button making

This week saw me knit some more, finish another painting and start another. I also made some buttons for some of the knitting. I used a fallen branch someone had put in the back alley and my darling man whittled it down and dried it out for me.


I then cut off pieces and sanded them down - little round coins that were perfect button sizes. I then rubbed them with olive oil to bring out the grain and drilled some holes in them. Voila... buttons and beads for my neck warmers.

This is the painting I finished - again in the chakra tradition. It spoke so clearly to me of my friend, a homeopath that works with intuition and energy.

I put a sign up in her office advertising my work - I've called the whole process 'intuitive renderings' - a process where I express the individual vibrations and nuances of those who commission the piece. I can see and feel these energetic patterns as they become manifest through the painting and I imbue the work with healing energy.

It really is a humbling experience. Without fail, I stand back after a painting is done and I can not believe that my hand took part in its creation.


I am sure I have more to write, but it seems my kids have woken the sick baby up.

more later.

the creative muse and neck warmers

I've been laying low for the week - I will blame it on the weather!! It has snowed here and then got quite chilly and instead of painting, I've been knitting!!



I got the hankering for a neck warmer - like a scarf, just smaller. There are some beautiful pieces on Etsy, which is another past time I enjoy when it is chilly and I find myself with cup of tea in hand trying to keep warm.

But then I got to thinking, I do know how to knit. How hard can it be to knit a scarf? Well, not that hard at all really. And now that my little people are a little more independent and I can put my knitting down and not have one of these little people pull it off the needles, what was I looking on Etsy for?

So, I've been knitting. I made one for me out of some beautiful wool I had been given years ago. It was a skein of hand dyed, hand spun alpaca/merino wool. Gorgeous.



Then my darling daughter wanted one...





and then a friend of mine who owns a consignment store in town, http://shopatlilsprouts.com/ said she would carry them. And before I knew it, I've spent the week with the click clack of knitting needles. I love that sound - for me it is very comforting because it reminds me of my mum. She has always knitted and I loved falling asleep with my head on her lap with the rhythm of the needles as they moved, clickety clackety.


So, here is what I've done after a week!! My fingers actually hurt!! Next project - to make some wooden buttons to add as decorations for future creations!



It really is interesting what happens when you invite the creative energy of the universe to flow through you.



(Autumn wants to keep them all!! My hands will be busy if I have to keep her in neck warmers as well as make some to sell)

sunset

This is the view out of our front door the other night, just as we were sitting down to dinner. Of course, I had to grab my camera and take a couple of shots. So beautiful.

I'm painting today - but feeling a bit restless. My star sign says to get detail orientated things done before lunch and then to give in to the wanderlust this afternoon.

Might be a good plan.

What adventures shall I have? MMMMMmmmmm????

But in the mean time, I just had to share these photos.

feeling blah - but look out the window

Today I'm officially on lazy duty. I have to have a small procedure tomorrow - a colonoscopy. And that means a total clean out of my colon! Not so fun. About an hour ago, I would have said the worst part was the no eating. I am so hungry and it isnt nice to have to feed the kids while being restricted to a clear fluid diet. But now that the bowel prep is doing its job and I have said goodbye to last night's dinner, that is now my least favourite part of the day. Of course, there is still dinner to be made and lucky me, I get to eat jelly. !! But JP (lovely man that he is) has promised to pick something up for him and the kids. Something deep fried and delicious smelling. Bastard!! I'm salivating at the thought of it now.

Perhaps I will hide out downstairs when they eat.

And in the mean time, to take my mind off how dreadful I feel, I have a frivolous magazine that arrived in the mail today. Full of design and pretty pictures. I never read a single word - I just look at the pictures. And for when I'm feeling a little ill, there is the view outside. Lots of sloppy wet snow. Even after 8 years in Canada, I still love watching the snow.

So, really, it is all about the perspective.

Have a wonderful day.

Paper Making

On Saturday morning, I found myself wanting to finish some projects. The ones on the 'to do' list - you know that list. So, I got all of the stale bread out of the freezer and turned that into breadcrumbs. I also made a batch of granola - enough to last about 8 weeks. mmm. And finally, I attempted the papermaking I have been thinking about for so long. All in all, a messy day.

With camera on hand, I jumped on in. I figured that photos of the adventure would be much more interesting that a dialogue on the mess!!

I used an old photo frame that I had and a piece of fly screen that was left over from a summer project.

After I banged it all together, I pulled out the blender - old choppy and I filled it with torn up paper.

- and what better paper to recycle than my statistics notes!!

I knew that the ink from the notes would come through - but I wanted to see the effect before I started ripping up good white paper that could still be drawn on.

There was one minor glitch - remember the blender came with no lid. I had a tupperware lid over the top, but I very quickly learnt that you need to hang on pretty tight. Old choppy has quite the kick.

My first try was very thick - I just dumped all of the pulp into the screen.


Then I played around with some colour and my flower petals. To my second batch of paper, I added the sunflower petals, the blue cornflowers and some yellow food colouring.


The yellow food colouring didnt really take - might need to start with yellow paper to see it in the final product. But I really liked the little blue cornflowers - they worked perfectly.


Seeing as the paper was so thick, it didnt dry fully in the first 24 hours - so I put it on the dryer. This worked really well and the paper was good to work with after another day.

The paper is very stiff now =- and thick like cardboard. So a little more room to play with the consistency. And there is the slight issue with mess. At least working with watercolour, everything is contained and easy to clean up. I just tip out the jar of water when I'm done. Perhaps I need a little more room that just the corner I currently occupy. Do you think the kids would mind if I took over the computer table? mmmm

Now, to make something with the paper. !!