Just to Let You Know...

I love the fingers and toes.

school art

little black dress

a 'letter' she wrote to god about our dog, Knightly needing to be good.

Just have to shout it to the world... our 4 year old daughter is an artist! :) She has been drawing up a storm and just seems to get better everyday. I love watching her make art - she's very serious and often hums to herself... but don't even think about talking to her. She's way too busy :)

Since I'm talking about kid stuff today... here's a little story:

My 7 yr old son and 4 yr old daughter were in the car, on our way to dance lessons. Golliwog's Cakewalk by Claude Debussy came on the radio. Our son knows this piece from way back and we both love it. I asked if he remembered the name... yes!

Me: 'This is a great piano piece - I want to learn it. It's by Debussy who wrote one of my all time faves, Clair de Lune .

Son: No! This is from that Fisher Price movie, Baby's Day.

Me: Well, it's actually classical music (Impressionism) written over 100 years ago.

Daughter: Oh! Did you listen to this when you were a little girl?
Me: Uncontrollable laughter.

Celebrating the 'New'

A new quilt that's been coming along very quickly!

A new woodblock based on a drawing from an art quilt I did in Jan/Feb of this year. Still needs a bit more tweaking... this is the first state printing.

Easter table before the feasting! Yes, those are paper cups, they look so tacky but I was feeling lazy about clean up. May have to commit to doing dishes next year :)

The egg coloring happened on Easter this year and ended up being a great 'craft' for all the kids.

Well, the leaves and blossoms are finally coming out little by little... I'm so glad. We're starting to feel the newness of spring! I'm working on new woodcuts and hope to share more this week. Happy Wednesday :)

Bookmaking Weekend

Sandpoint, Idaho

Fabulous little sushi place... they served the largest glass of wine I've ever had :)

Beautiful space built over a waterway (much like Florence, Italy) ... maybe for a gallery someday??

Figuring out drum leaf book binding. It was a bit slow going for me, but I finally got it! (no diagrams... I need visuals like I need oxygen)

Instructions for the caterpillar stitch - so much fun to do. This was only a decorative embellishment for the cover. Hopefully I can learn how to bind using this stitch. I'm planning on doing more bookmaking to go with the printmaking... I need a class! Happy Sunday..we're off for a Corgi walk in the sunshine :)

Shapes in Mid Day Travels

Look above the truck... the sky is falling!

Quilter's banner - each quilter in a class made a mini piece for a collective banner. So cool.

Love the colors of this old building... thinking about our house which desperately needs painting.

Lovely texture in a mod chandelier.

Little pane windows... none are broken, they have different degrees of frosted spray paint or some other fragments from the past.

I know, I promised sunsets last time but the blogger wouldn't allow me to add more photos to this post, the nerve! So, next one... for sure. These are all Portland, discovering the many crumbling, papery, shadowy etc. textures throughout my afternoon... I wanted to document all of these findings. I have a plan to translate these yummy, found textures onto 300lb. watercolor paper - stitching, hole poking and graphite mark making are some of the things planned. I've been hoarding it long enough :)

Still working on the mermaid art quilt... the size is making it a slow project. What I really need is a larger table!

Spring Break...part one

Lake Oswego... our fave park there, George Rodgers Park. This is the boat launch. In art school, we used to come here for drawing class and later watercolor class too. So beautiful and idyllic... some of the best days of my life. Now, we bring our kids here - also some of the best days of my (our) life!

Upon arrival in Portland, Oregon - we always go to 'our village', Multnomah village. Lunch time at Grand Central Bakery. It was Sunday and packed with late risers, still eating breakfast very slowly. Yum.

Water tower in the Pearl district. Waiting to be picked up from Utrecht - a fab art store (needed more small portfolios - the kind that tie) in an utter downpour. I shot several photos from all directions of where I was standing - it's a great way to imprint the brain with memory of a place.

Sipping wine at dinner with old friends under lovely lamps and art. It seems in every pub, bakery, coffee house or restaurant we visit, there is an aesthetic experience to behold. Love that about Portland :) Part 2 coming soon... sunsets promised. Happy Friday to one and all!

Big Night

It seems I've been working on the sleeping mermaid quilt for a very long time... and I'm not even close to being done. Here is a little progress... earlier in the week, the wave border was painted and doodled over with my fave water ditty. Then, decisions about the quilt she's laying on. So tough!! Traditional log cabin, granny's garden, flying geese??? After much deliberation, I thought about mid-century textiles and felt this design lent itself to an undersea barnacle kind of world in an abstract sort of way.

My daughter has not weighed in on the choices of color yet... hope she likes it.

Tonight is the opening of my art quilt show at the Tinman Too Gallery in Spokane. Check it out! It will be showing all month. Happy Friday, all :)