Headed Out

Creativity moves in cycles. there are seasons of making and seasons of not making. Even when we're not actively creating, we're still in relationship with our art: thinking, organizing, and making space for what's next. When we trust this rhythm instead of resisting it, we return to our creativity with more energy, clarity, and joy. Amanda Petrozzini

I hardly ever go out in the evening....but last night I got out of my comfort zone and attended an open house at the Double House Arts. 

Double House is a beautiful community art space in downtown Portland. It's available to rent and also hosts the Double House Arts Collective which provides art opportunities for people with disabilities. Amanda is one of the artists who runs the space and she and her daughter attended my Joyful Puttering Session I hd a few weeks ago. 

The open house featured work from the DHAC artists as well as painted pots with spring blooms.

The young man who painted this pot stole my heart. "It's time to stop and shop" the pot says...and holds a a pansy and some pussy willow. A perfect pop of spring for my puzzle table.

After the show I attended a play at a local theater where one of my neighbors was performing. It's so easy for me to just stay home.....I'm so happy at home. But both these events were just a delight...and I'm so glad I headed out.

And when I got home...the full moon was waiting for me. Had I not been out in the evening...I would have missed it.

It snowed again today....and when I headed out to feed the birds I built a little snowman. 

You might as well find joy in the snow...even if it's April 12th.  My mom would have been 99 years old today. What a wonderful mom she was! 

Visitor

I am spontaneously heading out for the evening....so here's just a simple photo of a visitor who came knocking this afternoon. 

He literally knocked (pecked) at the door....I wonder what he was looking for?

Siblings

Happy Siblings Day!

It's hard to believe that four of my siblings have passed....and they are dearly missed. And oh how I loved my grandma Funk.

Becky, Ed, Grandma Funk, Doug

MaryAnn, LaVonn

Rich, Angie, Marilyn and Nancy

Here we are a little older. I have fond memories of growing up with so many siblings on the farm. We always had enough people for a ballgame in the yard.

Ed, Marilyn, Mom and Rich, Dad and Nancy, Doug

MaryAnn, Angie, LaVonn, and Becky

Paul and his siblings.

Paul, Alyson and Liz

Patterns and Textures

It was chilly this morning morning and the little bit of precipitation yesterday left some interesting frozen puddles.

This one was especially artful....full of patterns and texture.

I made a small art journal for Kelly's birthday. It's been a while since I made one...but I do like using the buttonhole stitch binding technique. She prefers neutral colors...so I went with black and cream paper for the cover with lots of patterns and textures....just like the puddle.

This commercial paper came this way....with strips of the various patterned paper already glued together. 

I covered the cover boards and the two smaller spine pieces with the patterned paper cutting out the buttonhole in the middle. I lined the inside of the covers with another commercial paper.  

I folded 6 signatures. Each has a piece of watercolor paper and two other papers folded in...a combo of either graph paper, drawing paper, mixed media paper, and tracing paper. I think it's a nice mixture for a little travel sketch/art journal.

It's a simple binding technique....but inevitably I make an error or two. I loop over when I should loop under (or something) and my stitch connections don't stack up perfectly at the buttonhole opening.

The irony is that I found a video this afternoon that simplifies the stitch steps...so I'll know better next time. 

Here's the video.....I fast forwarded to the 38 minute mark for the binding technique. Jessica made it so much easier than the written instructions I was following. I should make another right away so I can put it into practice.

But there is beauty in imperfection...making this book a little less precious so it will be easier to be used and handled.... marked and spilled on.

I actually did spill a drop of glue right on the cover...so it's already broken in.

Stars and Tags

Thanks to my friend Adam, I've been folding paper stars from strips of paper for years and years....and back in 2019 I taught Ellen how to make them after she saw them on the blog. I made her a video and she was off and running...then she taught her niece spreading the joy even further.

This past year I taught Jane how to make them. Her granddaughter plays with them in her toddler kitchen making star soup. 

When Ellen saw the skinny strips I posted a few days ago I cut with the wool cutter she wondered if they were wide enough to fold into a stars. The strips are only 3/8 of an inch....so I didn't think so.

But I took it as a challenge and gave it a try. 

It's tedious...but it can be done. The 3/8 inch strip folded into a 1/4 of an inch star! 

Question asked...and answered! 

I was pretty tickled to see one of my little tags attached to card Dotty sent to a friend on some of her handmade paper.

I saw it in a lovely post on her blog about the inflow and outflow of her art in her community of friends.

And just today I got these photos from Tracie.  I made her this small wall hanging many many years ago and it hung on her front door until it nearly faded away. I can't even remember what color it was but I'm guessing it was colorful and I think the colors formed a peace sign. 

Tracie repurposed the backside as a backdrop for the tags I sent her. 

 

Shopping Day

"You really don't need that many pairs of scissors," said 6 year old Eli as she checked out my studio yesterday.  I think someday she might understand why us art types might need that many! But her observation made me smile and I'm going to love getting to know her better. She IS one of us art types...as is her Aunt Kelly.

Spring is struggling a bit...but I'm happy to see patches of green popping up in the still very brown landscape. 

The day lillies at our condo entrance are coming along nicely. I just adore all the lime spring greens!

This morning I shopped with another $90 from donations from tags and some Joyful Puttering. (Thank you Becky and Amanda!) Paul actually found $20 on the street during the Hands Off protest and he added it to my fund.

I wanted to buy dishes and household things...all on the current requests list.  I started at the Goodwill store thinking I could get sets of plates at a good price. Indeed I could....and I also got a very nice set of nearly new pots and pans. I stopped briefly at Marden's, but they didn't have what I was looking for....but I got some good deals at Home Goods and spent about $100.

This is the first day the new facility was taking donations...so I finally took in the two Marden's bags and my new purchases from today: plates and bowls, glasses, pots and pans, towels, a set of sheets, and a shower curtain liner. 

I also did my first volunteer shift this afternoon and it was a pleasure shopping in the new space. 

My first order was for a family of four who lost much of what they had to a mold infestation. The bottom of the large bin is all clothes. It breaks my heart reading the stories...but it also makes me more determined than ever to turn anything extra that I have into an opportunity to help. 

I'm smiling as I say this...but I actually might need most of these pairs of scissors (maybe)....they all have a different purpose. But there are many more things I have that I don't need. Anne came today and shopped for fabric from my stash and I loved that she knew she could....and I love that I had what she needed. Take whatever you want I said! 

I'm going to keep looking for ways to get art supplies into the hands of people who can use them. And if I can get some donations along the way....I will turn them into underwear.

I shopped for a couple of children today....and the sizes I was looking for were pretty depleted.  And...there was NO underwear left.....so I will continue to donate underwear whenever I can. 

Very Special Guests

I had a couple of very special guests in my studio today...first ones in a VERY long time.

Sam's girlfriend Kelly brought her niece Eli over for some art play...and we had a wonderful time. Eli wore the perfect shirt for the occasion. 

  joyful

With Kelly's help, Eli was the one who made a very special card for Margie shortly after her fall. 

Eli's first project was a wreath similar to the snippet wreath I made a week or so ago.

She started with a 6 inch circle base cut from watercolor paper. Kelly put a few drops of liquid watercolor down...and Eli smooshed it around with a piece of plastic to fill in the background. She used a pink/orange/yellow color scheme.

Then Eli shopped from my snippet bin and found several watercolor doodle flowers and other bits of this and that to decorate her wreath. 

She colored in a few of the doodles with markers.

It was soft and pretty wreath and felt like spring and I forgot to take a photo of the finished product.

We went on to some basic gelli printing using stencils....and that was fun too. I think these very special guests will be back for more art play and I'm already thinking about what we can make next.

Action

Action is The antidote to despair! Joan Baez

I took a little creative action this morning and sliced up yesterday's watercolor strips the other way...and now I have a watercolor mosaic! Each little square is just 3/8 of an inch. I think it's kind of magical...and it looks prettier in person.

I might turn this into a birthday card....I just have to come up with the best way to use it.

Every day there seems to be worse news than the day before as our country is in chaos and our democracy is under attack. But I still have to believe that in the end things will be OK. In the meantime we have to remember that action is the antidote to despair.

And as the sign says...we have to LOVE MORE....and find a little joy everyday. 

Paul and I attended the Hands Off Protest in Portland today.

It was an amazing and energizing event and far more people than I expected. It was reassuring to see so many like minded people taking action. 

I got to chatting with a woman next to me...and she knew some people who were up in one of the tall buildings looking down on Monument Square watching the event. They sent her a video from their vantage point...and she sent it to me. 

Here's a screenshot from the video. That's Paul and me in the bottom middle with the yellow arrow. We were really packed in there...and everyone was so kind and friendly. A peaceful protest at its best!

It was nice to have Senator Angus King show up and say a few words.

This is a moral moment. It is not left or right, it is right or wrong. Cory Booker

Skinny Strips

Jane asked me to return this wool cutter to Patsy. It's used for cutting wool strips for rug hooking and I think it looks like a funky antique. 

It's been in our car for several weeks.....but it turns out that Pasty had a second one and asked me if I wanted it. I don't hook rugs...but I do play with wool strips....so I put it back in the car and brought it home.

I got to thinking today that if it can cut wool...can it cut fabric? Paper? Yes it can. I tried it out on all kinds of things today including a loose watercolor.

I know I can cut paper with my long arm slicer...but this little cutter cuts 3 perfectly even skinny strips at a time. And it's kind of fun to operate. It feels special.

I didn't have too much time to play with the strips...but I think there's lots of potential for all kinds of perfectly cut skinny strips.

With the right focal point...this could be really interesting.

And if I cut this the other way and put it back together....I would have a teeny tiny watercolor mosaic. That's another day.

Yes, I can cut paper on my slicer...but I can't cut fabric....and skinny strips are tedious with the rotary cutter. 

The wool cutter easily sliced through this fused papel of hand dyed fabrics.

Oh....the possibilities of all kind of skinny strips!

Forced Spring

Paul and I transitioned from the Down East coast back to the condo today....we had such a good time with our dear friends. 

When we left the buds on these my second set of forsythia branches were tightly closed...and when we came home they were in full bloom. 

We had a little snow...a little sleet...and a lot of light rain during the drive home....so some forced spring was a welcomed sight.

Photo Dump

As the Maine welcome signs say: Welcome to Maine, The Way Life Should Be.

Here's a quick photo dump from a fabulous day in Maine. The way life should be.

A view from the balcony.

Charming downtown Eastport Maine....our destination for breakfast.

The view of Patsy and Brian's house from the other side of Sipp Bay.

A lovely hike around Sipp Bay.....I loved the blue trail sign.

Quintessential Maine coast views.

And still lots of time for cards. And if you can decipher a few of the columns here...you'll know that the girls ruled in euchre and pinochle! 

Patsy uses every inch of this score book I made for her two years ago! She writes down every score of every game she plays with anyone. And she plays a lot of games.