"Every Day Still Life"

It's my last day at the library while at my sister's and I'll travel home tomorrow night.  Angie is getting stronger and stronger every day and with the help of couple more sisters and her friends and neighbors I think she'll be fine.

One of my assignments for this week's "Consciously Creative" class was to look for "everyday still life." Take a photo then try and improve the composition.  Here's something I just submitted.

I've been making oatmeal with apples for me and my sister every other morning for the past two weeks and putting it in these wonderful vintage "wabi-sabi" bowls. This became a familiar scene and yesterday while the oatmeal was cooking I tried to capture it in a pleasing composition.

This comment on our class Facebook page really made me chuckle.  Chiara is from Italy. I love that this has been an international experience.

Buck Up!

I got up early this morning for a walk and caught the sunrise.  

Here's what I was greeted with when I went into Angie's little town of Buckner this afternoon to watch my live class session at the library....I almost cried.  But sometime's you just have to buck up and do what you need to do.  I was able to get their WiFi outside the doors....so I settled myself in and watched the session sitting on a concrete slab. What we do for our art! 



This week's lesson is "composition." The exercises and homework are going to be a challenge...we'll see how it goes.  I'm in the home stretch here with my sister so our next few days will be pretty focused.  I'll be traveling home on Thursday night.

Shadow Week

For my "Consciously Creative" class this week we have been focusing on shadows, atmosphere, and mood....perfect timing. 

Angie uses a wheelchair to get around her house but she parks it in a little pass through hallway and uses a walker in the bathroom. As we were both headed to bed a few nights ago and I was walking through her house turning off lights and I came through the living room to this view. There was such a sense of mood and atmosphere in the room.

There were so many shadows and dark silhouettes in the living room yet the wheelchair was illuminated by the light in the hall. I was overcome with emotion.  Not only because the highlighted chair emphasized the reality of her situation but it reminded me of the meaningful connection we are making this week.  I may not have tuned into this had it not been for this week's lesson.

Here are a some of the photos I submitted for class.  All of them have been edited to try and emphasize the mood and atmosphere at the moment. 

The country roads have been amazing in the early mornings and the evenings.  I have bonded with the corn. It was not about a beautiful photo...it was about creating a feeling.

 A glimpse of my sister's house as I walked down the down the road.

When the corn is actively growing it's upright....but it turns down in the fall to dry staying protected by the husk.  Nature is so amazing.

It has been a very powerful and contemplative week for me.

All is Well

What a wonderful, sometimes intense, often humbling week this has been so far. I am almost totally unplugged which is mostly good...but I do feel out of touch.  I am trying to be very present with my sister and her needs and know I'm where I need to be.  We are accomplishing a lot together and I am 1/2 way through my stay. I am grateful for my good health and all the wonderful blessings I have in my life. 


Our days are full....but I try to take a walk every day...mostly in the evenings and am enjoying the sounds and the smells of farm country at harvest time.  All is well in Sibley Missouri.

This week is "shadows, mood and atmosphere" week for my class....so that is perfect.  I will have more to share on that later. 

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.