Walking the Woods Under a Clear Blue Sky

Jan and me and the Rusty Pups

walked the woods

with eyes following our every step!

we spied crystals on the stream

frozen pillars

and bubbling waters.

Right at the end of our walk

to our surprise

we spied

the old maple tree preparing to burst into life.

Spring might not be too far away.

Starting points

A small group of eight artists

(mostly painters but also a writer, a photographer

and a couple of us fibre folk)

Will be having a show in July which we have decided to call

Quotes, Quirks and Quiddity.

Each of us has been given a piece of sheer fabric about 7ft long

on which we have to put our body!

So Handy Hubby and I tried to photograph my body

which was soon obliterated by two Rusty Pups.

After banishing RP's from the room

we finally got a snapshot

which I then played around with on my hand dandy ipad.

We printed it HUGE

and now I have drawn myself onto my fabric.

My intent is to simply stitch it in black thread to make it look like a sketch

but

my glasses will be stitched red.

That is my plan

but I've already had two false starts!

Things might change again.

Scratch Crazy

Wind

Blizzard

Sunshine

Sleet

All in one week

Staying indoors as the wind and snow whoosh around the house

The sun made an appearance

a weak sun

but the sun nonetheless

Feeling closed in

by sleet this time

Finally a wonderful day out making marks with Diane and Jan

Haven't a clue!

Some days you doodle and it just doesn't look good

even though it was a good day!

Finally on Sunday was feeling delicate after a Saturday evening of instant theatre.

Stormy Weather

Some days Winter returns with a vengeance

that knocks out power

and covers Rusty pups in snow that gets walked into the house

A windswept storm

makes scratched woods.

The Ebb and Flow of Winter

Redpolls are darting here and there gathering seeds

My favourite rocks have been covered all winter

but sometimes the snow melts

uncovering my favourite rocks

and moss covered bits of rotten wood

And some days the ice covering the stream

starts to melt

only to refreeze again at night.

Three Bears

It;s amazing what you'll find when you go rummaging around in boxes.

Some of you might recognize these from years ago.

Bears adorned in stitches

glittery things

and silk ribbon

with feet that wouldn't set foot on the ground!

Sometimes I preferred unadorned.

Along with the bears I found the boys' baby memories

school homework

and sports paraphernalia.

So much fun rummaging around in the basement!

Scratching Snow and Rain

A week captured and scratched

Snow, snow everywhere/

Rain, rain go away

It ran down our windows all day long

A really ugly experiment!

I was attempting to colour with pencils and stitch over that

Two days of  working in the studio

working at starting a new piece

No time to be creative with daily scratchings.

Happy Birthday Brett!

I wanted to record that the Redpolls were back

but then it started to rain

and a blizzard followed soon after.

Bark Marks

You might remember my sketchbook work on tree bark

Finally working on a small piece

testing out ideas

Natural dyed silk Dupione beneath a layer of silk chiffon.

I'm thinking more of graffiti or marks

rather than trying to replicate bark.

Next time I think I'll use fewer thread colours

more subtle.

Scratched

Haven't been on my walk at sunrise all week

not getting enough exercise!

There was a time I used to teach a lot of fabric manipulation.

With nothing but snow and more snow to scratch about

my mind is wandering!

Thank goodness for Tuesday

Four of us gathered and made marks

then our handy hubby's joined us

and we sipped wine

and munched on black beans and salad.

A lovely, lovely day.

I wonder if the squirrels have been raising families in the snow this winter

there are SO many of them stealing from the bird feeders!

Strange that I decided to stitch a cruciform design.

Late that evening

Handy Hubby got sad news of a lifelong friend's passing.

On Saturday we huddled by the fire with no electricity

as the wind howled

blowing snow around the house.

Sunday was calmer revealing beautiful windswept snow piles.

We Were Lucky

We got off lightly

Not the snow we were warned of

but boy, the wind was mighty...

It created lovely snow lines around the house.

Of course the power was out most of the day.

That's why a wood fire is so important in these parts.

On snowy, windy days my mind always goes to the first settlers

and even the war brides.

no electricity

no automatic heating systems

no pumped water

no four wheel drive cars to pop down to a grocery store

Needle and thread would have been a luxury

and books too.

Women had no time for embroidery or reading

their days must have been spent just focussing on survival.

and survive they did

Women are amazing!

Roar!

There is Something About Standing on Top of a Mountain

Middle son, Brett, is skiing at Mont Tremblant this weekend.

We get to enjoy his travels along with him

thanks to the iphone!

When The Winds Came From the South

The wind said

I'll huff and I'll puff

and I'll blow your tree down

just as if it were a twig

So easily twisted and broken.

Scratching Time and Circles

A Birthday week scratched.

Days fly

Weeks swoosh by

and years zoom by!

On Monday I suddenly remembered

my licence had to be renewed by Tuesday.

So we made tracks down to the nearest motor vehicle office.

For Tuesday I had to fit sixty six candles

into one day's scratchings...that was hard!

On Wednesday I recorded the moon against that purple sky.

Boy, was Thursday windy...

I returned home after a day away

to find the driveway blocked by a fallen beauty.

The wind was from the south

it melted away all our snow.

A circle filled to the brim

Then a circle filled with a cross.

The snow returned.

Perhaps I'll fill more circles.