Arty weekend.....

 

The rains have finally arrived and this was the perfect weekend to stay home, make some cream of cauliflower soup, some pumpkin bread and play with my art!

I'm having fun making these little accordion books....so I made another class example.  This time I used primarily photos from magazines.  Since, we made zentangles, in class, I included one of those and one of our projects is going to be making a coffee or tea cup, so, I included one.

 

 

 

This is the front cover......

 

 

 

 

From Vincent's color love to a welcoming front door and a few bright ideas.

As I am writing this blog, and looking at this photo, I am profoundly struck by what this little booklet reveals about me! I love color, unconventional art, red doors, shiny smooth sculptures and using outdoor furniture inside!  Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe Julia's book is helping me discover my "vein of gold".

The other side refers to the tenets of Julia Cameron's book "Vein of Gold".  She suggests doing daily morning pages, taking a walk everyday, making artist dates with yourself and writing your timeline.  "Cups" is another term used by Julia.  I still have one page open....waiting for the perfect inspiration!

Sunday, we took the dog for a long walk and along the way I picked up a few colorful, fall leaves.

Aren't the colors amazing this time of year?

Voila, another page for my nature journal and a lovely, relaxing weekend comes to an end.

Class wrap-up……

 

For the last couple of Vein of Gold classes, that I've been helping with, each student is going to make their own accordion booklet. 

Our fearless leader (and the other, Jan)  uses the first part of each class to discuss Julia Cameron’s book and encourage the students to think and write about their life experiences.  The last half of class we have been doing some simple paper crafts or other creative experience.  So far, they have enthusiastically embraced each project.

For this one we are starting with a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 watercolor paper.  Each person will write a message or thoughts that they would like to get out into the world on both sides of their piece of paper and then cover it with a layer of gesso or paint and a little stamping with stamp pad ink.

 

 

The page should look like this before we paint over our thoughts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And something like this, after it has been painted but before I added the stamps and sprays.

 

 

 

 

 

We will cut the page into four same size rectangles.  Then we will trade three of our pages with three other people.  The idea behind trading is we are sharing our thoughts and energy with other.  I compare this step to Prayer Flags where we are sending our positive messages out in to the world.

So, our finished book will be made up of one of our pages and one page from three different people.  I did not do that step in this sample book, these are all my pages only.

 

We’ll use masking tape or scotch tape to bind the pages together.

 

 

  Each person will then add art work and quotes that are meaningful to them!

 

 

By the end of the class they will have filled their notebooks with their thoughts, their timeline and their art….including this special little book!

Easy-peasey paper cloth......

 

I love Diana Trout's blog and I'm anxiously awaiting her on-line longstitch book making class to start!

One day last week, as a precursor to her upcoming class, Diana showed us how to make "paper cloth" which she used to make her book cover for this class.  You can go to her blog HERE and watch her step by step video.

 

 

So very easy, simply glue tissue paper onto muslin or any light weight cotton fabric.  I used Elmer's glue thinned to a milk-like consistency with water. 

 

 

 

 

 

Then spread glue on the fabric and arrange pieces of tissue paper or any light weight paper on top of the fabric.  Use a brush laden with glue to smooth the paper unto the fabric!  Let it air dry and that is it.

 

 

 

 

 

To give the paper a little more color you can add paint while the glue is wet.  Or, if like me, you forget to add paint....I got out a stencil and sprayed it.

 

 

 

Next, I stitched with the machine around the edge to give it more strength and body.  This was so easy and fun that I made two pieces of "paper cloth".

 

On this piece, I painted the "paper cloth" while the glue was still wet, otherwise, all the steps were the same.

 

Two different, cool papers for my book covers....DONE!

 

So, let the class begin, Diana!

A funny thing happened......

 

One day last June, I received an e-mail from a chef who was starting a new business and wanted to buy a piece of my artwork to use as a logo!

What!  I was surprised.....I don't sell on line, I don't even think of myself as promoting my art on line.....I JUST blog.  Well, I quickly learned "it is a small world after all". 

Chef Jess had gone on line looking for an image of a radish and my relief print of a radish popped up!  You can read the blog where it was featured in HERE!

So, to make a long story short.....agreements were made, money was exchanged and the print was mailed!

Today, I'm sharing my little pride and joy with you and wishing Chef Jess and The Roaming Radish the best of luck on their new enterprise.  Her new business is located on Whidbey Island in the town of Freeland, which is very close to Langley.  Whidbey Island is located north of Seattle, Washington in the Puget Sound.  Beautiful area!

If one day, you find yourself in Freeland stop by for an excellent meal and tell Chef Jess  "hello" from me.  

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch…….

 

Just got home from a fun day at the pumpkin patch!  Ours is close to home, located about four miles down the road at a year-around, family owned flower and produce farm where they grow most of what they sell.

It is a beautiful sunny 75 degree day, so there were LOTS of people.

We got there just in time to see this pumpkin weighed in at 875 pounds.

That was next to the giant sunflower heads…….

 

  That’s our great-grandson, Gaven, posing for me.

I don’t know the other folks!

 

 

 

 

 

Next…the big, exciting pumpkin drop!

I said we are easy to entertain! I overheard someone say “only in America”!

They lifted this 900 pound pumpkin in the air and dropped it into a swimming pool full of water!

It drew a pretty big crowd!

 

 

 

From there Dad took Gaven to check out the maze, haunted house and assorted other fun kid’s activities.  Meanwhile, Gaven’s Mom, Gramps and I wandered over to check out the flowers and the produce.  Later, we were joined by another granddaughter and her family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out this “to die for” picnic table with built-in water feature and planters!

 

This is the water bowl at the end of the table that the water circulates into….so cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the table top with the water trough in between the rows of Hens and Chickens and assorted other plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A photo op at every turn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, some of the family……..NO not the ones above!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Granddaughter Cyndi who is Gaven’s mom and Granddaughter Staci with her two girls, Emma and Lucy and Gram and Gramps!

So, if you live in Oregon anywhere between Portland and Salem, I highly recommend you check out Bauman Farms Harvest Festival, Sept. 29 through Oct. 31.  Lots for the kids to do, good food, great produce and plants and perfect day with the family.

Zentangles or Doodles…..?

 

So, is there a scientific difference between “zentangles” and “doodles”? 

I admit zentangles sounds much cooler than doodles!  For teaching purposes, I think they are interchangeable…..we won’t split hairs, as they say.

For the next Vein of Gold class I’m assisting in teaching we will be playing with zentangle/doodles.  Only a few of the folks in this class are artists, so we are trying to keep the art part of the class simple and unintimidating.  We planning on turning them loose,next week, on a project similar to the pumpkin.

These are few of my past doodle/zentangles…….

Playing with doodles on letters is really absorbing and can take you to another “place”!  I think that’s what zentangles and doodles have most in common….you can zone out!

Now, I’m off to link to Julie Balzer’s Art Journal everyday

October, already!

 

Fall is in the air and a new month begins…..here in Oregon the weather is perfect for fall, sunny and mid-seventies during the day with cool mornings and evenings.  In spite of the weather, or maybe, because of it I’m sorry  to see summer end and fall turn to winter.  So, for now we enjoy every minute of what we have!

It is, also, time to join Kate at Kathryn's Wheel and share my September and October calendar pages.  September was crazy busy……

I was part of an art show at the local bakery, took a trip to California, froze tomatoes, prepared to teach a class, had a garage sale and celebrated my husband’s 80th birthday!

You may remember I like to mix it up and not use just square shapes for my daily journaling.  So, the right side of the page is stamped with a stamp I carved in the shape of a sunflower and on this page I drew the sunflower and wrote in the leaf shapes.

 

 

On this page, I experimented with the stamps, color and a wash….the notes on the left, written in pencil, are to remind me of the outcome of my experiments i.e. how the yellow comes forward and the wash pushes the flowers back!

 

 

 

Now, we are off to October…………….

 

 

My camera picks sees red in everything, the top page does not have a pink cast in real life.  The one on the left, here, does!  We are off to see what the new month brings….!

 

Just thought I would end with a picture of the birthday boy, me, our daughter-in-law and granddaughter!

Happy Birthday, Ron!