flowers

While i was away at the HAF this spindery orchid took to blooming. She has the slight fragrance of spice and has the most long spidery  petals i have seen on an orchid..

Lucy in the sky with blue eyes supervises from the latest flat box placed

 from an advantageous  spot for her. She spends about an hour in the morning galloping,  racing around and grabbing up throw rugs and giving the rugs a good thrashing, especially the rag rugs. She is a rescue of sorts as she spied on us the the hedges for awhile before strolling on to the deck. 

And in no times she took over as in ...everything here is mine.

. 

At the festival i have 3 tent poles and cables at which i place a bucket of tropical flowers and greens in a bucket. I wrap each bucket with a half yard of my my hand painted fabric so the edges of my area are.well, colorful . I brought my new Nikon along  but once again as the day unfolded, 

 as people walk in and i begin to talk about process and field questions of all kinds,  i did not get a chance to make shots of details . Lucky for me my helper Sherry took some just as i was starting the day. Thank you Sherry for helping me all weekend. you are an angel.

I bring  my Singer FW 221 along for display and for a useful prop. i can put bills under the presser foot whilst making change.( i do remove the needle and bobbin case at home  for safety.)

The sweet cat under the arm was Noodles, one of our rescue cats. If i were to put a title to this  this sweet  photo i would have to say,   Nothing purrs like a Feather Weight.

Yes it works, still used for straight seams and i get to tell the story of sewing a prom dress on this great machine back in the day.

This was a great fair the 20th time i have juried in and set up and get to  talk story with a lot of folks. Thanks to all that spent some time under the canopy and sharing and shopping.

I hope to see some of you again at next paint class,

Wishing a Happy Summertime to all!

Sonja

sunny saturday

I have been in studio preparing for the Haleiwa Art Festival that i do each July. I have juried into for the past 19  plus years so 2017 will be my 20 th show under those white billowing tents. As much as i love blogging, sometimes and for a period of time, i have no words to share,

 other than inner dialogue going on in my head, around and around. 

My hands are talking to my stuff and inner artyself, mostly. 

And just like any painting or quilt or story or piece of work, it simmers and changes and stops/starts and is resolved  in its' own time frame. It is in  this process where i am problem  creating and solving as it flows and if one stimmies me, i shift to another project because perhaps the next step has  just become clear to me by not thinking about it..but in the shift of thought/mind. Interesting. 

Anyone reading this that is a maker might recognize the joy/agony in the making process. Those who are curious about the finished work might gain a bit of  insight knowing that ideas do not come to most of us fully formed but rather in more fits and starts and parts and wrong turns ...
each one informing the next decision/s.

And so it goes; it is a journey for me and the piece is the log, the diary or proof of the documenting processes. It no longer is/it never never was   an idea.... 

the object is more of the sum of many ideas, it is itself, a quilt, a painting ,a story, a cake....a miracle perhaps and at least something that did not exist before.... 

OKAY, here are some of my favorite tools of the trade:

 cloth, paint, brushes, cutters, large work surface, water, small rocks. 

 This is how most of my work beings.

 And with that seed of a inkling of a possible idea kernal...it begins.

i must add each side track is fun like the

 3 brush containers in the front, 

under the wrapped fabric lurks an empty pint jar that once held my paints/inks.

 love quotes that say to me 

Yes! that is just what i was thinking and someone else has already located 

 and arranged those descriptive words, beautifully !!yea!!

If i am dreaming of creating a quilt using some of my fabric painted cotton 

in every color imaginable, 

i reach for scissors, pins, threads and one of two of my favorite sewing machines,

my Featherweight 221 singer

Noodles  the watch cat  

Noodles 

 or my Bernina 830 record, the old square one.

My current cat assistant and studio investigator, Ruby

I like joining  up fabrics on the FW and quilting free motion on Bernie 

 i have both of them set up in opposite ends in my studio so i can get up and move often.

Also, after machining there is always hand stitching involved and ....
i like to take that outside and sit under a shady tree.

So, do you have favorite tools or helpers in your make spot?

Be well, see well, Sonja