Expression Studio

Ho Hum

2012-02-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

I added strips to all sides including an entire unit on the right side. Ho-hum. Way too ordinary; if I were feeling brave I might just take the rotary cutter and slice it up, but I'm not feeling courageous at the moment.

We drive by this stand of green trees quite often and this time I was ready with the iPhone. When the traffic slowed down I dawdled enough to get 2 photos. Hm mm, will try and take it next time in Camera+ as I imagine at some point I won't be as enamored with the Paper Camera app. (More photos are here.)

Quote: I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. Patrick Henry

Dave's App Recipe Book - Monthly

2012-02-15T00:10:00.000-08:00

It's Dave's App Recipe Book time again. Go here. A photo of a leaf, that keeps appearing in photos, was layered with shadows photographed on the house wall. ArtStudio App has become my favorite app for layering photos. The image was saved to camera roll, opened in Camera+ w here the sunset scene was chosen. Toy cameras are always fun; Diana ended up being the winner of the effects.

TreeDuo. Layered in ArtStudio, saved in camera roll, reopened in Camera+ where the night scene was chosen. Lo-fi in retro effects, adjusted intensity. Light Grit border.

I couldn't decide which photo to showcase . . .
More can be viewed on my photo blog here.

And then I discovered Paper Camera App which reminds me, at least Comic Boom effect does, of altering Polaroid images when SX-70 film was available. I barely remember lunch today; I was busy snapping photos before customers joined us on the patio where the temp was below the usual 70's for this time of year.

Do check out Dave's blog.

Fabric Challenge

2012-02-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

Last month I joined Karen Musgrave's challenge. Simple Guidelines: the challenge fabric, a vintage print, must appear in the finished piece. And we must use Rayna Gillman's book, Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts: A Stress-free journey to original design. Using the book had been a goal of mine so I was up for the challenge. The piece of fabric arrived and sat on the sewing table gathering dust. The white background just didn't speak to me. The vintage print reminds me of curtains. If my mother hadn't disappeared into Alzheimer's fog perhaps she could tell my why the print seems so familiar.
When I knocked back the white by coffee staining some of the fabric I was finally able to start.

Fabric gathering.

Assembling some strips using the print as a motif plus using the reverse side created a decent enough start to keep going.

Day 1 ended with a workable beginning using the challenge piece 6 times.

Due date is March 1, will I make it?

Riverdance

2012-01-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

Stacy and I saw River Dance on Thanksgiving weekend. Before the performance I took an iPhone photo of the stage and this morning played with the image by adding layers. ArtStudio altered.

ArtStudio app.

2012-01-12T01:51:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought there couldn't be another incredible iPhone app to try another one arrives in my life. And to think that decades ago when I wanted to layer images I either had to run a roll of film through the camera more than one time in the hopes at least one image would blend with another one to make an interesting photo. Or, in the darkroom occasionally 2 images placed in the negative holder could be printed together. Or, if one was lucky to have access to a darkroom with multiple enlargers where photo paper could be printed on multiple times before being immersed in chemicals. . . Phew! Not only was it a lot of work but more often than not the result was one of frustration rather than success. Now one can layer multiple images with software programs such as PhotoShop. I'm still blown away that the iPhone has the same capability as PS does and in some ways is easier and more satisfying to use.

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep". Scott Adams

A month?

2012-01-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

How can a month have gone by without posting here? I'm clueless as to where the days go. The holidays were lovely and I hope they were for anyone reading this. The New Year has brought temps in the 80's which had me in a panic! I haven't done all of the things I wanted to get done in the garden before the intense summer heat strikes again. Then sanity came; it's only January and a fluky one temp wise so get a grip! There is plenty of time to get things done in the garden. I've certainly been enjoying the warmish temps by spending some time in the garage studio getting it ready for what I hope is marathon of fabric dyeing and painting.

I've always believed that if you can't find something to photograph wherever you're sitting or standing then you're not "seeing." Taking that to heart I tried the T.4x on what has turned out to be my favorite camera to date, and I've had a lot of cameras. I aimed the camera at a desk fan and marveled at how blurry the bougainvillea outside blurred to make an interesting background.

The grape vine outside of my bedroom window was shot through the mini-blinds.

And then the grape-vine through the desk fan and mini-blinds and how come the window screen is very evident in this photo and not visible in the previous one? The camera has a way of capturing something that isn't always obvious to us. Life viewed through a lens can be very exciting. Love that!
I aimed the camera and allowed it to show me familiar things, in and just outside of the bedroom, in a not-so-familiar way. It's good to see things in a new light.

My word for 2012 is "allowing."

Quote: Through allowing, you become what you are; vast, spacious. You become whole. You become not a fragment anymore, which is how the ego perceives itself. Your true nature emerges, which is one with the nature of God. Eckhart Tolle

Discharged

2011-12-10T16:35:00.000-08:00

While searching through the stash of dyed fabric I ran across this piece that took my breath away! I created that? I don't think I've posted a photo of it before, but who knows! I seem to be having more senior moments than I care to remember. Anyway, the fabric I was searching for is MIA but it's something I hope to use to make strips so that I can play with the techniques in Rayna Gillman's newest book. Go to Amazon. It's a jewel of a book as is Rayna herself. She's going to teach in Italy next August so I'm hoping to win the lottery so that I can join her. If you don't know Rayna visit her here.

"Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the expansion of happiness." Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Lemons

2011-11-30T16:34:00.000-08:00

When life gives you lemons make lemonade, or in my case, Limoncello. The last of the lemons have been picked from the trees; this years crop surpassed last year by about 40. Here's the basic recipe I use with Stevia rather than sugar. Giada has one as well. I still have a small bottle from Sorrento, Italy that is stronger than the one I make. It's yummy on ice cream.

Gratitude, can we have enough of it? This is a beautifully done video.

Texture

2011-11-16T14:16:00.000-08:00

Burlap adhered on a 16x20 inch canvas. Ready for Gesso and paint.

QUOTE

"You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle."

--Paulo Coelho

Rain

2011-11-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

View from the morning desk. Rain splattered window. The desk used to be the sewing machine desk but after a year of not using the machines I moved them aside in order to be able to sit there and journal and meditate with my back to the computer desk. I know, poor me! My sanctuary bedroom is large enough for 2 large desks, a queen size bed, 2 dressers, a wide screen TV, 2 filing cabinets, a bookshelf, night-stand and a desk that was my mother's childhood desk. Oh, and 2 computer chairs.

Sometimes the bougainvillea presents me with a bouquet of blooms. At the moment this is the only color in the garden. What a difference a little color makes. I love the raindrops on the window.

11/11/11

2011-11-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter, Corey, on this day full of 11's.

Is there anything more magical than a sunset? Or a silhouette of a tree? And the combination is sublime as was the weather today; a nice crisp 70. There is a dusting of snow on the mountains which is always a spectacular surprise here in the desert.

Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.
John Lubbock

iPhone Madness continues

2011-10-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

The sky was dramatic a few nights ago, but a normal shot couldn't capture it; enter an iPhone app. I have no idea which one this is but it captured the mood of that evening. Photography, to me, is about capturing a mood.

Another mood shot. Spencer is now 12 years old and is constantly at my side. I imagine that he misses his sister. The lines on the patio make this photo more interesting than it otherwise would have been. A grunge filter and frame app. were used.

This shot is way too contrasty but it's a panorama consisting of 3 individual shots that were stitched together via a panorama app. The best time to get a photo of the yard without so much contrast is on anover-cast day or when the sun dips behind the mountains. (photosynth app.)

Fall in the desert.

2011-10-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ah, finally, some cool temps! I kid you not, this is cool, so much so that if the lawns weren't being scalped for the annual planting of winter rye grass I'd have the windows and doors open. But the air is nasty; full of dust. I forgot that I have another blog where I just posted a few more iPhone photos. It's over here: I've neglected it for over a year so I'm surprised that it still exists.

Wise words: Inner Attitudes correspond to outer behavior. Watch em! Sally Husss

iPhone abstract

2011-10-06T02:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you Steve Jobs.
Very classy at:

20,133 hits!

2011-10-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'm very surprised. I haven't checked the counter in ages so when I discovered a few minutes ago that the counter said 20,133 . . . well, you could have knocked me over. Nice.

Oh my! I've discovered iPhone camera apps. I used to fool around with a variety of films eons ago that would do similar effects. All of these photos were taken this evening just as the sun went down behind the mountains; low light conditions.

This particular app. is Hipstamatic. Once that one is purchased there are a few other apps. that can purchased, all under the Hipstamatic app.

Such as infrared, above, or monochrome, or maybe that one is free

The one below is Kodot XGrizzled.

I've had the iPhone for a few months and it continues to blow me away! Who knew that a phone could be so much fun?

For a class on how to use the iPhone camera go here: It's the Ishot That class.

Five Years!!!!

2011-10-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

I just realized that five years ago today we moved into a brand new never-lived-in house. It was 108 degrees that day and it's 100 today, even though it looks like winter; there is a cloud covering today with the threat of rain, or maybe, it's the promise of rain? The backyard, brick walled in, was planted in March of the following year, until then there was only desert soil. The palm tree is the neighbors; palms aren't allowed in my yard. The tree in the corner was shorter than the wall and is in need of drastic pruning. Every spring the winds knock it over and in May it nearly hit the pergola; the roots aren't strong enough yet for its height. The brick retaining wall, curved, gave the yard some character; it was just too flat, and areas for planting cactus. The cactus next to the pergola post has grown 7 feet in 2 years and the cactus at the base of the tall one wasn't even visible last December. Off to the right, just out of the photo, is a fountain. The pergola shades my bedroom window.

Ode to October. This is a difficult month for me; two years on the 17th my guy suffered two strokes and my life drastically changed. So, I've decided to celebrate the month of October rather than go down the road of grief again. Here's to loving October and the wonders of the month, and may this month shine bright and no longer be difficult.

Happy Birthday to Me on Sept. 18

2011-09-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

I have a difficult time believing that my daughters are now around the same age I was in this picture, and that I'm now around the same age my mother was. Where did the last twenty years go? I often think that if I were offered a re-do I'd take it but then I remember the painful and challenging times and immediately let go of that thought; plus, maybe the future is more compelling.
      By now I think that everyone knows how much I love to alter photos; I do love a sketch effect.
   Yep, that's a perm; I hate fussing with my hair so a perm was the way to go. Now my hair is wavy so I still don't need to fuss with it.

In July a very dear online friend and I met in
person for the first time and on the first eventful
evening she took this photo of me. (Thanks Christina.)
Of course I had to manipulate it some. Anyway, during the day when she was in training sessions I wandered around my old stomping ground of Santa Ana and Laguna Beach. The highlight was spending an evening with Christina at the yearly Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach. The last time I'd been to the Sawdust Festival was over 30 years ago.

Stacy and I have been looking at photos of the furkids and this one especially amused us. They would often share the same cat bed or chair until one would edge the other one out of the space. I remember wondering when I took this photo if they'd had a spat, but they rarely had cat-fits. I wish I knew where Spencer thinks his sister is. He seems to just know and is okay about her passing; must be a lesson for us.

To quote Bryon Katie, here's to "living in harmony with the way things are," rather than believing that the best days have already happened. Let the Good Times Roll! And The Best is Yet to Come and you can quote me on that!

September storm

2011-09-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday an epic record breaking storm broke up the monotony of temps around 110 degrees with endless days of sun. Can that get boring? You betcha! The drama of the storm was incredible and I enjoyed every bit of it from the moment it woke me up at 4am to 7pm when it was over. Sheets of rain, deafening thunder and bolts of lightning that struck at least 25 palm trees seemed to put us on notice; Mother Nature is having fun. At sunset the sky looked like it was on fire; no PSE needed for this photo.

The parched dusty desert looks sparkling and clean after the storm and it feels like the storm cleared cob webs out of my brain; a nice renewal all around. After months of living indoors it was cool enough yesterday to play in soil There is nothing more satisfying than doing something creative even if it involves pulling out overgrown plants and planting tiny ones that in this climate will grow like weeds.

Quote: Conversely, when an artist is making art, there is lightness to all other enterprises. Relationships sweeten. Temperaments unknot. It is uncanny, the simply joy of living that comes from putting in some time with our art. Julia Cameron, "The Sound of Paper."

MizRiley 1999-2011

2011-09-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

Brother and sister. August, 2011. I didn't know it at the time I took this photo that our sweet girl was leaving us. Spencer, on the right, seemed to know; he started sleeping with his arm around her.

They arrived in our lives Christmas 1999, a gift from my daughter and son-in-law. It's hard to believe that she was ever as tiny as she was in the basket. She weighed 21 pounds on Aug. 23 when she spent two nights in the animal hospital. Fast growing cancer that went undiagnosed until she lost the ability to breathe on Sept 3rd.

Our sweet girl. Oct. 1999 - Sept. 3, 2011

Digital Play

2011-08-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Dreaming of Rome, 2009.

Everything is fine on the home-front, though, I seem to have lost any enthusiasm for creating anything. I do enjoy playing around with photos and found a ton of them today when I did a back-up of files onto an external drive. The photos were safely stored on an external drive where they've resided for over a year when a new PC was purchased. Moving them to the PC brought back a flood of memories. I've been playing with double images, something I did eons ago with film; much easier in PS.

Almalfi, Italy, window with a tree photographed in Old Town, La Quinta, my home town here in the steaming hot desert. And below, a different version of the tree.

Maybe the lack of enthusiasm stems from - what in blazes does one do with all of the paintings, fabric, mixed media that one can crank out? The walls in the house aren't in need of anymore art and no one is begging for . . . well, you get the picture. So, to fill the need to create I've been trying vegan recipes, low fat, gluten free, comfort foods, a Mediterranean diet, dehydrating veggies, making a Cashew Spread (cheese) and in the midst of all of the food craziness I've realized that it's just a way to fill the days with something akin to a purpose. Surely, I'll tire of days spent searching online for recipes and diets . . .

Quote: He paints like a man going over the top of a hill, singing. Robert Henri

This gal is inspiring and full of enthusiasm!!!

Abstract

2011-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is the abstract painting that I've been playing with in PSE, below posts. It can now be viewed along with my response about my style. Go here: Thanks Seth!

I'm off for a little get-away including meeting up with a friend! I'm so excited that I'm dancing! Mom and Stacy will stay with my youngest daughter and family while I check into a hotel. I haven't seen my grandsons in months so I'm looking forward to hugs and their smiling faces. Plus, we'll be leaving this land-of-brutal-heat for the cool temps near the Pacific Ocean. From 110 to the 70's or 80's, I'm so ready!

Quote: Life is best taken one day at a time, just the way it shows up. Sally Huss.

Digital Doodle

2011-07-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Another digital doodle using the abstract from the last post, a photo of grapes and another one of palm fronds; all very obvious, I'm sure.

This is one amazing woman whose parents deserve huge kudos!

The monsoonal conditions have been off of the charts! Storms to the south of us clashing with the high temps here in the desert aren't a good mix.

Quote: Since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of time, you are incomparable. Brenda Ueland

PSE

2011-06-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Playing with PSE is my way of doodling. The more I look at this result the more I want to tweak it by making the whites brighter, but for now I'll leave it alone. Using a photo of an abstract painting that I did last year I cropped a section of it and when the color was removed I started playing with filters and levels. It helps that the abstract painting is deeply textured.

This is not only fun to watch and listen to but inspiring. It's an old YouTube that is making the rounds again.

Not much new on the home front, just plugging along.

Outtake #2

2011-06-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

This still life is another one that didn't make the cut for Seth's "Pulse." I love the wispy ethereal nest but so far the photos I've taken of it make the fragile nest look more like a blob, even with a marble egg in it. My neighbor found the nest on a lawn after one of the windstorms that recently blasted through the desert. She immediately thought of me when she couldn't figure out where it might have come from. It's rare when someone thinks that I might love something like a bird nest; I felt understood and that's such a marvelous feeling. The nest is definitely a treasure and even though it was never used as intended perhaps I can use it in my art.

I have difficulty enough creating art but this guy has created 100 different personalities and artwork to go with each one. check it out here.

For my dad, 1918-2000. Happy Father's Day.
"If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right." -- Bill Cosby

"A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be." Unknown

Outtake

2011-06-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the deadline for submissions for Seth Apter's next "Pulse." And of course I'm no where near done with the my submission. This is a photo that I played with today while attempting to create a still life. I lean more toward found-art that I discover rather than setting up a scene. I did end up with something, completely different from this outtake, that I'm pleased with. In case you can't tell what this is, it's a brown egg placed on top of a weathered candlestick pillar.

I received an expected phone call yesterday, mom will be discharged on the 14th from the nursing home. She's run out of insurance; am I ready for this? The respite has been a blessing.

Sally Huss: Resolving to be happy resolves a multitude of unhappy circumstances.

June, so far.

2011-06-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't seen the latest youtube phenom: Course, you'll be singing the song for the rest of the day, but it's worth it. Kudos to Grand Rapids for this 8+ minute video.

Quite a few cactus, or cacti (plural) are blooming. This one is at the top of a barrel cactus that sort of looks like a nest from the angle I photographed it.

The grapes are daily ripening and if I don't bring in bunches of them, and if the birds don't feast on them, the grapes dry into delicious raisins; lower right in the photo. I found a recipe for a Grape Cake that I hope to try, if the birds leave me enough grapes.

And for fun I cut the long sleeves off an old denim shirt to about elbow length and then dipped the shirt into bleach. Viola! A new shirt to wear. I've considered using some fabric paint on the shirt, but what colors, coverage, design, etc? So for now I'll leave it alone unless someone offers a really good idea. Outside of Stacy going through the joys of a root canal June is okay, so far. I hope that everyone is having an exceptional June.

I'll end with this inspiring youtube piece.

Wind

2011-05-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't listened to news to find out what the wind speeds have been but they're strong enough to knock my favorite tree over, once again! The tree has be re-staked numerous times in the last few years and we thought we finally had it tethered to the ground with a guy wire but early this morning the wire came loose and the stakes were knocked over when the tree decided to take a break and lean against the brick wall. It's times like this that I wish there was another person in the house who would deal with calling the gardener . . .

Last week I photographed a dove perched on an exhaust pipe on the roof behind us. I think it's an exhaust pipe. Anyway, when I received a texture from Kim today I thought it might be the perfect one for a background. I've never used any of her free offerings before and now that I've used this one I'll be trying more of them. Go here for info:

Another Month Gone!

2011-05-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

At 11am the temp was heading for 100 degrees for the second day. Where did May go? Four weeks ago today mom was moved from the hospital to a skilled nursing home; it's taken me three weeks to finally get to a a good place, one of well-being. I imagine she'll be coming home soon. The entire breast cancer/mastectomy episode has been fairly stress-free amazingly enough. Maybe it's because I refused to get emotional over it; it seems that when I become too emotional over something that's when I run into trouble both mentally and physically. I couldn't do anything about what was going on with mom other than to see her through it and that's what I did.

A couple of weeks ago when I was doing my daily tour of the garden I was greeted by the "conductor of the garden." I had no idea that this tall fuzzy cactus bloomed. It sends shoots out from the side and then blooms. Four babies are growing at the base of this tall stately cactus that was once planted in an arrangement that Roger brought home about 3 years ago. Every one of the plants has been removed from the low round pot and each of the specimens are now somewhere in the garden. Everything grows here with lightning speed.

Who knew that grape stems look like leaf-less trees? I've been collecting the stems for awhile now; instant trees! I haven't altered a photo in months so I thought it was time to see if I remembered how to play with photos. This one isn't too bad for someone whose skills have become very rusty.

Quote: Another winner from Sally Huss
"Find a time each day when nothing is required.
It makes the other times more effective."

More Challenges

2011-04-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

A magnificent dove flew into the dining room window last week and before I buried it I honored the angel by photographing it. It's mate hasn't been seen since the gorgeous bird died. I mourn the loss of the dove and the musical notes of cooing. I know that there are those who aren't fond of birds, but they've always been soothing to me. In high school during a difficult time a parakeet, JoJo, was my pal followed by JoJo2, a cockatiel. These two birds were the first ones that were allowed indoors. Previous to that the 40+ pigeons that lived in coops in the backyard were companions during years of physical pain. These days two 11-year-old furkids provide comfort. From birds to dogs to cats I have been blessed to have them at my side.

Last Tuesday, after a biopsy the week before, a surgeon gave my brother and I his recommendation. Mom needed a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy. Shocked though we were we decided that the surgeon who had presented mom's case to other surgeons and a radiologist had given us the right decision. Wednesday, April 27th, was a very long day as Stacy and I waited during the surgery, that went well, and the extremely long wait for a room in the hospital. It seems that they couldn't figure out where to put a woman with Alzheimer's who had undergone a radical mastectomy. After four long hours the news came that on the 4th floor there was a nurse's assistant who could stay with mom.

Mom is doing well in part probably because she doesn't remember that she's had surgery. She'll go into a nursing home on Sat. until the drains are removed and maybe a little longer. I'm in great need of rest. I had another tooth extracted last week and even though it was a simple procedure it knocked the wind out of me.

Quote:

All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles have strengthened me...You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. Walt Disney 1901-1966

Roger

2011-04-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

I've photographed the white cactus blooms numerous times over the years; they only bloom for one day. I may have finally nailed it this time. This glorious trio opened 3 days ago just before we were blasted by a windstorm.

The rose photo says it all. The amazing thing about this rose is that it bloomed on the day Roger passed. March 24th, and is now dried in this perfect shape. It never completely opened up. Roger planted the rose bush 2 years ago.

Quote by Sally Huss: Life mirrors your feelings and intentions. It'll never let you down.

Breaking Rules

2011-01-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

Breaking Rules. Back-lit photos are a no-no, but then I wouldn't have gotten this photo that seems to vibrate with light.

Quote: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes"
- Marcel Proust

Sabbatical/Retreat

2011-01-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

Happy belated New Year. Where have 16 days gone? After a lot of pondering I came to the conclusion that I didn't have a breakdown last November when I was ill enough to spend a couple of nights in the hospital; I had a breakthrough. Though, at the time it felt like I'd fallen into the deepest dark hole imaginable. I've been taking a personally designed sabbatical or what I'm referring to as Gail's Retreat 101. To that end I haven't been doing anything creative including reading favorite blogs, though, this morning I did stumble upon this blog. So, Gail's Retreat 101 involves inner work, deep and heavy, and much needed. My days are finally feeling pretty darn good which is a miracle in itself. After a long year of grief and despair to finally find joy again without it feeling fake is the goal for 2011. My word for the year is Possibilities, apropos to the collection of quotes I collected for my book. (I have 3 copies available for a lower price than Blub offers, if anyone is interested.)

I find it difficult to not create, but when I work with fabric or paint that's where my energy goes. So, after I put away the fabric and paints I didn't have a clue what to do to fulfill the need to create. During the 6 week long recovery from the hospital stint I started watching cookingchanneltv and got re-hooked on cooking shows. I love to cook. So, every couple of days I try out a new recipe; better than going out and trying a different restaurant. Organizing the recipes in a spiral bound journal has been somewhat creative.

And then there is always the garden. I took the camera outdoors last week, don't hate me but the temps have been in the 70's to 80 today, and shot some photos using the macro lens. The top photo of a spider web cactus was revelation to me; I hadn't noticed that the 3-4 inch tall plant was blooming. The tall skinny cactus had hit the roof of the patio and needed to be moved. What a chore that turned out to be. I knew that I couldn't possibly remove it from the pot and expect it to survive so I dug a hole to the middle of the earth and sunk the put into the ground. The pot will eventually crumble apart. The cactus grew 6 feet last year so I'm wondering how tall it will get this year. It has a tiny sprout growing from the bottom that is exciting.

That's it in a nutshell. I'll be back eventually. Take care until then.

Improvement

2010-12-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

"In short, we cannot grow, we cannot achieve authentic discovery and our eyes cannot be cleansed to the truly beautiful possibilities of life, if we simply live a neutral existence." Armstrong Williams.

Photo: the Old Coast Road, Big Sur, CA

Photo and quote from my book.

There's been a vast improvement on the health front over the last week. Phew! Thanks so much for the posts here on my blog and private emails. It means a lot to me.

If you need a quick pouch of bag for a gift you might try making a drawstring bag. I found this tutorial to be one of the best I've seen. For some reason, maybe my brain cells still aren't connecting, I couldn't figure out how to create a quick drawstring bag. Stacy has a beautiful wood checker board but the checkers have walked out of the house. I found a nice set of wood ones on Amazon but they need a container.
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New Followers to my blog:
http://www.groovepressblog.com/

http://catherinelmommsen.blogspot.com/

http://elizabethavedon.blogspot.com/

MIA

2010-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Photo and quote from my book about possibilities: "Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning." Gloria Steinem

You might have thought that I've been writing the 50,000 word novel that I started on 11/1 for the contest, but that didn't go as planned. On 11/7 I came down with a virus that forced me to my knees. Stacy also had the virus and happily and shockingly enough she got over it. (her immune system is suppressed by anti-rejection meds she takes for the kidney transplant.) I kept going downhill to the point that I couldn't get out of bed and when one has two people to take care of that isn't a good thing. I was able to finally get help from Senior Helpers for mom and Stacy; at least they were fed and the laundry was done. After being ill for 1.5 weeks my jewel of a neighbor insisted that I go to Urgent Care where after a few hours the lab tests showed that I was too ill for their help. Being transported to the ER by ambulance brought on hysterics. I was all alone. At midnight I was told that I was critically ill with potassium levels so low that I needed to be monitored for arrhythmia, plus my blood count was so low enough that I was ordered to not get out of bed, I might faint. Lovely. My system was completely out of whack. After answering a million questions at 2am it was determined that my mental state had probably contributed more to the crisis than the flu had. Exhaustion.
I had to arrange for 24-hour care for mom and Stacy and all I can say is that I didn't get one bit of rest in the hospital during the days I spent there. Running the household from a hospital bed was an experience I hope to never repeat. It's been a few weeks now since the crisis and I'm starting to get my bearings, very slowly, but my brain cells still aren't connecting which isn't conducive to getting much done. My take on that is that I'm supposed to rest and heal not only my body but my emotional state. To that end I haven't made plans to do anything outside of keeping doctor appointments.
I have no idea what direction my life will now take, but I needed to stop everything I was doing in order to make room for new possibilities. Obviously, hitting a cement wall of health issues has me questioning everything in my life.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Funk?

2010-11-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

Woke up in a funk for some reason. I kept hearing the phrase, "Get happy any way you can." What makes me happy is to play with photos. It worked!

What makes you happy? I'd love to hear.

This is a vintage image that I've used a few time. (more available on my etsy.) The background on the top one is one of my paintings. The bottom version is manipulated from tree bark. I'm sure that you guessed that.

You might have noticed the logo on the right for NaNoWriMo? A good friend, Pam, and I are taking the challenge together, it's good to have an encouraging buddy! The goal is to write 50,000 in 30 days. The idea is to write a rough draft of a novel without editing it. The daily goal is 1,667 words a day. The first day was easy. The second day wasn't as easy due to a long-drawn out doctor appointment; I didn't leave the office in very good mood. I would have taken the day off, but this early in the challenge I didn't dare. Yesterday was endless, but I managed to write more than 1667 words. Day 4, I haven't started yet. I probably should start . .. oops! the earth just shook. I prefer small earthquakes but could have done with this tiny one. I'm sure that the news tonight will be full of predictions, once again, about the big that is believed to happen soon. Oh, and the weather will be a major topic as well; record breaking heat this week.

Stacy at 43!

2010-11-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Every year on November 1st I remember what the "specialists" told us when Stacy was eight months old. "There is too much damage, we don't think she'll be here to celebrate her first birthday." HA! Stacy has proven that even specialists don't have the answers.

Our first stop today was at the lab for blood tests, Stacy has an appointment at Loma Linda on the 8th. The second stop was in Rancho Mirage at the River Shopping Center where we ate outdoors at Acqua Pazza, a Bistro we'd never been to before. Their breakfast menu is huge; Stacy finally settled on blueberry waffles. Yum!! The view from our table was marvelous, the temp in the low 80's and the sky is so clear today that mountains are all in view. Sometimes the sky is hazy from humidity or dust after a windstorm so the mountains aren't as visible. Stacy glowed and was so thrilled to be outdoors. What was I saying a couple of weeks ago about Fashion Island in Newport Beach being spectacular? The River is about 1/4 of the size of Fashion Island and is mostly restaurants but it's pretty spectacular too. And yes, that's Stacy walking away from Acqua Pazza in route to Borders. I nearly missed getting her reflection in the window on the left. Happy Birthday my darling girl!!!

Possibilities

2010-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Two months until the end of the year and I've already chosen my word for 2011. Possibilities. 2010 was the year of Courageous, a word that I often wished I hadn't chosen, but has proven to help me through some difficult times. Helen Reddy's 1970's anthem, "I am woman, hear me roar," often comes to mind when I'm feeling less than courageous. I have traveled alone three times including San Francisco, treated myself to dinner in restaurants, become friends with a neighbor, started to conquer my fear of going to the dentist, and numerous other things that I'm proud of. Courageous was a good word.

But, there are too many days when the world seems to be out to defeat me. Enter possibilities. We always have them if we choose to remember that they are endless

For a long time I've wanted to create a book of some of my photographs but it wasn't until I started collecting quotes about possibilities that the two came together. I'm pleased with the small book that I created to celebrate my youngest daughter's birthday; she'll be 40 next month which means that both of my daughters will be in their 40's. How did that happen?

"There are many spokes on the wheel of life. First, we're here to explore new possibilities," by Ray Charles is one of the thirty-eight quotes in the tiny collection. These are three of the photographs in the book shot in the 1980's using slide film with an SLR Nikon camera. I have boxes of slides and until I purchased an Epson scanner that has the capability of scanning slides it seemed that the slides were merely quaint artifacts. Artifacts that aren't aging as well as Kodak guaranteed.

Both the top and bottom photos were contrast tweaked. The center photo is PSE8 manipulated. All of them were shot on the Monterey Peninsula, Pebble Beach, Big Sur, and Point Lobos State Park.

The book is perfect for gifts, including yourself, and is available at Blurb, see the side bar.

Quote: We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist. Queen Victoria

Faux Ink Drawing

2010-10-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

I love the look of ink drawings even if they're faux. Simply change the photo to black and white and pump up the contrast, then play with levels; all done in PSE. This is another version of the Back Bay.

I'm trying to get the art grove back, it's been MIA for way too long. The calender looks a bit crowded to fit enough days in to suit my needs for creativity, but then can't creativity be found in everything we do? Hm, not exactly what I had in mind. I need paint and fabric, and I need them now!

I'm attempting to clear the decks for more fabric art and in order to do that quite a few items in the etsy shop are now marked down. The clearance prices are good until 11/22. And I've added a few more vintage portraits.

Back

2010-10-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me? Two weeks ago I was in Redondo Beach keeping my grandsons out of trouble while their parents celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary in NYC. Last year they were in Norway when my guy had the debilitating strokes, so its been a year since that devastating event.

After my daughter and SIL returned I had a day to myself, one without an agenda. I drove down PCH, aka Pacific Coast Highway, and stopped in the
renovated and now very upscale town of Huntington Beach. Why you might ask? We lived in Huntington Beach in the 60's. I graduated from Huntington HS, Stacy was born in HB and Corey in Newport Beach. From HB I continued south to Fashion Island and in my opinion all malls/shopping centers should look like this one, though, here in the desert it would be a ghost town all summer due to the intense temps that rarely go below 105.

I wandered around the mall for a couple of hours and ate lunch outdoors even though it was a bit chilly, in the 70's.

I forgot to take photos while I was on the other bay side of the mall. Oh well, these few photos gives you an idea of the architecture and landscape.

Just below Fashion Island, to the north, is an area called Back Bay. We lived on the other side of it in Costa Mesa in the 50's. Could I be that old? Back then there weren't any houses on the cliffs. The one-way road that skirts the bay is quiet, so much so that I sat and enjoyed the peace before turning on the GPS. I had no idea how to get on the freeway from there. When I was a kid most of the freeways hadn't been built. Once I was on the 405 I was back in Redondo Beach in about 45 minutes; it took over two hours on PCH to get to Fashion Island.

More of the Back Bay. And below is a shot that I knew was destined for PSE manipulation.

So, the tooth that caused horrendous pain over a week ago was cracked below the deep filling. I've now had two extractions in five weeks which I believe is more than enough tooth loss.

Exciting.

2010-10-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

Check out this! A thermofax screen made from one of my photographs is now for sale.

I'm out of commission right now due to dental problems. I hope to blog again soon, in the meantime check out the screen and the other ones that Lynn offers. I can't wait to use it myself!

Piccola Arte

2010-10-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

Components: background is a mono-printed discharged piece. The embellishment is a piece of re-purposed jewelry that is attached to painted fusible web. The trio of burnt orange is hand-dyed fabric. The piece is 4x6 inches. Available at etsy

Will the brutal temperatures ever end? Even with monsoonal storms for the last few days the temps have remained over 100 degrees.

Quote: I am never wrong when it comes to my possibilities. Placido Domingo

Black and white

2010-09-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

I think that Blogger has gone insane! At least I was able to post a photo, but it keeps moving all over the page. Sadly I don't have the patience to deal with it, so I'll make this short. I've been scanning old negatives and slides and ran across quite a few, actually, hundreds, from the 1980's. This is one of them photographed at Point Lobos, and started playing with it in PSE8. What a learning curve fixing/tweaking photos on the computer rather than in the dark room.

Anyway, I ran across dozens of cabinet photos and will be posting them on etsy soon. But before I do if anyone has any interest in them let me know. I'll scan them later today.

Blogger?

2010-09-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

Interesting, I guess. I can't post photos to my blog. Does anyone know if Blogger is having problems? Looks like they're making changes again and so far they don't work . . . .

Trifle for my birthday

2010-09-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Isn't this Trifle gorgeous! My jewel of a neighbor went out her way to get it for me. The local Jensen's recently closed and the next one isn't handy to get to. I had a tooth extracted on Thursday so I'm a bit under the weather and this decadent dessert will surely hit the spot! I understand from my daughter that a Kindle is in route, I'm looking forward to that. Today is the last day to leave a comment for the give-away. I'll have Stacy pull a name out of a hat tomorrow.

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. Jean Paul Richter

More Purple

2010-09-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

For a friend. 4x6 inch piece using the fusible web that I posted on 6/27. I've got to paint more fusible web. The organic textures that are serendipitous are grand.

There are five more days to leave a comment for the Give-away.

Quote: The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something.
~Carl Sandburg

Purple Passion

2010-09-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Memories of 9/11 have been on my mind today. Purple is said to symbolize royalty, nobility, spirituality, ceremony, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, and mourning all of which seem to fit today.

Components: black acrylic felt with painted fusible web ironed on. Two digital images printed on fabric, stuffed and sewn on. One digital image strip, on the left, sewn on. One Raku button attached to the top stuffed piece. Gold paint. Machine stitching. Clean cut edges. Fabric piece adhered to painted mat board.

Greetings and Labor Day

2010-09-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Greetings from La Quinta. The rocky Santa Rosa Mountains greet me every day. I don't have a view of them quite like this being that houses and trees have nearly obliterated what could be an awesome panorama, but I know that they're there. When we dive out of the development this is the vista we see.

I created and sent out this post card to four names I was provided with at postcrossing.com.

In case you need a history lesson about Labor Day
go here:

Project 12 from Digital Expressions.

2010-09-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

The "real" project is on my photo blog but I couldn't resist playing with a few of the things I learned from this jam-packed lesson. There's only two layers in this image as opposed to four on the final one.

The bottom layer is a photo from Balboa Park in San Diego. The other photo is one of me that Roger took on our first trip to Las Vegas in 2008. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic; he took me to see Cher for my birthday last year and this year he's in a nursing home. I'm still standing . . . .

Talk about a talented artist, this is amazing.

Give-Away and Crazy Quilt

2010-09-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

We're not a sentimental family or one who hands down heirlooms, but when I found mom sitting on this quilt this morning I nearly lost it! It's been folded and stored in a dresser drawer for the last four years until this morning when mom discovered it and put it on her bed. The quilt was made by mom's grandmother and passed on to mom by my grandmother. And of course it goes to me followed by Stacy.

I only remember about 3 places where the fabric has frayed and now there about a dozen. The quilt is very fragile and I have no idea how to restore it, though, I have a feeling that handing it down stops with Stacy and me. So, perhaps I should figure out a way to hang it in Stacy's bedroom. She loves it! And maybe it's time to enjoy it before it falls apart.

What I'm thinking is that anyone who leaves me a comment about what I might do with this gorgeous quilt or which section is your favorite will be in the running for the give-away to celebrate my birthday. The deadline is Sept. 18th. I do have a favorite area on the quilt and happily it's still intact.

This was timely for today. It's about the Alzheimer's Memory Quilt show. I asked mom why she had put the quilt on her bed and she told me that it's always been on her bed. It's never been used on a bed. Mom did have it draped over a round table for a few years and that could be when some of the damage occurred. Though, as old as this quilt is I imagine that just time has taken a toll on it. I love the decayed and frayed areas, but if those areas can be stopped from further aging that would be ideal. Anyway, go to the link and hit "listen." I defy you not be moved! More puzzle pieces of mom's brain have disappeared and now she has no memory of where this beautiful quilt came from.

Project #11

2010-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

"Digital Expressions" project #11

About 4 years ago when I was cleaning out 23 years of stuff before the move to the desert a neighbor tossed some things onto the growing pile in the front yard. Fortunately, before the guys from a group home arrived to haul everything off to the dump I saw a crate and photographed it. So, the words are from the wood tobacco crate and the skulls are also from my personal photo archives. The crate photo was inverted which changed the brown of the crate to blue, then an image of a skull was duplicated and layered onto the background of the crate; the backgrounds were erased. There is also another layer of a rock wall. I had such a great time with this project that I did it twice, the other digital image is on my photo blog. Maybe this piece is a commentary about tobacco? If it is it's unplanned.

Need a hug? go here:

Quote: Don't look outside of yourself for a leader. Hopi Elders after the 9/11/01 terror attacks.

Give-Away

2010-08-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

I don't have any new work to share so here's a photo of the furkids who will be 11 in Oct. Yep, they're hefty. They're brother, the protector on the left, and sister and go by the names of Spencer and MizRiley.

Mom chose the Give-away this time and it goes to the person who made the last comment. Val! I'll get something off to ASAP. My birthday is next month so I might have another Give-Away. Stay tuned.

Give-away and Cirque du Soleil

2010-08-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Out of commission due to an infection. Grr! But I still wanted to work on something and I find that when the energy is lacking it's the perfect time to get out something old that might be ready for tweaking. I made a few changes to this Cirque Du Soleil piece and was immediately in memory-land experiencing the few Cirque performances I was privileged to see. Memories!

There's still time to leave a comment for the Give-away. See the post from a couple of days ago. Thanks in advance for your comment.

Get Happy here

And enjoy your weekend!
Quote:
“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart.”

Photo tricks

2010-08-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

There is something intriguing about aged things and even though I don't use a lot of vintage items in my work I'm drawn to them. I posted the original of this photo of my photo blog and when I discovered a site that generates vintage photos from originals, well, I had to try it out. Where did I find the link? At Photojojo where you'll find more fun things to try. Instant gratification!

And yes, even if you've received a give-away from me before you're more than welcome to leave a comment on the last post for another try.

And what is the mystery photo posted two posts back? It's the top of an eggplant.

Thought for Today

"For me, it's the only goal worth aiming for: a transformation of consciousness that allows me to know that I am no better or worse than any other being. That I simply am." Oprah

Give-away

2010-08-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is the latest 4x6 inch piece listed and it's time for another give-away. This time it's for one 4x6 inch fabric art piece. All you need to do is let me know what you'd like to see on any 4x6 inch piece such as: a photo of? canceled stamps or not, a particular motif like a leaf, abstract designs using fabric, or something I haven't mentioned. And do you like quotes on art pieces? Deadline for leaving a comment is my mother's 84Th birthday on August 24Th.

Quote: Eat for health. Play for fun. Work for joy. Love for life. Sally Huss

Nuggets of Joy

2010-08-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Nuggets of Joy have evaded me lately. grrrr! But today they seem to be plentiful and perhaps are making up for the last week or so? I've watched this video numerous times after seeing a post on Face-book and today it popped into my radar again. There is something very poignant and uplifting about Tanya Davis and her approach to being alone. Kudos to Bravo fro producing the video and to Andrea Dorfman who filmed it. It's shot in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Enjoy!

When I finally climbed out of bed at 10:30 this morning I as greeted by 9 cactus blooms and yes I know I've shared photos of them before. But if there is infatuation shouldn't that be shared? By the time I wandered outside the heat had taken its toll on the blooms and they were beginning to lose their joy and fall off of the plants. Hm, they might make great still-life images. I envision hours of playing with PSE using the dozen or so images that shot. More images are on the photo blog.

Any guesses about what the top photo is of?

Quote: Learn to expect, not to doubt. In doing so you bring everything

into the realm of possibility. Norman Vincent Peale.

The free counter on the right side of this blog hit 16660 today. Wonder who will be #16666.

Piccola Arte

2010-08-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

While the 4x6 inch size is mostly known as the postcard size I'm introducing another way of looking at the small size; Piccola Arte, Italian for small art, or to my way of thinking, compact art.

The copper patina heart shouted rustic at me so I complied. The red flannel background was discharged; the surprise during the discharging process is what color will present itself. Gold! Red and Gold with turquoise play well together. This piece that I've grown fond of is now listed on etsy

Mother Nature, or is it the individual nature of a tree, has dumped leaves on the ground in a way that looks more like the fall season than the middle of summer. At first I feared that the Bottle Tree was succumbing to the months of over 100 temps, but it seems that the dumping of leaves was due to new growth, phew! More photos on my G-photos blog

I didn't want to announce the names of those who were picked out a hat by Stacy until they had received the give-aways for my blog anniversary. So, Seth, Penny, and Doreen were chosen. I'm considering another give-away for my birthday on Sept. 18.

Quote: At the innermost core of all loneliness is a deep and powerful yearning for union with one's lost self.

Brendan Francis

Abstracts

2010-07-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I returned to working with acrylic paints rather than figuring out ways to finish some fabric pieces. I seem to box myself in and wonder if I should plan how to hang a piece before I begin creating it. But that would curtail the spontaneity that I depend on. The size of these three pieces are 5x7 inches.

They're more brown black, and ivory white than black and white and nearly impossible to color correct for posting.

The substrate is 4-ply mat board that was heavily textured before washes of paint were done. The first two work well as a diptych. (pay it forward 4x6 size prints available on etsy.)

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only

waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.

Rainer Rilke

Gull with two beaks?

2010-07-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

When I matched up the eyes of two seagull photos this emerged. I was working on Project #10 in the Digital Expressions book by Susan Tuttle. The first one I created can be seen on my photo blog. The piers are in the San Francisco bay and if I hadn't taken the early morning walk I would have missed photographing them.

San Francisco Morning

2010-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

A week ago today I was in San Francisco enjoying the cool morning air and marveling that the expected fog was hanging over the Golden Gate Bridge rather than enshrouding the city. I'm not an early riser but I knew that if I didn't get up early and venture out to photograph I'd end up checking out of the Radisson and not be able to find decent parking. The trees sparkled in the early morning light and while others were busy looking down in their rush to get to work I was looking up.

I walked for about seven miles which is six miles past my limit and I felt the burn from the climb up and down hills for days afterward. But the glory of standing on Lombard Street looking down the steep incline I had slowly walked up remains with me. From Lombard I walked straight down to the bay where I joined the march around the bay; bikers, joggers, and strollers like me all seemed to have eyes on the bay as we bumped into each other. (more photos on my other blog)

Rather than share a inspiring quote by Sally Huss I'll direct you here, scroll down and enjoy!

Manipulated Photos

2010-07-05T12:02:00.000-07:00

Back in the dark ages, the 80's, when I had a darkroom, it could hours or often days to manipulate a photograph. This one is a window with torn curtains with a second image of clouds over it.

In order to get the blue effect split developing was called for. My notes on the back say, Selenium and blue, and I have no idea how it was done beyond that other than it took hours and hours to get a few prints. Fast forward to 2010 and in a short time one can manipulate images without breathing in nasty chemicals. Project #4 in Susan Tuttle's book, "Digital Expressions" is marvelous and in just three hours I had four new images from my photo collection.

Quote: To have peace and confidence within our souls--these are the beliefs that make for happiness. Maurice Maeterlinck

Happy July 4th!

2010-07-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

And More Mail Art

2010-07-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

Why the sudden obsession? For one thing they're the perfect size for small studies; that sounds plausible, doesn't it? How about, I need the distraction from the daily craziness. This one says, "Semi precious. Undeliverable as is."

Photograph image, Fleur-de-lis motif, taken in Florence last summer when life was a little more normal, or at least I thought there was a chance of some normalcy.

"Delivery failed." Photograph taken on our first night in Italy, June 5th, 2009, Hotel Villa Stanley, Florence.

Quote: "For us to go to Italy and to penetrate into Italy is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery -- back, back down the old ways of time. Strange and wonderful chords awake in us, and vibrate again after many hundreds of years of complete forgetfulness." --D.H. Lawrence

More Mail Art

2010-06-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

I like the postcards to look like they've already been through the postal system, though, perhaps not as beat up as some of the mail I've received lately. This one says, Cannot be delivered for unknown reason.

Household has moved to unknown sphere which sums up mom's brain.

Quote-less today.

Painted stamped fabric

2010-06-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

Let the painting and stamping of fabric commence; not much choice when the heat in the garage is ridiculously hot. Handmade stamp, white paint, over blue on top of cheap muslin. I'm attempting to create a collection of fragment pieces.

On the left is a handmade Styrofoam stamp. On the right we have stamping from Styrofoam meat trays in gold and metallic rust.

A scrap of pellon first stamped with impressions from Styrofoam meat trays, the dark lines/patterns. Then lots of color washes, then more stamping, then gold metallic lines.

Painted fusible web. I have no idea what I'll iron this onto. I might use strips of it, or? But in the meantime I've added a photo of it to my digital background collection.

Quote: Do things that make your day precious. Bernie Siegel

Fabric

2010-06-26T01:04:00.000-07:00

Discharged Fabric draped over the back of the chair that begged to be photographed.

I finally added a photo to my photography blog.

Need inspiration? This should do the trick for all fabric artists.

Quote: To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power. J. MacDonald.

Wardrobe

2010-06-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

The wardrobe could use some help, I can just see one of those reality shows hosts showing up and saying, "everything has go to go." I'd probably agree in a heartbeat, but unless someone wants to pick up the tab for a complete makeover nothing leaves the closet without a lot of scrutiny. The green shirt ( very uninspired photos!) had a stain on it and was nearly relegated to "the at home" section of the closet which is much larger than the "okay to be seen in public" section. Now that I've tossed some dye at it I'm still undecided about it, but it's more interesting.

The orangey, red, yellow shirt with blotches of black that went blueish will probably make it out of the house at least once. (it's more redish in person.) Yes, I love shirts and practically wear them exclusively for their comfort and anonymity. Most of the year though, I wear short sleeve shirts from the men's department of which the ones that are residing in the closet mostly needed repairing or altering. Buttons were missing on some while others were so long they made me look fat and others needed to be taken in on the sides for a more feminine look. Last Monday is was very apparent that I'd put off tackling the job too long when I ended up wearing a shirt that came from the "at home section" out in public. I'm nearly done with the job and fear that I won't finish the last two alterations now that I've lost the momentum. I can't do anything with the slacks and jeans except pray for a sale ASAP. I'm not sure that I'm ready to wear capri or crop pants out of the house. (Happy Birthday Meryl Streep! You're now 3 months older than I am!)

This should keep everyone busy for awhile; lists of helpful tutorials and tips.

Quotes: “Each individual piece is a calculated attempt to entice women to add to their wardrobe.” Bill Blass

“The wardrobe guy [of Blow] was a genius. He was so tapped into that period and he brought me the ugliest things I'd ever seen and then they were somehow beautiful.” Johnny Depp

Just let the wardrobe do the acting” Jack Nicholson

Mail art

2010-06-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Working on these small pieces reminds me of the 52-projects that I did last year. Everything is in the timing and this certainly wouldn't have been the year to take on a weekly project. The fabric background is a serendipitous piece created when I wiped off the squeegee between screen prints.

Have I mentioned that I'm not fond of wasting dye even if it's supposedly exhausted? The blue background fabric wouldn't exist if I hadn't spread dye print paste onto fabric; I wasn't expecting such vivid colors. The torn aged text is from a French book so I have no idea what it says. Don't you love a mystery?

Quote and good advice: When we are unable to work, we can work at the work of getting ready to work. Julia Cameron

Nuggets of Joy

2010-06-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, the grapes are as delicious as they look. Bunches of red flame grapes! The other vine, not as mature as this one, appears to be the good old green variety.

Stacy is doing very well, once again. Phew!

   Well, it looks like the dyeing and discharging of fabric has come to an end; the temp in the garage at 8am was 89 and it's easily hit 105 outside. So, the sewing machine was dusted off and seems delighted to be in use again. Some of these fabric mail art pieces might just end up being give-aways for the blog-anniversary that I've extended from the 20Th to the end of the month. Just leave a comment and I'll add your name to the list. (Thanks Doreen for all of the marvelous postage stamps! I'm finally using some of them.)

Quote sent to me this morning. :)      "Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility."
-James Thurber (1894-1961)  (if I didn't laugh about the dramas, I'd be in a straight-jacket by now.)

Storms!

2010-06-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

About an hour ago a storm blew in which fits my mood; way too many personal storms last week, so the dark clouds and wind are indicative of my emotions. Stacy had a bit of a hiccup; two minor seizures meant that something was amiss in her system. It's difficult to be thankful for a seizure but in Stacy's case it helps me figure out what might be wrong. Her language skills have never developed enough to be able to tell me the symptoms she's having. "I don't feel well," is about the best she can do. My gut reaction was a UTI, but of course on Thursday the kidney doctor wasn't in the office Stacy goes to. And the main concern is always kidney rejection so we needed to go to Loma Linda, nearly two hours away. Would she be admitted? And if so how could I have mom with me? Mom's sister, shock, said that she'd take mom. Huge relief. We spent about eight hours in the ER and happily the UTI didn't warrant a stay in the hospital; her blood tests were negative for potential rejection. Loma Linda University Hospital is a trauma center for most of S.CA and crosses the border to include AZ. so the tension levels there are high and that added to my stress. After receiving a round of IV antibiotics and "the word" from a transplant doctor we headed home on the freeway that always makes me anxious; the I10 is fraught with accidents mostly involving semi trucks.

And there is mom who has decided to become more inventive with how she deals with Alzheimer's. Did you know that bathrooms are "notorious for being able to be used as kitchens?" I sure didn't, but it seems that if you pile used Kleenex on the bathroom floor and try to light it with an unlit candle you'll have a way of cooking food. She had a plate to cook on and a bottle of rubbing alcohol on the counter. Anyone who thinks that Alz is merely loss of memory doesn't have a clue as how unhinged the brain can become! Nothing makes sense to her anymore; she can't problem solve the simplest of things and wanders around the yard constantly trying to make sense of where she is. Yesterday, the gravel in the yard wasn't gravel but had become layers of nuts that she was going to eat; she was angry when I insisted that let go of the handful she was carrying to her room, she'd spent of a lot time getting just the right ones. Leaves on plants are lettuce and abundant. . . . Her latest minute-by-minute behavior problems don't leave me a lot of free time to create anything and that makes Gail one cranky person.

This morning, while attempting to calm myself down, I walked around the garden and photographed some "Nuggets Of Joy." From the top down are Mexican Bird-of-Paradise; the first time I saw that plant was the first spring here in the desert! Brilliant orange on a lacy plant. They grow like weeds here and we had to have them, but they can take over the yard so we decided against them. We now have two in pots near the front door and as soon as mom decides that the blossoms will look better in her room the plants won't be as showy. Mom picks everything including green tomatoes that she was going to eat, everything, even if it isn't food, is meant for her eating pleasure. When the Bird-of-Paradise blooms it opens a little at time. Up close it's really magnificent. The color theme by the front door ended up being orange, not something I would have intentionally chosen, but when we fell in love with an African Geranium, the second photo, we had to have that one as well. It loves heat. And the next photo is of the first Plumeria bloom. They shout tropics to me and seem out of place here, but Roger had to have them. They're thriving so well that I had to move the pots from in front of the windows to walls on the side of the house; they were blocking the windows with their glorious leaves.

Our boy, Spencer, who thought that if he had dibs on the table I wouldn't put it out in the garage. Stacy used the well-worn table for a nightstand until her sister brought out the nightstands that match the dresser she gave Stacy a few years ago. I now have the steam pot I use when I dye fabric on the glass topped table. And yes, Spencer is one very large cat! Doesn't he look like he's saying, "Don't mess with me?" He is the greatest cat, or is MizRiley the greatest? Or was Zeus? We've been lucky to have amazing lovable cats.

Sally Huss nails it again: "Tune yourself to happiness and adjust the frequency when you get out of sync.

Sunset

2010-06-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's hit the century mark of 100+ degrees and is holding there; looks like the cool temps are a thing of the past. I'll have to make do with what I was able to dye and discharge over the last few months. This is one of those OAK pieces that I hate to cut up and use. The white flare-like spots were created using glue as a resist, but I poured on so much dye that they mostly dissolved; the effect adds some texture so that's okay with me.

So, I had the great idea that upgrading to a new computer with more gb's and Windows 7 would make my life easier. Maybe it will eventually, but we didn't transfer anything from the old computer so everything is on an external drive and is a jumbled up mess. And my camera won't transfer the older shots on the disk to the computer. The Canon prefers to only transfer photos that are new. And, Windows 7 doesn't seem to like my favorite stand-by of Picture It; I do love PSE8, but sometimes Picture It was just easier to use. Oh, and my speakers aren't working . . . and so it goes. I'm trying to live by the following quote: Want a perfect day? Decide to have one. Sally Huss

Reds

2010-06-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

The Reds turned out grand if I do say so myself. On the left, mono-printed red print paste. Top is a piece of fabric that I swiped with black print paste before covering it entirely with red print paste, actually, the grid piece is done the same way. In the center top, barely evident is cheesecloth and gauze. On the right side is waffle fabric and on the bottom is a piece of kona muslin that I poured dye over just like I did the waffle fabric, and the cheesecloth.

I seem to be slowing down as the temps rise, but then I do need to get my house cleaned up by Friday. My daughter and her guys are coming for the night and all of Saturday. They need to get back home Saturday night for one of Jack's functions early on Sunday; Jack being my 8-year-old grandson. Hopefully, my SIL and I can get the drip system going well enough so that I won't have to do much hand-watering in the blistering heat. Of course, it's supposed to be around 107 this weekend.

Do go and take a look at the outstanding tutorial Judi did about making your own rubber stamps. She spent days writing it up so do tell her that I sent you!

Quote: A day without sunshine is like, you know, night. Steve Martin

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

1943, my dad is second from the left. And, above, with my Aunt Gladys, the only remaining sibling of four; she's now 86.

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men (and women)
who died,

who gave that right to me.

~Lee Greenwood

Influences and more discharging

2010-05-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks Joyce, Vickie W. Christina, Caterina, hwfarber, and Lise for leaving comments, your names have been added to the give-away list. (Let me know if I've missed anyone) I've enjoyed your comments!!

I should be out in the garage, the temp is cooler today; it's been way too hot the last two days, but I wanted to get these posted, that's the story that sounds better than I feel like road-kill and would rather be in bed. While I was trying to find more room to stash more fabric I came across the fat quarters that I bought in March when I visited Roger in Greenbrae. There was a fabric store near the hotel, anyway, what struck me instantly is how those pieces of fabric have influenced some of the dyeing I've recently done. I haven't seen the quarters in awhile so maybe it's the other way around? I purchased what I'd like to create in the way of color choices and textures? Over the weekend I worked with avocado and dark green and a variety of white fabrics. Very interesting that I had purchased similar colors a few months ago. On the top example of the greens is mono printing with print paste. On the right is a waffle fabric that shrinks and creates a waffle texture when washed. I've found remants of it over the years. Below that is cheesecloth. The piece in the bottom center is over-dyed over a not so stellar DSP, however, the pattern created by the DSP is quite interesting now. In the center below the mono printed piece is a grid pattern white-on-white fabric.And on the left top is a piece of crinkle cloth and below that is a gauzy fabric. Why the variety? How about a monochromatic art quilt based on a variety of textures? I'm doing the same with rust and grey, and reds.

I finally got a decent black, though, it's not brilliant/rich enough, but it's black with some bluing at the edges. These two pieces are DSP (Deconstructed Screen Printed.) The goal is to get a rich black that doesn't look faded nor has a green, blue, or red cast to it. Something to aspire to, I guess.

Quote: “Always aim your goals and aspiration for the moon, because even if you don't make it, you'll always end up reaching the stars”

Discharge experiments continued and Blogaversary

2010-05-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

First off, thanks to Kim, Julie, Darlene, Penny, Marilyn, Nellie, Seth, and Joyce for leaving comments for the Blogaversary give-away. If you'd like to be included leave me a comment. (Forgive me for not replying but I'm a bit distracted right now, see below.) Please let me know if I've forgotten anyone.

It was 100 degrees last Thursday but a cold front moved through and we were near freezing yesterday, well freezing for us! A low in the 80's on Sat. and 70 degrees yesterday. Nothing left to do but take advantage of it and if my energy and physical strength had lasted longer than it did I might have dyed and discharged bolts instead of yardage. But I'm happy with the results, some of which I'll share. A few pieces have blown me away and when I create something from them I'll share them then. Suffice it to say that I'm mystified and in awe of what discharging can do. The variables are the key and my notes aren't helpful. I have to do better at immediately jotting down things like the temp in the garage and the age of the discharge paste and dye. . . . and so it goes.

A few pieces are both discharged with bleach and Thiox. (no examples on this post.) And, yes, I'm getting browns, greys, cream, and some white all on the same piece of fabric. Amazing. I've screen printed some and brushed on discharge paste on others; I've only scratched the surface.

Sometimes blogger can drive me crazy! None of the photos are in the right orientation or placement! Oh well, today I don't feel like coping with that as I have an appointment with the garage that I don't want to miss. It's supposed to be in the 80's again today and 90's the rest of the week. Bah!

Quote: Want to have a perfect day? Decide to have one. Sally Huss

Discharge experiments and blog anniversary

2010-05-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

Five years ago on June 20Th I started this blog. This post is number 479; you'd think that I'd have more posts than this in five years, wouldn't you? Since keeping count over two years ago this blog has been viewed about 16000 times and that amazes me! Huge Thanks! So, to commemorate the anniversary I'll be giving some things away around June 20Th. All you need to do is leave me a comment starting today and please add your email addy. I tried to respond to some comments today and blogger must be off-kilter because a lot of profiles don't exist; I know they do because I've responded before. So, if I haven't emailed it's Google's fault.

In the next few weeks I'll announce the give-aways of which a few books will be included along with some art work. If you don't wish to be included in the give-aways leave me a comment. Thanks!!!

The first piece is dyed and discharged on black kona cotton and isn't finished yet. The second piece is thiox discharged and an effect I'm hoping to do more of when I can get back into the garage. 100 degrees today; there is a rumor that it might drop to the 80's over the weekend. Fingers crossed here!

Quote: When you think that all goes well in your world, it will. Sally Huss

Discharge experiments

2010-05-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Thiox has entered my life, thiox discharge paste that is lest you think something else. I couldn't get my head around the information that I read on-line and in numerous books but Dear Rayna gave me a simple recipe and if I had followed it the first time, well, I needed a break from the broiling garage, 95 yesterday and even standing directly in front of the portable AC I wilted. I assumed, incorrectly, that if I put the fabric with the discharge paste on it under plastic that it would remain damp enough until I could steam it, after all I do that with DSP. Wrong. The discharge paste only worked in small areas where it was heavily applied; the brownish/tan areas evident in a few of the examples are from the first go-around. The fabric was rewashed and a new batch of discharge was mixed up and rather than take a chance that it wouldn't work again I erroneously doubled the amount of thiox. Over-kill isn't necessary in this instance. The steaming worked fast and, what? I was expecting white or off-white due to the fact that the few bits that discharged on the first experiment had gone white(ish). A yellow cast? Not too thrilled about that but okay, maybe the discharge paste will improve some Kona muslin that was part of a parfait batch; I'm not impressed with the Kona, very lackluster. Stripes are interesting, aren't they? There was a little bit of discharge paste left so I sponged some onto a fabric that had laughed at bleach; who knew that bleach doesn't work on all fabrics? The Thiox worked but the discharged color is a green/grey, not particularly appealing. Around 12:30am I tossed the fabric into the washer and watched some TV. Some sort of documentary about the Rolling Stones was on Jimmy Fallon, is that the guys name? He follows Leno, anyway during a break I pulled the fabric out of the washer and surprise, the yellow cast from the Thiox was nearly gone and only white, tan, and little yellow remained. My guess is that only a little Thiox is necessary in order for the discharge to work. The fabric is from Dharma, they claim that it will discharge and it does. The recipe is: 1/2 tsp thiox and 1 tsp of soda ash to 1/2 cup print paste. Dissolve the thiox in a bit of hot water first; ditto with the soda ash and add them to the print paste. (apply to fabric and immediately steam or iron; from what I understand the iron should hover just above the fabric, it's the steam that activates the discharge paste. I steamed the fabric for about 10 minutes.) It's good to use a Darth Vader mask, though, I didn't! Claustrophobic here, I did use a dust mask and might break down and use the DV one. I did, however, open the doors in the garage and pray to the Dyeing Gods for good ventilation. I use Rayna's print paste recipe from her stellar book, "Create your own hand-printed cloth." Info about Thiox can be found here:

Odd dreams last night, from the Thiox or from watching a film about the Stones when they were in exile living in France? In any case, I'm in love with thiox and am hoping that the temps allow me to experiment some more. The weather report is that by this last year there had already been 5 days of 100+ temps and so far we've only hit 98 twice. Gosh, like I can tell the difference!

Quote: You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need. Rolling Stones

Rust dyed

2010-05-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

Dharma sells table runners ready for dyeing or embellishing, love that! After this one was washed it was dunked into vinegar before placing steel wool randomly over the surface. Then the table runner was rolled up and put into a bag. Magically, two days later the organic patterning happened.

Thanks for the comments about the flour paste resist. It seems to be true that one person's trash is another person's treasure; I wasn't pleased with the FPR over the screen printed fabric but now I'm starting to look at the results in a new light. A similar thing happened when I parfait dyed another 10 pieces of muslin. Even though Dharma cautions that each bolt can be a lot different than previous ones I still expected the same results and I didn't get them. There are so many variables that can go wrong and one can go nuts trying to determine exactly what they are or one can accept the results and know that every piece of fabric is useful in some way. After scouring the heck out of the fabric, maybe the fabric wasn't accepting the dye as easily, and dyeing a small piece to check if that worked I finally came to the conclusion that I'm being too frugal. Dye mixed and used within 3 days was glorious, but dye left to sit in the broiling garage for longer than 6 days lost its vibrancy. Lesson learned, stop being so frugal! Or, try freezing the mixed dye after 2-3 days. I'll let you know how that goes.

Quote:Abandon the urge to simplify everything, to look for formulas and easy answers,
and to begin to think multidimensionally, to glory in the mystery and paradoxes of
life, not to be dismayed by the multitude of causes and consequences that are
inherent in each experience -- to appreciate the fact that life is complex.
- M. Scott Peck

Flour paste resist

2010-05-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Others have written about this resist including Judi so check out her blog for some info. The first example is of what not to do, at least for me. I had great hopes that the crackle would save some really bad glue resist screen prints. Nope, now they're even worse. But if you take a closer look at the right edge on the blank muslin there is a possibility that I might be able to get something great.

The black crackle is a bit overdone, but it's great. A light coat of FPR was applied over canvas fabric and once the FPR was dry and cracked black Dye-na-flow was painted over the surface and allowed to dry. To heat-set the Dye-na-flow the back side was ironed about 5 times, then I soaked the fabric in cold water for about an hour before rinsing it under cold water and then tossed it into the washing machine to remove any remaining FPR.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

I believe that mother's are courageous.

This digital image is still in-progress, but for now it's gone as far as I know how to take it. The background is a scan Parfait dyed fabric and the cactus bloom is from my garden.

Quotes:

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~George Cooper

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont
The sweetest sounds to mortals given
Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.
~William Goldsmith Brown

A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries

Parfait Dyeing part 2

2010-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Rather than show the individual pieces this time I thought that it would be fun so see how the progression of Parfait dyeing. Upper left, deep yellow/lemon yellow dye. Upper middle, fuchsia. Upper right, turquoise. Middle bottom, Avocado. Bottom, charcoal grey/pewter dye.

Also in the same jar are: on the left, scarlet/Chinese Red dye. Upper middle, Palomino. Upper right, dark green. Lower middle, purple. Bottom right, black combo of #44 and #300 from Dharma.

The finished tree piece from an earlier post, April 12. I seem to have dropped the ball on the Passage Challenge. I'm racing against the weather and until I can no longer dye fabric in the garage I don't imagine that projects will be completed.It was 95 in the garage today. The portable AC was whining and so was I. Components: deconstructed screen printed background. Transfer and the red shapes are painted fusible web. There is a little machine stitching and the 9x11 inch piece was edge stitched.

Parfait Dyeing

2010-05-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sold on Parfait Dyeing! What a great way to get a variety of fabrics with luscious colors to choose from. This time I did it a little differently than I did the first time with the browns. (a few days ago) I cut up 8 fat quarters and either folded, twisted, or scrunched the pieces. Because the mixed dyes were under 4oz each a bundle of fabric was placed in a tray before dye was squirted on. I tend to use small squirt bottles. Then the color was massaged through the fabric and the bundle was placed into a plastic jar. When all of the bundles were in the jar mixed soda ash was poured over all of the bundles until they were all submerged. Twenty-four hours the bundles were individually removed and lightly rinsed before they all went into the washing machine for a proper removal of excess dye. It's a bit shocking to see the soda ash turn murky in the jar and trust that each dye color is doing its magic; the results speak for themselves. Some color combinations are better than others, but I think that each piece has possibilities.

The first layer above is deep yellow/lemon yellow that was mixed 1:1. Raw colors can be a bit harsh thus I mix a lot of them.

Fuchsia warmed up with a pinch of brown.

Turquoise warmed up with a pinch of brown.

Scarlet/Chinese Red, 1:1. (this combo usually looks more orange, but the neighbors on either side of the bundle played a huge role this result.)

Charcoal grey/pewter, 1:1.

The same yellow combo as layer 1.

The same dye combo as layer 4, scarlet/Chinese red.

Black. Procion dyes from Dharma #44 & #300, 1:1

Eight bundles in this Parfait batch.

Nugget of Joy

2010-04-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

The duo who is busy building a nest in the grape vine. Aren't they sweet? More of them here on my photo blog

Quote: Since childhood she had walked the Devon rivers with her father looking for flowers and the nests of birds, passing some rocks and trees as old friends, seeing a Spirit everywhere, gentle in thought to all her eyes beheld. Henry Williamson

In the Studio

2010-04-29T09:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the mop-up cloth, left, is more interesting to me than the intentional pieces are. Just a few folded and dyed fabrics. The deep orange, I thought, might be toned down some with Camel as it's neighbor, but instead "yuck" happened. olive green and deep orange! Maybe over-dyeing will improve the strip of fabric, or? I do like the design though that was improved by some dribbles of black dye.

Rust Brown and? Khaki perhaps? Nice for something.

Purple and Palomino. The colors in this piece are richer than shown here, so much so that I toss this one over my sewing machine as a dust cover.

In the Studio

2010-04-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

Parfait dyeing of which can be found by googling it, or I think that Vicki Welsh has some outstanding recent examples of on her blog. Strips of fabric were dampened and I only used a small amount of from left to right rust brown, medium brown, and camel. The middle piece looks grey, but it's not, it's brownish. The camel color turns more olive than I care for, but the rust brown is a color I like to use. I folded the first two fabrics, left to right, and twisted the one on the right. Why only a small amount of dye? I wanted to use up what some remaining dye from a recent dyeing session. This is a technique worth pursing. So, it seems that using dry fabric and lots of dye are the way to go; we'll see.

What happens when you use Honey Brown, Terra Cotta, Burnt Sienna, and some black acrylic paint on wet fabric? Well if you smoosh the colors together and allow the fabric to dry in a tight ball you might get this. Just playing around, but I like the textures. The fabric is stiff, but will be great for a few things.

Deconstructed Screen printing. I adore the serendipitous of it!

Quote: The richness of friends cannot be overvalued. Sally Huss

Mail Art

2010-04-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

"Embrace Mistakes," Seth tells us in the current article at MMCA. And I couldn't agree more. One of the mail art pieces I've been working on absolutely refused to behave itself. I should know better than to use StazOn ink over top of dyed fabric, the ink prefers a clean slate. The Fleur de Lis was barely evident. Okay, now what? I painted some wonder under, stamped the Fleur de Lis image on the back of the dried fusible, cut it out and ironed it over the stamped image on the fabric. Oops! left the iron on the wonder under too long. Okay, now I'm annoyed, but wait, the result is something that would never have happened if I hadn't kept making so-called mistakes. I'm fond of the distressed effect, so much so that I attempt to achieve it in nearly every piece, perfection is over-rated, at least that's the way I see things. I'm hoping to over-iron some wonder under on another piece that I'm working on. Wish me luck!

Quote: The antiquity and general acceptance of an opinion is not assurance of its truth.
Pierre Bayle

In the Studio

2010-04-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Just portions of larger works-in-progress. I will say this though, they're both break-down screen prints except for the tree and the red found-objects stamping.

In the 88 temp range again today, no complaints from me! I can't get enough of sitting on the patio watching the garden grow, of the lizards stopping by to check me out, and of the birds taking baths in the fountain. One of the larger lizards seems to greet me every morning while the smallest one can't scoot away fast enough; I understand the feeling.

Quote:
You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you're just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you.

Ken Kesey

The wait is over

2010-04-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

The book "1000 Artisan Textiles" arrived yesterday and these are the two out of four pieces of my work that were chosen. I was pretty certain that 713 would be in the book but I thought that perhaps one of the other two would be in the book rather than 714. To see all the 52 creations go here: The one following these two, #32, is the one that I assumed would have been chosen, and the other piece I entered for consideration is in the process of becoming something else.

Kudos to Sandra Salamony and Gina M. Brown for putting together a marvelous book; the volume is truly beautiful and very inspiring.

A mono-print from this weeks marathon session of screen printing and fabric dyeing. The results from spending hours in the garage studio have left me in a quandary. What do I do with all of the screened and dyed fabric? I have vague ideas that most likely will become solid ideas when the time is right to work on them. Right now I need to get in as much time as I can before the desert heat keeps me indoors of which it nearly did today. I wanted to shout at the universe, "Not yet! Bring back some cooler temps!" It's been about 88 degrees for a couple of days now. And if that isn't annoying/worrying enough I was awake after 2am when a gentle aftershock from the earthquake that hit 6 days ago reminded us that the earth is still shifting on her axis. So, if you feel a little out of balance it could be that Mother Earth is having a difficult time finding her balance.

Quote: Our primeval Mother Earth is an organism that no science in the world can rationalize. Everything on her that crawls and flies is dependent upon Her and all must hopelessly perish if that Earth dies that feeds us.

-Viktor Schauberger

Challenge

2010-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

The challenge following the word Puzzle (see below Feb 28th) is Passage, in case you didn't figure that out. How to get letters onto fabric? Well, one way is to use sticky back foam letters that were purchased for $1 from Target some time back. I took a gamble that they would work and ended up more than satisfied. The thickened dye seeped under the letters just enough to color the white fabric that remained from printing the same screened design twice on the same piece of fabric. The tree design was applied to the screen with blue school glue gel and rather than thickened dyes I used textile paints on the screen. Why only a detail? The reveal isn't until the week of April 24Th. Besides, I'm not sure if I'll even use this beginning for the challenge.

So, if you've heard about the 7.2 earthquake in Mexico yesterday that was felt in CA you might wonder if this area shook as well. Yes it did! I knew from the rolling of it that we weren't in the epicenter but if the rolling didn't stop when it did I think there might have been considerable damage here. The floor looked like waves. The wind was starting to blow around the fabric I was working on and I was reaching for the button to close the garage door when the earth started moving. My but that's a strong wind! The rolling lasted about 45 seconds and a few things fell but happily nothing broke. It's believe that we what felt was around 5.1 which is enough to get our attention. Rocking and rolling yesterday and strong monsoonal winds today.

Quote: as artists, we run the risk of staleness if we close ourselves off to fresh experience. Each day must remain an exploratory expedition. Julia Cameron

Phew

2010-03-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

March Madness is nearly over, the month that in the past has been fraught with stressful events and a few losses. My trip to see Roger was spectacular. The weather was amazing and the traveling was okay even waiting in line to get the rental car. The wait was over an hour and when I discovered that the two women in line behind me were heading for Carmel I couldn't resist telling that I had lived in that area for 31 years. The hour flew by while we chatted.

The above photo was taken near where the nursing home is in Greenbrae. Nice area, though, a bit too crowded for me. The desert is so peaceful compared to anywhere that I've lived so I find it difficult sharing my space with so many people. The high-light of my visit happened on the last day when I was told that Roger had been pulling himself out of the wheelchair while hanging onto a parallel bar. He's paralyzed on the left side so that's a feat. The PT decided it was time for Roger to take some steps but that didn't happen on the first time out of the chair, but it did on the second and third until he'd taken 16 steps. To say the least I couldn't be more thrilled and I was the one who got to see it. The PT moves his left foot and he did the right. We were told in the beginning that he probably would never be able to stand, he's sure proving the doctors wrong.

We sat outside quite a bit and the image of a wisteria vine was shot through an umbrella. I am always drawn to lines, texure, and patterns.

Quote: Find some nice moments and hang onto them. Sally Huss

First Day of Spring

2010-03-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

I've spotted some huge grasshoppers in the yard lately and I thought that one was on the grape vine, nope, a bunch of grapes forming. I gave this plant to Roger on his birthday in 2008 and while it grew very well last year it was void of fruit. I'm taking the 10 or so bunches of grapes I counted as a good sign, especially on the eve of the day I start heading his way. It's been over two months since I was able to visit him in the Greenbrae Nursing home but by Monday afternoon I will be at his side. We're off to Redondo Beach tomorrow where mom and Stacy will spend a few days with my youngest daughter and her guys.

Quote: “It's spring fever.... You don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” Mark Twain

St. Patrick's Day Luck

2010-03-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

May the luck of the Irish be with you. What does that mean. Are Irish lucky? Or believe in luck? There's a smidgen of Irish in my veins, but March has proven to be the most unlucky month of all since 2000. In any event, I made these postcards for a swap using the backgrounds I posted a few days ago. The square and the shamrocks are cut out from painted fusible web and ironed on. Buttons and machine stitching and viola, a green postcard.

For some history go here:

Quote: St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time - a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic. ~Adrienne Cook

In the Studio

2010-03-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

Creating a one-of-a-kind, aka, ooak, piece of fabric is sublime. I've finally started dyeing and painting fabric again, what the hold-up was is beyond me; feel free to fill in the reason with any excuse.

So, bleach discharge, just plain old bleach, rubber stamps, sponges, corrugated cardboard and a folded piece where the bleach didn't reach the interior but that's okay. I'm not sure what the manufacture is or where I purchased the black fabric, but it worked unlike the first black yardage did. Interesting that some fabrics are resistant to bleach being that nothing I ever wear is.

I also poured some really old mixed dye, from last May, all over a piece of soda ashed muslin and it's been brewing for days now. I'm in no rush to rinse it out especially seeing how the dyers-in-the-know say that dye loses it's intensity every day it sits. I'm not fond of the unbleached muslin that I purchased many years ago anyway, so there's nothing to lose.

Quote: Doubt is a signal of the creative process. Julia Cameron

Nugget of Joy

2010-03-11T12:13:00.000-08:00

I finally know what the cover looks like for 1000 Artisan Textiles. Why the excitement? I'm proud to be able to say that two out four submissions of my work were chosen for publication. I have no idea which two and will have to wait until May to find out. Of course the book can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

Quote: Given a choice, be happy. You are given a choice. Sally Huss

Nuggets of Joy

2010-03-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Sunday, winter decided that the desert needed more rain; that was okay with me. It was a nice day to work on a few projects while the rain lightly dripped down my clean window. You know what they say is always true; wash your car or windows and it'll rain.

I photographed the garden while it was wet and soggy to remind myself when the temps stay over 100+ for months on end that we did have a very pleasant winter this year. I won't bore you those photos that are destined for my journal, but the stains on the patio created marvelous abstracts. Perfect for manipulating in PSE and Nuggets of Joy!

The following quote was on Laura Cater-Woods' newsletter a couple of days ago. It reminds me of how my mother now sees the world. Mom will look at something, comment on it, look away for maybe a second or two and return to the TV, food, magazine, view out the window or whatever and act as if it's the first time she's seen what is in front of her and make the same comment. Everything is new to her again and again and again. The mind of a person with Alzheimer's is interesting. Nothing is old or boring, but that also means that nothing enters her memory bank; it's been wiped clean.

Quote: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again. " Sylvia Plath

Rock Salt

2010-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

I don't remember where I read about using rock salt rather than table salt to create texture on paper or fabric, but I'm thrilled that I had the good sense to purchase some. I'm working on backgrounds for a swap and they were looking very boring until I sprinkled some rock salt onto the wet fabric. I never got an effect this great with table salt and yes, the salt has been brushed off so the pattern is permanent. The only problem is that some of the texture will be covered up once I start adding elements; right now I'm enjoying the rawness of painted canvas fabric. I used Golden Fluid Acrylic paint, three shades of green, that were randomly brushed onto very wet fabric. The purplish gray is just some cheap deep purple acrylic paint. When the pieces were dry I heat set them with an iron.

Looking for some inspiration? Check out this blog.

Quote: In order to grow as artists, we must be willing to risk. We must try to do something more and larger than what we have done before. Julia Cameron

Nuggets of Joy

2010-03-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

There was something cathartic about finishing the Puzzlement Challenge Piece, quite unexpected actually. It was as if a weight had been lifted once I posted about the piece; I had no idea that I was hanging on so strongly to so many weighty emotions that seem to have lightened up now.

A few nights ago while a pot of rice was cooking I took the opportunity to sit in one of my favorite places in the yard, the left rear side near a tree with a different view of the house; I often end up sitting on the patio in this photo. As the sun set I sipped my drink and finished reading a novel. Once the intense summer heat hits I will no longer be able to enjoy pleasant evenings outdoors, so I captured it with my Canon Powershot. The photo of the cactus is directly to the left of where I was sitting.

There are many Nuggets of Joy in my own surroundings as I'm sure there are in everyone's.

Quote: I thought I'd leave you with a lighter quote by Anne Lamott, the last two have been heavy ones.

"Joy is the best makeup."

— Anne Lamott (Grace [Eventually]: Thoughts on Faith

The Reveal

2010-02-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I was going to reveal the piece tomorrow; but I just posted it on the Quilt blog so I might as well blog today. Do check out the fabulous quilts on the Quilt blog!

What I didn't mention of the Quilt blog is that the text on the transparency is definitions of Mentally Challenged, my daughter, Alzheimer's, my mother, and Strokes, my guy. The Puzzlement is why a triple whammy? (click on the image in order to read the text.)

The backing is white canvas fabric that I painted red and stiffened with GAC 400; I have no idea if or how I'd hang the piece, but the fabric is stiff enough to stand up on its own on a display shelf. And yes, the red backing is attached off-center. I used black canvas fabric for the middle layer with the rusted Hope sign on it. The challenge word is puzzle so the first thing I did was to make a puzzle piece stencil that was used for both the discharged shapes on the top right layer of black fabric, the blobs, and for the painted pieces on the left side. The line drawing of the brain was PSE manipulated. The twisted cording is torn strips of fabric that were adhered to the piece with a painted piece of junk jewelry. Additionally, there are painted puzzle pieces and two more painted pieces of junk jewelry. The red lines resembling veins are a rubber stamp.

Being that my quilting skills are nil I used paint as a needle; straight and satin stitching were used to sew the fabrics together. Black felt was used for batting.

Quote: Anne Lamott nailed the way I've been feeling for the last four months.

"And I felt like my heart had been so thoroughly and irreparably broken that there could be no real joy again, that at best there might eventually be a little contentment. Everyone wanted me to get help and rejoin life, pick up the pieces and move on, and I tried to, I wanted to, but I just had to lie in the mud with my arms wrapped around myself, eyes closed, grieving, until I didn’t have to anymore."

In the Studio

2010-02-27T14:44:00.000-08:00

The reveal for the first challenge on Three Creative Studios is Monday. These two images are of sections of my piece. The challenge word is Puzzle.

I'll provide the details about this piece on Monday.

I will say though that working on this piece was interesting in that it decided how it wanted to be created; I followed along even though I had a completely different idea in mind. On Jan. 21st I blogged about an early version of this challenge piece.

Quote: This was posted on a friend's blog after a family member took her own life. A teenager who decided that life was too difficult. I've read this quote before but the book isn't cited amongst Anne Lamott's quotes from her books.

"You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp."

In The Garden

2010-02-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

Before the garden make-over.

Last Sunday I tackled the planting. At night a garden light shines on the derrick/tower and a few cactus on each side of it. Nice!

Many of you know that my mother has Alzheimer's so if you can please go here and light a candle. Many, many thanks!

In the Studio

2010-02-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

A Nugget of Joy! This is the best photo I could get of this magnificent Monarch; posing for photos wasn't what it had in mind. The joy it found in my yard and plants put a smile on my face.

Last Sunday I reorganized and cleaned up the garage studio so that I can start having marathon fabric dyeing sessions. Roger's car and belongings were picked up that day by his oldest son and I needed to work off some steam. It seems that the leased car needed to be returned, okay, but Roger's belongings? I dumped some of his things in the trunk and called it a day. Roger's progress is slow and it seems that he's having run-ins with gangsters and robbers plus his left foot keeps falling off. It's his left side that's paralyzed. My dad hallucinated about gangsters and robbers too, what's up with that? The brain is a puzzlement.

This piece is more of a patch than anything else; I don't have anything in mind for it yet. The background is a used Olay daily facial and how grand is that they can be recycled? The price of them alone prevents me from tossing them after they're used. The circle is a cosmetic pad, I use my finger tips to apply makeup so I had no idea how cheap the circles and square pads are. Once they've been dunked in water they happily allow Golden Fluid acrylics to flow all over them just like the Olay facials do. The squiggly thread is a frayed edge off of a dyed piece of fabric. All three components were attached together with gel medium and can be stitched on. The idea for this piece came from Sherrill Kahn's latest book, "Creative Mixed Media," paint, print, stitch, stamp, and embellish. Yummy!

Quote: Let nothing stand in the way of feeling good. Sally Huss