Celebrating Pine Trees

I took the walking route that would let me peek down to the end of dead end street where Bessie lives....I've been keeping an eye on her. I could see that she was turning yellow...so I headed down for a visit.

Do you see her  way down at the end of the sidewalk? 

Bessie was beautiful....and her yellowing needles were still as soft as ever. 

Some of the ends of her branches have been trimmed....and there was new growth that was still young and green.

But it won't be long before she's bare for the winter. 

I'm fascinated with seasonal changes in this unusual deciduous pine tree.

Mother Nature understands joy.

Here's a little lineup of some of my projects over the years  

where I have celebrated pine trees. 

Life Lessons

I have to talk about this Pine Tree Puzzle. I've done it before.....then loaned it to a friend. But I came across another one in a thrift shop.....and picked it up just in case I don't get the other one back. I remember loving it. 

So here I go with my every once in a while post about the life lessons I learn from my puzzles. Yes...you read that right. 

Past practice can be a helpful tool.

I remember the first time I started this one it seemed daunting! I loved the little doodle trees and the ombre of colors....but how in the world was I going to approach it. But once I figured out a few strategies it moved right along. 

I'm using the the same strategies this time...and I'm loving it. Again! I sorted all the pieces as best I could by color and placed them in my boxes with the trees images going up and down. Then it's all about shape and color.

Things aren't always as they appear. Be open to that.

You can tell what shape I was looking for in that first photo...but I just couldn't find it so I was sure it was missing. But the piece was a different shape than I thought it would be. This has been happening over and over in this puzzle....and once I realized that...I was open to it and it didn't slow me down.

Prep work is important...but it needs to be done well. 

When I couldn't find a piece I remembered from last time I might have a piece upside down in a box. That was exactly the case with this piece....and it was the one I was looking for. Each piece informs the next one....so it has to be going the right way.

I checked my prepwork in my boxes again...and found a few others that were upside down. 

When we are broken....it's more important than ever to surround ourselves with others. Now....more than ever!

I was bummed when I saw that there was one piece in the box that was broken in half. Do you see it? I didn't think it would fit well...and thought it would stand out. 

But once it was surrounded by the other trees in the forest....it was just fine. Now I kind of like that it's there being held together by its neighbors.

I could go on...but I'll stop here. The most important lesson puzzles teach me is do what brings you joy. And this one has been nothing but a joy so far. 

Mixed and Muddied

A few nights ago I did some random acrylic swirls and squiggles in my watercolor journal because I wanted them good and dry by morning. I should never do things like this too late at night....but sometimes things look better in the light of day. I'm not sure that was the case this time....but a little paint would help.

I decided to do a experiment with the two pages using liquid watercolor. 

I used three colors:

Ultramarine blue

Primary Yellow

Bougainvillea

On the right hand page I used the colors just as they came out of the bottle....saturated and shockingly electric.

I wet washed the whole page and dropped in the colors letting them bleed and mix however they wanted in and around the acrylic paint lines.

On the opposite page I used the same wet wash technique. But this time I put a few drops of the same three colors in the wells of a palette and mixed my own more muted colors adding in a little mud along the way. 

Mud is the mixture of all the colors...and helps tone down and unify them. Once it was dry...I glazed over some of the areas a second time to get some darker values.

There's a time and place for wild saturated colors...maybe. But the mixed and muddied side is more appealing and still reads as bright and vibrant. The colors seem more cohesive because they are blended into each other. I have learned this lesson from several artists I admire...and it was a good exercise to put it into practice once again. Mixed and muddied is the way to go!

Looking for More

We had some drizzly rain overnight and this morning...but things seemed dry for the most part when I went for an early afternoon walk. Once I spotted the first set of drops on a leaf by the pond...I couldn't stop looking for more.  

There were dozens of leaves that had collected these sparkly water droplets..some large...some teeny tiny. I was smitten.

The wabi-sabi earthy colors....contrasted by the shimmery beads of water filled me with awe. I love when a walk turns into an awe walk.

Days Like This

The wind was calm and the temps were up a bit making it a delightful day for a long walk. The clouds were dramatic...white and fluffy in some spots and dark and ominous in others. I love days like this.

Little Circles and Tiny Dots

A fallish late afternoon sky punctuated by my little orange gourd....
with a great stem by the way.

I made this little felted piece over the past couple of days inspired by an artist I admire....and I'm pretty tickled with the result.

I've had a couple of pins on my Pinterest boards for years that I keep repinning to the top of my felting Board....and I kept going back to this purple piece again and again. I finally gave the idea a try.

The inspiration piece was done by Sally Roydhouse and the pin links to her Fabric Mountain on Folksy account...but this image doesn't seem to be there there anymore. 

I dug a little deeper today to try and find out more about her. The folksy site linked to her Instagram page...but I couldn't scroll back far enough to find any of these felting pieces. Folksy also linked to her Pinterest account...and she has a board for her Harris-tweed jewelry:  https://www.pinterest.com/fabricmountain/harris-tweed-jewellery/....and there it was.

For my version I machine stitched two pieces of wool onto a piece of stabilizer. The yellow had a very organic raw edge...which I liked at the beginning more than I did at the end. In the end I stitched over it.

I machine stitched on the wool vase....and started felting little circles and tiny dots. I use bits of wool roving and a felting needle that has little barbs on the end that tease/work/felt the wool onto itself and into the substrate. 

I worked on a small but thick piece of foam. It takes just a tiny bit of wool to felt a little circle...and even tiner bit to felt a dot. I have plenty of roving to share...more on that another time.

I trimed it up and satin stitched around the edges. I made two passes to get better coverage. The zig zag along the horizon line was an afterthought...which is why the lines don't quite match up. 

I enjoyed getting back to some felting...with these little circles and tiny dots. I'm look forward to playing a little more. 

Remembering Margie

Today marks the one year anniversary of Margie's death....we miss her dearly. 

For those of you new to the blog...Margie was my mother-in-law who moved to Maine from Colorado back in 2018 so Paul and I could look after her during her end of life years. It was a privilege to have her in our lives on almost a daily basis for all those years.

I want to start by saying thank you again for all the cards and words of encouragement that were sent during that difficult last month of her life. My blog family really came through on my call for community...and that continues to bring me great joy.

Margie's favorite meal was breakfast. For years she enjoyed going out...but in her final years her preference was to have waffles at the condo with as many family members who could gather. 

Today...Paul and I went out for breakfast and talked about the joy that she brought into our lives. She would have been pleased.

Margie was an active volunteer and advocate for peace and justice. She supported and looked out for those who were struggling...always offering a helping hand or a generous donation.

In honor of her service, Paul and I put in a shift together at Maine Needs this afternoon. She would have smiled at the thought of Paul shopping for onesies.

I used cards that were sent to her for my Words of Encouragement fundraising project. I was able to purchase over 500 pairs of underwear for Maine Needs....so it was extra special to be there today.

Margie loved to color...so in memory of her, here are a few of the montages I put together over the years that featured one of  her coloring pages paired and the beauty that was around me at the time. It's been a really good day....remembering Margie.

Cracks and Crevices

I enjoy this simple painting technique....and have used it several times over the years.

I painted white acrylic swirls with a fine line applicator. After it was dry I added the watercolor. It's easy to paint inside the spaces because the paint acts as a resist.

I love the way the watercolor stains the paint here and there and settles into the little cracks and crevices created by the paint application.  

It's quite a satisfying process.

Moment of Kairos

Paul and I voted early this morning! That's what democracy looks like. 

We're sliding into the crunchy browns of fall. We've had some big wind...so the trees are getting more and more bare. So when there's a pop of color...it really stands out.

I had a quick errand at the bank...and as I was pulling out I noticed this bayberry shrub right in front of my car was just glowing. So I pulled back into my parking space....and got out to take a closer look. Time stood still for a little while and I stopped rushing. It was a moment of kairos.

I played with snippets this afternoon....in pinks...oranges and reds. 

I wanted a few more cards to spread around....before I switch gears.

Joy....in the scraps.

That Time of Year

The stillness of the colder, darker months - that license to hunker - is a time to slow down and observe. Michelle Kirsch

Bessie's pine needles are starting to turn yellow so I'm keeping an eye on her...it's that time of year.

For those of you who are new to the blog...Bessie is a hackmatack tree I keep an eye on. Hackmatack...also known as tamarack...is one of the only pine trees that sheds its needles in the winter. And the needles are as soft as a baby brush.

I've only seen them in Downeast Maine....but I discovered one in a nearby neighborhood. I visit it often....and have named her Bessie after my grandmother. 

This is a charm I made a long long time ago where I sandwiched a photo of Bessie between two pieces of glass and soldered the edges.

  

Speaking of that time of year....I read a interesting essay in the New York Times over the weekend called Quality Time by Melissa Kirsch. She is the same author who wrote the article that inspired my web of interconnectedness post.

Melissa talked about how the ending of daylight savings time destabilizes us a bit...but can also be clarifying. 

Michelle goes on to talk about chronos...which is actual clock time....and kairos is more figurative....the right time, that sweet moment of opportunity. In order to recognize kairos, we have to be awake, aware, present. 

The stillness of the colder, darker months - that license to hunker - is a time to slow down and observe.

 It's that time of year!

The Eighth Day

Subtitle: Do the Math

The time change always throws me off....but I made good use of my extra hour today. Nothing glamorous...but I did completely clean out and organize the entryway closet......and that's huge. And I had a wonderful Facetime chat with all my siblings. 

And it's the perfect day to share this comic again that my son Sam sent me a while back about The Eight Day. He knew it was perfect for me!

AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY GOD JUST PUTTERERED AROUND THE HOUSE.

I could use an extra day each week...just to putter.

I wasn't going to share this silly story....but I couldn't resist. Sometimes I just putter in my mind.

There were a few days left in October when I finished my Vintage Book puzzle. I wanted something quick to last a couple days before I cleaned up the puzzle table and put away the Halloween things. So I pulled out this round 100 piece colorFUL geometric puzzle. These kinds of puzzles bring out the kid in me.

I carefully sort of planned it to last two days and finished it Halloween evening. I had to take it slow to make it last....but I think I do that with all my puzzles.

Then I wondered if it takes a similar amount of time per piece for a small one as it does a large one. I wonder about a lot of things. 

So I did the math....and the answer was yes...ish.

I spread this 100 piece puzzle out over two days....so 50 pieces per day.

The book puzzle took me 18 days and 1000 divided by 18 is 55.5 pieces per day. 

I've done plenty of 1000 piece puzzles that have taken me much longer than 18 days...so level of difficulty matters for the math to work. But I wondered about something...I did the math....and getting a yes this time was quite satisfying.

The Halloween decor is all put away...the table is dusted and I've already started sorting a new puzzle. I think I'll do the math again when I'm done. 😉

I don't think I ever shared these little black paper cutouts that Ida gave me when I visited. It's hard to tell from the photos...but the little witches are folded paper dolls with removable hats. They're adorable....and they are tucked away until next year. Thanks Ida!

For Better or Worse!

Evening watercolor doodle.

Morning addition of fused fabric scraps.

I painted the companion page this past summer...

and some fabric scrap dots tumbled across to the companion page.

Makes for a cheery watercolor doodle spread in my journal....

but I felt like it needed something.

So for better or worse I loosely outline the leaves and dots. 

Playing around and experimenting with ideas is good for the soul.