The Past and its relevance

A fellow quilter posted about her design process. I commented  on it mentioning that it reminded me of a time my Dad "did the seeing for me" on a painting.  I generally start a painting with a totally non-representational process. I add and layer paint building design and texture (??design and texture??- a lot like quilting when you think about it!).  Then if I happen to see a representational image in it one of two things happens.  I can either strengthen the image or change it. In this instance I strengthened it.  You can do the same with quilts by adding applique or creative piecing.

I am re-posting the following from 2006.  My Dad passed away in July of 2011.  I hope that this honors his memory.

I almost never purposely put a person in my paintings. I am "afraid" to paint people. (too hard you know) The most curious thing is that they continue to show up there and beg my attention. That is how Daughter of the Moon came about.

I had painted a very non-representational painting. (meaning it wasn't supposed to "look like" anything. ) I was showing it to my parents. We were trying to decide what to call it and which end went up. Yes, it is true,  I make no claims to understand what I paint.

Mom and I were turning it and chatting saying what elements we were seeing. (I should mention that neither of my parents are artists nor are they educated in art. I still consider their opinions highly valid.)

This is what mom and I were looking at. Dad said, "Hey, come over here. Don' t you see that woman sitting down?




And there she was...up close she was just blobs....but ....
Now I knew she was there and I had permission from the muse to paint her.

Daughter of the Moon

This is the finished (maybe?) work. Dad saw the magic in the picture and made me see it.
Mom had been seeing creatures in the ocean until we all saw the woman. So
Mom gave it me the idea for the name...she said - maybe it is Hiawatha* and I said, yes....by the shining big sea water. (I do know that Hiawatha was the son of Nokomis..but I did not correct her)

Here is an excerpt.
*By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
           ----reposted from September 2006.
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PS- I have added some Affiliate Links in the left sidebar.  I am now an affiliate for Oliso Irons and Fire Mountain Gems.   I have the Oliso TG1600 SmartIron Pro and I love it.  I have also made jewelry and Fire Mountain Gems is a great supplier. I will tell you more about those later. If you are interested in either, I would appreciate it if you clicked through my links to make your purchases. Each click-thru purchase helps me fund my sewing addiction. (((grin))
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Foolishly posted "hate speech" comments will be swiftly removed.

Comments -What they mean-Sewing Update

Bloggers typically set up blogs to allow comments. I allow everything except anonymous comments. Without comments we are writing into a black hole.  Book authors do this to some degree, but sales are a monetary reward for good writing. Sales for them are also a sure sign their work is getting read.

However, that is not what this is about.  Many of you know that I reply to almost every comment on my blog.  If you have written a comment and I can't reply, I generally make an effort to find an email for you.  I get frustrated when I can't say thanks for a sweet or insightful comment.

I have one regular commenter that I can't reply to (L Carolyn, this is you!)
l carolyn Ghearing has left a new comment on your post "One Word": 

i cannot do "one word"...need to use several! LOL! lovely piecing and quilting!! you are making wonderful progress!!! 
Thank you!

This morning I got the most wonderful comment from a non-quilter. Guess what? Non-Quilters are the quilter's real "audience" - they buy our work if they like it  and can afford it.
Look at this comment:

That comment does indeed mean a lot to me.  So much that it prompted this post.  Clamco - I would love to be able to email you in return for your comments.  If I had your email address, I could still reply even though you are what is known as a "no-reply blogger."
You can leave a comment disguising your email address something like this:
clamco ^ emailprovider * C  (c for com, N for net, O for org -if it is something else, you probably need to spell it out.)  The ^ for at and * for dot will confuse spammers more than AT and DOT will if the robots are smarter.  Really any symbol will work -as long as there are no other symbols, dashes etc in your email address. I just think the ^ looks like an A and the * is a fancy dot. Ha ha.

Last night, I quilted more on the quilt I am quilting.  I also sewed out a couple of embroidery designs.

The fabric used for these is salvaged khaki pants.  There were a few worn areas on the pants such as the back pocket, seat, and one knee that had to be cut away, but the rest was still great quality fabric.  So I rescued it when a friend was preparing to toss them in the bin.  I will use each of these designs on a notebook cover.  These are smaller designs that fit in a 4" by 4" hoop so they are perfect for it.


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Foolishly posted "hate speech" comments will be swiftly removed.

One Word

Progress!

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Foolishly posted "hate speech" comments will be swiftly removed.

Surprise! (updated!)

I have a surprise to post later today. (If I get the chance while I am working. )  I just have to wait for the official announcement.
Arrrgh,  i just found out that last month they didn't post until the 10th of the month!  So if you have to wait until then, I am so sorry to have teased this. 


Okay, so I will offer you a free quilting class!  Did you know that Craftsy has free classes on things from sewing to cake decorating.  All you have to do is register and sign up for the free classes of your choice. Like this Block of the Month Class by Laura Nownes.

                                       

or maybe learn about creative piecing for quilt backs. 

                                    

OR make some bags

Or even learn to make a fantastic buttercream icing and how to use it!

                       

Be sure to come back later for my surprise announcement!

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Foolishly posted "hate speech" comments will be swiftly removed.