Shine on, Shine on

As of late, i am making more  of what some  call flags of hope.
they are also known as prayer flags by some.  they can be a silent prayer, a wish, hopes, a  yearning for all to be healed and united in the future ahead of us  .
 and since we  cannot control  things, our hair being proof of that.... however i can channel my art onto the fabric with  paint  and some threads and some words .
 i have an abundance of each  to make  a small offering of hope, encouragement
. words, words, words...
and color and motion all offered as a grateful prayer, to be carried on the wind  to where they are needed.

i have also read they are called wind horses in Tibet
Windhorse Prayer Flags

Also known as Lung-ta in Tibetan, the Windhorse coupled with the “Wish Fulfilling Jewel of Enlightenment” is an important symbol inscribed onto Tibetan prayer flags. Although they represent good fortune and luck, Tibetans believe they actually have the power to influence events in nature and society

John Cruz - Shine On

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bkyjqF-PT0

                                 grateful for the tradewinds today !
                                                                  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

  

2014 Haleiwa Art Festival

Come out to the

Hale`iwa Arts Festival 17th Annual Summer Art Fest
in historic Hale'iwa Town
www.HaleiwaArtsFestival.org

July 19 and 20, 2014   

Many Juried Visual Artists, Musicians, Singers, Dancers, Cultural History Tours, Student Art, Art Demonstrations, Fabulous Food Vendors, and Children's Art Activities will all be featured. 

 Admission is FREE.

Celebrate the arts at the

Hale`iwa Beach Park

Saturday July 19  10 am to 6 pm 

Sunday July 20  10 am to 5 pm

If you arrive early Saturday morning , you will be treated to 
bagpipers strolling through the grounds!

my booth  is  #115 

near the water, first aid, and info tents

at the front of the festival,

where we are very colorful !

aloha, Sonja

Quote collector that i am and post #100

Oscar Wilde often said words i can't forget.

 Words that rang a bell that still can ring. i ran across a new one today 

to add to my growing collection.

if you read my blog you will find some favorite quotes peppered down the right margin. new ones appear, some disappear or are rearranged as a pattern appears. 
Perhaps soon they will need their own blog!

"Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways."

Oscar Wilde
I came across this quote above on a blog i read recently, lo i can't recall which..
there are so many talented and artistic blogs out there just in the fabric
category!

Back in 2007 I made the post card below for an exchange with theme of quotes!

Boy Howdy, I'm in I said !!

with a childhood photo, 
fabrics, paints, button, machine free motion,threads and lace,
i brought into being this 4"x 6" postcard 

of what that quote meant to me at that moment and looked like.

  "Be yourself. everyone else is already taken "  O.W. again! WOW!!

I think i respond to certain quotes because of the kernel of truth and often  humor embedded in those few words that i hear.  I often find them to be a jumping off point for my imagination to leap into a project.  or a smile.

do you respond to quotes?

what are your favorites ? 

And as this is post number 100 

 and 

if you are a reader that might like a piece of my hand painted fabric, 

leave a comment  by Feb 28 and

 if Ruby the studio cat helper pulls your name from the basket,

i'll send out a  painted fat quarter of my choice 
or Ruby's as you can see above she is very interested in investigating fabric!. 
How's that for a helper !

have a great weekend !

Sonja 

Year of the Horse 2014

Happy Chinese New Year of the Horse !

Recently I found a photo of my very first horse, 
actually she was a Shetland pony 

Beauty
She was brought home from the local pony ride farm
in West Redding I think  
that I dragged my parents to many a  Sunday. I loved her even though she was old and shabby and threadbare, in some spots her hair was  very thin, especially around her withers. I recall she liked to escape from her pasture and was found out on the old Boston Post road more than once . But I was 6 and she was my first love.  

 and then forward 50 oddyears,
 my last horse, Lily who really was a beauty!
So not a bad span of many decades
of horse love..

Lily was my prairie home and ranch companion for 2 decades
Her Hawaiian name was Liokalani, horse from heaven in Hawaiian, but we mostly called her Lily. 
She now gallops in a part of my heart reserved for great unconditional love.
She was a real sweetie!
Speaking of sweeties,
here is one having a rocking good time!

2014 is the Chinese year of the wooden horse so in honor of this 
 i located an older photo of my youngest niece riding on a horse I designed and painted and my DH built and carved of wood . The rockers were made of beautiful Koa, a wood dear to the islands.The wood horse was painted in the colors of Lily as she was when i got her at age 5 when she still had lots a dapples.
 And now my niece's  little girls get the rides although the last time i saw this sweet wooden horse,
she was sans a tail. Perhaps that is yet another worn  and threadbare by love story!

It is almost February 14 Again,
so just  bring on the chocolate please! and  the hearts and flowers too!

here are some of the hearts painted 
and hand quilted recently by me 
 and finally sent out to my clients.
I do notice things take me longer to complete than usual
 and
even longer if I time them so i have to stop that, 
the timing!
and just enjoy the ride !!
i have  not posted in a while, not that i ran out of words, i have lots a those
  it is just that i had computer issues, 
mane ly with me!
be well, Sonja

Ruby's first Christmas, some flat angels and a winter sunset

 

 

What can  I do with strips of painted fabric and just a winkling  of AN IDEA

and A CHALLENGE?

why I can sew them together with joy! 

and cut out wedges

 

and make heads and wings and hair and

 call them flat angels and send them away to some of my art making pals

 

"Look, I found more fabric for you to paint upon!"

this is Ruby's first Christmas and it turns out she is very helpful in the studio!  

"later I can press it for you, while I sleep!"

said the kitty that snores.

peaceful dreams

 

Happy holidays to you and to all a good night!

Hale'iwa Arts Festival 2013

the Hale'iwa Arts Festival

                         

(poster art by Mark Howard)

 

It's that time again!

And I can hardly wait! 

 the Hale'iwa Arts Festival

 at Haleiwa Beach Park on the beautiful North shore of Oahu.

(near the war memorial )

 

 

 Sat July  20th   10 am to 6 pm

Sun  July 21th 10 am to 5 pm!

 

It's the 16th annual of that wonderful juried visual arts show.

Both traditional and contemporary  art will be  displayed and for sale.

It is the  15 th time for me

to set up my fabric arts, it is like Christmas on July !

SO  much art in the tents under the shady trees, as well as

 musicians, singers, dancers and  keike art activities .

Entertainment is scheduled for every hour both days

and

 a  wide selection of ono foods and beverages are offered.

Bring family and friends and visitors to enjoy the day

in the country! 

 I shall be manning  booth #109

 near the front of the fair and  near first aid tent.

So come by and

see

 .

what

I  have been thinking and painting and quilting and making 

 since last time.

 

 

 

So   come  by  and   say  HI!

see you soon, that's this weekend!!!

 

Aloha, Sonja 

 

 

 

Sky according to Lucy

"the Sky", said Lucy "is full o diamonds...."

Sky is the February theme for the atc trade.that is a broad topic of color

 to choose from!

how about all o them.

i must have a zillion sunset colored photos and dozens of painted one in postcards form. so where did my art part brain wander to this time?

 

 

To a song. again.

once again a piece of music, a song with the word Sky in it caught my attention.

pick me pick me  it said ,so the designing began.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was my inspiration.

 

i painted on a webbed recycled cloth with inks and used it to mono print
 the cotton fabric.

you can see it in the upper left corner of photo above.
 

here is close up of the first print. i added more inks as needed

for the ones that followed.

 

 

once again i quilted free-motion with a metallic thread in a pale gold.

the above photo shows front and back quilted in the sun and spirals of my imagination.

much to my delight the threads never broke on making 9 cards and i did not even change to a metallic needle. i just used my old dull one that had recently sewn on paper. i close up the  envelopes i make  or old calendar pages with a nice zig-zag stitch

 in colorful threads.

perhaps my singing of  "tangerine trees and marmalade skies"  made for

 good vibrations!

just in case you may have forgotten the words, this song is on the

 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album by the Beatles.

 

i hand stitched some diamond colored tiny glass beads all around the edges, usually one at a time using a quilitng needle. i know i know, this takes up a bit of time but i enjoy taking some hand work out on the deck where i can enjoy

 the clouds loafing along in the sky.

i call this trade             Sky according to Lucy.

(once upon a time long ago i had a mare by the name of Sky.)

 

the little twirled painted coffee filters above will dry into a sort of tie dye pattern.

when they are dry i iron them flat again and wrap my art cards in them to

help protect the art in transit.

 

here is some of the paper i  used in  this trade.

 

SO,what music has inspired you lately?

Oh, if you click on sunset top photo,
can you see the cat in the foreground?

 

quilt top

so this is the 25 star quilt top i am working on... still. i hope to post the finished quilt next. i can always hope. it did not get to the Haleiwa Arts Festival finished as planned but traveled back and forth in a tote bag needing only half the hand binding and a label to be added before hanging. this top it is composed of my hand paints in the lovely colors of life, assorted muslins and pieced into a saw tooth star block that seems to be my favorite as i use it again and again. each block has 4 points of yellow to mango colored fabric and the rest random. i hung it on the clothes line to take the photo .the stained glass effect my fabrics radiates makes me happy on this rainy morning. it is oh so close now to being finished as i unpack and unwind from the gypsy art fair world of last week end. it was truly Christmas in July in so many ways. it was filled with new and old friends and acquaintances and customers and sights and sounds, ( bag pipers even!) and foods from local farms and creative cookers . my tent was not too far from the main stage and when i could take a brake i would listen to Celtic, Hawaiian, jazz, big band , and rock music and watch dancers as well. if you get a chance to go to a festival in your area you will be renewed and energized by the spirit of such as temporary art city and all its citizens ! now the tents are down and the trampled grass can once again grow up to the light and green up . my tent was partially under a huge monkey pod tree which gave off a light exotic fragrance from the pink blossoms when the winds blew a certain direction. and we had some big wind ,too. i brought a box of rocks to hold my fabric and angels down on the displays thought some angels did fly about the booth and into my neighbors ..... and some flew to other countries and many to the mainland in hand painted bags, quilted and otherwise....
now that's another story .