MERRY CHRISTMAS

Here's my favorite Christmas quote of all time:  "If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary? For each one of us, there is a desert to travel. A star to discover. And a being within ourselves to bring to life.--author unknown

WINTER SOLSTICE FULL MOON

                                           photo taken in the foothills of Pikes Peak

I can't believe it has been well over a month since my last post. Life has been very FULL lately. During this past month I have traveled with my son and husband to the Seattle region to look at colleges. Came home to celebrate Thanksgiving and then head out again to New Orleans to help care for my mom. Came home from that and was thrust into Christmas planning and the return of my daughter from Italy and her study abroad adventure. Luckily she got home hours before the horrible weather broke loose in Europe. So thankful to have her home and to have a FULL nest again. Needless to say I have done very little art and it is making me restless and anxious and with little direction on where I want to go with my art next. So I'm taking advantage of these dark days to ponder my path. And I am hoping for some light to illuminate the way.

WORK IN PROGRESS AND LEARNING TO EDIT DETAILS

During the summer my brother sent me a copy of a photograph he took several years ago while visiting me in Colorado. He asked me If I could needle felt this landscape for him. "Sure" I said, no problem. Being the detail perfectionist that I am, the more and more I looked at the photo, the more anxious I became. Why didn't he just ask me to paint a picture? I could have done that and captured many of the details. But needle felting is different. Capturing all those trees and rocks, etc, etc. is not easy with roving and a barbed needle. And I had to make it more difficult because I HAD TO CAPTURE ALL THE DETAILS OR IT WOULDN'T BE GOOD ENOUGH! So the photograph has sat on my worktable for months until a few weeks ago it dawned on my poor perfectionist self that I didn't have to capture ALL the details. I could EDIT out some things and still stay true to the beauty of the scene. This is such a hard concept for me to wrap my head around. Instead of recognizing the limitations of the medium, I would rather get down on myself and think that if I was a better needle felter I would be able to make a perfect replica of the photo. Not a good way to think. Only hurts myself and keeps me from moving forward.

 But I told myself that I should just try. Play with it. If it didn't work, I could always make up some story about why it couldn't be done. I could also, do a sample, see how it went, maybe do another and another. Just play and see what happens. And slowly but surely, I began to edit out unnecessary parts and came up with this.

 Here's a closeup.

I'm happy with it so far. I am resisting going back and adding more details. Keep telling myself to just let it be what it is.
Moral of this story:  IN LIFE AND IN ART, EDIT OUT UNNECESSARY DETAILS AND FOCUS ON WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.

TUESDAY TEXTURE SHOT--JENNY FIELDS FIBERS

One of my latest Etsy shop finds is Jenny Fields Fibers. This photograph is of a luscious art batt I recently purchased. The colors and variety of fibers makes for  great TEXTURE. It reminds me of the canyon walls around my home. Can't wait to use it in a felted landscape. Jenny's shop address is http://jenny13.etsy.com/ . Have fun looking through her shop.

10 THINGS I LEARNED IN THE COTH TO CLOTH WORKSHOP

1. Everything old is new again. Old fabric, old clothes, old linens and lace. Old cloth to new cloth.

2. Look below the surface. You never know what you'll find.

 3. I've always loved handstitching--now more than ever.

4. Never throw away your scraps.
5. Slow down; enjoy the process; accept where you are in the process.
6. Cloth has a story to tell.
7. Listen to the cloth. It will tell you what to do next.
8. All learning should include some fun along the way.

 9. Jude Hill is a great teacher.
10. The end is just the beginning.

TUESDAY TEXTURE SHOT--LEAVES

Go kick up some leaves.               

TUESDAY TEXTURE SHOT--LAST PORTULACAS OF THE SEASON

When I was a little girl I loved to go to my grandmother's house and play in her backyard. It wasn't much of a yard. More of a cement slab, no grass,  but flower beds around the perimeter and lots of pots of flowers. I vividly remember coming out of her back door and seeing a large white enamel dishpan with red trim filled with portulacas. Today these are still one of my favorite flowers. I think it is because of the variety of colors they come in and because of the sweetness of the flowers. They are precious little  rose- like flowers that bloom all summer long in hot dry climates.  When I moved to Colorado I started planting  them every summer in honor of my grandmother. I was lucky enough to find a dishpan just like my grandmother's tucked away in a cabinet of our mountain cabin. When my husband and I bought the cabin, the contents came with the structure. Most of it was junk which we promptly got rid of. But when I came across the dishpan I was so happy you would have thought I had discovered gold in them there hills. But this lowly dishpan has become one of my most treasured items because of the joy it brings me when I plant portulacas for my grandmother, and the fond memories it brings back of being in her yard on a hot, sultry New Orleans summer day

The flowers are sweet and silky. But the sprawling stems are succulent with cylindrical leaves that provide beautiful TEXTURE in the garden. Tonight will be our first freeze so I took these photographs to put in my journal.  So when I'm knee deep in snow this winter, I'll have a picture to remind me of one of summer's great pleasures.