Fall fun

 Yesterday we took our annual trip to the pumpkin farm. Being Columbus day weekend it was packed but still so much fun! I love the fact that my kids still want to go. I thought for sure I'd get the eye roll with the "do I have to go?"

 The weather has been especially nice this past week and the fall colors are spectacular this year. It was impossible not to get postcard perfect photographs at the farm.

 So after we got home I just kept taking pictures! I actually filled up the memory card in my camera, emptied it, and went back out to take more photos.

 The color of the sunlight truly has been golden. All of the trees surrounding my neighborhood are at their peak right now and my photos just don't do it justice. The photo above is the view I can see right now from my kitchen window as I type and the picture just cannot capture the atmosphere right. At least not by my cheapo camera!

 It's almost time to bring in the jade plant, sporting its red tinged leaves.

 My oregano and plumbago are turning beautiful shades of red and purple.

 I saw this adorable little frog in the plumbago as I was photographing it! He was fast so I am glad I was able to get this one decent picture of him.

And to top it off this incredible 3D hot air balloon floated right over our house! All of the kids were outside yelling and waving up to the people in the basket. I've never seen a balloon like this before! What a perfect afternoon!

Going nuts...again

Everything outside is golden! This fall the trees look spectacular. The smoky purple ash trees and blazing orange maples.They are so inspiring. In the fall mood I decided to start making more nuts again. They seem to fit the season. This time around I put rattles in them so they even sound like nuts.

 The one on the left is the largest one I've ever made. I really like the fact that it is larger than life size. It draws more attention to it as a work of art rather than just a nut.

Everyone keeps trying to open them though! So maybe I should make some that come apart in the future. I could see them breaking a lot more often if I do that, however, because they do tend to roll a little. Well, I still like them as fall decorations. The only problem is that I give them as gifts for Christmas. Not exactly the best timing. I really wish I had more time to make them so I could have a stock of them to sell. Maybe my project for next summer...

Enjoy your autumn (or spring!) wherever you are!

New Work

Parallel to Vertical
6x6
Encaustic Mixed Media

It's amazing how much can be accomplished in tiny snippets of time. I had been trying to get back into my studio more since the school year started again and I really didn't think I had been very successful. Then I just suddenly realized that I felt this was done.

After looking at it for a couple of days though I think I might need to lighten the rectangle in the center. It was my favorite area and then I put a transfer over it. I don't mind the transfer but I think it's way too dark to be in the very middle of the picture plane.

 I did a big no-no with this project too. The little birds were drawn on with a regular felt tipped pen. I was hoping that when I fused it that it would become protected from the wax. But it still comes off with water even after fusing and I am too chicken to put a layer of medium over it for fear that it will ruin the drawing. I really should've done a transfer but I got that image in my head and wanted it on the wax immediately. I can always fix it later.

And those are apple seeds embedded in the wax. You can also see a leaf from one of the trees in my yard and I honestly cannot remember the name of the tree.

I have found myself increasingly captivated by the textures produced by the wax. Layer by layer building up colors and depth. It reminds me of working with jewelry in a way. There is so much hidden detail in the tiniest little places. I keep thinking that I need to work larger but it's the small spaces that I obsess over. Adding little gems of color and visual details packed into little corners.

I'm sure it probably looks like a mess to you but I love that old worn layered look. Knowing that there's more beneath the surface.

Alpacas!

 

The art department at our school district received a grant this year to experience fiber art at it's best! We went to the Waldron Alpaca Farm in a nearby town where the students learned all about making felted wool tapestries.

 First we got to meet the alpacas. They are so cute! The photos really do not do them justice. They have such personality...and bangs. Such awesome bangs.

My students were completely smitten. It's hard to tell who's looking at who.

 After learning about the alpacas we all got to make our own felted wool tapestries. Susan Waldron who owns the farm sheers the alpacas every spring, cleans the wool and dyes it all herself to use in her own fiber art. She has piles of the softest wool in an amazing array of colors She makes gorgeous colorful tapestries and even some beautiful ponchos and jackets.

The wool we used started off all soft and fluffy.We used a barbed needle to poke through the wool so it would stay attached to the felt backing. 

 So here are my very first attempts at felting. The koi fish is small at about 8x10. All the students made one in preparation for the big 16x20 project.

My robin tapestry isn't quite finished yet. I need some more berries but over all not too shabby for a brand new medium. All the students created such wonderful artwork and it was a great experience for all of them. I know they were all exhausted by the end of the day because most of them napped on the bus ride home!

Thanks so much Susan!

Just a sketch

So I figured out that if the weather is nice I do not like staying inside and doing artwork! Therefore I've had nothing really blogworthy to post.

School has started again and for the past three to four weeks I have been busy with that. But now I seem to have hit my stride so it's time to give myself a kick in the pants to get creative again!

Since fall is coming I have felt like drawing crows. Not really sure why they remind me of fall but I didn't feel like drawing cute sparrows and fluffy robin chicks anymore. Crows are more moody and mysterious don't you think?

I do have other projects started but not finished yet so I will have more to post soon. I'm still a little scattered.

But today is another gorgeous day out so I am going to go enjoy it while I can.

Enjoy!

Oregano??

I do apologize for being gone so long again. I have been busy preparing for back to school which starts Monday. Yikes! Still so much to do.

 I do need your help with something though.

My grandmother brought back some oregano from her village in Greece many, many years ago. It spreads like a weed but it's not invasive. And everyone in my family has patches of it growing all over their yards. The problem is that we've always referred to it as oregano but it doesn't look like any type of oregano I've seen anywhere else.

Can you identify it?

 It gets these cute little pinkish purple flowers scattered along the stem that produce an abundance of seeds which is why it shows up in the most surprising places each summer!

 The leaves are long and thin which is not like an oregano leaf at all. So I am curious if this is really oregano. It sure smells like oregano. My yiayia called it oregano so everyone in my family refers to it as oregano too.

 And it really will grow anywhere. You can see it growing in the cracks between the bricks in my patio. It also showed up a good 15 feet away by the stairs on my patio too.

 A small patch showed up right next to my hydrangea...

and all the way around my house in the front yard growing out from between the cracks in the flagstone wall.

It's just such a cute plant that I never yank them out. That way I'm always surprised where it will show up next year!

But if anyone knows the identity of this herb I'd love to know. I am wondering if Liane from Prairie Garden can help at all with this one?

Last Workshop

 Last week was my last summer art workshop for the kids whose school district eliminated all art, music and gym classes. There were only three girls in this last class and they are all good friends. They were so sweet, and I had a good time with them too. They got a kick out of watching the goats out the back window.

 We did a grid drawing for our last project. I had them bring in food wrappers because the bold graphics and images are easier to draw and look nice when they are all colored in. Grid drawing is a great way to draw images accurately and proportionately.

 

 Drawing out the grid can take a long time if you've never done it before but the extra preparation is worth it if you have trouble drawing from a photo without it looking distorted.

One grid is drawn over the photo and one is drawn very lightly on your paper. Then, instead of drawing the whole picture all at once, all you have to do is draw what you see inside each little square. Just make sure you draw it in the exact same square on the drawing paper. That's why I always have my students number the grids across the top and down the left side to make sure they are drawing inside the correct box.

 We ran out of time before they had a chance to start coloring but they are a smart group of kids and I'm sure they can color them in on their own.

 Besides we had to leave some time for them to run outside to see if they could scare the goats and watch them fall over. It was so funny to see the girls all trying to hide behind one tiny little shrub and jump out screaming .

 My daughter May decided to do her own thing and gave herself a purple marker henna style tatoo.

And I just had to share this cute little grasshopper with you too. I found him hiding perfectly camouflaged (almost) in my spirea.

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Well, I'm back to work this week unofficially to start doing inventory of the art supplies before school begins. I can't believe that summer vacation is over so soon! But I think I am ready for a change.....I think.