Summertime 2014

I can see the end of summer......almost. I feel that longing for Fall, the cooler days, the shifting light, a sense of passing time. The lethargy of summer gives way to purpose, a Flatlands Dance Theatre concert in October, the Day of the Dead art exhibits, Studio Art Tour in November, an exhibit of Caprock Art Quilters in January at the LHUCA. Motivation pushes me forward.

Meanwhile, here's a recap of summer:

Glenn worked on the basement, building new bookshelves for our library (with most of our books sadly in storage for now so thank God for Kindle) and putting a paint and stain surface on the concrete floor.

We took a nice break in Santa Fe and Taos with friends, Doug and Melinda:

In the heat of July we visited Austin and San Antonio. I loved the Umlauf Sculpture Garden in Austin but it did not love me. I came home with a blistering case of poison ivy on the back of my thigh.

We also met this guy, Bucky, Leon and Rebecca's new puppy.

In San Antonio we stayed at the lovely, historic Menger Hotel next to the Alamo.

Our Caprock Art Quilters group had a fun Cyanotype on Fabric session with artist friend, Carol Flueckiger.

My little bird quilted tags were accepted for the Christmas edition of Quilting Arts magazine.

Naomi did another photo shoot for Flatlands Dance Theatre. Can't wait to see the results.

But mainly it seemed we spent a lot of time at J&B Coffee reading books.

It was all the same to Penny, as she prepares to turn fifteen.

A Flock of Birds, and One Rose

I'm working on a couple of big projects right now, one for a commission, another for an upcoming art show. In between those large, slow projects, though, I enjoy making things I can finish in an hour. Done and done. The perfect size for a mini project is 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", the proportions of projects known as ATCs (Artist's Trading Cards), the same proportions as baseball cards, Star Trek cards, etc., and also the wallet size on my printer/scanner. So I came up with my little bird cards after I made one as an experiment and decided I liked it.

This was the first one, and here's how it came to be.

 This is a painting a did last year that is now owned by a friend (Hi, Melinda!)

I then scanned it into the computer and cropped it down to one bird:

Then I bought some of this stuff:

I printed wallet sized multiple images of the sparrow onto the sheer fabric, then cut the images apart. Then I selected various fabrics and laid (egg pun there) the sheer bird images over each fabric to see the effect. Some fabrics were too busy and obscured the bird, while others showed just enough pattern to be an interesting accent:

 This one is a bit busy.

 This one works better.

 After that I made a quilt sandwich and stitched the bird to the backing with various colours of thread, although I found the malty brown shade worked best for outlining the bird body.

I came back and hand embroidered more stitches for interesting detail, with black for beaks, eyes, and legs, and gold thread around the sun, then I machine zig zag stitched around the edges before brushing all edges with copper metallic paint (I use Golden acrylics) to keep the edges from fraying. And here are some of the results:

I'm also trying it with an owl sketch I did.

 Not finished yet. Also, I need a manicure......:-)

And if you want to try this project but feel you don't have artistic abilities, I say, bah! But here's a quicker way. Find a copyright free image online, like this emerald wing dove, then use your Corel or Photoshop elements and turn it into art. In this case I used a watercolour effect on the photo then slightly "posterized" it. Now it is ready to print and play with.

You can also use the same effect with a personal photo. I took a photo of some roses Glenn gave me, cropped it down to a solitary rosebud, erased out the background flowers, then used my Corel Paint/Draw  watercolour effect to create a little 'painting' ready to print and play with.

 Presto! Technology is just another tool in the crayon box.

You can also see some of the birds on my Etsy site at the top of the blog page (another shameless plug).

Gone Again

Another refreshing trip to Santa Fe and Taos. Food, friends, art, history, scenery, a hundred shades of green from the shimmering aspens through the desert sage and the lofty pine trees, adobe walls, ancient cultures, and magic mountain light. What's not to love?

From the flatlands to the mountains in five hours. In the distance are the mountains surrounding Santa Fe:

The calm and simple decor of the St. Francis Hotel, and two pink gins in their bar.

A divine afternoon break at Kakawa Chocolate.

 http://www.kakawachocolates.com/elixirs.php

Breakfast at Pasqual's, involving a frothy latte, and eggs and corn tortillas smothered in cheese and green chile sauce:

 http://www.railyardsantafe.com/
The old railyard now has some interesting contemporary art galleries, including new, sculptural works by Judy Chicago.

Only one night in Santa Fe then off to Taos to meet up with friends, Doug and Melinda, coming in from Kansas. Checked into the lovely historic Taos Inn. Cozy and right near the square.

We visited to church of St. Francis de Asis at Rancho de Taos, famous for being painted by Georgia O' Keeffe and having its photograph taken by many famous photographers, mostly from the back.

My efforts were a little more pedestrian.

It used to sit in the open outside of town, but since the first time I saw it in the early '80's Taos has gradually grown around it. The even have a Wal-Mart now. Sigh........

The only art I got done:

Then on to the breathtaking Rio Grande Gorge, where people love to stand on the bridge and feel it rumble as trucks drive by, and others love to raft the river between its giant, towering walls. From a distance it is a great gash in the earth that opens west of Taos and continues north to the bridge and beyond.

And of course lots of food, cute bookstore kitties, and a rainbow.

And friends.