Text and Image

Combing text and image challenges me.  I want to be able to add my calligraphy to my artwork and make the two work together.  I do not know why this combination causes me some frustration. I need lots of practice to make it work.  I took Jane Davies' Text and Image online class this Autumn to learn some new techniques and ideas for design.  Some of these are more successful than others.  The simple ones speak to me the most.

Merry Christmas and Holiday Greetings

Blessings to you and your family for a joyous Christmas.

Happy Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Solstice!  This morning, I hung my seasonal weather grams from my calligraphy friends. I chose the lilac bush so that they are seen from the front yard and can be seen out the living room window. After a cold spell, it's almost balmy here today.

I really like the saying each person pens.

Mine is the one on the bottom left, "Darkness, candles flicker, bring in the Light".

Wonky Drunk with Love Log Cabin Quilt Blocks

Fifteen of us from the Portland Art Collective joined a wonky drunk with love log cabin quilt exchange.  Each month we each receive a packet of fabric strips to make a quilt block for that person.  I thought I'd share with you some of the quilt blocks that I've made. This month, I hand out fabric strip packets for my quilt and will post the blocks that I receive in the future. I have never made a quilt and learned so much about color, cutting and piecing with this project.  It's a fun way to remember fellow artists' work all stitched up in a warm, cozy quilt.

Orly Avineri Nature Journaling Summer Workshop

The frigid cold temperatures outside make me think of summer and the nature journaling workshop that I took with Orly Avineri this July on Whidbey Island.  Here's a peek at my journal.  The front cover-

 the back cover-

First page-

Forest collections-

Another page-

She let go and burst into flame-

Collections from the seashore-

This workshop challenged me to think about and play with the differences of literal and abstract art explorations and interpretations.

Happy Thanksgiving

Abstract Painting with Jane Davies

This summer, I took an abstract painting workshop with Jane Davies at the Pacific NW Art School.  First we worked on monochromatic pieces.

We experimented with balancing opposites.  Here's busy and quiet-

Soft and hard edges-

Depth, atmosphere and flat space-

Big Fat Art- this piece measures 18x24 inches and played with line quality, fine and bold.

I like the idea of balancing opposites and plan to explore this more.

Portland's Audubon Wild Arts Festival this weekend

I'm participating in the Portland Audubon Society's Wild Arts Festival this weekend at the Montgomery Park.  You can get a sneak preview of the 6x6 inch artwork with this video.  More information is available on their website.

The theme for 2013 is Urban Birds. I named my piece "City View".  Chickadees are some of my favorite backyard birds. Each 6x6 sells for $40 to raise funds for Portland Audubon Society projects. Hope to see you there.

Remembering Summer - A Travel Journal

I created this little 6x6 inch journal to hold my memories of this summer.  The cover is book board cut down from a novel I finished reading and the pages are painted watercolor paper.

I used the freezer paper that I painted the pages on, scanned it into the computer, and worked with Photo Shop to make the covers.  The book cloth binding is dupioni silk and cloth buttons from Japan.  I use Xyron machine adhesive to attach the covers to the book board, the book binding and end papers. Then, stitched the pages into the book.

Before finishing the covers, I added the words that described my summer.

The title page includes a Swedish proverb, "A life without love is like a year without summer".  As the days get shorter and darker, these memories add light.

In June, I went to the Focus on Book Arts conference in Forest Grove, OR, made a little zine and took a Washington State road trip in July.

The trip started with a long weekend on Lake Chelan with my book group.  We took the three hour ferry to Stehekin- a trip I highly recommend.

Then, I spent two weeks on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound.  In the next post, I'll describe one of the workshops I took with Jane Davies.

Autumn Bouquet

I'm back to blogging again.  The past four months, I've been creative and will share some of my projects in future posts.  I've kept this blog for almost seven years and this is the longest I've gone without posting. Once out of a routine, it's hard to get back to it.  I want to continue and share my artwork with my blog readers.  A friend asked me once why I keep a blog.  The blog follows my creative journey and is a way to put my artwork out there for others to see.  I don't have a Facebook account.  My social media pleasure is Pinterest and I catalog my books read on My Library Thing.  You can follow both on the blog sidebar.  My sketch group continues to meet and here's a sketch from last week. Thanks for stopping by to visit. 

Sketchbooks Made at Tim Ely's Workshop

Last week, we took a five day workshop entitled "Sketchbook- Plan and Action" with Tim Ely at the Focus on Book Arts Conference at Pacific University in Forest Grove.  These unique manuscript books demonstrate the incredible personality and individuality of each artist. It's an honor to share them with you.  Click on images to enlarge them.  It's hard to tell from the cover photos how beautiful these books are, their feel in the hand- all awaiting to be filled with creative ideas and images.

Anita Bigelow

 

Marian Christensen

 

Michele Olsen

 

 

Drora Kopernik

Pamela Horne

Laurie Weiss

Carole Sauter

Amy Pfleiger

Beth McIlraith

Beth Lee

Cathy Buckley

 

Selene Fisher

Judy Strom

Paula McNamee