Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Last Finals

Here are the last of the finals we hadn't shown. It was really great taking these classes, and we learned so much. It's hard to believe it's over already!

Leah's --


Painting


Colored Pencil


Anime drawing


Photoshop




Photography


First Drawing 101 project


Portrait


Second Drawing 101 project


Figure Drawing


Sarah's --


Photoshop class project


Second Drawing 101 project

I hope you've enjoyed sharing our experience. Now, we're going back to work for the summer, which unfortunately means little to no time to be artistic. We wish you all the best in your creative endeavors!


Monday, May 30, 2016

Recycle Art Contest Entry

What is the most beautiful thing I throw away?

Seed catalogs.  Piles of them.  I don't even know why I get so many.  I order from one or two and get thirty-nine others.

Maybe not thirty-nine.

But they are numerous.




It is fun to look through them and dream (heh, as if my weedy clay garden could even grow most of this stuff successfully).  And it's fun to cut up all the pretty pictures.





I cut lots of petal shapes and played around with a pattern.  Looking at the photo now, I can see I should have stepped back from it a few times and placed some petals better.  And maybe I should have used more, or bigger, or put them closer together or something... not sure.  But it was fun to play.



Sunday, May 29, 2016

End of Month

Coming Soon

Two contest Deadlines at the end of this month. (See earlier posts for details.)

And

My computer problems and repairs are not yet resolved, but I am sneaking this bit in between. I have word from my Fix-Everything-Man that all will be good in the coming week sometime. Anyway, posts may be on and off until then.

This is a recent clear-the-desk project of polymer clay and this and that.


Saturday, May 28, 2016

Masters School of Art Year End Exhibit

The school year is over and the final exhibit by the art school students was quite a show. Here are some highlights-

                                     
                    College level drawing class. Leah's sitting girl and Sarah's puppy and kitten.

        
                                              Portrait class, 13-17 years old (yellow stickers)



         
                                          Animal drawing class (13-17 yo). Peter's doggie.



                                     



         


                                        

      


                                    
                                                                      Samuel's 



        
                                                                Color Pencil 13-17 yo



                                        
                                            Color Pencil 12 years old and under (red stickers)



       
                                       Peter's first ever colored pencil work. Great job, Pete!



        
                  Samuel's colored pencil. Lots of pretty colors. Good work on a difficult subject.


                                     
                               A colored pencil by a 15 yo. I'm pretty sure this will win a prize.



        
                                                  Pen and ink illustrations, college level



        
                                                              Pen and ink, age 16


       
                                                   A photoshop work. I love this one.


                                          
                                                         A large water color, college level


                                             
                                                                    Watercolor, age 11 !!!



       
                     Watercolor. Great reflections in the chrome headlights. (13-17 yo I believe)


                                         
                                                      Watercolor, age 15. How beautiful.


                                     
                   Samuel's first acrylic still life. I love the colors and light reflections. Good job!


                                       
Leah's acrylic still life. She didn't get to spend as much time on it as she wanted so rushed at the end. But still a lovely work.


         
                                                   Paintings by 12 years old and under!


                                        
                                                           A Swiss mountain scene!



After the fine art exhibit there was a program that highlighted the works of other classes such as filmmaking, Lego animation, Adobe Flash (a lot of great stuff in that one), musical theatre, lyrical dance, and choir. Peter did the piano accompaniment for "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" by his vocal technique class. He did a great job in front of hundreds of people.

          



I hope you enjoyed seeing the fine work by the students of this Christian art school teaching in the classical techniques.




















Friday, May 27, 2016

A Guild of Inspiration

Twenty-two years ago when we left Michigan I also left a fellowship of quilters. There was a large quilters guild that met once a month in Davison and both Katie and I attended the meetings. The group was large and active, holding classes and workshops and inviting speakers in to teach and talk about quilts and techniques. We enjoyed the group and learned a lot. I was also pregnant with Alyssa at that time and when she was born members of the guild worked together to make a beautiful, colorful quilt for my baby.

I was very sad when I had to leave that group so one of the first things I did after settling in Oregon was to try to find another like it here. I found a small group of ladies who met once a week in the basement of a Lutheran church to sit around a frame and quilt- yes, they were holding a quilting bee every week! (They called themselves the "Rather- bes"). I found another small group of ladies who met once a month to sew on projects together. I enjoyed some sewing with both of these groups but they weren't quite the same as a guild with teachers and classes. After having two more babies I had to stay at home more and consequently lost touch with all of those ladies.

Recently at the spring Blossom Festival I attended the annual quilt show and saw a series of wall hangings on display. They were from a group challenge project and I recognized a lot of the names as some of the ladies I had known before. It was then that I discovered that in the interim since I lost contact, a quilt guild had been formed! I looked up their website and discovered they were having one of their quarterly meetings soon.

It was difficult for me to attend the meeting because it was held the same day as my first wedding cake delivery (last Saturday) and it was in a town far away. I made it happen though and I am very glad I did. I found the meeting so inspirational! I was warmly welcomed and met up with several old friends. The guild has classes (one was being held that afternoon), charity projects, a sewing retreat, and other informal gatherings.  I am very pleased to have discovered their existence and I hope to be able to participate more in the future.

A favorite part of any gathering of quilters is the Show and Tell time. 

     
   This star sample quilt was made special by the bold colors and the border settings of each block.


                                     
                                      I love the whimsical effect of tipping the center block.




       
These quilts were the result of one of the class projects. They are "mystery quilts" where the class participants work step by step on instructions without knowing what the final pattern will be. Always fun.



                                      
                                                         Show and Tell- a child's quilt.





         




I sewed with these two ladies years ago and they are still going strong. The lady in black (her jacket is one of her special pieced creations) made this quilt for her grandson.
         
The quilt is her design and represents her grandson's soccer enthusiasm including his jersey and a block with the names of his team members.


                                    
This is the BACK of the quilt. This trend is not new but still surprises me- how much time is spent piecing the backs of quilts these days!




                                    
The guild does charity work also. Here was a table of fabric collections ready to be made into quilt tops. Guild members donate fabric leftovers that are grouped together by colors. There are many possibilities here- baby and child quilts, lap quilts for the elderly, bed quilts, etc. When a top is finished someone else gives it a back and batting and a member machine quilts it. It is then donated to one of many organizations eager to receive them.

I took one of the kits for a baby quilt. Because I am unrealistically ambitious like that. It's a good thing there are no deadlines involved.



                       
I was able to stay at the meeting a bit longer to hear the guest speaker and see some of her incredible creations. 



                       


                       




                               This one was my favorite. It absolutely took my breath away.
                       


                       
                                                                   The back!


           
       
The border!  These fabrics! Obviously the fabrics are a designer collection intended to be used together. I love them. I'm partial to red and white. This quilter said she makes one red and white quilt every year. (Plus many, many others.)


These photos represent only a small portion of the amazing quilt creations I saw that day. I was impressed and inspired by the possibilities!  

A few days later I spent an enjoyable time working on my project. The inspiration of the guild day has helped me figure out how I will complete the design, turning what is now a square into a rectangle to fit a bed.