Nest another way to explore color

"Nest"

I WILL sew again, and it will likely be later this afternoon.
I am growing...
My focus is as always exploration of COLOR. I am just exploring color via pencil and paper these days. 

Words from Sara Genn painterskeys.com

the pencil line drawing interpreting the word nest.
One might leave it at a sketch, it has composition, meaning, line and of course Words (Sara Genn)

On these warm days of Autumn I want to be on the back porch, drawing, reading, writing. Winter is coming when I won't be able to do that, and I will happily retreat to my sewing nest but for now it's all about the porch. The crisp air, the colorful leaves, the watery sunshine and trees.

Don't you find there are times, even if you love sewing or another art form, that you want to do something different? I don't worry myself with unfinished projects, they are quietly waiting for me in the studio. It is my belief that all creative outlets are good to fill your well, the well you use to make art.

I have written an article on why it's good to learn by doing, and will post that next week. I will post some flamingos tomorrow. For today, it's writing and drawing, noting how color blends with pencils, noting how trees can be brown plus blue plus green and still feel like a tree.

Sara Genn of Painter's Keys, wrote these words in her newsletter today. I wanted to remember them so they seemed to fit on this page.
The quote by Leonard Koren is full of impact for me...

Pare down to the essence
but don't remove the poetry

I work with details, lots of details, and notice the details in life. I am not a pared down kind of gal. However....

I like the idea of capturing the essence of meaning. Whether it's in quilt form, paintings, beadwork, writing or photography. There is a story to tell, I want to tell it, and I hope you enjoy reading it too.
I'll be in my nest, are you creating in your nest??

Waiting to play

Still drawing. This one is Cole, on his porch-perch. 
Oh. My. Dog!
He is so bored because it's raining. Still. All doggone day and yesterday too. It's not like he can sit down and sketch or read.
It's not like he can stay put while the momma sketches either. He got up mid way and I screeched, "lay back down!"
Poor boy laid down any which way but the way I was sketching him. I thought I had a pic of it on the day but had to do a reenactment. 

I wish he could watch tv or read, or do poodle puzzles. We did take a walk but he doesn't love to get his naturally curly hair wet. 
I'm still quilting but I am finding happiness in other art forms at the moment. I am drawing, beading, painting, hand embroidering, and a few other pursuits. It all goes in the creativity toybox. You can pull out a skill when you least expect it!

a trip to the candy store? yea! another Cole caper

Say what?? We're going for a ride in the car to the candy store?? I'm in!
huh?
but first an errand for the peeps... Bath and Body works? Well, I've never failed to find someone to pet in there so let's go. Whew y'all. This store it very cool but it smells like a  b-a-t-h  just sayin'
I enjoy sniffing the shelves and helping the mother pick out soap, as she cannot make up her mind. Look at what I found for her just to remind her of me...

okay, enough of that let's go to all for the pet...

A store that is smart enough to have a poodle on the window! Come ON! Open the door!!!

First stop is the Guinea pigs, have you ever seen one with pink eyes? Me either!

the bunnies and pigs are conveniently placed in glass boxes right at poodle levels. I could watch these guys for minutes but there are a few items to be picked out...

Let's see...hmmm..... what is the best treat to chew on...

My peeps are a bit Over-Protective with my treats, insisting on non allergy ingredients.
(if they are that worried, there are plenty of critters in the yard I could have... but nooooo)
Let's see, a toy wouldn't go amiss... always enjoy a yellow ball...

Well, we got a few items they are happy with, and I had to have one immediately, just to make sure donchaknow. 

I have momma trained now. She gives me trail mix when I go to bed these days heh heh. 

(LeeAnna here, I give him trail mix of his allergy food kibble, dried cranberries, some cookies and a glucosamine square broken in half. Don't tell him there is kibble in there)

(Cole here, I know about the kibble but let momma think she's smart. I root out the cranberries first, then eat the glucosamine treat, then the cookies then have the kibble because they touched the cranberries) 

Editor's note: 

We went to do some errands this weekend without Cole's company. One of them was to Pet Smart where we found some new hair scissors, a  toy and some chewies... when we got home, dropped the bags by the front door with our shoes and visited the necessary, Cole inspected the bags...

 Cole here: yep, just call me immigration...Jackpot! Look what I found! 

A new toy with a really LOUD squeaker! I knew it was for me, so I felt pretty secure going ahead and pulling it out of the shopping bag myself. SQUEAK!

ooops, there's momma... BOL! just wondering if that was for me??? It IS! Well blow me down! 

Giveithere!

SQUEAK!

now what about these...

are these yummy chew things mine??

Glad to see you bought an economy pack this time since I like these a lot.

LeeAnna here, Cole is allergic to beef so no rawhides these days and he isn't keen on the antler we got him so these are a find. He crunches them chews them, and it the tiniest crumb falls off he searches for it. They don't smell to me, but must to him. It was a happy day for him!

sketch a day, men and women

I am still drawing. Maybe not each day but I am still drawing often. This day I wanted to try
1. drawing men
2. drawing from photos, (I usually draw from life or imagination)
I looked through some magazines and fell in like with the gesture here...
I have drawn many female faces but not men so I really had to look to see what made someone look masculine. I didn't get it just right but did capture the feel. I would change the eyebrow to curve more, and lengthen the neck shadow under the chin. Still. I like the shading I did. Learning, always learning...

An ad for disney cruises led me to this. I wanted a loving gesture with the woman's head on the man's shoulder so I made that happen, then tried to erase the erasable pen mark on her face and it smeared.
Grrrr
(throw those pens away)
He came out kind of Ken-doll with the flat top but still, not bad on the shirt shading. Sketching with pen adds a degree of danger lol. (her shirt is skewed) I'm trying to learn shadows, and what makes someone look male, remember?

Entertainment Weekly led me to Bradley Cooper, and this attempt.
Unfortunately I was cursed again with the smearing ink, so he has unintentional shadows on his forehead and an "Eddie Munster" hair do. Still I captured the idea of him being male, and the shirt came out really good, in person if not the photo.

I wonder how people capture the essence of a person? So they look like them, not a generic person.
I tried to take a drawing class once but it was taught in the art room of a college and the chemicals gave me a raging migraine.

I will learn as I go. I really want to teach myself, know what I mean?

Plus, now I am doing an ongoing project with Carol at (quiltedfabricart.) to draw something most days (from Craftsy prompts) and share the pics with each other. I like what I've done, and what she's doing and think this will be a really good collaboration.
Virtual Play-dates
Learning each day by doing. It's a good thing.

A little lime in your tea???

The color of the month at the RSC2015 is lime green. There is always room for more lime green dishes, because lime green IS a neutral, right? It is to me.
 I might be doing red violet for cows and flamingos, though, as I used lime in the ones done.

here's another latte cup, just chock-a-block full of sewing items. I'd like a cup like this, I sew!
And this cutest little creamer...

all decked out in one of my favorite color combinations of lime and turquoise. LOVE them together.
I want this too... pottery designers, are you listening?

The Just-Try-It Art School, sketch on fabric

Art School of Experience 12" X 16.5"

I did this little sketch with paint sticks and texture sheets when I led a workshop recently. It's small done on a scrap of muslin. The purpose was for people to become comfortable seeing how colors overlapped, how texture sheets behaved, and how drawing a circle felt on fabric.

When I got home I stamped and stenciled the words, scissors, brushes, tree and clock. Added some shadows with pencil. I like the overlap making the orbs look see through.

When I get ready to quilt I make sure the top is squared up  then choose  threads for this project and put them by the machine..

Lots of free motion and repetitive lines on the orbs, metallic threads that really catch the light. Some art deco lines along the side borders. Free motion following the texture of squares.

Free motion around the stamped brushes and scissors

See that spiral stitch along the bottom border? That is my favorite program stitch on my old Bernina 1630.

It is not on any new machines or other maker of machine. There are similar ones but not the same.
My Bernina is tired and needs to be put out to rest but I just don't love any other machines.
And the cost!!
I've been saving my pennies but...


I used my black with iridescent metallic colors for the inner border and binding. I have used this favorite fabric many times and there is now less than a yard left. It's now vintage but fabulous.
There are some fabrics that you buy, and when you get home decide you wish you had a bolt of it. This is one of them for me. I've never seen another like it. Therefore, to save it, and because this is a small piece, I did a single fold binding. I wanted it to look like a framed piece so I did a large half inch finished edge treatment and like it a lot. The final choice will be whether to put on this applique from Loralie designs...

and where to place her. I got her at the Houston show one year to put on a purse and regret not buying several others at the time. She wasn't cheap but isn't she fabulous?

or should she go here?

The whole thing was a demo piece while teaching, and it has the feel of a still life to me.
I like the circles that feel like they have weight like ornaments or glass orbs
 I love the clock to remind me that time flies
 I like the tree to remind me to grow
I like the bird to remind me to sing
I like the words imagine and "sewing mends the soul"
Life is an art school, the Art School of the Experience

InkTober Sketch of rock wall, how to...

This is another InkTober sketch. I love it and thought I would share how it came about. 

My first thought was to just sketch elements of a fall day with ink. This is different from sketching with pencil that you can erase, this is more immediate. Like life you make choices and live with them.

 I started with the wall, pumpkin and leaf, then wanted a wrought iron gate. Don't you love an iron gate? 

 I colored it in with my prisma-color pencils. I used metallic silver for the rocks, then black squiggled on top to give the impression of shadows. To do a quick color wash of grass I used two shades of green held together on their sides and quickly gave the sense of lawn. A bit of blue shaded in to reflect the sky. The pumpkin and leave have many shades one on top of the other to make more complex blends. 

It needed a tree, love a tree...

 The tree was again roughly sketched in directly with light brown pencil, then more shadows with dark brown, and then black. My goal is to not over work it, just allow color and line to work together on the page. 

Next the patch was added, and a line behind for depth, which looks like a lake to me. 

Things seem to just show up! The gate needed a little finial, so I colored in a moon, the gate done with navy blue and black pencils. A few shadows from the gate rungs, and at the base of the wall and pumpkin add depth too.

 but the wall is all wrong overlapping the gate now! uh oh! Done in pen! Oh, no worries! the same black and blue pencils to the rescue

now it's an open gate, open to explore what's beyond.
I have learned with each drawing. I love the shimmer on the water from darkening the color in sections. Now I know how to leave uncolored areas as highlight.
I love this little sketch, but my very favorite part is the moon finial.