Studio Notes

Atom's Monster

2012-02-24T19:47:00.001-08:00

Who are your monsters?

Four year old Atom's monsters came at him in a dream that woke up the whole household--and inspired a story that eventually became a picture book for children and an inspiration for me when facing my own monsters. Atom's Monster features a brave little boy who shoots the invading monster--only to find that the monster is now blocking his door and he can't get out . An unlikely friend (a troll) helps him face his fear (a dragon) and solve the problem.
This story I wrote, illustrated and published when my boys were little, came to mind again when I read Mira Reisberg's article on monsters and facing them on in her post on the blog The Abundant Artist.

I still use the technique of "loving the dragon" to face those people who want to derail my life, and to keep from being blown away when the car was totaled and the computer crashed--again.

A Torn Heart Lets in the Universe

2012-02-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

It was on Valentines day that my beloved was diagnosed with lung cancer and told he would have to have part of his lung removed. I finished hemming this, my first ever painting on silk, while he was in surgery, and put it over him when he was in ICU. He told me later that whenever he was in pain, he would put this piece of silk over his chest and it would make him feel better.

I hung this piece at the Vashon Fiber Arts Collective--which we have renamed Vashon Common Threads--for the month of February, and I was telling someone it's story today. She said, "You are lucky to have each other." I did not tell her the surgery did not save Bob's life and he has been gone these 6 1/2 years. Instead I said simply, "Yes....we are."

A Whole New Mind!

2012-02-09T11:50:00.012-08:00


Spiral Zentangle I so love doing spirals lately!

Good news! The right Brain is no longer the ugly step child of the mind! We are now in "the Age of Art and Heart", according to Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, where things like intuition, anecdote, art, and other right brain skills are no longer shunned or scorned, but very much needed.

Daniel catagorizes (uh oh--left brain activity) right brain skills into six "senses":
*Play (which included humor, games, and just plain joy)
*Design (the marriage of utility and beauty)
*Symphony (the ability to put different pieces together into a new creation)
*Story (gathering meaningless facts into a meaningful context)
*Empathy (I call it Divine Love)
*Meaning (includes spirituality)

I'm not sure I would divide things out quite this way, but I sure do find it encouraging to find that some of the ways of thinking I have struggled to find recognition for, and which I am quite good at, are on his list. He even has stories about why and how they increase a business's profitability!

Silk Scarves--Meaningful or Just a Luxury?

2012-02-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with how to make my art meaningful and of real service to people. Somehow scarves, even hand painted silk scarves such as I make, don't seem ....well, they seem like just a luxury. How can they REALLY make a person's life better or help her through life challenges?

Amy Wilson Cavaness gave me these encouraging words:

Take it from me---sometimes a beautiful piece of fabric wrapped

around my body means a great deal to me----the colors touch me

in some emotional way, I feel beautiful, I feel special, I'm able to express

something about myself by the way I wear it----a beautiful scarf

isn't necessarily "just a luxury". Even plaques with words on them

really have no meaning unless those words mean something special

to an individual at that moment.

Thank you, Amy.

The Jump!

2012-02-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

The other day I took a flying leap onto a wet driftwood log--and now I have a big purple bruise on my thigh! My feet slipped out from under me, and I did go flying, with a rather abrupt landing!

I thought the lesson was "don't be in such a rush!", as I was hurrying to join friends on the beach for our morning Qi Gung. Emiliana Torrini got me thinking about this jump --or jumping in general--in a new way, with this song and video.

On Fear

2012-02-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

First I thought, I’m not afraid of anything. Then I realized my stomach has been out of order ever since this class started, which triggered fears of cancer. Then I realized my stomach is out of order due to excitement and–yes–fear!

I have wanted to be an illustrator since I was 14, but have never quite been able to get it together. I freeze up! And here I am again, with an illustration project for a friend (after putting illustration aside for 2 years) at the same time I’m taking this ecourse that I’m pinning my hopes on–and I’m freezing up!

So what am I really afraid of here? I am afraid of not being able to express what I came to this earth to do–and at the same time, I’m afraid of expressing it. I’m afraid I won’t get to do it and afraid that I will do it! Weird, huh?

I’m not so much afraid my work will not be accepted by others; I’m afraid it won’t be good enough for me! It won’t come out the way I see it in my head/heart.

Looking at the World through a Heart Shaped Hole

2012-01-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'm looking at the world through a Heart Shaped Hole.

I was at a Silent Retreat last weekend. It takes awhile for the words to leak out of one's mind and to reach the place of silence, of before words. What treasures there are when one finally does reach that place!

This little zentangle came from that place. In the Silence, I put pen to paper until this came out. It is called "Looking at the world through a Heart Shaped Hole". I am looking at the world through a heart shaped hole, through eyes of Loving. If "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", then the whole world is so beautiful when I look at it through eyes of Loving!

I'm working this into a painting on silk, using both raw silk and silk charmeuse. I'm using soy wax(batik) and pebeo gutta (serti technique) for resists. I plan to applique the heart flower (painted on shiny charmeuse) onto the geometric background (painted on raw silk). I plan to show it at the Vashon Tea Shop. The show opens February 3rd--this Friday!

Who is my business in service to?

2012-01-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

Deana bought one of my scarves

I've been doing a lot of thinking and journaling about my "who": who do I want to work with? who do I want to be around? who is the customer I want to work with? And I'm having a bit of a conflict. If I draw to me people as customers who I enjoy being around, that would be creative, fun people with integrity, compassion, an appreciation for beauty.

In truth, this does seem to describe the people who buy my hand painted silk scarves. But what do they need? They seem to have it all together.

I have a strong desire for my art to be of service, to reach deep into people's pain and sorrow and do a healing. I want my art to lift people up and to connect them with the Source of All Joy. However, I have been told-- and part of me believes--that art is a only luxury, for people who can "afford" it.

That perception, that art is a luxury, is in direct conflict with my desire to be of real service to people who are hurting.

The truth is that we are all in service to Divine Source. Since we are expressions of the Divine Source, that's where guidance, wisdom, truth, love, and the ability to act comes from.
Mark Silver, Heart of Business

What the world needs...

2012-01-19T17:00:00.000-08:00

I woke this morning thinking, why am I creating more "stuff"?? Don't we have enough "stuff" in this world?? As an artist, I do create stuff, beautiful stuff, stuff that is both useful and beautiful, but stuff, never the less. Even if I sell everything I make (what artist does? Even the most famous have tons of paintings that haven't sold!)...even if I sell everything I make, I'm putting more stuff into some one else's world.

And how can I make a living as an artist, if I don't make and sell art stuff?

Why do people want stuff? Tara Gentile has some ideas on this, in her Biz Women article "7 myths that make earning ugly". She says:
One thing the recession has taught us is that “stuff” is not enough. People want more than another bauble for their neck or a tchotchke for their shelf. They want something with meaning. They want an experience of your art that changes their perception or triggers a feeling or memory.

asllsls

Portrait of my Business

2012-01-18T17:25:00.001-08:00

Who would have thought to draw a portrait of a business? That's what Kelly Rae and Beth Nicholls asked us to do on the second day of Hello Soul Hello business class. I kind of let go just to see what came out, and here she is. I think her name is HeLaDi--Salish for "having things just right". I wasn't surprised that her power stick (spear? staff?) was heart tipped, or that her hair/head is flowing with ideas and images, but I was surprised to see the super cape-- and where did the dog come from??

I have been feeling very watched over lately. I mean when my car was totalled, I wasn't even scratched! A fraction of a second either way would have been disasterous! So may be that's where the dog protector came from; he is my guardian Angel. He puts me in mind of my beloved, who liked to think of himself as Bob-Dog.

The very next day we had to identify our superpower. I think mine is the ability to connect with the good in people.

I'll try to link to blog posts showing what my classmates have done with this assignment, as I become aware of them.
Lori Moon
Rachel Payne

Singing Road: phase 2, colors

2012-01-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

Time to decide on colors. Sometimes I try several versions, but this seemed right the first time.

Next step apply resist so that I can paint the silk in reds and golds, then steam it.

OK, now how do I put on the black?

I'm having trouble with my computer, uploading my photos, so I can't show you how it looks with the golds and reds over the leaves, but it is stunning!

The Path Unknown

2012-01-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

I've been really really spacey lately. I think it is because my car was totaled and my computer crashed. My transportation and communication systems were down and my world is still shaking. Email messages have disappeared. And I feel a bit lost about my path from here out. It looks dark and vague from here.

Kelly Rae's Soul Business Class is just what I need now!

Singing Road Phase 1

2012-01-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

Some pieces need to age like good wine in the making. This piece, Singing Road, is like that.

I enlarged the 2 1/2" zentangle by 500% early last summer.
The maple leaf background I did on silk in the heat of summer, when cool shadows were welcome (thence the cool blues and greens). I wanted to give the effect of dappled shadows on a road.

I used big leaf maple and Japanese maple leaves from my own trees, capturing their images by brushing resist on the leaves and silk. Where the leaves blocked out the resist, I brushed on dye. The dye traveled up to where the resist was brushed onto the silk, filling in the shape of the leaves with color.

All fall and through Thanksgiving and Christmas, these pieces hung on the wall, waiting for me to get back to them, while I created lovely hand painted silk scarves for the market.

Next, the design will be traced onto the silk with washable blue fabric pen.

The Path not Taken

2012-01-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

"two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

These words from a Robert Frost Poem, "The Road Not Taken", have been a...mmm...touchstone for me since my teen years. I was already taking "the road less traveled", and I still do--at least sometimes.

Problem is, the road less traveled is often the road less maintained, the one with the most pot holes. Heck, sometimes the road I've taken turns out to be a deer trail that peters off in the wild! Then I have to backtrack and find the my way again. Sometimes I feel like I'm bushwhacking, and boy is THAT frustrating and time comsuming! Or the road disappears and I have no idea where I am going!

That's what I've been feeling like lately, like the road has disappeared, or maybe it's lost in the darkness and I just can't see it.

The Song Inside

2012-01-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

The Song Inside

"Singing Road" zentangle
It will be enlarged 500%
for the finished piece

I’m not a singer; people keep asking me not to sing because really, I cannot carry a tune. But I sing. I love to sing. On the beach when no one is around, in the car when I’m driving by myself, in the house alone. I sing bits of old songs that fit my current life. I sing parts of hymns, songs of praise, made up songs, even made up words (sh, don’t tell). It’s as though the songs sing themselves inside me and sometimes burst out my mouth.

In the fall, I sing “Thank you for the glorious trees, the reds and golds, and the evergreens.” In the winter I sing, “Thank you for the wind and rain.” When my beloved was dying, the song that sang in my mind was, “got along without you before I met you; I can get along without you now”.

I sing prayers, deep prayers without words in any known language. I sing prayers of love, songs of joy…

I am traveling on a Singing Road.

Singing Road is the signature piece for a show of my silk paintings at the Vashon Tea Shop in February. It started several months ago as a 2 1/2" zentangle, a small ink drawing of patterns and lines with no definite purpose in mind. It isn’t finished yet, and I want to share with you the process of it’s development in this blog.

If you would like to follow this process, please subscribe to my blog (become a follower). I will post as the painting develops.

Taking Time at New Years

2012-01-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

I do a three day retreat every year. I take time to review the goals I set last year, check to see if my vision is the same, set new goals. I can get quite detailed. Some goals appear again year after year.

This year is different. I set aside time OK, but I have not even looked at last year’s goals. I cleaned house instead! What? Me? Clean house?

I’m clearing the decks for…what?

I don’t have a clear vision of what I want my business to look like. Illustration? I kinda gave up on that when the traditional publishing industry started going belly up and Kindle began to take over. I moved away from watercolor landscapes years ago; I have no faith that wall art will create an income for me. I love painting on silk, and again wonder if there is really a market for lit. I love creating hand painted silk scarves, yet that has never felt like the whole picture.

How can I bring all that I am, all that I have experienced, all that I know, into my art in a way that speaks to something deep in people, that tells their story as well as my own? How can I create art that meets a need deep enough to exchange it for the material things I want in my life?

I keep thinking that if I dig deeply enough, the answer will come, and I’ll have a complete vision to work toward. Instead, my future seems hidden in a slowly rising mist. Little by little, through trial and error, little bits and pieces are revealed.

There is a Quaker saying, “Proceed as Way opens.” I think that applies here.

The Birth of the Sun/Son

2011-12-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

The Nativity Story has taken on new meaning for me. It is no longer a stale old story of something that happened long ago and far away, of concern only to those people who call themselves christians.

Ever notice how the Christmas songs speak of the Birth as happening right now? "Away in the manger...the baby lord Jesus lays down...", "We three kings of Orient are..." and so forth. Ever notice how dark and cold and cave-like the days are, like the cave the Babe is often said to be born in? And the way Jesus is often referred to as the light of the world?

He was not born in December, you know. Not the historical Jesus. Some say he was born in August. So why do we celebrate in December?

On December 21st, the sun goes into it's lowest point--and stays there for three days! It starts back up on Dec 24th or 25th--Christmas! The day the Divine Light is born in the baby Jesus according to Christian tradition.

the Golden Pheonix
rescues the sun

In celebrating the birth of Jesus on the same day as the birth or rebirth of the sun, we are celebrating not only the return of physical sunlight, but also the beginning of new Life, a New Year, and of the Divine Light that brings us out of soul darkness.

So is the Nativity story just another Solstice story?

In my mind, there is a definite connection between the solstice stories of the sun being returned from darkness to give light to the world, and the Nativity story of the Divine baby being born "to save us all" from spiritual darkness.

In this Chinese story, the golden pheonix pushes the sun up from the dark depths of a cave at the bottom of the sea where it has been held captive, so that it can break free of its watery grave and once again light the earth.

At any event, just as we celebrate the birth of new Divine life and the return of the sun, so, inside of me, I feel a newness being born out of the darkness.

heArt From a Friend

2011-12-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

Early last December, I think it was--the world has turned upside down and righted itself again a few times since then--I participated in a HeArt exchange sponsored by Louise Gale. Here is the delightful card and charm Shell sent me:

I love Shell's bright colors and bold designs! Her newest is a butterfly girl (BronteFly Girl) painted to honor her niece, Bronte.


Winter scene on silk

The "Heart Moon" I sent Shell, painted on silk, has much more subdued colors, although the white line around the moon and tree remind me of the white lines she sometimes uses to outline her images.

Oh! This is the image to use on my winter greeting cards!! (Too late to send Christmas cards or "Holiday Season" cards!)

Living in Interesting Times

2011-12-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

An ancient Chinese curse says, "May you live in interesting times!" Well, I don't feel cursed. I feel blessed. My car got totaled with me driving it--and I didn't even get a scratch! Now I am driving a sweet friend's car while she travels. My computer refused to work for a week--then miraculously started working again!

Meanwhile, I've been making Christmas with my grand daughter and her Dada, my son, as well as participating in local holiday traditions.

One Tradition I was pleased to be a part of for the second year in a row, is the December Vashon Island Art Studio Tour (look for HiLaDi Studio). My studio was festooned with scarves! There were about 40 studios on the tour this year, my signage on the road could have been better, and few of the people I sent cards to came. As a result I didn't have as many visitors as I had hoped for, and didn't make any money. But oh! the delight of a couple of friends who bought scarves for themselves or for gifts was so heart warming!

And! I joined the newly forming Vashon Fabric and Textile Arts Cooperative! We have a retail space right next to the coffee shop (Cafe Luna). Now I have some place to send people when they want to see more of my work or if they aren't ready to buy now but may be later.

Christmas is What You Make It

2011-12-11T20:25:00.000-08:00

"Christmas Is What You Make It"
card available on my etsy shop

Santa was broke that year--as he was so often during the years my children were young. We gathered wind blown Douglas Fir branches and tied them together to make a tree. I found a box of Christmas cards that said "JOY" on them in a house I was cleaning, and festooned our tree with them. We wrote Christmas wishes on slips of paper, put them in walnut shells, and hung them on the tree for friends to take.

Our favorite story was "How Six Found Christmas", by Trina Schart Hyman--still is my favorite! In this story, a little girl sets out to find Christmas, joined by several animals, each with his/her own thoughts about what Christmas looks, smells, feels, and sounds like. In the end, the girl decides Christmas is where you find it, and what you make it. We've been making Christmas ever since!

How do you make Christmas?

Christmas Mania or Christmas Magic?

2011-12-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

last year, my 50 year old Barbie doll
became a Christmas Angel.

Some people don't like that Christmas is too "pagan"--but that's one of the things I LOVE about Christmas. I love that even before Christ walked the earth as the man we call Jesus, people dreaded the dark and celebrated the return of light. I love that we celebrate the birth of the Son within days of the return of the sun. To me it's not an either or situation; it's not Jesus in the manger or the Yule log and the Solstice. It is both and.

It is not joining the mad rush to "save the economy" by spending lots of money on manufactured gifts.

My friends are making ornaments and hand made gifts, or buying gifts from local artists and artisans. Melanie Wiedner, an artist friend with a commitment to living her spiritual guidance, is choosing to "occupy the holidays" by living her values deeply and consciously.

How shall I celebrate? What shall I make? How shall I make this season special and meaningful?

How do YOU celebrate (or not) the winter holidays?

Some wow designers!

2011-12-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Oksancia's new scarf pattern as it might look on a scarf

Kaffe Fassett is known for his colors!

I've been visiting some really fantastic designers on line, recommended by my classmates in the Surface Design class I am taking.

Oksancia is not only a wonderful designer--she has a nice online presence I can learn from.

Susy Pilgrimwaters sketchbook page

Look at the colors surrounding Kaffe Fassatt! He did a workshop on Vashon Island last year that was an instant sellout!

Here's an inspirational sketchbook from Susy Pilgrimwaters. Check her out for more visual treats!

The Priceless Sketch book

2011-11-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

zentangle sketch book
I keep this one in my purse.

OK, so I've always sketched. Not every day, mind you, but often, especially when traveling, or when waiting for a ferry or some such thing. And yet, I've never really understood the value of keeping a sketch book until today.

So, why keep a sketch book?
We know it is a record of what you've seen and where you've been.

Angelwing Begonia done with ball point pen

It's a good way to take notes about something you've seen, to refer to later.
A place to doodle, to while away the time.

But more. Much more.

It is a place in which to develop ideas and dreams. A place where the seed of an idea can sprout and grow until it is ready to blossom. It is a living, breathing -- not just a record, but a tool, a....growing, changing, and very individual companion where your work and life can develop before it is ready for other eyes.

Angel wing Begonia
detail with brush and pen

Take a look at the sketch books of some very accomplished artists here.

Beatrice Alemagna

2011-11-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a new love: Beatrice Alemanga.
And here are some treats from her work.
Her work really sets me free to try some new things, as does the work of Priscilla Jones.

Celia Birtwell Designer

2011-11-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

This little lady really inspires me! She is such a dear! A British designer with gray hair and wrinkles--older than I am, even--she is still going strong.

Oh, and here is a really delightful designer!! Libby McMullen's work really inspires me! (It's the wanna be children's book illustrator in me).