Class Projects from Road To California

Some of my class work from the Road To California classes I took:

This is a rose ink painting using Tsukineko Inks from the class with Lura Schwarz Smith on 'Inking Your Fabrics':

This is a portrait of a child from the Lura Shwartz Smith class:

These poppies are from the class on applique that I took from Martha Nordstrand:

Artist's Way Check In - Week Nine

Week 9 Check In Links

This has been a whirlwind of a week. My Artist Date took up most of the week! I spent Wednesday afternoon helping hang quilts at the Road To California show, then attending the opening preview for class participants. Then classes all day Friday, most of the day Saturday and I went back to check on a few vendor booths Sunday morning (the showroom floor is the emptiest on Sunday morning!)
Instead of repeating the pictures from the show here, please visit the forum posts and see the pictures in my two Road To California Report posts:

• Road To California Report
• Road to California Report Part Two

Tasks:
There was absolutely no way to do much with tasks 1, 2 and 4 this week...I just did not have the kind of time I would need to do them properly..Started reading my pages but only got a couple of days into them...So far, in what I reread, I complained mostly about 'the betrayal of the body'...
3. Creative Goals for the Year:

• Journal Quilts Challenge


• Mystery Quilt at AZ Retreat


• Hearts Garden Quilt


• Penrose Tile Quilt (rework per Dixie's suggestions)


• Continue with 'The Artist's Way'


• Start working thru 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain'


• Do more sketching, watercoloring and inking


• Added after Road: Work on Hoffman Challenge (a piece of the challenge fabric followed me home)- may or may not make it, but at least I will try a design

Creative goals for the next few weeks:

• Finish cutting AZ quilt


• Make test block for back of Hearts Garden


• Do January Reveal and make February Journal Challenge page


• Cut frames per 'Drawing' book


• Get Tsukineko inks for inking (done!)


• Practice new handquilting method and get another row done on Penrose Tiles quilting

Check In:
1. Did pages 6/7 days...
2. Artist Date was a blast! Way fun! And it felt really wonderful!
3. Lots of synchronicity - tools and methods for what I want to work on appeared.
4. I am seriously refreshed artistically...I hope I can keep up the fevered pace, but I am really liking it! I learned SOOOO much this week. And I was very brave, and let Dixie McBride actually look at and touch my Penrose Tiles...

Ode to the Artist Child

I wrote this in my morning pages a couple of days ago...

Housework and errands
Can wait til the morrow
For time slips away
We've learned to our sorrow
So quiet down Doubts
Problems, go far away
I'm coddling my Artist Child
Who's come out to play!

Artist's Way Check In - Week 8

Chapter 8 Link

I did not get a sense that this chapter was about time...To me it was about going forward, regardless of whatever else happened in the past and what is happening currently. A couple of the statements stood out -

• "In order to catch the ball, you have to want to catch the ball" - John Cassavetes


• "...ask the right question:'What next?' instead of 'Why me?'"


• "Creativity requires activity, and this is not good news to most of us. It makes us responsible. And we tend to hate that...Most of us hate to do something when we can obsess about something else instead. One of our favorite things to do - instead of our art - is to contemplate the odds..As a rule of thumb, the odds are what we use to procrastinate about doing what comes next."

What I got out of the chapter is 'Do something everyday towards your art, even if its just a small something'.

Tasks:
3. Color Schemes...
I am Green. I am a quiet forest, new mown grass, crispy Granny Smith apples, new dollar bills, Christmas trees, moss, jade, ivy, emeralds and old copper.
I have green pants, green shirts, green sweaters, green sox...And yes...I do have a LOT of green in my house - every room has some green in it, my dishes have green stripes, my dishtowels and kitchen rugs are green, the entry rug is green, the pillows on the sofa are green, the tablecloth on the dining table is green...Fortunately, its DH's favorite color too!

Check In:
1. Did morning pages 7/7 this week.
2. Artist's date to the folk music store described in a different post below. It was very interesting to go to an area that I have wanted to explore for a long time.
3. Syncronicity - yup...Needed to work on my Journal Quilt page and Charter Cable helped by blowing a fuse somewhere so I wouldn't have an excuse not to work on it.
4. Interestingly...This process is starting rub off on DH a bit by osmosis...We got to talking about some of the lessons and he got fired up about an idea he wanted to explore...Rah!

Next week's Artist Date is gonna be a BIG one - I am taking classes at the Road To California Quilt Show...I expect to be thoroughly fired up and raring to go by the time Sunday rolls around..May not have a lot of time for my tasks though...Have to see how much I can cram in before Wednesday. All my tools and supplies are packed, Zelda is ready and all I have to do is remember to take the camera and my lunch (food is dreadfully expensive there) and I am ready to rock-n-roll! Whee!!!

What Happens When The Cable Goes Out...

Got home this evening and the cable refused to connect to the internet...started to go into serious withdrawal..of course there were things I just HAD to look at on the 'net!
Almost decided to just go to bed really early for a change...but then passed my Journal quilt fabrics just sitting there looking so pretty...and thought...nah, sleep can wait...lets get at least the background on the page done...well, its seveal hours later, the background is done, the focus is done, the quilting is done -AND the cable is back!...Just have to sew on some embelishments, figure out if I want to print something for the back and do the satin stitching around the edge!!!! Hurrah, its mostly done...I guess I should say "Thanks, Charter Cable".

Harp Strings, Tibetan Singing Bowls and Belly Dancing Bells

Didn't get too much done on my January piece as I decided today was a good day to go do my Artist Date...I had read in a local magazine that there was a store not too far away that had harps...Well that caught my eye and I have been looking for a time to go...Had to get out to mail a couple of packages at the PO so I was out anyway...
This was a very ODD store...In addition to having harps (only three floor harps in the $1000 plus range!) they have guitars, violins, bongo drums, dulicmers, autoharps, belly dancing bells, shell ankle bands (they make noise), Tibetan singing bowls, tin whistles, stuffed animals, greeting cards, t-shirts, CD's and posters...Very cramped place with instruments stuffed on a shelf up over the display cases...And the clerks totally ignored me...I must have wandered around there for at least half an hour and not one word!!! Blew me away...
The store is in an old restored part of town, very eclectic...I wandered around the little shops - some of them had delicious odors wafting out to the street...One store had the Dansko shoes that Sophie talked about in her blog. Went in and tried on a couple of pairs...Very cool shoes, but wow...Are they expensive! $110!! It was an interesting experience!
Headed over to Michaels on the way home and got some drawing supplies and a few other tidbits with my gift card...So I didn't arrive home empty-handed.

January On My Mind...

I have had the initial design for the January JQC page done for some time now...Practically from the day I decided to do the challenge, but for some reason, every time I have gone in to work on it, I have shied away...Now I know why...My inner eye was not really satisfied with the piece of material for the background. I found a MUCH better piece today on the way home and I also got some glitter paint and some beads...Now I am RARING to get at this piece...Hopefully after work tomorrow...

Four on the Floor

Sophie and Jules have tagged everyone I know in the blogosphere with this MEME...

Four jobs you've had: computer programmer, data jock, sales clerk at the candy counter, order fulfillment for mail order

Four movies you could watch over and over: Somewhere in Time, Real Genius, Its a Wonderful Life, Home Alone

Four places you've lived: So Cal, Atlanta, Boston, Newfoundland

Four TV shows you love to watch: This is really hard since we don't watch much TV...Smallville, Star Trek, Monk, Boston Legal

Four Places You've Been on Vacation: Disney World, Victoria Island, Cork, Brussels

Four Websites You Visit Every Day: About.com quilting forum, a number of blogs (count is up to 89!!!!), MSNBC, CNN

Four Of Your Favorite Foods: dark chocolate reigns supreme, apricots, raspberries, Shrimp Rangoons

Four Places You'd Rather Be: On a cruise, Hawaii(I've never been there!), New Zealand, exploring Mars

Four Albums you can't live without: Mannheim Steamroller (any of them), Soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera, Enya, Christmas at the Kings Court(harp music)

Four People you'll pass this on to: Humpff...all the people I know with blogs have been tagged already...If you are reading this and you haven't been tagged yet, guess what? You're IT!

Bad Santa Mom

As I was putting away the Christmas stuff today, I remembered a funny incident that happened when we had our Christmas Party this year...I still fill stockings for my adult children...its a convient place to put 'little stuff'. My DD(23) this year, after she dragged all the stuff out of her stocking said to me in an exasperated voice..."MA, you FORGOT the tangerine and the penny...and NO NEW TOOTHBRUSH or pack of gum either! Its TRADITION!!!" Well I guess I've been told, eh? I gotta put that on the list for next year so I don't forget and be a bad Santa Mom again. (Kids...sheesh!)

Artist's Way Check In - Week Seven

Found a couple of quotes that were really interesting to me in chapter seven this week -

• Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough - that we should try again.


• Usually when we say we can't do something, what we mean is that we won't do something unless we can guarantee we'll do it perfectly.

Tasks:
1. Made the mantra and stuck it up on my bulletin board...
4. Got a delicious smelling candle - hazelnut cream. Though I don't actually like burning candles in my house, I do like picking up a good smelling candle as I pass by during the day...
5. Wore my favorite pink sweater a couple of times just cuz...
6. Bought a cozy soft pair of bottle green sox...
7 & 10. Made the collage (see other post for picture). Its hanging behind my desk where I can see it frequently. I was surprised by just how many pictures of cruise boats I picked out - I guess I really do want to go on a cruise!
8. Favorite films

• Princess Bride
• Somewhere in Time
• Ever After
• Real Genius
• Its a Wonderful Life

Trimming it to 5 was hard...I like lots of films - including the Lord of the Ring Trilogy, the Harry Potter series, the Star Wars series and the Star Trek series...

Check In:
1. Did my morning pages 6/7..Wednesdays continue to be my challenge day. I did morning pages most of the days last week too...even though we were on hiatus.
2. Artist Date this week was thrift store sailing...went to a bunch of thrift stores that are near each other in Downtown. In one of the stores, I found a package of felt that sticks to the wall without harming the paint...there are four pieces which I think I will use in the corners of chunk of white flannel for a design wall. I also happened on a sweater sale at another - any sweater for 3 bucks. I got a raspberry chenille pullover and a cardigan that has rows of designs that go all the way around the sweater even the back...I haven't any idea what that pattern is called but I have been looking for one that I liked for a looonnnnggg time. This one has a gold background with pink, rose, green, white and slate blue...its label says its an Heirloom Collectible from 2004 and it does not appear to have ever been worn! Very funny that I would be picking out sweaters - it was close to 90 that day! Did I take any risks with my Artist Date..well, no. But it felt really cool to find that sweater!
3. Synchronicity...well, this week it was everywhere...I have joined the Healthy Living gang on the quilting forum and the Quilters Lounge...Got lots of references everywhere I looked - even in my mail, that the only way to actually keep weight off is to exercise! SO I am exercising...
4. As for issues, I am not sure this is actually an issue, but I am getting way more organized than I have been in the past...I seem to be able to focus harder on tasks and GET 'EM DONE easier! This is a good thing...

Lookin' Out My Back Door

This is the view today out my back door, or it was a few minutes ago...Rainbows sure don't last very long...by the time I saw the rainbow and ran to get the digital, it had already faded by almost a half...California is in the grip of a wild rain storm system...If you watched the Rose Parade on TV earlier today, you saw it was very drippy! We have high wind advisories with up to 60 mph gusts and flood watches in nearly every county...there is even a tornado watch in a couple of the northern counties! Liquid Sunshine! And by the end of the week, we are supposed to be almost at 80 degrees again...

Happy New Year 2006

I wish all of you a very Happy New Year!
I spent the day doing things I like to do (and some need to do's) so hopefully they will be things I get to do a lot of in the new year - just on the off-chance that its true, I took to heart Gabrielle's superstition...
~ I quilted...Worked on my Arizona Challenge piece and its almost done...
~ I did my morning pages...
~ I cooked some tasty low-carb food...
~ I exercised...
~ I read - both on computer and off...
~ I sketched some...I finished the basic design for my Journal Quilt page for January...

Goals for the next month:
~ Finish Arizona Challenge piece
~ Finish Journal Quilt page for January
~ Get my supplies together for Road To California Quilt Show classes
~ Attend Road to California Quilt Show
~ Keep up with The Artist's Way activities
~ Loose those 6 pounds that snuck up on me during the holidays

Wind Beneath My Petals

For my Artist Date this week, I rummaged around a in cool store called 'Tuesday Morning'. I was actually looking for the elegant pair of sox or elegant pair of gloves for one of the other tasks...but instead found this really bright and cheerful windsock flower. Its currently residing in a flowerpot on my front porch...kinda clashes with the Christmas decorations - Christmas stuff will be out for a while longer - gets put away after Epiphany.

Spent yesterday afternoon with my parents - my Mom had a bunch of magazines that she was going to toss...I happily ripped into them and got some really cool pictures and sayings for my collage. I finished that this morning - its now hanging behind my desk.

Requiat in Pace, Ursus Maritimus

We laid to rest a good dog today. My DD's Champagne Lab, who was named 'Polar Bear' (Ursus Maritimus) because when we got him he looked just like a polar bear cub. He became a gentle giant of a dog. Oddly, for a purebred Labrador, he never did learn how to fetch. He will be missed. He will be waiting for my DD at the Rainbow Bridge...

Murphy's Law and the Vacation Phenomenon

Today was a day for the record-books. I started my annual year-end vacation as of 5 pm today but for most of the day it was very touch and go as to whether I would even GET to take vacation next week. I am not sure why, but Murphy's Law seems to crank into full steam whenever you get near enough to smell the start of a vacation - Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong and right before your vacation starts is the worst possible time! Systems that have been working perfectly fine for months decided yesterday that they just had to break...and of course those are the ones the bean-counter people must have working for the end of year tallying up process. But, with my nose firmly pressed to the grindstone, I was able to whack the problems down to size, at the expense of a layer or two of nose-skin. I started out the day with a fever - wasn't even sure I should get out of bed, but persistence won out, I triumphed and all is well on the western front.
Tomorrow I plan to finish off the gift-making. I'm on a roll!

Little Luxuries

Another part of this week was the exploration into authentic little luxuries.
The lady with the raspberries really resonated with me...they are one of my favorites - nothing quite compares to the delight of popping fresh raspberries into the mouth, unless its picking them fresh from the canes and eating them as fast as you fill the bucket! I bought a package of them at the store...
Another little luxury I like is Chai Spice Tea with cream...ummmm...always reminds me of the smell of Christmas...one of the coffee stations where I work has this tea frequently available and for a mere 25 cents I can revel in the taste and scent as I sip.
I saw something at one of the stores today that I think would be a great little luxury - a small rollup case with colored pencils and a small sketch pad...that would be a cool thing to carry around - making one will be vastly cheaper than what the boutique store that I was in wanted for it (it was made of purple suede!) and I can tailor it to my selection of pencils...

Artist's Way Check In - Week Six

This was a fun week. I did my morning page 6/7 days - Wednesdays are just the hardest days for me to get into them! I sewed a bunch of Christmas Gifts for my Girlfriends, went to Christmas Party with my associates - there were 6 of us at each table...the table I was at, everyone EXCEPT me got one of the door prizes...most of the prizes were dustcatchers...I ended up with a consolation prize...but really I like it better...its a dish of florescent green plastic putty that can be squeezed, molded, pinched, squished...its labeled "Positive Putty - Release Your Tension, Stretch Your Creativity, Shape Your Destiny, Sculpt Your Direction." - More up a creative person's alley than a silly old dustcatcher anyway!
I loved the tasks this week and did most of them. I consider my reunion with my long lost friend to be my artist date for the week..it sure was satisfying! Oh..and playing with the putty too!

Task 1 - found 5 interesting rocks from my gravel driveway...a chunk of granite with pyrite sparkles, some milky quartz, a piece of limestone, a smooth chunk of basalt and an interesting piece with some hematite in it..or at least thats the best I can do at identifying the rock types (Geology was a really looooonnnngggg time ago!) I washed the rocks and put them into a jam jar lid that has cute little berries printed on the edge...and put them on the ledge of my kitchen window.
Task 2 - its winter and even in So Cal, there are not too many flowers that bloom in winter, but I did find some! A bright yellow dandylion, a deep pink wildrose bloom, a tiny white rose, a spray of pepper berries and a lime blossom...put them into a pretty glass to enjoy for a few days.
Task 3 - I already cleaned out the ratty clothes a couple of weeks ago..so I cleaned out one of the kitchen drawers and tidied up the rubber bands and twist ties, restacked the kitchen towels and boxes of plastic wrap...Found a box of parchment paper I forgot I had!
Task 4 - Made a spicy chicken soup (added Pace Salsa)and a pumpkin pudding...yummm!

And...I went out this morning and did ALL the Christmas shopping except for a couple more stocking stuffers for my kids, the gift bags, and the food that will be served at the party...my credit cards are protesting, but TADA...I am done with buying things and since I knew where I was going and what I wanted, the only crowded place was Costco - but that's normally crowded on a Sunday afternoon..just have to finish the handmade gifts, get the decorations up and clean the house...and er, humpf...the Christmas Cards! This is THE earliest I have ever had this much of the shopping done!!!! (One year we were sick for Christmas, hadn't done the shopping at all! Christmas celebration was postponed til New Years, and we got all the Christmas gifts that year at the After Christmas Sales!)

Catching Up...Twenty Five Years Worth

I had dinner with my long lost friend last night. It was a wonderful, wonderful reunion! We had dinner and we talked and talked and talked...finally one of the waiters came over and said they were closing for the evening!!!We did not even realize we had talked for FIVE hours! (Nice of the restaurant not to kick us out earlier!) I think we might still be there talking if they hadn't closed.
We are going to get together again between Christmas and New Years - both of us are off work and we still have oddles to talk about! Very interestingly, our lives have taken similar paths although she still has the same attitude about quilting I did three years ago before I got quiltpox ("Why would you cut up perfectly good fabric into little pieces just to sew it back together??)...I will just have to expose her to quiltpox and hope she catches it!

Artist's Way Check In - Week Five

Chapter 5 Check In

I spent most of the week in a bit of a bad mood...I really didn't like the first of the tasks as I found it rather insulting for her to assume I don't believe in a supportive God...and my antagonism towards that task colored my perspective for the rest of them...

Task 8 - Favorite Creative Block would probably be web surfing.

1. Did pages 6/7 days. Not experiencing page and a half thing...either pages start out as a stream of conciousness and stay that way or they start out exploring an issue and I go on from there...
2. Artist Date for this week started out to be the mystery quilt and I did finish the top...but I wasn't totally satisfied with just that, so I went and bought a toy lap harp - learned to tune the instrument (takes a while!) and play a couple of songs. Its cute but it only has 8 strings so its definately just a toy...but it has me longing to get a real harp. There is a store about an hour drive away that does demo classes periodically where they teach you to play a simple song and you get to try out the different harps...That's gonna be a definate goal for an Artist Date in the near future!
3. No real synchronicity this week.
4. No burning issues...

Fly Me To The Moon!

Remember my 'Moon Jumpers' from third grade, with the block of wood and big springs??? There I was in Wal-Mart...strolling thru the toy section on my way to another department - I turned around, and lo and behold: Today's version: Moon Shoes!!! Mini-trampolines in a plastic bucket that you strap onto your feet...Artist Child almost made me buy them....