Monthly Archives: September 2010

On My First Day

     Of the kids being in school, I created a massive quantity of art. Ha. No, even better I went to enjoy some art with friends. I wasn’t planning to like this as I had seen pictures and it just didn’t excite me. It has drawn large crowds here since it’s opening but I just didn’t go earlier.

    But in the early morning sun and the company friends, I was in love with it. Enjoy the beauty of the gardens and the the art of Dale Chihuly at the Meijer Gardens .

From the ceiling

Placed in the gardens

One of my favorites-the blending of the pink and the soft yellow…

Beautiful

In the sun

And enjoying two wonderful friends for a few hours. That was a treat and now I want to go back for more to see it in different light. Why haven’t I gone before? The exhibit has been extended until the end of October secondary to the large crowds. I will go again.

 This was truly a privilege.

Happy Art, my friends!

Fun With Fools

     Since I have have been home, I have this overwhelming desire to be by the water. We live about 45 minutes from Lake Michigan and I have been taking every opportunity to soak in some water views. The plan on Saturday was to get up early and join all the other crazy people who wanted to do the same thing and go to the beach. However, the weather took a real turn and it was cold and very windy. Well, we went anyway but just took a drive and walk along the lakeshore. We ended up at South Haven beach- windy, cold and 63 degrees.

    I haven’t seen the lake like this in a long time. The waves were washing over the pier and a fool was standing out at the end.

I looked out and I saw these guys-what is this-not parasailing?-windboarding? They were flying on these boards and having a great time. I had never seen this before.

There were three guys who went out and were just having so much fun riding with the wind.

I kept thinking of how incredibly strong their upper bodies must have been with the wind gusts we were having.

The board looked like a snowboard.

The sail was large and heavy-drying off before he loaded it into his truck.

A little water watching at the end of summer. Then I went home and have spent about ten hours purging my sewing room-dealing with scraps and things. Guess I didn’t really put things away after returning home:).

Happy Summer, my friends!

Frogs, Fridays and Finishes

     I was just pouring myself a cup of coffee this morning and look who was peeking in my kitchen window-this little frog was perched on the top of my window! He couldn’t have been anymore than 3 inches big .

 What an awful picture. I had to send my basic lens for the SLR away for repair. Boo hoo- it would have been a great close up.

Well I do kind of feel like him-clinging and maybe not headed in the right direction this week. I was being kind of hard on myself and kept thinking I didn’t really do enough art wise this week. So I sat and made a list.
What did I do art related this week?

1. 90 percent done on memory quilt. Just need to wrap up the binding.

2. Went to Nellie’s reception. Began my own crinkle quilt which isn’t quite dry yet with all the humidity we have had.

3. Ironed all my surface design work from summer and found a home for it. Figured out I need deep navy, gold and deep purple fabric dyed yet this warm weather season.

4. Went our West Michigan Fiber Arts meeting and saw a great demonstration by our own Linda Walburn on deconstructed screen printing. I loved this.

 She made it look very easy…

 

 (Note to self:you may not try this until you have current projects on this list completed.)

5. Pieced 75 percent of my  first top for my series.(Need a name) Ended up moving it around and liking it better.Too many ideas for the second one! Super excited.

6. Waiting for my 8×10 work of the week #2 to be dry so I can do some hand stitching and finish the edge.

And then if I add in the last minute back to school stuff and kids home yet, maybe it was a productive week after all! School starts Tuesday and as much as I have had a great summer with each of them I am ready for a schedule.

So if you feel you haven’t been as productive as you “should ” be, maybe make a list. Some of this is just “studying” for the end result of finding my way. Make a list and look back on what you DID do.

Happy summer and sewing, my friends!