Holly Lombardo

I love to celebrate artists who inspire me....and one of those artists is Holly Lombardo.  She lives right here in Massachusetts and was born in and has a love for Maine.  Her work has been featured on the cover of an LL Bean Catalog.

Holly is an engineer turned painter and she captures amazing water and woodsy scenes and landscapes in acrylics. Her point of view...and ability to capture light and mood is just amazing! I enjoy following her on Instagram looking forward to her almost daily posts.

"I have always noticed the colors in nature: the greens and greys in the rocks and ocean, the dappled sunlight on the trunks of the great pines, and the blues and purples in the shadows of the snow. It is this color palette that inspires my work. With each brush stroke I try to capture light and movement between colors, and I let my eyes dance over the canvas as I record nature's artwork in my own way."
Holly Lombard...from her website

You can see that my latest fabric pieces have been inspired by a couple of her abstracts.

This first abstract of hers is actually called "Stained Glass Trees" and the second is "Morning Light."

I bought her 2019 calendar and hope to frame some of the beautiful images...each one is 12 x 12.  Maybe I'll do a collage wall!

Some day I'd like to own an original...but in the mean time I'll enjoy my calendar and look forward to her Instagram posts where she shares her process and inspiration. I also plan to visit a local gallery where some of her work is for sale. 

https://www.instagram.com/hlombardoartist/

https://www.hollylombardoart.com/

Collected Joy

"Joy collected over time fuels resilience."  Brené Brown

I was tickled to find this resilient blue scilla was back in a rock at church. I posted about it almost exactly a year ago....just another bit of collected joy.

Our project group checked and packed up the book bags this morning.  Nearly all 101 are filled and by the time they are on their way on Friday...the rest will likely be filled.

Thank you again to Melodee, Margie, and Christine for responding to my blog request with generous donations!  It takes a village!

Finished Piece

I finished my ombre fabric stained glass piece today.  Since I last shared it...I added a couple more branches at the top and made a few of the tree trunks more substantial. I fused this piece on stiff stabilizer so it holds its square shape nicely.

I bound it like I would a quilt with one long strip of binding using a very scant seam and mitered corners making it crisp and clean.  Much better than my last attempt.

I ironed a strip of fusible webbing on the edge of my binding so I when I stretched it around to the back all I had to do was iron it...no hand stitching.  It worked like a dream and is nice and flat.  This side will be glued on the canvas so the raw edges didn't matter.                                                                      

 
 
I repurposed a deep square canvas I bought at the Goodwill Store for $1 and painted the edges black.

 

I think it looks good on the deep black canvas...and the thin black binding just blends in. I'm anxious to try my next idea on the same theme....it's pretty awesome in my head!

Perspective

Remember my little hyacinth bouquet from a week ago?  They were starting to fade...so I snipped the tops off before I went to Maine a few days ago to let them dry.  I came home today to find they turned an incredible deep blue.  I started to arrange the tiny little petals....but if I breathed to hard they just blew around...it made me chuckle.  I may play around with them another day....or maybe not.  

Aren't they wabi-sabi wonderful!!!

Sometimes a photograph gives you a perspective that you can't get in person.  As I was putting together last night's post I realized that the little square Loretta Grayson print was standing out on the collage wall. I love it...but I'll find it another home. 

This tiny little watercolor by Laura Meddaugh  is perfect so I made the swap this morning. Because of the lighting and the glass it was hard to photograph...but it's one of Laura's "rooms with a view" she did years ago.  This one is called "And the Beach Goes On" and has a little cutout window view of the water.  It one of those special little pieces you have to see up close...and this spot is perfect for that. It's right at home with the other beachy pieces and that pop of yellow works well too. Yay!

Souvenir

The only things I brought back from the UK were a few rocks and a tin of tea biscuits.... and of course lots of memories and photos.  But I had an idea for a souvenir and today was the day to figure out where it was going to go.

I took one quick panoramic photo of the rainbow sheds on Brighton Beach and was surprised with how well it came out. I found a place on-line to have it stretched on canvas....and for not that much money and a quick turnaround I now have a fun souvenir from my trip.  It's 8 x 24....I love the juxtaposition of the whimsical sheds against the more traditional city building backdrop.

Today I started playing with a colorful collage wall in the upstairs bedroom at the condo.  It's a work in progress...but it's where I'm going to land for a bit.  It may need some editing.

I like the way the image wraps around the deep canvas.  It's soft, but colorful and looks good on the dusty purply blue wall.   

 

"I spent a long time trying to find my center until I looked closely one night and found it had wheels and moved easily in the slightest breeze, so now I spend less time sitting and more time sailing."  (The Brian Andreas print  on the collage wall)

The irony is not lost on me that on the day we found the beach sheds was incredibly windy...Nancy and I were almost literally blown down the beach.  We felt like little kids...just sailing along like we were on wheels! It's one of my favorite memories!

Influence

Paul and I drove up to Maine today....it was a gorgeous day.  Spring is a lot further along in Lexington but it's just starting here in Portland.

After I cleaned up my little garden and my neighbors garden it was time to get a chair out of the garage...put my feet up and enjoy the patio for the first time.  Ahhhh!

I stopped in to see Margie this evening and am happy to report she finished her 1000 piece puzzle and saved it to show me.  Challenging.....and fun!

We put the donuts away...and now her board is all set for the next one.  She's never really been a puzzle person...but I think she is now!  I think I'm having a little influence on her....and that tickles me.

I'm also tickled that I'm also influencing Margie with something else!  After we hung my crazy fabric piece in her apartment it became official...I think she's become a color person too!  I found this rainbow assortment of bottles and vases around the condo and the house in Lexington to "audition" them on her window sill...and she likes them! It brings the colors from the quilt into the room and they'll be pretty with the morning light. And...it will be fun for me to have something to look for as I go to resale shops and garage sales...I think she needs some larger ones and a few more colors. Another color convert!  Yay!

Getting Older

I turned 60 today.....and I couldn't be happier about it. I love getting older!  With every passing year I've learned something new about myself and what I'm capable of....and what I can let go.  I've learned to let days unfold and just surprise me but to also find joy in my daily routine.  I've learned to slow down and pay attention....especially to the little things. I've learned to be grateful for all the wonderful people in my life who are willing to listen to my stories....and then want to tell me theirs. 

I love getting older. 

Paul sent me this poem today in honor of my birthday...and in memory of my mother.  He knew her birthday was just a few weeks ago...she would have been 93.  He knew she was just 62....two years older than I am right now when she died...31 years ago.  

August Third 

by May Sarton

These days

Lifting myself up

Like a heavy weight,

Old camel getting to her knees,

I think of my mother

And the inexhaustible flame

That kept her alive

Until she died.

She knew all about fatigue

And how one pushes it aside

For staking up the lilies

Early in the morning,

The way one pushes it aside

For a friend in need

For a hungry cat.

Mother, be with me

Today on your birthday

I am older than you were

When you died

Thirty-five years ago

Thinking of you

The old camel gets to her knees

Stands up

Moves forward slowly

Into the new day.

If you taught me one thing 
It was never to fail life.

Paul knew this poem would be meaningful...and he knew it would make me cry. But he knew they would be good tears because he was lucky enough to know my mom and saw and felt her "inexhaustible flame." And...he has come to understand that she taught me many things.... including "never to fail life."

I love getting older...but I still miss my mom.

Fragmented Forest

I love these sweet little crabapple blossoms with the pink stamens. The whole neighborhood is blooming in soft whites and pinks...it's a dreamy time of year!

My black hand-dyed fabric came today....so I got right back at it...adding the trees to another piece I made while I was away.

At this point I'm just fusing the branches....the trunks are just laying on top. I might add a few more skinny branches towards the top so I need to let it sit a day or two before I decide....time and space always helps.  

Although I love the variation in the hand-dyed fabric in my little mini from yesterday's post....I also like the texture and vibrancy of this gelato ombre fabric. My friend Lynn referred to these pieces as a fragmented forest....I like it!  

Stained Glass Trees

I'm pretty happy with how this little fabric stained glass tree project turned out....and I'm excited about finishing the other two.                                                                                         

As I've mentioned before hand-dyed fabrics fuse so much better than commercial fabrics because they are chemical free. I don't want to top stitch the trees on these "stained glass" projects so hand-dyed is the way to go and I have some black on order.

I had one little swatch of black from a sampler pack...just enough to make the trees for my little 4 x 6.  I fused the tiny pieces for the branches first...then added the trunk pieces on top covering all my seams.

I got a little impatient and used commercial black fabric I had on hand for the binding rather than waiting for my order to come. Next time I'll stick with the hand-dyed and bind it like I do a quilt ...I'm not all that happy with my corners.  But all in all I feel like this was a successful experiment.

Easter Sunrise

It was a lovely Easter starting with a sunrise service high on a hill in Lexington at the Old Belfry.  It was a cloudy morning so we didn't see the sun...but the birds were singing and it was lovely and powerful in its simplicity. 

Alleluia!

Paul and I had to chuckle....because the very minute he got home from the second traditional church service (third service of the day) a very large limb came crashing to the ground in our back yard.  Christ may be risen...but the branch has fallen! 

Scorebook

Happy Easter!

Way back in November of 2014 I made this long skinny scorebook for my friend Patsy....she keeps track of everything.  I used textured paper for the cover that was made by a friend of hers and gridded a rainbow photo on black card stock for the cover.

The book stays at her coastal retreat and scores from card games....or any other game that has a score for that matter goes in this book.  It gets used a lot so is a little worn....so every once in a while I do a few repairs using whatever I have with me at the time. A couple years ago I reinforced the binding using a page from a magazine....it was a make it work moment.  It's about 1/2 full...and I'll be sure and be ready with another one when the time comes.

  

This time I attached the little score pages in the chronologically right spot when people forgot to follow the rules and use the book.  These little additions just make it more interesting and unique.