Just a bit to add today.

I'm logging on again today as I said I might.
Got word an old friend is very ill and I wanted to post this "prayer" page from my journal. I'm thinking of good wishes for Mike and I hope he is well and healed soon.
I hope your day has been good and that you are well and among those you love. - femminismo

Popping up from a winter sleep.

Yes, I would like to tell you I've just been off taking a little nap, but actually I've been lazy, a little February-depressed and ... well, busy.
Don't you hate that for an excuse for not posting?
But there it is. That's all I have to say about it.
I've been out in the back yard, as you can tell by these photos. Can you find the bee rolling in pollen in this yellow crocus? (Click on the photo to find him. He was having an excellent time.)
I've been having fun painting journal pages and made a new foam blue block stamp last night from the bottom of a cut-glass tray. It is a wonderful stamp with an array of perfectly cut squares on it. Adds a lot of texture to the page.
I'll be back tonight with more, I hope, unless I get really, really lazy again. - femminismo

ArtHouse Saturday

This past weekend was ArtHouse, a Saturday night get-together of fellow "artistas." Each month we sample a different type of art, and this month it was knitting.
JoAnn Boatwright was the instructor and there were about three first-time knitters. Here is a sample of what Linda and I did.

The Mister has been working on our kitchen cabinets and I have tried to stay out of the way. He has been redoing the 1960-style birch cabinet doors by sanding the fairly nice wood. He wanted to try refinishing them first before just painting them, and they sure look nice. Now, however, before he puts the doors and drawers back he must sand the existing cabinets hanging on the walls. What a messy job. He has masked everything off with plastic sheeting and has vented the kitchen and is wearing a mask at all times. (His hair looks very "white" with all the dust, and his skin has a ghastly pallor.)
This next photo, right, is our espresso stand set up in the dining room. The floor has been stripped of its carpeting and will be redone with either pergo or tile. He has made quite an ingenious "drawer" for the silverware. All the comforts of home while "camping out." The end result will be worth it, however.

The last photo is another ArtHouse picture. While others knitted, Sylvia chose to spend her time on her "stamps" that I think are quite cool. She takes old stamps - lifted off envelopes or wherever - and then finds faces that might fit well on them.

She was using an old Sears reproduction catalog, I think, to find some of these faces. They fit very well, indeed. What a novel idea. She says it's not her own idea, but she remakes these stamps very nicely. Next ArtHouse we'll be working on packing little glass bottles with magical things. I'll keep you apprised!

And not to be outdone by Judy Wise and her fabulous Lemon Drops & Mojitos, but here's what powers my art projects - a 2004 Red Diamond merlot and lots of paint and Uhu! Excellento!
Next time - femminismo

Flutter books from Sumi paper.

On Friday I worked at the Accidental Bookmaker shop - taking the four Friday February classes in book binding.
We made a flutter book (here is the beginning of the project) and then constructed a "cradle" for book binding.
The white flutter book paper is Sumi paper with the rough side out. One book - the green one - was begun and finished in class. The purple book, which in the second photo looks blue through camera "technology," I finished last night. The bead, which is the same wonderful turquoise of the jasmine blossom tea packet, can be pulled up the ribbon to close the book securely.

The yellow journal page was painted yesterday, Saturday, too. The "flower lover" words appeared in a magazine and I thought how much I am missing the flowers in my garden. This spring I vow to throw seeds everywhere and harvest lots of pretty flowers come summer.
Yesterday I did something that has bothered me ever since: I found another woman's blog, saw a joke I didn't think was so funny, and left a comment. Ever since then I have wondered if I hurt her feelings, since I'm sure we all post things others might find less than interesting, relevant, "cute," etc. I guess I could find my way back through the labyrinth of blogs and remove the comment, but she's probably already seen it. What would you do? (I don't think I said anything rude, and I know I am hyper-sensitive to hurting another person's feelings.)
She also has one of those "mapping" widgets that note every person's location and when they visited. That sort of creeps me out to see my visit instantly appear. Well, I guess I'll leave it alone. If she wants to track me down, that's not too difficult since I left my "calling card."
I hope your Sunday is excellent and that someone, somewhere has sunshine. Ro? I'll bet you do in Australia! Today is the Mister's birthday and he is celebrating by doing nothing but whatever he wants. Right now he's playing the guitar. He is my best friend, too, so I'll go spend some time with him and neglect my artwork a little, just for today. - femminismo

To Break A Butterfly - The Artwork of Dave Anderson

Tonight I went to The Cawein Gallery in Forest Grove on the Pacific University campus to see the artwork of Dave Anderson, a Vernonia, Oregon, resident.
Anderson's exhibit included collage and book art that showed the art, writing and poetry done by the children who were prisoners at the Terezin Concentration Camp in Germany during the 1940s.
His work is amazing! I was so sorry to only find out about it two days before the show ends on Feb. 7. I encourage all my friends in the area to go see it. Directions to the campus are at Pacific University's Web site.
The work illuminates these tragic events and forces us to remember the loss of these innocent children. All the works are truly poignant.
There was a small violin set into a box that looked as if it were made from metal. The strings on the violin were fashioned from "barbed wire" and on a piece of wood that held the strings - somewhere that only the person playing the instrument might see - there was a small picture of a woman and tiny printing that said "You are my music."
There was a terrific quote, hand-lettered on one side of the canvas that said, "A tone once struck has a life too long for hearing." I hope Anderson's artwork causes many to remember far, far into the future.
He has, I think, actually reproduced some of the children's art (they look like the real thing) and incorporated them into books and collage pieces. One marvelous book was hidden inside a wooden music box chest. You could wind the music box, open the chest and turn the pages of the book while "Lara's Theme" played. This chest was mounted sideways onto a canvas with other collage items on it.
If you aren't familiar with Terezin, it was supposed to be a "model camp" the Germans had for these children, so the world thought they were being well cared for. (I suppose the Red Cross could visit here and see them being well treated. Check my facts, though. It's getting late at night here.) All the while the children endured horrible living conditions in this ghetto. Almost all of the children who came through Terezin, perhaps 15,000, died during the Holocaust. There is an article on Friedl Dicker, the art teacher who worked with some of the children at Terezin here.
I hope you enjoy the "Broken Passover" piece. I finally worked up enough nerve to ask if I could take a photo of it. Through a friend I have asked the artist if I could post it and have gotten the OK. He doesn't have a Web site ... but should! Click on it to enlarge it and you can read for yourself what the picture represents. Anderson has highlighted the drawing with the broken china pieces. A very significant addition.
I hope to talk more with the artist about his book art and collage techniques. Goodnight and sleep tight. - femminismo

Bookbinding Fun and Using My Paste Paper.

Friday I began my bookbinding classes at The Accidental Bookmaker shop in Forest Grove. (At left is the binder's board covered with lovely paper, glued and rubbed down with the bone folder that's shown.)

It was fun, but frustrating, since I forgot I am spatially-challenged. (I don't know what else to call it when you can't visualize measurements, vertically and horizontally, and then cut the paper one inch too short and get everything all messed up.)

I've always had problems with this, but am practicing 1/16 and 1/8 of an inch cuts on my cutting mat.

I'm inserting photos of the book I did on Friday (at left, on the right, with the leaves) and the one I did today during the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl folded book has some of the paste paper I made in September on its cover. Inside you can see the blue block foam stamp made during Judy Wise's journal class. I also included my bird stamp. Now I just need to choose the right words for the book.
I hope you are having fun doing whatever project you're working on. You are working on something, aren't you? - femminismo