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Archive for the ‘Stuff I Buy’ Category

Over the Rainbow

Monday, July 30th, 2012

I have been playing with my rainbow fabrics for the Rhythm and Hues piece. I was not sure what to do for the background, but now I am thinking the darker rainbow will work for the background with maybe some black thrown in.

The morning was spent on my computer doing SDA work. If you are reading this and are a member of SDA, look for an important e-mail tomorrow. Just saying!

I wanted to tell you about a book that I downloaded to the Kindle App on my iPad. It is titled, Journey to Abstraction, by Sue St. John.

It is nicely illustrated with abstract works of art with a play by play of how it was created by the artist. The last section of the book has 4 step by step demonstrations that you can do to create your own mixed media piece.

Here is one of the tips from the author:

Find Shapes and Patterns:
Shapes and patterns are elemental to the abstract artist. In order to paint abstract, you must teach yourself to observe the shapes and patterns in the world. As you go about your daily activities, notice the shapes around you- the triangles in the roof tiles, the spheres in the fruit dangling from a tree, or the free form shapes the shadows of tree branches and leaves make on the sidewalk.

I read most of the book on my flight to and from Long Beach. I was not enthralled with all of the illustrations, but found many that spoke to me.

Here are yesterday and today’s 3 x3. Almost time to pick the next tertiary color!

Back to the Olympics. I sure hate how they are covered. I wish we could see them in real time. Instead we are spoon fed what NBC wants us to see when they want us to see it.

A Quiet Week-end

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012

I mainly puttered around the house this week-end, doing odds and ends of stuff. We had a great dinner on Friday night. I am still savoring it. After doing our household chores yesterday morning, we headed for downtown Portland to look for new chairs for our kitchen. The chairs we have were purchased when we lived in NY and are Hitchcock chairs with stenciled backs. They are wonderful chairs, but don’t really work with our more modern aesthetic.

We saw that Design Within Reach (named Design Out of Reach by our kids) was having a sale. We found some chairs that we really liked and now are waiting for them to be shipped from Kentucky.

I had nice phone calls with all 3 of my kids. Look at this wonderful photo of Mark with Paige. I just love it.

I also had time to keep up with my 3 x 3s.

I have 3 days to get some work done in my studio before I leave for 3 days in Long Beach for International Quilt Festival.

 

 

Cloudy with a Touch of Warm Sunshine

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

It was a nice week-end. I felt much better. The rain stopped by 3 in the afternoon and the sun came out and so we were able to have appetizers and drinks on the deck last evening. Then we fit 12 people around the dining room table and had a great meal together.

I bought new napkins at Crate and Barrel that are really cool colors of the rainbow.

I have just about finished my mythology piece. I am channeling Jamie Fingal and Terry Grant and using only black thread for the quilting with batik fabrics.

And here is today’s 3 x 3.

Tantra Song

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Last Christmas, Lisa gave Stephanie this book. It is a book of paintings by Hindu tantra devotees from Indian cities like Jodhpur and Chomu, the anonymous heirs to a pictorial tradition that dates to the 1600s. They were painted on salvaged paper and were about 12 inches high. These colorful, simple paintings look so modern. I was so taken with the book, I had to order my own. You can read a NY Times article about them here.

Here are some examples of the paintings:

Apparently, the paintings were used during meditation and as a form of meditation. I find them mesmerizing.

It has been a dark and gloomy day here in Portland. I had to turn the heat back on. I also had to walk the dog in the rain. It is supposed to be nice this week-end. My new planters are arriving Friday so I am planning on some gardening time. Today was a bust for getting much done here at home. I had a couple of appointments and Mr C was in Corvallis for the morning so I didn’t get much done.

I did do some more catch up on green 3 x 3s. I do not spend a lot of time on most of these. I like to see what I can come up with in a few minutes.

A Quiet Week-end

Sunday, March 25th, 2012

Not much to report. It was a nice day yesterday which I seem to have spent on the computer doing SDA work and also did 3 loads of laundry. Then I got hit with the seasonal allergy head-ache. I went to bed with it and woke up with it. I am doing all the usual things to combat it and I do feel better tonight.

I went to church this morning and this afternoon, Mr C and I went to the mall. I hate the mall on the week-ends, but decided to keep him company. I realize I need a change of clothes for our trip next week. I found a pair of skinny leg jeans that look pretty good and feel great. I also got a big chartreuse knit top to cover my big butt!!

No baby, yet. I am sure it can’t be much longer.

Here is today’s 3 x3; yesterday is at the top. I had fun using some of my prints.