wordless wednesday

wordlesss wednesday

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

Newest "painters of the pacific" 2018

Here are the very newest painters of the Pacific!  Glowing!

The bird of paradise, orchids, hibiscus and plumeria  flowers are represented and shown here by the artists who designed and painted them. How cool is that!. They were a wonderful group who didn't know one another previously and now have new art buddies with  lots to share

 and learn from each other.  One kind lady offered to help with Hawaiian quilting to a woman that had recently arrived to the islands.That is so kind!!

Many folks wandered through my big white tent at Haleiwa Arts Festival last July.

 I attempt to field a lot of questions from some,  explaining  my kind of  fabric manipulations  and use of paints and inks. Art is really hard if not impossible to put into words for me  so i talk mostly about process. Some are curious enough to ask if i have classes on how I get my  fabric those colors.

 I have a clip board handy for information and if they wish to sign up. When i get several interested, i will contact them shortly to get a group together on a day that works of everyone.

And these ladies were brave enough to come back out to the country last Saturday to spend the day looking at flowers and leaves, seeing what they are looking at, sketching the  many wondrous shapes of nature, refining, and mixing paint to get colors that please....ripping up fabric into usable sizes from fat quarters to post card sizes, drawing and finally painting.  They eventually commit to paper a sketch, several actually and then  they transfer image to  fabric and  then the  painting begins.

  There is a lot to do and think about  and  since I've been at this colorful fabric journey of curiosity  for long time, i'm old,  I can answer many a question, except perhaps how long anything takes . 

It takes until it is done is best i can offer, mostly 

black orchid 

 (trichoglottis bronchial)

  Most of us are attracted to color and fragrance and the flowers of Hawaii do not disappoint! This time of year i am blessed with an  amazing abundance of the black orchid shown above..(i still think it is more of a Merlot or Cab color...) For the class  i also I gathered leaves and flowers that i brought to the table to view, smell, see and enjoy, to sketch and paint.

 After the class is over, these very same flowers and leaves that inspired painters inspire me to make a sort of arrangement , much like the very first flowers and leaves 

i painted in the "80's to quilt up in a pillow form.

                                              arrangement  of leaves and flowers

 

                             a fabric post card i made for a trade in a mailing art online group 
                                                                     art2mail  i think


                                         After the class was over, I painted up some remnant fabric, 
using palettes of paint left over  and yes that is a  glass of Merlot next to a  6 pack tray of paint!

                                             i call this painting  above a seascape of the imagination
  

this is what remained after cloth painted dried on the freezer paper under it

one of the painters left her enhanced flower sketch behind

i mailed Sarah her post card fronts that she painted and left in my studio to dry!

What a wonderful way to spend a day! 

 Mahalo to Sarah, Dorita, Jeannie and Cindy

for sharing a colorful day in the country!!

Be well, see well,
 Sonja

palette love

Well after the fair was over.....

ARTISTS Of ALL AGES

enjoyed the Haleiwa Art Festival !!

This sweet little girl came through my tent early 
on a Sunday morning with her grandma
and was fingering some of my hand painted fabric. Her grandma said to her,  "You  know you can have only one choice from one of the 5 booths we have been to recently." The girl nodded while narrowing her choices in her mind no doubt. Not much time passed  before i saw her walking towards me with a bright smile. I had a feeling she just might be an artist in the making 
as she selected one of my hand painted aprons,
the one with lots of vibrant colors circling about.
Here she is modeling the apron while i tie it up. After the the girl handed me the denero, i folded up the apron and placed into one of my hand painted lunch sacks i use for smaller items and handed it to Haley.
 She gave me a big hug ! What a way to start the day!!
then i thought of this string of words....

" So without imagination and paint

upon cloth, dried and  then manipulated.....

there would be nothing to see HERE! "

sonja hagemann

HAF  participant  since 1999

Aloha!I 

 I could be showing, feeling my age as it is 2 weeks past the HAF so i am almost up to energy level that i think is the new normal.....for a person my size! At the fair i had a sign up sheet for folks that ask if i have a painting class. i  say,  I do when i can get a few folks to agree on a day to gather.  We have a group  next month that will learn a bit about mixing colorful inks for fabric painting, sketching flowers, looking and seeing, experimenting and having fun  with color. Seams  that many of the folks that show up are quilters 

that like the colors i get into my fabrics and  

how i use the the transformed fabric that started out as a 
plain vanilla hued cotton. 
 In a class setting, I  can share my paints, brushes and tools and ideas as i have a  history of painting upon  things that do not move fast. Flowers get my focus and because you have to put the color somewhere, a good place to start and  because i love leaves
 and all the many shades of green that shows up in green!
I have plans for these lovely blossoms  below. 

                                                                            magnolia

"To create one's own world in any of the arts

Takes courage."

Georgia O'Keeffe

• What do i do when i empty a jar of possibilities??
•              Here are some  brushes standing  in a jar that once contained inks and now wrapped in a bit of painted cloth.
• 
  
• I hope you are having a colorful summer
•  and  finding  cool shady spots to sit  and  sip  a cool ice tea!
• be well, Sonja
• 

Like Thursday

i like flowers a lot. on Thursday and on  all the remaining days of the week.

This lovely orchid  above and below  was a gift from a friend  and is called "child of the air" or "foxtail orchid" and is a member of the Aerides family of orchids. It only blooms once a year and its in August i can take in its sweet fragrance. Ain't Nature grand!! 

This lovely orchid  above was a gift from a friend  and is called "child of the air" or "foxtail orchid" and is a member of the Aerides family of orchids. It only blooms once a year and its in August i can take in its sweet fragrance. Ain't Nature grand!!

Trichoglottis brachiata
Black orchid

 Night Blooming Cereus

This loquat  against the sky caught my eye.

It is very orangey and very bitter!

I like very much to walk about and see these  wonderful plants and flowers and leaves and drink in their fragrances. While i was observing the Night Blooming Cereus  this morning, i saw bees tickling the tiny filaments while gathering pollen!
Ain't Nature Grand!!
I will attempt to join Lee Anna thursday likes post list

Fragrant Friday

Fragrant Friday and fabric

Continuing my white flower fragrance appreciation

 and

 procrastination of quilting a rather large quilt (for me) on a domestic machine,

I had to go out again today to photograph a magnolia tree in bloom.

The large, almost a dinner plate size leathery petals open and

 the flower gives off a lemony citrous fragrance.

Divine! 

The tiare is also in the same family as the gardenia, rubiaceae, which includes coffee arabica. 

Day old Tiare still give off a fragrance light and sweet while resting on an old chair.

I love the crackle texture of this comfortable garden chair cradling the flowers 3 .

Tiare and pua keni keni share a jar of water.

The pua keni keni start out creamy white, then turn almost ochre thou still  vary fragrant.
Perhaps that is why it is commonly known as the perfume flower and is also used in lei making.

Plumeria  blossoms make great leis or garlands
or if you have just a few, floating in water.
Ain't nature grand!

Now maybe i can go back in  studio and finish up a quilt still under the machine from last night.

Here is a corner of the hand painted fabric backing i am working with today.
The count down to HAF  Haleiwa Arts Festival is .... 35 days left !
be well, see well, Sonja