Art and ideas for creative living
This time of year is my favorite for representational fabric painting. With my love of nature there is simply so much around me begging my brushes to mimic it. Normally I am teaching classes but since I have not opened up my studio for that yet, I thought you might enjoy a simple tutorial here.… Continue reading Painting fabric tutorial; autumn apples
On this day of commercialized romantic love I want to encourage the idea of self-love, of appreciating and embracing our own unique self. As a creative, when I am in my full self I can be quite quirky so am often dismissed. How about you? Enjoy this poem I wrote around this time in 2014… Continue reading Heart yourself!
Nature is art and art mimics nature. Never more so than in the ever-popular Art in Bloom concept presented in galleries and museums. Last night, The Concord Garden Club worked in tandem with the League of NH Craftsmen to create a beautiful reprieve from the winter chill with a colorful and fragrant display of art… Continue reading Art and Flowers
Analytical thought vs perceptual intuition. Linear vs abstract. Bookkeeping/emails vs art making. Because these opposites require the use of different sides of the brain to formulate, it has always been a tug of war for me managing the “responsible” activities in my artist’s life while keeping the creative juices flowing. It literally feels like I… Continue reading Switching Gears: left brain/right brain
I know of no other group of people that are more giving than quilters. On November 8th my sister Niña called me from her car as she and her boyfriend drove out of Paradise, California through the flames of the now infamous Camp Fire, leaving behind her home to burn to the ground. The horror and… Continue reading The Quilters Christmas Gift
It's all about the brushes and scissors and glue. But the what they don’t tell you about in “creative school” is your hands and neck and back. Conversation with myself: ME: Yes, yes, yes…color swirling, this way, blend, right-angles, numeric calculations, cut here, scrunch there… MYSELF: Ouch, no, dang it thumbs, ugh, no, bad neck… Continue reading The Ergonomics of being Creative
As David said, it wasn't cold enough in New Hampshire so we headed north to Montreal, Canada last week for a few days of snowy Christmas-y-ness in the historic old city. Cold it was—2º one morning—but walking in it added to the charm, invigorated one's spirits and burnt off a lot of calories! Let me… Continue reading Art and light of Christmas Montreal
I finally sat down, exhausted, and looked around me. Piles on the floor creeping towards me, carefully engineered desktop “filing” teetering, bags exploding over boxes, one inspiration after another layered on work surfaces…. I have done it again. I creatived myself into a mountain of mess. My mind never really stops. The creative ideas come… Continue reading In the mind of a creative
I haven't written much about my gardens this year. It has been a rough, slow start for most of them. My breast cancer slowed me down in the spring when I should have been tending to their new growth, the continual sprummer rain and darkness on beds that were planted for dryness and sun mooshed,… Continue reading End of summer gardens; lessons in life
Breast cancer; in case you were afraid to ask. It was sixteen days of radiation after a successful surgery…just in case. During a season when I had little time to be in the art studio, I just had to do something artistically expressive so I turned my daily shoes and accessory choices into an art… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. RECAP: lessons in art and life
Confetti falling from the sky, the roar of cheering crowds, bands playing... Not really but that is what it felt like on my last day of treatment. All my techs—past and present—were there, the nurses, the office staff and my doctor were there. And so were my shoes. Walking in past the clerical station.... Office… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 16
Frisky feet. Feelin' a little Italian yesterday, like kicking up some heels. It was my second to the last treatment. A friend who had just visited Italy once told me how amazed she was that the women there could manage walking on cobblestone streets in really high-heeled shoes. I thought I would channel the likes of Sophia.… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 15
Bitter-sweet today. Excited about the 3-day week-end marking my third-to-the-last treatment and also finding out that this was the last time I would see one of my techs. I hadn't anticipated the feeling of loss...these gals have become comrades. Bonds have formed; like being in the trenches together at DSW. But back to the story....… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 14
I felt like I was getting a cat-scan. Flat on my back, all eyes moving up and down my body from head to toe and back again. Tech: You kind of have a metallic thing going on today. Me in my head: Oh, is that what it is? I was just playing off the texture… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 13
Not-so-casual work day for me seeing clients. Decided to pull out the dashing cruel shoes that make a statement despite the pinching of older toes. It was worth it. New tech: Those are AWESOME! Old tech: Wow, those are awesome! Feeling very satisfied and accomplished I was magnanimously able to change the subject steering the… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 12
A day on the run for me—figuratively not literally. Have you seen me running on the road? I think not. My version of running; up and down the freeway, up and down the stairs, standing for hours, bending, lifting... I thought for sure someone would comment on my ergonomic asymetrical sneakers but apparently most everyone else besides… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 11
Day off yesterday and raining. I had planned a trip to the seacoast to take a long walk in the down pour with Claire and then both of us out to lunch with Jane (the other one). I needed dual-duty shoes. Nothing screams rain-and-out-to-lunch than a pair of red rubber boots! While seated in the… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 10
Techs: Look at those shoes...(looking harder, bending down, inhaling)...the insides are a different print!!! Me to myself: I didn't even remember that the insides were different. Yes, breath taking—if I do say so myself—and how fortunate that I thought to choose that dark eyeshadow in exactly the same shade. One never knows when the inside… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 9
Tech 1: We can't stop now. We're in too deep! ....said to the observing Nurse Coordinator who had just received the explanation for our shoe antics. Tech 2: Do you always change your toe nail polish to match? Me: No, but for this game I am. Techs: Wow. Out to the lobby where Delightful Woman… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 8
Well summer hit here today—94 degrees!—so it required sandals and a celebratory color. Since all the daffodils faded in the heat and I was not yet done with their cheery countenance, I decided to mimic them instead. People are amazed that a "winter" type coloring can wear yellow but my skin is quite golden and when a… Continue reading 16 ways, sixteen days. DAY 7