was quite proud of my ability to keep up with the youngun’s. The house is full size. You can click on it for a better look.
Here is a gingerbread doghouse – full-size.
Loved this view into an Asian shop at the hotel.
We had a late lunch/early dinner at a seafood restaurant. Jayme’s mom’s husband was leaving the next day to go back to Denver and he wanted some more seafood.
On Saturday, Lisa, Clay, Mr C and I took Bart to the Ferry Building Farmer’s market where I bought food to make dinner. Jayme took Paige on her bike and met us there.
The photo of Paige in the orange tutu was take there. She was entranced by a string quartet that was playing. We had a delicious lunch at a Mexican eatery.
On Sunday, we took it easy and played with Paige. Mark made soup from all the leftovers in their fridge. They live in the Mission and there are so many wonderful visual delights. We saw this door on one of our walks.
Here is a close-up so you can see it is created with bottle caps.
On Monday, Lisa, Clay and I went to Marin. I wanted to stop by the Dharma Trading retail store to touch some fabric so that I could decide what I want to purchase to dye or paint for my solo show. I bought some samples to run some tests. Clay bought some yarn and a pattern so that I can knit her a button cowl scarf. We had a delicious lunch in San Anselmo and did some looky loo walking around Mill Valley. I forgot my phone. No photos!!
On Tuesday, Karyn, Jayme’s Mom, Mr C and I took Paige to the California Academy of Sciences. I love that place. Mark has a membership so he takes Paige there quite often. I must say that keeping up with a two year old, makes the visit a bit more challenging. I snapped this photo while waiting in line to get into the rainforest exhibit.
There are so many beautiful photo ops. Here is a pitcher plant.
I love the colorful little frogs.
I caught one in a whoosh of a jump.
I had fun playing with the jellyfish in photoshop.
And here is Paige, queen of the Galapagos, on her throne.
And checking out the touch area.
We moved over to Oakland to stay with Lisa and Clay for New Year’s eve. It gets a little wild in the Mission and our AirBnB was next to a park. They prepared a delicious meal and we had a lovely evening with them. Here is Wilfredo wishing for some cheese to jump into his mouth.
On New Year’s Day, I got this great selfie with Paige. I hated to say good-bye. It was so much fun.
So, I missed getting this done yesterday, but I had my hands full getting caught up on SDA work and doing laundry, and all the little things you have to do when you come home from a trip.
That was 2014 for me.
January: We finished purging and cleaning the big house in Eastmoreland. This is what my studio looked like, ready for the looky loos. Gosh, how I miss that space! We sold our house very quickly and then had the angst of not finding a new place to buy.
February: I finished this quilt for Paige, using Lisa’s line of fabrics.
I also tried my hand at snow dyeing and got some great and serendipitous results.
March: This was a month of good news, family celebration and hard work. Prairie Fields was installed at the Portland Airport in a special exhibit for six months.
We found The Congdo, where we now reside. We packed up all of our worldly goods and I had lots of aches and pains.
We traveled to California for Paige’s second birthday and I gave her the quilt that I made.
April: I spent most of this month getting The Congdo organized and settling into my new studio.
The Congdo now looks great, but my little studio still looks a lot like the above photo.
May: I took a fantastic dyeing class with Judy Robertson down in Eugene. I came home with lots of great fabric.
I made this piece for the annual SAQA auction. It sold, but not as early as other pieces I have done in the past.
The Congdo began to take shape.
June: I took on a new job with SDA which has been time consuming. Another change.
We discovered that we could walk to the gorgeous Portland Rose Gardens. We enjoyed many walks through the rose gardens.
I decided to do something really different for the High Fiber Diet show, What’s Blue to You. I created this enormous Blue Picasso Woman.
We traveled to Seattle to see the Sacred Threads Show.
July: We enjoyed weekly trips to the Portland Farmer’s Market on the streetcar.
Lisa and Clay came for a few days over the fourth of July and we had a family gathering here.
I took Mia and her Mom to Seattle on the train as a graduation present for Mia. We had a great time. I finished another quilt for the blue show.
August: We made another trip to San Francisco to hang out with the CA peeps.
Lisa’s new book, Art Inc. came out and I was honored to find this dedication.
My art quilt daughter, Kristin LaFlamme came to town for an exhibit she was in and to attend the Quilt, Knit, Stitch show. Here we are, helping to set up the SAQA booth.
September: We traveled to California again, to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary with the family. It was loads of fun for me to have everyone together.
Our friend, Heidi Rose, made this macaron tower for out celebration at Trinity.
Then, Rayna came to town to teach for my guild. Had so much fun with her and got some nice fabrics from her workshop.
Found out that Kelp Dance sold while at the American Art Company exhibit in Tacoma.
October: I became another year older. I worked on rehabilitating the leaf quilt.
Lisa and Clay came to Portland for some talks that Lisa was giving during Portland Design Week.
November: I started work on a couple of kid quilts which I hoped to have finished by Christmas. Didn’t happen.
Stephanie hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Big change for me there.
December: Steph and I drove to Seattle to take care of Paige while Jayme had an interview at Children’s Hospital for her residency. We had a great time and she kept us on our toes.
I was excited to be part of the What’s Blue to You exhibit installed at the Portland airport. It will be there for 6 months.
We did minimalist Christmas decorations in The Congdo. Another change. It was fun to see many of my ornaments hanging on Paige’s tree. We traveled there on Christmas day and arrived home today.
I will post some pictures from the California trip tomorrow.
As I have reviewed my year, I realize that I have not been very productive. I am grateful for the participation in The Printed Fabric Bee. I did something every month and it was fun and challenging. I also noticed that my blogging waned as my creativity waned. I plan to do something about that. I am going to try to blog something every day.
I have a solo show coming up in May so I have to get cracking on those pieces. I need to work on getting my studio better organized.
Stay tuned, as I try to rediscover my inner artist.
Happy New Year to all of you. Wishing you creativity in the new year.