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Archive for the ‘Sketchbook Project’ Category

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And It Isn’t Even Spring

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

We are having a very tolerable winter, I must say. Today the temps were in the 50s and there were clear enough skies to see Mt. Hood, hardly every happens in the winter. I accompanied Mr C to Trinity this morning. He was working the pantry food handouts. I had some arts stuff to take care of. We took Scooter with us and I walked him around NW Portland. There is a part of me that would love to live down there and walk to everything and be part of the hustle and bustle of the downtown.

Scooter was such a good boy and got lots of loving from the folks coming and going from Trinity. I also enjoyed listening to the conversation between the homeless and Mr C and Lydia. It was a complete departure from what I would normally do and I enjoyed it. It is part of my plan for the new year — get out of my rut.

This afternoon, I finished yesterdays 3 x3 by sandwiching it and doing some simple stitching.

I also did some felting for today’s 3 X3. It is up at the top of the post. I used red prefelt for the background. I have to admit to a love affair with felting fibers together. My friend Terry thinks they look like something the cat threw up!! LOL But, I love the melding of fibers and colors and then adding simple embellishments. So, I am very happy with this little piece.

This is what I did tonight:

These are the pages of my Sketchbook Project for this year. The deadline to send these in must be coming up. The watercolors that I have done are just backgrounds for stitching that I want to do on each page. Some of the stitching will be done by hand, but most will be free motion machine stitching. I hope it works!!

Tomorrow, I hope to finish cleaning my studio. I want to pull off the felt from my main design wall and redo it. It is kinda grungy looking after five and a half years.

 

Posted in 3 x 3, Felting, Scooter, Sketchbook Project | 3 Comments »

Good To Be Home

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

After a long flight from JFK to PDX, we arrived home around mid-night. We fell into bed and got a good west coast sleep in plus some napping on the plane. I need to get back to this time zone because I am heading to Tacoma on the train tomorrow. My STASH friends are going to the APWQ quilt show and will be there for two nights, coming home on Saturday afternoon.

Today, I sorted mail, paid bills, did laundry and shopped for food. Scooter came home. He seems exhausted! I am sure he had a great time running with all the big dogs at the canine resort.

I found a package from Aurifil threads. I played a little game on Face Book and received some free thread. Aren’t those colors gorgeous. I want to make a quilt to go with the thread.

This is the Cherrywood fabric that I bought at City Quilter in Chelsea. I think those blues will work nicely with my indigo fabrics. I also needed to fill in some nice dark colors. These will be fun to discharge, too.

I was also excited to get my new Sketchbook Project T-shirt.

I am particularly excited that the sketchbooks are coming to Portland next year.

I will be taking my camera and laptop to Tacoma and hope to get in some blogging. I am looking forward to catching up with some blogger friends, too.

Posted in Sketchbook Project, Stuff I Buy, This and that | 5 Comments »

This is Not a Sketchbook

Monday, July 25th, 2011

My sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project has been digitized. I had fun getting reacquainted with all the fiber collages that I did. Here is the info if you want to go take a look:

Viewers can find your book two different ways so far:
   1) by going to your profile and then clicking on the Artwork tab.
   2) by using the library directory and searching for your name. As with the entire Digital Library, things are constantly being worked on, and the searchable directory is one of them.

I have signed up for the next round, but I am not sure what I will do. I am thinking of photos or machine stitched designs.

They started installing the aluminum railings for the new deck.

This is the spool of aluminum cable that will run horizontally between the posts.

And this is the beautiful job of piecing the ipe that Mr C has done in the breezeway which is not square.

I had a very rigorous pilates class this morning and have not been up to doing much for the rest of the day. I did manage to get some  machine felting done tonight.

Posted in House and home stuff, Sketchbook Project | 1 Comment »

Zimbabwe Textile Art

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

The art Exhibit for Trinity Cathedral Arts in December is always  work represented by an outreach program. We have done Haitian arts, local out reach programs such as p:ear, a resource center for homeless youth and this year we invited the Zimbabwe Artist’s Project back for a second time. The parish hall was brimming with textile wall hangings telling delightful stories as well as a variety of painted pieces. 100% of the funds collected goes back to the organization. In this case it will go back to Zimbabwe where it is much needed for food and clean water.

I selected the piece above which is about 36″ by 12″. The artist Orpah Mungure. (Did you know that Oprah’s name is a misspelling of Orpah, a Biblical name?) If you click on her photo, you can read about her.

Here is the story of her piece. Mbuya (granny) Shonge is on the way to the shops to grind some mealies (corn) She meets her brother Tigere. She is greeting him.

Mbuya is holding some firewood so that she can put some fire in her kitchen to cook her food for lunch.

Tima is giving Mbuya Shonge a basket so that Mbuya can give her some mealie meal (cornmeal) to cook sadza (thick porridge) because of hunger in Zimbabwe.

This was hand written by the artist. The original is tucked into a pocket hidden in the applique. Isn’t that cool? I love the applique in the wonderful African textiles. This is a real treasure.

Here is my sketchbook with the tie. I made a video of the sketchbook with my new Flip camcorder, but it is not that great so I am going to do it again. I have a short video of the cover, but I can not figure out how to get it in the blog. I will figure it out someday.

I spent some time getting my self portrait mounted on stretcher bars. It needs to go to Trinity on Tuesday. Thursday night, we have an opening reception from 6 – 8 pm. If you are in the area come by.

My artist’s statement: The black and white image is based on a photo of me when I was twenty. Fifty years later, I am not the beauty I was then, but I am a much more colorful and interesting person.

Posted in Juried Shows, Sketchbook Project, Stuff I Buy, Trinity Arts | 5 Comments »

Bring On 2011

Friday, December 31st, 2010

I am spending the last day of 2010 tying up some loose ends both personal and SDA job related. One of the things I wanted to get done was making a spiffy cover for my sketchbook.

I used some scraps of my hand-dyed and printed fabrics and fused them together.

I used gel medium to attach the fused pieces to the sketchbook and then did a layer of medium over everything.

Once it is completely dry, I will attach a ribbon tie to hold the fat thing together!! I am very happy with the whole project and part of me does not want to send it off. But that is what I signed on to do and I will enjoy knowing it is out there for others to see.

How you feeling about the end of 2010 and the start of a new year? I always spend some time pondering where I have been and where I would like to go.

As an artist, I tried some new things this past year. So far I have not had great success entering them in venues, but I plan to continue some of the exploration (more on that later) and attempt to push myself in new directions and also honing the work I find satisfying.

As an aging woman, I am mindful that I must keep taking care of myself. My sinuses seem to be under control for the time being. The ENT said not to come back unless I have a totally awful sinus infection! I did have a very serious incident with my blood pressure which scared the heck out of me. I am on new medication and seem to have it under control. I know I need to continue to eat carefully and keep an active life. Scooter is a big help, but I think it is time for me to join a gym and do some weightlifting and possibly some water aerobics.

As a busy person. I flit from project to job to activity, leaving a trail of detritus on my desk, in my studio, in the tv room or where ever I have been doing something. I find that the day comes when I can’t take it any more and I have to spend the day cleaning up after myself. I want to simplify my life and so I plan to spend 15 – 20 minutes a day tackling the detritus of the day before. I know that I can set my timer for 15 minutes and get a whole lot done that I would otherwise put off.

My 2011 Project: I have devised a project for the coming year. If you read my blog very often, you know that I buy lots of great books. I thumb through them and then they end up in a pile some place in my office. My goal for 2011 is to start going through my books and selecting exercises, perhaps one a week, which I will chronicle on the blog. I think Friday or Saturday of each week, I will plan to post what I have done for that week.

I had so much fun making the cover for my sketchbook this morning. It felt good to be in my studio thinking about color and design! I have lots of deadlines coming up. I have taken a month or more off from serious art work. It is time to jump back in and I can hardly wait.

I want to thank all my readers, known and unknown. You keep me going. You make my life interesting. You keep me thinking. You make me laugh. I wish you the best for the coming year. I hope you will continue to come here as I soon start my sixth year of blogging.

Tonight we are going out to dinner and then going to hear Pink Martini, a Portland musical group that we love. Here is a sample.

Posted in Sketchbook Project, This and that | 12 Comments »

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