Thursday, December 29, 2011

Painting e-course la, la, laaahhhh

I found this posting in among my google-reader. I got excited right away! I was drawn in by Flora's compositions & layers of color! Yup, I am a painter but its impossible for me to MAKE paintings right now b/c of my work. The work of painting is long for me. It takes long hours of examination, notes in a painting journal & scraping & revision. I LOVE THE PROCESS. So this class called to me to satisfy this need. Its a 5 week course. I am so looking forward to it!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Christmas Corner

Pink Tree in the corner
This has not been a year for Christmas decorating. The Pink Tree is about it & some candles on the table. It was a sweet time staying at home & totally indulging in making things & resting. I did finish the Subway Sign & it is now in the Library where I have envisioned it for months & months.
Many steps can be found here. There are many steps & many times along the way that I wondered if this was a lot of work for unfix-able mistakes! I am very happy with the product--it has that 'made in the woods' kind of feel. These are street names in Micanopy. I love thinking of Micanopy Underground Transport System, MUTS.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Snuffily

Its finally winter Holiday & I have so many plans for making things; discoveries have also been made about my making: it sort of doesn't matter what it is I am making as long as I am excitedly engaged.

My Billboard Quilt from the quilt-along by Oh Fransson. It was great fun & very easy. Dan & I took a trip on the Florida Turnpike scouring billboards as we went. This phrase won!
ENJOY GRAPEFRUIT FROM FLORIDA.
I used all scrap & an old sheet for background. This quilt re-kindled my quilt making & I have several more in the works

Little Emmett. He was born in the Friday before Easter. He hasn't grown very much. He might just be really tiny but his bravery reminded us of Emmitt Smith...his namesake. I feel like a little girl with a puppy to call her own.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Today his name is Emmett!

The newest member of the pack. He just turned 10 weeks on Friday. His momma is an Apple-head Chihuahua & his dad is a Long-hair Chihuahua. This guy is brave enough to make friends with his 50 pound pack-sister, Sigrid & grumpy-ish pack-bro, Nicholas. I am thrilled with this pup. When I went to choose from the litter, he definitely whispered, "pick me, pick me".
Emmett walked on his little tiny halter leash for a 2 miler yesterday! He is so fun! I hope he gets lots bigger! Or not.

Sevilla One

Well, we got to Spain via Dallas. Left Dallas at 5:30 pm & arrived in Madrid at 10ish am. I am not a fan of sleeping in an airplane sitting up. But I was on the way to Spain so the excitement outweighed the discomfort. Everyone was speaking Spanish on the flight. Spain Spanish is SO different from Mexican Spanish, much softer & shushier. And of course there is the "th" replacing "s" sounds.
I am, I Don Quixote, Lord of la Mancha... my destiny calls and I go...
On the way from Madrid to Sevilla we drove right by glorious Spanish windmills reminding me of Man of la Mancha, the very first live musical I ever saw back in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa! And there I was right in Don Quixote country. I had to sing...I love the songs from that musical.
In Sevilla we stayed in an apartment on Calle Moratin very close to Alcazar and city center. I don't think there are building codes in Spain b/c the upstairs bathroom ceiling was about 5'3". The apartment was definately a re-model making one room 2 levels. The windows were wonderfully tall. There was room for all 6 of us. We had a tiny kitchen & 2 bathrooms! Tile all around. Our home for 7 days.
Dogs everywhere! Most are not on leashes, they just follow along.
We jumped right in & left our old time zone & became Spanish...We had paella at a cafe just a block away. But, you know what, it tasted like ocean water & I couldn't eat it but it didn't matter b/c I was in Spain! I was in Sevilla with brilliant & wonderful traveling companions!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Plaza de Espana in Sevilla. OOOO... it was a hot long walk. Photo of the 3 of the 6 travelers was taken by Louis, my nephew.
This was also the site used for Naboo in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
& Laurence of Arabia. It is indeed a remarkable bit of architecture. Lots of majolica tile work and a huge arc-ing pool, no swan boats though.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Returning


...to journaling and home from Spain.
I did keep a journal while in Spain but I only cut & pasted emphemera of my days with the intention of working on text when I returned home. I regularly emailed family about daily events so I will rely on those emails for text for my Spain book.
Another fun plan is to make a small edition of an Abecedarium of the trip in accordion book form. I've done that before about a trip to Massachusetts and had a great time doing it. I relied on color copies for the edition & that is exactly what I will do this time. I plan on sewing in the images on the accordion pages.
These are the pages that I made this morning, my regular tried & true collage method. I did use a transparency on the Companions page. It was a perfect fit in both content & size. I must say, however, that we all traveled very lightly (not all like the baggage on the hand cart). I will never travel heavy again. It was bliss to have only one bag for 12 days! And since you asked: the greatest travel aids are a Kindle & plastic travel bags that squish down to nearly nothing. Same weight MORE space!
I am glad to be home. It is magical here too.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Bowls, Basin & Steampunk Desires

Feeling a bit manic these days. Is it Spring? Is it pollen overdose? Its that time of year when anything exposed to the outdoors is covered with a fine layer of yellow pollen.
So....my newest obsession is making Steampunk outfits. I DESPERATELY NEED TO MAKE COSTUMES. I can't help it. I sure wish I had a friend who liked to do the same. I have never met anyone in my life who liked to make costumes & then do something to wear them. I've been reading more about the steampunk community & have learned that there are events to attend. Why don't I live in a more cosmopolitan area where I can find at least a few liked minded costume-builders? I am still thinking & perhaps I will come up with a plan.
Now, I have started my painting project which is most exciting. There was a definite stumbling about with materials: too old, not enough colors, broken easel... things that can be fixed. I started 2 paintings. Both of dogs. I feel I am on my way. To where I'm not sure.

Monday, January 31, 2011

New Again!

So Rhonda & John originally planned to visit the Great Wall of China around the same time as 9/11. The tragedy kept them home, but they did take that trip in November, 2010. I received a photo of them at the Great Wall. That calls for a painting don't you think? This is a transfer painting combining elements of the original photograph with collage, all mounted on canvas. The piece is 12 inches x 12 inches.
I saw the film "How to Draw a Bunny"! Am I the only person who has never heard of Ray Johnson? Oh man! His work grabbed me by the throat & choked me up! I LOVE it. And then I felt that sort of creepy feeling of "desire of ownership". I want a piece to call my own to look at whenever I want to. I have requested the book through my library's Interlibrary Loan service. I can't wait!