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

Sources -- Inspiration Where do we go?

SOURCE -
by definition is:
where something comes from
the places where things originate

and as creatives we are always on the look out for the initial spark that starts off on some road

There are always sources in us & around us, and sometime we need to be reminded
and sometimes we just need to go adventuring.

Adventuring this week took me off on the 400Mile Yardsale.
400 miles of yardsale after yardsale through the scenic backroads of Kentucky.
Each stop along the way had it's own flavor, but boy people were out there hunting down goodies.

I went looking for materials for upcoming projects, and I came away a happy 'source' finder.

Here's some pictures taken along the way...

see any picture here that might be a source for you?
Where are you off to this weekend?  Be on the lookout!

~Rose

Observation: Never stop Seeing

May has been a pretty eye opening
month for me...
I enjoyed all the sights & sounds of  my first spring here in Paducah and I had a blast taking
in all the 'new' & old people, places & things while getting to travel a bit.

Just this morning I decided to take my morning walks down at the park --
starting by a walk around the lake. I had a grand time - feathers dropped at my feet reminding me
of the poem found sooo long ago now that inspired my earliest of art quilts.
(it's the one still found on my website).
There were amazing reflections on the water,

and even a seemingly forgotten goose egg.

All this observing has got my mind spinning with possibilities -
and, as I start June's topic off I can hardly wait to see what comes next.

June is going to be all about SOURCES.

Couldn't be a better time to come up with ways how to explore near & far for that next idea.

Want to come along?

Observation - A Month of LOOKING

There are some books that are very special to us.
They have worn pages from being pulled off the shelf and read over & over.

For me, one of these favored books is Learning By Heart --
for it contains the words,
teaching and general wisdom sharing from Corita Kent
- nun, and famed 60's art teach at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles.

She taught many, and shared through her many works the art of living. This book begins with a chapter on LOOKING, and talking about this seemed a great thing to share as we wind down our month of observation.

The LOOKING chapter begins with words from Corita --
"We don't understand the fullness of everything, of anything. Things constantly change and we may have seen and object only five minutes ago and thought we knew it-but now it is very different."

The chapter continues to give assignments to 'develop our seeing muscles' --
to capture what we see, when we see it --
in a 'sense diary'.

Stopping this month to pay attention -- 
to engage and see things anew has been powerful for me, and I plan to continue this process.

How 'bout you?