Day Seven of Thirty

Since I am packing, will fudge tonight with pics of the kittehs!
Babycakes is ready to go with me, until we have to leave the house, then she changes her mind! Imagine TSA's surprise when BC came bounding out of my suitcase!





fuzzy Buckets was lazy today...

Day 5 of 30

I FINALLY did it! At QSDS one of my classmates had concentric circles on her photos and I asked how she did it (I have no shame when it comes to asking about a technique that I like) and she told me it was in photoshop and it was easy. WELLLLLLL I have found very little in Photoshop that is easy, and this was no exception, but I finally got it down. She had them on photos of ancient ancestors, and it looked smashing. I just grabbed any old image and put it on it, but I love it.

Day 4 of 30

My inspiration wall, which is just to the left of my computer station. I am influenced by so many things!
I have had such a luxurious, art filled weekend, and I do not want it to end! On Saturday I went to an opening at the ABQ Open Space Gallery for some Silk Painter friends, then went downtown to the Main Library for a printing/bookarts exhibit by Off Center artists. Other than church on Sunday, I have done nothing but art and art related things all weekend! Such a nice way to spend my time. I am also posting my day four entries. These are pages prepared for Traci B's Discovering You e-course, and are all about me and my company, what I offer and what I want to accomplish. If you notice, retire plays a HUGE role in these spreads!

Day Nine of Thirty!

A digital collage, with a journal page from my book of the dead, and several texture layers.

Day Eight of Thirty!

Another digital collage featuring Morning Glories. Do I see a pattern here? Two morning glory photos, french postcard text and two different layers.

Day Six of Thirty

Another digital collage. This is a photo that I took on my balcony of morning glories. I used a text background (the writing) and two texture layers from Kim Klassen.
I decided that I want to spell out the day numbers, just looks nicer.

Day 3 of 30

Journal page for Traci Bautista's Discovering You online course. On the left is what I love and the right hand page is My Big Dream page.

Day Two of Thirty!

Cheetah Bricks, a layered digital collage. I think this symbolizes how civilization (and our attendant "progress") is infringing on the natural world. I used a magazine image of the cheetah (one of my power animals) and a photo of a brick street that I took in Columbus Ohio while attending QSDS in June.

Day One of Thirty!

Day one is a bit of a fudge, but I did not read Traci's post until late. This is Xs and Os #3, the third in a series featuring red, black, Xs and Os. It was started at QSDS from a class with Fran Skiles. I stretched the canvas tonight, so that counts as art for the day, huh?

Joining Traci Bunkers 30 days!

Join Traci for 30 days of art making.
I am going to do this!

Check this out...

If you are into Egypt at all, check this out...
http://www.freehabib.com/work/into-egypt/

Here are the words, but the words and images are stunning!

into egypt

to be ready
you will want beauty
as your face
you will want to greet the day with a heart
you will wish was open
you will want to be brave
and you only fear
want belief in anything
and everything is doubt
when there is light finally you might squint
the sight of it all might make you

steady you will want
a vision ahead
redemptive dissonance
music for the end of
chorus for the coming of
manifest hum into hymn
the noise of it rivers you
you will cry water into flames
vulture your own heart to feed

you will want to love your self
at all enough you will want
to flee and forget the leaving
will have to leap still wanting
you will want to wait for witness
you will want to wait for those already gone
you will want until you are want
you will want until
you are ready

- Suheir Hammad

Clarissa Pinkola Estes Quote

The real miracle of…the Wild Woman is that we all begin the process beforewe are ready, before we are strong enough, before we know enough; we begin a dialogue with thoughts and feelings that both tickle and thunder within us. We respond before we know how to speak the language, before we know all the answers, and before we know exactly to whom we are speaking. -
From Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run with the Wolves

I consider myself a Wyld Womyn Nrrd, a derivative of the Wild Woman!

Who does she think she is????

Watch Who Does She Think She Is Full Free Online... by viekig342655

This is only the trailer, I just watched the full video on PBS. It is available online by following the link on trailer.

Yeah I know - ANOTHER amazing TED video...

Back in the Smokey Southwest!

Xs and Os, one of the pieces that I worked on at QSDS


On Wednesday, we took a bus trip to Athens, Ohio to see the famous Quilt National exhibit at the Dairy Barn. No pics inside, but this is the exterior. It really was an old dairy born.

Untitled large piece from QSDS, also starring Xs and Os.
Xs but no Os
Display of some of the work that I did at QSDS, bottom left is my "wipe piece" that I used to clean brushes and paints. Looks pretty good and may become a selfstanding piece.
Art Sculpture at Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus. QSDS relocated the workshop here from a hotel. Much nicer atmosphere! The glass building behind the sculpture is the Design Center Studio Apartments, where we stayed.

I am not sure if Columbus air was especially clean or not, but at least it was not smokey! I came back to a yucky, smokey atmosphere that is really bothering my eyes! But it is good to be home.

My "Artological" clock has started again

This is the cover of my new moleskine journal that I am going to use for "My Big Dream Journal". This is for Traci Bautista's Discovering You on line course.

This is the first layer of the background on my title page for the dream journal. Many more layers will follow.

At last, a good sunset picture

Due to the smoke that has been streaming into Albuquerque, sunsets have been muted. But tonight, I looked out and there was a goreous sunset! There is still smoke in the air, but certainly less than the few previous days. The light smoke gives the orange color and you can actually see the horizon line.

Happy Friday

This is a quote from Susannahsays:

...chorus from Anthem by Leonard Cohen

"Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There's a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in."

Litany of the Spirituality Book

I am off Sunday AM (a 6 AM Flight-WHAT WAS I THINKING???) to QSDS for a full week of classes! I can't wait!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

In case you do not know, there is a huge wildfire in Eastern Arizona. The plumes of smoke are inundating Central and northern New Mexico.
This is the usually bright and shining sun about 7 PM. In just a few minutes it disapperared into the wall of smoke. You can smell the smoke, like standing downwind of a campfire.

There is a 10,000' mountain behind this veil of smoke. You wouldn't know it by looking, would you?


This is the view towards the airport and downtown. There are several large buildings that have been swallowed by the smoke.
The sun in the first picture casts an eerie orange glow. This is the sun coming in through my french doors and shining on my yellow couch. You can see the glow.

as of 9:15 Blogger finally relented and let me post the above pictures.
I have some great smoke pictures, but blogger will not let me upload them! I will try again later.

Great bumper sticker

As I was running around today getting ready for QSDS in Columbus, I saw this bumper sticker:

Dogs on Board, Bitch Driving!

Love it!

Off to do laundry in preparation for my Columbus trip.

Great Music and Art video

Found this in Lesly Riley's latest newsletter Artists Success!

Handmind

I really enjoyed the long weekend, and did some art and some house cleaning.
Over the weekend, I was reading UU World, the Unitarian Univeralist monthly magazine. They usually have some very interesting articles, and one this month was: Slow Making by Doug Stowe. He quotes Ursula K. LeGuin's "Always Coming Home"
"It was a good thing for me to learn a craft with a true maker. It may have been the best thing I have done. Nothing we do is better than the work of handmind. When mind uses itself without the hands it runs the whole circle and may go too fast. The hand that shapes the mind into clay or written word slows thought to the gait of things and lets it be subject to accident and time. Purity is on the edge of evil, they say."
Stowe continues:
"When an item is crafted with useful beauty in mind, it transcends not only the years it may last but also the need one might feel to hurry in its making. What are the few extra minutes to do things right when each moment of attention is witnessed in the finsihed piece for such a lengthy span of time?"
I like the idea of HANDMIND.

Warm Saturday and ABQ Fiber Arts Fiesta

I bought Gladioulous this week, and they were beautiful. This is the last spear.


This is my booty from the Fiber Arts Fiesta, held every other year in Albuquerque. Pamela and I went this afternoon, and saw all of it before we pooped out. There were some gorgeous quilts, amazing goods for sale and the fabric was great. I only bought a jacket pattern, some beads and bangles, and I got the earrings for a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Very enjoyable afternoon.
I spent the morning getting my car serviced, and put that time to good use. I went through all my pictures on the laptop, labeling all of them so I can find something. My new camera posts them to a date folder, and I could never find anything.
Most of my pictures (probably 75%) are on my old desktop, and will take some time to organize! That may be a stormy winter weekend thing...

Gas and other musing on Friday evening

When I filled up my gas tank two weeks ago, I paid $3.89 (but I did not drive to my cheapy place, too far and I was tired). On Tuesday, I went to the cheapy place and paid $3.48! That is a big difference. I think that Americans getting upset about the huge profits and the rising price of gas, that we were listened to! Finally.
I am looking forward to a long three day weekend. My friend and I are going to go the The Fiber Fiesta tomorrow, and I plan to be inspired.
I am also going to do some art over this long weekend!

Rapture??

Our Senior Minister, Christine Robinson, returned from Sabbatical today, and this quote was in her sermon:
"And we affirm, on this beautiful day, that the rapture must have occured, and taken all of us into the holy place of earth and the blessedness of all that is our lives; Let us live this day as if it were heaven; and that way, we will know heaven. love and peace. Amen"

Lazy Sunday

This is something that never happens: both of my kittehs in the same room, on the same bed, within inches of each other! They usually stay in separate rooms.
Still lazy... fuzzy bucket is on the left, baby cakes on the right.
I intended to do some art this weekend, but instead lazed around with the cats and watched movies (btw I could not cover up with my quilt, as it was covered by kittehs!)

Yeah I know - ANOTHER amazing TED video...

But this is truly awe-inspiring...

Mothersitting Weekend

I had a great weekend. I went to Tularosa to "mothersit" my Mother, and I left town Friday afternoon. Had my Mother's day massage (gift from my son) on Sunday and it was great.
When I got home this afternoon, I was checking email and noticed a rainbow on my hand (see my prior post about the water prism I got myself for Mother's Day). I removed the hand picture from the camera, but did not get it transferred! But I did get one image of my Laini's Ladies card, with a rainbow from the water prism. The quote says "A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." Harvey Mackay

NM Wildfires

WE are having a particularly devastating drought in New Mexico and there is a huge 28,000 acre wildfire in Mayhill.




The Mayhill Ranger Station to the east of Mayhill, the station is to the right and the burn area is to the left
Hilda's 3 houses were the only homes lost, but the fire had to jump the road to get to them . Note the blackened butane tank to the left of the picture.
This is the campground that is immediately to the west of Mayhill.
This picture shows the burned and unburned area. Looks like mostly brush and dry, dry grass that burned.

Remember that only you can prevent forest fires!

I LOVE TED!

Windy Days Again

This is my latest piece of artwork. It was inspired by a piece I saw on Jenny Doh's blog. The quote reads What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say. Ralph Waldo Emerson. This has lots of free motion stitching. I also made a small ATC sized piece that is not finished yet, but says "I am Enough". Interesting process.
These peonies were gorgeous. Doesn't come across in the photo... Both of these photos were taken in Placitas NM during the Placitas Studio Tour
I love Koi. These were not very large, but very interesting.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend

This is my fatso catso studio cat relaxing in the jungle window. She loves the sun. I could not find the other studio cat, or I would take her picture too.
On Saturday, I went to The Placitas Studio Tour. Again great art, and I bought myself a Mother's Day present.
I found these water prisms, and thought I deserved one! You can see them here

This is one of the prism reflections on my new batik fabric. I just had to have this yard of fabric and the reflection only adds to the fabric.

Saturday night another friend and I went to the opening at the Albuquerque Museum of Art. It is a "New light on Tiffany" exhibit. The stained glass, panels and light fixtures were gorgeous. If you get a chance, see the exhibit.

Sunday my son called to wish me a happy Mother's Day and gave me a gift certificate to have a massage! So my Mother's day weekend was very satisfying!

First Friday Arts Crawl in ABQ

My friend and I went Arts Crawling tonight, a feature of the ABQ art scene. We only made it to three galleries, but we really enjoyed the evening and some great art. I also discovered a new Fabric store, Nob Hill Fabrics, 3810 Central, in the same area as Matrix Gallery. My friend found a great looking batik that I just had to have a yard of (you can never have too many batiks)

I helped a friend with her final project in a internet communications class and you can see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/imentor4success

I am so glad it is Friday, and I am not on call!

I am off of Facebook for some time. Freaked myself out by clicking on something I should have know better, and sent spam to all of my FB Friends. Slight withdrawal, but OK so far! I will probably be posting more to my blog!

A thoughtful post

Since the death of Osama Bin Laden, I have been mulling over in my mind how I was appalled by Americans dancing in the street over his death.
A friend from Rainbow Artists sent this quote around:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr

No Dust today!

Yesterday was a hot, dry, windy sand filled day. The wind is bad enough, but when there is enough dust in the air that you cannot see the 10,000 ft. mountains from downtown, that is too much! My sinuses and lungs don't appreciate it either, but luckily it is only a few weeks a year when it is this bad!

Another quote:

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

Henry Ford

I have been working in my new altered book, making background pages and should have some pictures soon. Also will work on my new paper piece this afternoon after brunch, errands and some housework are finished.

Another great qoute

I am such a quote junkie! And I find them everywhere!

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi
(1869-1948)

Great quote

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

Wish that I could attribute a source, but it was harvested from one of those multiply forwarded emails. This expresses my views on life exactly.

Another amazing talk on TED

Very Intricate Art

I know I could never do that!

The website is ART NATION and here is another link

Annual Recycle Fair

It was gorgeous Sunday, so I went to the westside and saw the 3rd Annual Recycle Show at the Coors Open Space Center. I parked a long way away, walked, then walked the nearby Labryinth.

There was some very nice art and a lot from friends that belong to Rainbow Artists.
There was an exhibit of haikus and this one really impressed me (they were written in calligraphy, with accompanying water color sketches).

When your world goes wrong
reinvent the world with new
Suns, skies, moons and love.

B. Rojas

Positive inspiration

I took a slight tumble this AM, luckily I fell into a juniper bush which broke my fall... This always upsets and depresses me, but I got on facebook and found this quote:

When you are in a hole, stop digging. Michael Josephson

That gave me a whole new perspective on the day. Thank you Positively Positive from FB! I also shared a video on FB which you might check out.

Kitteh Pics

It is hard to see but this is Fuzzy Bucket all snuggled among the quilts on my bed.

I ARTED tonight

Looking at a friends blog, Cheery Tomato Productions, I was inspired and started cutting and sewing! Thanks Judy!

Creeping Crud

I guess that it finally caught up with me. Everyone at work has been sniffling, hacking and coughing, so it was almost inetivible. Felt really bad yesterday with stuffy nose, sore throat, but I made a roaring fire in the fireplace last night and that made me feel better. I went to work, but depends on how I feel in the morning. I plan on watching Dancing with the Stars (my secret vice!)and going to bed!
No art yet...

Lazy Blogger!

Well, I kind of fell off he blogger wagon! I have been having allergy (??)issues all week, and he wind has been roaring! Expect gusts of up to 60 MPH today, so I plan on actually doing some art!
Happy Dance: my problems at work have been minimized! My nemesis is taking a job which will remove most of my problems!

Great Video Called "Dear Woman"

You have to copy and paste the link below:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_uRIMUBnvw

Weekend trip from Albuquerque to Amarillo

This bank sign just made me happy! Happy Texas is where this bank started.

One of the original fireplaces in Palo Duro Canyon. Longhorns were supposedly in this field, but we did not see any

Beautiful vistas on the way down to the bottom of the canyon.

Had a great visit with my friend L, who just moved to Amarillo. It is amazing that all that flat land opens up to this canyon!