Life is Colorful!

It's a travel day for me....I'm on my way to spend a couple weeks with my sister Angie in the Kansas City area.  After 3 weeks in the hospital and 2 weeks in rehab she's ready to go home.

My most recent treasures gathered from 
my neighborhood in Maine.

I'm looking forward to spending time with her and helping with the transition and whatever else she needs.  She doesn't get good cell service and she doesn't have the internet so I will be mostly unplugged....and that can be a good thing now and then.  I may spend some time at the library and will make use of Wi-Fi as I take her to appointments. I will post when I can as I will be searching for and playing with color...and I'm always on the look out for things that bring me joy.

Much of my online time will be keeping up with my "Consciously Creative" class....it's a little hard to leave during "color week" but I will do the best I can. Before moving my decomposing things to the garage yesterday morning I made a color wheel using all my findings and a few things from the fridge. The blue flowers were free from a local garden shop as I was quite lacking in that part of the wheel and the clerk was happy to contribute to my project. I may have to plant a blue hydrangea bush. I'm growing very fond of shriveled up leaves.

Seems like a good image to have here for a while....I'll be back as often as I can.

I think I need to find a bigger board.

I've been drying some of my longer stems out on the porch...as a "wabi-sabi" bouquet.

Life is good...life is colorful!

September Project

My September Folt Bolt color scheme project is finished. There are parts that I really like....and others I might have done differently. I am most fond of the striped plant pot and the lotus pod.

I wrapped the background fabric around the paint panel this time. The lotus pod was too thick to wrap...but I added some of the round dots randomly on the sides.  I think the buttons and dots give a nod to seeds.

"Creative Work"

"The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their creative power restive and uprising and gave it neither power nor time."  Mary Oliver

Paul sent me this quote yesterday and it made me tear up a bit. I love Mary Oliver...but mostly I love my husband who supports and celebrates the "creative work" that feeds my soul. I'm not so sure he's actually celebrating the found objects (trash) on display in the kitchen and shriveled plants and decomposing fruit in baskets and bowls all over the house....but he certainly is supportive and extremely patient.  Thanks Paul!

This week it's all about color.....and one of the exercises is to pick a color every day and look out for it in unexpected places. Today I looked for aqua while I was on a walk with Anita.

Second Look

Wabi-Sabi...The Art of Imperfection

"To discover wabi-sabi is to see the singular beauty in something that may first look decrepit and ugly."   

Robin Griggs  http://www.utne.com/mind-and-body/wabi-sabi

Several weeks ago I wanted to collect a few rose hips....I love their orangey-red color...perfect for fall. But they were staring to go by so I passed them up. This photo is from my archives.

But this week as I've been embracing textures and the concept of "wabi-sabi" I took another look. I was surprised with how beautiful they were....deep rich colors and full of texture and they were drying into interesting wrinkly pods.

They were worth a second look.

Next week's lesson in the "Consciously Creative" class is color!  Yay!

Click the link to see my Steller Story with some of my favorite textures from my walks this week:

https://steller.co/s/7PzYgDTsdAx

September Seed Pods

It's the time of year for seeds and pods and beautiful fall colors.  For my September Folt Bolt color scheme project I was inspired by the lotus seed pod.                                                                                                               

Way back at the beginning of the month I made the seed pod motif and cut out this fusible "joy."  I liked them both....but I struggled with how to make it work in a small design...they were both big design elements.  I set the project aside for a while....but it was time to make it work.

I finally abandoned the colorful "joy" because I was too attached to the seed pod motif.  It may show up somewhere else.

So now I have the basic layout fused and the machine stitching done. I'm auditioning buttons and other details and embellishments...it's time to do a little hand stitching and finish it up.

                             

A Sunflower and a Sail

Paul and I were invited for a sail tonight with our good friends Janice and Jay. 

We met them at their house and the first thing I noticed was the lovely frame of morning glories all around the door....so welcoming and cheerful!

Then Janice pointed out the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time...I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Do you notice something out of place in the next photo?

There, growing out of a crack on the side of their chimney was a single sunflower.

And, lucky for us it was a beautiful night to be on Casco Bay! The sky was changing every few minutes.

Thanks Janice and Jay!

Photo Editing

I've been learning about photo editing using the tools on Instagram and am playing around with some of my texture photographs.  Here's an example of a before and after.  

You can see my Steller story on editing with this link:  https://steller.co/s/7PdhhXT7UNK

"There Was a Little Girl"

I can't resist these sweet little pumpkins this time of year. 

As a matter of fact a year ago almost to the day I posted about a pumpkin  on my window sill.

I had a silly conversation with the checkout guy at Trader Joe's about my love for a good curly stem...it made him chuckle.

But he was more humored (or maybe mystified) when I discovered an even better detail while standing there at the checkout. A long fiber from the vine was still attached and curled around the stem ending in a delightful little dangling swirl. I wouldn't let him put it in the bag....I hand carried it out out of the store. It's the little details that make a difference.

The curl reminded me of the poem "There Was a Little Girl."  Anyone remember that poem? My mom used to recite the first stanza when we were younger. I hope I was never actually "horrid"....I certainly don't think so.

Right Ingredients

Some found treasures from last week that are starting to shrivel (Wabi-Sabi)...some new gems from this morning's walk with Janet...and a few things from Trader Joe's...were just the right ingredients for a rainbow.

Playing on the porch again.

Wabi-Sabi

This week in the "Consciously Creative" class we are focusing on texture both inside and out. Philippa introduced us to the concept of Wabi-Sabi and I'm completely intrigued.

"The Japanese art of imperfect beauty. Accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay in which everything has beauty."

"It's simple, slow, and uncluttered...and it reveres authenticity above all.  It celebrates cracks and crevices and all the other marks that time, weather, and loving use leave behind.  It reminds us that we are all but transient beings on this planet...that our bodies as well as the material world around us are in the process of returning to the dust from which we came."

Trash or Treasure?

"Sometimes it's just a collection of stuff....it doesn't have to mean anything." Philippi Stanton

I'm at the end of week one of my "Consciously Creative" class....observing, collecting, and documenting.  I've always felt that I'm a good observer of the world...but this class is helping me see what I see differently AND see things I never even thought to look for.

At the beginning of the week I mentioned that we were supposed to picked up objects that we found on our walks. So all week long I've been gathering bits of this and that were just laying around out there in the world. It's all trash really....candy wrappers, bottle caps and bits of plastic or fiber. Finding it has become a bit of an obsession passion....and my pile got bigger and bigger.

It may not make sense to anyone else...but in the context of this class....it makes all the sense in the world.

I've been displaying my findings on this fancy glass cake stand all week...mostly because it's such a contrast to the objects.

I actually have an idea I want to try with all the bits of paper and fibers...we'll see if what's in my head can be actually turned into something. I'm OK if it can't...it's already something.

It was oddly satisfying to play around with the found circles and I was delighted to find that I had almost a whole rainbow....just missing a true blue. I made a circle of circles...and circles within a circle.




I'm loving this board from an old church pew....the texture helps create an interesting background.

I can take the board where the light is best for photographs....the morning light on the porch is just perfect.

A new week....a new lesson.  It's a good thing.

Perfect Setting

And beautiful it was!  The perfect setting for a Maine wedding!

Coast of Maine

I love the rocky coast of Maine...even in the fog.  Paul is doing a wedding for some friends tomorrow in Kittery Point, Maine and today was the rehearsal and dinner. What a lovely setting to say "I do."

The Rest...

...of the notes in a Steller story.

This Steller story was actually my practice run where I put together all the little notes from Janet's and my walk a week or so ago.

Click below to see my "Sweet Reminders" story.

https://steller.co/s/7N54Jgb2L9x

We're 1/2 way through September and 

I haven't forgotten about my color scheme 

project.  Do you recognize what this 

was inspired by? If you don't 

I'll fill you in soon.