Noro Socks

I couldn't pass up this yarn... it's Noro brand - a Japanese yarn- they have the most beautiful color combinations. I was hoping to start a 2nd pair for a birthday coming up but, I'm not sure I can get them done in time. If not... Santa's coming soon after the birthday!

PS there's my new palm plant, I'm kind of new with house plants. I think it's cute but have no idea how big it may get - should plant it in a proper pot. Thanks for all your comments yesterday, I do appreciate them! I did some drawings this morning for more ornaments but did not get a chance to make any. Maybe Saturday... tomorrow's going to be crazy with a party at school and trick or treating ~ Happy Halloween!

BIG FIBER ART SALE GOING ON IN MY ETSY SHOP... CHECK IT OUT!

New Ornaments

Last night I went to work on making Xmas ornaments for an upcoming gallery event. I started with the idea of doing faces in felt and they evolved into a group of circus performers. Picasso's circus performer painting (I think it's called 'Saltimbanque' - prob wrong spelling). Tonight I hope to make some female looking faces and maybe a few animals, stars and who knows what else! Then comes the best part... embellishments!

Afternoon Walk

I couldn't resist taking the camera on a walk yesterday to try & capture the sunlight glowing through the colored leaves. Pushing the stroller through the leaves, my daughter

added the sound effects, 'crunch, crunch, crunch!' She's jumped in her first pile of leaves too... love all those 'firsts', there's nothing like experiencing it through her eyes. It's gold!

Starting to mull over the ideas for ornaments and xmas cards... hard to think about that when we can still be outside!

A Boat's Progress

Putting Out the Crab Pots

A few nights ago I had a chance to do a bit more painting... it's getting harder to get down there and keep 'the flow' going! I'm really eager to work more on these two!

Now, I've just realized there are needle-felted ornaments to be made for a gallery that has an 'artist-ornament' event every year after Thanksgiving... wish I would've remember earlier - I have no idea yet what I'm making. Plus, I want to design, carve and print at least 4 different woodcuts for Christmas cards. (for the etsy shop and a few galleries and a great, local bookstore.) Better get drawing first thing tomorrow!

Calendar Maybe?

Here's a 'pondering' for the day...

Every year for the past 7, I have been making these 'tag art' calendars. They are mostly collage and usually include original watercolors (by me) music, ephemera of every kind, hand-dyed silk ribbon and other ribbons, smaller tags, rubber stamped images, and sometimes colored pencil here and there. Each one is different (and I really should show more than one!) They are great to stick on your computer, fridge, car dashboard...etc. I have sold a lot of 'em through the years... Now's the time I'd be making them but I can't decide if I'm going to do them anymore. They were in my etsy shop last Dec. and did not sell at all! What to do?

Painting on Linen

Here's my first painting on linen. Wish I could say it is oil on linen but... my kids are usually mucking around in the studio when I'm there (in the daytime). I can't handle the mess of oil paint/solvent that a child has made and the damage it can cause to them and the house! Someday I'll get back to my oils!!

Anyway, I bought this Belgian linen in Victoria BC at a fabulous art store called Opus... they have a great selection. It felt like quite a splurge... especially when I was building and stretching the linen on the stretcher bars. (I build all my canvases, I consider it part of my process.)

This painting is unfinished but I'm getting closer. It's been through some radical changes and I'm ready to get back to it.

My BFF

Well, I'm not one to text message (in fact - never have done it!) But, here is one of the greatest friends ever... my BFF, Miss Martha! She's got such a great face and a beautiful personality... I love drawing her. Sadly, we don't live in the same city... but I got to visit her this summer for a short little while. Of course it was like no time had passed and we had a great time chatting the night away eating and sipping wine. There's nothing like getting together with old friends... now I want to call her! (these are pencil drawings on paper - sketchbook)

By the Fireside

Here's a quote by Robert Lewis Stevenson... a very poor quality photograph :( sorry.

What is it about a fire that is so inviting? We had our first fire of the season tonight and it was (is) heaven. Earlier I was practicing calligraphy and writing little quotes on colored card stock. I was thinking with a little more planning and layout I could embellish some of them with illustrations and put them in my etsy shop. Who knows if anyone would ever want one, though! It seems like calligraphy is not that popular. With etsy - you never know what may appeal to someone... it's such a great place.

I'm adding a few new ink drawings with gouache to my etsy shop tonight... check it out!

Conrad Felixmuller (OOPS! this belongs on the Artslice blog!)

The Mining Engineer, 1922.

Lovis Corinth (painter, 1858-1925), 1925.

Carl Sternheim (author, 1878-1942), 1925.

(Felix Muller prior to 1918) (1897-1977) Early in his career he moved in Expressionist circles, illustrating Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and contributing to the periodicals Der Sturm and Die Aktion. Like Max Beckmann, his work was affected by his experiences in the medical corps during World War I. (Shane Weller - Dover Publication)

A Taste of the Quilt Show

wool applique

We had so much fun at the quilt show... there was a lot of creative energy flowing through that place! I took some photos and here are just a few. I'm so excited - I bought a rug hooking kit! I've never done it before, but have always wanted to. It's a small project of a sunflower so we'll see how it goes. I plan on sitting in front of a roaring fire and working on it in the evenings while my kids play quietly. ( sounds more like a fantasy, I suppose) :)

Making Progress

The Kite Shop at the Beach

Arles Cafe

Perfumed Hilltop

I'd rather be posting completely finished pieces today... but 'life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.' (Thank you, John Lennon... such true words in 'Mommyland'!) Today I will finish up and perhaps Sat. The Kite Shop is done, though and I'm really happy with it. It's a good sign when you really just want to keep it for yourself! These will probably land in my etsy shop sometime next month.

For fun today, my daughter and I are going to the annual quilt show here in Spokane. It's a yearly ritual for me and now for her since she's gone with me her whole life! I'll be hoping to get a bit of new, brightly colored wool felt from the vendor section.... hooo-haa! Have a happy Friday.

The Drawing Portfolio

Open Portfolio

Perfumed Hilltop in Grasse, France

German Pianist

I was just evaluating my ink drawings to see what is finished and appropriate for the gallery I'm showing at in a few weeks. (need to deliver the goods this weekend!) So, I'm sharing a few unfinished 'maybes' here. It's funny how you can look at work so differently when it's this close to a show... editing out pieces, last minute changes, imagining 'ear-shot critiques'. Thankfully it's a group show - which is what I prefer since I don't like being the center of attention at these things. Tomorrow and Friday are reserved for completing a few drawings and then it'll all be whisked off to the gallery and out of my hands!

Bed in Winter

I finally committed to it and made this felted 'collage' into a pillow. (I was undecided for quite a while what it would 'be') She will be in an upcoming show at the end of October. I've never shown pillows at a gallery before so this will be different for me. But, I do consider myself part 'fiber artist' so it's not that big of a leap! I have some new purses for the show too that I'm pretty excited to show... stay tuned for those. I may have to keep them secret 'til after the opening. On that note - to all a good night!

San Francisco Row Houses

I love architecture and the old buildings and styles of San Francisco. I took this photograph a few years back on a trip to Sonoma and Napa... of course we had to hang a bit in SF and go the a great restaurant - The Stinking Rose (yummy garlic food!). This is close to being done, I don't want to overwork it but I may tweak the buildings and lower sky a bit more.

From the Sketchbook

Here's an older sketch I did of some men in top hats at the horse races. I used Conte crayon (sepia)... I like the lines they make. A blue drawing by my son - he leaves pictures for me in my sketchbooks from time to time as a 'surprise', I love it when he does that!

The 3rd photograph is the inside of my daughter's new coat... fall colors, leaves and butterflies... so cute and charming I had to share it. Have a relaxing Sunday :)

Second Sock

These warm, woolly socks are for my mom's birthday... I have a way to go before mid-November. I better speed it up! This is that fabulous variegated yarn that ends up looking 'faire isle', I love it! Hoping to get back to painting tonight, wish me luck. Happy weekend!

ps - Free shipping in my Etsy shop starting tonight, check it out!

Clam Island

Ahh, I've been cured of my crankiness, I finally got a chance to start 2 new larger paintings today! I sketched it from a photograph I took at my 'home beach' this summer. I haven't gotten any photos developed lately so, the rest is going to be from memory - with a few glances allowed when I'm at the computer. We'll see what happens. ..

Assembly Required

The little painting studio

and...

the printing studio.

I've been taking a break from making art and getting our house in order like I've mentioned in the past few posts. I thought I'd share some of the projects I've been working on. Finally assembled are these Ikea glass cases! I'm so excited to finally use them since I've been toting them to each house we've lived in since our wedding day!!! (I actually bought them for a house I was going to move to at the time of our engagement... never made it to that house.) Anyway, I have a strong yearning for order around here! It's almost like nesting when I was hugely pregnant. (no, I'm not pregnant!!)

Next... I plan to paint over some old canvases that I hate and recycle them into brand new paintings. I'd like to start painting big again in my studio - it will have to be a 'late in the evening affair'. But, maybe just a few nights a week, something could emerge!

A Bouquet of Violets

All artwork by Loretta of Retro Blooms

These charming works of art are by Spokane artist, Loretta of Retro Blooms. They are so sweet, I thought I'd share them. She creates her images out of dried, pressed flowers. These are actually magnets but she also makes cards and sells some of her original works.

I have not had a chance to work on any art in the past few days because we've been moving (well, hubby did the driving/moving) my in law's dining room set, and other furniture from the Seattle area to our home across the state. It has been a major undertaking to empty out the sideboard, dressers, moving and cleaning to get ready for the new items in the house. In the process, I've purged lots of stuff and am spiffing up my studio to make the space more functional. That means assembling some Ikea glass cabinets, getting large pictures to my husband's office getting rid of some furniture... the list goes on and on. It will be great when we're done. It's sort of our way of 'wintering in' around here... it's been more work than I anticipated! But, today's my birthday... so we're going to the Davenport Hotel for dinner - home of the famous 'Crab Louis (Davenport) Salad'. It's a beautiful, opulent place - if you're visiting Spokane, it's a 'must see.'

The Apple Shirt

My daughter was wearing this shirt for the first time today... I think it's so cute, I had to share it. It really reminds me of 1970's graphics which has made such a comeback in illustration and design. Ahhh, I think I had some clothes similar to this - brings back great memories of carefree, autumn/back to school days , walking with my brother to school or even walking home from the bus stop - alone. Much different times.

New Woodcuts...

Cicadas

River

I've been doing some mulling and sketching lately and finally committed a few to my Shina wood... and started carving today. I'm continuing with the water - ocean - beach theme. This time I was thinking more about river stones and what water looks like in a slow moving river - how it twirls, moves, shines, 'separates' etc. As well as what you can see underneath. The cicadas or crickets are sort of a wild card. We've been listening to them a lot around here and my daughter is saying 'cricket' now, which I love! (One of her favorite books is The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle.) I'm thinking about how these may look printed on fabric. Hmmmm.

Accordian Book

Here's an example of a book that's in the making... The script is Humanist Book hand and the stamps are by Rubbermoon. I made this one a while back - as a 'dummy book'. (sort of a dry run of what I want!) The poem is a great one by Ted Kooser - Flow Blue , I just love him. I may do another book in pointed italic using this poem... only with better paper and hand coloring.