A day at home....or at least the morning!

Cool morning temperatures make the studio a pleasant place!

So, I plan to paint this morning....then move inside and work on a quilt this afternoon!

Recent paintings---- all this last week! Due to cooler summer weather, I think....

Above: almost finished, just a few more flowers for her basket and more definition for her eye. Then I will stop. Word has it that to retain "freshness" in a painting one must stop before it is too polished!

This one too, sunflowers will only need a little more...background work, petal definition and white reflections on the vase.

This still life with peaches is finished....just needs the signature!

I have paid to join an on-going art group with a teacher, Nadine Ripplemeyer. Her input has been invaluable, and I love having others to paint along side!

Here is a photo Nadine took of me with the painting I was working on a couple of weeks ago...

And here is how that painting changed and is finished at last!

Mush lighter, I realized I do not like too much dark in my paintings....!!!

 

More quilting, garden moments and painting possibilities ...

" I dwell in possibility"......Emily Dickinson

What to do today....work on paintings? I have several canvases "gessoed" and ready....the studio is pleasant, too!

This bouquet I keep working with.....enjoying the process....

I have some quilts in progress too...the one below is another low volume, Sunday Morning (from the book by that name) quilt...should I put it together?

....One thing seems to be emerging....from my possibilities.....I will work on a blogging post! LOL!

...flash back to the last post...I have finished the strawberry pink binding on this quilt...my scrappy, chunky, perle cotton quilted, English floral quilt! love it, it is so light and fluffy, not weighted down with heavy quilting!

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Yesterday, when I got home from work, I sat in my quiet garden corner....doing nothing for a while...just dwelling and resting.

Drinking in the lovely evening ...

[you know iPads have a super resolution camera when they capture wrinkles and pores which don't show up in the mirror! LOL!]

Looking at my little garden patch, I found some strawberries starting to ripen! Wow!

I wonder if some creature will get to them before we decide they are ready to eat?

From this little patch where I scattered leaf lettuce seed in March, we are getting several salads per week now!

Reading is another possibility.....I was reading this book this morning....

I got it for $1.50 at our library used book shop. It was published in 1973. I love books from that era...I was a newly wed bride. Making quilts for my home was something I really hoped to do! This book reminds me of the beginnings of that adventure!

I smile as I read..."Quilting has certain advantages over other forms of needlework. For one thing, it's far less expensive than most. There is no need to go to an expensive shop for supplies and instructions. Once the basics are mastered, the crafter can duplicate any quilted item simply by studying it. The materials can be cut from old clothes,* sheets! and slipcovers that had been intended for no better use than dust rags. At worst, materials can be purchased for the most nominal sums as remnants at fabric outlet shops. The most extravagant piece of equipment is a sewing machine, which most women probably already own.** And even that is not absolutely necessary. After all, our ancestors did some remarkable work without them."

Oh, for those frugal times, not spending $11.00 /yard for designer cotton fabrics resulting in quilt tops alone which cost upwards of $150.00... !

* I did cut up some summer pj's to use in my "low volume" quilt! along with lots of remnants!

**over the years I have had several sewing machines! I think there are 6 down there now....no wonder I feel that I should always be doing/making something, to justify having them! Oh my!

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Back to those canvases now...maybe while listening to an audio book! One way to do 2 things at once!

 

The finished quilt and more!

Here is the Sunshine quilt...because it is so cheerful and sunny....just out of the dryer.

I love how it is puckered and soft now! It will be mailed off tomorrow to a cousin in Oklahoma!

Love to cook peach cobblers now ...gluten free of course! I always add butter and cinnamon and not too much sugar!

 

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I am SERIOUSLY trying to get an organized studio for sewing and artwork. Today I picked up this piece from Target. It is meant for a kitchen, but will be perfect to use for cutting and doing art work downstairs....it even has storage for rotary cutters, rulers and art supplies! [this work station is still in the box, needing a couple hours to assemble....soon!]

It is the right height for standing and working, or grabbing this new stool, for the perfect seating! ( also from Target! )

Sunny yellow like the "Sunshine" quilt!

 

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Watercolor

I bought a beautiful bouquet of local flowers (our natural foods store sells these!)......

 

Plop them in an antique enamel pitcher and try a painting.....using a huge brush and working wet into wet at first...to stay loose. Then back I'm to sketch with an ink pen. All working on my kitchen counter....with the clutter.

Some days creativity is more important than tidyness!

 

However, I really WOULD like to have a light, simple, clean studio to work in. (My basement sewing room is too dark for art, and the back porch is too hot or too cold....and really not just MY space....)...Maybe i should get my own little airsteam trailer set up in the backyard....?????? A girl can dream, right?!!!!

I found this image in tumblr from midwestmanhattan.....she loved it first!

Looks like the good life to me!!!!

Now back to painting in the kitchen....really painting will come soon....when I have to repaint all the cabinets in here! Hmmm, chalk paint could be good for them too!

Speaking of chalk paint (thanks again Sally for telling me about it!),here is the armoire, all painted and waxed and ready to move in and fill with quilts! It was late afternoon sun, casting shadows ( of me too) on the piece....I'll go take a better morning photo now.....

The greenish color so good in this photo above. The morning photos below are greyed down....

Interior is painted with egg shell latex, exterior with that same paint made into chalk paint by adding calcium carbonate....exterior is waxed with two coats of furniture paste wax...

Before waxing, the exterior was lightly distressed using sandpaper!

I will post about it again when I move it in and stack quilts inside! Something like this!

 

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I am home for a few days. From Mom's house, I brought this doll's chest. It was made for Mom by her father and delivered by Santa Claus. It is now full of many years' collection of buttons on cards. I love how it looks on this work table in my art/sewing studio!

I am endeavoring to take things slowly today [as in the book, "SLOW LOVE"] while still accomplishing a lot. My garden needs me as I have been gone for almost a week, but it is rather rainy now. Lots of weeding all over the property will be easier after the rain!

One thing on my "to do" list for today is going quite well! I am making yogurt (organic). It is easy in the new (from Ebay, as they are no longer being produced!) Salton 1-quart yogurt maker. No matter if I decide to "goof off" and watch a movie, or go for a walk, or do art in my studio, in a few hours I will have completed this project, and "Voila", there will be wonderful yogurt to enjoy and flavor as we wish! I like mine plain on savory things and sweetened with a little honey on fruit or cereal.

I hope your day also goes well in a peaceful, flowing fashion!

In my studio with Mom last Wednesday. [I wish the doors behind us were shut...but it is good storage!]

I'm holding a tomato from the garden outside the studio. I was fun to show her my creative space. I was at work for three days of her visit. She needed a creative project. We used the embroidery designs from JoAnn of "Pieceful Afternoon" who had a giveaway recently... so Mom stitched this bird on a towel for me!

I'm off to work this morning....will post more about the past week soon!

Changes to my art space/sewing studio.
Last night we hung this shelf, a gift from my friend, Cheryl. I had painted it turquoise before we hung it. Filling it with little objects was lots of fun!

One object is a retablo of St. Teresa, painted by my sister. You can also see (click on the photo for closer look...) a crow feather and ATC (artist's trading card, 2"x3") of a crow and a girl drawn by an artist in Russia.. a nesting doll also from Russia, artwork by Tammy Mimms, little African beaded dolls, a painting by a Southern folk artist whose first name is Jesse Lavon(it is of a quilt sale at a rural church),a "bellsnickle" black papiermache cat, and a photograph of a friend in her office....

Meet my friend, Macrina Wiederkehr. I've treasured this photo for a number of years! The little Amish doll was a gift from me. I was hoping to find the secret to a SIMPLE, PEACEFUL life, and had been reading about the Amish. Macrina is a spiritual director , poet and author of 7 published books. She has just opened a blog, poetically named, "Under the Sycamore Tree" . I know you will love visiting with her through her posts!

Now I have some other friends coming to see my quilts and studio this evening. I'm off to find a recipe for a tuna pasta salad AND to tidy up all around here! LOL!

This is my studio tonight....as always, in transition, becoming better and making me feel more at home there. Yesterday, my friend Paula helped me with rearranging some of the things and building some shelves to help store others.

First we needed zip ties.....lots.

Then Rubbermaid closet shelving. 2 pieces 6 feet long for the upright sides and 2, 8 foot shelves cut in half at the store [Lowes].

These shelves are designed to hold bins of fabric at an angle....the front of the shelves being lower than the back so that the contents are more visible. I need more storage but it can't be in closets or armoires where I can't see the fabrics and colors which come together in my quilts. Out of sight, out of mind is too true in my case. My muse needs to see her materials!

Below is one end of the studio with my sewing machines and serger and a primitive antique hutch/closet ......

Now, on an adjoining wall is my new shelf unit. Thanks to Paula, and the zip ties we had it assembled in no time! The top shelf is level and holds baskets. The bins are on the slanted shelves and I can see the contents more easily! I love it!

Now the discipline is to keep the fabric collection to a rather constant size....sewing up some before more comes in so that I can have a sense of what is here!

A closer look at the shelf right after we finished it yesterday.....

Here are some of my current projects....

The first pitcher with pompom zinnias from my garden is posing for the 5X5 acrylic painting I am doing of them!

This is for a donation to a local art center's fundraising auction in November.

Just back from the framer's, the big watercolor above (sorry about the "flash" reflection) is ready for another art show in November. I think it is fun, thought provoking and very different from my usual work! I call this one "Fallen Angel".

The last photo shows the dolls I received in out ART DOLL SWAP, as well as a couple of others which I collected over the years.....this hangs at the entrance to my art studio! (note: the "little Green" woodland sprtie doll from Lisa Oceandreamer isn't hanging...she sits on her own log!)

My biggest news is that I have given notice at my part -time job. This will free me to do other things which need to be done, as well as giving me more creative time!

I wasn't planning on posting today, but I opened a delightful bit of mail!
This note card with a painting by Helen Edwards was sent to me from Annie, posted from Australia.
She said the painting made her think of me, out in my garden,....taking a break from creating something new.
On the outside was a lovely quote from a rubber stamp:
" Joy (JOI) :
The emotion
of great delight
or happiness."

I always find great joy when
painting....someday soon, I will paint again!

Thank-you, Annie!!

And a BIG thank-you to Carmen of Strawberries and Champagne for awarding me the "Reflective Blogger" award today!!!!!!

Now follow me down to the basement of my life, I mean my house......













Down this steep stairway with art dolls hanging and a quilt at the bottom.....(and my son's old biking helmet?)

From these stairs you can see the space where I "should " be able to create and follow my bliss.

Lots of room, and lots of materials for projects!

There is a hide-a-bed for overnight guests and my sewing and ironing centers....a stereo for NPR and CD's (Nora Jones and Rod Stewart)

I think because of the low ceilings, I have never found much inspiration down here....it is cozy and cave-like and a great refuge during severe weather (as in tornado warning).

Today, after a few trips up the stairs with loads of fabric, I took a gentle yoga class at a nearby yoga center. The place is so serene, clean and peaceful....I would like a space like that....maybe if I can resist carrying all of that back down after the new floors go in, this could be a serene space...??????

You can see the fans going to dry out the flood and the carpet which we are ripping up....a real mess, but not hopeless....

This is the half-bath where the flooding occured, we found lovely (?) pea green vinyl tile under the carpet there.

I have played ( cut and pasted) on the walls and continue to collage when I find something that fits!

I'd better go back to carrying items up the stairs and stripping the clutter and furniture out of there so when the flooring crew come Thursday, I'll be ready.

Updates to follow!