September 21, 2008

Fall pictures

It is a bleak day, but the trees are putting on their fall finery, so I thought I would try to capture some of that beauty regardless of the quality of the light. It is a bit too bright, even thought it is overcast, which also means there aren't any shadows. I think I got some great pictures nonetheless.
High tea on the prairies:

September 15, 2008

creative bits - palmistry hand charm

I have been puttering with a few different things, but nothing is finished enough to share. I often get a bunch of different projects underway in the winter, and if I don't finish them by the time spring arrives, they sit until the following fall, waiting for something to pique my interest in completing them. So, I have been working on completing a suit jacket and matching skirt, removing wallpaper in two rooms, and sculpting a few doll heads. I was making one out of papier mache, but I also finally splurged on some Creative Paperclay to experiment with making a doll head using some acrylic eyes I had lying around. It is wonderful stuff, and I am kicking myself for not trying it sooner. It is SOOO much nicer than polymer clay, and there is none of the risk of having it crack as it cures and it won't get crumbly like polymer clay does if it isn't cured just right. I will post when I get something worth looking at. The clay is quite soft and maleable, so I am developing the head in stages.

As I was digging through my stash to find items that could be used for an assemblage, I came across a few items left over from a swap I did a couple of years ago. The swap required one book page to be tipped into an altered book (or bound separately, which is what I did), and a plastic bag of items to be used for additional pages, all on the theme of Shadows and Dreams. I made little polymer skulls and palmistry hands made from shrink plastic as book charms. For some reason I had a hand left over that wasn't shrunk, so I finished it up on Saturday while I was making pot stickers.


September 12, 2008

posting..

I was feeling guilty about not posting for so long (and no, the Blogging Without Obligation sticker doesn't really help) but after flipping through some of my favorite blogs, I realized that I am certainly not alone. Well, I don't know about the feelings of guilt part, but there are a lot of neglected blogs out there.

Fall is such a wonderful time of year, with curious and suprising little sensations if one takes the time to notice. In the summer, the walk down the road with the dogs is typically hot and dry, and getting into the shade is a blessed relief. In the fall, the walk is generally warm, but every so often there is a hot or cold spot that feels just like walking into a different room. The spots are always surprising and never where one would expect them. Like little bits of the earth are trying to hold on to summer as long as they can, while others have surrendered to the coming cold. Maybe that was the origination of the idea that fairies of the summer court or the winter court are walking around us, unseen but influencing us nonetheless.

I have been doing a few creative things, but mostly enjoying other people's work, and savouring the fall days. We went to Santana on Tuesday night, which was fabulous. We were in the 18th row, so we had great seats. We usually end up standing though most concerts, because everyone in front of us is standing, but Carlos played a series of slow songs throughout the evening, and each time a slow set arrived, the audience sat down and relaxed and just asborbed the music. Santana played for three hours, so we were really grateful for the opportunity to sit down once in a while. His son's band opened for him, and they were also incredible. I saw Santana when I was young, and there were no assigned seats, and the floor was open, so I managed to get stand so close I could lean on the stage. The concert was mesmerizing, and I still remember it all these years later.