dreamy abstraction

Look what I got!

2009-10-25T10:22:00.002-07:00

For my birthday. Isn't he cute?

My Beautifuls

2009-09-23T14:12:00.003-07:00

Conner

Addie

When I'm not at home I wonder what they're doing.

A Cool Bicycle

2009-05-21T09:48:00.001-07:00

How cool would it be to win one of these? I love that baby blue!

Click on the image to check it out. Or, go to this link MADSEN Cargo Bikes.

Creative Exercise

2009-02-25T16:22:00.003-07:00

I saw this on FaceBook and had fun with it. It's a quick creative exercise. So, I thought I would post it here.

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

My random article: Värska

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

My random quote: more harmful than reasoned errors

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

My random photo:

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

It's a Small World

2009-02-24T09:00:00.011-07:00

Butchart Gardens, Victoria, B.C.

I saw this from Sarah Parrott at Things are better with a Parrott. Tilt-shift is the distortion of a photograph that miniature-izes the subject. From Wikipedia: "Miniature faking is a post-processing technique, which involves selectively blurring a photo to simulate the narrow depth of field found in macro photography and some tilt-shift photography, making the image appear to be of a miniature model."

I played with the tilt-shift maker for about three hours. Some photos work better than others. It seems like photos with a distinct foreground, middle-ground, and background work best. Plus, if people are too close up, it didn't seem to work well.

Here are a couple more favorites from my photos.

Puget Sound as seen from the Space Needle

Public Garden in Boston

Superstition Mountains, Arizona

Thanks Sarah!

Come on, follow me!

2009-02-19T15:35:00.004-07:00

I am continuing the pattern development that I started below over on Apples and Orange. Ultimately, Apples and Orange will be the avenue I take for things such as patterns and surface designs, so I figured I'd start now.

I hope you join in.

Something New

2009-02-17T10:27:00.005-07:00

I have been working on another blog. This new blog, Apples and Orange, is developing into my "own thing." A goal I have is to be my own boss. Since I am a designer, I want to be able to continue doing that. However, I have always wanted to design my own textiles. So, Apples and Orange is going to be the company. I wanted a name that didn't pigeon-hole what I do. One that would allow me and what I do to be organic and evolve over time.

I hope you like it and I hope you join me on my journey.

Surface Design, step 1

2009-01-30T20:53:00.006-07:00

One of my goals is to do surface design. I want to develop patterns and have them printed on fabric. Eventually, it would be great to have the space to do my own fabric printing. But, for now, I'll stick to small scale printing and Spoonflower. I would love to ultimately see my fabric used by others to make wonderful things. I love fabric, but I don't really sew. You'd think it was in my gene's, my grandmother was a seamstress ( a very good one) and she was also super creative. So, I aspire to design fabrics that my grandmother would be proud of.

So, here's a sketch I made that I will begin to develop into a repeating pattern. If anyone has suggestions (now, or as I go through the process), I'm all ears. This is new territory for me.

Books, Books, and more Books

2009-01-29T16:00:00.003-07:00

I LOVE books. I feel like I can never get enough, even though I probably have more than enough (for now, anyway).

I am starting off the year (maybe a little late) with a list of all the books I read in 2008.

Ready?

The Boss of You by Lauren Bacon & Emira Mears
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (year 6) by J.K. Rowling
Sacred by Dennis Lehane
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
Anthem by Ayn Rand
On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Marked by PC and Kristin Cast
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich
R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Divine Canine by the Monks of New Skete
Dying for Chocolate by Diane Mott Davidson
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
Next by Michael Crichton
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd
Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Now, onward!

Bloggers Who Inspire Me

2008-12-31T14:44:00.002-07:00

I thought I'd share a quick, short list of the people (blogs) I look forward to reading every day:

Amy Karol at Angry Chicken (I have her book too)
Alicia Paulson at Posie Gets Cozy
Nicole Balch at Making it Lovely and Pink Loves Brown
Jessica Jones at How About Orange
Von Glitschka at Art Backwash

I read many others, but these are the folks I most look forward "seeing." They are all inspiring creatives!

Western Spaghetti

2008-07-17T15:37:00.004-07:00

So clever, Thanks Poppytalk!

The Girl Effect

2008-07-15T10:28:00.004-07:00

From Poppytalk

Onward

2008-07-11T15:38:00.003-07:00

Okay then. Now that Julie has linked to my blog, I guess that means I should post something ...

Tunnel of Fudge

2008-03-06T16:53:00.003-07:00

The batter of the Tunnel of Fudge cake I made last week. No photo of the finished product, it didn't last very long.

First Screen Printing

2008-03-04T21:15:00.006-07:00

Here are process images from my first screen printing. I used the colors right out of the jars because I didn't want to worry about mixing inks. The purple is an acrylic paint that I mixed with a medium that makes it a screen printing ink. The green is just ink. The purple has a shine to it and the green is flat.

The final product is a card. I'll post a photo of those soon.

Yesterday I got Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. I'm very excited to try something.

Fused Plastic Bags

2008-02-02T17:23:00.006-07:00

I have tried fusing plastic bags a couple times. I learned of it from etsy labs and I've since seen it in a few other places. It's so easy. I experimented a little before trying it for real... just to be certain I wasn't going to set the house on fire.

my first attempt

and my second

My sewing skills are very rusty, but they came together okay. I can't believe how strong they are.

To polish my sewing, I want to get a couple books:

Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol
Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing
and Amy Butler's In Stitches

Beginning Again

2007-11-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life gets in the way of plans. I was on a roll drawing pretty regularly (most of it not such good quality, but good exercises) and I got interrupted. Granted, part of it was vacation, but I took my sketchbook with me, I just didn't draw anything.

Anyway, to get back on track ... here is a drawing (with color!) of my breakfast sandwich. I added the color because the line drawing didn't do it justice. For comparison, I took a photo of it (with my phone, the angle is a little different) before I ate it. By the way, it was yummy.

I have to say that food is an interesting subject. Each object is totally unique and much easier to draw realistically than a coffee mug. Asymmetrical is so much more interesting than smooth and symmetrical.

My plan is to get back to it. Even if it's once a week, that's better than not at all. Also, I'm going to do some screen printing. I haven't done any in years and I would like to because I always enjoyed it. I will share examples here when I have them.

Drawing What I See

2007-07-19T21:47:00.001-07:00

Cream Cheese Brownie from Karsh's Bakery

For the past week I have been working on drawing what I see. Just pen drawings, no color, no erasing. This is something I have never been very good at ... drawing what I see from real life. I have always preferred to draw from photos. It has been a good exercise to be patient and draw the lines as I see them and to complete it in one sitting. I tried to draw Addie laying on the floor, but I rushed because I was afraid she would get up. The proportions turned out pretty hinky. I decided it's best to keep practicing on inanimate objects for now. Once I get better at that, I can work on things that are more fleeting. I did manage to draw Robb while he was watching TV. It's kind of rough but, in my defense, he did move a couple times.

Robb watching TV

I realized something about myself a few months ago. I've taken countless art and design courses. I've always done reasonably well in them. I've loved drawing and making things since I was a kid. People have always said I'm the creative one. But, I've always felt that I don't fit with those I view as creatives. The weird part about me is that I've always been good at math and paperwork and linear things like that. I'm drawn to creativity and I love to drink it in.

So, I am working with drawing what I see. Let's see where that leads me.

The Beginning

2007-07-11T18:15:00.001-07:00

So, this is my first blog. I'm not going to presume that anyone is interested in what I say or think. So, I am using this in an attempt to feed my creative spirit.

to muse a state of deep thought or dreamy abstraction. I feel like I am always in search of inspiration. I like "dreamy abstraction," it sounds ethereal.

Now I have to figure out how this thing works ...