Hibiscus

So here it is Halloween and I finally get to post again! The best part is that it is a pencil drawing from my Moleskine. It was good to finally draw something yesterday before I went in on nightshift. The bad part is that it isn't a great drawing in anyway. My point really is that I just need to put the pencil in my hand and make a mark on the page. It has been way too long.

This plant was given to me as a birthday gift and I am constantly amazed how it blooms. It has three orange blooms on it today and many more to come. I love bringing this plant indoors from its summer perch on our deck. When I look at it all winter, I longingly think of spring!

Tomatoes

We had a really great crop of tomatoes this year! We had a few varieties and they came in different sizes. So able to find the time to draw one. Not sure that I picked the best perspective, regardless it is a completed drawing.

Will be heading out on the IMAGES studio tour today with family so that will be great fun! Bringing the camera with me since it is such a fabulous day - another one!! We will be getting spoiled for sure!

Shibori and Zentangle

Wow! It is September and before I turned around it is the 10th already! What a lovely fall-like day! Unfortunately, it is the end of my favourite season although autumn is a very pretty season to. I'm trying to get a bunch of odds and ends done like making telephone calls that I have been avoiding (I only have one more to go!) and such like.

No time to finish my final art project unfortunately, so the hair on my picture remains at 70% complete. I had time on one of my night shifts to complete a zentangle doodle; for the first time I used a coloured background. The doodle is done with a brush micron pen and I had some brush markers that I broke out for the background. I love the doodle since I don't plan anything out and it was completely spontaneous. The result is okay with me although there are a couple of areas of the doodle what I would have changed their locations. Regardless, it was fun and it occupied my time in the wee hours of the morning which were exceptionally boring on my last night shift. This is something that I can do to keep myself awake and doesn't take too much brain power so I am not expending too much energy.

I wanted to post a pic of my silk chiffon scarf that I dyed. I think it is lovely but I can see now that I should have dipped it more often. That is a good lesson to learn from my first try at Shibori and indigo dying.

Indigo and Shibori Dye

Yesterday was my first ever attempt at indigo dying and checking out the concept of Shibori. I Googled "Shibori" and found out that: it is a Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting....

It was lots of fun even though it was so hot yesterday. I was very happy with some of my projects. It is strange but I forgot to take a picture of the Shibori pole-wraped silk scarf!!! I still have some indigo left in my dye vat and I definitely want to do some more dying.

I invite anyone who is interested to check out these websites: http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/

and

http://www.maiwa.com/documentaries/pc_callender.html

I just had to download a few of their informative podcasts too.

What a great experience! So, I wasn't really sure what to expect so I had "prepared" a few items for the dye bath. However, what I like the most wasn't my dyed pillowcases but the Shibori dyed silk scarf. I know that I have a few more packages of silk chiffon and my fingers are just itching to get them in the dye bath.

So, in the beginning ... there is plain white cotton and in this case, two pillowcases. I went to the dollar store and got some elastics (500 in a package no less) and started to "tie" my fabric. I was surprised to find out that elastics have changed from what I had used in the past (who knew?!!)

Okay there are a few things going on in the snap below. I have a piece of watercolour paper, an old sweater that had some stains on it and yes a pole. With some helpful instructions from my good friend Leanne, I have taped, wrapped and bound with crochet cotton my silk scarf to the outside of the pole.

I didn't know that the dye would at first appear to be green until the oxygen gets at the fabric and turns it the lovely blue shade.

One pillowcase successfully dyed!

So here is the one pillow case. The worst part of doing this was untying the elastic. I ripped out, snapped off as much as I could with a pair of scissors. I was just a bit concerned about doing that since I was afraid of cutting the fabric. Secondly, I was wondering how my fingers and nails would look the next day. My finger nails only have a slightly blue tinge today!

Oh so reminiscent of the 1970's!!! I love fun!

Oh and if you are wondering; yes, I am still doing hair on my final drawing project!!!

Okay, I'm at Starbucks in town so I can use the free WiFi internet and downloading the latest updates for my computer. Along comes an "old fella" and asked one of the men if he is here to get away from his parents basement. He thought that we were all way to engrossed on what is going on our respective computer screens. When I looked up to survey my colleagues at the table I would have surmised that we are all over the age of 35. Obviously, we look silly to the "old fella" who was wearing a white canvas fedora (while indoors no less).

Final Drawing Project

Working certainly makes me a very dull girl! I will be working for 7 straight days in a row so I haven't had time to do any art. So, darn it all but I have not finished my final drawing project for art class tonight. I will try to get some of the hair filled in before I have to leave for work today.

I completed the skin on the face and neck while only my lunch break yesterday at Tim Horton's yesterday and had a very sweet kid come up and make some interesting comments. He had some good pointers to offer and I ended up using my kneadable to take off some marks that I knew I needed to but had not yet gotten around to it. He did say that I had done a good job so far! Yippee!!!! Unfortunately, I had hoped to get more done on my final piece but we ended up chatting, he is a construction worker and also enjoys drawing, tattoo designs (he had lots of them) and clay work. I have never gone to Tim's and drawn anything in the past, usually I just sit there and read a book. So it was an interesting lunch which afforded an objective critique of my drawing by a person I do not know

Nope, I'm not going to post it here since it will become a birthday gift for a very dear friend.

Here is the cover of my sketchbook that I put some left over paint on and doodled.

Nasty Hair

I had a not so lovely experience yesterday! I had a date with the dental surgeon to get my implant. It has been a long time in coming when the tooth fractured last August. Healing and bone growth take time. This next phase will take quite some as well! I'm glad that I opted to sleep through the procedure. What a slick operation the dental specialist has!!!! In one door and out the back door; to ensure that the patient is closer to the elevator on leaving so that no one can see you with your ice pack on your face.

So, yes that means I am "still" working on hair. I don't know what it is but I thought that I had the drawing dark enough but the picture says otherwise. In addition, I can see some errors in my perception. So the question is, are the flaws in my drawing going to make a big difference and change the overall appearance of the person. No, I don't think so, my drawing is close even if I do say so myself. Sometimes I wonder exactly what I was thinking at the time that I did the contour drawing. I drew it in "quadrants" and coloured it in using the quadrant method as well and still I have made some obvious errors in the hair style. No, I have no idea what I was thinking and why it is that I didn't see the obvious until now. So I think that I will call my attempt at drawing hair - "impressionistic realism".

Drawing and Music

I have read lots of posts by bloggers who cite classical music as the cats meow for making art. I have read that jazz greats like Thelonius Monk is another perfect option. These suggestions are often made for music to be part of the creative process but pushed into the background. I like mind just a bit more front and centre.

Hmmm! As with art, music is definitely a personal preference. I agree that classical and Thelonius have their place and there is certainly a good "marriage" between the two artistic realms. I have tried out these different genres with some success but find that I prefer my music a bit more uptempo whether it is a cold or sultry day! Music is so very subjective and I do change my mind oftentimes it is based on my mood. Of late, I have been leaning towards Latin/salsa and music from Africa, and the Arab world (Turkey and Egypt). I have a Macbook and I have different playlists that I use (my lovely daughter bought me some fabulous Bose speakers for my computer). I prefer world music BECAUSE I can't understand the words so I am not actually listening that closely and can continue to concentrate on the work [the art] at hand. The beat is just enough that keeps me happy but not so much that I get out of my zone and find myself "toe tapping".

Each to her/his own!

Thank goodness we have music because I am working on hair again today and need the tunes!

Today, I am listening to:

The Greatest Songs Ever: Middle East

Turkey - The Greatest Songs Ever

Arabic Groove

African Guitar Summit II - (recorded in Toronto)

Africa - The Greatest Songs Ever