Collage Practice In The Dark

 For my birthday way back in the start of December I decided to start a collage a day practice.  And I was stubborn enough to actually do it even though the power was out due to a massive windstorm. As my motto goes "Do It Anyways"

 I used my new visual journal, which is a spiral sketchbook thing with bristol paper, nice and heavy and takes watercolor and glue really well.

 First collage done via candlelight, no flash.

 First collage with flash.  The presss here circle is heat sensitive mood ring stuff.
Words are: "DISCOVER the mysterious.  NO RIGHT NOW"

December 2nd collage.  Power was still out, this is a photo taking via headlamp which was how I was working.  Safer than candles, and brighter too.

Ancient's Eyes Are Always Open

Beginnings of Bravery

For those who were curious about yesterday's pomegranate, here is a photo of it without filters, fingers or faces. Weird huh?! It had been a year since I'd eaten a pomegranate so I forgot they weren't supposed to look like that inside, and didn't think it too remarkable...


Thanks to Melba I found out about a really cool idea for the month of October.



Jessie over at Diary of a Self Portrait is challenging us to Be Brave Everyday. How???

By doing one brave thing that scares the hell out of us everyday. It is all inspired by a wonderful quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

Do

one

thing

every

day

that

scares

you.

From what I understand of this challenge it is Not just to be blindly scaring yourself, but more in a challenging yourself from that deep dark chewy center we all have, where we keep our limits set in stone, telling ourselves:

Oh No,

I can't go there,

do this,

say that,

try this...

So I had to go look it up in the dictionary.

BRAVE–adjective
1.possessing or exhibiting courage or courageous endurance.
2.making a fine appearance.
3.Archaic. excellent; fine; admirable.

—Synonyms 1. bold, intrepid, daring, dauntless, heroic. Brave, courageous, valiant, fearless, gallant refer to confident bearing in the face of difficulties or dangers. Brave is the most comprehensive: it is especially used of that confident fortitude or daring that actively faces and endures anything threatening. Courageous implies a higher or nobler kind of bravery, esp. as resulting from an inborn quality of mind or spirit that faces or endures perils or difficulties without fear and even with enthusiasm. Valiant implies a correspondence between an inner courageousness and external deeds, particularly of physical strength or endurance. Fearless implies unflinching spirit and coolness in the face of danger. Gallant implies a chivalrous, impetuous, or dashing bravery.
—Antonyms 1. cowardly.

adjective
1. possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching; "Familiarity with danger makes a brave man braver but less daring"- Herman Melville; "a frank courageous heart...triumphed over pain"- William Wordsworth; "set a courageous example by leading them safely into and out of enemy-held territory" [ant: cowardly]
2. invulnerable to fear or intimidation; "audacious explorers"; "fearless reporters and photographers"; "intrepid pioneers" [syn: audacious]
3. brightly colored and showy; "girls decked out in brave new dresses"; "brave banners flying"; "'braw' is a Scottish word"; "a dress a bit too gay for her years"; "birds with gay plumage"

I feel good about jumping in and participating in this project as it fits in well with my new motto of the year: DO IT ANYWAYS. See bold in definition just above.

Brave thing #1: Yesterday I made phone calls. Several of which were to doctors that I'd been putting off making all summer. One of which mean I'll have surgery in a month.

Brave Thing #2: Today I mailed a letter. Doesn't seem too brave huh? Well, it is to the friend and neighbor whose dog attacked and nearly killed ours. Gulp. Fingers crossed that it is received in a generous manner.

It was 20 years ago today

Oh man oh man what a great bunch of questions from Charlotte for this week's Getting to Know You over on Create a Connection!

Title of this post courtesy of the 40th (eep!) anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album (not cd!) by the Beatles. When I heard it, I thought that it was eponomously titled, didn't realize it was by those Beatles.

Where were you in 1987? School, working? Single,married, attached? What were you doing creatively?

I was working, my very first job out of college, at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company at the Palo Alto Research Labs, in Palo Alto, California. Learning the ins and outs of accounting in a giant company with government contracts. I had moved away from Berkeley and Oakland as it was just too hard to commute. I worked with a lot of interesting programs, the investigation of the o-ring failure that caused the first Space Shuttle disaster was really cool, and quite fast paced (all relative!), and then there was the underground nuclear testing:

I was attached already, to my future husband, Marc. He also worked at LMSC, as one of those irresistible scientists. We were doing a lot of hiking and camping and just generally having fun.

Creatively, I wasn't doing much art specifically. I was doing some kinds of crafty kind of stuff, I'll admit to going through a silk flower phase along with everyone else within a 20 mile radius of Michael's. I also was learning how to cook, that could be considered creative...

I did a little tiny bit of sewing, I recall making curtains, truck curtains, pillow covers, the world's ugliest sweatshirt for Marc, and matching weightlifting baggy pants for us. We did actually weightlift together! Yes people I used to have well-defined biceps. Not a picture of me, but at one point my arms did look this good. They are still strong, just a little jigglier...

Where were you in 1997? What would you like to share about the nineties?
Wow, a lot happened in only ten years. We had been married for 7 years, being together for 11 years. Both kids had been born, Zach would have 4 and Alex 2. The nineties were fun and frustrating years of transitioning from being a worker bee filled with angst and drive, pouring all my energy into work for companies that could have cared less to pouring that same energy into raising good people and learning to be myself, a mother without a job besides that. I utilized the internet a lot for interaction with other women who were doing the same thing, which helped a lot. I also discovered and had removed my first lump and started getting quite ill with what I later learned was Dercum's Disease, which I still, unfortunately have.

I began sewing lots of stuff, mostly toys, puppets, stuff for our home, but then I began quilting too then, first just making baby quilts for my boys, and then working up to bed quilts for us, and leaping full force into art quilting. Finding my way on my own, and with the assistance of QuiltArt online.

Where did you plan to be or think you'd be in 2007? Have you realized your goals?

I thought I'd be owning my own business, wasn't sure what it would be, but I knew I wasn't going back to the corporate world. I'm just not suited for it. Or it isn't ready for me, perhaps?! So, kinda sorta, yes. I have a business, but have not gone full tilt at it quite yet. That is coming, I can feel it building up like a volcano that will be exploding soon. Still not sure if it is going to involve just making art, or writing, or teaching, or all three. All shall be revealed....

I also thought I'd be enjoying seeing what my kids would be like 10 years older. Boy is that ever true. I'm so proud of both of them, they bring me uncountable joy every day. I also figured I'd still loving my husband, and yes indeed I do. And not the same as 10 years ago, but even more, in different ways, I didn't know that love that has stayed around this long was so rich and satisfying. I did not think I would be so far down the road with the progression of my disease, I am working every day to deal with it though, thus my new motto: Do It Anyways.

What is one thing about your present life you love and one you'd like to change?
One thing I love about my present life is the gift of unstructured time.

One thing I'd like to change about my present life is being too unstructured and not getting enough done!

How do you see your life in 2017? Do you have any goals or dreams for your future?

Gosh, in 10 years, I'll be 53.

I'm envisioning that I'll be more established with my business, and my goal is to be successful at what I'm doing with my art.

I am envisioning my kids having graduated college and out of the nest on their own. My dream for them is to be happy and healthy.

I am envisioning Marc's company having"gone public" and we'll be bazillionaires gallivanting about the world on a whim. How''s that for dreaming big?

Do It Anyways

To remind me of my new motto is "Do It Anyways", I made myself this bracelet. It seems to be working pretty well to keep me going when I feel like giving up and taking a nap. I made this with silver memory wire and buri beads from FireMountain, the letter beads that you can find anywhere, and a couple of fiberoptic/cats' eye beads I had in my bead stash. This is the first time I've worked with the memory wire, and it is pretty cool stuff.

I don't know why, but I felt the need to show you my favorite pair of socks. Which I just re-located both of them at the same time, so the pair is reunited and happy on my feet. They are very high cotton content, stretchy enough at the top, smooth, soft and lightweight. And of course, the colors look great with my green Crocs. I wish I remembered the brand of these socks, I'd go buy more of them!

I found a good pattern for the bag fabric that I purchased to make a spring/summer bag. Only took me a month! At this rate it will be a summer/fall bag. Hopefully it will go together quickly enough. It is from The Sewing Workshop, the L2 bag. Oops, Oh my, I just looked at it in the pic on the website and it is way too big to carry around all the time, I'll have to resize it for my purposes... Fall/winter bag perhaps?

Yes, I am Working

Do It Anyways is my new motto.
It seems to be working pretty well since I've adopted it. Note, that it is different than the famous Nike "Just Do It."

Here is some proof that this new attitude is helping me out in the production department!

This is a closeup shot of a quilt made out of my hand-dyed and painted fabrics that I'm just finishing up. It will soon be travelling to Lappeenranta, Finland for the California Fiber Artists' show that is happening at the Taky Gallery in June. I am hoping that Taky does not = Tacky in the native tongue (grin).
And, sadly, no, I'm not going to Finland with my quilt (boohoo!), but I hope it has a good time and is snapped up by a wealthy Russian gallery-go-er...