Almost Spring!

 Wow, this month has flown by!  But then, it is a short month, even though it's a leap year!  

Since last month, I spent time playing with watercolors and marking pens, just for fun!  Here are a few of my results:

With each of these, after I slathered water colors onto paper, I thought "how ugly"!  But after they dried, I started creating the lines with fine point Micron pens, and not only was I pleased with the outcome, but I really enjoyed the time just focusing on where to put the lines!  No, I won't be making these to sell, but they are great for "play time", when I just want to relax and unwind.

I also got back to ice dyeing again, and here are a few of the items I've done since my last post:

This is a rayon jersey jacket dyed in Teal and black.  The first one I did sold the day I put it on the rack at Arts Connection, so I got busy and did 2 more.  I have several more that aren't dyed yet, but I'm hoping to come up with some spring colors on them, since Spring is just around the corner!

Today, I washed out my first attempt at a "Cosmic Egg" pattern on a shirt:

I have a way to go before I can do one as well as the example I was working from, but I'm excited to be learning a very unique pattern!  Notice that the front pattern is very different than the back! The shirt is turned inside out, with one sleeve inside the other, then it is tightly rolled from side to side.  I use sinew to tightly tie the rows, letting the shirt roll back over itself, and I continue tying to create some of the patterns.  The front reflects the sinew rows, but the back is a much looser pattern.  I didn't notice until I took the photos that there is an "alien" on the back near the neckline, ooh!  For sure, I'm going to be working hard to get better at this pattern, it's the first time in a long time I wanted to learn something as ornate as this.  Stay tuned!

Oh, and to kick off this year's bowls, I made these to celebrate sunshine and flowers:

Okay, that's what I've been up to on the creative front.  What else have I been doing?

EXERCISING!!  It's been 2 years since I stopped going to the gym for an exercise class, twice a week.  I just got tired of having to drive to town, and I already go to town at least 3 days a week on a regular basis.  Well, in December I fell and hurt my back, so for 3 weeks I pretty much nursed my back.  Then I thought:  if I exercise, I'll strengthen my muscles, and almost simultaneously, I found yes2next, which is a gal and her mom who have made a bunch of exercise videos and uploaded to youtube!  I also joined their group on Facebook for support - the exercises are designed for beginners and seniors, but can be modified to do more or less.  I started January 13, and have exercised almost daily (except on days when I had to shovel snow), and my back is healed!  I may be old, but I'm stubborn!  I did a 50 minute workout this morning, and it was wonderful!  Not bad for an old fart, lol!

Okay that's it for now - looking forward to Spring and longer days, so I can dye and make bowls and who knows what else?  Enjoy!

January 2024

 Happy New Year!  If you're wondering what I've been up to this past month, here's my story!

First off, most years I wind down the end of the year through the beginning of the next with a creative respite - my creativity takes a hiatus, and I'm left with no energy or inspiration for awhile!  It's kind of like hibernating... the holiday rush is over, and January and February are typically slow season at the gallery.  So I give myself permission to rest and at some point I start to "dither and putter" around the studio.

Well, this year, I had another little thing to deal with - I fell the day after Christmas and hurt my back!  I won't go into the details - suffice it to say, I have been kind of in "healing" mode for the past few weeks... some days I don't feel like doing anything, others I venture into the studio and putter some.  

This year, I decided to play around a little with water colors, and started following some artists on various social media platforms.  Here's an exercise I did one day following some videos by bb henry art:

This was fun - I used some paints, torn paper, pencil and marking pens with no end purpose other than to relax and enjoy the process.

Then I did another little project using scraps of things to create a collage:

I have amassed a large amount of paper and fiber scraps over the years, and the drawer where I keep them is overflowing!  I could do a hundred more of these and never put a dent in the supplies I have!

I recently bought some more watercolors and paper, and decided to start playing with them to get used to how to load my brush and create shapes.  Here's one small panel I did yesterday - just the right size for a notecard:

This was inspired by the work of ana falceta, who I follow on Instagram.  She uses watercolor paints, marking pens, other paints and usually adds stitching to her pieces, which really inspired me to try this!  I plan to try more of these and see if I can up my game over time.  I have no real desire to paint realism, just color, shape and form, but I love the mark making that to me adds such visual interest!  

Yes, I will be back dyeing and making bowls before too long, but I love being able to add to my  repertoire of skills and interests!  Stay tuned for further developments, lol!