Tantivy

I have been working hard at getting some paintings finished or nearly so in preparation for the remodel project. The kitchen will be closed off for two weeks or so; we will have the microwave and the coffee maker in the dining room where I presently have a stack of paintings awaiting finishing touches. Since the last posting I have changed the square ones which shouldn't surprise anyone. I just don't know enough to know right away what I want to do. The are not good photos but better ones will have to wait. After I buy another canvas I will add a yellow and green one and do some some further work, but that will have to wait.  The one below benefitted from some critique from Sandy. She follows critique with telling me why something should be done so I can learn for next time (we hope). I feel that the piece was improved. Did you notice that it has been turned upside down? when things aren't "pictures" you can turn them any way you want! Dean is i...

I have been doing a little painting in preparation for Sandy's coming here for a lesson and critique. These square paintings are acrylic on canvas, 12"x12". That dark on the top one is purple. I can't decide whether it should be this way or be turned. I guess that it really doesn't matter.  This one (below) is acrylic on paper. There are inked lines around all the shapes. You can see them on the right side if you look closely. I have done this for years but not at this scale (22"x30"). Lots of little fine squiggly lines to follow.  One of my more outstanding outfits was worn over to church for acolyte training and to get a haircut. The shirt says "National Blood Donor Month". My hair is now Very short. Really. Very. Short.   It was just barely too long when I had it cut and she got a little carried away.  It will grow. It will grow.                      Thank goodness it will grow! ...

After a few flakes of snow, today has turned sunny with a clear blue sky. It is very cold, however. We went Friday night to see Jenny and celebrate her birthday. We arrived during a hilarious game of Uno and joined in the merriment. Sarie, whose  five-year-old hands couldn't hold fanned cards, had hers in a pile on the table so I joined in as card-holder. The game finally dissolved into hilarious attempts to end it so that we could have birthday cake and dinner for the adults. Family fun. Saturday we woke to this . This is their front yard and the structure is Drew's tree house, still in progress but usable. Now, I know that this isn't much snow and you know that this isn't much snow, but Sarie didn't know that and wanted to built a snowman, so she and her dad built Jabba the Hutt in snow in the driveway. The hat is an old one that was my mother's in the 60s. He seems more pleasant the the film Jabba. Most of the accumulation was gone when...

Does it ever seem like you are doing and doing but at the end of the week there is not much to show for it? Perhaps that is because some of what I have been doing is studying and I am sure that you don't want me to write a long treatise on the Roman Empire and the early Christian Church! It is very interesting, and we also have what we call Theological Reflections or discussions.This weekend we are getting together on Sunday afternoon to share our life stories. It is easier to be open and transparent when you know a little more than the basics about your classmates. (Or you are blogging and have no idea who is reading for the most part). Meanwhile, a piece of paper that started out painted with dark splotches of magenta, blue and purple became this Then this Then this Then this ( Lots of glare here)  and finally this.  I just can't do pale. Just can't. The rooms in my house are pastel but I can't make pastel paintings or quilts. Go fig...

Today the sun was not obscured by clouds. Today there was no rain in this county. Today was a lovely day. We have had rain every day for the last week and a half for a total of 8.7". Yesterday we finished it all up with big wet snowflakes. Today was sunny and cool. It was wonderful!! While it was so rainy, I was forced to work in the house. Here, sideways for some reason, is a little drawing I did and below is a  little painting. I have been working on abstracts for a while and it was fun to try the lemons, not to mention how much the cheery color helped. These are done on 5"x7" pieces of watercolor paper in pencil, then gone over with a waterproof black pen and then colored or not as the mood strikes.   If you are interested in learning to do this, click here  to go to Jane LaFazio's blog and check out her classes. She is a super teacher and you can post your work to the class Flickr and she will give you help. She is a generous and gentle teacher. I wou...

We took a quick trip to Tullahoma to go to one of the grandchildren's swim meets and help Jenny with some deep cleaning. The children, who had been sick, did not have their best day but we enjoyed seeing them compete. Drew competes with 9-10 year olds and at 10 is about the height of the other boys although he is heavy. Sarie, on the other hand competes in 8 and under, and at five, is much smaller than the other girls. When they line up she comes to the shoulders of most of the others. We will see them again next week at a meet closer to home and I hope that they will be back to their top form. When I arrived home I found that two packages had been delivered. Wheeee! I now have two new books and some yarn for an afghan/blanket. One of the books is this one by Danny Gregory which is an illustrated memoir of the grief he dealt with after the death of his wife, Patti. I have begun reading it already. Gregory is very honest and open about his grief, its effects on his life a...

This old house has ceilings that are about nine and one-half feet high. That means that there are 17 steps from one floor to the next. Today I decided that I had to take all the Christmas decorations up to the attic after making one last sweep through the house for forgotten little doodads. I carried up 11 loads. I had no idea that we had so many decorations. Actually, some of the boxes were quite light as they were fitted out for tree ornaments, most of which are feather-light. Still, by the time I finished, my knees were complaining. Oh, yes, the quilt on the wall is one I made years ago and the only one of mine to have been published in a quilting book. It is covering the place where we cut an opening for the whole house fan.  Here is a closeup. Well, it is kinda close up. I was standing on the steps. I used the fabrics on hand and tried to link each to the other by color. It was fun to do. See how nice the storage room looks? The rocking chair is one that my grandmo...