Journal Quilt (Blogger)

Last year, small zany quilts on a counter in the Cambridge Quilt Shop caught my eye and inspired me to sign up for a journal quilt course. Participants were to make an 8-inch square quilt per week inspired by a moving event in our life. We were instructed to spend no more than two hours creating one or we might not keep up.

At the end of the year there would be 52 special memories. An unexpected ambulance ride to the hospital, last year, interrupted my production. Taking up blogging, I decided to get back to journal quilts and combined the two topics in this week’s Blogger quilt. As you know, the symbol in the middle is for Blogger and the opaque sunglasses for those not looking at the blog :*). The safety pins have to do with trying to pin many interests in my life together in some sort of order through the blog. One can always use some "safety pins" :*) ! I may later add beads.

Artist Working Holiday

Today was what Julia Cameron calls an artist’s holiday. I treated myself to a visit to the fabric store. Hadn’t been there since making grandson’s double sided first birthday cowboy quilt this December.

Hope to do this week’s journal quilt on blogging but am still awaiting the muse. Found a background this afternoon.

In the meantime, I want to pass on two podcast sites recommended by Abby to Google, download and enjoy while crafting: Craftsanity and Craftypod. It won’t be easy, but I am going to learn some html for this blog and try to explore Esty.com before the week is out.

Beading Day

Thursday is beading day with five other friends. Today, Nita finished the gold and silver bead necklace she crocheted for her mother’s dear photographer friend in Concord. I beaded a fibrillating quilted heart, an artist trading card.

The six of us have been beading together for about five years. At first we wanted to learn the difficult bead crochet bracelet. Anna taught me, I taught two, and we taught three. We enjoy good lights at our dining room tables. Originally, at birthday time, we would each crochet a few segments that would be joined into one necklace for the honoree.Each member has other art interests as well.

Rainy day fun

Google images of Francis Bacon’s studio and you may know how I felt this morn in trying to get into my studio (not just the studio) to paint after charcoaling my basic ideas onto the canvas. So I tried not to mess up the kitchen as I worked away, listening to a podcast from Craftsanity. Not knowing how to make the traveling speakers work I strained to hear my laptop, but Joe clarified the matter when he got home.

Before dinner, I straightened up my prepared surfaces, and took a break to see the grandchildren to test their hamantashen. I couldn’t remember what medium I used to paint this ballet picture with, oil or acrylics, so I got to study it to help w my decision making.

While there, I also I took a photo of granddaughter’s snow scene painted the time I explained how to use masking fluid with watercolors. I suggested sketching her scene lightly w pencil, dopping on masking fluid wherever the snow would be, on sills, in the air, the snowman (she took the ground seriously), then flow on the colors she wanted. Fun to peel off and VOILA!

Flying Fish

My paintings usually reference three things: art history, what is going on in the world and the personal. In the lake self-portrait I plan to have art historical fish leaping into the air.

Thinking fish and the return of the grandchildren from Pennsylvania, yesterday, I went to make some stuffed fabric fish for the girls w a paintable canvas. I changed my mind half-way up the stairs to use the Valentine felt leftovers to cut up, for me, some fish similar to these felt beaded jewels I found in the Adirondaks. I would like to find more! I wonder who makes them. After cutting my own patterns (so glad I did), I think they would be easier to buy than to make.

But “fish” must be in the air! Today, I visited supreme crafter Abby Glassenberg’s blog http://www.whileshenaps.typepad.com/ and saw she put up goldfish today. While I was at the library looking for fish pictures in books and the Bryn Mawr Used Book Store purchasing a colorful book about tropical marine aquaria the grandchildren could enjoy using Model Magic, Abby had already posted her magical creature and put it in her store!

All I accomplished was gessoing/sanding more coats onto the discarded oak cabinet front for my painting. I did go to the art store to get more gesso for the acrylic paintings and some extra special primers for my oil paintings. Tomorrow I should be ready to draw some more and start painting!

Sketching another possibility

While looking at Hokusai and thinking about the 70th self-portrait, my friend’s 60th coming up, and the Adirondack setting, I envisioned a 2nd painting to work on as well. Not sure what will parade in the foreground. I sketched out the boating scene (see previous post) w fish in the air and then this piece below it as well. I'm wondering if I can combine the two since they looked good together, one atop the other, in my sketchbook. I will post these notes and then figure what to sketch/paint where.

I have two canvases almost ready to go. I will put the huge one on an easel in the living room to engage the grandchildren when they visit. Hopefully, before I finish today, I will stuff and sew some fish for the youngsters to paint or decorate to include them in the project and give me some ideas!

This blog has motivated me. I now have several related projects in mind:

It dawned on me that in this year of a major birthday, I forgot to paint a self-portrait which I like to do on each birthday. Today I gathered materials for one of my wild paintings, and those in turn have suggested info for a journal quilt (would like to get back to doing one a week), as well as some soft sculpture and a tablecloth of all things. This painting will be different (from the back), but incorporate a setting on a lake, scene of one of my birthday celebrations. Let me hint I will be FISHING for ideas but this photo is a start for my transformations. I have revisited Hokusai (love his humility about not having produced anything of significance by age 70 but expecting something marvelous at 110 years), gathered drawings of fish, and hope I get a chance to stuff some (the Adirondack finds and those of a blogger are inspiring).

My First Blog

A new craft for me is like a mountain to others. I want to explore it. Although blogging now seems beyond my skill level, artists never quit trying. Recently, I heard that blogging motivates one to create daily. Since I also like to share what I discover or make, Blogger may be a perfect venue to achieve these goals. Wish me luck and fortitude!