11th Hour

One last collage for 2016...

Collaborative Making...

Today I did a lot of sewing today. I cut out and sewed felt pieces for this game board for a project my son is making.

And a fun dinner celebration of 16 years of marriage!

The messy stage...

...of the photo transfer process.  It feels raw and pieced together - going to let it sit for a while to wait to see what might come next.

Small Steps...

I've been in bed for the better part of two days fighting off either a stomach bug or a bad food reaction.  It took down my husband and I - I'm thankful to our kids for continuing to run the household.  This evening I had my first real meal in two days and wanted to get back to making something.   I spent some time on the computer working with images for new transfers.  I had thought I would actually apply the transfers but then felt tired again so for today this small step is enough...

Morning sky...

It is such a treat to enjoy winter morning sky colors through my bedroom window. 

Color Wheel Wreath

Here are my collected felted stones after the addition of last night's creations...

I was delighted this evening to discover I had enough to cover the wood ring I planned to use and that there worked out to be a good distribution of color.  I look forward to hanging this on the front door tomorrow.  

I can also go all the way back to this post from last January to see the beginning of this project...it feels good to complete it.

Some un-making today as well.  Disassembling the tree fence at St. Aidan's.  I am reminded how much I enjoy this way of being with others.  Thankful for the hard work and also the community and laughter of this group...

Felt stones

I created these felted stones tonight while watching Christmas movies.  They are felt left over from an earlier attempt to make a color wheel with wet felting.  The felt shifted in the process so the design wasn't as tight as I wanted. Later, our pup found it and pulled it apart a bit so I just saved the roving I could salvage.  The selection of colors worked well for this collection of stones.  

They add to this larger collection made over the past year...

Making gifts

One of my favorite things about Christmas is making gifts.  My husband and I spent our first Christmas together with the first floor of our townhouse turned into a workshop.  The project I remember best was a shadow box for his grandfather featuring photos of Chad, his father and his grandfather each with their Navy shoulder boards.  That required 9 carefully cut holes in a single piece of matt board as well as backing board, and staining and making the frame.
This shadow box created at the 11th hour is a bit simpler.  It is a store-bought shadow box.  My son has been wanting to frame the license plate to the car he wrecked this summer.  The photos were staged the day after, contrary to the picture, the adult took full responsibility.  It was his idea...

I'm also thankful for a home to create space for fun and celebration by these wonderful young people. It feels different having bigger kids this Christmas - thankful for the chance to celebrate with them and see them celebrate with their friends.

Cranberry ginger ale made it a particularly festive evening...

Tweaking

Additional work today, adding some drawing to the images to help blend the branches.  Then also coating with new acrylic medium to help bring it all together.  

Today's work

I continue to work to blend the images as I piece together parts of the photo transfers...

And here's a new collage inspired by a photo of a sunset at Huntley Meadows...

Surprise

I find I am drawn to processes and materials that have a sense of surprise.  With photo transfers, it's the excitement of seeing the photo and collage colors come together when I first begin to peel back the paper...

...here are some photos of the process...happening right in my kitchen sink...

...and then drying on the baking rack once the cookies are put away.

The next step is more tedious as I try to piece together images from different pieces of paper to complete the image...

I'll have to patch a couple places where image rubbed off too and work to blend the seams in the already pieced images...

And a family outing tonight for one more visit to celebrate and participate in the "be the light" installation in Del Ray.  Seemed like a good way to honor the longest night of the year...

Working big

Preparing new collages for photo transfers inspired by colorful winter skies.  Completed these two in a little over an hour, working large and fast to the music of the Saw Doctors this afternoon.

These panels are 16 inch squares, the largest I have done in collage...

 

Here is some of my process tonight piecing together the photos to transfer...

Preparation...

Today I made a trip to the art store and primed 4 new panels...

Collages coming soon - maybe one will even feature this evening sky today...

Felting

Worked with felting today and managed to avoid any help from the pup this time.  Here is a needle felted labyrinth ball...

And six new stones, these are wet felted from wool that was part of another project that got destroyed by a curios pup...I am working to have enough of them to create a wreath of colorful stones.

And our tree...took two weeks to get it in the house and then another week to add the ornaments. Feels good to have it decorated now.  It's particularly fun to remember projects of years past as we add the ornaments.

Huntley Meadows

Photos from an evening walk with Chad today at Huntley Meadows.  There was still a thin coating of ice over much of the wetland.  Walking back, we saw two beavers swimming and popping up through the thin ice - the first time I have seen them, fascinating to watch.

Photo transfer

My latest photo transfer on a collage from several weeks ago - next step is more collage but going to sit with this a while first.  Really liking the lines of the bare trees - enjoying those in our environment again too as we head toward the first day of winter.

Touchstones

I finished up my Artist Rule class today at St Aidan's.  I am so grateful for the dedicated group of women who have gathered to share this journey over the last 3 months.  We created touchstones last week.  Here they are arranged around our candle at the beginning of class.

And here's my stone...

Prayer candle

Created this prayer candle this evening...thinking about the element of fire and its symbolism of the Holy Spirit...

Playing with Sky Colors

A bit of my watercolor play tonight.  This was just a bit of time, the last 20 minutes before sleep.  It brought a sense of peace and quiet to my mind at the end of a full day.  I was tempted to write about cookie baking, gift wrapping and making dinner.  There is making in all those things.  But it felt better in the end to stay up a little later and honor the spirit of this project which is about making but also about honoring myself as an artist.  This time with watercolor is self care and I am glad I took the small step to show up and honor that commitment.  

Home-making

Caring for a home is a way of making - making space for rest, gathering and nurturance.  My son is in middle school and so I have been thinking about how I spent my time in middle school.  My primary hobby was a doll house.  It was elaborate, a combination of store-bought miniatures and all sorts of hand-made details and accessories.  It was my own little world.  

It would seem this would translate well to home-making in adult life but the difference is that the dolls just posed in the space, they didn't really LIVE in it.  I've never really considered myself much of a home-maker.  If there were to be a theme to our decor it would be piles and raw materials, unfinished projects on every available surface.  

And yet, lately I have been thinking more about creating space and how that can be a kind of making. Today I visited IKEA and completed this couch make-over - it's yet another slipcover for the couch my dad bought me when I got my first job and apartment.  

It has felt harder to get into the Christmas spirit this year too - it feels like one more thing to do on already full days.  What brings me back is memories from my childhood of how preparation for Christmas was a time full of making - ornaments, cookies, gifts.  There is an awe and wonder I love about the lights and the tree.  

Community art

My son and I visited this beautiful installation in Alexandria this evening.  I have been thinking a lot about the need for positive messages and symbols in this time and was SO happy to take part in this.

Walking with a friend earlier this week, we were reflecting on this year of making project and what might come next.  She hears so well how much I am drawn to community around making and she suggested that maybe next year is a project to connect with other makers - this project and that conversation give me lots to think about.