O R A N G E

Hidden     O R A N G E

Garden Tour

greyblue toned paper in the Fabriano multicolored journal

(in Fabriano Venezia journal)

Yesterday I took part in the Bright Gardens for Fraser Tour.  I was invited to do some painting in my neighbor's garden as part of the "scenery" for the tour.  Though the day started with a thunderstorm, the sun arrived and it was a pleasant experience. I am using the approach of a great many "dabs" here and there on the page.  Rather than getting myself caught by the plethora of details, the actual identification of specific kinds of plants becomes quite secondary to the overall arrangement of the garden.  Without the large sweep of green lawn, these dabs would be unreadable.  I "read" impatiens, geraniums and hostas from a dab of pink or green.

Rural Revelations

For those of us who live the city life, going to the country can take on mythic proportions.  I recently spent a week in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin (southwestern part of the state....Kickapoo River Valley).  Even though it was a short time period, I had such a joyful time that I'm sure the depths have yet to be discovered.

the road and the creek

two views of lovely small nest, species unknown (to me, so far)

Inconsiderable Things

"If you will cling to Nature, to the simple in Nature, to 

the little things that hardly anyone sees, and that can so 

unexpectedly become big and beyond measuring; if 

you have this love of inconsiderable things and seek 

quite simply, as one who serves, to win the confidence 

of what seems poor: then everything will become easier, 

more coherent and somehow more conciliatory for 

you, not in your intellect perhaps,which lags marveling 

behind, but in your inmost consciousness, waking and 

cognizance."                                  Rainer Maria Rilke

 

watercolor of Hypogymnia Lichen found in northern Washington State

Elementary School Plant Sale  2011

Playing with Plaids

Despite the heat wave, I managed to get the new warp functioning.  When the weather is cooler it'll be back to outside sketching, but for now the weaving has rather taken over.  I'll be experimenting with lots of different techniques.

Repeating Color Palettes

 It was a surprise for me to realize how similar the colors in the new warp are to the colors in my living space and even the colors of this blog heading.  Favorites, I guess. I am using a method I've never tried before, the "tie-on" method of warping. To save the trouble of re-threading the warp strands through the heddles, the new strands are simply tied to the old ones and pulled through.  I hope I did it correctly. In my own life, uniting the old and the new has not always been simple. The strands seem to constantly fluctuate between order and chaos.  Not so different from the strands of a typical day.

Stripes

These dishtowels, ( very humble utilitarian objects like potholders) took a very long time.  Six towels, almost six months.  This is definitely part of the "slow movement" rather than the technologically speedy.  I left the project sitting unattended on the loom for long periods of time, nevertheless overall its been great.  As a kid I loved making potholders.  As an artist I love working with the textures and colors and details.