Mother of the Bride Part 2: A Stitch in Time

I left you all at the airport, and oh boy, a lot has happened in a very short time since then!
My daughter got married!

I thought I'd bring you along on the wonderful road I traveled as we prepared for the wedding, broken up into a couple of posts (because one post would be a LOT.)
With this first one, (well, part 2, I guess), I thought I'd tell you all about the knitting and sewing. My daughter made her own wedding gown, and I can't really speak for all of that except to tell you that she actually created it with no pattern- it was hand-draped, which meant hand-sewn for much of it. Her veil was bought, but the crown she wore was actually the same one I wore at my wedding, which was actually  my mom and dad's crowns tied together that they wore during their Greek wedding ceremony.

As my daughter was making her dress, I was in a quandary as to what in the world to wear myself. She would be married on a nature preserve that housed several historic buildings, including a chapel built in the 1800's (where the ceremony would be) and an outdoor pavilion (where the reception would be). Keep in mind that this wedding just happened on December 13, so I had planned on it being cool. It took me awhile to find a dress that I wanted. My daughter had no "color" to her wedding, if you will. What I mean is, she wanted only winter greens and white flowers for arrangements. Her bridesmaids were all picking out whatever dress they wanted to wear, no rules, no particular color, just some shade of green.

So, I figured I could go with a neutral sort of color. But I just couldn't find anything flattering that I liked. I looked quite a bit at patterns to make my own garment, and I almost went in that direction. My daughter loved the clothes on a website called www.Modcloth.com and suggested I check there before embarking on the sewing. I just so happened to fall in love with a dress that would be perfect for the cool weather- a soft, thick fabric, cowl-neck dress. And it had a handkerchief hem, above the knee, which I thought was fun. And it was actually called the "Showstopper Storyteller Dress". So, you know, I figured it was made for me and all. :)...The only thing is- it was a pretty bold indigo purple/blue. I showed it to my daughter online, and she told me she thought it was "rad". So it was a go. I ordered it thinking that I could just try it on and see how it looked and felt. When it came,  it slid on me so perfectly and felt like a warm, comfortable blanket, and I knew it was the one, bold color and all.

As I waited for it to arrive, I still kind of wanted to make something for myself, and I toyed with the idea of knitting a shawl- this was also my daughter's suggestion. However, there was only about a month's time before the wedding, and I didn't know if I could finish. "I have faith in you", said my daughter. So again, it was a go. I went to JoAnn Fabrics to look at yarn and patterns (with the last disaster blanket knitted with the cheapo yarn fresh in my memory), and ran across a pretty pattern that looked easy. Rather than casting on a small amount of stitches and making many rows, (like a scarf), it called to cast on 225 stitches on circular needles, (gauge 15 sts and 20 rows to 4" over st stitch using size 13 needle). They called for ribbon yarn, bulky weight, but I couldn't find ribbon yarn. However I figured I'd be okay if I just used a bulky weight yarn and got the right gauge.

A friend of mine suggested  I look at www.Yarn.com.  I found the most unbelievable yarn. I ordered "Mecha" by Malabrigo- the color I chose was "Piedras". It was 100% wool, made in Peru. I honestly can't say enough about the quality of this yarn. I have never used anything so soft, supple, forgiving, sturdy, and GORGEOUS in my life. It wasn't cheap, but I knew that it would turn out scrumptious. I figured that the colors range it had would bring my bold indigo together with the browns of the forest, and the greens of the floral arrangements. In fact, as it happened, one of the photo references that my daughter had for flowers included a purplish leaf that I ended up including in the arrangements, and the shawl ended up being a star.

I did learn at least one great new thing while making this piece. With the way I was taught to cast on, during the first row, I always would end up with a really long piece of yarn between the needles that would get tangled, and sometimes even had to be cut. Figuring there had to be a better way, I googled it, and there was! Here is a good video that I recommend if you haven't learned the long-tail cast-on method. It is easy, and makes a huge difference.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wUPQDYtoy0

 
However, there was one curious thing- as I took the piece off of the needles once it reached a width of 18", I was a bit disappointed that it was not longer. I did check the gauge (well, more or less) and it looked like it would be more than long enough with the amount of stitches cast on. I wasn't sure what had gone wrong. All I could think was that I hadn't used ribbon yarn.

I did have an extra hank of yarn, and I toyed with the idea of adding on to each end. However, this last skein was a slightly deeper color, and it looked bad next to the existing knitting. I thought about sending it back and trying to fix it, but there was no time. In the end, I just added on a fringe and hoped it would be ok. For the fringe, I used some of the extra skein color and just a bit of extra yarn that I had that was closer to the color of the knitted piece, taking time to blend the colors of each piece of fringe (which included 3 pieces of cut yarn). In the end, the difference in color from the new skein was not noticeable at all in the fringe. As I packed to leave, I trimmed the fringe even and hoped for the best in terms of the overall length.

With the fringe and some time to stretch, the piece actually was a perfect length for me. I wore it for the rehearsal dinner with my brown sweater, and it was perfect. In the end, the shawl, together with some dark chocolate brown tights and ankle boots, and my indigo dress, really rocked for the wedding in the woods.

Also, my daughter had asked me if I could help her hem her bridal gown. "Sure!" I smiled, forgetting what it takes to hem a full-length gown with an almost full circle hem! It's funny, but you know, I knew it would all work out no matter how hard I had to work to get the ends tied, so to speak. I arrived in Atlanta late Tuesday night, which gave me all day Wednesday and Thursday, and part of the day Friday to get her gown and the flowers done. However, when you've got a lot of people to meet and family to see, time sure runs short! I ended up doing most of my real work between 9 pm and 2 am, and of course was up again by 6 with relatives. It was a long weekend!

Wednesday was pinning up the gown, which is really the only way to hem a dress of this caliber. In my experience, it can only be correctly done with the bride wearing her shoes and crinoline. We were confined to one small room in my daughter's apartment- the only room the kitty wasn't allowed in, so we wouldn't have any cat hair on the dress. Unfortunately that was the same room that housed the 1,001 paper cranes strung on fishing line and ready to hang at the reception! To make matters even more complicated, when my daughter had sewn her gown, she was just using every fraction of yardage available, without regard to any pattern. So in some areas there was up to a foot of extra fabric to be done away with at the hem, while in some areas, I barely had enough. The only thing that would have made it more complicated would have been if there was a train!

I tried to pin it up enough in front so she wouldn't trip- the site was really hilly and uneven. The back could go a little bit longer. But it was not an exact science by any means, which made me a little uneasy.

However, time was limited, and as she knew by the way I raised her, when the going gets tough the tough get going.  So we quickly pinned, and later that afternoon I set aside any plans to get together and relax with family, and I got down to business. It was then Wednesday night, only 1 more day to play with (considering rehearsal), and I still had to do flowers.

I spent the evening at my brother-in-law's home, in a quiet room upstairs. There was no tv or music to distract me (or keep me company), and I set the crinoline down (it stood up by itself- which is why we affectionately called it"the ghost".) 

Since I had spent some time earlier drawing a floor plan for the reception, by the time I began hemming the gown, it was already almost 10 pm. I was so completely exhausted from the trip, and getting ready to go before that. I looked over my daughter's veil on a nearby rocking chair, and it came to mind that nothing ever really does change. My little girl will always be my little girl. I reminisced about the early days after I brought her home from the hospital, living on such little sleep, but with so much love, just knowing that I would rock her until she fell asleep, no matter long it took.

However, I tried to push the thoughts out of my head- no time for crying or sappiness. In fact, I am quite sure that my daughter left the hemming and flower design tasks to her overly emotional mom to keep her from drowning in her own tears; she knows me so well!  As I was faced with the yards and yards of ivory satin, my old tried-and-true hemming methods came to mind- don't worry about the uneven excess fabric- just quickly and confidently hand-baste the hem where the pins told me to when she was wearing it, very close to the fold, and work my way all around the dress.

And there was A LOT of dress...

Then it was time to trim the excess fabric. However, I couldn't find any sewing shears in my daughter's sewing basket! No doubt they were in that room with the cranes somewhere back at her apartment. But I did find a pair of kid's scissors, and- "what's this?! a palette knife!" ("That's my girl", I thought... "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"). :)

Luckily, I found a pair of scissors in my sister-in-law's kitchen that would do. I was afraid to commit on such a precious piece of work and cut all of the extra fabric. I even called my daughter to get her vote of confidence. Time was of the essence, so I had to trust my gut. I went ahead and cut, folded over twice and pressed to get it ready for the final hand-hemming. After that I tiptoed downstairs - my back was aching from hunching over the ironing board, and I just wanted to sit and sew while watching some tv. (and get some hot chocolate). Before long, it was well past 1 am, and after watching a little Letterman I knew I had to get to sleep- it was going to be up early to go pick up the car-ful of flowers at 7 am. I only had gotten about one or two linear feet of hemming done, and there was at least a dozen more to go!

The next day was full of flower arranging, and I will get to that in the next post. That night, (Thursday), on very little sleep, it was time to hem again. This time, I was down to the wire, and really needed to get it done before I slept. I and the dress had been transferred to my daughter's wonderful in-laws' home, and I had the whole basement and giant tv to keep me company. Before she went to bed, my daughter's mother-in-law-to-be put on "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason", and I was almost done when the movie was done. Of course by then, it was almost 2 am! And up again before dawn on Friday with the new relatives! A whirlwind, and the wedding hadn't even begun.

I really didn't know how the hem would be- I prayed. I mean really prayed. But wow, it felt like a miracle that the hem turned out perfectly, and worked great for the hills on the site. She still had to lift up the front to trudge through the woods for the professional photos, but she just floated along the entire hilly venue during the ceremony and reception, just like an angel.

And, it was worth every moment of worrying that I wouldn't make it on so little sleep. The joy of seeing that smile gave me years and years more energy, just like when she was a little girl.

I'll be posting again soon about the wedding, focusing on the flower design process.

Mother of the Bride, Part I

Had every intention to post here for you all from the airport. Off I go to finally be with my girl and wrap up things for her wedding. I even had a lot of time to kill here at the gate! But I can't upload pics from this phone and didn't bring my computer. I promise it'll all be up afterwards.

Had a long (but amazing) day Friday as a guest speaker at OCSA. But then I procrastinated packing all weekend because I was so exhausted, and my stomach has been tied up in knots. Today, however, I'm feeling better, and up up and away in an hour.

Made it thru security just fine.  Those new screening machines are pretty cool. But they make you feel like a criminal, hands-over-your-head and all. The only thing they questioned was my Greek evil eye bracelet. I KNEW it had magnetic powers. 

In a while it will be a flurry of  site planning, wedding dress hemming, hanging 1001 paper cranes, creating centerpieces and bouquets and boutonierres, but for right now it's time for Jolly Ranchers and Diet Coke...

Creating the Feathers

This post is a follow up (Part II, if you will) of the previous. I am just compelled to start with this poem, that I'm sure you've all heard, by Emily Dickinson.

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me."

Hope comes to me these days, as discussed in the previous post, many times in the form of "the thing with" feathers, whatever the invisible thing that is, and I'm not asking any questions. I'm flying with it. And another thing. That poem means a LOT to me. I love that little bird.

So here's a post all about the creative process based on what I've been experiencing-

Originally, following finding many of those feathers discussed in the past post (with the exception of those white ones), I had conceived the idea of using the mixed medium process of gesso on board, followed by acrylic, and topped with pastel. Before I started, however I was inspired by that photo discussed in the blog post dated 10/28,  and finished that piece first.

That's just how it goes sometimes, you plan on doing one thing, something else steps in, and you've gotta do that first before you can do what you had originally planned. I've learned that IT IS TOTALLY OKAY NOT TO TRAVEL IN A STRAIGHT LINE. (that's just me shouting at myself, btw)...In fact, walking in a straight line is pretty boring. And depressing. And it isn't the way it's supposed to be when you're an artist anyway. You're supposed to go with the flow instead of trying to fight it.

SO, I finished that piece of the Gapstow Bridge, which turned out just the way I wanted because I was so inspired by that image, and I allowed myself to veer off-course. AND, I even learned so much about the process. So I got all of my feathers together. My original concept had been to try to make a really cool arrangement and paint them. This is what they look like:

Pretty cool, right? And so I plowed ahead, sketched the feathers, got the board primed with gesso and started an an acrylic underpainting.

However, I hit a roadblock there and I wasn't sure why. I mean, I knew that I absolutely did not like the background color I had chosen, which was supposed to eventually look like grass, and I was debating what to change it to. But things kept getting in the way of this, or I kept LETTING things get in the way of this, and I didn't want to. This box of feathers and the unfinished painting kept getting moved from the drafting table to the kitchen table to my "over-messy-storage-room-of-a-studio" that needs to be cleaned..Life happened and Thanksgiving happened and the whole time I just longed to do this. But it was just getting too overwhelming and I couldn't wrap my brain around it. Everything- the shadows and colors and complexities.

So I did something I don't normally do, that I need to do more of. I allowed myself to set it aside, promising myself that I WOULD pick it up later. That's when I started to find those white feathers.

During FAVO a few weeks ago I had done a concept sketch of one of the white feathers on a black background. I knew that would eventually be a piece, so why not do it now? I could experiment with how the mixed media technique worked while at the same time, making a clean, bold statement.

By the time I found that white feather on my barefoot walk in the park, it was time to get it done.

I found an old scrap mat board to work on- it's about 7 1/2 x 12, and it was black. At first I thought that would mean I wouldn't even have to paint a background, but as it turned out the "clear gesso" isn't completely clear and you can see it on a solid matte black board. I went ahead and painted a background, but chose that instead of pure black I'd take the opportunity to go with a deep grey-blue so that I could put in just a hint of shadow- I'd need that shadow to be just a bit darker than the background. I put the feather on a notebook I had in similar color to help me see the shadows.

Next I worked with a light layer of white acrylic, followed by a thicker and thicker layers. I used medium to help me, but quickly realized that I needed to work faster than I had thought before it dried! I had found an old mascara brush to use to help me with the texture and oh my did I have fun!

For the spine of the feather I globbed a bunch of paint with medium and used my palette knife to taper it.

After the paint dried it was time to apply the chalk pastel. Looking at the feather closely, I noticed that it really didn't look as "white" as that paint did. I learned that next time I could try to scrape more with that mascara brush to see through to the background. But here, I used a light grey chalk mixed with white chalk and rendered in the variations of grey. I went ahead and added some water with a brush to blend it in since there was too much texture to blend it dry.

I think the most fun I had was scrubbing in that white chalk at the bottom of the feather to make those fluffies. That's also my favorite part of the feathers! :) I kept that chalk mostly dry and blended with my fingers or just left un-blended. When I got done with the white and grey chalk, I went in with some black, both paint toward the top half of the feather, and some chalk- the pastel black is really very rich and helped me bring out a three-dimensional look under the 'fluffies'

This painting is of that feather that I had found on that barefoot walk. I started and finished it Monday. The blog post which was written just before this one was finished the same evening, just after midnight, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Later that day, (yesterday), I was at the grocery store. There was a nice young lady in the line ahead of me, with very short hair, and I was surprised to see that she had a tiny feather tatoo behind her ear. I'm not normally a tatoo lover, but this was not only a coincidence, but it was really neat, the way it followed the shape of her ear and just hid behind there. Of course I had to comment, and we struck up a conversation. Apparently she had it done to honor her Native American culture. I talked with her about how I'm learning about the meanings of feathers due to my work, and asked her what she knew about the feather she wore. It was a raven feather, which I found out is sacred to the Native Americans as "Creation and Knowledge- Bringer of the Light" It was curious though, because it wasn't black. Guess what color it was? No! It wasn't white either. It was RAINBOW colored. That's another thing that made it so pretty.

And I never told you the name of the park I was walking in when I found that feather. Yup. "Rainbow Park". I'm not making this up.

And as I said last time, I am not trying to figure out why these things happen; I am just smiling, and taking it as a sign from the angels that I've found my next foothold. So, on I go, following the feathers of hope in the serendipitous scavenger hunt of this amazing, curious, bizarre, blessed, and sacred life of art!

Angels, Birds, and Boxes of Chocolate.

 Recently, the theme music from "Forrest Gump" has been going over and over in my head, because I remembered in the beginning scene, a beautiful white feather danced in the wind, reminding us of how random things can seem to be... And yet feathers in my life have recently been seemingly landing at times or places that just don't seem random at all.

They usually appear on a meditative walk, at the precise moment when, after trying to figure something out, I come to a place of letting go, when I know I just don't have the answers. It's almost like they are there to say, "give it up Lisa, God's got ya covered".

About 5 years ago I had a counselor that had a couple of white feathers in her office. As I was noticing them, she had told me she believed that feathers are "God's promises". That was the first time I had heard that. But it really stuck with me.

I noticed a feather collection at the home and violin shop of one of my most beloved friends and his wife in Gainesville. They live on a property in the middle of many glorious acres that he calls "The Magic Forest" and they walk and admire nature often.

Fast forward years later, and I went for a walk during a depressed time. Here's a picture of what I brought home the first time I decided to look for things that made me happy and pick them up. This was the first feather I can remember actually finding that way and keeping myself- and it's still one of my favorites.

A little while later, I was in that state again, and a friend of mine gave me these amazing feathers from a macaw that she had been pet-sitting. They became inspiration for a painting. Their electric blue feathers instantly transported me into another emotion, and I was on a roll.

And now, I just allow the feathers to pick me up when I feel like I'm squashed into the mud. They seem to lift me up. I gathered a whole bunch one day while out at the lake visiting a friend at an art show. I had so much fun watching the family of ducks nearby swimming, and the kids feeding them and trying to grab pets. The feathers really did somehow make me feel just a little bit more connected to the people and things around me, not under them.

Around that time, I got interested in what all the symbolism was around feathers. Did what the counselor say make any sense, and were there any reasons why I should believe this?

I did know already that the beliefs of the Native Americans, "animism", has always been near and dear to my heart. In fact, if I had to decide on a philosophy, that may be the closest I could find. I found out through research that the Native Americans believe that feathers connect the owner with the bird that gave it through spirit.

I found out too that many cultures have regard feathers highly, including the Egyptians.

And truly, a whole lot of people believe what my counselor at the time had believed, that they are tokens, or signs left behind by the angels. This idea makes me really happy, and so I'm going with it. In fact, in my research I had even found that the Native Americans believed different bird feathers carried different meanings, and many believe that the colors make a difference. At least one reference directly related white feathers to angels, and even went further to say that it means your loved ones who have crossed over are saying they are safe and at peace.

Most recently, white feathers only keep appearing to me. I was down in Kissimmee at a lake, and there were thousands of different kinds of black and grey birds all around me. I was hoping maybe I'd find a feather then. It was really strange, because I found only one feather, and it was a pure white. Near the feather was an information plaque about Chief Osceola, for which the surrounding county was named.

At a student's art lesson, I brought her outside to work on drawing a tree. I told her about how I was collecting feathers. She pointed to one hundreds of yards away, and told me it was probably from a duck that comes visiting that they call "Queen Bee".

But the coolest find recently was the other day- I decided to take a walk around a park next to my son's school, Valencia College, (where he takes a few classes during his senior year of High School) while waiting for him to get out of class. Since I didn't want to walk in the shoes I had, I decided to take them off and go for a nice "grounding" walk. I've heard it helps your mind and body to electrically discharge to the earth. It was glorious, except for the fact that I realized it's important not to walk under the canopy of an oak tree...acorns hurt....

I saw some sandhill cranes, and thought that maybe I'd find a grey feather. It was a gorgeous cool day, and I was absolutely relishing the feeling of the soft soccer-field grass under my feet. There were no feathers anywhere. I probably walked about a mile, weaving in and out of those mine fields of acorns, turned around and then two minutes after turning to go BACK, I saw this, directly in the same path I had just walked along...

Who knows why these things happen? I looked up all about the scene in Forrest Gump. In a video about the making of the scene, Gary Sinese said, "It means, destiny is a crapshoot. Was it supposed to happen that way, or did it just happen that way because that's the way the feather blew?" Well, whichever way it is, I have decided that these signs are meant to show me all will be okay. Not to think too much about everything. Not to worry - let destiny be. Instead, I'm gathering up my feathers and I am starting on some art about them. My next post will be all about that.

I still can't get that music out of my head, and the beauty of that scene. I remembered the feather, but I didn't remember that Forrest had picked it up and saved it. He knew what it was all about.

Sidewalk Chalk and The Gift of a Day

At the entry to my house, there is a special room which used to be the dining room, with a wonderful window looking out to the front yard, wood floors, and it feels sort of 'set aside' from the happenings elsewhere. I decided many years ago to turn it into our music room. Now it houses our upright piano, a music stand from which I practice and teach, and a really amazing moss green suede-like loveseat and ottoman. Most often, this loveseat is used by my students' parents during lessons. But here I sit, surrounded by my daughter's childhood wooden doll house at the window seat, the lovely pictures and art and sheet music, listening to the 'click, click, click' of the 'Circle of Fifths' clock I bought years ago, and I honestly cannot remember the last time I sat here. This is just one of those times when I am making an effort to actually relax, be exactly where I want to be, when I want to be there, and ENJOY my life.

It's officially 3 days into the last month of my forties, and I am realizing how much time and energy I have given to making other people feel happy, calm, fulfilled, loved, or doing other things because I feel I have to justify my existence. I don't exactly know why it has taken me this long to realize that is just not going to cut it. I'm sure its partially due to my overactive estrogen. But now that my three children are grown, and I've also figured out the hard way that I may be strong but I'm also only human, well, it's Lisa time.

Last weekend, I was blessed with an absolute GIFT of a day. Well, ALL days are gifts, that is true, but this time, it actually felt as if the universe were conspiring to make everything happen to just make me smile, relax, and feel happy in my own skin. All I could do was give thanks and go with the flow.

A few months ago I received an email for a 'Call for Artists' for the Osceola Fall Art Festival. Unfortunately, I have not been able to afford booth fees and the time it takes for outdoor festivals, but I have recently been wanting to participate in a sidewalk chalk event, which are usually free, and sometimes award cash prizes. I called to see if their festival included that event. I found that it did not for professionals, but that there were students participating, and I was told I could certainly chalk independently. The organizer also asked if I would like to mentor the kids, and / or serve as a judge. I was more than happy to do so, especially since my son's school had several teams participating. (He attends a school for the arts, as a vocalist, and these kids were from the visual arts department).

The morning of the event came, and there was absolutely no pressure to compete or finish, a beautiful day, and a perfect excuse to get out of the house and have fun! I originally had a complex photo to work from (it would have been a portrait of a child with a kitten), but once I realized that the event was only one day, and that I had to begin judging at 2 pm, I decided to do something completely organic that would allow me to freehand sketch instead of having to grid off a square. I had taken some photos of ducklings in a lake a few weeks ago, and so I decided to just go ahead and start in the middle of the square and get whatever I could get done in a couple of 'interrupted' hours.

I've participated in several sidewalk chalk events, but this is the first one that I really took the time to decide, (part of it was the fact that there were choices) as to which square to do, and more importantly, which direction to have my image facing. It was kind of funny because my architect brain kicked in and I was figuring out which way was North, since I wanted to make sure that the ducklings 'shade' side was going to look realistic throughout the day. There were squares in the shade, but in my photos the ducklings had a very strong bright, low sun on them, which was perfect for the day! I chose a sunny spot for that reason, and had them facing in a way so that they looked like they were actually swimming right there on that sidewalk as the sun spanned low in the winter sky from southeast to southwest.

Thankfully, this worked out in that I wasn't working in my own shadow! The bad news was that although the morning was cool, around noon time it got so hot! I have had really bad experiences in the past of working too hard and too long, and getting dehydrated. I was glad that I had chosen just a subject that I could work quickly and freehand from the center out, and just end when I needed to.

So around 12:30 I decided to go back to the car (it was wonderful because the show wasn't too big, and the parking space was close) to get a change of clothes. Then I stopped into a pizza place for a bite to eat, and it was wonderfully air-conditioned and even better, there was a party going on for the Gator game! I had loads of fun hanging at the bar, having a sandwich and about 10 glasses of ice water, thinking how much better it was to relax and not to have to worry about finishing the piece! whew!

So, after chilling out, cleaning all of the chalk off of me and changing clothes so that I looked human again, it was back to the chalk exhibit around 2 to meet up with the organizer and the other judges: Joella Lowe, art teacher for Osceola High School, and Scott Kauffman, Technical Specialist for Osceola County Schools. A funny side note- I had actually met Joella a few months earlier. I had decided to go see a matinee while waiting for my son to finish classes, and I ran into a woman dressed in a VERY elaborate "Maleficent" costume! So of COURSE we hit it off, and it was funny when I found out she was actually an art teacher at a field trip with her students!

The judging went well. I had never actually done that before, but Joella had a lot of experience with the process and really showed us how to 'fairly' rate everyone. It was kind of like being on a jury! Luckily there were not too many disagreements, and I we all agreed on the placements at the end. All of the kids (mostly high schoolers, with a couple of middle-schoolers) did a remarkable job.

I don't have photos for all of them, but "Best of Show" was given to "The Mad Hatter", created by a team of High Schoolers from Osceola County School for the Arts (OCSA). Here is a photo of the work in progress-

And a couple of others in progress that I really liked.

While I was judging, another wonderful gift! my little art student came up from behind me and 'tagged' me on my arm, sending me and my clipboard jumping! I was so glad to see her and her mom and little brother, and they had a lot of fun looking around. I wish I had more time to spend and sneak in some teaching!

(That chalking behind her of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" was coincidentally a favorite of hers and mine too!)

Another coincidence! My friend Brandy Renee happened to be the featured artist for the show, and so I got to go see her after judging. I always absolutely LOVE 'being inside' her art, as I tell her. What I mean by that is to be inside her studio, or art booth as the case may be, surrounded by her work feels amazing.  But also, each separate one of her works absolutely resonate with me. And I know I am not the only one. These days she is creating an incredible collection that makes you feel like you're walking in glittering, magical forests, and it's impossible to say which one I like the best. You just get completely lost and you never want to come out. This photo doesn't even do it justice- it's absolutely three-dimensional and if you look at it close up, it's crazy...

Speaking of which, earlier in the day, I had talked with Krisnau Ilham (visual arts major from OCSA), and he showed me a photo of his work that was hanging in the student art tent. The piece was really compelling, so on the way back to the car I decided to stop in and see it. I was completely astounded by this student's work. In his photo, I thought that it was all flat (but obviously textured), but it was actually created in 3 dimensions in really interesting mixed media. The composition, coloring, message, and 'stream-of-consciousness' spirit of the work was so wonderful. These photos I took really don't explain it well either. It was such a delight to see it. Amazing.

I had an owl stop me in my tracks, and then found out that it was done by a FOURTH grader! I looked further and found a few more of these owls. I'm not completely sure how the teacher did this lesson, but each work looked absolutely professional.

And talk about stopping in your tracks- this was my favorite thing I saw there I think - it was titled "Dragon". AND IT WAS DONE BY A KINDERGARTENER!

 

This work, and this day, showed me that the only way to really seize the joy of life is to relax and give myself permission to trust where my spirit takes me. To live for the present moment, not the moment to come. To be comfortable with the click, click, click of the clock, and to express whatever comes at the moment. That is what makes everything sing and sparkle around me. And that sometimes the best things in life are not only free, they are gifts, if we only open our eyes to them and not worry about time or money or profit. That's what I need to remember. That's what this five-year-old already knows.

Showing, Teaching, Designing, Knitting. And collecting feathers.

These past couple of weeks have been very illustrative of the process of creation, and how one facet of my life enters another, changing everything in its path. It can get overwhelming when there is a lot happening at the same time, but it makes for a deep, rich creative process.

Showing art:
These days I have been slowing down a bit with both my art creation and shows- just too many things going on.  However, I decided to participate in FAVO's November show. It was lots of fun, and a bit different, as the show went on not just for Friday night, but for Saturday as well. I do have a piece in process that I was hoping to have done for the show, but too many things got in the way, and I ended up just bringing along some older works, along with my "Watercolor Zoo". The weather had turned chilly, and so I decided to bring some pieces that reflected the change of seasons. The works got a lot of attention; most of the patrons had never seen these, and it was fun watching the fascination with the "Winter" woodburning. I thought I should do some more of those.

I did make sure to complete a Yupo froggie, as I have a patron who is sort of collecting my frogs, and was quite upset the past two shows when they were sold out. Luckily, he was there to buy this little guy on Saturday.

Teaching:
I am really excited to be going down to the Osceola Fall Art Festival this coming weekend, as it will be the first time to officially judge a student chalking exhibit for the middle- and high-schoolers. I will also be serving as sort of a 'mentor-as-needed' while working on a square of my own.

Since I was going to be working with chalk pastel at the show, I set up a lesson for one of my private students where we rendered some trees from life with pastel. It reminded me of my year of 'tree portraiture' at Georgia tech that I had mentioned in an earlier post. There were moths fluttering around, trees turning colors, the fountain and pond nearby, the sun sprinkling its shade through the trees, and just a really wonderful time.

Designing:
Recently, I have been in a quandary as to what to do career-wise as things are changing with my family. I will soon have a lot more time on my hands, and I want to put my energy on the best possible track. I absolutely love teaching, but I was not schooled in this avenue and am wondering if it's the best road.

It has been eeking into my head- although I thought it would NEVER happen- to step back into the world of architecture. A big roadblock is that I have been out of the field for 5 years, and the programs used for construction documents are new...If I were to apply for a position, I'd need to invest in some schooling. And then there is the question of whether I would be able to find a postition that suits my creative needs. But yesterday I had the opportunity to work on some concept sketches for a commercial / themed project. So I thought, what the heck, I have nothing to lose, and I was completely floored at what happened. Not only did everything come back to me, but I also felt as if the years I have spent designing in the art field have opened things up in an immeasurable way for me. I was able to sketch out several decent concepts within just a couple of hours, and it truly seemed like not only had I not lost any time at all, I have actually gained a new perspective. I can see a lot of potential for me, if the right opportunity were to come along. So, now another option seems to be opening up, and I have to admit, it's a lil' bit exciting.

And the rest:
My daughter is getting married officially one month from today and I am also really excited about that! I have been given the honor of designing all of the flower arrangements. This has been, in itself, a story of its own with lots of joy that I hope to share with you in a separate post once it all comes together.

In the meantime, back to knitting again, as I am creating a shawl for myself to wear over my dress for her very-cold-outdoor-reception to be held on a nature preserve in Georgia during December! I have forayed this time into the amazing world of order-online-yarn, and found this incredibly delicious wool made in Peru. I haven't even knitted anything from yarn that wasn't already spun into a ball since I was a little girl, and I forgot how to prepare it! My friend had to help me on that one. By the way, if you are a knitter check out her blog! Frog Monkey

Lastly, I am adding these days to my feather collection. They seem to be everywhere. In my world, they are representative of God's promises. So their appearance these days is very comforting. They have been a great source of inspiration to me, and I hope to share a story soon about that! This picture is of a gorgeous white feather that my student spied hundreds of yards from where we were sitting outside drawing. She tells me it comes from "Queen Bee", the lady duck their family feeds when she comes to visit their pond. :)

Mad About Mixed Media: Everything Old Is New Again!

I feel so silly.

For years, I've considered myself a bit of an 'expert' on working with pastels, and now I realize that all the while, I was only working in one dimension with the stuff. And worse yet, the information has been right in front of me all this time, but I haven't had my eyes open!

Well, no more of that.

A while ago, I was doing a bit of research online about the problem of how in the world to keep my chalk pastel works from smearing when finished. Yes, there is fixative, but I seriously hate that it muds up the color and darkens it at the end. What I found out at that point is that while I had only used paper as my base in the past, many artists use board instead of paper, and put on it a base of gesso first; this gives the pastels more "tooth" to stick to,  allowing for less smearing at the end, thus the need for much less fixative. The embarrassing thing is that this is really old news to artists. As in, probably, centuries old.

I then came across a blog by an amazing pastel artist, Sarah Bee, who explained her process. She talked about not only using gesso, but also laying in a base of acrylic underpainting before the pastels. Then I found more information from many more artists about this, and also that I could even work with the pastels with a wet paintbrush!  It was getting more and more interesting!

As I was doing this research, I was struck by a photo on a friend's website with which I resonated so much. It seemed to just capture the essence of this particular autumn for me. The gorgeous photo was taken of the Gapstow Bridge in New York City. Somehow when I saw it I felt like I was there, and I could see, feel and hear the scene. It was one of those moments I mentioned earlier in this blog in which I just needed to capture it. It would be the subject of this first experimentation.

I had some hot-press watercolor board by Canson that I decided to use. First step was to sketch in the scene, and then layer over with some clear-drying gesso.  This was explained in the blog I read, and so I knew what to do. The board I was using was fabulous, because it curved downward just a bit on purpose, so that when the wet media dried, it was flat. If I ever do this again with just plain old mat board, I will take the advice of some of this research, and paint both sides to prevent curling.

What happened next was a complete experiment, so I'll just explain my thought process and the results.

Next, I blocked in the scene with acrylic paint. I didn't worry at all about perfection. I focused on what inspired me about the subject and went crazy slapping down the color. This layer would mostly be just to back up and bring out what happened on top of it. The sky and water were at this point most important to me, since I felt here the wetness of the paint was most important. I didn't really know how the pastels would work at this point, and I needed that liquidity to come through. The sky needed to show through the leaves of the trees. For the bridge, I thought about the cement color between all the gorgeous stones. For the water, I tried to do a bit of blocking in what was reflected.

After that dried, next step was laying in the pastel. The good news was that it had that "tooth" to grip to, as described earlier. The bad news was that it had that "tooth" to grip to...What I mean by that is, the tooth was great because it would not require as much fixative at the end, but it was quite a bit harder to actually blend the pastel colors into the base. Of course, if I really scrubbed the pastel enough to get a lot of dust, then it would blend easier. But, it was a little bit of a shocker. While I thought that I could blend the pastel into the acrylic base (i.e., the clouds into the sky) without creating a blue sky with pastels, it was a little bit less seamless. It felt rough, more like when I do sidewalk chalk paintings. However, I was still just experimenting so I decided just to have fun with it. The cool part about it NOT blending as much was how it worked with the trees- I could just simply drag the side of the chalk onto the base and create 'leaves'. That was enormously fun. I created the stones of the bridge in the same way, just a gesture of their roughness, touching down the blending of the beautiful colors of the stones.

Then came the really amazing thing. After laying in the pastel in the water area, I puzzled a bit about how to make it look like 'water'. I've done this in many media. In pastel, it's just a matter of applying color to describe the reflections of the trees and sky or whatever is seen, and rendering all the ripples in terms of those reflections and shadows/highlights. But or course I was used to blending with my fingers. Because of this "tooth", it would require me to lay in a lot of chalk over the underpainting and then really scrubbing hard with my fingers. But I thought I'd try a different approach- since it was water, and I've read that I can get the pastels wet, maybe I'd try using the paintbrush on the chalk! And it worked marvelously! Now, I will say that when I first wet the chalk it darkened it a lot, and I had to wait for it to dry to see what would happen. I also discovered that it was really important not to mud up the color by letting the brush get too saturated with the darker colors. I needed to work light into dark, and rinse the brush a lot. But I was really happy with the possibilities.

 Last step was laying in those grasses and cattails in the foreground. I will say that by then I was getting a bit philosophical about the whole process- Should I make the grasses wet? Are they wet or dry? Well, they ARE in the water. In the end, I laid it all in with pastel, and wet down some of the darker shadows in the green grasses, and left those dry grasses with the cattails dry. But the cattails themselves, I did touch them with the brush just a bit to bring out the amazing color. This foreground was what struck me first about the photo. I just love cattails anyway, and I loved how their color reflected the bridge and the trees beyond.

In the end, what I had read about was true: It really wasn't smearing! I just touched it with a light coat of fixative and it was good to go.

My son told me that it was his favorite piece I had ever made. He said, "You have to make more!" I told him, pointing to a new board on the table, "I plan to!", and he said, "Well then get to it! What are you waiting for!?" What a beautiful thing, to know that I have only just scratched the surface (pardon the pun) of a technique I've been using for years, and also, I have not just an excuse, but an order to keep on painting!

Thanks for reading!