The Art of Repetition

As I'm busily producing lots and lots of the same items for our show next week, I'm realizing that I actually enjoy repetition. There's something quite relaxing about having a prototype and then repeating it, as long as I can keep playing with color and texture changes.

And I'm finding it's allowing time to let new ideas germinate while my hands are busy. I started a list of After Show Projects, which are probably especially appealing because I can't divert and do any of them right now. Maybe once I have time for them, they won't sound so good after all.

I've been working on a set of larger owls. These ones are about 8" tall.

And a parliament, which I recently learned is the word for a group of owls--how perfect is that?

I like this larger size because it allows even more room to play with layers of texture and color:

They look giant against the small ones, but it's mainly camera angle. The small owls are 4".

This week I received this fabulous little owl from Jacky. I am so thrilled with it! Jacky's owls were one of my inspirations, and I had been coveting one since I first saw them. Not only did I get this sweet little, meticulously stitched beauty, but also a very generous packet of goodies along with it. Thank you Jacky!

I almost forgot to post this wonderful giveaway from Jan Harris this month. Jan is giving away this beautiful coptic stitch journal. I love to work in coptic stitch books because the pages lie perfectly flat, but I never have the patience to make one. Hurry on over to Portland Art Collective blog and leave a comment to enter the giveaway.

Stitching at the Coast

I'm on a mad dash attending to the zillion little details for our show in less than 2 weeks, but not so busy that I couldn't escape to the coast last week.

My friend, Cindy, was visiting from CA, so we headed to one of our favorite places--Neskowin on the Oregon coast.

I haven't been there in winter and was thrilled to see how dramatic the skies and waves were. We spent most of the week staring out the window and watching the changes as storms passed through:

Unfortunately, the Oregon coast is too dangerous for beach walking in winter, so I had to head inland, which wasn't such a bad thing.

Lots of beauty there:

Magic mushrooms sprouting everywhere:

And it was perfect weather for sitting inside, talking and stitching. Cindy was working on these confections:

And I was very happy working on my pile of baubles:

I would love to get them put into a large piece for the show, but not sure if that will happen. Maybe I just have a very good start on next year's show.

We rounded out our week with lots of good food, antique shops and estate sales and were two very happy girls. (Cindy's the cute blond and I'm the not-too-much-brunette-left.)

Delicate Souls

I have been busily finishing up pieces for our Dec. show. I decided to take some of my favorite faces from my 2 weeks of face experiments starting here, and turn them into finished pieces. I'm calling this my "Delicate Soul" series since they all feel very gentle to me. I've been framing them in fragile fabrics full of soft frays and giving them just a line of text as it comes to me while I'm working on them.

I'm thrilled with the hanging device I came up with. I stitch a clear straw on the back and thread a string through it for hanging. It keeps the piece feather weight yet gives it support at the top. You can barely see it here, which is why I'm so happy with it.

If you are interested in art journaling, Paula has a very fun art journaling zine giveaway over here.

Color Inspiration

I can't leave Mexico behind without a final burst of color. It's everywhere!

The doors:

Mosaics:
Chandeliers:
Flowers in store windows:
And on the streets:
Color to eat:
And to drink:
Color Parades:
And their aftermath:
So what did I work on the whole time I was there? These white-on-white bits! These are approximately 2" baubles for a large project I have in mind. I want to do one in color, but it always feels easier to start with a white-on-white version to get my bearings and focus on design instead of color. And it's much easier to grab a small bag of whites for travel.
But as soon as I got home, I decided I needed to jump into color again.
More on these soon.

Faces of Mexico

Lots of inspiring faces around San Miguel.

And a few from my journal pages. These lovelies were part of the extensive artwork in the house we stayed in:

And these were from one of my favorite spots-- Casa de la Cuesta, a private mask museum:

San Miguel, Mexico

I've barely returned to my senses after my amazing trip to San Miguel and am now off for the weekend to our fall art retreat. Thought I'd make a stab at my way-too-many pictures before I go.

San Miguel is a beautiful colonial town set in the mountains about three hours north of Mexico City. It reaffirmed how magnificent that country is for me and how deeply it moves me aesthetically.

This gorgeous church is the centerpiece of the town:

And inside:
I thought I was heading out for a quiet sketching vacation, but was quickly disillusioned on our first night by the 4:00 A. M. fireworks and ringing of church bells. Turns out we were there during Mexico's bi-centennial celebration as well as San Miguel's patron saint's day. I got very little sketching done as we ran to keep up with all the festivities.

Huge, beautiful shrines made of marigolds and a sort of palm leaf were carried in parades and then displayed around the church.

And oh the parades! Dancers, each group in different native costumes, came from all over the country:

My favorite part of the parades were the giant paper mache figures, mojigangas. Cynthia turned out to be a fabulous tour guide for us and arranged to get us into the studio where they were made where we could talk to the artist:

Another grand tour she set up for us was a visit to outsider artist Anado MacLachlan's wonderful mosaic and found object home. His mosaics cover almost every surface:

He uses a lot of old bottles. These are set in old box springs:

And these surround a lovely bathtub shrine:

His plaque sums it up nicely:

I'll be posting more soon after my retreat. You can also check out Paula and Cynthia's blogs for more photos.

And don't miss the great give away over at Portland Art Collective this month. Tory Brokenshire is giving away one of her chandelier glass journals and they are to die for!