Strawberry Dreams

Hand-felted, hand-dyed bag

embellished with a crochet flower

and yummy pink buttons.

Coming with me to
BrocanteLux 
and
The Glenridge Artisan Show

Flying to the Moon

Pencil colors on note-paper, outlined with ballpen.

The Best Month of the Year

Ramadan starts today!

We are sort of settled into the apartment we are renting, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to be put away.  I'm tripping over things all the time!

So the NanoBot and I did a very simple activity to welcome our favorite time of year.  I quickly drew some letters on construction paper (completely freehand and therefore quite uneven) and she colored them in, then I cut them out.  A little BlueTac later, voila!  A simple little reminder for the three-year old to look at all the time, since she's learning the names of the months of the Arabic calendar. 

 

I have something very simple in mind for Eid too, which I will share when we do it, InshaAllah!

The Sum Of all Days...

Art Is A Refuge...

The sordid mess of the oil spill, the G20 fiasco, the senseless brutality at a local animal park - enough!  As if it's not hard enough trying to just live a simple, clean life.  Try avoiding plasitc, or eliminating foods containing soy, for instance.  Each of these is a post in itself, but they are not what this post is about.  This post is about the hope that keeps us going, and allows us to do things that redeem us again and again. 

Random acts of kindness, a new baby, a smile from a stranger

- thank God for these things.

And art.

Art is the result of creativity, and creativity is a connection with the universe and it's Creator.  No matter how small or sporadic, it is still a vital connection.  I know everytime I make something I am recharged and refreshed, even if I have dry spells when nothing materializes.

We are in between homes - our cute little condo now belongs to someone else, and we have not yet found our next dwelling - so most of my time is being spent house-hunting!  Meanwhile I still have two books to illustrate.  Which means I haven't painted, and haven't made any fabric art, or jewelry.  But about a month ago I made these (and more stuff that I've yet to take pictures of), and yesterday I took some quick (and not so good) pics.  Ah - just looking at them charged me up again!  Yay for handmade!

These are all defintely Nature-inspired!

Pink and orange and green - tropical yumminess for a forest princess.

A fuzzy moss-inspired cuff in woodsy colors...

  This one has it all - fabric, fused, recycled plastic, metal, ribbon, sequins, 

and lots and lots of beads...

Fusing the colored part of the scrap plastic was an experiment, but it was worth the idea

- I got a swirly, textured look I could not have contrived!

I fused some red plastic (from a clothing store bag) and hand-shaped it

to make this huge flower ring. 

It has a weathered, leathery look that came out great.

Layers of fused plastic, beads and a shred of gold melted in for shabby/industrial chic.

So there you are - makes you forget about horrible things, doesn't it?

Until next time, Peace!

Urban Decay

I've recently taken some pics here and there of buildings and structures which I've yet to share (my next post, perhaps? And in this same decade, I hope!).

Anyway, I was reminded of some amazing photography I'd come across a while ago of beautiful, ethereal urban decay.  These images are infused with a tragic beauty, and I'm glad a quick Google search yielded them again....

All these rooms were obviously filled with character to begin with, but in the throes of death they have become sublime.

Sven Fennema

Sven Fennema

 

ScallopHolden.com

unkreatives.deviantart.com

A bunch of different photographers, 

more here.

Bye, Bye Old House!

Only a couple of days left for us to move out of our little condo.

We blew bubbles in the patio for the last time...

Bye, bye little patio!

Mmmm....Roses!

I don't know what color roses I like better than white ones.  Actually I love all flowers in white.  DaddyBoy surprised me with six lovely white stems yesterday!  I guess better than white roses is getting white roses for no reason at all! 

YUM!

So I took a bunch of pics, and then I had to do something with them,

of course.

Here's one:

And another:

Wonder if I should list all the 'play' pics in my shop at all...

In any case, what a sweet way to take a break!

After a long time, some digital work

I should really work on my blog

- there's so much I need to do to make it better -

and I definitely need to work on my shop and

PUT SOME WORK IN IT ALREADY!!!

But, when I sat down at the computer I just ended up playing instead.

Again.

In its first life, this picture was an out-of-focus headshot of a hydrangea bloom.

Like so:

A little tweaking later, it metamorphosed into this:

And now I'm thinking:

I wonder if I can translate this into fabric?

Knock, knock!!

Oooh, I'm still here - just totally neglecting my blog lately.  And my shop.

  Life is full, though! 

Between getting our house ready for sale, I illustrated one of the two books I had to work on, finished a large fabric necklace for a custom order, and started work on two ENORMOUS canvases (at 6 feet by 4 feet, these beauties dwarf me completely :)) for another custom order!

Some quick pics:

After a good coat of gesso, I painted on a mix of red, green and yellow that yielded a brown so choclaty that it even smelled like chocolate!!  Then I drew a rough sketch of the Toronto skyline using plain chalk.

The client wants the CN tower (of course) on one,

and more buildings on the other.

The sky roughed in.

This is the other canvas, also with the sky done so far.

And here's the fabric necklace I was working on as well...

This custom piece, already delivered, is based on my earlier piece called "My Favorite Playground", which I sold at the WhoKnew show in April

to a very sweet girl. 

And drawings from the latest book I illustrated...

need to start working on the other one soon,

since the publisher sent me two at once!

I love being busy!

Lunch For DaddyBoy

Tahini Sauce - So Addictive!

I always have tahini in my kitchen - that wonderful sesame seed paste you get in the International section of food stores.  I used to make a lot of hummus, which calls for tahini, but lately it hasn't been tasting the same.  Not sure what it is.  The only thing different is the blender!

Anyway, I was looking for a simple alternative sauce which did not need a blender, and I found this recipe for tahini sauce on About.com.  Although the recipe does require a blender, or at least a mortar and pestle, I just mixed everything together in a bowl with a spoon (tahini and garlic first) and it still came out great.

The recipe is by About.com contributor Saad Fayed. 

Saad Fayed is a restauranteur with an avid interest in preparing Middle Eastern cuisine. He has lived and traveled in many Middle Eastern countries, experiencing the many flavors and specialties of each region. Saad is currently writing a cookbook that features his family's favorite dishes.

Ok, now about the recipe!  I made this twice (although I did not pay attention to the measurements, since I never do, and just went about adding one ingredient after another and tasting in between till it felt right to me)  and both times it was gone before I could even think of taking a picture.  Delish!  We tried it with pita bread, cucumber, celery and carrots - and it was unstoppably good!

Ingredients:

•1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)

•3 gloves garlic, crushed

•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

•2 tablespoons olive oil

•1/4 cup lemon juice

•1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Preparation:

In a food processor or mortar and pestle, combine garlic and tahini. Add kosher salt.
Remove from food processor and add olive oil and lemon juice. If too thick, add a teaspoon of warm water until desired consistency.

Mix in parsely

Serve immediately or refrigerate.

I actually didn't add parsley, since the nanobot doesn't like the feel of raw parsley in her mouth.  Next time I put some aside for her and then add it to the rest.  And maybe take some pics!

Hope you make this and enjoy!

This and that...fabric jewelry.

I'm in the middle of an exhibition, so not much work done lately, except for these...

A felt flower lariat from a scrap of felt a felt artist at the exhibition gave me.  I got out my needle felting kit and did some felting...and then laid on the beads.  Not finished yet...

Golds, blues, reds...I'm happy!

Pale gold braiding with blue and glod brocade...not sure what chain to use...

I like this piece - ruffles all the way down, and my favorite color combo of blue and green!

This cuff is royal!  Fuschia with gold, need I say more?

An accidentally discovered texture 'technique' for fabric work- layer upon layer free-stitched, then embellished.

More later!