Color Inspiration

Even just handling fabric feels creative. 

Roseanne sent me a few color inspiration photos....and I'm sending her some fabric scraps. We're both interested in giving a (new to us) hand sewn quilt technique a try. I'll post about that later.....today it's just about color.....and I love that she chose magazine and catalog covers as her inspiration.

She loves purples and greens.

It reminds me of my painted fern with the purple veins...and my purple coral bell.

She also loves and teals and pinks.....

with a few blues and purples thrown in. Variety is the spice of life.

I love when my friends send me photos of what they're making....and it warms my heart when they're inspired by the blog.

Roseanne punched up a painting for a little square collage too.....and there's that raspberry pink she loves.  And her little doodle flower card is adorable!

 

And Lynne made some folded paper collage cards.....

I love the mixtures of papers!  Great color inspiration! 

Colorful Chaos

This is the colorful chaos that is currently on my table. And the funny thing is I cleaned it up a bit before I started all this. 

I was so pleased that Anne was inspired by my recent "Surprised by Joy" experiment...and is now experimenting herself. This couldn't make me happier!  

She's using a combination of her own painted papers and other recycled papers such as calendars pages.

The sky's the limit with this technique! In this case the sky is hand painted. This is the perfect way to reinvent and repurpose your art. 

Thanks for sharing your process Anne! Now YOU'RE inspiring me to get back to this technique!

Surprised By Joy

I saw an image on Pinterest a few days ago I wanted to try in a painted paper collage. Then just yesterday I got a text from Ann with a great story and a pop of color that made me smile. 

So today's art experiment is where inspiration meets a pop of color....and I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Here's the image I saw on Pinterest....it didn't link anywhere so I can't give the artist credit.  I believe it's a fabric piece. 

  And here's Ann's photo...what an incredible setting.

While she and her husband Nariman were hiking in San Diego most of the landscape colors was earthy browns and greens. Then all of a sudden they came upon an amazing patch of bright fuchsia flowers.....and the first thing Ann thought of was "surprised by joy."

This was the nudge I needed for my art experiment.  

Using some textured green papers I made with Roseanne's mesh and stencils....I glued 3 torn pieces together....sky, flowers, and stems. I used 3 or 4 different sets of scraps so there would be variety of colors and textures. I didn't even think about it much...at this point they seemed random and messy....I was going for loose.

Next I cut them into strips.

 I glued the strips onto cardstock using matte medium and resisted the urge to embellish....sometimes less is enough. I forget that sometimes.

I am giving these "frame" cards a try I picked up at Michaels....I think they work pretty well and I'll offer them as an option in my class.  The stitching helps give them stability...they're little floppy without it.

I think there will be more of these to come....

I have some other options in my head. Surprised by joy!

Dig Deep

I shared a moment with this young lady when I was at the condo this last week.  I watched her for a while out the sliding doors as she munched on the newly exposed moss.  I was even able to go out on the patio to get a closer look without her running away....and was able to see why.

At first it made me sad...she was all alone and missing the lower part of a back leg.  But then I realized how strong she must be to have survived the winter and I shifted from being sad for her to being inspired by her.

If she was able to dig deep....so can we.

Inspiration

Today was my last full day in Wisconsin....it's been so nice spending time with friends and family.  I'm going to do a little catch up for a few days on some of the things I didn't have time to share....starting with this.

Becky and I spent a lot of time talking about art....and the artists who inspire us.  One of the evenings  this last week we sat in her amazing creative space and worked on projects inspired by a couple of those artists.

I have always loved the loose watercolor bouquets by  loulei & lorra on Instagram. I think they would be a sweet insert into a card or note and have wanted to try it for quite some time.

  


So...inspired by this little matchbook bouquet  I gave it a whirl. I'm not very good at "loose" but you never get good at anything unless you practice.

Using Becky's watercolors and paper....I started with some random splotches. I drew in random flower and leaf shapes and loosely cut them out.  

I ended up with enough watercolor paper to make these two little matchbooks....not too bad for my first attempt.  I know how I could improve my approach....but thats why your practice.                     

 

I passed them on to Rosy and Tracie when we were together....and I'm certainly going to try it again.  Other artists are such an inspiration to me.

 

What's the Buzz....

...at Gallery Blink?  Another exhibition called:

I checked out the new show yesterday afternoon and per usual it was just a delight. It included art inspired by flowers, fields, and the honey bee. There were little honey bee decals scattered here and there on the walls...such a special touch.                                                                             

I love this large collage piece by the home/gallery owner Gillian Ross that was hanging over the mantle. The details in each room are incredible and Gillian makes all the art look like belongs. 

The little touches and details pulls everything together....like the little book above called Stung Again. You can't really see it but there are a few sunflower playing cards sitting on the mantle. Jars of honey were scattered around as well as pieces made of beeswax. You have to make the rounds several times to see everything. 

Inspired by the rosy pinks, purples, and reds in my Condo inspiration rug...I made a little purchase.  I have admired Dora Hsiung's woven art work at every show. Many of her pieces are large and wonderful....but this time there was a small 5 by 7ish piece that seemed to be calling my name.  I loved the colors and the dimension.  It will remain in the show for a few more weeks then it gets to go to its new home in Portland. I'm not quite sure exactly where it will go....but it will have a special little spot.

It's hard to tell from the picture...but the piece is very dimensional.....each square is convex....or is it concave. You get the idea.

Oh....how I love a splash of color!

Welcome...

....to our new home in Portland Maine!  We got the keys today and the movers come on Thursday!

This home is actually a condo which works for us on so many levels....more on that later. It has 2 bedrooms on the first floor and 1 on the second, 3 bathrooms, a study, an open living/dining room, a kitchen and a second floor family room that will be my art and craft studio. Great space when we're here full time on down the road....and plenty of room to spread out and share now.

I believe every decorating project needs an inspiration piece. It can be anything...a piece of art, a swatch of fabric, or even a greeting card. My inspiration for this home is this rug. It's called "Paint Chips" by Dash and Albert and I couldn't love it more!

As you come in the front door there's a bit of a hallway and I think this splash of color says "welcome!"

Aren't these colors just yummy! 

The hallways leads into a very large room with beautiful hickory floors. The front part is the dining room....the back the living room. We inherited insulated window quilts which I think we'll keep...but I'll have to come up with window treatments to hide the rollers.  A new dining room fixture is one of the first things on the list to shop for.

In the back left corner of the living room by the sliding doors is a study. I love that this home has lots of nooks and living spaces....one of the reasons we fell in love with it. 

The cherished "blue chair" was the last thing to move out of the South Portland house and the first thing to come here.  Paul is staying up here until the movers come...he has the blue chair and an aero bed...he'll be fine.

You can read the whole story of the blue chair here: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-blue-chair.html

There will be a lot more to come as I turn this blank canvas into a home....the perfect puttering project! It will take some time...but that's part of the fun.  

Lightbulb...

...moment in the middle of the night.

The first thing that came to my mind for my blue scheme collage was hydrangea. I may not always stick with the flower/plant theme for these monthly collages...but I guess it's where my head is right now. Maybe it's because I'm getting sick of winter....we've had a slushy snowy couple of days.

Just one blossom....a whole bouquet?  How could I make it work? My first thought was to cut out and fuse individual petals....but that could get tedious. I knew stitching would be an important element...so I kept mulling it over.

I loved this image I found on Pinterest....it originated here.

Then last night I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea and I had to get up and sketch it out so I could go back to sleep.

"Stitch...then cut out...then overlay....even 1" were my middle of the night night notes. This would allow me to cut out chunks or even one set of petals to layer and overlay to create depth. With a few beads and/or french knots in the centers I think it might work and actually look like hydrangea! Yay!

One of the first things I did this morning was give it a try. I chose a piece of vibrant blue hand dyed fabric and backed it with Wonder Under. Then I free motion quilted a set of petals and cut it out.  I can see in this photo that I need to dust my sewing machine. 

I think it worked out pretty well for my first crack at it. Now I just need to make several more sets of different sizes and come up with an interesting background in other shades of blue.

Maybe tonight I'll sleep better.

Unexpected Horizons

I've been thinking, sketching and perusing my inspiration spaces and places thinking about my little office show....sometimes wondering "WHAT WAS I THINKING!" 

I kept drawing lines....horizontally and vertically...speckled with buttons and beads, felt and fabric. But I needed a focus...a theme...something to inspire what I make and pull it together. Then it hit me a few days ago....horizons...."unexpected horizons!"

About the same time this quote came across my Pinterst feed...and that clinched it.

I have taken hundreds of photos....and have hundreds more memories of beautiful and changing horizons. So many colors...so many textures.

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. " William Faulkner

This photo was taken by my friend Gail....her photos turned out better than mine. 

I've gathered wool, felt and buttons to make an unexpected horizon inspired by this color...full photo from Martha's Vineyard.  I love a rainbow spectrum....so this will be fun. Stay tuned.