Cay Denise

My two snails photo from a recent trip is the basis of a design idea that I've been playing with today. The first part was drawing what the most important shapes in the photo were (in a general way). Next, I scanned the drawing and saved it as a a B/W jpg . I printed out some blocks of the scanned image and played with their layout. Then I opened the black and white image in Photoshop and gave it color. Some colored blocks were printed, and the layout was played with again. This could make an interesting background for a future art quilt, or depending on the arrangement...might make a nice border for a piece.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3942008n Master quilter, Ricky Tims , was recently featured for a segment on quilting that appeared on the CBS Sunday Morning program. To view the video, click on the link above. Note:  Unfortunately, this video is no longer available for viewing.

The intention behind this piece is to create art that happens to look like a person. I've used a photograph of me as a starting point. But this, in no way, looks like the photo! It is a rough sketch in fabric that could, and probably will, change.

Study 1: Using black and white fabrics only -- create a still life. Start with three fabrics for the background (one light, medium and dark) in whatever shapes you please. Study 2: Using only fabrics in two colors (analagous or complementary) create another still life. Start with three fabrics for the background (one light, medium and dark) in whatever shapes you please. There were limitations in what could be done because of what is in my stash. For some colors, I don't have a full complement of light, medium and darks fabrics to select from. So, its good to learn what is missing and would be helpful in pieces where you're trying to create depth, light, shadow, etc.

...not even during an early spring visit! While in southern California , Disneyland was a must! It has been over a decade since I visited a Disney theme park, and it was fun getting reacquainted (and there were new things too)! Taking in Santa Barbara was an added delight with its spectacular coastal setting! The artist in me was a photographer during this adventure. In thinking about the work, it seems that an artist refines his seeing, through whatever technique practiced, by taking opportunities to look for inspiration around himself wherever he is. It is in the refinement of 'seeing' that the artist educates himself about design decisions. In practicing my photography, I looked for the uncommon like lines, curves, etc. I asked myself what could one 'see' in Disneyland and Santa Barbara that would not be a dead giveaway about each location? What are some of the shared images these places have with other places? Some of those images follow:

This month's Fast Friday Fabric Challenge was to use spam to 1) name a piece; and 2) create and make a piece based on this name. So, I chose from the spam, that found its way past the spam filter, for watches...(e.g. Rolex, exquisite replicas, cheap ones, etc). The first day of the challenge, there was also a spam I received from Moody, one sender's alias. So, I named the piece Mood Watch and decided the words of moods would be like the hands of a clock face, and that eyes would be used to 'watch' or direct focus to the various moods.