How long did it take to make?

Sometimes i take photos of various stages of making  a project . This is  probably due to my desire to see what i do from a distance and it helps when i am asked that most unanswerable question, the one most frequently asked  of " how long did it take?" straight  off i would have  say

 "i have no idea but i had a great time making this.". So if asked  i might  explain about the time before i begin , the lifetime of gathering information  to get to the place this  idea seed  popped up, and wool gathering , and  before i can get the concept what materials to gather to make this, the  redo when it goes arye, and how it changes as i work through the project

 and the problems i solve that i set in motion.... 

That might be too much info for folks. Thank you if you have read this far.

This week i am making some journal covers of paint, cloth and  thread. And imagination!!

i start with a plain vanilla cotton fabric, in this case a heavy cotton, and some fabric paints diluted slightly screen printing ink in squeeze bottles, oh and paint brushes.
after cloth is dry it is time to layer up a bat sandwich and

 

picking out threads i wish to use, takes a moment..

i call this free motion quilting  pattern 

"Pebbles in a stream, drifting"

after a song line in  "And this is my beloved" from Kismet

.

 after free motion  quilting  is done  and if i used different colors, 

i need to weave back the the tails of starts and stops, that is so much less fun than watching paint dry!

watching paint dry...........

inside of a journal, the lining 

Wa La!...probably could have googled  on

" How to make a journal cover to fit the composition book you just  bought."

instead of reinventing the wheel. 

So yes, stuff  takes time, Art takes longer.

From glimmer of  that idea seed to the time you can pick it up and turn it over in  your hand,

I still  think my best answer is

"It took all the time!"

 I'll be in my colorful booth # 88  near info tent
 at  

The Haleiwa Arts Festival

 July 13 and 14  10AM to 5PM  both days!

Be well, Sonja

HI HO come to the Fair ! HALEIWA ARTS FESTIVAL 2019, one more time

With less than  three weeks away, the Haleiwa Arts Festival

 is looming largely  on the   horizon .

I have several project in the partially made stage, a few more almost ready and a few that need the final touch.  As a curious maker of ideas with cloth and color  into something perhaps 

 tangible, touchable, shareable, i get even more ideas as i work .

                                                             some coaster drying in the sun
                                 painted mostly with  what i like to call the original paint brush... finger tips!

This orchid with freckles makes me smile as i make yet more dots

Photo of one of the ladies from Yokohama paint class of 2012, in action dotting away.

We poured small amounts of paint into small recycled  plastic lids and well, play with color!

I'll be maning  booth # 88 near the front of festival near community and info tent. 

 This memorial is at the front of the 

Haleiwa Beach park, front entrance to Haleiwa Arts Festival

wonder what i'll make today with this yummy  sherbert color fabric? 

Come see what can  happens in 3 weeks! 

AND there will be some "dotty"  things including 

some little notebooks available as well

.

dotty little notebooklettes

July 13/14 2019

Sat/Sun 10 am-5pm

Haleiwa beach Park=North Shore Oahu

110 Artists/Live Entertainment/ it's free

Hi Ho !

This is the 22nd  annual 

Haleiwa Arts Festival!!

paint class reunion 5/25/19

 Here we are again ! Three of the ladies from last summer's paint  class requested another session  so we  call this one the reunion  class. i always wish i had taken more photos and then  fill the day with samples and ideas and somehow i never pick  up my camera. I did manage to get some  photos from  Sarah of some  pieces as she took during the day and she painted a lot!

Sarah's gingers

i brought out a print of a painting i had of a butterfly ginger  by Ted Mundorf

 and we all sketched and painted a set each. i will  turn my samples into a set of pillows soon.

  

                          Sarah's idea of putting a  black applique of a tree  upon the painted fabric
                                                                         is quite stunning

                                                                   more backgrounds

                                      this  beautiful sunset was taken the same day as our gathering
                                 by a friend that lives down the  coast,,,,,   Ain't Nature grand!

                                     
                                                                   Be well and
                                                      art out loud in color whenever  you can!

                        

                               tip; leave some of you work started if possible in a place you can access it daily.


                                                     I love to make my arty fruit plate for our lunch break
.                                                                    And here it is ....  art you can eat!
                                                

                                                                                      aloha, sonja 

Happy Earth DAy and here is Lucy !

We have been adopted by this kitty that we call among other thing, Lucy.  She started hanging about in the yard in January but would dash off if we got too close. Much to  Mz Ruby's chagrin,  she now thinks she owns the place. Ruby has to hiss or punch  or chase  her  if she gets too close or crossed the invisible area around Ruby known only to her having been the only cat for 5 years.

Lucy in the skies with blue eyes. See her right ear u cut out? i hope that means she was fixed. if you are a cat person that knows catch /fix /release, 

 perhaps you can tell me if that is a female her right ear clipping indicating  fixed.
.

I finally got a new camera a Nikon  coolpix. My older Canon Powershot 540, that worked great for 12 years no longer worked but  would only take dark photos or overexposed ones no matter how many times i studied the manual and attempted to change settings. It also ate up AA batteries like crazy. i would take them out in between shooting even. 

 I  have not been posting as would like  as photos are a good que for me to start a post.
Happy Earth Day

hibiscus blooming this morning

Tahitian gardenia,   a heavenly fragrance 

"everything here is mine "......Lucy

Wordless Wednesday

                                                             ain't  nature Grand!

Christmas eve in the morning...

The Cookies have been eaten, the baking is all  done

with the pounds  that have been added,

this might be a good time for a run

The tree is up and almost decorated with  only one more present to wrap. 

now, looking back, i  will  most likely need a  short nap 

My your holiday season be peaceful  and  the new year  2019

a healthy one

  filled with bright moments and many , many amazing  setting suns! 

Good tidings from our home to yours,

Be well, Sonja 

Moondance November

In the Northern hemisphere

the  moon has several names depending on your tribe: Hunter’s Moon, Frosty Moon,
 Beaver Moon .

 This morning after too much food celebrating  of Thanksgiving yesterday,

 i awoke at O dark thirty to watch the frosty moon about to set .

Early in the morning dawn, the moon of November 23,2018  will  eventually set into the clouds

See that path  the moon light makes upon the water? (the sun does this a well).

 i am curious what word or words  are used to call this  wonderful nature happening.

 JESSE SHEIDLOWER, an editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, reported that the word requested already exists: moonglade. I also found  a synonymous word moon wake. I have attempted to capture this effect in paint. i will keep trying to do it

 with fabric strips sewn together.

So do  you recall the song by Van Morrison called Moon Dance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo3JznMhpWc

It goes ...."it's a marvelous night for a moondance..."

 I believe it was published in 1970 and ya know what? It still stands the test of time!

 brilliant excellent composition and execution why its a classic

and tried by many mastered by very few.

I am thankful for magic of music, that i can remember it even the first time i did 
and what and where and who  was there 

 and how it transports and  also gives rise to memories of younger times for me.

Thanksgiving is so filled with memories,  especially when we smell the fragrances,  prepare or eat the classic foods we are used to that our parents served and that we have adapted

 and tweaked  through the years.....  especially the cranberry sauce! 

be well, sonja

let's sing some pumpkin carols....

 Two little flat pumpkin pins made of painted fabric

 and using a rolled fabric stem and a twig from the yard

 no doubt a bougainvillea clipping,

 now i use repurposed chopsticks  parts,

 stained a brown color for stems.

 made from halloween fabric

  mini pants 

 to dance in if you are a tiny dancer!

We had an etch and sketch feature on our first computer 

so i made this greeting inspired by

Charlie Brown's  seasonal cartoon 

 where he searches for the most sincerely pumpkin in the patch.

As a vintage child, I like to watch each year.
the cat peeking over the top is mz Ivy. 

Orange to mango and  sunny greens, colored fabric laying about

trimming left over  from a mango inspired quilt

a block of  which is shown above 

now lives on in a pair of  stuffed pumpkin.

They become more dear

each year, 

as my hands start to ache with too much holding, stitching, and stuffing

Must be time to get out the  unscented Bengay, Salonpas, or cbd salve

and go read a book!

 happy time of pumpkins to you all

 and 

try not  eat  all  the  candy  corn !

Be well, Sonja

sending an October sunset your way