Welcome 2011

Last night I started thinking about New Year's Eve. What is the history behind this eve that makes for all of the reveling and noise? I was also ruminating about the song "Auld Lang Syne" and wondered where in the heck we had gotten that one from.... so this morning I did I little Googling to answer these burning questions.

It seems, from my brief reads, that some historical types believe that the celebrations of New Years Eve can be traced back to the ancient Roman celebration called Saturnalia - generally held at the time of the Winter Solstice. Apparently this holiday was also celebrated with over indulgence and a general feeling of "out with the old and in with new". Of course the over indulging must have often led to not remembering the old - just as many people celebrate New Year's now!

The song "Auld Lang Syne" was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788. The words mean "old long since" - the good ole' days. One writer stated that the words basicially mean "the entire song's message merely means to just forget about the past and look ahead to the new year with hope". Sounds like a good plan to me!

Lest we forget the noise that generally accompanies the New Year's Eve celebration. The consensus seems to be that this custom of a New Year's Eve auditory assault is a custom embraced by many countries - all meant to frighten the evil spirits and drive them away.

View at the Harbor this past Wednesday

For my part, even in my youthful days, I was not a huge fan of New Year's Eve celebrations. That may be because I tend to feel claustrophobic in large crowds and because I also tend to be noise sensitive. Not that a bit of bubbly (one of my favorite things before I decided to use the money for art supplies instead!) has never passed my lips - but I generally preferred to stay home - or at the most - have a quiet gathering of several good friends. In the early days of my life I would always make a traditional New Year's meal - complete with Hopping John. 

These days our custom is to be in bed with a good read by 9PM - I can hear the fireworks if I am still reading at midnight - and I am assured of greeting the first morning of the New Year with a clear head and much anticipation.

Oh! Lest I forget - resolutions? I am considering choosing a "word for the year". Do you make resolutions? What are your New year's traditions?

Whatever you are doing this New Year's Eve - be safe. I wish each of you a 2011 that is blessed by peace, joy, health and prosperity - and just a touch of magic too! Thank you all for stopping by the blog - I truly appreciate your readership

What Does Trash Mail and ATC's Have In Common?

I am slowly moving my artistic impedimenta to another, dare I say larger, table in the living room. Scurrying up the ladder to my 'creative space' is not as easy as it was pre-surgery so the entire house has bits and pieces of my tools and supplies scattered about at the moment.

There are two ATC groups that I always try to keep up with -I allow myself no excuses - so in between the effluvia I managed to make these ATC's during the holiday. The 'theme' was "Trash Talkin' The Mailman"..... using what things that would normally be classified as trash that arrives at your door by way of the mail. I don;t think that this was my best effort - but we try not to have 'do-overs' and so these are what I mailed off.

My favorite part of mail is stamps - and colored envelopes - so of course those two elements were the focus of my cards. I painted the ground with black acrylic - and experimented with Art Spectrum's Color Fix paper- which really did make a difference in the way the black paint covered the ground. I have to order some more when I next visit Mr. Blick's fabulous art emporium. "Mountains" made from envelope pieces, the "full moon"  fashioned from foil lids and the "stars" made from foil cat food lids. I added non-trash items too - the copper foil edges and glitter in the "night sky".

 I am always curious about different people approach their art making. Generally I have a faint 'seed' of an idea, but I don't know what will happen until I sit down and start working with the various bits and pieces. Most often I end up with something that is decidedly different from the original 'seed' thought. Very occasionally I sketch something out - but I don't seem to work well that way. I have to have the various bits and pieces in hand in order to plan a design. I know many people who are able to sketch out an idea and go with it. It would make life easier if I could do that I think - but it just doesn't work for me most of the time. How about you? How do you approach your art making?

This was a wonderful 'book' year. My friend Janet gave me a wonderful book from an author that I was unfamiliar with. It's a book that I would most likely have not bought for myself - but am loving. Patti Digh's "Creative is a Verb". Have a look at her blog for some inspiration!

Sarah gave me another excellent book that I had never heard of "The Daily Book Of Art" - some very good inspirations in the pages of this little gem! Maria sent "Anam Cara" - a book that had been on "must read" list for some time. It went along wonderfully with my calendar of choice for this year "Celtic Wisdom".  I think that my friends are hard pressed to surprise me with books - but these were indeed a wonderful surprise. 

Hopefully, by the next post my work space - and therefore my mind - will be a bit tidier. I wish I could afford to get some good organizational furniture and bookshelves - maybe this year I will save some money (ah! there's a good concept!). 

I wish you all a very Wonderful New Year - one that is filled with the solace of laughter and good health and the blessings of joy and peace - with prosperity thrown in for good measure!

The Sketchbook Challenge

I have been meaning to post about the very cool New Year's project called "The Sketchbook Challenge. Spearheaded by Sue Bleiweiss, this journey will begin on January 1st, 2011.

Click on the Sketchbook Challenge button in the right column to get to the information about it or check our Sue's website at:
http://suebleiweiss.com/blog/2010/12/06/the-sketchbook-challenge/

There are some fantastic artists that will be writng posting and providing direction. A new theme will be posted for each month ... You have a whole month to explore the theme! If you have considered journaling and sketchbooks this might the perfect opportunity to start the New Year out!

Have a look and join in the fun!

A Stellar Event and An Early Santa

A Lunar Eclipse+Winter Solstice + Meteor showers = one amazing event tonight!

For the first time in 372 years, a total lunar eclipse coincides with the winter solstice. On the east coast it starts after midnight, Pacific Standard Time around 9;30 p.m. Across the country, the whole eclipse will be observable before the moon sets in the west just as the sun is rising in the east. Maximum eclipse is at 12:17 a.m. PST.   W O W!

Here's my little darling Tillie. She isn't too happy about having her photo taken and she wouldn't let me clean her eyes before I took her picture! Her personality is really developing now. It's taken awhile for her to settle in but what a joy she has become. Cleo, our tenacious 17 year old is not terribly happy about sharing her house once again, but there is, for the most part, peace in the kingdom

 Santa came a little early for me this year. I think we are both trying to cut down on the Holidaze frenzy that seems so difficult to avoid these days. I had been wanting a small camera that I could always have with me - since I don't always carry my Nikon DSLR - especially after the back surgery I am trying to lighten the daily carrying load. I had thought I would get a small Nikon - brand loyalty and all that, but when I got to investigating small digital cameras the Panasonic Lumix seemed to garner praise consistently.... so I got a Panasonic instead. Here is a link to the page about this amazing little camera:

http://tinyurl.com/23w72be

One of the best things about this little gem is the Leica lens and the fact that in equivalent SLR terms the lens is capable of 25mm to 300mm. That's amazing. The quality and clarity is pretty darned amazing too. If you are a diehard DSLR devotee you may not like the lack of totally manual capability - but for this is a great little camera for all of those times that you think "I wish had my camera with me!"

I had to take some office photos with it to see how it managed light... it did well !

 Early morning light from my office windows

 My desk

 from another view

 One of our clients wife's made this lovely mobile for our office... she even has a dollar bill craftily made as a crane. Many blessing in this mobile!

 Prayer flags over the door

 This eagle photograph was given to DH by the photographer. Beautifully printed on canvas.

 For a brief quiet moment - the window behind my desk.

The camera performed well in all kinds of light.

This is the other wonderful thing that Santa brought early. I listen to my IPod a lot and have not found a set of earbuds that works well for. I have Bose over the head earphones that I love but they can be rather conspicuous at times. These ear buds are, without a doubt the most comfortable ones - with the BEST sound quality - that I have used. Bar none. I had hesitation because of the little extension on them, but is made of some super soft, pilable silicone or something that makes these fit SUPER WELL. I love these. 

http://tinyurl.com/282xnlf
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That's it for me. I have some very cool new things to experiment with thanks to the kind folks at Kandi Corp.... and in a few days I will be posting the results of my experiments. They should be of interest to fiber folks of all kinds - paper and cloth. I'm excited to try this new toy out

In the meantime I wish each one of you the best of all holiday seasons and New Year that will bring you peace, happiness, health and prosperity!

HO HO HO!

What Became Of The Mystery Material?

Remember when I posted the mystery material shown in the first photo? The addition of gesso and acrylic and watercolor paint brought it to the next step in photo two. It's a base of very old cotton, tissue paper in white and light brown, cheesecloth and couched white yarn that is free motioned 'painted'. Photography in the dead of a Pacific Northwest winter is a challenge. I should have taken my light frame out to take the photographs but I was rushing to get these overdue cards enveloped and in the mail for this morning - so I took the lazy gal's way out. Sorry for the highlights !

One of the two ATC groups that I participate in used a "Typography" them for this month. So the rectangle of this fabric became those cards. I used Tim Holtz grunge board painted with Golden Fluid Marcasite paint to make the letters from a variety of shapes and sizes. Japanese text made from washi paper and then I added a metallic accent. The source of the metal is really fun but the answer to what that material is has to wait until next month - because the next theme just happened to be the perfect venue for this material

I used watercolors to enhance - or highlight - some of the places on the cards. It was pretty clear that a dab of a contrasting color really improved the look of the cards. Without it they were softer feeling and, as much as I strive to work with neutrals and soft colors it seems I am always looking for a way to punch it up a bit. Maybe I need to do a study of taupe or greys and get adjusted to a softer palette. That could be my New Year's resolution - that and not seeing any more doctors other than for wellness checks this coming year!

The holidays are almost here and I am in NO way prepared. I have my cards but they need to be written and addressed. I always try to order them in October - and I was not too late in accomplishing that yearly goal this year despite being almost unable to type at that point in my recovery! A day at time....oh yes, that's another thing I need to cultivate. Patience!