spring blooms & garden notes

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." -- Claude Monet

Spring is a time of year when I wish I didn't work and could just hang out in the garden, painting the view. I'm so pleased that my irises are starting to bloom, along with just about everything else in my garden. I received a large variety of irises from a friend last fall, planted them and have been hoping they'd be happy and thrive. The one above is one of my favorites and the one below is a new bloom for me called "Hers". All their ruffles and folds remind me of fancy dresses and their colors are inspiring me to paint in watercolor.

I also have the idea to make a little notebook of my irises, marking where they're planted and how the blooms look of the different varieties. I've made some maps of my plantings but keep misplacing them as they're not in a book. The irises that get the morning sun seem to be doing the best, but a botanical drawing book of notes could help me keep track and get them all to do well.

I moved one grapevine to a new location, hoping it would fare a bit better than it has in previous years. In the meantime, the other vine (which has always been the swarthier, more vigorous plant) has shot off in all directions and is sprouting signs of future grape clusters in most promising way. Aren't they cute?

I've photographed the lavender at the end of its bloom, but it's still pretty. I've another variety of lavender that is getting ready to bloom. It's all shoots and buds, ready to spring into color. I can't wait.

I bought a new plant and already forgot its name. If anyone knows what this one is below, I'd be happy to be reminded. It has been blooming for a month now and grows as a tidy, spherical bush. I like the bluish tint to its leaves and the long-lasting flowers.

The azaleas really went crazy while I was on a trip to Oregon, so when I came back they weren't quite as fresh but they're still quite bold. They make this beautiful display every year and light up my courtyard. Since they blossom at the same time as all the roses, it becomes quite colorful.

We'll finish the tour with a quieter plant, the wisteria. She really peaked a few weeks ago, but is still putting on a pretty show. I missed photographing the cascades of blossoms that attracted so many bees a little while ago.

I've been wanting to paint on several canvases that are quietly blank, waiting for me to help them say something meaningful to the world. All the colors and shapes of these blossoms, especially the abstract shapes and negative spaces do inspire!

heading somewhere

This weekend I began work on something that has been floating around the peripheries of my imagination for a few weeks. Without being entirely sure what my idea actually is, I gathered supplies and started to put together the skeleton of my creation. As you can see, materialized so far are a set of cotton-candy-colored hills or bosoms, clustered in perhaps a cellular sort of way... and I've only a vague idea where we're headed next.

Some of the inspiration for this project came from a visit to the Triton Museum in Santa Clara a short time ago. A gallery of recycled-art sculptures such as this intriguing portrait ~

got me excited about three-dimensional, textured work. My friend Nita, whose background is in architecture, kept exclaiming as we looked at each piece, wondering how the artist arrived at each of the minute choices it took to create the overall piece.

She got me thinking about how I make artistic choices, and that peaceful, creative zone where one just seems to "know" what to do. Faced with the everyday world of chores and grocery shopping and driving to and fro, finding that mental art space doesn't always come easily, but when achieved it's a real joy. Some of my artworks are for a specific purpose or communication and require some planning and forethought. But other times, as in the project I just began, the piece is more about the process and following the vaguest idea that cannot be seen clearly until suddenly, after hours or days of creation, it suddenly manifests itself in the completed artwork.

While I was at the museum, I admired these pointy pencil slippers by Renee Billingslea. I wonder what the artist's initial starting point was when creating these. Was it a prepared statement? Or did she just have a bunch of pencils lying around and thought of something to do with them?

It's true I had a lot of washi paper. It happened to be in these colors, so that explains the palette, though I painted over the green paper as I didn't care for its shade. I added gold, bronze, blue and yellow. Paper circles from an earlier painting prompted the round shapes to be cut out, but I wanted to sculpt, so they turned into cones. I knew I didn't want to paint on a rectangular canvas, so the idea here is that I'm attempting to create a lumpy, more organically shaped canvas to work on.

I had to sew the paper to keep the cone shapes. I had buttons and beads, some of which ended up on the seams. The buttons worried me a little. I thought they might suggest clothing and suddenly the hills looked like a whole lot of brassieres. But I left them, since the paper beginning is only the start. I think more will happen to these hills and in the transformation the buttons may not be too noticeable.

This other room of sculptures and paintings done by another local artist, Harry Powers, got me thinking that a great way to have art is to make it, and not worry about what it's going to end up being.

It's a bit meditative, sewing painted papers and heading who-knows-where. I'll keep you posted on the passage and we'll see where we finally arrive.

getaway

This has been one of my busiest summers at work and I really haven't gotten to travel or rest at all, so I was very glad when my husband suggested a trip down the coast for the weekend. We stayed in a little town near San Luis Obispo, not far from Pismo State Beach. The distant horizon, the soft, warm sand, the ocean breeze and sound of the waves were perfect for clearing one's mind and simply being without any rush.

 
The colors of the sand and sky were so beautiful, and the weather was just right. We saw pelicans and gulls. And we found a number of sea shells.

Our house has a wild hillside stretching farther down than one can see. Long-limbed, gnarled oaks grow back there, sheltering the house and dropping a carpet of leaves. I ventured out there shortly after sunrise and felt like I was in a storybook. I asked a passing deer how old the trees were, but he just looked at me curiously and did not reply. He was surely too young to know.

We packed in as much vacation as we could into one weekend. I played and sang the three songs I now know on the ukulele, we attended a go-kart race in Santa Maria, we walked around the old town area of Arroyo Grande and crossed its swinging footbridge. We tasted wine in Paso Robles, ate fresh bread at the bakery, wandered around San Luis Obispo and deliberately drove around on back roads that we hadn't been on before.

Now I'm back to work, rushing to complete projects and either forgetting to eat lunch or hastily gulping a sandwich at my desk, but I'll keep this weekend with me and take the soft palette of the beach or the vivid strokes of the oak branches and let them come out in my painting one day soon.

Hope you're enjoying these summer days before they're gone!

honeybees

We were surprised after dinner the other night to find a bee on the floor in the dining room. She looked weak and parched, so I put her outside with some sugar water that she seemed to appreciate. When I checked on her later, she was gone and I hoped she'd recovered her strength and found her way back home.

I began thinking about bees and their mysterious disappearances lately. When we visited my uncle in Illinois last summer, he commented that 2/3 of his hives had collapsed without warning. Only three were still carrying on.

I had been bouncing a variety of ideas around in my head for a theme on my Limited Edition Sketchbook Project without being able to settle on one, but the little visitor helped me decide to focus on the little creatures that keep our plants pollinated and our garden humming.

This morning I spent some time with them in our back yard, near the rosemary bush that they favor. I've only a few weeks to start and complete my LE Sketchbook, but with these little fellows for inspiration, I hope to meet the deadline.

Will begin to work this weekend and hope to have some art to share with you soon!

industrial arts inspiration ~ {the crucible}

I took a little drive up to Oakland for an afternoon of industrial arts demonstrations by numerous artisans who've no fear of fire. The Crucible is the kind of place that takes all your latent superhero fantasies of bending glass and twisting metal with your bare hands and makes them... reality! Wow.

We all left with visions of welding enormous metal sculptures, blowing glass bubbles and hammering out swords. Here are a few photos from this amazing, non-profit, educational facility. Once you've learned a trade, you can buy studio hours, go in and make to your heart's content.

He rolled the hot glass in the blue powder on the table for color.

I think the hot glass is so pretty!

(Eventually, he made a pitcher.)

Demonstration on bending glass tubes for neon signs.

He blows air through the tube during the bend so the passage stays open.

This guy was so cool. He gave me two linked heart-shaped tubes "to give to your sweetheart".

Everyone loved the blacksmith.

Twisting metal to make a very strong & handy hook.

You need a hood, protective clothing & eyewear to guard against the sparks & UV rays.

But then you can meld metal together into statues.

Yeah, I'm fired up! :D

Another way to bend steel.

This method feels a little spectacular. :)

Not trash ~ supply bins!

Melted aluminum being poured into ingots.

Hot stuff.

Art everywhere.

Right next to a BART exit so anyone can get there!

mail art & rabbit

Hello!

Last week I received two packages in the mail, both from across the Pacific!  The weather was pleasant this morning, so I took them out to the back garden to photograph them in the grass. If you're familiar with rabbits, you know that they're naturally curious and mine is no exception ~ she hopped around and enjoyed checking out the mail art too.

The first envelope was from my new mail art pal, Emily Orpin in Seoul who writes the Good Things* blog that is always enviably full of worldwide travels, pretty photos and cute doxies, with splashes of fashion and crafts thrown in. She asked me what I'd be interested in receiving and I asked to see a bit of daily life in Korea. I was not disappointed by the many snippets of Seoul that she sent to me!

Pages of a Korean fashion magazine.

Magazine cutouts, handmade tags & a handmade book about Seoul by Emily.

Aren't the colors pretty? I am now under the impression that Seoul is full of soft, bright colors on pale, natural backgrounds. Let's look inside the amazing accordion book she made:

This was so fun to unfold page by page to always discover another view of her neighborhood, city and landscape. She also sent along tiny envelopes in pretty patterns with paper goodies tucked inside. I am going to be challenged to return something equally inspiring and beautifully presented to her. If I look around, I wonder what I'll find will be the palette of my city? Thank you, Emily!

The other treasure I received was a large envelope from Juri Kosaka in Tokyo, who I originally met on twitter (@juriko). We've exchanged some emails and come to know each other a little more. Although we've never met, I feel close! Earlier this year, she drew my desk from a photo that I sent to her. I liked it so much that she told me she would send me a copy. However, she also included many more things in her package:

The envelope has a frame of film stars and she also included a brochure from the Tokyo film festival.

Do you also see the beautiful bookmarks with her paintings on them? The colors remind me of Gaugin... a very clever and lovely idea as they have her contact information there, rather than on a regular business card. I shall surely use them when I read.

And here is the desk drawing... I'd better go clean it up so it looks nice and neat like that again!

When she told me she would send me a copy of this work, I asked her to send me a photo too, that I could draw for her. She sent me quite a number to choose from ~ but they're all nice... I don't yet know which one I'll pick.  

As an added surprise, Juri enclosed a small set of watercolor illustrations. In her letter, she asked me to draw on them, collage them, or find some way to use them in further art so we can create a new collaboration! The drawings are so delightful ~ I'm getting many ideas of how to use them, but I hope I have the skill to do them justice. ^_^;;

Bunny likes them too.

These two packages brought me so much cheer and inspiration! After receiving them, I spent the rest of the week painting on canvases that I'll share with you soon. There's still one that I'm wrestling with and hope to conquer this weekend. It's for a friend, which is why I think I'm not quite as relaxed about it as I should be. Pressure! 

I certainly have my work cut out for me... I now owe mail art to Jeannine Saylor, Jessica Gowling, Emily and Juriko. Time to create! Let's go! :D