So I have been all busy with completing a second entry for Quilt National and have been a bit too quiet. I am sorry about that.

I have been journaling though. Last week I scooted, did I tell you we bought Scooters? Oh My Goodness, am I loving my Lime Green Scooter! It needs a bell. It definately needs a bell and I need a helmut, but I digress.

I have caught my breath.

We scooted down to Red Hook, David ran and I painted the above scene. I could have continued to paint more detail but a girl only has so much time before her Man comes all sweaty and tired and wanting to scoot on home.

I just finished (?) this page. I am not sure that I like it. I mean, I like it. But there are flaws and I am trying to work a compositional idea out and haven't quite landed on it yet. But so far. It is as finished as it needs to be for now.

One of the things I am working on within myself and in my journals is writing. I am trying to reincorporate the idea of writing, placing words about my day, about imagery I am working with and learning about, notes to self. Which have until recently been relagated to the back of the book or a separate book that pertains to emotions and the 'heavies'.

A few weeks ago, when I did the talk with Rice and Wendy Hale-Davis, Wendy made some really interesting points about writing out our days, our current electronic culture and what may get lost in the historical fray if more of us do not start writing and keeping track.

I stopped writing as a form of journaling years ago. I'd gotten into a cranky writing style that felt too, well, heavy. So I stopped doing it and started to journal visually. I drew things, people, objects within my day. Now I would like to have more of a flow if not a focus on the written word. So you can see, I painted over my written words! It's a start!

So I have been all busy with completing a second entry for Quilt National and have been a bit too quiet. I am sorry about that.

I have been journaling though. Last week I scooted, did I tell you we bought Scooters? Oh My Goodness, am I loving my Lime Green Scooter! It needs a bell. It definately needs a bell and I need a helmut, but I digress.

I have caught my breath.

We scooted down to Red Hook, David ran and I painted the above scene. I could have continued to paint more detail but a girl only has so much time before her Man comes all sweaty and tired and wanting to scoot on home.

I just finished (?) this page. I am not sure that I like it. I mean, I like it. But there are flaws and I am trying to work a compositional idea out and haven't quite landed on it yet. But so far. It is as finished as it needs to be for now.

One of the things I am working on within myself and in my journals is writing. I am trying to reincorporate the idea of writing, placing words about my day, about imagery I am working with and learning about, notes to self. Which have until recently been relagated to the back of the book or a separate book that pertains to emotions and the 'heavies'.

A few weeks ago, when I did the talk with Rice and Wendy Hale-Davis, Wendy made some really interesting points about writing out our days, our current electronic culture and what may get lost in the historical fray if more of us do not start writing and keeping track.

I stopped writing as a form of journaling years ago. I'd gotten into a cranky writing style that felt too, well, heavy. So I stopped doing it and started to journal visually. I drew things, people, objects within my day. Now I would like to have more of a flow if not a focus on the written word. So you can see, I painted over my written words! It's a start!

I'm on a mission and it has made me a bit quiet and preoccupied. I am quilting a piece that I will enter into Quilt National. The Northern Pintail, a dabbling duck (#3 ion the Birds in Decline list) and part of The 20 is almost entirely quilted, which doesn't mean it is complete. I will machine draw some imagery on the quilts' surface but the majority of quilting is complete. This is good! It means I will be able to move on to preparing for my two teaching gigs in August a little more quickly.

It has been hot, at one point my sewing table and all essential equipment made its way into the living room and back again.

Arrow has struck many cute poses in the last few days.

The title of this post refers to the Laura Marling song, Hope is in the Air. The entire album, I Speak Because I Can, might be anthem of my summer, I love it that much. I know I have spoken about it before and am sorry about that. Good things are, well. Good.

I'm on a mission and it has made me a bit quiet and preoccupied. I am quilting a piece that I will enter into Quilt National. The Northern Pintail, a dabbling duck (#3 ion the Birds in Decline list) and part of The 20 is almost entirely quilted, which doesn't mean it is complete. I will machine draw some imagery on the quilts' surface but the majority of quilting is complete. This is good! It means I will be able to move on to preparing for my two teaching gigs in August a little more quickly.

It has been hot, at one point my sewing table and all essential equipment made its way into the living room and back again.

Arrow has struck many cute poses in the last few days.

The title of this post refers to the Laura Marling song, Hope is in the Air. The entire album, I Speak Because I Can, might be anthem of my summer, I love it that much. I know I have spoken about it before and am sorry about that. Good things are, well. Good.

You may remember this little guy from posts far and away. Unfortunately, the plant from that post passed away. I took the arid desert approach to watering and it didn't fare well. This time I have come to a more enlightened plant like place, This Ponytail Palm will do much better and looks quite dashing in its new planter, don't you think?

The African Violet from last year has told me exactly how it would like to be treated and I have learned to listen. She blooms for the second time in my care.

I have been sewing and I am going to be somewhat cagey about this one because I would like to enter it in a certain national quilt show. So you will get no over all photos or telling WIP photos either.

The Air Plants in my care are also doing well. They tell me not to listen to the meaning of the word air in their common naming. They like water and can only sop it up through their leaves, so they like being watered often. And they like cute gathering spots too.

Here is a cagey view of a certain number in The 20.

You may remember this little guy from posts far and away. Unfortunately, the plant from that post passed away. I took the arid desert approach to watering and it didn't fare well. This time I have come to a more enlightened plant like place, This Ponytail Palm will do much better and looks quite dashing in its new planter, don't you think?

The African Violet from last year has told me exactly how it would like to be treated and I have learned to listen. She blooms for the second time in my care.

I have been sewing and I am going to be somewhat cagey about this one because I would like to enter it in a certain national quilt show. So you will get no over all photos or telling WIP photos either.

The Air Plants in my care are also doing well. They tell me not to listen to the meaning of the word air in their common naming. They like water and can only sop it up through their leaves, so they like being watered often. And they like cute gathering spots too.

Here is a cagey view of a certain number in The 20.

I know you have seen versions of Arrow in my sewing closet before. But there are details, shadows and flavors to Arrowness. Do you see his smile? His wrinkled ear and tucked paws? If you too would like to make your little fur friend as happy as this, perhaps you will purchase some Catswell Happy Hips Cat Treats. I have never really given Arrow treats before. When Monk passed I wanted to care for Arrow and help him adjust (or help both of us adjust, really), so I bought these treats. Now we had tried other treats prior to these but they were never received with the fervor of these treats.

I like my boy Happy.

Arrow usually likes to sit in my lap and gets to looking very disjointed when I do not allow it. When I sew, I do not allow him on my lap, instead I stuff his blanket into a rinse bin and pet him till he calms and rolls into a circle and falls asleep alongside me.

Today I worked on the Evening Grosbeak. I even got to a fun part! Accentuating some printing with satin stitch. Life is good.

I know you have seen versions of Arrow in my sewing closet before. But there are details, shadows and flavors to Arrowness. Do you see his smile? His wrinkled ear and tucked paws? If you too would like to make your little fur friend as happy as this, perhaps you will purchase some Catswell Happy Hips Cat Treats. I have never really given Arrow treats before. When Monk passed I wanted to care for Arrow and help him adjust (or help both of us adjust, really), so I bought these treats. Now we had tried other treats prior to these but they were never received with the fervor of these treats.

I like my boy Happy.

Arrow usually likes to sit in my lap and gets to looking very disjointed when I do not allow it. When I sew, I do not allow him on my lap, instead I stuff his blanket into a rinse bin and pet him till he calms and rolls into a circle and falls asleep alongside me.

Today I worked on the Evening Grosbeak. I even got to a fun part! Accentuating some printing with satin stitch. Life is good.

Pat gives good advice, so I listen.

She suggested perhaps I make a set of stamps for The 20, a project I have recently begun working on. Perhaps working in stamp form could loosen me up and get me familiar with the shapes and forms I will be working with. As I have mentioned before, I am a bit put off by the Northern Bobwhite. I have never seen this bird before and it seems a silly bird to me. No more.

I think I will try another posture for the bird, they often crane their necks to see better. Perhaps I can find a 3/4 view or a mating dance, so the bird doesn't look quite so static. At any rate, I am still feeling the effects of the scurvy pox.

Pat gives good advice, so I listen.

She suggested perhaps I make a set of stamps for The 20, a project I have recently begun working on. Perhaps working in stamp form could loosen me up and get me familiar with the shapes and forms I will be working with. As I have mentioned before, I am a bit put off by the Northern Bobwhite. I have never seen this bird before and it seems a silly bird to me. No more.

I think I will try another posture for the bird, they often crane their necks to see better. Perhaps I can find a 3/4 view or a mating dance, so the bird doesn't look quite so static. At any rate, I am still feeling the effects of the scurvy pox.

Such a good day! I met up with my friend Shirley, to draw at the Met (there are two links in this sentence). We went to see the Bronzino exhibit, and drew inspiration. Please go click over there.

Now if this naked man (is he naked if he has a messenger bag on?) was sitting around listening to any ol' dream, I would happily watch him listen. Were all men made that way, way back when? I mean he has some pudge, but they had better muscle definition back then. Just sayin'.

Shirley and I caught up, drew, had lunch and met up with a new pal. I love Shirley. She has energy. She draws people to her and has good instincts. She is super smart. I am glad I nabbed her when she came up to my table at Open Studio's last October.

I have been working on the Evening Grosbeak for The 20. Generally, I think I am doing pretty well. I like how this is progressing.

The one thing I now need to address is that I put the resist for the eye in the wrong place. Eyes, or points of connection are very important. I placed the resist higher and more to the right than it ought to be. I can fix this. I don't know how but it isn't major. Perhaps I should do a post on mistakes at some point. I would also like to see some random circular marks above the birds body but can address this when I get to the collage stage.

I am going away on retreat in a few weeks. I think I might work on painting a second bird in the series so that I have two options to work on while there!

Such a good day! I met up with my friend Shirley, to draw at the Met (there are two links in this sentence). We went to see the Bronzino exhibit, and drew inspiration. Please go click over there.

Now if this naked man (is he naked if he has a messenger bag on?) was sitting around listening to any ol' dream, I would happily watch him listen. Were all men made that way, way back when? I mean he has some pudge, but they had better muscle definition back then. Just sayin'.

Shirley and I caught up, drew, had lunch and met up with a new pal. I love Shirley. She has energy. She draws people to her and has good instincts. She is super smart. I am glad I nabbed her when she came up to my table at Open Studio's last October.

I have been working on the Evening Grosbeak for The 20. Generally, I think I am doing pretty well. I like how this is progressing.

The one thing I now need to address is that I put the resist for the eye in the wrong place. Eyes, or points of connection are very important. I placed the resist higher and more to the right than it ought to be. I can fix this. I don't know how but it isn't major. Perhaps I should do a post on mistakes at some point. I would also like to see some random circular marks above the birds body but can address this when I get to the collage stage.

I am going away on retreat in a few weeks. I think I might work on painting a second bird in the series so that I have two options to work on while there!

Practice really does make perfect. I like reminding myself that art is a practice, artists practice art, in a continuum, one idea leads to the next. You question, seek answers and ask what if and why not. It doesn't just come to you, you have to ask it to come. I haven't begun to paint the Evening Grosbeak because I am unsure how to go about it. realistic, quilterly, playful, painterly?

I am unsure how to paint the bird, so I practice. I do not like my samples yet. I like the top most bird better than the bottom because the eye is not so round. Birds eyes are fairly round, but are affected by eyelids just like us. Their eyelids create a slight bit of squared off shape. The first trial painting captured this best (not sure the photo really captures this). It is these fine details that really affect the outcome of a piece.

I like the big photos I am able to use with this new blogging software. I wish I could get the Assets to work though. Oh well. Please excuse me while I spiff things up around here.

Practice really does make perfect. I like reminding myself that art is a practice, artists practice art, in a continuum, one idea leads to the next. You question, seek answers and ask what if and why not. It doesn't just come to you, you have to ask it to come. I haven't begun to paint the Evening Grosbeak because I am unsure how to go about it. realistic, quilterly, playful, painterly?

I am unsure how to paint the bird, so I practice. I do not like my samples yet. I like the top most bird better than the bottom because the eye is not so round. Birds eyes are fairly round, but are affected by eyelids just like us. Their eyelids create a slight bit of squared off shape. The first trial painting captured this best (not sure the photo really captures this). It is these fine details that really affect the outcome of a piece.

I like the big photos I am able to use with this new blogging software. I wish I could get the Assets to work though. Oh well. Please excuse me while I spiff things up around here.

It was a bumpy start, but a start none the less. I say this because I started reading about the birds on the list.

I opened two internet windows, one for Audubon Common Birds In Decline site and the other for the Cornell Ornithology Lab site. And the Cornell Ornithology Lab cites the Evening Grosbeak as a bird of Least Concern, backed by a site called the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Now, I am no researcher.

What I know so far is that Audubon has based it's research on many years of citizen science. They have tabulated numbers from 40 years of bird counts and those numbers show that these birds are in decline.

What I didn't understand is the difference between these two highly regarded sources. This is the first time I have come across the IUCN Red List and I will assume they are firmly grounded in the scientific community. But I would like to understand. I have written to the Audubon site. I have written to David Sibley and posted to the Birder's World web site.

And then I started anyway.

Yesterday I got the background of both the cotton and the organza layers finished. I stamped, monoprinted and layered the day away.

Here are the two layers loosely placed, one atop the other.

Now comes the hard part; how to depict the bird. So, true to form, I have set myself up to practice on scrap. The awesome thing about practicing on scrap is that as a result, I have all these random pieces of interesting cloth. Enter the word, Random...

And... I got a response from one of my birdie queries... It is good news (in a manner of speaking) but will have to wait! I am off to have a day.

Still wanting everyone to sign on to my fan page! You could win some of my cloth for doing so!

It was a bumpy start, but a start none the less. I say this because I started reading about the birds on the list.

I opened two internet windows, one for Audubon Common Birds In Decline site and the other for the Cornell Ornithology Lab site. And the Cornell Ornithology Lab cites the Evening Grosbeak as a bird of Least Concern, backed by a site called the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Now, I am no researcher.

What I know so far is that Audubon has based it's research on many years of citizen science. They have tabulated numbers from 40 years of bird counts and those numbers show that these birds are in decline.

What I didn't understand is the difference between these two highly regarded sources. This is the first time I have come across the IUCN Red List and I will assume they are firmly grounded in the scientific community. But I would like to understand. I have written to the Audubon site. I have written to David Sibley and posted to the Birder's World web site.

And then I started anyway.

Yesterday I got the background of both the cotton and the organza layers finished. I stamped, monoprinted and layered the day away.

Here are the two layers loosely placed, one atop the other.

Now comes the hard part; how to depict the bird. So, true to form, I have set myself up to practice on scrap. The awesome thing about practicing on scrap is that as a result, I have all these random pieces of interesting cloth. Enter the word, Random...

And... I got a response from one of my birdie queries... It is good news (in a manner of speaking) but will have to wait! I am off to have a day.

Still wanting everyone to sign on to my fan page! You could win some of my cloth for doing so!

It is a snow day! My man is home, we are supposed to get 12 to 16". The subways are sluggish, the streets are quiet. This is the view out my kitchen window. I tried to get a photo of my beggar squirrel, but he took the peanut butter on rice cracker and ran! Doing my duty to keep the little guy warm.

Thank you for all of the encouragement. There are some commenters to the last post that I have not heard from before, and I love comments, don't we all? I was hesitant to post my hopes and dreams of making 20 pieces of art, for a cause I believe in, can I do it? If I post and fail, what of it?

So today I started The 20, for lack of a better name. And I started in spite of my fears and self doubt.

I don't want to start with the Northern Bobwhite, because I have never seen this bird before and it is a land based bird. Do I get all photo realistic with grass or go for my own interpretation. So, I move forward and will approach that little guy when I am further into the project.

I went to the next bird, the Evening Grosbeak.

This is a photo of the map. My general outline for the piece.

I love to understand my subject matter and get an idea for the lay of the artistic land. I want to know what the bird eats, why it's habitat in threatened, what can be done to help preserve what is left of it. I think it would be best to collect as much positive information as I possibly can so that when I am done with the project, my viewer will be able to say, I love Evening Grosbeak and I would like to pick up the fight! I have a Box Elder in my yard and I vow to keep it healthy so the Evening Grosbeak can feed here, if it chooses to. I want to provide answers, not just display a problem.

So I prepare my resists, in this case outlines of Boxelder Maple leaves.

With some resists in place I begin to print the cotton layer.

I don't yet know how I will print the organza layer, maybe plants that attract evening Grosbeak, the outline of the Boxelder Maple? Its a free for all as far as that is concerned.

Off topic, I bought a copy of Janet Bolton's Patchwork Folk Art: Using Appliqu� and Quilting Techniques, and LOVE it. It isn't really a technique book, although it is. It is a verbal journey, a flowing bunch of ideas. I like it a lot.

And thank you! Thank you for commenting and encouraging me to follow my heart. I have taken a first step.

It is a snow day! My man is home, we are supposed to get 12 to 16". The subways are sluggish, the streets are quiet. This is the view out my kitchen window. I tried to get a photo of my beggar squirrel, but he took the peanut butter on rice cracker and ran! Doing my duty to keep the little guy warm.

Thank you for all of the encouragement. There are some commenters to the last post that I have not heard from before, and I love comments, don't we all? I was hesitant to post my hopes and dreams of making 20 pieces of art, for a cause I believe in, can I do it? If I post and fail, what of it?

So today I started The 20, for lack of a better name. And I started in spite of my fears and self doubt.

I don't want to start with the Northern Bobwhite, because I have never seen this bird before and it is a land based bird. Do I get all photo realistic with grass or go for my own interpretation. So, I move forward and will approach that little guy when I am further into the project.

I went to the next bird, the Evening Grosbeak.

This is a photo of the map. My general outline for the piece.

I love to understand my subject matter and get an idea for the lay of the artistic land. I want to know what the bird eats, why it's habitat in threatened, what can be done to help preserve what is left of it. I think it would be best to collect as much positive information as I possibly can so that when I am done with the project, my viewer will be able to say, I love Evening Grosbeak and I would like to pick up the fight! I have a Box Elder in my yard and I vow to keep it healthy so the Evening Grosbeak can feed here, if it chooses to. I want to provide answers, not just display a problem.

So I prepare my resists, in this case outlines of Boxelder Maple leaves.

With some resists in place I begin to print the cotton layer.

I don't yet know how I will print the organza layer, maybe plants that attract evening Grosbeak, the outline of the Boxelder Maple? Its a free for all as far as that is concerned.

Off topic, I bought a copy of Janet Bolton's Patchwork Folk Art: Using Appliqu� and Quilting Techniques, and LOVE it. It isn't really a technique book, although it is. It is a verbal journey, a flowing bunch of ideas. I like it a lot.

And thank you! Thank you for commenting and encouraging me to follow my heart. I have taken a first step.

I have this idea.

I know I said that I was looking for an idea. I am ready to make new artwork. I am not convinced of the last posts idea in the least. In fact that idea diminishes by the nanosecond compared with this idea.

You see. I love birds. Everyone who has read this blog, even for the shortest amount of time, should know this. I have wanted to be a bird since I was nine years old and even wrote an essay to the effect. (My best friend wrote that she wanted to be a watermelon seed going through the intestinal tract and got in trouble for it. But that is a whole different story.)

So getting back to it, I have this idea.

There is a list of birds in decline. Just writing those words gives me shivers and makes me want to cry. There are tears in my eyes while I type. See? There is just that much love between me and the birds.

So this is my idea:

I would like to make a piece of art for each bird on the top 20 list.

In a cohesive and uniform size.

With the intention of creating a traveling show to raise awareness of my heart's topic. For the birds.

It frightens me to verbalize this idea. But we only live once and we all live on this planet, weather our wings are are made of dreams or feathers.

I have this idea.

I know I said that I was looking for an idea. I am ready to make new artwork. I am not convinced of the last posts idea in the least. In fact that idea diminishes by the nanosecond compared with this idea.

You see. I love birds. Everyone who has read this blog, even for the shortest amount of time, should know this. I have wanted to be a bird since I was nine years old and even wrote an essay to the effect. (My best friend wrote that she wanted to be a watermelon seed going through the intestinal tract and got in trouble for it. But that is a whole different story.)

So getting back to it, I have this idea.

There is a list of birds in decline. Just writing those words gives me shivers and makes me want to cry. There are tears in my eyes while I type. See? There is just that much love between me and the birds.

So this is my idea:

I would like to make a piece of art for each bird on the top 20 list.

In a cohesive and uniform size.

With the intention of creating a traveling show to raise awareness of my heart's topic. For the birds.

It frightens me to verbalize this idea. But we only live once and we all live on this planet, weather our wings are are made of dreams or feathers.