CONVERSATIONS

AUTOMAT 1927 Edward Hopper

I know her. 

I know her story. 

I don't know her name, 

... but ...

I FEEL her story.

She sits on my desk all through the day and the night, alone with her cup of coffee or tea  ...

thinking? waiting? dreaming? 

resting? planning?

just being still ... and ... listening ...

I have coffee with her in the morning. We talk about my day, my plans, my worries, my busyness - 

And she waits patiently through the day while I work at my computer, entering data, writing, catching up on emails, doing research ... answering the phone to help a customer with download issues. She sits and waits, a silent cheerleader sending out positive energy.

"You go Girl!" 

"Believe in yourself." 

"You can do this thing ... this task you've set before us."

At the end of the day, she is there still ... ever faithful with her cup in hand ready to hear me ... 

... ready to help me harvest my day ... 

... ready to help me sort through the struggles and triumphs ...

... and ... 

... ready to lend her thoughts as I sow the seeds for tomorrow ...

Who would ever guess I would find a  muse, a companion, a soul sister 

on a visit to the museum ... the Rockwell Museum ... the Edward Hopper exhibit. 

... the art of connecting ...

... the art resonating ...

... the viewer taking the time to absorb the vibrations ... 

THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN IN A MUSEUM

I didn't know I would meet her when I went to the museum by myself that day. Time to putter and stop and gaze for as long as I wanted. No rushing for me from other people I might be with. Time to eavesdrop on conversations swirling around me; Time to people-watch, to think  and wonder about their stories as they hurried from painting, to painting and then off to the gift store for souvenirs ... because there was only so much time at this stop and they were off to the next stop on their tour.

GRATITUDE: so thankful, so very thankful to live where there are amazing art museums to close at hand where I can easily go visit as often as I want ... to be still and listen to the art that resonates.

AUTUMN JOY

1011: something close up ... a perfect name for this flower ... Autumn Joy ... everything else is in the garden is looking a little bit ragged and worse for the wear, but not this little fall gem. I tweaked the photo a little bit with a new-to-me camera app. The app is 100 Cameras in 1 HD and it has 100 different effects that can be combined in as many ways as you can imagine. And, I can take photos with my device directly through the app.

 

However, the really amazing thing is how Mother nature has been tweaking the flowers on this plant of late ... early September the flowers were a beautiful fushia pink. Now, deep maroon red.

 

I love watching Mother Nature "arts" her way through the seasons.

SCRAPPY: PLANNED OR RANDOM

0910: black and white ... and a little bit of red ...

Structured piano lessons are starting for Colin andLuci this month; no more free exploring (random pounding - oh, did KK say that LOL) No more free explorationsounds a little harsh, doesn't it. We all need time to be adventerous stepping out on our own and exploring. Maybe the concept should be rephrased to directed, more purposeful and thoughtful exploring ??? This I know for sure: Everyone needs time to play.

 

That's what you will notice with several of the quilts in these pictures. Taking time to play with scrappiness. I like to choose a theme or color palette to work with when I do scrappy quilts. You would probably call mine more planned scrappy than true scrappy.

 

On occassion, I have pieced some quilts where I used the common trick of dropping all the patches in a paper back and pulling the next patch to be added to the block at random. I don't know about you, but I find it more difficult to go totally random with my scrappiness. Does that me I have control issues? LOL

 

I love the drama of black and white with a splash of red and have the quilts and fabric in my stash to satisfy that visual hunger. One of the most favorite quilts in booth displays at market was pieced with black and white with a splash of red ... especially appealing to the guys.

 

Some notes about the patterns featured here in the collage:

* a hand pieced red and white quilt top I found at a tag sale. I have always loved this pattern. It's a tricky one to keep all those bias edges square and straight. I will have to do some squaring and easing of fullness with this one before I can begin to think about how I would like to quilt it. I also need to decide if I want to try to find a coordinating fabric to finish out the borders or not. In the meantime, it's lovely to look at on the quilt rack just like it is.

* the quilt on the left is a pattern I developed for our anual December mystery quilt party using the stack and slash technique. The blocks and quilt were sized just to the right dimensions so the extra blocks could be used in the outer border.

 

* the quilt on the right is one made from a popular pattern/techniqe that we've seen lots of places in shops, classes and workshops, and across the internet ... STRIPS AND CURVES by Louisa Smith. I gathered my fabrics to fit my black and white color theme, added in the fussy-cut piano keyboard fabric here and there, and used a range of reds to round out the strip strata ... what a great way to play with color and practice piecing those curved edges.

And finally, the pattern for the quilt that was so popular in booth displays at market and quilt shows around the country ... MQS 126 QUEEN ANNES' LACE. This pattern was original included in the collection of designs in my book that is now out of print called Blocks That connect.

The book was written to be used as a manual for my beginning patchwork piecing classes and is chock-full of all kinds of tips and tricks to help you be a more successful quilter while having fun developing your skills and honing your craft.

 

I am in the process of re-releasing the patterns individually as e-patterns readily available for immediate download.

 

Queen Anne's Lace is designed to give a beginners quilt a more advanced look with the pieced border (which included secret fudge-factor tips making everything fit together perfectly.

 

Another feature is the optical illusion of the center appearing to be set on-point. But the best part: the patches used in the border are actually left-over scraps from piecing the blocks used in the center of the quilt.

 

Thanks for stopping by... be brave and play scrappy today - well, at least, take time to play!

WATERCOLOR CLASS 2

The order of the day, the agenda of the class, the challenge - if you should choose to accept it ... Perspective and vanishing points. Keep those buildings, benches, poles, and fences standing straight and tall rather than tipping over or falling forward. I'm not sure if that is easier with pencil, paint and paper, with building blocks, or with hammer, nails, and lumber.

Go HERE to read more about my painting practice ...

30 DAYS: Day 3

I love a treat. I hadn't really thought of my day as a treat but that is what it turned out to be. In the beginning my day started as a day of running errands. Let's just take care of everything that needs to be done all at once and then I'm in for the next few days not having to go anywhere and i can create or do whatever strikes my fancy without interuption. (Mike flew out to Oregon early this morning so that REALLY helps keeping the interuptions under control LOL)

First on the list was to plug into the GPS the address to Miller's in Pittsfield. This is an art supply store I'd seen once during one of my exploring escapades but couldn't really remember exactly how to get there again. Ahhhh, I was in heaven the minute I walked in the door. How wonderful to wander the aisles soaking up all the goodness on those shelves. My bag was suprisingly small when I left but full of goodies I'd been secretly wanting for some time. I found my pens (Pitt pens from Faber Castell) and my pan pastels. I can't wait to get home and play with these last little pots of goodness. I've always loved playing with my oil pastels. I like getting my fingers into the mix and creating smeared blurred softer lines over my work.

And then it was off to Michaels to see if I can find any number and alpha rubber stamps that might work for the art journaling workshop and some stencils. I know I can always find stickers (DD and I had such fun playing in our calendars with stickers.) and I wanted to check out the paint markers from Sharpie.

My biggest quandry in all of this is that I'm not sure about the kind of journal I'm using. So far I've just been working in my moleskine. I wonder, do I need a journal filled with watercolor paper; do I need to be making my own signatures; what am I doing and where am I going with this art form? Not sure but I know my direction and my style will eventually emerge.

Later: While the "delete gesso" in the 30 Days journal was drying I decided to play with a digital design (see picture above) I had done earlier and make it more hybrid. I'm liking the more organic feel to my page when I play with it hands-on compared to printing it out digitally. The real-time dimension and texture make the page seem more alive. Aside from the fact that I haven't quite figured out how to correct my spelling error ... thank you DD for pointing out the right way to spell acupuncture.

I feel good about this page. I experimented with the new pens doing some drawing and outline work with the grass and sand castle bridge and had fun playing with the text.  The journaling is all about taking time out for yourself - recognizing when you're weary and stepping back for a little bit. And then the hard part ... Get Back to Work!