After the fair is over...

Thank you to all new and returning folks that stopped under my tent at the  Haleiwa Arts Festival last Saturday and Sunday  to see, to say hello, to shop, to talk story  and to purchase and to carry home my small art  in the little hand painted bags i made before the show for you!  Mahalo to all for sharing this last weekend that for me was full of Bright Moments under the warm and wonderful Hawaiian sun!   Aloha,Sonja

one "making a idea visible" project and Haleiwa Arts Festival 2016

This is what i started with recently ,

some strips of fabric remaining from previous painting sessions and projects.

I layer them to resemble a land/ocean/sky scape i have viewed and painted often.
This a one way i start my studio sessions, to warm up my engine of imagination

 and to loosen up my creative muscles.

Next i pinned the fabric strips to a background and stitched them down,

rough edges  using zig zag and straight stitches. i used a bunch of different color  variegated threads that each color change informed me.

This composition might become a postcard or part of a journal cover or the beginning  centerpiece of a bag or purse, or perhaps a case for keeping something, like glasses, business cards safe.  

and like the sunsets which changes constantly, none of these small works are the same.
Well, i made a journal cover from this composition. for a small marble journal.
 These are, of course, refillable when notebook or composition books are full of words or sketches,

It's that time of year for the Hale'iwa Arts Festival once again. Each year i  have new work to show in the fabric arts and because i am an imaginer, i  sometime work in a series.One piece will have some of the essence of some idea seeds  and it builds on what came before,  in  the next step or problem i set up and how i solve it that time. i  came across a sentence  recently that said something like 

" art is that thing you cannot describe being the most important." now that is a sentence  to pondering while i "unsew" a section of  a quilted bag  where i went off the road...

I work with cloth, and paint, and stitch and imagination with intuition to  make  that which comes from the imagining of the maker, me .it is a form of connecting, expressing some thing the maker feels and then attempts to translates it to a physical form or piece that  others can see. Perhaps that is a dialogue without words.

 With only  12 /days left for preparation for
 Haleiwa ARTS Festival,
 i am attempting to finish  up some of my start ups to take to the show
 July 16 and 17th at Haleiwa Beach park. 10Am -6pm Sat. 10 to 5 Sun.  I am in  booth #113
near the front of the show, near info and water and first aid booths,
 same area as the last umpteen years.  

Veteran War Memorial fronting Hale'iwa Beach Park.

Have a great weekend and fourth of July!!
be well, Sonja

Wordless Wednesday 6/29/16

A hat full of miracles 

a sky filled with  wistful clouds....

Ain't nature Grand 

i say it out loud!

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

wordless Wednesday

wordless wednesday

time out for a little art

Last week i had a few ladies up for a visit and had art supplies handy as they had  an interest in making from cloth some prayer flags, in the mood of some displayed in my studio,

 an assortment of flags I exchanged some time ago in a online art group.

The morning gave us a rainbow greeting!

i had tools for coloring, marking and hand stitching flags available.

As we sat around my painting table we shared stories and light refreshments.  

~Jan and Ilona dressed for fun and paint~

One lady had to leave early and left her flags to dry in the salty air!

A nice start I would say!

These flags, dedicated to loved ones, 

may not be done yet. Perhaps more contrast 

between thread and cloth, plus embellishment....i'll have to wait and see!

You must have rain to have rainbows!

be well, see well, sonja  

wordless wednesday

Easter Wishes 2016!

Happy Easter to All!

Be well, sonja

Oh Socks!

i have a habit of painting things that come into my sight and here is just one more example. Take a pair of ordinary white socks, the kind you might put on before your tennis/walking/running shoes. i was thinking i might need them as i was going to an outdoor wedding and it had been raining and  i thought i would wear my new purple clogs. but white socks are so ,well, pedestrian really, especially to artists as the bride to be was/is.  I got out my textile inks, already  slightly watered down from last paint class, inks that i have used since since 198 something , usually used for transforming  plain vanilla  fabric or boring tapestry fabric or  ancient commercial prints into the colors of my ideas. 

 i sprayed the socks with water and squirted out the colors and smooshed them in with a stiff brush and then with my fingers and  t6hen added even more water as the cotton was soaking up the moisture like a pair of old socks. Now i am in a bit of a time compress as the wedding is in a few hours and the  sun is not shinning. i got the hair dryer out to hasten the project along when i usually air dry or set pieces out in the noonday sun .

i have been admiring crazy with color socks in Christmas catalogues but these ain't it or even close.

 i can't knit, well i have never wanted to until i saw the fun stockings some  arty people have whipped up from the remains of sweaters and things.  i will try again with older socks perhaps soaked rather than sprayed as the moister the more the colors travel and that is what i was thinking of and that is  my story so far. Be well happy feet! sonja

..and to all a Good Night !

                                           " May your troubles be less

may your blessings be more

may nothing but happiness come

through your door!"

What a lovely greeting! it came in the form of a card from

the East Maui Animal Refuge

AKA The Boo Boo Zoo! 

and speaking of what came through the door, last year my pal Pat brought a plate of almond flavored mouse cookies so i promptly put them upon my holly plates and photographed the tender morsels! 

So this year i had to make some myself and like a good elf i took a plate of mice to a Christmas party at  the home of a long time acquaintance that had a mouse tree, a small tree covered with mouse ornaments.The cookies were a hit and one lady could not bear to eat the cookie

 as i saw it go out the door in a plastic cup!

......and to all a good night! 

(Ruby as a kitten  resting on an shell ginger pillow)

Mele Kalikimaka!

Mahalo

 for reading my words of ponder and viewing  photos of wonder this year 2015 

and for those who left a comment, thanks for the conversations!

May the new year hold wonder and LOVE and peace and Joy and good health for you ALL! 

Aloha, Sonja

after the paint has dried......

After the paint has long since dried and sewing has been done by this painter of my recent class according to her plan...this photo of Sheryl's mango painting  project arrived! i am always so happy to see where the person has taken  her painting, her work to the next step, to the real piece that you can pick up and hug! And then took the time to share with all of us.

 this is an amazing pillow, I am proud of her. 

Next came  the photo  below of Suzie's tote bag with her graceful hand painted Heliconia featured below. I wish you could see the plumeria she painted with the most beautiful background of blue. I wonder what she made with it ? Just pinning it up on a bulletin board to enjoy each time you pass it is a real good place to start, then one day you walk by and say,
 "Oh that's what I'll do!"

 Thank you Suzie and Sheryl for painting with me last summer

 and sharing where the paint took you!.

 I am thankful for the folks that come up to paint and surprise themselves !

 I think that having  the art supplies gathered and a sunny day and good company and encouragement help a great deal with the success and fun generated. Making time for such days is also essential,  because you make the time for things that are important to you.
 Learning a new or improving a technique are  some important ways to spend
your precious time to your best outcome I think.
Just do it!

So, what did you do last summer that is outstanding in your fond memories? 

i collaged  a day of mine in picasa program !

aloha, sonja 

Thankful for cranberries among many ,many things....

This is a time of year to make the food goodies that bring back fond memories.

 Those are the best ones to keep and dust off occasionally. Time to share them with the folks you sit down and eat with.

I make a cranberry sauce when i find the fresh berries on sale

 or cleverly stashed in my deep freezer 

and i never make it the same way as there is always a flavor or spice or fruit to try out as a  new  ingredient .......inspiration is always incoming ! 

What are you making? 

! I say food can be art to eat first with the eyes and then eat with a spoon ! 

See well, be well, Sonja

http://sonjahagemanndesigns.blogspot.com/2010/11/cooking-up-batch-of-cranberry-sauce.html