Some Elements of Botany

A few months ago I printed some scans from an old botany book (Elements of Botany) on butterscotchy-beige rayon. After some refreshing play sessions when I remembered how much I love free-motion sewing, I turned the four little fabric pieces into a set of four fabric, paint, and stitch collages. If you aren't familiar with free-motion sewing, it is simple - think about drawing with a sewing machine needle instead of a pencil. I used some scraps of upholstery fabric to enhance the illustrations, and I love the way it frayed like crazy - made me think of root hairs, so I left a lot of them. I am in the process of mounting all four on a piece of wood so I can enter the piece in an upcoming juried show.

The other project going on now is preparing for our trip to Panama - coming up soon. It started as one of our intensive group birding trips with a professional tour company and has turned into a an intensive birding trip with a pre-trip adventure on our own up in the mountains west of Panama City. We'll be there for awhile, and I am mulling over which art supplies to take. I nearly always take more than I can use - both the actual phyical materials and the ideas I have for journaling, painting, and drawing. I am building a blog that I hope to use for postings every few days. It will include bird sightings, my journals and drawings, our progress with Spanish (we are not really complete novices), and lots of photos. This plan depends, of course, on the accessibility of the servicio de internet in El Valle near our cottage and our lodges during the birding trip. That link coming soon...

Snowy January 2010

I was honored to be invited to show my new piece in the current show "Seeing in One" at the Adirondack Artists' Guild Gallery in Saranac Lake. I am experimenting with Lesley Riley's Transfer Artist Paper and used it with a watercolor underpainting for this work. The TAP was perfect for this because I ironed it right on the painted watercolor paper, and it didn't move the paint around at all. There is definitely a learning curve with this material though. For the media I used here, it was too easy to have the ink on the transfer squish out from under the edges of the cut-out image when I pressed too hard with the iron. I'm imagining lots of promising mixed media projects with it though.

Last week I closed NICHE Gallery with feelings of both sadness and excitement. I enjoyed being there so much, but a gallery-keeper I am not. I plan to teach art classes in Valatie (and other places, including Saranac Lake). I also want to develop my own art work and be able to travel (to Panama for month this Spring - look for a link later on to a blog from that trip).

Now I am up in the Frozen North at my little outpost near Saranac Lake for several days - seeing friends, snowshoeing, drawing, working, and pondering. The chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, and blue jays (previously uncommon in Fernville) have found the suet and seeds I put out on Friday afternoon and zoom around the cabin all day long. Last winter a Northern Shrike sat on a branch just 5 feet from my face at the bedroom window for a look at potential meals. Wondering if it will return. I filled up one of my blue water jugs today when I went to a friend's house for a delicious hot shower. There is something about being completely covered with warm water that is such an unappreciated luxury most of the time... I really manage very well without running water but I won't mind when I have it here - maybe next winter after a new well and an addition. Some lovely frost on the porch window when I arrived:This photo will make a wonderful background for a transfer. Feel free to borrow it.

The Lili Doll

Here she is!!! I realize in looking at the photo that she looks like she is wearing a crown. It's really some simple hair, make from cotton embroidery thread. Honestly - I haven't done enough serious sewing in so long that I made a bunch of silly mistakes. Luck I didn't sew my fingers together... Anyway, I like her - she makes me smile - and can't wait to give her to Lili next week. Maybe next I'll make her Mommy and Daddy dolls, a Grammy doll, a PopPop doll - this could get serious.

The sassafras grove out in the hedgerow was beautiful last week - shades of rose, lime, and lemon. The leaves seemed to fall off ALL the trees on one day recently, so along with the shorter days and watery sunlight it looks like the very beginning of deep autumn or early winter.

I signed up with the wonderful Leah's Art Every day Month project, and I 'll be posting my results here. There is alot of experimenting going on in NICHE Studio these days, and that is what alot of my work this month will be about.

For the first day of this challenge, I used my cool new Beast of a fabulous Printer to print a photo of my grand daughter on cotton so I can make a small doll for her. The last time I was with her, she was focusing so much on faces that i wondered how she might react over time to seeing her own face on a doll. At first, of course, she will just see it as Face. The color is a bit extreme but that might be good for this project.

I also took a basic collage class recently. The instructor, Jeanne, was great and got me going on some fun Rip and Glue collage projects. Here is the one I made using Jeanne's subject "Excitement." While working on the collages, I found plenty of images to use for my Soul Collage cards, which I am starting using Seena Frost's book. I'm looking for a local workshop that fits with my odd schedule! More on that later.

My Art Picnic

Creativity has been happening in fits and starts (not exactly every day) but my Art Picnic with Leah of Creative Every Day was really fun. We were driving back north from North Carolina that afternoon, and I sat in the back seat of the car surrounded by my limited art supplies. Leah's suggestion (via our conference call set-up) was to grab some materials that felt right and just start working. I had some wonderful hand-marbeled paper (thanks, Gail) that made me think of the amazing beach we had just left behind at my family's reunion. With that to start with and memories of a lovely week with 24 of closely-related women, men, and children I made this collage. It still needs some pelicans, gulls, and shorebirds.

For materials, I had a few pieces of interesting paper, a newspaper my sister brought from Virginia, some New Yorker magazines, some glue, some stamping ink, and a few other things. Later I added some photo transfers of some shells I brought home and some old crochet threads that reminded me of seaweed. The old photo from the newspaper was perfect - lots of funny-looking people who looked kind of jammed together - and they are about to be engulfed by a tidal wave!!!! All kinds of interesting connections to be made....

Trying to be Creative Every Day

I recently took up a challenge to be Creative Every Day (see http://creativeeveryday.com/creative-every-day-challenge). I like this reminder - a little nudge to do what is truly important to me. Last summer I made a daily visual journal beginning in early July and I continued well into September. What a pleasure it is to look back at that collection of small pieces and to recollect the days! This summer's work has been more scattered but still significant to me.

Today I mailed this post card to my grand-daughter Lili. She is just 3 1/2 months old, but her mom, the lovely Tanya, reads the cards to her and is saving them for a future book or album that I will make for her. This beautiful new child is in my thoughts so often that I have to send her my love in some way. She was christened on Sunday, and this post card is made from, among other things, a photo I took that day.

I sent Lili another card a couple of weeks ago, after seeing a Hermit Thrush nest at our Adirondack camp. When the baby birds hatched, they reminded me of her - amazing, perfect, helpless, and hungry.

Other small projects in progress, including some monoprints I am making while at my cabin on some lovely new handmade paper I bought at the Bluseed Studios Summer Breeze fundraiser. See what this wonderful organization does: http://www.bluseedstudios.org/

We are heading off for many days of birds, beach, and family - preparing to do little pieces of art on the way and while at the cottage. I love doing collage work in the car while my dear husband safely cruises us along. That time feels so free from duties and often very creatively rich.

A sketchbook page from a different beach a few years ago -

I expect similar scenes next week!

Whimsical Watercolors and Babies

Last week I was at the Arts Center in Old Forge, NY at the "A Whimsical Way with Watercolor" taught by Gordon Bashant. What fun! It was very freeing and happy, and Gordy was a very enjoyable teacher. Lots of water, lots of color, lots of painting! Here are some of my efforts:


I have plans to use this technique to paint some of my favorite places.



We found this lovely little treasure in front of one of our cabins in Fernville:

It is the nest of a Hermit Thrush pair. They are my favorite singers of all the birds - a northern bird - and the nest is nestled in the ferns, mosses, and Tiarella. I am starting a painting today - that blue of the eggs is so gorgeous. Since this photo was taken on June 28th, the eggs have hatched and 3 hungry little bird mouths are all we can see of the nest!

And speaking of babies, I must include a photo of our own Grand-daughter Lili, sent yesterday by her mom, Tanya. I smile just seeing a photo of her little face. She is a bit more than 10 weeks old now. How lovely she is...