Let's Pause for Some Real Art...

I think it's about time we had a little picture from a 'real artist' :)... my daughter. She was missing her friend so much last week - who had gone on a trip with her family - and wanted to make a card for her. This is just the envelope! Sweet and colorful... just what the doctor ordered on a cold, grey winter's day.

First 100 Women of 2012... Thursday

Well... here we have our first man in the group. I'm taking inspiration from the quattrocento of the Italian Renaissance. Just couldn't resist Massiacio's profile of this man... hope I can do it justice in the carving.

Rough drawing from a sculpture depicting the lamentation of the dead Christ.... soon to be tweaked, transferred and carved.

There are many more lighthouses at flickr (well there will be, I can't get onto their site right now!) This particular light is out on the Makah Reservation... quite on the very edge of Washington state. It's beautifully wild and untouched out there.

On a craftier note, I'm hand quilting my quilt I've been working on with colored floss threads. Hope to share some this weekend. Anna Maria Horner is coming to Spokane's The Top Stitch quilt shop next month. I SO want to go meet her and maybe take her class. Happy early Friday :)

The Light Project

Lately, I've been consumed by the simple combo of India ink and a very fine pen nib. It's heaven, I tell you. Why did I not think of this before. The flowing ink on the lovely, thick Stonehenge paper... stark black on white, it's very seductive :)

So, in honor of my land-locked-mermaid-itis... the subject of lighthouses was the perfect choice. I've done several so far and am just getting started. These are small - a bit larger than atc size. Hopefully, a zine will come out of this project.

I'm a bit behind on the drawings for First 100 faces, so those will be postponed until Thursday next! Have a great LONG weekend :) The kids don't return to school 'til Wednesday, wow.

Thank You, Cathedral Art!

Well, the middle one is not inspired by Giselbertus' sculptures... she's a modern mountain mama. But, it was so much fun taking inspiration from the very distant past, I'm going to do more. I'm hoping to do some new drawings today.

It has been kind of a whirlwind getting ready for Valentine's Day - even though it doesn't seem like one of those busy holidays! The kids and their valentine making... assembling, decorating their special boxes AND attaching candy to the cards. (hoping to share some photos if I can get 'em off my Blackberry) Plus Mama preparations for the 2 school parties, and helping with those. I don't know how the moms of many kids do all the stuff they do!! Last night, we managed to get a table at our favorite pizza parlor - so, we just had a romantic dinner there... with the kids. :)

Now exhaling and looking for time to make art today. Have a good one!

Underdrawings Inspired by Giselbertus

Eve from a sculpture made in 1130. (Autun, France)

Inspired by an Italian sculptor, Benedetto Antelami... (spelling may be incorrect!) around 1200 AD

The angel from The Dream of the Magi by Giselbertus, 1125-45. Autun, France

These drawings for my 100 faces of 2012 woodcut series have already been tweaked and altered a bit. They are in the process of being carved... I now have a huge callus on the inside upper joint of my right thumb...been carving feverishly for several days. Am still able to hold a large glass of water with my right hand, though. (I've overdone it before and have had a very shaky, weak hand as a result. Can't be good, right?)

I'm hoping to print these by Sat or Sun. Think I'll be doing more drawings from this period... I'm SO enamored with it. Oh for the days of art history classes, sitting in a huge lecture hall all afternoon in the dark... looking and slides and being walked through story upon story. My idea of heaven.

Have a great weekend!

Catching up with Faces...

Had a chance to paint some of last week's prints. The last one still needs even more futzing. But, I like her hair... rarely do curly hair, so it was fun to try. The first lady ended up looking a lot like Sarah Jessica Parker! Not at all meant to be her, she's actually a teenager named Jetta. (was a teen in the 1970s). Woodcarving can sometimes be like clay. You never know what you're going to get when opening the kiln and same for pulling a print from the press! I love that about printmaking.

I will actually be on time for 100 faces Thursday tomorrow. New drawings and wood being carved to share... which are based on an 11th century sculptor. See you tomorrow!

A Doodle of a Quilt

Here are a few blocks of a quilt I've been mulling over for quite some time. I'm a lover of Jude's work over at Spiritcloth. So, I just had to try something inspired by her approach. These 3 pieces are sort of 'fill-ins' of other woven parts and experiments which I'll show another day :)

This hand sewing is what I love to do in the evenings when the comfy couch is beckoning and the kids are doing homework on the floor. It's what I do when I'm too tired to do anything else. It's a meditation on the day... what's happened and what's up for tomorrow. I guess it's my unwinding, comforting, thinking time amidst the chaos of crazy-kid evening time :)

Happy Friday! 100 faces coming this weekend! (didn't get a chance to print yet :)