Work in progress

I've got the type glued onto the background now.  Thinking it would look better with a  big crow on the left side facing the impact site,  I drew one, cut a stencil and painted it in navy blue diluted to a glaze.     Ruined the whole thing.   Now what?    the background was painted probably 15 years ago, covering a huge pig sitting by a watermelon that I'd done for my Dad.  It hung in his favorite sitting room until he was bored with it, when I brought it home and repainted it.    My point is, the painted background was old, and I didn't hink I could match the paints, so decided to mix trial runs until I could get it close enough.  I really did not want to repaint the entire background now that the road and the text is already there.     I could not get the color match I wanted, so decided on one of my whims to paint a sort of primitive landscape to show the countryside the road is passing through.      Here is how it looks now.

 The color doesn't look at all like the real painting, I took the pic in a room with bright sunlight coming through red and white checked curtains.    

In a way I'm thinking it might be better to leave the background dullish, because it's the words that are important.       But, it needs to be interesting enough for people to walk up and read them.

 I upped the contrast in Photoshop elements to see if that looked better.

 then I increased the saturation for comparison.  Jmmm...

then I went a bit wild and really upped the saturation and tweaked the color.    Typically the art hung at the Mexican Heritage Center is colorful and bright.   Maybe I should punch it up.    Hmmmm..... 





Hmm.    I'll look at it again tomorrow when the light is better and see if I want to make changes.

I can see that road going off into the sky is not good placement.    do I really want to take time to change that?     Hmmm..     this is a process.    As you can see.     I'll show more steps and views tomorrow.   

This and that

Here is a quick peek at the new owl books I made for the gallery.    I'm particularly fond of the green one.     

This is one of the Paris signs I painted  that hangs in my friend Cat's house.     It's the perfect spot and changed the whole atmosphere in her private bathroom.    this the one I sprayed on the back with the Krylon mirror spray paint which gives it a kind of mercury glass look. First of course I sprayed the stencils with black paint.    I was glad to see the mirror spray did not affect the black paint.   whew!  I was worried about that.     If you spray with the mirror paint, do it outside - the fumes are horrible.

Holliday is over, let's get back to art.

My decorations are all tucked away  and artwork is spread around now.     I am entering three pieces in the Exhibit that will take place at the Mexican Heritage Center .  The theme is Art Against Violence.      I met one of the directors at a meeting a couple weeks ago and asked whether she thought drunk driving was an applicable subject.   She gave me a wholehearted YES, so I decided to enter the White Crosses book.   

After later discussion it didn't seem to work out that the actual book be exhibited due to the size and fragility.     It just would not work.   This just presented another challenge.    How can it be entered?   Hmmm.....

  I went through a lengthy thought process and checked in with a few friends and brother for input.   I had first thought it would be good as a video or even a slide project, but that would mean someone would need to be there for the equipment and to start and stop and troubleshoot.      Not practical.      So, I decided to break the book content down into the two parts.  The first being the section where I used the found words technique to paint out all the words except those that contained the narrative I selected.      I scanned it, and am having it printed on heavy paper to construct a separate book that can be handled.      Here are the pages. 

the highway

claimed another victim

you noticed that single cross.    Who ---or what ---marked the spot

open road
driving that hill and that curve
highway
dangerous
drunk
dead

tears

the accident site

he looked back

he didn't see the tree
fatality









Each page is cut along the highway so the next pages show partially.    I'll do this with the new version as well.







The next section of the book contained my poem "Shrines by the Side of the Road" which I wrote in 2009.     Instead of using it in the book form, I decided to use an old canvas, draw on a road and then print the poem, cut out the words and glue them along the roadway.    This measures 24 x 48 inches and hangs horizontally.   Right now it is still in progress.  Here is how it looks at the moment with the words just scattered along in two different fonts.   It's still very much in the making decisions mode.    Masking tape is roughly where the road will be.

In order to make it fit, I had to edit the poem down, leaving out a number of stanzas and lines.     Here is how it reads now.   

The Shrine at the Side of the Road

Driving along a country road
on a sunny afternoon
without a care in the world.

I know this road,

I've passed this way before.

I am startled to see

by the side of the road
a white cross nailed to a tree.
A shrine for a youth
whose path ended here.

In his old pickup truck
with a six pack of beer
he lost control rounding the bend.

The impact! the crash!
the truck is now trash.
Broken glass, broken head,
 pronounced DEAD!

How many lives were shattered that night?
How many people mourn?
How many tears were shed
for the brother, the friend, the son?

Nothing can be said,
nothing can be done.
That's the hardest part.
Nothing is slower to heal
than the hole in his mother's heart.

I say a little prayer
for the soul of the one who died
and the lives

that were wrenched by the tragedy
as I zip past the sad little shrine

that could have been mine.

I've passed this way before
I'll pass this way again.

Christmas Cheer

The decorations are up.
Decorating in the trunk.

And on the herb sign at end of kitchen.     I always wished there was a window there but it gives me another wall to decorate.     

Tis the season

At the white elephant gift exchange at the art center pot luck dinner, I got the two little owls that look so good with my little owl cookie jar I bought last year.    

  Lisa took what I had already received, and I filched this from Pam who had already had something else snitched from her.     Eventually everyone seemed happy with what they received.   It was fun.     Here's Frances and Lisa on the way out.    

  By the way, the two owl books sold right away.     I'm glad they have found good homes.     

Calm after the storm

We didn't blow away. We're still here.   It's been raining for days and our water table is vastly improved.    On days without rain, we have fog because there is so much moisture in the air.     So any time the sun pokes it's way through, I really appreciate and enjoy it.        

Our Monday morning senior group had tables at the annual holiday bazaar/party at the senior center.    I didn't take anything to sell, but sat and drew leaves in the nature journal, and a few people stopped to watch.  Helen, Lillian, Elizabeth, John, and Jean all sold some of their art work.  Celia set up a yard sale kind of table and got rid of a lot of her things at bargain prices.      There were also potters, crochet and knitters, quilters, card makers, and lots more.   the fun part of the day is the games.  Reverse bingo where if they call a number on your card, you are out.     They played this a number of times, and those at our tables were out pretty quickly and had fun rooting for each other.     They also had other games, musical chairs, and raffle prizes.   It was not my lucky day.    

Here's a pic of Jean and Helen setting up the table.

Storm of the Century due here tomorrow.

How scary is that?      I'm quivering in my boots.    Since I live upstairs, I get buffeted pretty hard with high winds, and they are expected to be in the 20 -35 mph range with gusts up to 60????   60?    I've never been here with winds like that.   Normally I like wind.    It's exhilarating.  This time it's just plain scary.    We are also expecting several inches of rain.     I hope the gutters can take  the run off this year.      I might take doggies and go downstairs with the kids.     I doubt anyone will be home however, with the odd work schedules they have.       I'll be worried about Matt on the highway in a big truck.     He says it's much worse when he returns an empty, so I'll hope he has a heavy load.       My neighbor was looking nervously at the big street tree out front.  Says he will have the longest reaching branches removed next time we have it trimmed.    One overhangs the front of my house and two overhang my driveway.     His car is also in danger.     

Let's see if I'm ready.  I have batteries.  Water.   all electronics fully charged.    Flashlights.   Food.    Yep? 
I wish we had the house reroofed this year, I expect we will have some shingles torn off.      I'll let you know later.      

Annual Holiday get together in Amador City and Sutter Creek

My friends and I have been doing this for years.   Usually there are one or two missing, as other things take precedence, or because of health issues.     There were just 7 of  us this time.     Missing our good friends, but having a grand time anyway.      Some of us started in Sutter Creek at a new restaurant that was recommended by locals.   And for good reason.   It's tiny and clean and the owner runs it all, makes all the foods, serves and is just a really friendly nice person.  visit Cavana's Deli for salads soups, breakfast and desserts.  16 Eureka St. Sutter Creek.

There is a parking lot right behind it which has a footbridge across the stream to the parking lot behind the auditorium.    Most of the year this is a dry stream.  We have had good rains the past week, so it was running again and looking much better.  The bridge was decorated for the season.  I thought the rusty railing and  the landscape behind made a beautiful sight.     Here are pics.

 We have not had a hard frost yet, so there are still leaves on the trees with plenty of color.    I think this would make a good painting.   i wish we had some sun or blue skies for a background.      Paints can take care of that.    LOL

We left Sutter Creek and went on to Amador City just a few miles North.     It's one of those little lazy foothill towns, left behind by the gold miners in the late 1800s.   Now a tourist town.     Decades ago I had a shop there.    Our friend Sandy still has a ahop there you can see it on her facebook page.   https://www.facebook.com/pages/Country-Living/125433924201697


We visited for awhile then went next door to Buffalo Chips our favorite luncheon place.     Another family owned business, now operated by the younger generation, but keeping the same type menu and prices, and fresh cooked to order foods.    They are famous for their home made pies.  It was hard to decide between the apricot and the  tart dark cherry.      Phyllis and I split a hamburger and a piece of the dark cherry pie.      Yummm..... the tiny touch of almond extract helps bring out the flavor so well.

I had a post card in my purse which I had forgotten to mail to o ne of the CA Art Girls - so we walked down to the tiny little Post Office.  There are no lines in Amador City.      I also stocked up on  Post Card postage stamps.   Now I can get busy making and sending some card to friends again.     Then we visited some nearby shops  (be sure to visit Bellflower Home and Garden Store, 10787 Water Street, Amador City) .  It's chock full of wonderful things that would look great in my garden.    I have to laugh when I look at the address.    Water Street is something like 2 blocks long.   How the heck did they get an address of 10787?     I would have given it a number like 17.  

Then we piled back into the cars and returned to Sutter Creek for more wandering/shopping.   

We were not much help to the economy, no one really came away with much.      Sorry, I know they need the business but we are all at the stage of life when we no longer collect much, instead we are giving it away.  Both towns were so quiet, we practically had them to ourselves.

Here are the girls at lunch.   I'm sure we'll be back again next year.

Here an owl, there an owl....

Okay, for the moment I'm owl obsessed - but dont' feel like you have to send me one.   Honestly these things do pass....




I made these little primitive owls as ornaments that can later be used as pin cushions or cat toys.      I now have a cookie tin full of the little owlets. Some of them have wings, some don't.     They are too young to leave the nest so it really doesn't matter.

I used an old cutter quilt, an old red plaid flannel nightgown and a scrap of upholstery fabric sent by a friend.    

Autumn post card swap

It's that time, when the CA Art Girls swap post cards.   Seasonal.   Fall.     Which  this year sped into winter in a blink.    We didn't have nearly enough time to enjoy the beautiful leaves and the light coming in at such a beautiful angle making long shadows on the streets.        Here are a couple of the lovely post cards I received.

 The frist one is from Margaret who used the image of the fall leaves as inspiration.

 This was done by Terri with alcohol inks over an image she printed on a metallic paper.   











This is a Thanksgiving card from Phyllis, who cut out
leaf shapes from some painting experiments.  


 

 This one with dried leaves from a Japanese Maple is from Beth.    

 I should have posted this last month, it is a Halloween card from Nancy.
It's never too late to show a guy in a chicken costume.  





















Here are two I scanned together.   The upper one is a painting of leaves by Roberta with alight metallic glazed over them.


Paris in the Fall is from Debbie.    



Thanks gals, I love each card, and they way you all interpreted the season differently in your art.








This last picture is the ones I made to send out.  I used a
beautiful fabric that had gold artichokes and writing on it.  

First thing I did was to free style stitched leaves on each one then went back and painted the leaves with metallic paints.  Finally, I handstitched to the cards.   I had the fabric for several years and never found the right place to use it.     This seemed like a good time.