The Little Things

Life is pretty quiet around here right now. The weather is good, but too hot for me, so I'm keeping myself busy with sorting photos, fabrics, piles of assorted papers and all the little untidy areas around the house. Pretty mundane stuff, and I'm feeling the urge to get back to my artwork, so that will happen soon.

Meanwhile Angus and Rosie are totally loving the porch and all the squirrel, chipmunk and insect activity outside the windows. Rosie is an expert at climbing the screens as she goes after a fly or hornet. Poor screens!

Our huge hydrangea bush is in full bloom, and taking over the whole front garden. In the fall we'll cut it back, but for now we are just enjoying all the flowers. 

The day lilies are blooming too - we have a clump in the front garden and another small garden full of them.

My one creative effort this week was to make a math practice book for the student I'm tutoring.

I found a small sketchbook with sturdy pages and covered the cover. A little chart keeps track of his practice, and I put math facts on every page, with answers on the back of the page.

When I gave the book to Jake, I expected him to roll his eyes and complain. Instead, he was quiet for a few moments, then said, "I can't believe you made this for me. Thank you very much!"

That pretty much made my week. What a sweet boy! These are the moments that make teaching a joy!

Hope your week is going well!!

Lily

Although I've been concentrating on landscapes this month, I also finished a mixed media portrait of my friend's granddaughter, Lily. I used a combination of paper, fused fabric, ribbon, buttons, paper lace,  Pigma pens and colored pencils. Lily herself liked the results and I've heard that she's been looking at it and saying, "That's me!" I must have done well if she recognizes herself!

Moving Along

I've been working on my latest landscape this morning, adding some layered, painted netting for foliage, and some shadows on the house. Since I really like this piece, I've been fearful of ruining it by adding the "wrong" elements. Finally I had to say to myself, "Get a grip and do what you want. It's YOUR artwork!!" We perfectionists can be pretty irrational at times! I have more I want to do to it, including some simple stitching, and I hope I'll have the finished result to share in a few days!

On a different note, I've been observing the hydrangea in front of our house

getting larger than ever before - nearly 5 feet across, with so many buds!!

The very first blue blossoms are appearing, which really makes me happy!

Poor Rosie sits inside the front screen door, longing to come out,

but we live in a busy corner, so she will have to be content being an "inside cat"!

I wish everyone who reads this a wonderful week!

Happy Father's Day

This Father's Day, I'm remembering my Dad, 

a hard working and talented man 

who taught us always to do our best.

I miss him.

And I'm thinking of my wonderful husband, 

who is a warm and loving dad to our daughter Kate.

They make a great team!

Here's wishing all the dads in your life

a very happy day!!

Flower Dis-arrangement!

I made an arrangement of artificial hydrangeas for my dining room table.

In the still of the night, my little furry guys come and pull flowers

out and I find them all over the floor.

My question is - do they agree with Oprah, who says that

artificial flowers are tacky,

or do they just love chasing little petals and stems around the house?

Hmmmm...

I'm Working On...

A new landscape!

Right now it is just fused together, and I definitely want 

to add stitching to this one. I've been fooling around with ideas for foliage,

other trees and bushes, but right now I'm liking the simplicity and

the combination of hand painted and overpainted fabrics,

along with some commercial batiks.

This is a beginning, and I'll post more about it later.

Meanwhile, Angus and Rosie are busy with their 

neighborhood watch at the front door,

and the sound of the word "treats" 

is about all that can distract them!

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!!

After the Rain, Part deux

I'm trying to work on bringing tasks to completion.

Often I make a fabric picture and photograph it for my blog without 

adding a border or having it completely finished.

Then it goes in a drawer and never sees the light of day again!

When I looked at the piece in my last post, it felt very incomplete to me.

So, I've spent more time on it, added more detail, and this is how it came out.

It seems like a more finished piece now, and all the beading was fun 

for a change. The whole picture sparkles in the sun, reinforcing 

it's title, "After the Rain".

I'm already working on my next landscape.

June is half over, 

It's a beautiful day,

and the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last night!

And Boston rejoices!!

Hope all's well in your part of the world!!

After the Rain

After it rains and the sun comes out,

nature sparkles and looks freshly washed.

That is the look I was going for in this landscape,

using snips of fabric and beads for the leaves

and intense colors for the sky and grass.

Here's hoping everyone is having a great week

and enjoying some nice summer weather!!

What I've Been Up to

      I was going through my bead collection recently and thought to myself that I really needed to edit my stash. Even tubes of beads take up space when there are enough of them!

Serendipitously, on the same day I read a post on the Craft Hope blog about an Orphan Outreach program looking for handmade bracelets for children in Russia. You can read about it here. I was immediately inspired by the idea of making bracelets to bring smiles to abandoned children's faces, so I've been beading away while watching tv at night. If you're interested, the deadline for this project is June 15.

And, as it is a new month, I'm declaring June to be "Landscape Month" on my blog. I've talked about this before, the fact that I had begun some fabric landscapes, and this whole month will be dedicated to finishing them, and creating others in mixed media!

So, stay tuned........and, by the way, Happy June!!!