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...

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.

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...

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.  

Making Music

In a moment of courage today I played a song on my ukulele with 3 musicians.

Thanks to Anna Waters for her instruction, invitation and encouragement!

Evening Skies

My son was very patient as we took several detours in our ride home from picking him up at school.

These skies were just too beautiful to miss...

Commitment...

I've been thinking today about my commitment to this idea of practicing everyday.  Some days it is more of struggle and I feel like I stretch the definition of making to find something that fits.  Other times it feels like this commitment hangs over my head as more of a burden than a joy.  Mostly, it is about return and accepting what is.  In reality there are many kinds of making and the kinds that I aspire to practice don't always fit into my day.  These are times to be present to other ways to create - creating space to be with family, food for nurturance and celebration.  At the same time it is good to return to an artistic practice in the more traditional sense.  And it is worth celebrating that return. Small steps help - to begin with getting out materials and just experimenting helps.  

The reality is that the making does feed me.  I'm thankful for the way the commitment to daily making keeps me coming back to practice.  

Here is today's watercolor practice...

And a felted version of a labyrinth ball...

Watercolor practice...

Skies

Snapshot on my phone through the car window of the glorious sky and light on the water driving home today...

Small Handmade Objects

Here is my completed collection of 50 mini collages for Art-o-mat...

...spent the morning signing, adding stands on the back and then wrapping and boxing with a note.

Here's my collection of boxes to mail tomorrow - need to find a bigger box.

Color Wheel

I have been cleaning out around the house and finding various collections of the colorful felt stones. Assembling them here lets me see how many I have and begin to think about sewing them together into a wreath. More to come soon...

Art as Prayer

This is from my morning class today at St Aidan's.  We began with time with natural objects as a meditative prayer practice.  I returned to a familiar practice of creating a color wheel.  I also added the beeswax candles for light and sent.  They have a small clay vessel, morning glory seeds, barnacles and smooth stones set beside the candles. 

Small vessels

Clay and collage

I spent an hour on the porch this morning working with clay - it was just warm enough with a jacket to enjoy the fall light this morning.

This evening I began my first collage in a long time...

...inspired by this photo of Huntley Meadows this week.

Clay...

Today was a good day for work with clay.  I enjoyed the beautiful light on the leaves behind our house as I created these labyrinth balls.  One is complete and two more are wrapped in plastic to keep them soft enough to add the coils to create the path on the ball.

Nurturance...

The making that most fed my soul today was making dinner.  The last of our summer garden tomatoes were the center of this improvised sauce over spaghetti squash.

Walking with a friend in Huntley Meadows park also nurtures me - particularly with this light through the trees.  I am thankful for this landscape and for the gentle, generous, thoughtful people I meet when I spend time in the park.

Light...

Tonight I led a gathering to create prayer candles for the Sanctuary Studio at St Aidan's.  It was lovely to come together with others to share a time of creativity and quiet.  

Watercolor Practice

Awed by the colors of fall today.  Here's a small watercolor of colors behind our house...this tree was the focus of a collage last spring.  It is fun to return to it with fall colors.

More practice

Mini collages completed tonight - added a cairn to one.

And the last four in this series - will add the ripples to the water tomorrow.

Also a photo of branches and light through leaves from my lunchtime walk at Monticello Park in Alexandria.