Stitches in circles

My friend Anne Marie did this stitch in one of her stitch meditations.   I loved it so much I wanted to copy it.  Now, mind you, these are not really copies.   Her stitching is neat and precise..... while mine are looser and less technical.   I love them either way.   

Stitch meditation w circles

Ive been spending so much time painting lately, stitch meditations have been neglected.     I did this one celebrating circles and the new thread I bought at local quilt shop.    I went in to buy needles with larger eyes so I can thread them more easily, but the ones with larger eyes are not very sharp.  I dont like having to force a needle through the fabric.   The owner showed me a lighter weight thread, a number 5.    Perfect.   And its variagated.   Very nice to work with.   And very expensive.    I like it so well I will probably pick up another color next time I am there.

Here it is.  Scrap from my sister in laws scrap basket plus some of my stash.

Gone fishing

Our mixed media group did a fish project with these paper fish I bought from Amazon last year.    I tucked them away somewhere safe, and lost them. When I was looking for something else, I found the fish again and decided it was time to pull them out and do them before I lost them again. We started by doing some work with water soluble crayons, and then brought them out to my studio where we sprayed them with deylusion ink sprays through various stencils.

A few years ago our group was interested in using stencils and spray inks on journal pages.   I had not used these materials for at least 2 years. It was fun to get them out  again and found they had not dried out. 

 I've always liked fish as a theme and although these are meant to be windsocks, I cut them in half so it gave us more pieces to work with.   Everyone went home happy with beautiful fish.   

These are hanging in my studio.

Another redo.

Tell you the truth I am getting pretty sick of this painting.   Still too busy, colors now look muddy.    Hmmm..... whats next?  Perhaps cover it all with gesso.  Lol

Nature sketchbook

 One of my routines is to sketch something natural in a tan toned sketch book.   This one is from Strathmore. It is 80 # sized 5.5 x 8.5 inches.    A handy size to tuck into purse or art bag.      I use watercolor pencils because I like the way the colors can blend and build up layer by layer, color by color.  The exception is the white Stabilo pencil made to write on all kinds of surfaces.   It blends nicely with the other pencils and is is a stronger white than most white pencils.

 For subjects I either pick something in my garden, or at the location.  Probably on the sidewalk or growing in the parking lot.   Tomatoes were from the nursery.   The flowers below were from a friend who knew I would enjoy drawing them. 

Still in progress.

Months have gone by between work sessions or inspiration paint on this canvas again.    Ill be making more changes tonite.   

Back to my paints.

My studio tables were cluttered up with different projects.   Mosaics. Paper mosaics. Fabrics. Printing materials.  Rock painting stuff. 

 I just cant seem to settle in with watercolors until the space is cleared and things are tidy.   During this heatwave - many days over 100 degrees - I am not spending much time outside... I figured its a good time to clean the studio.   Now its orderly and i have open table spaces everywhere I look.   Its wonderful.  And I can paint again in my morning ritual.   Only thing is I need to be up an hour earlier to take advantage of the cool studio.   Here are the first three small studies.  It feels wonderful to paint again.