Workshops

I enrolled for a workshop, starting march, 20th and given by Sarah Whitmire.

It’s called ‘Soul Journaling: Advanced Techniques’. Past summer she had some blog entries about soul journaling and I just loved it. This is the reason I enrolled, she’s also very generous in giving all kind of tricks and techniques during her workshops.

The workshops I will take this year will mostly be introspection workshops. I do not want the blingbling and instant satisfaction workshops.

Therefore I started the City and Guild Creative Sketchbooks some months ago. I’m now in module three and can’t get enough. I love the taking it further –facultative- activity and I’m taking all my time. I had to laugh with the minimum required hours to finish a module. I’m playing with each module at least 3 times longer.

Here I have added a water coloured border representing the used colours in the pictures.
The first picture was taken by a friend who went to Kenya ;
the second was “butterfly googled” on the internet some time ago but I haven’t found the resource any more. Stupid, stupid me.

"For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Write you soon
Nathalie

Sketching

I try to exercise my sketching every day but… I just realized that I can’t draw every day for the moment.
These are some of the dried rose drawing exercises I have done :
The first with a graphite pencil
the second with watercolour pencils

the last with a sketch pencil.

I see an evolution but I’m not satisfied yet. I miss the creativity twist I give in everything I make.
Trying to reproduce a subject exactly as a drawing isn’t my cup of tea ! I find that if you want an exact reproduction, you take a picture.

I have found the border fabric for ‘Marseille L’Estaque’.
Finally !
I was desperately seeking for THE right fabric.
I had one fabric I preferred not to use although it was the best option. I started to auction my whole stash and believed I turned crazy. I retrieved my sanity back in time !
I used this border instead of the orange, red, pink, gray and blacks.

Only an accent of black was used in a small partial border
The black spot next the pink will be removed and changed. This spot is too overwhelming and attracts my regard more than I wanted.
I have to add more free machine embroidered leaves at the right.

"We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts."
John Dewey


Write you soon,
Nathalie

"Wheel"

Look what my parents gave me :
This is a fabulous souvenir from my grandmother.
Since it was unused for many years, I don’t remember if the ‘wheel’ is complete.
I think so, but memory lane is long…

The only thing :
How does you call it in English ?
I used some translator programs and the only thing that came out was : wheel !
In French, you call it : un rouet.
In dutch, you call it : een spinnewiel.
Please, leave a comment with the correct name, I’m so curious.

I started to draw the dried rose again after a 10-day intermezzo :

I’m really rusted.

Look what I finally found :

I was surprised to find a shop in Bruges selling the Golden Fluid Acrylics. They even have the new ‘open’ line.
I have found a new excuse to go to Bruges ! I have a better excuse than the paints – my 2 youngest children are in high school in Bruges - but that shop is an A+.

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. "
Will Durant

Write you soon,
Nathalie

Good to be back

Yesterday evening I started to sew again. Sign that I’m better now. I still sleep a lot but not as many hours as the past days.
I had a little clean up in the notes I made from different on-line classes I followed and found some orphan blocks that deserve to become a little quilt.
These blocks are from a class ‘Ozark Garden’ from Lily Kerns I took ages ago.

I have a scrap bag that needs to diet so I will only use fabrics from the scrap bag : I received the 7th issue from ‘Fibre and stitch’ and learned that issue 8 will be the last.
This e-zine is filled with innovative techniques. I fully understand the reasons this e-zine stops. I would not have been capable to put so many hours in an e-zine started up in my ‘creation-time’ and growing so much it becomes a second fulltime job !
I would like to thank Sue , Terri , Margaret and Carol and all the guest authors for the wonderful time I had trying out and experimenting several techniques.

"Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance. "
William Wirt

Write you soon,
Nathalie

ill

I had the flu and wasn’t able to post on my blog.
I still had to work in our shop but the second I closed I went to bed.
Today is the first day I feel better, but still not good enough to sew or to sketch.


"I usually take a two hour nap from one to four. "
Yogi Berra


Write you soon
Nathalie

Dried Rose

One of the exercises I have to do for the ‘City and Guild’ creative sketchbooks module 3 is :
drawing a same object several times.
I chose a dried rose I had at home.
I took a rather small object because I wanted to be able to put it easily on my table and remove it as easily.
I started to draw without much confidence.
So long ago I tried to draw something in a realistic way. Usually I give all my designs a serious twist. Most of the time I take a picture from the subject and use the picture months later to create a fibre work.
But this time…
I had to draw a dimensional object on a flat surface.
The interpretation from picture to design : 2 dimensions to 2 dimensions is easier than going from 3 dimensions to 2 dimensions.
But like in every ability : the more you exercise, the more you gain in experience. I’m almost too ashamed to show my exercises but know that I’m hard working to get better.

day 1 :

day 2 :

The temptation to use the picture I took is big. But I will not use the picture. I want to be able to draw again and if I have to fall over every stone on my way, well, so be it. At the end, I will be the winner !

I wanted to sew a little thing and I made the companion for the blue ‘remember René Magritte’ apple : purple pear.

I like to work a subject with monochromatic colours.

For now I will continue drawing the dried rose.

"I exercise every morning without fail. One eyelid goes up and the other follows".

Pete Postlethwaite

Write you soon
Nathalie

Challenge on hold

Shelagh's challenge has been put on hold since not enough participants posted their results and commented.
I completely agree with this point of view since she’s offering this tutorial/challenge for free. She’s asked ‘as retribution’ that we should post our results and give her some feedback.
This didn’t happened for a great majority.
The downside is that those who are participating actively are being ‘punished’ !
Well, I can finish some other projects in the meanwhile.

Yesterday evening we continued the fractured round robin.
We cut the flowers on the reverse of the work.
Once turned on the right side, we had a surprise.
This is my piece :

As you can imagine : I have still a lot of work to create a harmony in the different styles.

The next time we come together one of my friend wants to make something like this :

She still have to make a quilt for her granddaughter Iris and she asked me to adapt a pattern.
I used EQ6 to develop her idea. Since this quilt is for a baby girl she wanted ‘baby colours’.
And since a baby is also attracted by vivid colours I added some bright accents.
I had to put butterflies on it !
Long time I went on the ‘classic tour’. And I never ever used soft colours, even for my kids when they were babies.

“The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason. “
John Cage

Write you soon
Nathalie

Fractured Round Robin

After making the background for the Fractured Round Robin,
I appliquéd the flower on it :

Still have to sew the flower heart on it.
I needed to be ready for Monday since this is our ‘monthly’ quilting bee at my place.

I took the time to sew my windows in this background :

It is my aquarium version for a commissioned quilt.

I intend to put all kind of fish in the rectangles and add some bubbles.

Yesterday, I met a long time no see friend. We promised 10 years ago not to lose each other from sight again but life came in the way. This time, we made an appointment to have dinner together. Where she was, I was and vice versa. We were living with the phone scotched on our ear and our parents had high phone bills.
Happy souvenirs !

“Friends have all things in common.”
Plato

Write you soon
Nathalie

Almost

Lately I deserve a 0 or almost in creativity and a 9 for cleaning !
No time for nothing fun or almost...
But :
* I arranged some of my colouring stuff in a closet :
* My 46 year young ‘nounours’ has now his place above my painting/colouring table :

Isn’t he well preserved ? No wrinkles, almost no lost hair and always so cute.
*I cooked some of DH favourite dishes, and it weren’t quickly prepared dishes.
*I also had to overwork several times in our shop.

About the creativity,
This is all I did :
I sewed further on the challenge.

This is the surface with cut holes :

And a bit later with sewing on it :

Would you believe that the back is as interesting to look at than the front :

Still auditioning fabric for ‘Marseille L’Estaque’, I haven’t found my star yet.

“Experience is a dear teacher, and only fools will learn from no other.”
Benjamin Franklin

Write you soon
Nathalie

Blocked

The border for ‘Marseille L’Estaque’ is turning me nuts !It was me intention to add a small black border and then to extent the design in a larger border.
Blah…
I sewed 2 black borders and a tree trunk fabric near the foliage but for the sky I’m stuck.

I have layered several pieces to see what next, but no, for the moment I’m not inspired !
The top is pinned on my studio wall, so that I can play with several possible options.
Every time I go by, I stop and try a new idea.

“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”
Dale Carnegie

Write you soon
Nathalie