Time Tracks

"Time Tracks" is my latest felted piece. The red background piece is a wool blend felt. The black is felting fabric that was needle punched and then wet felted. The off-white is a piece of wool batt that was needled felted and then wet felted. The 'tracks' are a combination of rovings that were needled felted on a piece of black felt, cut out, and then needle felted on top. Yes, it is thick and I broke three needles in the process of needle felting (I added this comment for my needle felting friends because I could hear the question coming!). The little tracks are hand embroideried with pearl cotton.

All the 'tracks' are going up or forward because that's the direction I'm headed in life. I don't believe in looking back or back-tracking because that would be a waste of time.

Today is my husband's birthday (Happy Birthday, Honey!). We have been married 30 wonderful years.

Still Life with Basket of Pears

I saw this painting pictured in a book and loved it so much I wanted to paint it myself. The original was painted in 1872 by Camille Pissarro and the title is "Still Life: Apples and Pears in a Round Basket". Of course my painting is inferior to the Pissarro painting but I could never afford the orginal and coping it is a way for me to improve my painting techniques.

Once again the photo isn't centered. I guess I'll have to dig out the tripod.

More Magnolia Paintings

Here are two more oil paintings that I have finished. The photo with the yarn and knitting needles isn't centered very well but it's hard to do without a tripod. I have one more painting with the magnolia's. That still life has now been retired and I have moved on to painting fruit and vegetables.

Too Many .coms

I worked this weekend on a couple of needle felted pieces, cleaned my studio, and painted a little. I jumped from one project to another but I had fun so who cares?

This is one of the needle felted pieces that I worked on and I've temporarily named it "Too Many .coms". I started with three layers of brown felting fabric and added vertical strips (approx. 1" wide) of blue felting fabric. This was all needle felted together and then washed and dried in a hot dryer. Then I cut up a pieces of polyester fabric and randomly needled felted with my Embellisher. I'll have this piece mounted and framed once I decide it's finished.

Final Magnolia Photo

I haven't decided on a name for this painting but I have decided it's finished. I made some changes to it since I published the previous photo. I toned down the background and added some shadows. I have four other paintings in process right now and will start on a new one tomorrow night. I know, I'm crazy but I can't work on one painting at a time. I'm that way with my fiber pieces too.

FAO

I'm an active member of Fiber Artists of Oklahoma (FAO) which is a small group of wonderful local artists. I'm the Newsletter Editor and I'm on the Fiberworks committee. Fiberworks is a yearly juried art show and this year is our 30th anniversary. We have a new website that we are very proud of if you want to check it out at http://www.fiberartistsok.org/

Outside Lights!

I'm so thrilled! These two guys are installing lights on the outside of our building. It will be so nice to have outside lighting for the parking area and the front door of our business/home. There were two light fixtures on the outside of the main warehouse when we bought the property almost 4 years ago but they have never worked properly. We bought new light fixtures but the way the lights are situated on the side of the building my husband wasn't able to install them by himself. We don't have one of these scissor lifts so he would have to hang over the ledge of the roof or work from a dinky ladder 26' off the ground and that's too dangerous. These two guys work for the business next door and were able to use their lift.

Hmmm, I wonder why my husband, the extravagant tool man, doesn't have one of these lifts? It would be perfect for painting the outside of the building (which needs to be done).

Magnolia Still Life

Here is my newest painting that is currently untitled. Anyone have a suggestion for a name? Now that I've photographed it I can see some changes that need to be made but for the most part it's finished.

Wow, another year has disappeared and tomorrow will be 2008. This is a good time to reflect upon our life and the direction we have chosen. Life is good and I'm looking forward to a New Year!

Party Animals at the Library

My party animals caught their fish and also picked up a clam along the way. Now they are visiting at the library. Who says you lose your imagination when you get older? Carla, my painting buddy, and I have been having a blast setting up these still lifes. She paints faster than I do but I have the advantage because it's my studio so I can paint every night if I wish.

This painting is larger than the previous ones. If I remember correctly it's 18" x 24". We have already setup another still life and I'm using the same size canvas but I'm not ready to post a photo of it yet. We retired the party animals but you never know they may show up again in the future.

Still Painting

I'm still working on my still lifes. This is a photo of one I posted earlier but I made a few changes. I think it's finished now......it's hard for me to determine when I'm finished with something. I have to 'live' with it for awhile because it just takes a little brush stroke here or there to make a remarkable improvement. Party Animals is 20" x 20" and I like that size. I'll have to order more canvases in that size.

This other piece is Party Animals - Gone Fishing which I also updated. I'm finished with this one....it told me to move on. I like the vase in this one but I'm not crazy about the rest of the composition.

I seem to get better with each painting so I'll continue in this vein for a while longer.