One of the fresh flavors of Oregon…….

 

In Oregon, just like other parts of the country, farmers are looking for “value added” ways to make a living, farming.  Today, we had an interesting and flavorful journey to a small farm, close to home, for a Grape Tasting!

When I think of growing grapes, at home, I think of the thick skinned, seedy Concords that our Mother’s used to make grape jelly.  Wrong!  At the Broadacres Nursery they offer over FORTY varieties and you can walk through row after row to taste test your little heart out!

.

After parking, the nice ladies is this area give you a few simple directions and a list of the names of all the grapes available for tasting, along with a pencil to mark your favorites.  The idea is you can taste first…..then, of course, come back a buy a few pounds or a box full depending on your needs.

With names like Albazor, Black Emerald, Bronx Seedless, Diamond Muscat and Dr. Good……..and beautiful cluster of grapes in gorgeous colors….it isn’t that easy to choose a favorite!

A beautiful fall afternoon spent in the sunshine, tasting some of the best grapes around….and did I mention the photo op!

This is what fall is all about!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend. 

Queen Anne’s Lace…..

 

Finished another page for my nature journal….this time Queen Anne’s Lace is featured.

And the flap opened…..it looks like this!

I don’t know if you noticed my note under the words “the royal herb”, it says “written with my crow quill”.   I found a crow feather the other day, brought it home and carved a tip on it to make my own writing instrument.  I wrote the words with my quill and some India ink….now that’s getting back to nature.

Interesting what you can learn about a common weed, that grows in most parts of the U.S., with just a little trip to Wikipedia.  Actually, it is the root of this plant that has been hybridized into the crunchy root vegetable we eat in our salads, the carrot.  Hence, the name “wild carrot”, carrot is a part of its’ Latin name, too.

It has been used as a medicinal herb to treat urinary ailments and as a contraceptive.

It, also, looks similar to the very poisonous Hemlock.  Do NOT eat this plant unless you are certain you have Queen Anne’s Lace.

Another fun Queen Anne’s Lace fact is, and I had never noticed this before, but if you look closely you will see one little red flower among the white.  Some researchers say it is there to attract insects that will pollinate the plant.

Of course, there is a legend, too, and that is:  Queen Anne was an excellent lace maker and the red flower represents a drop of blood on the lace from her pricking her finger with her needle.

Play with a little watercolor, bits of paper, glue and plant material and do a little research….now that’s a good day!

I’m going to be MIA for a week or two, so I won’t be blogging for a bit but I will be reading and commenting on yours.  We are off on a short trip…..details to follow and doing a little “house-work”.  See you soon.

Art Chix Art Show…….

 

We call ourselves the “art chix” and we get together almost every Thursday to make art, share, encourage, learn from one another and drink coffee!  This all takes place at the White Rabbit Bakery a cozy little coffee house in historic Aurora, Oregon.

That’s me on the left, Sheila, Thea and Margaret…..Jean had gone home by this time.  This was taken after we had hung the show….before we all looked younger, thinner and rested and our hair was combed……you believe that, right????

Any how, we did hang our artwork at the White Rabbit Saturday and it will be up through September.

Here are Sheila’s wooden houses……so cute and so much detail that doesn’t show up on the photo……..

Next, are Margaret’s landscape paintings……..

Then we have Oz, who with his wife own and operate the White Rabbit, admiring some of Thea’s great work……..

I’m showing some of my encaustics, lino prints and watercolors…..

Jean is our “famous artist” friend, who really is a professional artist and makes her living selling her art.  Her work is available at the Attic Gallery in Portland, Oregon.  This is one of her abstract paintings in the show.

 

So, if you are in the area, please stop by to see the show and have a cup of coffee along with your choice of a wonderful dessert.  If, you come on Thursday afternoon…. we’ll see you there!

Vintage Back to School Swap…….

 

Recently, I and thirteen very talented women participate in a journal page swap organized by Michelle Geller.  Yippee!  Last night, Sheila and I met up with Michelle for dinner and our journal “hand-off”!

 

That’s Michelle on the left, me in the center and Sheila on the right.  We all live in the Portland area, so it was easy to get together and just too much fun to share experience of the first viewing!

Every artist involved in this project out did themselves!  The page below, is just one example of the thought and effort that went into each page.

This is the page at first glance……..

This is the sum of it’s parts………………………

…..the flash card, composition book, chalkboard, report card envelope with note paper to journal on tucked in-between the pages…..and all this was held together by a giant paper clip!  EVERY page in this book is like this, each with it’s own personality but overflowing with exciting and interesting bits and pieces. 

So, here we go……you’re going to LOVE this!

The cover was done by Michelle, check out her hand lettering…….

Inside cover and first page by Jan Clem……it is difficult to see but Jan’s page is a pull out with the ruler being the tab that you pull to make three pages pop up!  Awesome!

  On the left is the back of Jan’s page, on the right is Shelia Earhart’s page with her incredible baton twirling medal.   It is very cool!

The back of Sheila’s page and the front of Cynthia Fawcett’s page where she used a triangle for a pocket!

The back of Cynthia’s page and the front of Michelle Geller’s page.

Michelle gave us all a star and lunch tickets!  This if the front of my page.

The back of my page and the front of Beth Leintz’s page….she transferred photos on to fabric and added the button and ribbon embellishments!

The back of Beth’s and the front of Rachel McGough….Rachel used a photo to make a pocket!

The back of Rachel’s page included a photo and a reading practice.  Michelle added the flash card divider!

The back of the flash card and Mollie Morrison’s page with it’s banner and cute paper flower……she has a hidden pocket between pages, as well.

The alphabet is the back side of Mollie’s page and on the right is Lorraine Peltier’s page.  Lorraine has added a cute buckle to a envelope full of tags.

The back of Lorraine’s page and the front of Heidi’s page, shown above.

The back of Heidi’s page and the front of Barb Rickard’s with crayons and a sketch pad first page followed by three more pages…..

The inside of Barb’s signature page…….

The back of Barb’s page and the sweet silhouette page by Jessica Rodarte.

 The back of Jessica’s page and the front of Jill Sibbald where she has hidden journaling tags behind the photo.

The back of Jill’s page and the front of Lisa Stanton’s page with a pocket full of cute cards and a precious vintage artwork.

The Lisa’s back page and Michelle added an envelope for our lunch money!

THE END!

What a fun book……don’t you agree!  It is a cornucopia of ideas for journaling and all the pages are soooooo beautifully done!  Thank you so much to each and every one of you who participated.  I will treasure this little book FOREVER!

Nature journal and experimenting…..

 

Still playing in my nature journal!  Today, I found an old class project in a drawer.  I had painted it with acrylics on paper and thought it would be fun to recycle it…..by adding words.  I, also, needed to add some length to the page.  So, I glued a piece of heavy paper to the top, where the binding will hide it, then I added a wash and a funky border.

You can’t go wrong with Ralph Waldo Emerson!

 

 

I liked the colors in this painting and the looseness of it, so, I decided it would be journal worthy with the addition of the quote and a few doodles.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve, also, been experimenting with some of the rubber stamps I’ve been carving.  I liked the one with the man’s face until I decided to write on the page.  The writing became a distraction. 

But, I had fun stamping with paint, both acrylic and watercolor, on the watercolor washed backgrounds.  I used a leaf stamp to make trees and added doodles with a pen and cardboard  for texture.  I’ve been trying to learn more about watercolor paper and it’s properties, too, so all in all it was a great learning experience.

I “pinned my own board”!  I put these experiments on my inspiration board for just that reason, to inspire me to play some more with the stamps and various mediums. 

I really like the colors and, for now, that’s enough!

More of my Nature Journal……..

Still making pages for my nature journal…….

This is another real butterfly, glued to a vintage map of Paris and a book index page.  I added the envelope with the dictionary page of a butterfly and the cardboard tag for the finishing touch.
 



These are silica dried roses from my yard.  They are fragile and I’m not sure what I’ll do with them but they are beautiful to look at!



Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend. 

Cover story…….

 

Finished the relativity small, 8”x9” cover for my nature journal today!

 

 

This photo shows the colors best!  The cover is covered with green canvas like fabric, so I used gesso for the first layer and then painted over with acrylic.

I love the yummy color of the burgundy velvet ribbon that trims the top.  The “etc.” charm and Anagram letters finish it off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other side (or inside cover)….I’ll write my name and the book title on the label, otherwise I believe this page is finished.

 

 

 

This bit of news made my week!!!!!!!!

Last April, I blogged about a challenge being presented by the magazine, ClothPaperScissors, you can read it HERE!  My art work was accepted and is pictured here…it’s the one with the big red heart! 

Yes, it is very fun and exciting to see your work published in a national magazine!    You should try it.  Many magazines are looking for submissions from artist and crafters, sure there is a risk you will be turned down…..but who will know, if you don’t tell them.  Besides, the next time you send something in, it may be accepted and you, too, will be published.