A trip to the mountains and rambling thoughts

It was such a lovely Sunday afternoon that The Donald suggested we go to the park up in the Thompson Canyon.  Our city owns the land and has preserved it for us to have a lovely place to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and river.  We almost never go there, so I was surprised and delighted.  Packed the cooler and the camera and off we went!

The leaves were starting to change and many bushes had berries. The bees were enjoying the last of the flowers...... and our food!  The sound of the river rushing by was so relaxing. We read and rested all afternoon.

The iPAD app Frame Magic was the app used to create the montage above. There were so many neat things to photograph that I had a super time wandering along the paths....and sometimes off the paths. (Don't tell the ranger.)

A portion of the park has the remnants of the old machinery that used to be used to generate electricity for the city.  Most of this was wiped away in the Big Thompson Flood back in the 70's.  The rusty remains are a reminder of lives and homes lost that night as the water rushed down the canyon in the dark. Many regular people became heroes that night.

Speaking of heroes, do you remember the videos shown on tv a few weeks ago showing people lifting a car to save a motorcyclist from burning to death? Amazing what people can do when they have to. I wonder how many everyday heroes we never hear about. Hats off to them!

As the sun went down behind the mountains we headed back to the city to re-enter our regular lives. It was a nice way to spend the day.....and now I have many more photos to play with!

Chain Maille, Art for the Left Brained Person

I find myself falling back into the left-brained world. It is not as much creative as linear, but one can make some beautiful items that bring joy to people.

Those who create variations of the ancient patterns amaze me.  I am happy to follow their directions to get to the finished product.  The process can be relaxing unless too many of the small jump rings fly across the room. We did learn to not go barefoot after a chain making session.

Scott David Plumlee teaches chain maille at various venues in the art and jewelry world. He is always well organized, patient, and has wonderful designs that he has created himself.  The above is one of his designs that I made in one of his classes.

Dale Wigley shows her creations at the vendor shows at Art Unraveled and Art and Soul. She even makes her own jump rings before making the chains. One amazing lady....you will see her in Destination Creativity, Ricë Zachary-Freeman's new book on art retreats.

Beauty can be done one step at a time when the creativity muse is asleep.

I think it is time to go to paint a page!

Fabric and Photos

One of my books was made in a class with the Huskamp ladies at Art Unraveled.  We took the pages out of a Reader's Digest Condensed Book and covered the covers with fabric using iron-on adhesive.  Watercolor paper was also covered with fabric and fabric hinges were used to make an accordion book from all the pages.  Then collages were placed onto the pages using fabric, stamped fabric, quotations printed on fabric, and photos printed on fabric.

Some of the collages have been stitched on the sewing machine before being place on the pages. Some had items added with adhesives. Writing can be added.  Looking through the pages and feeling all the textures is wonderful.  There were so many variations displayed by the students in the class. It was truly wonderful to see the results of all those imaginations at work....or was it play?

The things you find......

As you know, I am continually cleaning the art space.  One of these days it all of the things will be in their place ready for me to find and use them.  At least, that is the premise of all this work.  Maybe I am just delaying doing art, however, I usually find myself delaying the cleaning while a page just has to be painted.

One aspect of the purging is finding things I had lost track of over time.  This page is from a journal started at Art Unraveled in 2008; Jane LaFazio was sure we could all sketch and add watercolors to our work.  I am still not sure how right she was, but I guess some practice would be helpful.  I cannot just put the journal on the shelf and think that I will really learn how to produce a sketch journal.

I wonder sometimes why I think I should be able to do something right away, without practice, without learning, studying.  I encourage others and give them time to grow.  I need to give myself that same opportunity.  Take time to practice that which you wish to learn; you may surprise yourself one day.

Altering Photos and other iPAD Endeavors

The iPAD is useful for many things and, even better, it brings a lot of fun into my life. 

As for some people thinking that iPADs can be a great time waster, wellll....I have to admit they are right!  When one can carry a very light-weight "computer" to the recliner, the hours speed quickly by before you realize it.

I read the news on several different apps. One of my favorites is News360 which gives many viewpoints for each subject covered. Flipboard gives you a Facebook overview and lets you read blogs and RSS feeds all in one place.  What's on? is a great tv guide.....so you can use two time-wasters at one time....... Now, that IS efficient, isn't it?

Ever since taking classes from LK Ludwig using photos altered before and after putting them on the journal page, I have really enjoyed the new views of my world.  You just HAVE to be present when you are looking for new viewing angles for photos of all that is around you. You really start seeing where you are, now.  Being present.  Too often we pay no attention to that which is around us as our minds whirl with thoughts.  Be Here Now....sounds like a title for a book.

The photo above of the church was taken in Kodiak, Alaska when we were on a trip to the Bering Sea. Have you seen The World's Deadliest Catch on tv?  The boats head north out of Dutch Harbor looking for crab and lobster.  Our ship also headed north out of Dutch Harbor, but, thankfully, our seas were calm and the temperature was warm. We visited several islands with native villages, went into a Russian town so desolate that if you work there 10 years you get a double pension, and then headed over the Arctic Circle before ending the trip in Nome.  This photo was altered in the Dynamic Light app, and it will be further altered once it is printed and put into a journal.

Now, you will have to excuse me as I go to play Words with Friends with my friend Joy who lives in MN. She always wins, but I keep on tryin'.

Remember the past and let it go

Aggghhhhh!! I am in the midst of going through all closets........all shelves ...... all drawers ......all boxes, etc.  There are things hidden in these places that I do not even remember having!  Will I ever get back to that size again??!  WHO are these people in these pictures?  What in the world was I thinking when I bought THIS?!  Just how many paint shirts do I need, anyway?

At least a few of the items can be called Ephemera so perhaps they could be useful.....in some art project..... someday. NO!! GET RID OF IT!!!  Bags and boxes go out the door.

I keep thinking, "BUT I might need it one day".  Just this week I needed some buttons for a shirt and went to get the button box. It had already been sent to Goodwill.

Why is it so hard to let stuff go?  The excess just drives me crazy.  I am beginning to understand my deceased relatives having so few items in the closets and drawers.  The more you have, the more you have to take care of. to think about, to worry about.....to dust.

I think I may be done with this purging in about 10 years. Oh, I do hope it is sooner!! At least the bedroom closet got done today. Sigh.

A bounty of books....

Pictured is one of the bookshelves on which I keep the books I have made. Some of these volumes have completed pages, some do not.

It really doesn't matter to me whether or not the book gets filled as it is the painting of the pages and the binding of the book that are important to me.

Gradually, many of the pages have photos added....photos which are altered before or after application to the page.  Journaling comes along eventually.

There is one book in which I am actually using as a writing journal, tho I have to admit, the writing is done in such a way that anyone else would have trouble reading it. The acrylic-washed Stonehenge pages look old and the brown ink of the pen adds to the ancient look. I love the feel of these pages as much, or more, as I like the look of the pages.

 This book was made in a class with Albie Smith when she came here to Colorado.  We had a great time touring around, painting pastepapers, and making this book.

Have a colorful day!!