Reconnecting with Nature and new work

I am so happy to have warmer weather and have spent so many of the days in the last week outside painting and enjoying the nature around me. I realize how infused I am by getting to see the beauty of all creatures. I feel so blessed to witness their presence. I am awed by their beauty. It makes me happy to be outside. Recently I was outside making some leaf prints on fabric and discovered some inhabitors of the leaf I was going to print. It was so small that I could hardly make out that they were spiders. What I found quite fascinating was the fact that they appeared to be similar spiders yet each had a different color which you can faintly make out and this photo doesn't do the metallic quality of their bodies any justice. So one was silver and the other was gold .. beautiful!!!

 Then the next delight I have discovered was a nest  over a front window. It's sheltered from the sun and from rain so it was a good spot. I would watch it and finally could see that there was something in their .. finally it seemed they got so big they could hardly fit in the nest. Sometimes I would sit outside and watch the mother who at first would stay perched on the eggs and then when they finally hatched they grew so fast. She would faithfully bring them food and finally they would start flapping their wings as the mother sat on a branch nearby calling to them. One morning I came out to find the nest empty and searched around hoping to see them somewhere in the nearby branches. The pictures I have are some grainy and some good but they speak for themselves .. i wonder to see and a total cute awwww factor. Hope you enjoy the photos. you can click on them to see them bigger.

 And finally to the work .. I have found that I can't settle on doing just one form of making so after a bit of sewing I will paint for a while and then go back to sewing or stitching. It can depend on the weather or my mood. Lately I've been in the mood to paint.

The circles are something I'm exploring. I found this great panal it's about 2ft. x 4 ft. and I decided to experiment. And the one below is also an experiment of painting large. It's been fun and exciting!!!

Thanks for stopping over.
Come again!!!

Mother's Day and Making

Today is Mother's day. I am a mother of three wonderful people. Each one special in their own way. I am grandmother of six wonderful children, each of them filled with life and hope and blessedness. And I am also daughter to my mom. As time goes on and my life changes and grows I realize how much goodness my mother has given me. My mom has always been a maker. I used to sit with my mother while she sat at the sewing machine. I never seemed to have an interest in sewing then. When I reflect on the whole process of her sewing I remember things and realize how much I have been influenced. Sometimes I think it takes years to see what was always there. I kind of think of it like an artist who paints and steps back to see how it's progressing. It's the distance from the work that gives you perspective. When my mother was a new mother, I suspect she was frugal with money and so she sewed a lot of clothes. I don't remember her sewing so much for my brother but she sewed entire wardrobes for my sister and myself. As I grew older I can recall going with my mom to the fabric shop and sitting for hours looking at patterns. I LOVED doing that and I suspect my maker self started brewing all my love for images. That and seeing all the latest fabrics gave me a love of texture and fiber that still gives me such joy today. Perhaps it's the memories mixed together of being with my mom and spending time doing something she clearly loved doing.

My mother has been a fabric lover and I am a fabric lover. And always being a tad rebellious in nature, ( i laugh writing that and am sure my mother can attest to it ) I like to kind of break the rules or do it different. That's what I've been doing with my art and making over the past several years. Experimenting and playing with fabric and drawing and painting and printing. All the forms of making and creating that give me happiness and joy. Today I did something I've been trying to do for a good while. So I think it's appropriate to announce it here today on Mother's day and as a tribute to my mother who is a fabulous seamstress. I have opened a shop on Etsy with clothes that I have made my self. my shop I hope you'll let me know what you think and spread the word. I will add more to it as I get them photographed and listed. But back to my mom.

I know i've mentioned it before but I think it's worth mentioning again. My mother sewed so many beautiful garments for me growing up. We traveled overseas for six years from 1964 until 1970 and it seems that every time we flew stateside my mother had sewn new clothes for our trips. I hope to find some photos of those garments. She sewed my confirmation dress from a new white fabric that I picked out. My prom dress and my graduation dress. She sewed 2000 seed pearls to my wedding dress that I designed and she sewed back in 1977, maternity clothes when I was pregnant and she sewed a beautiful christening gown that each of my babies wore on their baptism. She sewed a gorgeous bassinet cover when my I found out that I was having a girl and she was laid in a most beautiful bed to sleep in. I know that there are countless other garments that she has made for me and for my family. As I step back and reflect on all that you have created for me Mom I am so amazed to realize how many things you have created and made just for me. I am happy to tell you these things today while you are still here to read them. Happy Mother's Day Mom ..

.. if your a mom I hope you have a fabulous mother's day and if you have a mom .. i hope you get to say hello or have a wonderful memory of what she's done best for you today .. and even the most important thing and that is gave you life. Thanks Mom .. I'm happy to be alive today!!! I love you always and forever!!

I've added some more photos of the same images from my shop. Thanks for stopping over and leave me a comment or two

My garments are made from reclaimed fabrics that I have altered with reverse dying and printing as well as hand stitching and artwork in some cases. All my garments are machine washable and made to fit various sizes. My hope is that you will find them fun to wear and they are one of a kind and artsy. :)

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.

A Message to Connie

Recently, I happened onto a website http://www.dirtyfootprints-studio.com/ . This is Connie's website. I found it at a time when I was beginning that usual experience of self doubt and fear of what ever it is that seems to come up while I am trying to be artist and living my passion. I looked over the site and liked what I was reading and found that she offered a free workshop called Total Alignment. I decided to try what she was doing in the series. I don't generally have trouble tapping into my creativity so I wasn't feeling stuck I was just feeling a bit down. What it did was give me permission to just paint what ever I felt like painting. I loved the whole premise that it's not the painting that's important but that I am painting what ever comes up. I enjoyed the whole process and I loved her sweet and caring disposition. If you need a lift stop over to her site and try the free series or any of her workshops. They all look like fun! She's really got something going on over there. I LOVE the whole idea of being a fearless painter. So here's my message to you Connie after reading your blog today. Keep doing what you're doing lots of people need to hear what you have to say. Here are some of the works that I did in this workshop. These will show the progression of the work. First there was My open Heart.














Next there was something on Balance and this was my balance painting. Looks a little chaotic but it is colorful and there were many fun swirls and circles which I am drawn too.

As a result of doing this one on balance I observed some parts of this painting that I really liked and decided to create another painting for one of the other lessons.                               Next came this. -------->
 This made me very happy.





I continued and did this
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Days later I did a meditation and decided that I would paint a part of it and this is what came from that. Below.

I decided to do the open heart painting again and from that was the painting below. Thank you for stopping over and check out the Dirty footprints I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Time for me to sleep now.