Blog-a-long day 21/30 - Creative fun

Inspiration Cards

Sample of Butterfly's that will be used on Inspiration Cards

Before I get to the main subject of this blog, I just need a moment....WOOHOO 21 days of posting. Wow, major accomplishment!!!!  Ok, I am better now.

The pictures above represent a project I am working on that needs to be finished by the end of the month.  I am well on my way to making that goal.  Inspiration cards are a lot of fun to make and very soothing for me.  This is my second time participating in the Inspiration Card Swap.  The premise is that you take a deck of cards and decorate them.  Include and inspirational quote, send your completed deck to the curator who divides them among the participants and mails you a completed deck.

The first deck I completed was completely collaged with painted deli paper.  This time I decided to paint the cards.  So after coating each card in the deck with gesso, I chose 4 main color palettes for painting.  I allowed 1 hour for the acrylic paint to dry and then painted the edge with archival ink from ink pads using sponges.  The top butterfly's are from a stash of stickers I had, but since I am on a use what you have journey, the second picture reflects butterflies that I die cut using my big shot die cutting machine.  I cannot tell you how much fun I am having making these cards.  The theme is song lyrics and my lyrics related to Butterflies are from Mariah Carey and -Jamiroqual.

I forgot to use this one so I am going to print it here.

Come my Lady

Come Come my Lady

You’re my butterfly

Sugar Baby

-Crazy Town

The above lyrics are from the opening song from one of my favorite movies "Something's Gotta Give."

 

Creative fun takes many forms, paintings, art journaling, designing and creating greetings cards or participating in a card swap.  Your mind races, your hands fly and you embrace the finished project.

 

When the project has been completed and mailed, I will post a picture of  the cards.

 

As you work on your assignments today, whether it is clean the house, wash dishes or make an exquisite piece of art, remember to have creative fun.

Blog-a-long day 20/30: Random Thoughts Tuesday-Beauty in Simplicity

In Orvieto, Italy there is an art college from Boston (I forgot the name) that has students studying abroad.  As we toured the campus we came across these masks that were hanging on a rustic wall out side of the school.  The entire city of Orvieto, with it's ancient Etruscan Tombs, narrow cobble stone streets, twice weekly farmer's markets in one of the many public squares and the massive Duomo, is an excellent backdrop for artistic endeavors.

I was struck by the simplicity of the arrangement of the masks and the substrate on which they were hung.

There is great beauty in simplicity.

Blog-a-long 19/30 - Lee Daniel's The Butler

Forrest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines - The Butler

On Saturday I went to see the movie The Butler.  It was the first time I have ever gone to see a movie on opening weekend.  So when the numbers were listed this morning that it had topped the Box office with $25 million dollars I was proud to be a part of it winning the number one spot for the weekend.

Let me start by saying I love Forrest Whitaker.  He is an excellent actor with the most expressive face which was a great asset for this movie.

The Butler covers a period spanning from 1926 to 2008.  Cecil Gaines was a young boy working in the cotton fields of Macon, Georgia (my family is from this area). The son of the owner of the cotton farm raped Cecil's mother on a regular basis.  When his father tried to speak up for his wife, the owner's son killed him, and his mother had a nervous breakdown.  The owner's wife took Cecil to the main house and taught him to serve.  Her main lesson was to tell him that he must learn to be invisible, the guests must never know he was in the room.  He called upon this lesson often when he became a butler in the White House.

This movie was very emotional for me.  In addition to chronicling the life of Mr. Gaines, it also showed very eloquently the struggle between the African-American generation of the 20's and 30's who were taught to be seen and not heard and the young African Americans of the late 50's and 60's who wanted to be seen and heard during the Civil Rights Movement.  I remember my father not allowing me to wear an Afro hair style in 1969.  As long as I lived in his house I had to follow his rules. I also remember being told that in order to get promotions and be taken seriously on my job I had to stop wearing my big Afro.

This movie was a reality gut check for me.  It brought tears to my eyes and left me feeling very somber.  As an African American I can never forget where I come from and that I am very proud to be who I am.

 After serving eight  Presidents Cecil Gaines retired.  He campaigned for President Obama as best he could given his advanced age and went to the Inauguration.  He echoed what many felt, never in my lifetime could I have dreamed we would have an African American President. 

Cecil Gaines was  man of dignity and strength.  In his own humble way he was a Civil Rights Pioneer.  The movie the Butler made me very proud.

Blog-a-long day 18/30 - Family comes in all sizes

Photo of Painting in Vatican Museum

 

 

I was sitting in Church today for the first time in six weeks.  I have been going to my Church, St. Thomas More Catholic Community for six years.  During that time I have made many friends.  When I moved to the Las Vegas area I knew two people.  My best friend since 5th grade and her husband.  Everyone else important to me lived over 2100 miles away.

 

Over time when I started attending the same Mass, 8 am on Sundays.  Sitting in the same area with the same group of people.  They become your church family.  You give them a hug every Sunday, ask about them when they are missing and give them a big hug when they return.

 

That is what happened to me today.  I had not seen my buddy's since June 23rd and so when I sat in my normal seat today I got hugs, "welcome back", and we missed you from everyone.  It was so heart warming to see just how much I was missed, but even more important it was so heartwarming to be connected again with my "family."



Blog-a-long day 17/30 - Overcoming Fears

I have posted this painting before, but looking at it makes me understand the thoughts and yearnings I have been having.  I have been taking a lot of on-line classes this year learning to paint and draw.  In these classes we use the inspiration of the teacher to create a work of art and it has been great; however, I have this sincere desire to just pick up the paint and paint brush and just paint something coming from me.  This strikes great fear because I do not know if I have it in me, 

The picture above was painted in a painting class I took and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas  three years ago.  The teacher showed us a similar picture and said in three hours we would have a painting done.  The first thing that came to my mind was "No way Jose"  I would not be able to do it.  Needless to say I did complete the painting.  It is done on 18x24 watercolor paper using acrylic paint.

I want to uae a photo that I have taken and do an interpretation with paint, so I am giving myself an assignment.  My birthday is Nov. 14th and I am painting a birthday present to myself.  I am giving myself permission to try and I promise to post the painting no matter the result.

Overcoming my fears has been a lifelong struggle but I refuse to give up.  If I can conquer cancer, I can do anything.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day

Blog-a-long day 16/30: Photo Friday - Train Ride Home

Fishing on the Colorado

Country Side from the Train

Photo's shown today were taken from the train as I made my way home to Michigan in July.  I was on the California Zephyr which sojourns through the Colorado Rockies.  I love the terrain and moving slowly by the Colorado River for miles upon miles.

Enjoy

Blog-a-long day 15/30 - Tummy Wins

The picture above is a close up of a portion of the wall of the Duomo in Orvieto, Italy.  I was attracted to it by the pattern.  It is both intricate and simple at the same time.  In my life I have noticed certain patterns that are also intricate and simple at the same time.

For example for the past 6 weeks I was on vacation.  5 weeks at my daughters house and 6 days in Chicago.  I ate very sensibly during that time period and lost 8 pounds.  I am on a quest to lose weight in a sensible manner.  Been home since Monday the 12th and I started slowly creeping back into old patters of behavior.  Eating what I know is not good for me.  WELL, let me tell you my tummy rebelled this morning.  It told me NO MORE.  "I will not accept items too high in sodium, I WILL NOT accept processed meats.  No, No, No, it you don't have the sense to understand this, then I will SHOW you."  And I spent an hour losing everything but my kidneys (at least it seemed like it).  I got the message, time to change my pattern of eating for good. No more processed meats, drink much more water, eat my fruit and veggies. 

I have to make my goal for good-self care more than just "empty words".  I have to change the pattern that says I am not worthy, that self care is something others do.  It is for me too.  Starting with little steps and moving on to bigger ones.  I have to make the patterns of my life beautiful and much less complicated.  No matter how many times I have to start over to get it right, I just have to take a deep breath and carry on.

As I sit here sipping ginger ale to settle my stomach, I understand just how important it is to make friends with my Tummy.  Sorry Tummy, please forgive me, I promise to treat you better.

Blog-a-long 14/30 Never Waste Paint

I watch a lot of videos by artists and most of them do the same thing.  They do not waste paint.  Artists like Jessica Sporn, Diane Reaveley, and Christine Urias all mention that they keep a journal handy to place the paint not used.  They use brayers, put stencils on blank pages to blot off excess paint, rub their palettes on the blank page to make backgrounds.  I watched but did not really pay attention until Monday night.  I was working on a journal page and had excess paint on two or three small palettes.  The light bulb finally went off and I pulled out my journal by Diane Reaveley.  I took the Palettes and rubbed them on the page above.  It made for an amazing (if I say so myself) background page.  From now on I am going to keep this book on the table beside me to catch all of excess paint.  Then I will be able to journal in my book with the pages in various stages of preparation.

I love learning lessons and this one is the best.  Not only does it save money, it also makes me use the journals I have on my shelf begging for attention. Hmmm, what other lessons will I learn as I make this journey through discovering my creativity?  Only time will tell.

Blog-a-long 13/30: Random Thoughts Tuesday Giving Myself Permission

First weaving project, a photo by momoo50 on Flickr.


I have the tendency to want to do everything perfectly and many times perfection is no realistic.  One of the classes I took at Stitches Midwest was making the Log Cabin Scarf on the rigid heddle loom.  My goal for taking weaving classes was to learn how to warp a loom.  I bought a rigid heddle loom about 5 years ago and the teacher a the neighborhood yarn shop moved to Utah soon afterward so the loom has been in storage, and I wanted to learn how to use it.  I love the feel of the fabric made from weaving.  Anyhoo back to the Log Cabin Scarf.

I entered the classroom with a negative attitude convinced that I would not be able to do the work.  In fact I had decided that I would leave the class if it go to be too much.  Well, suffice it to say my self fulfilling prophecy was coming true at the beginning.  I liked the warping process but my warp stand fell on the floor with my yarns still on it.  The turquoise was tied off so it did not suffer from the fall.  The coppery orange was not finished so it became raveled and I had to start over.  No problem because I had gotten comfortable with wrapping the warp.  I followed the other steps to get the loom set for weaving, I was slow and that made me feel inadequate.  My inner critic kept telling me to just give up.  I finally caught up by spending part of lunch working.  So when class began again I was ready to weave.

The Log Cabin design required the use of two shuttles and you have to remember which one goes on top and the bottom so that you can wrap the yarn. After many starts and stops I think I got the first 6 pairs done (I could not figure out how to count).  We had a wonderful teacher Debbie Jarchow.  She was very patient and encouraging.   Well she was showing us finished products and mentioned that many times she varied the pattern on her scarves and that we did not have to stick to the log cabin pattern.  Lights and bells went off in my head.  I immediately changed directions.  I used one shuttle back and forth, back and forth.  I switched colors so that turquoise was dominant and then the coppery orange.  It was wonderful and freeing.  I sat at my loom humming and smiling.  I had given myself permission to let go and just enjoy the process.  I had given myself permission to embrace my own design and just have fun.  The picture above is the outcome.  Because I waited so long to change I did not get a chance to make a 72 inch scarf, but it is long enough to wear especially with the fringe.

I learned to quiet my inner critic, not give up and give myself permission to just plain old have fun.  I thank Debbie for her kindness and understanding.

Blog-a-long day 12/30 - Home at last

I am home....I was away for 6 weeks and I missed my little apartment.  The picture above is over my fireplace.  It is a space of honor for the artwork of friends.  I really try to support my friends in their artist endeavors.  It is important to show how much they mean to you and just how much you admire and cherish their creativity.  It will take me a couple of days to rest and get back to regular blogging, but for now, I am just enjoying the process.

Blog-a-long day 11/30 - Beading Sampler

What I did on my Vacation (smile). Seriously, this is a sampler I made in the class related to adding beads to knitted items,  It was so interesting to see how you manipulate the stitches can affect the look of the beads,  Pony beads were a main part of this process so that we could see exactly how the beads look and understand the over all effect.

Such a fun class and time.

Blog-a-long day 10/30

Outside of Renaissance Marriott in Schaumburg Illinois, site of Stitches Midwest a wonderful venue for knitters and crochet.