Friends and Family

Yesterday morning I met some of my retired buddies from work and took along a friend whose husband was a teacher in the math department. We met at Bob Evans and it was a good time. I had a lovely omelet and looked at cute pix and got caught up on happenings in the lives of people I've known for a long time, but don't see that often. Definitely a good thing to keep in touch in that way.


The girls arrived at my house around noon and then the real fun began - oh, but wait - first we drove to Mason and did a major grocery shopping at Meijer's. Not my favorite activity, but at least now it is done.


And then the fun began. First we tried image transfer, but the girls weren't happy because they didn't believe me that they weren't supposed to turn out perfectly. Then we sat in front of my computer and watched an image transfer from Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday. They really liked her pages and thought they might try image transfer again sometime.


I put away the image transfer stuff and we got out the stamps and stencils and colored pens and the fun began.

Miss M (4 years old)

Miss P (9 years old). She's a natural!

A couple of spreads in my book. The blue bird on the right hand lower page is an image transfer.

We took a break from the altered books to spend a bit of time in the back yard swinging and talking. Then I made some beef stew/soup, which the girls didn't like. They ended up having cereal for dinner.

In the evening I decided to try to capture Miss P in her batting stance at the softball game. I don't think I've quite got it, but she is rather pleased.

This morning Miss P and I are going to my fitness class and then to a garage sale in Stockbridge. Afterward, we will return home to pick up Miss M and try out luck at a few more nearby sales before settling down to do more art in our altered books. I may try more image transfer - who knows maybe the girls would like to try it once again. Their Mom will be coming around dinner time and will eat with us before taking the girls home.

What do you have planned for today? Does it include some time for yourself? Do you have plans that include creativity? I can't wait to check in with you and see.

xoxo

Watercolor WIP and Palette Decisions

Good morning! I just got the most wonderful email from a home town friend that I haven't seen in a while. It just so happens that she is a good friend of a blogger friend of mine and happened to see my name in the comments there. Isn't life interesting and what a reminder of how small this world really is. Hilda, your email made my day!


I've been adding darker values to my watercolor in progress and am not sure if I've improved it or totally ruined it. Here it is now - it is painted on a 140# block, but it is Canson and it is buckling as you can see.

And here it is cropped and matted (digitally).

Opinions and/or suggestions please!!! Don't hold back - give it to me straight; I can take it.

I have registered for Laure Ferlita's Artful Journaling: Foundations class that begins on September 12. This is an online class and I am so looking forward to it. My friend, Dee, in South Bend, is taking it at the same time and we hope to get more out of it having someone we know to share with. I've purchased the recommended paints from Daniel Smith and am getting ready to organize my palette. I am thinking that I will put red at the beginning of the left side, yellow at the beginning of the top, blue at the beginning of the right and the earth colors on the bottom. This will give me space for the oranges between the red and yellow, the greens between the yellow and blue, and the violets beyond the blue approaching the earth tones. What do you think? Is this totally a personal choice? Or is there a better way? I have had problems finding a definitive answer.

I have some running to do this afternoon and then am promising myself that I will sew the signatures of the book I am working on (the signatures have been waiting for me for more than a week). I am also planning to make some value sketches of the next watercolor painting I want to try.

What do you have planned for today? Are you taking time for yourself and/or those you love?

xoxo

I Can't Get No Relief

For those of you who wonder if I've totally lost my sense of the correct English grammar, let me reassure you. The title of this blog is a quote from Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" and seems apropos for the summer weather craziness.


First we could hardly stand to go out in the yard because of the heat index in the high 90s and over 100. That went on for so long I began to develop cabin fever from staying indoors in the air conditioning. Now we get this. The first two pix below show on the left what it looked like before last night's rain, and the photos on the right of each of them were taken this morning.

This is closer to the back of the house than we usually have in Spring.

Can you see that the bridge across the creek in the photo on the left is oriented across the creek (which is so low you can't even see it)  and the one in this morning's photo is sideways. The poor thing has been knocked from its mooring.

We very seldom have standing water in the front yard ditch.

The hubster tells me we have water in the basement and that the sump pumps are working as hard as they are able. We haven't had water in the basement (unless we didn't have power to run the sump pumps) since we installed the B-Dry System many, many moons ago.

Now the rest of the story. This is the forecast for today and tomorrow:

Do you suppose we should be in the workshop building an ark?

On a much lighter note, here are my latest finds from a used bookstore in Jackson:

Sorry for the glare from the overhead light. I included part of my foot to show you the results of yesterday's pedicure.

I am so amazed at the amount of rainfall from last evening and overnight, I almost forgot to tell you about my wonderful time yesterday with Kip. I drove up to Small But Mighty Arts to see what supplies she had and what extras I would need to bring for my Intro to Repurposed Books class on August 13, and was pleasantly surprised to find that she has nearly everything I asked about.

After talking for awhile in the art studio, we headed for Schuler Books at the Meridian Mall for lunch. Kip treated and we each had a lovely salad and a wonderful chat. She showed me some of her Zentangles - boy! I can't wait to take a class with her. I think I have found another real friend. 

I have been so fortunate to find some true friends through art. First I found Nancy and we have become such good friends that I can't believe that I haven't known her forever. Then I met Sandy and she, too, is a kindred spirit. I met Dee through an art class at Krasl in St. Joe, and I think we are sisters who were separated at birth. And now there is Kip. It is so wonderful for me to meet such strong, talented women who have become my friends. And I mustn't forget Cat who feels like a kindred spirit even though I have only met her through emails. I can't wait to meet her in person. 

I really need to get on the treadmill today even though I don't feel like it. I didn't get there yesterday and I am afraid if there is more one day of layoff it will be much harder to get back to it.  

I received the masking fluid that I ordered from Dick Blick and am anxious to try it out, but have decided I have to earn my art time by a trade off with the treadmill. I hope to have something to show you tomorrow.

xoxo

Art Day Fun

Yesterday I had an art day with my friend, Nancy, at her house. She had some aquaboard for us to play with and we had a grand time. I wish I'd taken a photo of her painting, but perhaps she will share it on her blog some time in the near future. As for mine, it began as some pale flowers on a darker background using a photo from one of her watercolor books. In not time at all, it was a disaster - overworked, too many hard edges, awful. I wet the whole thing, used paper towels to remove most of the color and then used a a mix of blues and yellows to get various shades of green and sponged onto the surface with a sea sponge. I used a bit of masking fluid (something new to me, but that I hope to get comfortable with soon) to protect a couple of light areas from the original flowers and then painted around them. I added some darker green this morning.

Nancy made a luscious salad for lunch and had some fabulous hard rolls to go with it. Later in the day, we retired to her studio (we painted at the kitchen table) and talked and laughed until I suddenly realized it was almost dinner time and I should scoot home. The times I spend in Nancy's company are always filled with wonderful conversations on a wide variety of topics, some serious and some frivolous. If laughter is good for your health, time with her is wonderful medicine.

I brought home a couple more small aquaboards to play with and a novel that she loaned to me. She also sent a large black sheet of artist paper for me to try with watercolor pencils. She is such a warm and generous friend. I am already looking forward to our next get together.

Before I go get on the treadmill, I have a photo of a rose in the side yard. I am hoping to try to paint it sometime soon and will share it with you when I do.

Today I am going out and about with another friend, Carol. We will be shopping, eating lunch out, catching up and no doubt laughing a lot. A very different kind of day out than yesterday, but tons of fun in a different way. I will have to try to fit a bit of art in later this afternoon when I get home. If I happen to find any treasures while we are out and about I will surely share with you tomorrow.

xoxo