For Your Inspiration: The Ringling Summer Home

I'm in Chicago today.

Cold place with warm hearted people!

Thought I'd share some pictures from a warmer place.

Sarasota Florida was the summer home of the Ringling family (yes, the circus people.)

A wonderful sink with beautiful design.

In Photoshop Elements - play with "color options" and the "poster" filter.

Of all the beautiful art in the home my favorite was this statue, veiled.

Photoshop Elements "fresco" filter.

I know Floridians think spanish moss is ordinary, but it's mysterious to me.

Photoshop Element's "dry brush" filter.

It was a beautiful home (ostentatious even.) I was even more fascinated with the hard working circus people that made it possible for the Ringlings to live in luxury by doing things like being shot from a cannon.

Collages for ONE Fundraiser

I am so honored to have been invited to participate in Virginia Spiegel's

fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. She is someone who has most certainly made the world a better place and has made it easier for many people to serve in some small way as well.

One Cause - The Fight Against Cancer

One Wednesday - February 16, 2011

One Hundred Collages

FLY: DAUNTLESS

FLY: FEARLESS

FLY: VENTURE

These are three of the collages that I'm donating for the auction.

The other two can be seen here.

They are collaged sheet music and layered paint and screen printing.

Headlong has a little bit of organza thrown in as well.

Each will be mounted onto a 10" x 8" sheet of 140lb watercolor paper ready to frame.

Finding Purpose: Joy

I'm still taking time, among the busy doing, doing, doing, of my life - to ruminate on the things that are important to me and the reasons behind them. 

I'd like to share with you a few excerpts from a talk that had great impact on me by Dieter F. Uchdtdorf, a man I greatly admire. He was speaking to the women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2008 about finding happiness. His words resonated deeply with my own sense of purpose and I'd like to share some of them with you. Bear with me as this does delve into the religious part of my life - my faith is deeply central to everything I do. I share them because I think these truths are universal.

To All Who Are Weary

"Today I would like to speak to those who have ever felt inadequate, discouraged, or weary—in short, I would like to speak to all of us. We know that sometimes it can be difficult to keep our heads above water. In fact, in our world of change, challenges, and checklists, sometimes it can seem nearly impossible to avoid feeling overwhelmed by emotions of suffering and sorrow.

I am not suggesting that we can simply flip a switch and stop the negative feelings that distress us. I am not suggesting that we can simply flip a switch and stop the negative feelings that distress us. This isn’t a pep talk or an attempt to encourage those sinking in quicksand to imagine instead they are relaxing on a beach. I recognize that in all of our lives there are real concerns. I know there are hearts here today that harbor deep sorrows. Others wrestle with fears that trouble the soul. For some, loneliness is their secret trial. These things are not insignificant.

However, I would like to speak about two principles that may help you find a path to peace, hope, and joy—even during times of trial and distress."

Elder Uchdtdorf then goes on to talk about how the greatest kind of happiness is God's happiness, and that although we cannot fully understand God during this mortal existence, that we do know he is a God of "creation and compassion." I love this next part. 

The Work of Creation

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.

You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop." If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe.

But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.  Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.

You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. ⁵ The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.

What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.

If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it."

He goes on to talk about how compassion can also bring us joy - but I'll stop there. He's voicing what I already deeply believe to be true. Each of us has gifts. It will bring us joy if we find them, develop them and use them well, especially with compassion and in the service of others. We each have the potential and responsibility to make this world a better place in any way we can.

You can listen to or read the full talk here.

Faces on Friday

Welcome to Week 4 of my year long determination to learn how to draw faces.

 At a daughter's concert. Fast sketches then longer ones... using pencil and eraser

I think perhaps next year I'm going to need to work on hands. ug.

 Same concert - this looks like her!!! Friends of the kid I drew on the other side happened to be sitting next to me and kept looking over my shoulder. I ripped it out and gave it to them for him. They handed it back and asked me to sign it. (big grins)

 Sketches at church, my own "Calvin" from a photo. (Calvin and Hobbes)

This little guy is full of happy mischief and loves to make faces!

 Concentrating on the mirror. Kids said I looked mad so I tried a smiling face - goofy.

I like my spiky haircut.

Watching TV. From my imagination.

I've always secretly wanted pointy ears.

How is your journey coming along? 

For Your Inspiration: Old Things

Recently I had the opportunity to spend an hour browsing an antique store.

It's been years since I had the time to do so. 

I was out of town for a child's audition and didn't feel like doing the work I brought with me. 

What wonder and discovery.

Wow. They truly don't make toys like they used to.

 Can you imagine how beautiful this once was (and still is!?)

I love utilitarian objects that are works of art. A bucket of beauty.

Butter molds and miniatures. Surely made by hand. The time that went in to the making.....

 

Am I the only one who's heart literally races when I see cabinets with tons of little drawers?

I'm serious here - if any of you attend flea markets or estate sales - could you please be my personal shopper? I couldn't afford any of the price tags here.

How could I not fall in love with this. I am, after all, still a quilter.

The Sketchbook Challenge: Highly Prized

I've been thinking about the Sketchbook Challenge theme all month.

It only took a few minutes to know what I consider to be very valuable.

TIME

The first bit glued into my sketchbook? My usual schedule. It looks like that through next June. Five kids and a part time career will do that to you. Time is flying by and I often feel I'm missing it. My oldest daughter just applied for college. I'm feeling a little ... something. Excited? Yes. Apprehensive? Just a tiny bit - she's prepared. Bushwhacked? When did she grow up!?!

I've thought of images I wanted to incorporate. I've thought of amazing and wonderful outcomes.

I've also avoided actually doing anything until the last possible moment. It's a fear thing. Yup - me. The lady who preaches non-stop that "it's all about DOING the work and we can't let fear get in the way." Here I am in front of everybody - thinking everybody is expecting some fantastic outcome and feeling inadequate.

So. TIME for me to take my own words to heart and just DO it. Forget about expectations. 

1- The calendar gets glued in. Painted over with a bit of gesso. Oops. Now I remember that ink-jet prints smear when wet. Ah well, so be it. Find a couple of my favorite pics.

2- Let the gesso layer dry then paint a little bit of a color wash over that. I'm using Prochemical's Profab Textile Paints - because I have a LOT of them on hand. They're an acrylic and work fine.

3- Play around with photoshop and a few of the images that speak to my feelings. Print them out, cut them out, glue them in. I used a PVA glue this time. I think I might like gel medium better. We'll see.

4- Add a little more of a blue wash over the hands to blend it into the background.

5- More acrylic in a transparent blue and an opaque white - swirls in with a brush - like time swirling all around me and away.

6- Hunt through my stack of screen for the perfect image. Ah - there it is. This time I used it like a stencil, first with the white opaque paint, then a navy transparent. It was a pain having the wire binding loops right in the way. I'm seriously thinking of working with loose sheets then binding them as shown in Jane Davie's  tutorial. When I find some time.

I am addicted to thermofax screen printing. I have a machine and run a service, making ready made or custom screens. It allows me to feed my insatiable hunger for making new images in my own work. This particular screen came from a photo sent by Alexandria (one of my on-line students from QuiltUniversity.com) of one of her antique pocketwatches.  

This is what my work surface looks like when I've got projects going on. Stuff left from the last class I taught. Samples shoved out of the way. Kids forms for school events to be filled out. The usual. No - I'm not an artist who thinks clutter is great - it drives me nuts. I work best when I can clean everything up and start fresh with room to work and breath. No TIME for cleaning up right now.

8- Last step - I started in with pencil, moved up to a Sukura Pigma Pen and then decided a sharpie would glide over the bumpy acrylics on the page. 

My baby has wings. She's ready to fly.

I'd love your feedback.

Do you have any ideas that could help me?

I want to learn how to savor each moment, live in the present. I still have to keep most of my schedule - I'm already very good at saying no to more stuff. The things I do I love. But time still flies away.

Oh, and don't forget to head over to  the Sketchbook Challenge today to see who won this months giveaways. February's theme will go up tomorrow. Can't wait!

Saturday morning faces

So last night my daughter was sitting there being her beautiful self and she agreed to let me draw her. We were both tired. 

I got frustrated. I know I shouldn't - it's just learning process and I know I have a long way to go. I should go and reread the first chapter of my own book eh? "Don't compare yourself... permission to be imperfect ... time to learn... " yada yada yada.

Left: last night, from life.      Right: this morning, from a photo.

So I know I'm going to get there eventually but I wanted to make on good drawing NOW. Well - bedtime and then draw in the morning. She let me take a picture. I photoshopped it to up the contrast and turned it black and white. Then I traced the back of the picture a bit, placed it on the paper and traced the outlines again to transfer the pencil to the paper. If I wasn't doing it in my sketchbook I would have just used a light table. Yes I consider all these things crutches. Cheating - sort of. I want to be able to draw what I'm seeing without them. But for this morning - who cares? I got the outlines in the right place and filled in the shadows from there. I gotta say. It's satisfying to see the results.