100 Days of Doodling

Last year about this time I, like everyone else, was beginning the pandemic lifestyle changes. Like many artists I was not really feeling a call to create. The need to turn my brain to something other than pandemic news was there, but there was no creative fire being lit in any direction.

In order to keep muddling through I decided to just do a little doodle each day. I dug out some index cards, cut them in half, along with a variety of black markers and pens and set off.


In this way I doodled my way through spring and into early summer. These little drawings kept me going until I found my way into on-line workshops that sparked a bit of creative electricity.

I knew that something small could lead to something big, something to just keep a toe in the pond.

The collection of cards hangs in a prominent space, but it is wild to lay them all out and see where my mind went and how many marks could be conjured out of thin air.

As the year progressed I happily found inspiration in things big and small.

I'd love to see something that kept your creative energy flowing during our crazy time.

Art & Healing

I have been floundering since loosing Edgar and have been trying to find something to get me moving again. It made me think about the loss of another beloved little soul - Vincent. Vinnie, like Edgar is one of those fur babies that always will be with me and when he passed there was a long suffering in my personal work, but I remembered what really pulled me through was making a memorial quilt for him.

This thought immediately made me feel like I had a purpose...making an Edgar quilt. Like Edgar himself the quilt will be larger than life. Then while chatting with my sister she asked me if I was going to use velveteen -- soft like the boy himself. 

Well, I think you can see where this is going. I haven't been in my velveteen bin for quite a while... such a perfect place to begin... thinking and developing ideas on just how to create a proper memorial quilt for Edgar.

Out came the bin and I couldn't believe what I found as I pulled, sorted and remembered the history of all this fabric. A considerable amount of the velveteen had been manipulated while in my Tuesday art group. There were pieces that were: Dyed, painted, waxed, stamped, indigo dyed, and bleached.

All of this fabric and leftover bits and pieces held memories of so many projects created over the years & also hold the promise of all infinite possibilities of things to come. Just what I needed.

Who knew what memories, wisdom and experience was in a tub of fabric?

Rusty Lovelies

Just a quick posting of pictures from today's visit to the local junk shop -- Anything Goes. Even though I am in the middle of several, must do before I leave tomorrow morning for Texas, thingies, when my Crafty Cohort, Valerie Pollard asked if I wanted to go -- I jumped at the chance.

On my list of things to look for were 'rusty old things' and a couple of chandelier crystals. Boy, I was not disappointed. The pictures below are just a few pictures taken of the 'rusties' to pick through.

With so much to choose from it wasn't hard to come with a small box of hand selected 'rusty-lovelies' of my very own.

What am I gonna do with them?
Rust some fabric! Just don't start betting on when.

Meanwhile, back to packing!

An Artist Date -- To Rural King?!?

What's a Rural King? That was the question I asked last year as construction on their new store here in Paducah was underway. It's kind of like a Lowe's I was told, and just never took the time to go wander through for myself... until, over some knitting others in the group said they really did not go there for it was more farm related -- even had baby chickens....

Well, that stuck with me, and I found myself planning an artist's date to go discover for myself. I'd give it any hour... but, 1 1/2 hours later I did leave but with areas left to explore.

It was wonderfully intriguing, educational and there was stuff there that may never see found down on the farm if I get my hands on it. There were things I'd only heard of, and a selection of other materials that I use that was beyond what could ever be found in a Lowe's or Home Depot. Last, night at mixed media group one described it s Harbor Freight on steroids. I am going to try and post all my pictures here, they will be small, click to make them larger... then you can tell for yourself!

See anything that gets your own
creative mind spinning?

Soups On!!!

Funny how something as simple as a soup recipe can open a floodgate of memories.

A recipe came my way yesterday morning as I was going through my email -- it was enclosed within a fitness pal - 15 hearty soups note. One of them Crockpot Roasted Tomato Garlic Soup!

There was Valentine's Day trip that David and I took many years ago. We were headed for a weekend VD getaway to Cambria, CA and we took a little side trip to a small town just north of Solvang -- Los Olivos. It was a small town but had several galleries and as we made our way through the main street we ended up at the Fess Parker Hotel...

there we had a wonderful lunch -- mine was Garlic Tomato Soup....
amazing, and ever since that day I have searched for a similar recipe.

So, as I sit here there is a batch of this soup in the crockpot and it smells incredible -- and the memories of that side trip return.

The walk after that great lunch...
a couple of purchases made at the galleries that day...
and introduction to the artist Eyvind Earle whose work I still happily turn to today for delight and inspiration..... a true artist of CA's central coast.

All from a soup recipe...
You never know...

Hope your Valentine's Day is made special in some way today!
Meanwhile,
soup's on at the Hughes.....

Summer Words Challege

Hi All,
I'm really happy to be checking in with you today --
I had let a bug sneak in and knock me for a bit of a loop. Doc said it was bronchitis and put me on a course of antibiotics. Has kept me under covers for a couple of days, but there were still moments of playtime. Summer  words was one of the things I could keep on doing, and today I get to share the words that came out of the hat for me this week.

The 5 minute limit --
and for me just pencil produced some interesting possibilities.
These are straight out of my sketchbook --
nothing has been prettied up.
& I just taped the word pulled to the page.

I'm feeling a lot better today and think David & I will be taking a short day trip --

Caves & a ferry ride across the Ohio --- maybe a ride through an Amish community where

there are nurseries, foodie opps and of course lots of buggies with horses.

We'll see how far we get.
Have a grand weekend!

Todays Source: Clouding Around

Yesterday morning the ac installers finally finished setting the new system in place. We were so pleased to have that behind us that Dave & I set off for a bit of fun. We headed up the road -- to Target...(ok, now that we have to go over 60 miles to get to a Target it is a bit of a destination). -- being there also left us in a fun area, so leaving Target behind we headed off into the woods.

Riding off, with the trees and sky -- it was a grand day!
I fell (wonderfully cool) asleep thinking of the day, and I awoke with CLOUDS.
Seemed the universe was sending a message -

So, today's source --
NO CLOUDING AROUND

Take some time, kick back and let the clouds pull you in...

While teaching in Asilomar my class gave me the name Queen of Clouds --
something about loving the clouds in my quilts...
they requested a design file of 'my clouds' that resulted with:

Get Hammered & Gain a Source

It has been a couple of very warm days at the Hughes --
New AC unit has been being installed (who would expect it to take soooo long).

To escape the heat yesterday I headed off to run some chores, and to hang out in places that were air-conditioned. One of these was Lowes -- and since wandering thru the hardware section is always fun, I spent about an hour walking up and down....

there were giant screws
chains of all shapes & sizes
hammers, nails, screwdrivers,
there was also some fun-
shiny new skeleton keys that caught my eye

All these shiny - textured - fun items were also the inspiration for today's posting.

Next time you're heading to the hardware store -- give yourself some extra time...
wander the aisles....

and, GET HAMMERED!

Venture: A Nudge in the Right Direction

Pun intended...
today's source generator is all about MAPPING IT!
Even though our world has turned to GPS - and we all have been grateful to that little voice that comes on to guide us (at least once)... there is still a wonderful world of maps to be discovered...
maybe even collected.

Those paper things with color, line, scales
and info to get us from one place or another,
or from one idea to another.

As you start looking around for maps you may want to keep a few questions in mind.
Can I...stitch it? glue it? film it? collect it? dye with it? draw on it? cut it? leave it?

Then begin the hunt for maps...
All kinds! 
driving maps, flight maps, mind maps, color maps, project maps, life maps
& of course the best map of all a 'treasure map'!

In Los Angeles, when I first moved there, you had to have a Thomas Guide --
more than a map it was a book of maps enabling you to find your way through
all the twists and turns of a city not designed, but one the grew together from all these other little cities and roads that changed names with the blink of an eye. They came out every year, and the multi-county books were HEAVY...

and many years later, as I packed up to move cross country I took the pages from my Thomas Guide-gave my friends the pages that had their homes-a bunch of art supplies and decorate it -- just for me.
Do you have a map somewhere in your home or car, right now?
Have fun!
~Rose

Summer Words for Sources

Summer has officially arrived -
Summer Solstice the longest day of the year --
long, lingering days filled with light & possibilities.

We have 93 days to the Autumn Equinox...
How would you like to fill a sketchbook with ideas in that time?
Well, since we're talking about WORDs as source inspiration this week I came up with a

Summer Word Challenge
below is a list - a long list - a list of words that remind me of summer

It's easy to join in - grab a pencil & paper--
PICK A WORD
and let your mind explore that word for you
record your exploration!

I've talked about this idea many, many times...
why?  because it works - a bit of personal brainstorming
where you find yourself continuously surprised.

While using this technique along with the members of my design group I was always amazed with what I came up with, and how each of us came up with stuff that was very different from each other. In just 5 minutes!!

Click to see some our examples:

BLOOMING

SCREW
THRU THE DOOR
SUNDAY

The most important thing is to have fun!

Hmm, which word will I pick for today?

~Rose

Sources: Words - More than tell the tale

One of the most powerful resources for discovery & inspiration for me are WORDS.

Words have history -
They can provide power ourselves - through introspection
and, power over others - (there is nothing stronger than a carefully turned phrase)

We all have experienced the words of a novel strung together in just the right way
to create a whole other world in our imagination.

& words are all around us - free for contemplating & kick starting that next project.

Below are just a couple of my own quilts that were culled into being because of words.

Don't Think Yourself in a Jail
inspired long ago by the words to an Indigo Girls song
this bird's jail is one of his own making -- overthinking can certainly create bars
and only we control their existence

Whether you think You're Right
or Whether you think You're Wrong... You're Right
words quoted from Henry Ford spoke perfectly to me
as I created a piece based on the theme detours

Do you have a favorite song, poem, quote or story that has already inspired you creatively?

Hope this week's postings will help open up new possibilities!

I'm working on a fun challenge that I'll be posting on the 21st -- don't miss it!

Photos as Sources: Sunday 'Fillr Up

Hope that this days finds you all well and with a few moments for yourselves.
I have been working on several projects that are all coming due over the next week --
luckily for me they all involve creating & stitching - some of most favorite things.

Also, lucky for me that when someone asks for 5-subject related projects that I know I can turn to various sources to help me get cracking with ideas.

#1 thing on my list is image searches
these may be my own images (since I have a 20 odd year archive of photos)
but, I may use photos from other sources, too.

One of the old trusty ways to use this images it by creating a small frame-
or set of L-sections and moving them over the photos --
by hovering over various areas you may find all sorts of inspiration, compositions, textures

I pulled out two photos I recently took while off on the 400 Mile Yardsale...
(think of all the possibilities!!!)

make yourself a small black or white frame

select a photo - here is one of fishing tackle

here is one possible composition

here is another

and here I used a white frame and found an interesting texture --
I am thinking quilting lines - hmm

You may want to dig out some of those old travel pictures and start thinking about them all over again via the view through a frame.

Happy Sunday!

I'm back to stitching.
~Rose

Sources: Photos & How to Use Them

Digital cameras and having a camera in our phones have just made snapping and sharing a way of life for most of us. We post them on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook (to name just a few online share opps) and as viewers we are treated to almost every subject imaginable.

It stands to reason that photos are a very convenient and powerful source for letting our creative juices out for a whirl, and there are a lot of different ways that we can use them. Over the next few days I will be sharing some ideas on just that. Photos & How to Use Them.

Today I will be sharing the way I have been using for a number of years to take a photo and turn it into a pattern that I then stitch together using my own Fast-Piece Applique.

starting with a photo - here is one I took of a walkway in Glacier National Park.
I loved walking through the trees and the zig-zag of the path.

in order to see the lines more clearly I made a black & white print to work from

then using tracing paper I went over the main lines -
I eliminated details and sought only for the strong identifying shapes
for these would become fabric that would further tell my quilt-story

there are sometimes many sheets of tracing paper
and many different versions of what is selected - what is left out during this process
but once I have it completed I can enlarge it and use it as my  pattern

I have used this pattern many times --
having my choices of fabrics and embellishments change the time
of day conveyed on this walk thru the woods -- this is just 1 example

 
I hope you enjoyed this how-to.
There will be some others - so check back in...
Meantime,  you can start looking at your photos --
that one snapped yesterday or last year might just be the source for your next project.

I'm heading back to stitching.
~Rose