Wandering Wednesday - Death Valley

 Happy Wandering Wednesday, this time it's Death Valley.
Spring Break in Death Valley seemed like a good idea when I booked the campsite.  But then I got really sick two days before, (fever and everything) and there was a very early heat wave, so I didn't get to go.  So these are not my pictures, but my dear husband's.  It's a tremendous place, and I was sorry to not get to visit again (we went there on our honeymoon all those years ago).

 See that little white rectangle? This is looking up from Badwater at the sea-level sign. It is really weird to think of being below sea-level.

Pretty good zoom on this camera.

View across the salt-flats.

It really does look like dirty snow close up.

 This picture shows some of the amazing colors that you see in the mountains of Death Valley.

 The new walkways out to the Badwater ponds.

 This is why they film other planet movies here in Death Valley.

It all starts looking like a painting at some point.

June Roses

 Just because it's been awhile, here's some of the recent roses out in my garden.

Attempts at Transparency

 For the third meeting, our small group decided to try an exercise inspiration from a very different book, This book is beautifully produced, the exercises are illustrated with different media used and it's just an overall fun experience reading through the very rational, yet still fun approach to learning about using color in any type of artwork.  The subtitle of the book is: 50 graphic experiments for exploring color design principles, and I love that they are titled experiments as opposed to lessons or exercises. Experiments means that extra element of fun and unexpected results.  Understanding how and why color works is vitally important, and something that I think I'll be interested in learning and working on for the rest of my life.  It's a pretty much endless topic.
This first experiment was about achieving the illusion of transparency.  First I made a design I liked out of overlapping shapes of colored tissue paper glued onto white paper.

Then I translated it into a fabric approximation.  I actually did not have the correct greens or yellows so there was a little color experimenting going on.  I knew I was weak in the yellow department, but I was surprised that I did not have the right greens.

Lastly I made a second fabric version that switched out the overlapping parts of the shapes and tried to interpret those color changes correctly.  I was close, but not 100% due to lack of fabric choices (I know hilarious given the size of my fabric stash).  Good thing it was just an experiment right?  In general I really liked how this turned out, and the challenge of finding the right yellows and greens to use was definitely worth trying.

Now onto the next experiment!

Wandering Wednesdays - Bodega Bay

I guess it's a Wednesday theme, why not?  There's lots of trip and vacation photos to choose from, we've been traveling a lot lately.  So here's Bodega Bay on our late-March trip.

 I liked seeing all the rock formations, including this arch.  But unfortunately no whales.

It was a great hike that we took all around Bodega Head, a few miles, mostly just along the cliff edge.

Three California Poppies all lined-up on the edge of the cliff.  I had to lie down to get this picture.

Thank goodness for zoom so that I could get this bird picture, he was sitting at the end of a particularly small cliff edge which I was not allowed to go out on. 

Again, we lucked out with the weather, beautiful, clear, sunny.  

 I know this sign at the entrance to Bodega Harbor up on the hill means something important, but it was fun to stand by it.

 Later that evening we caught the sun setting into the Pacific from the top of the mountain on the way back to Bodega Bay from inland.

On Dresses

I'm really enjoying reading the One Hundred Dresses on A Dress A Day  as Erin McKean goes through her own  closet and shows us one hundred dresses that she's made, one per day.  Including pockets! That match and/or contrast!
  And I'm also really looking forward to reading her new book The Hundred Dresses which is all about dress archetypes. 
I honestly don't know why I like reading dress blogs like hers and this refashioning one, New Dress A Day  so much, because I hardly own any dresses, much less wear them. I guess I'm an aspirational dress enthusiast? Or something? Maybe subconsciously since I've been housewife-ing for a while now I'm just exhibiting my deep-seated internalization of 50's sit-com re-runs like "Leave it to Beaver"

 (stop laughing, that's not nice) 

 It's not like I think I should be wearing a dress (and heels and pearls) everyday, of course not.  But dresses still mean something to me even though I don't wear them much.  I guess I like the idea of them more than the reality perhaps?  Usually when I wear a dress it's for a special occasion, which means fun, and socializing.   Something different than the usual day-to-day.

So buying fabric and patterns to make a dress is a way of looking forward to and pre-celebrating a special occasion.  A way of extending the fun that's to come I think.

Hmmm...Do I have time to get a new dress together to wear to my son's outdoor high school graduation on Friday?  Maybe!

Harmony Sketches

 Sometimes "wasting time" is worthwhile.

Especially when you find something online like Mr. Doob Harmony that's this fun and easy.

Thanks Deb at ::More Whiffs, Glimmers & Left Oeuvres::

Go try it yourself!

The End of Anise

For the second design exercise, our small group decided to again go with something out of   Design by Nature: Using Universal Forms and Principles in Design (Voices That Matter) .  This one was about finding patterns in nature.  First we were to choose a natural object and draw it everyday in our sketchbook.   I choose the end of a bunch of anise.  When I chopped it off, I was struck by all the patterns and interesting shapes and structures.

Since it would be changing soon (decomposing!) I took a lot of pictures of it.

And I even scanned it.  My son saw me doing it and just kind of shook his head and asked no questions.  At this point, he knows better, otherwise it's an art lecture from mom.

Then of course I had to fool around with the scan in Photoshop. I really loved how this filtered treatment brought out all the structures and patterns so clearly. 

Next we were supposed to start detailing the patterns from the object, exploring the details of it and expanding upon them in our sketchbook.

I also decided to carve a stamp based on one of the line drawings I did which emphasized the shapes and patterns I found most interesting.

 

My ink is getting a little old and gloopy and I need a padded stamping surface, so some of the stamped versions are too splotchy.

But I got at least one that I was able to use to make the small quilt (8.5 x 11") our group had decided to do as "homework".

It was supposed to be 3-D in some way, so I stuffed the stamped image of the anise.  But I wasn't happy with it, it was too literal, and "the usual" for me, and definitely cheating a bit on the 3-d aspect. I wanted something else, so I made a second one.

This is much more 3-D and much less literal.  I used lutradur and steam-a-seam to stiffen the folded fabric and then ironed the folds in.  

A closer view of the folding.
All in all, it was a really useful exercise, and is one I think I could repeat it many times.