"My" Colors

Recently I hit the paint chip section at the local building supply company.  By the time I left, I'm sure they must have thought that I either have no idea what colors I want my walls, therefore had to take a sample of everything -- or I have a VERY large house with lots of rooms waiting for paint.  Of course neither is true *smile*. 

Once home I went through the colors, laying them out in ways that pleased me.  In the coming months I will be leaning toward those warm, desert colors that so appeal to me.  Soft greens and deep rust - terra cotta and gold - some aqua blue and desert sand beige -in lots of shade and hues.  Just playing with the colors got my creative juices going.

Next step was to go through all my Wildflower threads and embroidery floss.  A daunting project I assure you.  I keep my threads in glass jars - by color - but when doing as much 'punching' as I've been doing lately, colors didn't always stay in their proper place.  And so the sorting began.  I discovered as I went that it could get a bit confusing when you have greens of every shade/hue/tint -- so I went through sorting out the greens that had yellow in them vs. the greens that had grey tints.  As I sorted I laid skeins against the colors on my table, comparing them and using the paint chips as my guidelines.

I know that a lot of you are much more organized than I am - carefully putting each skein, by number or color into their own little cubbie - for some reason I'm just drawn to putting each color selection into a jar. I like feeling the threads in my hands as I sort through them -- it might lose its magic for me if I could just reach in and find a neatly numbered skein.  So you see, I'm not alway as organized as I pretend to be. 

Such satisfaction to see everything lined up and ready to be placed into brand new stitcheries.

"In nature, light creates the color.  In the picture, color creates the light". - Hans Hoffmann

Earth's Gifts

As I make my way through life, each day coming one after the other, I gather within all the parts of the earth that support and sustain me. 

I can learn from a tree which has stood here for many, many years.  Learn of patience and fortitude, strength and determination.

I can learn from the rocks -- those that tower above me, giving me a true perspective of where I fit into this wonderful universe.  And those that I hold in my hand - warm from the sun.

I can learn from the water which often makes its boisterous way - quickly and loudly.  At other times it is a trickle - barely dampening the earth beneath it.

I can learn from the sky - so very high above me.  Covering my existence with a beautiful shade of blue.  Showing me the vastness of the universe and my small place within it.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

"Sometimes I need

only to stand

wherever I am

to be blessed". -

Mary Oliver

Clean Up!!

The time has come -- I've met my 'show' quota and its time to clean up my work area.  Although compared to pictures I've seen (and you know who you are *smile*) my work area is actually recognizable underneath my mess.  But for me - 'Miss Neatnik' - it is cluttered and filled with this and that.  

I love cleaning up after a major project (or series of projects) is completed.  Its like clearing my mind, getting it all set up to conjure up new and exciting work.  Happily I weed through all the left over threads, embellishments, buttons, charms and bits and pieces -- putting everything away that I don't think I'll need anytime soon. 

Ah, the joy of a space in which to clutter all over again!

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it's not all mixed up." - A. A. Milne

Reverse Punchneedle

As I was busily creating bracelets my husband looked at one still on the frame and commented that he liked it very much.  I then explained to him that he was looking at the back of it - and I turned it over to show him the front.  He still liked the back better than the front *smile*!

This gave me the idea that in future work I might try combining regular punchneedle with reverse punchneedle -- the change in textures should work quite well.  All I have to do now is figure out how to hide the little tags that I usually have dangling on the surface of the back of the work. 

I love the idea of exploring new and exciting techniques in the format that I'm using at the time.  This one will go into my 'idea' book for future pieces.

"Trust that little voice in your head that says 'Wouldn't it be interesting if...'; and then do it". - Duane Michals

Whiteside Mountain

Oh to climb to the top of a mountain -- so high that I can look down upon other mountains.

To look up and see nothing but blue sky above me - no canopy of trees, no airplane flying over, not even a passing cloud.

To be 'king of the hill' for just a moment -- to savor the fact that this short little lady is now actually looking 'down' on everything.

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings." - John Muir

A Bevy of Bracelets

Here are a few of the completed bracelets that I've been working on.  Its really been fun and if I wasn't on a time deadline it would be very enjoyable.  I do think, however, that working on a timeline sometimes gives greater excitement to the completion because with each one finished I smile and say 'I did it'!!

I've loved working with the various colors -- some, of course, are more special to me than others -- but I've also tried to combine colors that I might not often try.  Hopefully those will appeal also.  Come to think about it, are there any bad colors?  Of course not!

I've used Caron's Wildflower threads as my color companion and from those beautiful combinations I've added embroidery floss to coordinate the colors.  The fun part has been the decorating.  I've dug into my stash, once again, and come up with fibers and beads and buttons and such in order to 'dress' up each bracelet.

"All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality, and with greater ease, when each man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural gifts, and at the right moment, without meddling with anything else". - Plato

"Rivers and Tides"

 Patrick Dougherty

How do I describe what I feel when seeing art that is not meant to last?  How does the artist feel to create something knowing that its lifespan might be very short -- that it might last for a year or literally a few minutes?  It seems to me to be the very absence of ego and it also pulls me in, with its ethereal quality, in ways that a painting or a sculpture might never do.

Andy Goldsworthy

I'm speaking of the ephemeral natural art created by artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and Patrick Dougherty.  These pieces are created from natural objects and then left in site. It is the whim of nature - rain, wind, snow, sun  and water that determines how long they will last. 

Andy Goldsworthy

During the time of duration this art will change shape, but not as the artist planned but by how each piece reacts to the climate and weather to which it is subjected.

Andy Goldsworthy

Sadly, this type of art only lasts a short while, all that will be left are photographs of these lovely natural sculptures.  I stand awestruck by those artists who work with this concept.  To look at a piece of art that I know will never be quite the same, even if I came back to look at it each day, is to know an artist who creates for the shear joy of creating.

[Note: there is the most wonderful DVD of Andy Goldworthy's work called "Rivers and Tides" - just in case you want to be totally awed!]

"At its most successful, my 'touch' looks into the heart of nature; most days I don't even get close.  These things are all part of a transient process that I cannot understand unless my touch is also transient - only in this way can the cycle remain unbroken and the process be complete." - Andy Goldsworthy

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Rachel of VirtuoSew Adventures.  I will be sending "Tugging at Nature" across the 'pond' today. 

I wish with all my heart that I had enough of anything and everything to send something to everyone -- but I'm sure there will be future give aways and meanwhile thanks for participating.

Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness". - Richard Bach