Dala Horse Quilt

Loving this CD right now... his voice just vibrates in my head all day long. (in a good way ;).

There's the quilt I have been working on lately. I just fell in love with the Dala horse fabric and had to buy it! My mom found the pattern online, made by the fabric company (I want to say, Michael Miller???) But oh my, what trial it has been. You see, I do not do well following patterns and measuring. But, I thought after a VERY long time, I'd try. The horse squares were smaller than the fabric used on the pattern photo - so I added a border... but more complications. Like the space between the rows of horses vary on the fabric. Who knew?! So, it made the sizes of the blocks a bit wonky. Even though I thought I trimmed them all to the correct size, guess I didn't. I've put it away for now because I just shudder every time I see it. UG. Someday I'll take it apart and try to fix it when I'm not so emotionally involved. Sounds a little psycho, no? This sometimes happens with paintings too. What can you do? It's all a process, I suppose.

Praying for sun today so I can head out for a long walk with Mr. Darcy. Woof.

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.

Settling In

Our son's new hobby :) Had his first lesson today. It's not going to make the neighbors happy!

Well, school's been in for about 2 weeks and I'm finally getting into the new 'groove'. It's amazing how you think you've got it covered... when everything changes again. With our little girl now in pre-school 3 days (half days, that is) and our son doing more after school activities -

Mama's adjusting to a newly formed schedule - with art making included, of course!

Today I got up while the house was still quiet and gave myself an hour to mess with the Akua ink that's been waiting to be used down in the printing studio. SO much fun! I'm already hooked and will plan on getting up even earlier tomorrow :) However, the bed is calling much earlier in the evening. No one around here does very well without ample sleep.

We are so thankful for the great weather that has returned this week. Life is good! How's your September going?

Music Scenes from 'Pennies and Markets'

Bongo Beat

Limehouse Blues - Swingtime at the Market

Take Five

New woodblocks for the show tomorrow night. I'd love to do more in this series of musicians. They are such a cool group of people to have as subject matter.... something about musicians - they have an undeniable swagger and charisma.

Tonight we'll be making lots of homemade cookies for the opening... if you're in Spokane, stop by the Ruby Slipper tomorrow from 5 - 8pm!

From Pennies and Markets...

Here's a new woodcut of an outdoor band at a summer stage. I love the atmosphere of art fairs and farmer's markets that are soon to open. This is where the inspiration came for my show at The Ruby Slipper. There are several market scenes of the fruity and foody variety and more than a few musicians thrown in as well as the penny rugs mixed with woodblock printed embellishments. I'll be sharing more over the next couple of weeks but naturally will keep a few things secret til after the opening on April 30!

I'm really excited to start up some new ideas and projects after all the work gets delivered to the gallery in a few days.

Wild Card Day...

This post is totally unrelated to artmaking and the like... but I thought it would be fun to have a 'Wild Card Day' once in a while. (Unplanned, naturally or it wouldn't be a true wild card!)

When I'm not making art and doing mama stuff, (which is a very small amount of time!) I love to play the piano. Anyway, these 2 pieces are so lovely... my kids adore The Snowman (by Raymond Briggs) book and movie. There is a gorgeous song played during the part when the snowman and the boy fly in the air and see all sorts of magical things. It's sung by one choir boy - it's one of those pieces that gives you goosebumps! In the Bleak Midwinter is also a beautiful piece... a very old song, I believe. Sarah McLaughlin does a version on her Christmas CD that is divine.