In the studio

Accordion book 4...

or scroll?

Hilton Head - beach walk

We headed over to the beach the other day so the girls could look for shells. While they skipped along, pausing only to add to their collection and marvel over some new treasure, I noticed the patterns the retreating water had left in the sand. Enjoy!

 

 

Searching for Roy G Biv II - Red, update 1

Welcome to the second round of Searching for Roy G Biv! 

Julie and I are starting all over in our quest for the elusive Mr Biv. Yes...for Mr Biv. Sometime last year when Julie originally mentioned Roy G Biv in a post, I had to do a quick internet search on him. I had absolutely no idea who the mysterious man was nor why he rated a mention on her blog. 

Fast forward to discovering his true identity and feeling rather foolish, but just a tad curious, I asked my husband if he knew the truth about Mr Biv. My query was met with...well...much laughter that the question even needed asking. Seems he and Julie learned the colors of the rainbow the same way while I had merely learned red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.  

Thus began our monthly search for the elusive Mr Biv. Basic guidelines for how to participate in the search can be found here.

My reds are mostly from my weekend trip to Washington, DC last month...a few photos that were held back to share later. Enjoy!

   

 Austin Grill booth, Washington, DC

John Eric Riis. Pair of Prickly Pears, detail

Mark Rothko, Orange and Red on Red, 

The Phillips Collection, Washington DC

Kramerbooks and Afterwards Cafe & Book Store

Xavier Veilhan, Figure 2010,

The Phillips Collection

 bear sculpture outside The Phillips Collection

fire hydrant gears, Washington, DC

felt sculpture in store window, New York

markers at home

 House Wine red label

When you have a chance, stroll on over to these blogs to be amazed at their reds:

 Julie B Booth

Paper Ponderings

karen anne glick

not all those who wander are lost 

Million Little Stitches 
Letting in the Light
Arzigogolare has a preview of reds
 

Julie, Fiona, Karen, India, Maya, Kim and Lisa have red. Do you?

Update 1 - Lisa just added the most tantalizing array of reds.  

Hilton Head - evening stroll

We're in Hilton Head, South Carolina this week visiting family. I love coming here, especially in the off-season when the temps and humidity are on a more human friendly level...well...more tolerable for this human that is.

Thought I'd share my view of our pre-dinner stroll around the neighborhood last night. Enjoy!

Moss hangs in all the trees here

giving them an ethereal look.

As you can see from the reflection, yesterday was a sunny day with a few fluffy clouds.

 Rust marks on the concrete at the dock

 left by the rusting chain.

Just too cool not to photograph.

 The drawbridge into the harbor.

Ripples from the breeze.

Crushed shells on the path.

 Palm tree

Wabi sabi

What is wabi sabi?

Wikipedia defines it as a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete"... Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.

The words that jump out and grab me in this definition are:

imperfect, incomplete, asymmetry, simplicity and intimacy

Wondering where this is going? Well...an idea had been floating around as to how to start book 4. Last week, when starting book 3, I decided that the fabric for the next book would not be whole, but would be cut up and reassembled willy nilly so that the pattern was broken.

With that idea in mind, I mentioned it to Pam when we skyped on Thursday. Also said something about concentrating on the treatment of where 2 pieces of fabric are joined. Once our conversation was over, a glance at the clock showed 1.5 hours before the little urchins would be home.

So...with 1.5 hours in the studio, an idea that just wouldn't let go and whispering just do it to myself, I did it.

Fabrics were set on my worktable

and a bin of scraps was opened.

I'd close my eyes and select a piece, from here or there,

of rusted and/or monoprinted cotton,

 pin it together,

go sit at the sewing machine

and stitch the layers together

with dark gray thread

along the short side.

Wabi sabi

The Search for Roy G Biv - Round 2

Julie and I so enjoyed searching for Roy G Biv

my weavings from 2008

that after extending it with white and black & white, we've decided to do it all again. 

 reed dyed red

February will mark the beginning of round 2 with, quite appropriately, red.

 reed dyed pink

This time around we're encouraging the inclusion of tones and shades of colors as well. So red = pink = magenta = maroon, etc. The 3rd Thursday of each month will find us posting our discoveries and linking to those who join in the search. Julie is continuing the monthly giveaway of her hand-made fabric in that month's color.

So...next Thursday...will we be seeing red on your blog?

In the studio

Got a start on book 4 today.

Nemo

Thought I'd share a few shots of the snow left behind by Nemo.  

 When I went downstairs yesterday morning at 5 am, the yard stick taped to the chair showed 17 inches.

The wind blew hard enough all Friday night and Saturday to cover our covered front porch in at least an inch...three in some places...of snow.

 

We always park my van at the head of the driveway just in case. Thankfully, the snow was light and fluffy which made shoveling much easier. Grace wanted to help and begged for a chance to shovel too.  Don't think it was as easy as she'd thought it would be.

 

On the way to the van, I stepped into one drift that was up to my knees. Considering my imposing height of 5 feet, a drift to my knees is no biggie. It was the drift in the backyard that was up to my hips that had me pondering ways to extract myself - and had the little urchins belly laughing at the vision of mom suddenly semi-disappearing in the snow.

 

Ellie (in pink) fashioned herself a seat in the snow so she could relax and watch us shovel. Grace had other thoughts. She soon dumped her dustpan of snow on Ellie's head.

 

The wind blew constantly yesterday which was a bother while shoveling. I felt like half the snow I cleared from the driveway blew back into my face. Still, the wind created these wonderful striations around the urchins footprints and

 just in the yard. Hopefully, this is the last hurrah for winter this year. I am so ready for spring. How about you?