Spring and Life and Loss

 On the 18th of March I lost one of my very best friends. It was a very long hard day. I am doing my best to remember all the goodness she brought me. Her name was Misty. I loved her much more than I realized. She was very smart and always had great love and compassion. She played with her toys with great joy and I was always amazed at how carefully she played with her squeak toys never tearing them up or injuring them. They would last for years and years.  She stayed near me always by my feet. No matter where I was she wanted to be there. She was happiest sitting on the front porch as in the photo of her older. I miss her so much it hurts to even type this. I find it hard to imagine that it has been nearly a month. I look for her. I try to just let myself have my grief. She is buried in front yard so I talk to her sometimes. Mostly I still just cry at the thought of her. I do still have another dog Molly and I know that she has also been grieving. She has helped me tremendously and I have had to transition from loss to acceptance so that Molly will not be as sad as I am. Seems silly to say that but I have noticed this makes a big difference in how she is when I am less grieved. Amazing animals and how they teach us to love with our whole heart. She was 14 but I always told her that she never really showed her age. The photo below was taken last summer.


So .. finally spring has taken hold here and there is new growth. Rain has caused an eruption of life. I am enjoying seeing the buds and the flowers and blooming of leaves. I am grateful for the warmer weather and glad to turn off the heat. I don't like the cold. So I am hopeful to keep coming back and posting. Here are some photos that I've enjoyed of spring. I love love love the fuzzy leaves.

 I really love these leaves. They look like hairy leaves but the hairs are soft. They grow big as big as 12 -15 inches wide. They are amazing. You can click on any of the photos to seem them larger.

 I am still working on being artist creator believing that I can sustain my life doing what I most love. I seem to always enjoy the times when I sit down and stitch. I find the repetition of straight stitches to be very soothing and I never seem to run out of things to create with this process. Below are some photos of a few things I have made. One is a necklace and the other is a bracelet. The bracelet doesn't seem to show up as pretty as it is in person.

 Then there is always a pot of rust or walnuts brewing in the yard. I find that I am still very much addicted to rust and walnut and anything fiber. I may just have to explore this area much much more. And there I am in a bucket of walnuts with fabric bathing in the rich browness of them. I like the slow ways more and more.

 These last two photos are what I consider composted fabric. I have left some of my fabrics outside and there is something really appealing to seeing what happens to fabric as it breaks down. Sometimes it makes me go back to my original intent of starting this blog with photo of broken glass. There is some measure of beauty in things that age naturally .. as naturally as they can when they are left to the elements even when they are man made fabrics or materials a variety of materials. I find that worthy of exploring. Hope you've enjoyed the ride along with me today. Thanks for stopping over.

Functional Art

WEll even though I haven't been posting I have been so busy creating. I have now been creating garments that I am trying to sell. I have been reconstructing some gently worn clothes into new and fun styles that I love. I have mixed them with fabrics that I have altered with dye or reverse dye if you will. I finally spent a little time photographing a few of them. I was able to use the dress form that I created a few years ago and used my front yard as a backdrop. The yard looks so beautifully green and lush. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get outside as much as I have in years past. I have had so many bug incidents that I am inclined not to go outside and even though I love taking photos of bugs, I am not happy about being stung three times by wood scorpions and one yellow jacket sting on the bottom of my foot. And no I wasn't walking outside barefoot. :) I have been sewing like crazy though.

As I go on I am hopeful that I will be able post my garments in an online shop. If you are interested in these items .. let me know!!! THanks for stopping over and as always I love hearing your comments.

The Finished Quilt

I can hardly believe I finally finished it. There were so many things that distracted me along the way and I must say that I finally see how much of a commitment there is to such an endeavor. There are so many stitches in this. And no there are no fancy stitches or perfectly lined up edges .. but it still manages to be a wonderful  quilt. The edge that I decided to go with was a recycled dyed t-shirt. The wonderful ochre/greenish color just seemed to be the perfect compliment to the black and grey and greens in the main parts of the quilt. It has an overall earthy feel to it and I just have to say .. I was really really pleased with the outcome.

Several of you have asked about the discharged leaves on the dark gray fabrics. Those were done using actual leaves in my yard. I either painted or sprayed the underside of a leaf where the veins are and then pressed onto the fabric and then the other images I simply used a branch of leaves as a stencil and sprayed the area around the leaves. This left a lovely impression of the leaf shapes. The center Leopard that you will see in the full finished quilt on the bottom was painted freehand by me with bleach also .. I have given some thought to creating an online class of my discharge techniques with more detail of my methods. Leave me a comment if you'd be interested in that.

Probably the most unexpected outcome of having done this quilt was the joy that I had in giving it away. I felt as though I learned a lesson. If you've never tried it .. you should!!

So here is the finished quilt. I had to climb up a ladder to see the whole thing. I suppose I could have put it up on a wall but I really don't have a good one for that. .. The very last thing that I had to do was wash it to make sure that everything stayed together and that any parts didn't shrink up and change everything. I was pleased that it washed up so nicely and it was even softer than before, a great cuddle blanket. I shipped it that same day and the owners have it and their son Royce loves it. And that made my day. Thanks everyone that came and posted on the previous blog post about this quilt. It's meant a lot to me to have your comments.
And please feel free to leave any for this one .. Goodness and light to all of you.

Thursday's Force of Life

 I know that I must spend more time outside when I discover things that are on the path where I walk or work or play outside. This leaf looks rather ordinary on the surface from the top from its most shown view. It even looks a tad scruffy with that hole in it and the ragged sort of edge where some little caterpillar has decided it was the days meal, no care that it was altering the whole leaf. But the real beauty is not this side .. I glimpsed this leaf because it's under side was showing. And what beauty it holds. I think maybe that is true about people sometimes. There are those that we think look a tad scruffy or maybe they are rough around the edges .. but maybe if you listen they have a story to tell .. or their underbelly .. their insides... their thoughts or words tell their beauty. I found this one to be quite striking. I found the color to be the one thing that grabbed my attention first and then examining this leaf more closely I loved the way that the purple were like visible veins of life flowing through this spectacular specimen. The patterns and the edges of the ridges were so compelling! And closer still the center leaf with all the hair protrusions and even the holes didn't distract from its underbelly beauty!! I love this leaf .. i am sure that is evident .. haha. I want to try to use this in dyeing although I do not know what kind of a leaf it is. It was attached to a vine that was dark in color and those hair protrusions feel rather prickly. But the colors of purple and green are just so wonderful .. a combination I will have to repeat .. I love it's display of life force ..

 I hope you've enjoyed these things in nature that move me .. and inspire me to emulate the beauty that I see.