CreativeTherapy - Catalyst 25

Posted on | September 1, 2008 | 2 Comments

Catalyst 25 - Something I fear

CreativeThreapy’s 25th Catalyst was published yesterday. It’s “What is something you fear?”

This one was fairly easy for me. It’s something I live with regularly. One of my greatest fears is that there will be a time when I don’t bounce back from an exacerbation of my chronic illness.

There was a time quite a few years ago when I was not able to really do much of anything due to my illness. Now, however, I have learned to live within my energy levels. I am able to better predict and adapt to the ebbs and flows with my disease. This helps me to feel more at ease with it, but the fear that it will incapacitate me again is always there.

Technique: Pen and ink drawing with watercolor.

In the studio

Posted on | August 28, 2008 | 1 Comment

Quilt of Shipwreck Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

I’ve been hunkered down in the studio this week. I needed to just sit in the studio and be with myself and not out and about. And I’ve learned to honor those needs.

This week, I’ve been working on some projects that have been sitting around unfinished. For example, you may recall the quilt top I started months ago when Angie and I took a quilting class at a local retreat. It has been sitting in my studio moved from place to place until this week. The technique was quite different from what Jane taught us earlier this month. We used glue to baste the pieces together and then we were to do hidden hand stitching to finish it up and ready it for quilting. However, I found that the glue made the hand stitching tedious. Also, I had used many small pieces, which made it even more difficult to hand sew. This week, I decided I wanted to finish it and so I took it to the sewing machine and pieced it and then quilted it. I let it sit for a few days up on my bulletin board and I decided it was done and just needed a border. Today I finished up the binding and it’s finished!

Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz fabric collection - quilt in progress

I’ve also been working on a personal sewing project. I have always been a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz. And “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” has always been one of my favorite songs. When I saw that Quilted Treasures had Wizard of Oz licensed fabric, I came close to purchasing it several times, but I couldn’t figure out what I’d do with it.

Well, finally, after seeing the fabric in real life at my local fabric store, I caved and bought some of what they had. I don’t regret that decision at all! Quilting up these images makes me smile. The hope and dreams evoked by the scene in which Dorothy sings “Over the Rainbow” always makes me smile. Having it hang in my studio will be extremely uplifting! To the right is the beginning of this project. It’s in process, so there’s a lot more to do. I think I finally figured out how to make it work, but it will require some experimentation. When I finish, I’ll be sure to share it here.

I’ve also been working on some CreativeTherapy catalysts. You’ll see those in the next few weeks, when they are published on the CT blog. I hope to do more drawing and painting in the next few days.

In addition to the work in the studio, I’ve had some housekeeping stuff to do - the car needed service; the sprinklers and French doors will be installed next week. The following week is my treatment, so I’m glad to get it all done in the next week.

Overall, It’s been a busy but good week. I’ve been feeling pretty good and I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend with Dave.

CreativeTherapy - Catalyst 24

Posted on | August 24, 2008 | 3 Comments

This week’s CreativeTherapy catalyst is “What inspires you?”

New Day

It was difficult to pick just one thing that inspires me. So many things inspire me - feeling healthy, the smile on my husband’s face, new art supplies, looking out my studio window… It’s a different thing each day. So I realized that the best way to say this is to paint a sunrise. Each morning’s possibilities inspire me. Each day I have an opportunity to look at the world in a new way and to figure out how to represent it in my art.

Technique:
Painting in watercolor on cold press watercolor paper.

Face Lift

Posted on | August 22, 2008 | 3 Comments

Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France

No, not me. And not the Musee d’Orsay (pictured to the left as some eye candy!) My blog! A big thanks to Tracey, owner of eeep! productions, my web designer. Tracey and I realized that it had been two years since I changed my blog up. TWO YEARS! That’s far too long for a site to go without a bit of a touch-up. And besides, my art has changed so much in the past two years. So, we decided it was time for a change. So, here we are. New banner, new format, but the same art and purpose. I hope you’ll continue to visit and see what I have been up to!

Thursday already?

Posted on | August 21, 2008 | 2 Comments

New hairstyle, thanks to Angie

I can hardly believe this week has gone by so quickly! On Wednesday morning, Angie came over and trimmed up my hair to hide some of the thinning that’s gotten even worse. I didn’t expect the medications to help immediately, but I sure didn’t expect it to continue to fall out at the rate it is. The hair cut has made a huge difference. I still feel a need to wear something to cover the front and top of my head, but I also don’t feel like I can only wear hats. (Though, as you know from a post last week, I love hats!)

The past few days I’ve done a lot around the house and in the studio. We scheduled for the sprinkler guys to come and make some adjustments to our system, got an electrician in, and ordered a new door for the patio so we will have a French door, rather than a sliding door. We don’t use our patio and pool area enough because you need two hands to open up the sliding glass door the house came with. We suspect we’ll use the patio much more in the fall when we can get out there with a cup of coffee in our hands at the same time!

I’ve done a lot of organizing in the studio, as well. A lot of cleaning up and organizing. I even freecycled some things. There’s a lot more to freecycle, but at least I’m on the right track. Moving things around and placing them where I can find them is such a relief. And the studio feels much more open with each thing I remove. It’s been a great process - one that will continue, I’m sure, for a while. I’ll try to take photos this weekend.

I’ll check in more soon… I just wanted to share my joy at the change and movement that’s happening around here!

Landscape Quilt Completed

Posted on | August 19, 2008 | 5 Comments

"Under the Sea" Landscape quilt 11" x 8.5"

Today I am happy to say that I completed my landscape quilt from Jane LaFazio’s class at Art Unraveled. The whole thing is hand stitched. It’s the first time I’ve ever hand-pieced a quilt and then added lots of embroidery. It was the perfect project for sitting and recovering from my treatment. It’s an abstract landscape, which was what I was going for. The embroidery added to the abstraction, and as I just went with it, I found it becoming an undersea landscape. I had thought about adding beads or buttons, but right now, I think it will stay this way for a while. I might change my mind at a later date, but for now, this is just what I want.

I got ot see Angie today for the first time since Art Unraveled. We spent the morning talking and catching up. Then we went to lunch. It was so nice to catch up with Angie and to just be together!

CreativeTherapy Catalyst 23

Posted on | August 17, 2008 | 2 Comments

This week’s CreativeTherapy Catalyst has just been posted. Do be sure to visit and participate by sharing your response to this week’s catalyst, “What do you collect or hoard?”

Catalyst 23 - What I collect/hoard

Catalyst 23
Journaling:
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the history of things, especially vintage train cases and old photographs. I can’t resist them! I have 6 or 8 train cases, one is my MIL’s, two others are from my grandmothers, and others I have collected at thrift stores and antique shops along the way. I have a lot of photographs from my family, but I also can’t resist a really cool photo in a thrift store. So, I have a whole train case filled with photographs of those people whose relatives let them “go”.

My other train cases hold other vintage ephemera - book pages in different languages, old newspaper, vintage sewing patterns, and collage sheets from these vintage pieces.

Technique highlight:
Drawing on cold press paper in Pigma Micron, watercolor using Sakura Koi watercolors.

CreativeTherapy Catalyst 22

Posted on | August 12, 2008 | 3 Comments

Oh my goodness! All the excitement of Art Unraveled got me off schedule in publishing the CreativeTherapy catalyst for this week, so here it is: What is your greatest accomplishment?

Catalyst 22 - My Greatest Accomplishment

Here is my response:

Biggest accomplishment? This was hard to choose. From a professional and educational standpoint, I have accomplished a lot in my 40 years. The first thing that came to my mind was the usual - graduating from college and grad school. I did accomplish all of those things through the usual hurdles and additional ones that my chronic illness created, as well. But that didn’t feel right.

So I kept thinking. And I thought about all of the things that have happened since my education has been completed. I realized that who I am now is really the result of learning to take care of myself. In the past, I have taken care of others and their needs much to the detriment of my own. These days, however, I am mindful of my body, heart, and soul and the needs I have. I have learned self-care and that, I think is the greatest thing I have accomplished to date.

Technique Highlight:

Collaged background on watercolor paper. Doodles over the collage work to create new shapes. Sakura’s Gelly Roll Glaze pens and Pigma Microns for doodling.

Post-Art Unraveled

Posted on | August 12, 2008 | 8 Comments

Hat made by Lorri Scott and Jen Witmer

Wow! What a week! Art Unraveled 2008 is officially over. And while I had a lovely time and I did my best to watch my energy levels, I’m exhausted. No surprise after 12 days of friends, art, and shopping! It was well worth the time and energy. I had a lovely time seeing so many out of town friends - Katie, Judy, Shirley, Joanne, Kara, Marilyn, Tracie Lyn, Lorri… just to name a few and then to catch up with dear Maija and Angie. I really can’t say enough about them! And meeting others - Jane, Barbara and so many others I can’t even begin to list them all! In short, it was wonderful. Art Unraveled is a relaxing, energizing, and completely creative! It was so much fun to see everyone, to play with my friends, and to have meals with my friends. I did a lot of smiling, talking, laughing, and listening. It was truly fabulous.

And I had a great time at the Extravaganza vendor fair, too. I had asked Lorri if I could sit by her booth so I could rest when I got tired, and that was a blessing. I got to spend more time with Joanne, who was staffing the booth while Lorri taught and it helped me to spend the day there without being completely off balance and tired. The best part was that Lorri sold the most fabulous hats, pins, hand-dyed ribbons, and scarves. I immediately bought the hat and later ended up choosing which pin I needed to have. Isn’t that adorable? I’ve also requested the same style in another color. With the hair loss, I am going to need some hats and other hair-covering accessories for a while, and these are so comfortable!

Oh, and on the hair loss… I’m waiting to hear from the dermatologist, who took a some blood for several tests. It turns out that the hair loss is not from the medication as we thought. My dosages haven’t changed in two years and so that’s not what caused it. Something is going on in my body and we’ll take this as a symptom. The blood test results need to come back before we can figure out what’s causing the problem, but the dermatologist was fabulous and said I will not be bald. I may lose all my hair before this is over, but I won’t be bald permanently. That’s a relief. For now, I’m going to enjoy accessorizing with scarves and hats.

I’ve been working on the quilts from Jane’s class - doing some hand-embellishing, which I am really enjoying. I also did some work on some dolls I made, but they’re not quite finished yet. I hope to finish those in the next few days so I can post them here and on Etsy.

And tomorrow is my treatment - perfect timing after the 12 days of fun with friends and diminished energy! I’ll check in when the initial fatigue wears off.

More to share

Posted on | August 7, 2008 | 4 Comments

My new purse!

Today I was inspired to use the pieces of a purse I had started to make several months ago. I was making a lot of totes, but I wanted something that was more of a purse - with a closure. I started it and then I couldn’t figure out how to finish it. Until yesterday, that is. Joanne took a class from Kathy Cano-Murillo, the Crafty Chica. In the class, she made a collage purse and I finally knew what I needed to do to make my purse work! I added a piece in the front to highlight the fabric collage I made from vintage kimono fabrics and I added the strap. I’ll be testing out this purse tonight at Art Unraveled. It matches the tote I made for myself back in December, so that’s kind of fun, too.

I do wish I had pockets inside, so I might try to alter it some more to add a liner with a pocket or four… But still, it is a fun purse, especially, for Art Unraveled and other artistic endeavors!

Have a great day, all!