Alchemy Scarf

Finally I've finished my fall scarf! It's made of the luxurious 'Alchemy silk yarn'... can't wait to wear it. It is so very soft and the colors are variegated olive green and a light chocolate brown. These photos don't really do it justice... plus you have to feel it for the 'full effect'! It's still too warm to wear it , but what a cozy feeling to be knitting in the cool, breezy evening, sitting on the floor with family. After I weave the 'tails' in I'll be focusing on finishing a pair of socks for my mom's birthday in November.

Unfinished

Estelle

Teenager, Drawing

Store Display

If I was in school right now I'd get a big 'I' for incomplete! I have been making some drawings the past week or 2 but can't seem to carve out enough time to actually paint and finish them. Grrrr. But, life has been happening... and good stuff, I'm happy to say! We have a lot of birthdays in Sept and Oct in our family. (also Nov and Dec!) So, we've been cooking and partying quite a bit around here. Maybe this week it will all come together!

On another note, I was featured in lavender Wool's treasury on Etsy! Thank you so much, Lav - it's nice to be in such great company! You can visit them at http://lavenderwool.com . To see the treasury, click here: www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=11852

Practice, Practice, Practice

Confession - I love doing calligraphy. I took numerous classes from the fabulous Carol Du Bosch while living in Portland, OR. Whenever I practice or do a calligraphy project, I can hear her words about how to form the letters, picture her demonstrating in class and warning us that not practicing religiously was simply unacceptable. What an outstanding teacher she was, I miss her!

So, I set up the writing table, opened my ink and got to practicing. Right now I'm reviewing pointed italic. I'm hoping to make a few Christmas gifts (books) and maybe even do a Christmas card and print it on the Gocco printer. (that is if I can produce some decent lettering - it really takes a commitment to get back up to par!)

3 Generations

Sketch of my maternal grandmother

Sketch of my maternal great-grandmother

My daughter at the beach ... 21 mo old. (arg! the far arm and leg are pretty funky - I'll be editing in a new drawing...this is when I miss using pencil)

I had a cancellation in my usual Wednesday routine and jumped at the chance to catch up on some painting and drawing while my daughter played at the sand table! Searching around the house for some people to draw, I ran across an old Thanksgiving photograph I recently acquired and started drawing. (I think it's from the late 1940's). I like to change up the hair and clothing sometimes - just for fun. There's more to share in the coming days... hopefully I'll have some of them painted.

Autumn Pillows

(back of the Underwood pillow)

I finally finished some more pillows today. These are woodblocks printed with an etching press on linen. These have a nice texture and tactile quality I hadn't realized would be so pleasing to the eye. (if you click on the image it may be more visible, but there's nothing like the naked eye!) They're stuffed with bamboo fiber... which I kept running out of and had to keep getting more. These are for the upcoming show but there's even more to be made for another local gallery and some for the etsy shop.

Puppet Show...

My kids and I have been building a puppet theater out of a cardboard box. We have it cut and painted. Next, we'll decorate and add curtains. They wanted specific animals so, I dragged out my craft felt (poly felt) and started cutting away.

My son was so excited that I was making something especially for him. It was really cute and made me realize I need to make more toys than we buy because the process is so much fun for all of us. This is what I always thought being a mom would feel like... making stuff for my kids, watching them play... doing what my mom did for us. It was definitely a day I'll relish for years to come!

Friday Drawing

Dinner Out

Here's a funny little scene in a Portland restaurant. I'll probably paint it today and Sat. I'm changing up my art time... getting up earlier and working silently (well - NPR's on) while the house is still asleep. I've been so distracted by the computer, the news, movies, etc. lately I have to 'turn off' in order to focus and enjoy. I'm even thinking of cutting down on posts to just 3 a week. (but, I do love the feedback, so that may be tough to do!) Oh, and... unplugging the TV.

Life gets too overloaded - I don't want to be so distracted I can't absorb the beauty of fall. We have had our first signs this week, the leaves are starting to turn ..it makes me want to sing a happy song! My daughter's 2nd birthday is Tuesday... I'm planning a little party for her - so fun! Have a good weekend.

A Night Out

A night out for my husband and I is a rarity indeed. (it's only about once or twice a year, sad, no?) We went to a party related to his work at an old mansion last night. (built by a railroad magnate) What a beautiful place! I felt like I'd stepped into an Edith Wharton novel. Ahhh home at last. :)

Mary

Here is Mary - she is one of many drawings I've been doing lately. But... I've also made several ugly, unsuccessful drawings. What is going on? I guess I'm having a slump - hopefully I'm going to come out of it soon. I'll be finishing Mary soon and doing more faces - maybe some men?!

Happy hump day.

Autumn Circles

Here is the latest 'penny rug' but I see it more as 'autumn foam' (like summer sea foam) or bubbles/baubles. I have made several sizes of circles to fit in random, empty spots. This may sound funny, but I have such a close, personal feeling towards these colors. They please me... they give me a 'warm-fuzzy' feeling! It's kind of crazy! In the past few years I've been totally drawn to earth tones - where as for most of my adult life I've 'rejected' them... after growing up in the 70's. There must be a connection to emotion, memory and color. I wonder if any one's written about it!?

The Roadie

Just goofing off with colored paper scraps..(seem to be doing a lot of that lately.) I thought he looked kind of 'pretty' but masculine. With rock n' roll hair, he's ready to go on the road!

ps I put a few new needle felted pillows in the etsy shop - take a peek!

The Studio

I did this portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe... I thought the pose was a great one to put in my studio so she could 'watch over me'. Or sometimes I look at her and think, 'What would Georgia do?'

As mentioned earlier in the week, here is my painting studio and I also do collage here. Now that I'm looking at these photos, I realize I just need to put away all the collage stuff! It's too messy and can't believe it looks this bad. (this is after I had cleaned up a lot of stuff!)

I think this post will be a 'do-over' ... I'll clean it again in a different way and post again!

More Faces

Of course these are not finished... the hair and background need to be done. But, here are a few doodle-y faces I did. I love drawing faces, the eyes are my fave and if given the chance, I tend to exaggerate the eyes. In high school, I doodled eyes in so many margins of my notebooks -there's so much to be read in a person's eyes and the psychology behind them.

'Pretty - Pretty'

That's what the evil, black witch (and Rolling Stone Keith Richard's girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg) called Jane Fonda in the movie ' Barbarella'. Love those wacky, weird 60's movies. But what is pretty anyway? I spent some time drawing and painting today. It took awhile to warm up and the later it gets, the funkier my colors get and the more androgynous the woman looks. (They say that's part of the allure of the Mona Lisa.) This is the same lady... 5 different takes. More tomorrow!

Beach Moons

I'm doing something new... I'm making pillows out of my needle felted pieces. This one was inspired by the phases of the moon. I thought of the moon over the beach, and the moon's reflection on the dark water of the night. The colors are those of the water, sky and beach. I thought of these colors reflecting back up to the moon as it's passing through phases. It's over in my etsy shop with another new pillow.

On another note, I've been cleaning up my painting studio and hope to get painting a bit and doing some of my 'tag art' collage calenders. It's a great feeling to 'de-clutter' ... I realized I wasn't wanting to work in there without cleaning it all up and starting over. Ahhhh, it's looking better! I'll post some photos when I'm all done cleaning up.

Spooky...

I know it's a bit early for Halloween stuff but... here is My Underwood in black and orange. Who knew an old typewriter could look kind of scary with the right color combination! This is a woodblock print on black linen and light orange ink. Likely to become a pillow.

Woodblocks on Linen

Ocean and Beach on black linen... destined to become a pillow

After a special request from a gallery employee... I printed the image she wanted on linen and will make a purse. It was while I was printing that I went a bit crazy, printing a whole bunch of woodblocks on fabric. I'm sending some to my mom who wants to make a quilt out of them... some for purses/totes and others will be pillows for my etsy shop!

More 'Pennies'

I got so much enjoyment out of making the penny rug, I'm making another one but with smaller circles and in autumn colors in the orange/brown/gold family. This is just in the early stages... but I thought I'd share my work surface... I kind of like the random placement of the circles!

Penny Rug

The back... you can see the felting effect - kind of a cool look on it's own!

While listening to a book on CD late last night I obsessively worked on this penny rug... trying to assemble it while no one could come and push all the circles on the floor and disturb my 'layout'! I was thinking of autumn colors, trying to work with some wool I've had for quite a while... not knowing exactly what I would do with it. It will probably go to my etsy shop.

We had a great holiday weekend - all the cousins got together for a feast and chocolate cupcakes with candy corn decorations, then it was off to the park to play soccer - while the little ones played on the slide and in the dirt. Amazing how happy they are with the simplest things. School starts tomorrow for us... woo-hoo!