Posted at 12:00 AM in Journal Entries, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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My shower was warm, the towel was fresh. I had soap and shampoo. My hairdryer worked as it should. My hairbrush was sitting right where I left it. I could choose clothing appropriate for the weather. I exercised without difficulty, I took a walk without giving the ability to do so a second thought. I did it for health, not for necessity. I enjoyed a warm cup of coffee and cold glass of orange juice. I ate vanilla yogurt with dried cranberries, it was all right there in the frig and cupboard. The sun was shining, the palm trees swayed and filled with air with swishing sounds. People smile at me while I walked, and I smiled back. Nothing hurt me. My body worked easily and carried me where I wanted to go. I saw a closet with fabric and threads, needles and paints too. I could create whatever I wanted. Or, I could read, or listen to music. I could hear from friends online, and or read interesting articles there too. I could contact anyone I wanted to by telephone. Yes, just another ordinary day, full of routine activities that I seldom notice. I take them for granted. I think this falls under "things to be grateful for". For some reason today it hit me while walking that I usually describe these things as ordinary, and for me I suppose they are. I can imagine those for whom this would not be ordinary. Some could not take that walk, or enjoy that shower. Some without something to eat. I don't know why these thoughts came to me today, but I guess I was due for a reality check about life. So, I've taken a step back and posted about it. As we all know, it's the little things, not the big events of celebrations. I hope I remember that more.
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Yesterday I decided to dig out of my creative limbo by reviewing some of my photos for inspiration. This one stood out. I remember taking this photo outside, in the dark, using my regular digital camera with its' usual flash. The long branches are of a bamboo plant, and at the base of the plant are small palm plants. I decided to challenge myself to create this on a dark background with muted palm fronds and something for the branches, not sure yet. So I selected a black fabric with printed swirls as my background. First I created a stencil for the palms.
I used freezer paper, the kind you buy in the grocery store, because you can iron the shiny side to fabric and it stays in place temporarily. By the way, these photos are smaller but you can enlarge them by clicking on them if you want a better view. Next I mixed up some muted green color paint........this was trial and error. I started with a medium green, added black........too much black. Then some white and gold, finally ended up with this for my paint.
This is how the stencilling looked as I started applying the paint lightly with a stencil brush. I first made one stencil across the middle bottom, then decided I'd make another one near it but added some white to the paint to make it a little lighter. Here's how it looks so far:
This piece measures 20 inches high and 28 inches wide as of now. I'm going to need to make another stencil for a downward hanging palm frond, but all in due time. I'll keep you posted. I'm liking this so far......anxious to see where it goes. Thanks for looking.
Posted at 12:00 AM in Art Quilts, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted at 12:00 AM in Art Quilts, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted at 12:00 AM in Art Quilts, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Posted at 12:00 AM in Art Quilts, Journal Entries, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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The cold weather has given me cabin fever.......and I was stumped on my latest piece Inner Child......so I decided to try my hand at monoprinting on fabric today and had great success!! Here's all the fabric pieces I did, each piece is about 18 by 24, some smaller. Here's the technique: On a piece of glass, I squirted out acrylic paint, added matte gel medium, and combined the two and painted over the surface of the glass plate with either a foam brush, or a regular paintbrush. Then, I made a design into that surface.......I used a plastic scouring pad, the side of a ruler, a putty knife, even some bubble wrap. After your do the design, you lay your piece of PFD fabric,(prepared for dyeing), flatten it out with a brayer or roller, then remove the fabric, and voila! you have a printed piece of fabric. I had heard this was fun and could be addicting, and I can see how. Here's some photos of the pieces of the fabric I created today! My favorities are the ones done with scouring pads swirls, but all were fun, I recommend it! Click on the photos for a better view.
These are just some of them, but you get the idea. I can just imagine that someday these fabrics will be just right for an art quilt!
Posted at 12:00 AM in Art Quilts, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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My photo here is blurry......maybe that's how it is to look ahead to what I may want to accomplish in 2010. The vision may be blurry, but I still have a vision. I recently read this quote somewhere and jotted it down. It's by a Joseph Campbell, and it says: "We must be willing to set aside the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come." That for me is a new way of looking at new goals or plans for the coming year. Setting aside what I have planned, to find out what is waiting for me. I think of this as setting aside the comfortable and familiar. Going out on a limb to do something different. Using a new approach. Starting somewhere else instead of the usual ways I approach my quiltart. It makes me curious as to just what is waiting for me. I just need to find my way there. Doing the same old same old isn't going to take me to new places and discoveries. These thoughts can apply to not only my creativity, but to my life in general. What about my life is functioning as planned, not leaving room for finding what is waiting for me? That will take some time to think about. Small changes, or large changes? Baby steps, or leaps and bounds? New places, new faces perhaps? It can be exciting and unnerving at the same time. Does this resonate with you too? Do you have skin to be shed for new growth to occur? Guess we have a few more days to think about it before the new year arrives. Enjoy the time doing so. Happy New year!
Posted at 12:00 AM in Art Quilts, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Is it time to think about what you may want to accomplish in 2010? If you're the type of person who likes to look ahead with some sort of plan, no matter how simple it may be, than I suppose it is time for you to do that. I contend that first, though, a simple look back over the past year is needed. Create a sort of mental collage of what went on in your creative life over the past 12 months. If you're really ambitious, you could make a real collage, using bits of photos, words, or magazine cutouts to show what your year was like. For my purposes, I think a mental collage would be sufficient. I think you could do it by months, or events, or even by seasons. Some things will stand out: a special exhibit you were in, a place you learned something new for your work, a person who had an influence on your creativity. Maybe times when you were out of the flow, so to speak, and see if there was a pattern so you'll be ready to recognize it when it hits again. Do you remember anything you did to get out of that blocked period? Did you discover any new places for inspiration of your work? Places that gave you peace and quiet to think about your work? Places perfect for photo inspiration? What did you do in the past year that you're ready to leave behind as no longer useful to your life? Perhaps you're ready to let go of some online groups or resources that you'll still dealing with regularly and no longer seem to be offering anything useful? You can get in ruts on your online contacts........maybe it's time to reevaulate them. Are you ready to give up or add on your online list, be it twitter, facebook, groups, you tube.........whatever. Do you think there was a lot of wasted time fretting needlessly over things you cannot control? Do you want to keep doing that in the next year? How did you deal with staying creative last year........did you make your intentions clear to yourself so you had something to fall back on during those dry spells? Did you make an idea jar and just pick something and force yourself to work for ten minutes on a small project whether you felt like it or not? Or did you just punish yourself for not having good ideas? did a messy studio keep you outside looking in? Did you buy new supplies that are still sitting on a shelf waiting to be used? How many books did you buy and actually use for your work? Did you find supporters of your field of interest.....either online or in person? Can you think of the single most important thing that happened that influenced you in your creative process.......will you keep doing it? Did you honor your need to create, regardless of what others may have said, implied, or otherwise caused you to doubt yourself? What did you learn to do to keep your creative fires alive? Who can you count on to help with that? did you remember to be grateful for your talents and use them to help others if you could? whew! that's quite a list I just wrote, and I guess I could go on. Maybe doing something like this would work for you. Taking a mental inventory......or creating a mental collage, of what happened, what helped, what didn't, and what sabotaged your creative endeavors. THEN, you'd be ready to proceed with creating a vision of your mental collage for 2010. I hope it will be one that will drive you to higher success, however you define that in your life. and now, I'll start answering those questions for myself in the next few days, so come January lst, I'll have a clearer picture of what I'll be concentrating on in the New Year.
Posted at 11:36 PM in Art Quilts, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Are you into making New Year's Resolutions? me neither. I mean I do stop and think about it, but I never make hard and fast resolutions that end up making me feel guilty if I don't succeed. Yesterday I read an article in a free magazine called Natural Awakenings about setting New Year's Intentions. Basically, intentions are statements we make outloud that address something we wish to manifest in our lives. Anything goes, a new coat or world peace, whatever you wish to have made real for you. And the intention statements are ended with a strong statement which emphasize that these intentions have already occurred, such as "So it is done". At this point in the article, I was reminded of the book The Secret......basically, we can think our way to what we want. Intentions are positive words, because the belief is what you say is what you attract.......in others words, don't ask not to be sick, instead say you are in good health. Anyway, I like the idea of intentions instead of resolutions, altho it may just be a twist on words. Maybe something to think about........here's a few I may use if I remember:
I am inspired to be creative in my fiber art everyday, and am able to use many sources of inspiration to guide my work. and so it is done.
I think positively about my life and find goodness in those I meet. And so it is done.
I can quiet my mind and appreciate the present moment I am experiencing simply by sitting still and attending to my breath. And so it is done.
I just made these up so maybe they need refinement, but you get the idea.
If you'd like to explore this idea further, there's a website at www.Intenders.com that explains it much better and talks about forming groups of people who meet regularly to announce their intentions.
Posted at 12:00 AM in Journal Entries, Tuesday's Two Cents | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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