2 Years of Sharing

Two years ago today my nephew, Peter, set up this weblog for me to share my art and techniques. It has, and is, serving my philosophy to pass on my knowledge and enthusiasm for "making stuff". It is most appropriate that this is the day four young friends could come over to play with me.Georgia decided to make a tree. She's working upside down so as not to disturb the pieces placed at the bottom. It's not a bad idea to work upside down at any time. It gives a different perspective to your work making it easier to spot weaknesses. Audrey decided to make a patchwork-like background.
Chewy was totally "into it" as you can tell by her body language.
Her mother, Katrina, was intrigued with the process. She's an artist and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to play with my "Ortwork" technique.
Here are their pieces pinned to the design wall.
Tomorrow they'll come back to quilt their creations. All three machines are set to go.

Back to the Lake AND to the Lake Series

It's been soooo long since I've posted AND even longer since I've added to the "100 Lake Series". There's a lull this week between visitors to the cottage. So here's the result of getting all my supplies and equipment set up in the studio that became just another room when the cottage was rented.

Lake #35

Making this piece was a struggle. It surprises me how out of the groove I can get when I'm away from creating for a length of time. The flow wasn't there ... I felt clumsy ... until I was well into the process.

Lake #35 construction

This one got the big cloud shadows that I've been observing on the lake since we got back.

The one below was the last lake piece made during the July 4th weekend. The day it was created felt like this one looks. It came together so easily while I was having a relaxed conversation with my daughter's-in-law mother. During the construction she would ask why I chose particular pieces ... she had her doubts about the greens I kept digging out of the bag. She was highly amused when after a few minutes of sifting and rummaging in the bag that all I'd come up with was just one little colored thread. I hadn't intended to add clouds, but she wanted to see how they were created, so they're there ... and it worked in the piece. My friendly observer liked the results so much she purchased it to hang in her bedroom in Wisconsin.

Lake #34

All of the lake pieces are for sale ... except for the seven that have already been sold. As they're purchased I'm putting a SOLD in that quilt photos caption in the Picasa lake albums. They can be bought either directly from me or the gallery, Good Good's.
There's a "GG" in the caption of those pieces in that gallery. Note that the complete caption is visible when you select the largest photo size in the upper right corner.

The price is $150. The pieces are all thirteen inches wide and vary from eleven to twelve inches high and are ready to hang. Any purchased from me will have NO extra charge for shipping. Sooooo, if there's a particular one that appeals to you, now you know how to make it yours.

Rainbows and BEARS!

Our two week stay here at the cabin outside the Rocky Mountain National Park ends tomorrow. Last night we were treated to a double rainbow after an afternoon of badly needed rain.
We have had the excitement of TWO encounters with bears. The first one appeared last Sunday mid-morning on our porch. We would've missed him except that Lee had gotten up from watching the British Open to adjust the TV and there he was on the other side of the screen door. By the time he called me and I got my camera functioning, the bear had already visited our neighbors porch and was on his way into the woods.A much larger bear visited the other evening to drink the hummingbird's water from the feeder hanging from the eves outside our window. Lee heard a noise and felt the cabin vibrate with a big thump. He turned on the porch light and threw open the curtains to see a large bear lumbering away and an empty feeder on the ground.
The next morning I discovered a souvenir left behind on the window pane ... two huge muddy paw prints.
I've had enough bear encounters. To read about my chasing one out this cabin a few years ago go here.

Pilgrimage to the Elvis Rock

A big item in the news this past week is the Elvis Rock.
It's been featured in multi media nationally, internationally, as well as locally.
Several people had emailed me about it and I had checked it out on the web. We read that the lady, LaDell Alexander, who had discovered the image of Elvis on this rock was in residence here in Estes Park. Lee called and asked if we could come see it in person ...
... a personal Presley Pilgimage.
A local geologist claims the Elvis Rock is pre-Cambrian granite and estimated its age at over three billion years old. Lee says this proves that Elvis was actually born three billion, forty-two years ago. Graceland is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Elvis's demise at age 42 next month. Obviously, they are wrong.

Rubbing and Pounding

I have done a lot of rubbing and pounding here in Colorado. Whenever we take a hike I carry along a square of muslin and a crayon to make rubbings from interesting surfaces ... mostly trees and logs.The poundings are of flowers and leaves. This one commemorates the area in which we stay.

Memories of Rockmount - 12"x 12"

It has crayon rubbings of surfaces within our cabin and the top rail of the bridge leading to it. The pounded flowers and leaves were picked from the shoreline of the stream as well as the basket hanging outside the cabin. It was gifted to the retiring managers of the complex.

I made two pieces from these rubbings and poundings that are similar to each other. Rubbings were painted to look like mountains. Each corner represents a time of day ... sunrise, noon, sunset, and night.
The first was made as a wedding present for my husband's cousin who was married in the mountains. The center of this one features wild flowers which the bride carried in her bouquet. It also has small stones from one of the hiking trails couched with metallic thread to the four corners of the center. This one was presented to my brother-in-law who has a house in Aspen for his 70th birthday.

It's center features pansies from his garden and Aspen leaves from the trees in his yard. The stones are from his collection that have been found in the mountains and then polished. I took a small selection from the basket in the guest room, telling him he'd get them back.
I had not treated the fabrics before pounding the flowers and leaves. The natural dye is strong at first, but fades. To ensure that the color lasts, I lightly colored the flowers and leaves with crayons and set the wax and pigment into the fabric with an iron.