Balls in the air!

I am really appreciating the benefits of focusing on Monday's visual.  It is definitely working for me as I see what I hoped to accomplish!

Voting done!  I'm liking the feeling of optimism I am picking up from everyone.  I hope it never gets dropped again.

The mixed media ball is developing a solid feeling as it passes through my hand.  

Perhaps with this momentum I can get the sewing added to the routine a bit better.  Truth to tell the media flinging has created a bit of mess that I need to get contained within the wet boundaries.  EEK! Something to work on for next week!  ;^)

The fibre art/hand stitching was set aside as the Rooster has me helping him in the evenings.  Hopefully he'll be getting busy on his off season hobbies so we can be inside after supper and he can do his thing and I can do mine! 

Art 101 is coming together solidly.  I found a good web site that connects ideally with my focus book.  This means better time management because I am not going to be reinventing the wheel 'so to speak' all the time.  :}  A quick review of colours and then we can transition nicely into the five basic elements of shapes. 

The kids like their books and I shall release even more creative/designer license as they 'get' the idea of page layouts.  I, myself, am quite pleased that we are staying up to date and should have a great progression of this school year.  I do hope we don't run out of room!  eek!

The home decor for this week definitely has propelled my focus into a higher throw!   Purple has always been my inspiration for fall.  That and the yellow gold.   The shower curtain is a favourite but how to tie it into the aqua bathroom had me looking for more purple accessories.  I don't have lots of purple but it sure inspired some creative ideas for the rest of the fall decor plan.  I am really excited for the rest of the season reveals!!!

So not quite as smooth as previously.  A little herky jerky in passing the balls but perhaps that is just a got reminder not to get too cocky one's abilities.  ;^)

Breaking into a sprint to cross the finish line

I quilted the leftovers for a wee mat!  If I can find the right thread I believe I have a plan for the big wall hanging.

I styled the big chest which the Rooster needs to turn his glue and his attention to.  I will antique the left hand birdhouse.  No screen door because to have it swing into the landing would wipe out the light and then wedge itself into the slope for the upstairs stairs.  To swing into the kitchen makes no sense with the chest there.  A louvered bi-fold door would work.  sad sigh

Then I put masking tape where two Ikea ledges would go and yup!  It works. This arrangement will cover the worst screw holes until I can get to Ikea,  patch the worst and mount the shelves.

Across the way is the Rooster's command centre. One of them anyway!  He has all those six baskets holding six aspects of his life.  lol

I wanted to show the entrance mat.  It ties most everything together and all I have left is to figure out the shade of paint I need.  Most satisfying Saturday as I 'shopped the house'!  This hall feels so much lighter, brighter, wider!  Now if I can figure where to stash the extra chairs we regularly need! ;)

I haven't intended to be posting on the weekends but this was all about finishing last week's goals. 

Last week's DYLP pages turned out well.  I used the gel medium to adhere the dark navy branch.  The over flap with the long strips of paper for journaling work great!

This week's prompt is to collage a recycled item.  I put a watercolour page inside a cd envelope and I have the backgrounds drying.  My flap will be a scrapbook paper. 

Gosh., Monday is only a few rotations of the clock away!   But I finished!!!  pant, pant

Finishing February

The lovely holiday is finished.  They have such colourful rosy grosbeaks in Ontario.  The hoar frost was amazing.

The 'puter is back from its spa and seems kinda cranky but it needs to have an attitude check as that is as good as it gets!  lol

I finished the No Compromise Decorating book and I have already been doing my decorating with 'out of the box' thinking and just need to translate some of that to my mixed media approach.  Lynette Jennings, the author, suggests getting to know your space and and your style.  This is an ongoing evolution that is part of life but sometimes it is good to stop and take stock of where one is.  "Your taste, what your eye sees as beauty, has a self-coordinating effect once you edit out the things you don't like."  Then sort, prioritize, rearrange, and recolour.  It is already there but the clutter creates confusion and the uglies will pull you/compromise you where you do not want to go. Your home is a collage of things you love, arranged comfortably and you do that to your own sensibilities.
So-
1) go with the flow (traffic patterns)
2) analyze how you live (remove the names of the rooms on the floor plan)
3) find where your very most favourite spot is and decorate from there (sofa corner with a window view)
4) realize that what you luv may not be feasible but it should be what you like, truly like  (luv modern but not neat)

I already switched my small dining room into a sitting room with no couch.  The living room is our dining room and the master bed room is the sewing room.  The kitchen is now under the spotlight!  De cluttering is happening and grouping similar things/colours is enlightening.

I now need to stop compromising with my art and apply these excellent principles to it!  

My class on Getting Started is up to date.  I finished the basics of gelli printing.  That is a LOT of fun.  I added paint, I subtracted paint.  I got layers happening but I think the biggest aha! was on the intentional gelli printing.

 I need to get better at it and the mono printing itself is very serendipitous but I liked it.  The left page is the painty paper shapes laid on a spare page.  The centre is my gelli printed paper with some layers on it.  The right paper is a catch all and the cut shapes are laid on it and can be collaged on.  :)

We are waiting on the contractor for the go ahead on the front rooms.  So our thoughts are turning to the kitchen.  A visit to the new IKEA in the city sparked all kinds of dialogue!  I want it pretty and 'he who cooks' wants to know where all the pots are going!  lol  

I had an aha! moment a week ago.  Life is far too short to stress over the past.  Reconcile and move on.  So this wedding quilt is a promise to be met and finished as best as I can make it.  After chatting with my DD we will go with the floral and the new green and asap!  I have one more month to complete my goals for the finish a long.  The dreaded coveralls are hemmed and it will be full steam ahead!

The light is going so perhaps I'll post the calendar journal another day.

February is finished and I am marching purposefully into the final month of winter!

Firstly

I had really hoped to be ahead of the plan as I headed into this new year.  My Rooster had an injury and some slow days at work. I have gotten very used to having my days to myself and as a result I didn't get very much accomplished 'blog wise'!   We do have the extra chickens packed away in the freezer and some nice sausage stored up though!  We also have reviewed last year's list and fine tuned what we want to accomplish in 2013.  I did spend time on some personal goals.

Blogging is a great motivational tool for me as well as being just plain creative fun.  So I need to use it to full advantage.

My word for the year is PERFECT.  This is not the adjective but the verb.  per FECT.  I want to take all my scattered bits of ideas, tools, techniques and improve them. It is meant to be because when I opened my dictionary for the definition it opened right up on pages 884 and 885 and there it is right between perennial and perfidy!!!  lasting through...,  and breach of faith, treachery  Sounds just about right. lol  It is a fine line I walk between routine and tangents! :O  I'm not one to look back and tally up the score.  I'm not even sure I will be looking for a new word for next year as Focus, Find, Fine tune, Finish and perFect should keep me busy for quite some time!  ;^)

I am Focusing on creativity.  I have signed up for 2 classes, one on colour with Joanne Sharpe, and the other on basic techniques with Julie Balzer.  I'm also hoping to Find my style.  These classes will require samples which I hope will help me find as well as Fine tune my preferred method of working.  I hope to Finish these courses and then I want to perFect them! oye!!!  My inbox has just delivered a first post from Nathalie Kalbach at JumpStart, a free one that I forgot all about!  But I don't forget my blogging friends who also continue to inspire me and beckon me to come up higher in my aspirations.  Thank you!

I have some hopes that I can get some projects finished that I have been working towards already.

I am committed to working through each room of the house and getting them to a place where they are completed and easy to maintain; hence more play time.  The Rooster and I have a plan!  whoo hoo!  This was not without a few compromises, a couple of knock down, drag 'em out sessions,and a few kleenex moments but it is looking to be very workable.  First I'm doing an initial purge and then we'll go back and do any fixing, painting or remodeling.  A contractor has been contacted and a budget blue lined!

I am wanting to get back to more sewing.  Quilting, fibre art, home decor stuff and possibly some clothes and accessories.  The trick is to not start anything majorly new and use up some of my old stash so I can get some of this appealing new stuff. lol  Oakshotts!  hmmmm

I am at the half way point in the daily calender journalling and would like to bump that up a bit to include working in my sketchbook once a day with more purpose and regularly.

My workroom in the barn is high on my priority list as well as The Rooster's.  His understanding of how our time is best spent throughout the months of the year will better make this happen as he won't help me when I have the 'urge' and he 'has' to be doing something else that is a priority  So he has control of the timeline.

Not an exactly photo laden post, but lots of plans.  I need to get a new calendar. I want to get up to speed with all the digital stuff and that will involve simplifying my photos and files. I need to keep my Photo Shop Elements book right here beside the mouse and keyboard.  I also need to clean up the blog a bit.  This will be a transition week and then next week I get some out of town company that will challenge my plans of keeping up!

I need to make sure I double knot my running shoes as I sprint off into the new year but I also need to pace myself as this a four season, twelve month, 365 day run.  Foremost, I plan on enjoying the journey!!!

Wow, what's my style

I have not had a lot of time in the playroom this week.  I have had a few isolated moments to skim through my new book, The Artist Unique- inspiration and ttechniques to discover your creative signature.

A few have expressed curiosity in it.

Most of us began the creative journey by following patterns and kits or making class samples.  The author Carmen Torbus points out that was is missing is 'me'.    

This book helps identify the 'me' that is buried under all the stuff that is submerged under all our prepackaged project replicas, our excuses and our fears. 

The first section in the book is The Artist's Toolbox.  It follows that an electrician's tool box is different from a plumber's. There would also be differences in an electrician who specializes in wiring houses and one who  wires cars or even computers. 

I have been introduced to the words, mark making, during these last few weeks.  I find the term very liberating. Anyone can make marks!  Albeit some make better marks than others,  it is a good place to start.  The author starts with mark making tools and the ones we like to use help identify our signature.  The aha was that there are further variations.  Acrylic paint can be thick and precise.  But it can also be watery and sloppy.  More variations would be how the medium is applied and to what art surface. 

There is a worksheet that asks, what's on your palette? 

A visit to your local garden centre will help identify what flower shapes and colours appeal. 

I was very blessed to take a workshop with Jane Sassaman and I luv her style.  We stylized our favorite flower and made a wall hanging.  Mine was a day lily. 

 The two teal spikes were Jane's contribution.  I need to get over my own fear of wrecking this and finish it. 

A visit to the paint section can reveal what you reach out for.  Unfortunately I have collected every colour and combo available.  I never met a colour I didn't like.  So my challenge was to go a bit deeper and settle on a particular colour scheme. 

I have discovered I prefer low contrast so analogous colours, even monochromatic,  would be my preferred style.

An at home scavenger hunt reveals a lot about colours that repeat in ones life.  I try to stay out of the kitchen so I looked in my closet.  I've simplified my wardrobe to aqua's and chartreuse with a dark neutral.

Then the seeker is encouraged to visualize their favorite spot.

I think it would be the actual beach rather than the water.  Strolling down a beach seems to make me sigh.

What colours make me happiest, comfortable, safe, daring, alive?  What colours scream ME?

Mellow yellow, aqua, and white with bits of purple.   I have saved this calender for years and many of the pages are stuck up on various bulletin boards.  I think it is my style! (giggle)

The bulk of the book is devoted to Discovering Technique.  Fifteen contributing artists, each with their unique style, shares a favourite technique, insights and advice about coming into your own as an artist. 
I'll be trying them sometime soon.  I do have a vague idea of how I want to portray my work but it is good to keep ones options open!

If I were creating art for myself, and surely that is the best reason to do it, I suspect mellow yellow would translate to aged book pages.  Aqua would be a colour wash background sepia photos with  hand written notes in India ink, pearlized buttons stitched unto hand dyed fabric showcasing thread patterns.  This would  just might make me sigh, happily.

So I've begun to identify that I like to work on combinations of fabric, paper, and even canvas.  I like paint or dyes translucent, spread  thinly, loosely, with a big brush.  I'd have outlines and details with a thin black marker.  I would make use of stamps, stencils and some creative paraphernalia.  I prefer analogous colour schemes, in a simple representational style. I'm 2/3 of the way there.

The last section is Defining Your Style.  There is another worksheet with a checklist for skill inventory.  Lots of things we do are not necessarily art related but art isn't created in a sterile vacuum.  Skills we use daily can reveal our unique creative style.

This section also addresses the fears, the routines, the stalls, etc. that stop our creativity.  I am held speechless by the first paragraph as it so identifies me.  I leap in where angels fear to tread and then at the peak of creativity I stall- a victim of my inner critic.

The good news is that I have my hand on that guy's heel and I want to get a better look at him. I'm going to demand to see his credentials with the intent to kick him to the curb!  Besides, I'd like to make Jane proud and finish my day lily piece.  ;^)

Refresh

I think today is a good day to reclaim my life and my daily routine.  The events that happen are not always something that can be predicted nor pigeonholed but I'm hitting the refresh button to remind myself of my Triple F goal for the year.

FOCUS:  The ideal is not going to happen.  While I rebel at same old/same old, I do recognize that I do my best with some sort of a routine. A rigid schedule seems to be too constricting and worse I lose abilities and momentum when I lay things aside.  I can't do it all so I've chosen some. But the few I've kept need to be done more regularly rather than my usual sporadic bursts.  So my question is how can I keep all my balls in the air and not let any roll off into a corner.  I've defined the main players at least.

FIND?FIDDLE:  Driving hither and yon these last few weeks I have tried to figure out how to be more  creative in better ways.  If I identified my style and could incorporate it into all aspects of my various interests I could stay current in most things.

I was reminded of a small book I had bought a couple of decades ago.  It is a little Anchor book on Crewel Stitches and Patterns. I luv the asymmetrical positioning, the quirky motifs, the curves and swirls.   I had thought I could turn the little diagrams into applique projects.

Sewing and fabric is a MAIN thrust.  I need to get Nina to the spa for her tune up and continue my thread experiments.

But what if I used the patterns for free motion machine stitching?

I also like the Jacobean style of applique. What if I took the individual motifs as jumping off places for my own designs and incorporated them into some mixed media art with hand dyes, stencils, beads, etc.
     

What if my luv for words and letters could escape the blog posts and altered books and flow unto my fabrics?

FINISH:  A great deterrent is my work space.  I try to do the somewhat organized and dry stuff here in the Coop and Saucer Playroom. It isn't a large room, only 11 x 12 feet.  It is the original master bedroom so this is as big as it is gonna get.  I don't think there are any 'what if's...' left as I've organized and reorganized it for optimum use many times. My basement laundry area is cramped, cold and cluttered as well as being 2 flights of stairs down.  I am just going to have to try to keep the wet mess to one side and the dry piles to the other.      If the two meet well then, more creativity will have to happen!  lol

I use creativity everyday to problem solve and now I'd just like to have some creative art projects to show for all my problems!

Triple F for 2012

Apparently resolutions don't work and have inherent failures built in to them.  But to draw on the resolve that is within oneself  is another matter entirely.

My first word was FOCUS and I learned a lot, mostly about how hard it was for me to stick with one thing.

Next came FIND and I again learned that the scattered approach, as in multitasking, doesn't enable me to fiddle with a new technique, or even an old one if I really want to make it mine.

This year should be FINISH. I'm not sure I am ready to let go of the first two so...

This is a Triple F Year.

                                      

                                     

I resolve to Focus on specific books.

I resolve to give the time to Find out all about it and then Fiddle to get really comfortable with the fiddling.

I resolve to use what I've found and fiddled with to Finish.          


I'm encouraged.   I did get stuff done last year and also managed to not start too very many new things.

I'm dismayed  that there is lots yet to learn and do while I do still have a few unfinished projects that are in dire need of finishing.

But I'm really excited about the book studies.  I had originally thought I was going to commit to 12 books and go back to cluttering up the side bar with things that make me cast my eyes down as I scurry by. lol Honestly I did get some of those done.  I just never up dated the side bar.  It boggles my mind that some who will remain nameless, (pssst. think of he who crows and his first chick) absolutely dent the list paper in eradicating any sign of the item!  :O Now I luv making lists.  It makes me feel virtuous. But I NEVER look at them after I make them!

I'm firm and focused on the books but I'm fiddling with the particulars as I find pertinent titles for later in the year.   But perhaps I'll list them as I Find/Fiddle and Finish them.

Fair enough?

Finding a FINE Finish for Friday

My little word theme for Fridays has been such a motivator. Who knew!

I learned some technique things but I think I've learned even more about myself. 8^)

I really don't need 52+ page sized little quiltlets. That doesn't include the ones from last year. sheesh. So I've just been trying to finish something to end the week with. I'm getting stuff done. I'm also "putting off short term pleasure, for long term gain" to quote my rooster's favorite 'you need to grow up' speech.

So today I said 'no' to what I wanted to do and did what I had said I wanted to do.


I made my small runner inspired by light barked trees against a sky.


Not quite what I envisioned but a great try; I learned a thing or three, and I really do like it. :)

That's why it isn't quite finished because I want to hand stitch the binding.

Perhaps I'll have a better picture when I sum up the week tomorrow.

And this is what I really wanted to work on: