Back Home!

I've been away with my husband on a trip to California where we visited family and had a lovely, restful week. I had my iPad with me and somehow was not able to capture my photos on Blogger (I'm used to using my laptop at home), so was unable to blog.

I did some sketches while away, and a tiny bit of embroidery. Here are the drawings I did on the plane.

I'm hoping to turn them into colored drawings soon. My re-entry back into "real" life has been a bit challenging, especially when leaving behind beautiful sunshine and returning to freezing temps and, today, snow! And promises of a hearty Nor'easter next week!

I'll post again soon with photos from our trip.

Wishing everyone a great weekend!!

Back again!

Hello, hello! I'm not sure whether I've ever been away from my blog

 for so long as this last break, but it's good to be back!

It has been a tough winter, weather-wise, but a creative time for me.

I've been taking classes at a local studio called Create, and have hooked up
with a terrific instructor, Amy Ropple, and a very creative group of women.
Our last class together was called "Love Your Sketchbook",
which finished up earlier this month. We sketched, learned about perspective,
did some printmaking and collage, and had a great time together.

At our last class, we took an 'Ellen' inspired selfie of the group.
 The parrot is Amy's pet, Cairo,
who comes along to class some nights and is a great addition!

I had forgotten how much I loved to simply draw, and these are 

a few pages from my sketchbook.

Just for fun!

This last one is actually 3 pages deep.

The top page is the cats and windowsill,

the middle page is the window

and the bottom page is a photo from National Geographic

of albatross birds congregating on a beach.

Many of us have signed up for Amy's next class, which

starts later in April, called "Collage and Mixed Media".

As I said, I'm so glad to get back to my blog.

It is in its eighth year, and I love all the

blogging friends I've made through it over the years.

I'll try to post more often now -

still looking forward to Spring!!!

Hope you're having a great week!

A Lovely Visit

Since my last post, I've been to Toronto for a few days with my husband to visit our daughter Kate. Lovely visit, less than lovely weather!! Heavy wind and rain, and more of the same when we returned to Boston!

While in Toronto we visited the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario), a fantastic museum, where we enjoyed the paintings, sculpture, contemporary installations, and a wonderful collection of Canadian native art. Being something of a  people-watcher, I also got a kick out of the little children in their brightly colored outfits, looking so adorable as they tagged along after their parents. I made some hasty sketches in my notebook and today I plan to translate them into fabric pictures.

By the way, if you've read my blog recently you know that I experimented with a textured background. Unfortunately some people had trouble reading the text, which I understood when I viewed it on someone else's monitor. So, I am back to basics, which is just fine.

Still raining here, but I'm staying in today, drinking tea and working with fabric. What could be better?

Hope you are having a great start to your week as you read this. Despite the bad weather here, Spring is on its way - I just know it!!

Have a terrific day!!

This first month of the year is slipping by so quickly and I've been feeling like I'm accomplishing very little! Then I realized that my workspaces are still very cluttered from holiday projects, leaving me with little 'creative space'. So today I began decluttering, starting with the desk where my sewing machine lives. It took only an hour to put away the threads, bobbins, scissors, pens and pencils that covered the surface. It looks much more inviting now! I moved the sewing machine down to the end until I need it, which gives me room to draw designs and prepare projects.

Yesterday, while I was out shoveling snow, I heard a veritable chorus of birdsong! I looked in the direction it was coming from and saw a flock of birds in my neighbor's trees. They were either resting or looking for food, but I'm sure they found plenty in the many bird feeders in our neighborhood!

                

And this little fir tree in front of our house looked like a holiday card with its frosted branches!

Hope everyone who reads this is having a great week!

Warmly,

Judy

Sketch Book Pages

I always have a notebook with me to sketch out ideas as they hit me. And, of course, there's my large sketchbook, notepad and smaller sketch book, along with many other notebooks around the house! The sad thing is, I don't usually get to many of these ideas. The reason? Frankly, I think I'm afraid to try new things lest I fail. I've wanted to make fiber/fabric jewelry for the longest time - even have a picture in my mind of exactly how I would do it, but there's that fear!

I'd love to try dolls, scarves, paper ornaments, etc, but never seem to get to them, although I could make the time if I wanted to. I really admire people like Terri and Gayle (and others) who continually produce new work and, in Terri's case, even write books!

I need to step out and take a chance, and heed this quote by Salvatore Dali:

"Have no fear of perfection-

you'll never reach it."

Does anyone else have this problem?

Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

Warmly,

Judy