nature, pets, art and life
This week I’ve finally been working on product for sale!
Framed Botanical Silhouettes: Forest Series
Bracken Fern
Queen Anne’s Lace
Frame dimensions: 10″x 10″x 1.75″
Paper cut: 4″x 4″
The framed work is ready to hang or rest on a shelf.
Maybe I’ll finally get an etsy site up and going or take a couple in to The Arts Center.
A few more photos from the family trip to De Wright observatory.
North and Middle Sister above. Below is Black Crater.
Dave above and Kim below (and Mt. Washington)
The nephew shot & aunts. Above: Jeff, Gale, Amee, Alex & Zac.
Below: Me & The Sisters
Since taking a workshop back in July 2010, I’ve been seriously contemplating creating my own paper from start to finish. This is the year to go for it! I’ll be utilizing a couple of books written by Helen Hiebert, an amazing paper artist in Portland (and the one I took a Paper in 3D class from out at Sitka.) I’m looking forward to learning from this experiment and hopefully utilizing some of the paper in my own art creations.
Where does one start? Well, looking at the back yard, one of the easiest plants to use happens to be growing right next to the house. The previous owners of our home had planted several stands of white iris. They have never really grabbed my attention. I don’t encourage their growth. We’re hoping to plant something else there in the near future. However, iris have wonderful leaves for paper making. Hummm, maybe they will have to stay depending on the outcome of this project.
Harvest site in below photo.
Materials gathered so far.
First questions: How many pounds of material will be required for adequate paper making? How will I measure the amount harvested? What will be my retting agent? Should I wash & dry the leaves prior to breaking down the fibers?
Time to pull out the books and do more research.
I think I’ll attempt to wash off the leaves an allow them to dry in the sun. This should help break down the mushy plant fibers and make the first boil (with soda ash) more effective. Plus washing the leaves will remove unwanted extras (spiders, bird droppings, dog pee). Off to the wash basin!
The leaves will now continue to dry during the next umpteen days. We should be having sunny days for the next week or more. Once the leaves are fully dried, then I’ll take a weight measurement. Approximately 1lb of dry vegetation will create 15 sheets of paper. Now it’s up to the sun.
Ahh, one of my morning helpers keeping a watchful eye over an untrustworthy ball!
By afternoon, he was helping wash the leaves.
Which turned into play time.
Frog Report
We may be in “the year of the rabbit” but I strongly suspect it’s a frog year around my house. I’ve never seen so many tree frogs in previous years. Maybe it’s due to all the rain or I’m just poking into areas they like to hide. This morning I found a group of 4 frogs nestled in a large plastic garbage can used for collecting yard debris. It only had a few leaves in the bottom and an extra plastic container lodged inside. Apparently it’s the right environment for resting amphibians.
Yesterday I discovered two more hanging out in a similar situation in the garage. It’s a good thing to check through stuff before chucking it out. You never know where the frogs might be hiding!
The last time I attempted to climb South Sister was way back in the late 70’s. I was probably 8 or 9 and my family hiked into Green Lake and camped out with friends. During the night a horrible storm passed through bringing rain, sleet & snow. By morning everything was white and clouded in. Needless to say, we didn’t even come close to gaining much elevation (other than that of Green Lake).
This time I certainly gained a greater altitude before blisters and an uncomfortable nephew set our sites a little lower than the summit. The trip had a singular goal of placing my mothers ashes on a mountain she loved to hike. After an initial scattering at a lower elevation, one all who loved her could attend (even if they had cancer and couldn’t walk very far), it was decided that Tom, Amee & Zac would disperse the remainder. I felt I couldn’t be left out since the mountain summit still called to me. This turned out to be a good thing since Tom was ill for the week prior. So the three of us (sans Tom) took my mother up the mountain as far as Zac & I could manage.
Zac and Amee ready to hit the trail at the Devil’s Lake Trailhead!
We encountered quite a few patches of snow.
Viewing the mountain
Zac hanging out by the sign.
Checking the feet for blisters.
Amee checking messages on her phone. Reception was quite good in some areas!
Broken Top around noon
Zac & I on the trail up!
View up the mountain from where we scattered her.
Tree where I started spreading the ashes
Super Amee! She headed up the mountain to Teardrop lake while we headed down.
Later in afternoon: view of Broken Top.
Moraine Lake and Mt Bachelor
Alpine Lupine. Very low growing for a reason.
A plant I didn’t recognize but thought it might make a good print!
Zac at the end! What a trooper!
Finished. Mission accomplished. Ready to get my boots off and into some open shoes.
Maybe I’ll summit it in September if things work out.
Warning: A NON ART related posting!
It has been a year and a half since the death of my mother Evelyn and finally time to say good bye as a family. On Sunday we gathered at the top of the old McKenzie pass at Dee Wright observatory for the occasion. Close to the mountains she loved we said farewell.
pictured above: Tom, Gale, Mike, Amee, Lee, Lindsay, Kim, Kirsten, Jeff, Chris, Alex, Zac & Hal. Dave & Shannon were not in the photo. Bryant was unable to attend.
We could not have asked for a better day to gather. After Dee Wright, we went into Sisters for lunch. Plans for the part two were settled. On Friday the 11th of August, Tom, Zac, Amee & I will hike to the top of South Sister (mountain in center of above photo) to fulfill the remaining request. Fortunately Amee was up the trail last week with no problems (round trip of 7.5hrs). I’m hoping for a 10 hr round trip if my hip and knees hold up. We will certainly have plenty of snow and mosquitoes to contend with.
Over the month of July I was slowly working on a commissioned box. Cheryl had really enjoyed the creation made for a mutual friend and wanted one made for her husband’s birthday. The size is smaller but the overall motif very similar. Below are the images of the finished box: 12″ x 10″ x 4.5″
Materials used: binder boards, book cloth, bamboo leaf paper, PVA glue, copper wire, black elastic cord, plum branch twigs.
Wow! What can I say except it’s finally in a new permanent home! Hurray!! After a couple of hours of branch wrangling, Jerri & I had it attached to the ceiling and stable. Whew! Delivery & installation a success with one extra nail hole punched in the wall. One more thing checked off my “to do” list for the week.
Site specific installations. What do you do with them AFTER the show ends? Somehow, I never envisioned what to with the sculpture after our month finished. Initially I had thought about building it in sections to make it easier to pull apart, but the sections kind of grew together and were papered over. Now what do I do? Actually,I imagined just tearing it down because “who would want this strange thing?” There is certainly NO room in my home for it, hence creating it in a different location. The Arts Center, unfortunately, doesn’t have the space for it either. However a friend chimed in during the closing reception saying “I would love to put it above our bed at home!” My little brain filed that one comment right up front in an easy access location! I also put out a plea on Facebook with photos to entice any others. Some excellent suggestions of having the cancer center/hospital or a coffee shop came up. Humm, these certainly caught my attention, but seemed like a lengthy process (and wondering about legal issues surrounding the lighting/fire hazard potential in a public space). So friend #1 has agreed (and her partner John too) to take on the branches! I also have friend#2 as a back up, ready to yank it from the wall and take it to her home. The nice perk about friend#1 is that she too is an artist and I will be able to trade for one of her incredible works! Oh boy, more glass for our house!!!!! Now that is something I have space for!
The move will take place on Monday evening and photos to come.
Thanks to the Arts Center for being accommodating and painting around the sculpture. Hanging of the new show starts Monday morning.
The final show day was pretty laid back but filled with sparks of excitement. The first spark was due to Julia selling her second work during the exhibit. She was so surprised and honored! Congratulations Julia!!!! I really liked this piece.
Our space felt more open, clean and ready for tear down at 5pm.
I spent a little time clearing my sculpture from the seedpods. Ahh, the look I’ve been waiting for!
Actually nice to see the lights in action.
Below is a close ups of a leaf and seed.
I’m kind of wishing I had saved and hung more sheets of paper. They certainly make interesting forms.
Now on to Elaine’s blind contour drawings. She managed to work her way around the main gallery and into the front shop space. I felt compelled to include the next two images due to two Arts Center employees who were included: Suzanne & Hester!
The second spark of excitement was due to some special people who came to visit: my big brother (not pictured), my nephew Zac & his mom Kathy. It has been a year since I last saw Zac and 8 years since I’ve seen his mom. I was so happy to see them all and look forward to catching up with Zac & Tom at the coast or mountains this month. This was the best way to close the show in my mind.
Hard to believe our time is ending. Wednesday will be our final day together as the show wraps up. I have really enjoyed spending so many hours in the Arts Center Studio with Julia, Elaine & Kendal. I’ll save my wrap up thoughts until another entry.
Here are the photos of our “studio space” cleaned up and ready for the reception.
Elaine’s space became free of drop cloths laden with sanded paper & charcoal dust. Images have been re-arranged and a laptop brought in to show her YouTube clip. Please check out her blog page Black Thumb Art where she will have a link.
Kendal’s space changed dramatically too. She spent her day adding wire on the backs of the mosaics and getting them placed. She also incorporated her charcoal rubbings into the display. Nice touch!
Julia was still hard at work on unresolved images up until the party. She is a tenacious worker! Her wall became filled with images of summer: corn, tomatoes, kale and bright colors all connected with the change of season.
On Monday, I completed covering my branches with paper and a layer of acrylic medium. Pods were redistributed over the form and leaves finally attached. An additional electrical plug was found so all the lights could be on for the party.
Branch with pods
Looking up.
This pod was created by Cynthia Spencer
On to the ending reception images. Below is one of the exhibition committee members, Peggy, having Kendal explain her large mosaic. Kendal happens to be low and not visible. We all appreciated the positive support from the committee members.
Elaine talking with friends while Bill Shumway & granddaughter check out her video.
Cynthia arrives! I’ve certainly appreciated all her support over the past few months leading up to and through the exhibit. She & the Corvallis Fall Festival board are great to work for. Back to work on Monday!
Evening light is quite nice on the sculpture and one of the main reasons I chose this corner to work in. Judy Sander in the green will be the next show at the Arts Center. We’re really looking forward to seeing 10 years of her work displayed.
Thanks to all who came by for the closing reception!
Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog 