Santa is in town !

ALL THE Santas have arrived and they are Flat.

i trade with an atc group  that put out the theme of flat santa recently.

 artsinthecards. mine is the one on the far right and the last to be sent out.

i went right to bookmark in my creative brain center.

my little Santa emerged from a used dry tea bag stain.

 the paper is great to paint and drawn on after ironed.

 just a hint of a shape in the stain  gave way to sketching, painting.

 and stitching with a black thread on my Singer  Featherweight  machine.

 and a bit  more paint.

 at the  bottom i added a small piece of scrap chenille fabric.

if i had a mantel he and the others would be on it.

now i am all ready for Christmas,

 well almost ready.

a few mre things to finish before the night before Christmas and...

Most happy holidays to all! 

sonja

Christmas Cactus Isabella blooms

the prayer flag project

I read about this project on the prayer flag project blog

   last summer and I knew I wanted to make some after visiting.

  So  this is what I started on Sept. 11, 2011.

theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com

I continue to make them as time allows and have made them into a take along project after I paint the background fabric .
 they are 5 by 8  inches after hemming top sleeve.

I love to paint. fabric loves to receive it. paint to me is  like vitamin P and i never tire of experimenting with  it with intension or random marks of color.

I have filled in the words, with embroidery threads in a very primitive stitch,

drawn by writing with the blue school gel glue before paint goes on .when paint dries i rinse out glue .

the  finished flags are strung with torn selvages of my hand painted fabrics and knotted together . then hung in the air, over a doorway , along a garden fence, from a tree limb., and when i show them, i clip them onto my old wooden hangers.

hope seems to be the word that surfaces first for me.

 some friends have already stated they would like to make some, together.

a good" all skill level" project.  
what does prayer look like to you?

And what a great way to start a new year.

thankful

I am thankful for the fresh food from farmers market and the garden. for friends old and new, near and far, and those that visit the blog. i am grateful for paint and cloth and enough ideas to keep going . and for hope.  i am thankful for health and smart hands and for enough. all you need is enough. all you need is love. and that is enough.

Happy Thanksgiving to all !

the birds the word.....

                                 "everybodys heard the birds the word....bbbbbbb....."

dh mower with chicken inspectors

(my mower is the bottom one and it goes on woman power.)

 

And if you are old enought to recall this song or watch Family Guy upon ocassion, what does that conjour up for you?   and not to mention some of the art blogs i follow that  are bird  art talking/making  as well, and the birthday card i got this year from a dear friend  had a photo of a chicken crossing the road and asking that age old question.......why DID the chicken cross the road?  all this and the fact that i have a yard full of chickens and can't  find but a few eggs a day....lead me to this post.

that and the last painting class i  held.

i painted a chicken as a demo when i asked students to think about an animal to paint in the afternoon session. we painted flowers mostly in the morning cause i think that is least difficult and you need to put the color somewhere after all, unless making yardage.  the chicken i drew / painted was indeed crossing some surface, she was dashing and colorful. just recently i quilted the road she was crossing at a very high speed!   

yes, she is certainly a  colorful bird as seen in this middle  close up above.

a few weeks ago i thought it would be fun to put my  class painting samples  together and i am in the process of quilting  some more of them now.

can you see the rocky road the red hen is crossing with speed? 

lots of fun was had by quilting the dots.

i love to finger paint alot so this is repeating pattern in my work lately, those  finger dots. 

we painted poultry, penquins,peacocks,butterflies, and even a pineapples showed up on fabrics on the sunny afternoon.  what a great class  this was with 3 repeaters and 3 new ladies. all artists on cloth in my veiw.i  will post some of their art .  i always wish i had taken more photos the next day but there never seems to be enough time when you have a paint brush in hand! 

i will

also will try to rotate this one later.

 pineapple upsidedown.

blogger thinks this is is what i want even thou my jpg has leaves at the top.

fun in the summer is painting outside.

going around in circles

During this  last year  i have become quite interested in dots and circles and round shapes. i know these shapes are everywhere in nature and man made contructs.it is just that i noice them  more  . many a song lyric ponders the ins and out of circles and what it  might mean . cycles of life .beginning and ending. these shapes  have always been  there  but lately they stand out to me . cheerios, tires, spots on the ceiling  that are patches in  a remolding restaurant as i look up, my glasses,hives, rings, sunsets, and polka dotted fabric all greet me hello .
  the banner of my blog shows painted fabric drying in the lids of dairy product containers.
these dots appear on my fabrics and papers using  paint, corks , eraser tips, and my hands.

 painting with the originals tools, hands  especially finger tips, is  a most  playful way to apply color to surfaces.

if you are wondering about the last photo of a clock with out hands

i would have to say when painting i don't notice time.
so
"Who knows where the time goes"
Fairport Convention,late 1960s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xODjbfYw8

fragrant friday

opposites !

opposites challenge with arts in the cards was fun. i started with the impression of velvet to sandpaper, the musical styles of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan that as a teenager i was privileged to hear in the Hollywood Bowl. looking for used sandpaper disks left me empty handed so i went on with the theme.

Sandpaper /velvet

black/ white

gold/silver

wrong/right

burlap/lace

rough/smooth

early/late

finished/soothed.

 the train of words   got me through  without over thinking this trade.

 i am happy with the results. very simple .

trimmed burlap on coffee filter and card stock same size layered. machine stitched white lace with black threads. some gold and silver glitter paint in random area

 gave way to yet another pair .... dull/bright!

be well, Sonja

                           

pat's hawaiian hibiscus quilt finished 2011

Pat is amazing. i posted on her a while back when this fabric  was still in pieces. she painted these flowers and fabrics several years ago in a quilt hawaii class i lead and last winter they began to talk to her, to tease her into putting them together and quilting . some of the sections are drawn and painted, some painted, and some are the wipe up cloths i ask folks to put in their non paint brush hand. after a session, left to dry on their own some become random works of art. she used these too and the resulting quilt is beautiful. she used threads that sparkled when the light hit them just so by Superior and the bobbin threads told their own story on the back along with her fabric choices and free motion quilting.  i am in love with this quilt and had the privilege to  keep it in my booth for a while to share with other quilters

 and the folks that say..." what do you do with this fabric? " 

 thank you Pat for sharing and making the world more colorful and alive!

                   

                              

wordless wednesday

wordless wednesday

HI HO come to the fair!

                                                        Hi Ho come to the Fair, 

        the Hale'iwa Arts Festival!

2011 

   this is the veterans war memorial right next to the park

        The Hale`iwa Arts Festival  is next weekend!

 July 16 and 17 10 to 6 Sat…10 to 5 Sun 

 On the  north shore of O`ahu!

Free trolley car rides through Hale`iwa Town, some ono food,

Music throughout the day-all kinds and dance too.
Art for kids to make,

 and the art, oh the art by artists of all media !

come and be inspired !

 I will be in booth #108 near front of show and water booth.

I hope to see you at the fair.
aloha, Sonja

                                                                                                          

                                                       

wordless wednesday - 4th july paddle to Waimea Bay

wordless wednesday