Doubt and loosing focus...

It's for the one who doubts his every stroke and color choice,
the one who listens and learns well for a while
...and then looses focus or gets impatient...
and does something on his canvas that sends him into meltdown mode... — reading Paint Mojo - A Mixed-Media Workshop: Creative Layering Techniques for Personal Expression.

I got my copy this week - I have been fascinated by Traci's paintings for quite a while. I do admit that it isn't - or hasn't been 'my style' but at the same time, there is something about the multiple layers, the colors, peeking through to other layers that intrigues me. Looking through and maybe trying it all for myself, the idea has possibilities! Watercolors and acrylics?
http://artoftracyverdugo.blogspot.com/p/paintings.html

Altered book - in process...

I was surprised that I have not been adding to my one and only altered book for almost TWO years! I assumed it was last fall, when I got sick with sepsis in October, 2013 (a long story for another time), that it stopped, but, I was wrong! The last date was September 12, 2012.

That being said, I want to show what I did and, just maybe, get the ball of creativity rolling again.

I had been fascinated with altered books for quite a while, but needed to just jump in there and TRY it! I found a book - not the best binding for this but, I didn't like the philosophy of the author and wanted to make the volume worthwhile to me, somehow.

I started by removing every other page. Yes, you take a craft knife with a sharp blade and get in there and desecrate a book! This is truly the hardest part for me. I tend to get distracted by most printed material and cutting up a book just seems wrong. However, that is part of the process. I now have a stack of printed pages to used in some other project!

I had no idea of what to do next, so I opened the book, skipping a couple of pages and started pasting in paper. I journaled a bit and decorated it a bit and called it done!

Interesting - maybe, maybe not BUT it was done! I proceeded for several days, hiding out in my studio, pasting and painting and writing whatever connected to to what I had done.



Gesso on the pages, paint and then stenciled... and then I extended the page out and did it some more. I used copy paper for the extension and was surprised to discover that, after an application of gesso to both sides of the page, it is quite substantial. The lightweight paper adds much less bulk to the page than cardstock would.












On another page, I admonished myself to USE IT UP before buying any more supplies...

That didn't last too long.






In my hunt for supplies to use up, I tried absorbent grounds - liked that a lot!

The last page I finished was about what  have heard my Amsterdam cousin talk about many times... about awakening in the morning to the sound of the neighborhood lark. She lives on a canal and most birds don't make it their home - but the lark is faithful, even in the midst of water and cement.
  
A challenge to myself is to re-start this book's alterations. And, to complete at least one watercolor in the next week or so. I have been back working on getting my watercolor brain to wake up again - not as easy as I expected. Since I got sick, carrying a thought long enough to finish it has been even more of a problem for me than it ever has been before. Creativity is something that I never had a real problem with before but this kind of infection leaves you with all kinds of interesting challenges. There seems to be a strange disconnect between my thought process and what my hand does. If I don't really think about it much and just dip my brush in paint, my hand seems to know what to do. The challenge is to actually do it!

ps. If any of you want to see other photos of the book, The flickr page is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/79481680@N00/sets/72157631316606050/

Ice, Ice, Baby!

My M!

Oh, dear... I just discovered that I did not post this! That is not good at all! So, without further ado, may I present Mason!

A bit of a catch up! It is only February 9th and it has already been a very busy month!  On the very first day of the month, I became grandma for the 10th time - a sweet little boy! He is my youngest's first and he is beautiful!

I spent a few days traveling to the hospital, staying for hours, returning home, and coming back the next day for more!  He was able to go home on Monday and the forecasts began predicting SNOW on top of the chilly air we already had! I know, most of this country has had more than its fair share this winter, but it has been quite spring-like here in Portland.

A ferret looking for its home

On the fifth, the temps dropped - windchill of minus 1 F at night. The winds howled, steady at 10-15 mph, with frequent gusts up to 45 m.p.h. We also had a visitor... we didn't know what it was and by the time we discovered that it was a ferret, it was gone. It was quite friendly, but it really startled me. Poor thing. It was just looking for a handout and I ran! Good thing it has a very thick winter coat!

The next day, the snow started and with the wind still howling, the flakes were tiny and dry. More blew down the street than stayed in the yard. Someone must have a huge pile of snow.

Icy cold Anna's Humminbird

The Anna hummingbirds have been really cold - puffed up like a ball. Why they don't migrate is a good question, if you ask me. I have noticed that whenever there is icy weather, the female disappears. The male spent time in our porch, getting out of the wind by sitting on an empty bird feeder part of the time. Mr. R has been rotating the hummers' feeder to thaw every few hours. We discovered that also brought in ants who love the feeder, too. Those stinking ants are a favorite treat of hummers and chickadees but getting the frozen feeder covered and sealed to prevent them from taking over the house even more was very important.

Coming home from my walk...

We got several inches of snow - not the norm for Portland - the most we've had since 1993.  Yesterday, I walked around the block and on a side trip - about a mile altogether. This is almost home - the middle set of Douglas Fir on the left is ours.

Ice covered snow - Golden Desert Ash on the right

White, winter wonderland - and not one human footprint to be found. It has been a long time since kids lived here! Our son brought his kids over to sled on our slope a couple of years ago - not much snow but it was fun! This year, it wasn't easy to get around.

Ice on the Japanese Cherry...

 As it usually does here in Portland when we have a lot of cold air, last night we got freezing rain. It was just starting when I was almost home and got serious in a couple of hours. It is an amazing sight to see everything coated with a coat of ice. If you don't have to go anyplace and your power doesn't go out, it is beautiful!

Shooting through binoculars

Finally, my camera since 2006, a Canon IS-3S, seems to have finally given out. I have been forcing it to keep going by using very fresh batteries, but today, it has refused to start. The photo of the iced branches was taken with it today. It has 12x zoom - a 400mm lens equivalent - and has been delightful. It also has a flip-out screen on back, making it possible to take selfies with my grands for a long time!

For now, I have to compensate with the little Pentax we have. It is compact but only has 3x optical zoom, making it difficult to get the long shots.  Today, I tried putting the lens into the eye-piece of my little binoculars - and it wasn't too bad... not great, but it is interesting. The dried up hydrangea flowers are the same as on the right side of the Golden Desert Ash in the photo up the page a couple of shots.. It definitely had a vignetting effect. I put it on super-macro in order for it to focus on the lens. Very tedious trying to find a spot, but it is worth a shot!