Stitching My Story

Horizon Lines and Vanishing Points....

Linear perspective: a system for creating the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface. The system is based on a mathematically derived series of lines that intersect at a vanishing point on the horizon.

Thank goodness for a patient drawing teacher. I think it's starting to make sense!

Small Paint Sample Books

I made these little notebooks for my table-mates in my color class. Only three weeks left until the end of the quarter. Whew... seems like time just FLEW by!

One looks, looks long, and the world comes in. ~Joseph Campbell

My last drawing class was in 1984. Go ahead. Do the math. I'll wait. A long time, right??? I didn't even NEED to take a drawing class for my degree this time around (the one from '84 still counts), but I decided that it would help me feel more confident about designing if I got brave and refreshed/relearned the skills.

The main problem I have with drawing is that I get TIRED of looking. I know that sounds weird, but it's true. Every aTTenTioN-sPaN-cHaLLeNgeD molecule in my body was thrown into overdrive when I hit middle-age.

(Hey look! Shiny thing!)

I was somewhat comforted this week when my drawing teacher said that one builds stamina for drawing by (ready for this?) DRAWING-- pushing oneself just a little bit further over time. This analogy works for me because of running. I think it could maybe, just maaaaybeee be true. I'll keep you posted.

"Drawing makes you look intently, and with purpose. It makes you see differently." ~Richard McDaniel

"It takes time to really see. Seeing is in itself an art. Perhaps that is what art is, the crystalization of a vision." ~Mary Jean Mailloux

"Drawing is the process of looking made visible." ~Mick Maslen

Blind Contour: Line drawings produced without looking at the paper. Such drawings are done to heighten the feeling for space and form and to improve eye-hand coordination

Inspiration Journals...

I am a magazine addict. I think it's because, when the four units were young, I could actually START an article and ... TA DA!.... finish it. An incredible feat! I felt like superwoman!

The fact is, I like magazines so much that I have a hard time getting rid of them. All the little turned down pages hold nuggets of information or some sort of VISUAL FEAST that I can't part with. As fate would have it, I also abhor clutter. Magazines piled up around the house does NOT work for me.

Enter.... my inspiration journals. Every couple of months I go through all the piled up magazines and cut out EVERYTHING that catches my eye-- maybe a line of writing, a picture, a recipe, a page layout, a project, a well written article, color combinations, quotes, decorating ideas, book reviews, poems, etc.

The act of cutting and pasting is so soothing and grounding. I can do it for hours on end once I start. If I am feeling blue, it is a sure fire way to pull me back to my happy place. If I am burned out, it never fails to energize me. When my creative spark has left the building, this activity gets my wheels turning again and, unfailingly, I am inspired anew.

There is no ryhme or reason to these journals. I just cut things out and paste them where they fit. Sometimes I use the images to practice my drawing. Sometimes I use the color combonations to start my next quilt. Sometimes I re-read the articles and am reminded of what's important to me. Frequently I turn to them for dinner and dessert ideas. There are scribbles in the margins of some pages, ideas I want to try or notes about the day I was gluing items in, sometimes radom small sketches or doodles find their way to the pages, along with notes from {dear cowboy} or the units, and small drawings from the grandsons. Anything I can cut out and glue down is fair game.

These books have been invaluable as I return to school. Grid assignments? Split complimentary color examples? Font types and layout? Inspiration, examples and ideas abound.

Grab a few magazines, a blank journal, scissors and a glue stick and get started on your own inspiration journal!

 

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

~Douglas Adams

Instead of studying for my computer final...

I am making "computer ninja" buttons for my class!

And doing my current favorite form of "meditation".... drawing round things in my sketchbook.

  Another middle-age skill I've mastered: CREATIVE PROCRASTINATION!

"The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?"

~ Pablo Picasso

Design assignment number 7. Design on a grid using split complementaries.

I am still trying to quilt with my paintbrush! And while paint may never be my "thing", I am definitely having more fun pushing it around the page than I was at the beginning of the quarter. Next up? Assignment 8 (the FINAL) is to recreate yourself as your Super Hero or alter ego. Any guesses who I chose to re-create myself as? Yep. I am making myself into (a modern day) June Cleaver. More painting.... but we can add collage elements too. Unit Four helped me superimpose my HEAD on various June poses yesterday. I'm not sure how it's going to work out, but the process and possibilities are keeping me intrigued and amused. Stay tuned! 

; )

Definition

• A split complementary color scheme is a group of three colors selected from the color wheel. It is made up of one color plus the colors on each side of its complement. The complement of a color is the color directly opposite it on the color wheel.

 Fun Color Toy

• Color Scheme Designer

Today I am Lovin' On.....

... Grandbaby O.

... goopy acrylic paints that just last week I hated.

...Unit One and his (our!) Sweetheart.

...{dear cowboy} and really good beer on tap.

...The BFF who makes sure I lift weights twice a week, run further than is easy for me, and laugh so hard I snort.

FYI: BLUE and RED do NOT always make purple...

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." 

~Alice Walker

I'll never walk past purple again without noticing it. Ever. I've been working on a color wheel assignment this past week for my design class. It has been a loud and clear reminder that I am a BEGINNING painter in every sense of the word.

I have used my red and blue to make at LEAST a billion purple samples, but the spots missing on the color wheel just aren't happening. The bits below are the closest I've come to making this royal color.

During these recent forays into acrylics and mediums and brushes and such, my clean and tidy sewing machine sits quiet. Most days I feel her hanging in there with me all supportive and patient like.... but today I think I heard her laugh.

View From Outside my Comfort Zone...

 

achromatic: black, white, and grays made by mixing black and white.

 

Another design assignment in the works for school. Geez, If you see lime or orange or turquoise anywhere, tell them I said "HI" and that I miss them!

 Spinning pinwheel G's....

...and absolutely no clue how to control gloppy heavy bodied acrylic paint.

ACK! QUICK! Someone bring me something to stitch!

Finished House Collage...

These are just torn and cut monoprinted papers... no drawn lines.