bee creative

#37 what we carry

What I did last night after a zoom class.  I was looking at a torn piece of paper and thought "sea gull."

 

I spent several hours outside today pruning and cleaning up.  Lots of signs of spring.  The forsythia is about to bloom, bulbs are coming up, a few primroses are showing buds and the rhubarb is coming up.  There was also a small handful of sorrel to pick for dinner.

 

I get the weekly newsletter for On Being.  This week there was a link to this conversation.

I will be going back to listen again and then probably one more time...

#36 use it up

I almost always have assistance...

They love paintbrushes and if I leave one on the table, will knock it off in the middle of the night and then roll it around on the floor.

I was very happy with today's ink experiments. 

The pink is rose hip ink. 

I also did a little collage, the papers are a mixture of marks made with inks and acrylic paint. This is for a book being made for Carla Sonheim's year long class, a project I am really excited about as it seems like a good way to use up supplies I have.

#24 all in one day...

This morning I spent some time doing something a little different...

Carla Sonheim's class, 2023 Year of the Rabbit.

Yes it's supposed to be a rabbit, although not necessarily a realistic rabbit...thank goodness.

I think it looks like a hybrid terrier/rabbit cross of some sort. The pencil drawings are a "warm up."

And then there was this, which really does look like flowers to me:

And because it's Sunday...

Wheat berries + oranges + chicory + hazelnuts + olive oil.

And

Lentils +really runny homemade salsa + a little more water + corn + corn chips + caciotta cheese. 

Sure glad I have more salsa ingredients in the freezer. 

Note to self:  buy more poblanos next year.

It was perfect for tonight...Heading for a low of 26 F and a small chance of snow.

Hmm...maybe I made an abominable snow rabbit?

 

#6 wildcard

I signed up for Carla Sonheim's Year of the Rabbit class. 

We are supposed to be doing a variety of rabbits for the next few weeks.

I did one of the assignments (which has gathered other things) but instead of doing a blind contour rabbit I did a piggy bank.

Good enough.

And yes my rabbit is kind of grumpy.

something new

As soon as the class was listed I knew I wanted to sign up, Paper Mache Sculpture.  It probably won't use up as much of my scrap paper as I want but it will help.  I have lots of plans for more and have already started on a boat.

questions

I've been keeping a basket of paper scraps, pens, pencils, paints, glue and a sketchbook on the table.

This is something I've done before and then usually get distracted at some point.

I wonder how long it will continue this time?

Sometimes I write notes from things that I am listening to.  This morning, Feedback Friday with Zak Foster inspired a note.

A couple weeks ago, it was Ada Limon on The Ezra Klein Show.  (During that conversation I discovered The Slowdown where Ada Limon reads and discusses a poem each week day.)

"Poetry has the breath built into it because of its line breaks, its stanza breaks, its caesuras. Any part of its prosody is really telling you, as the reader or the listener, when to pause, when to break. And it actually has a moment in which you are supposed to breathe." Ada Limon

Question, where else to we put spaces for breaks, to breathe?

 

 

 

A bit of play:

Paper with inks and doodles.

(I filled a whole journal with them, and other things.)

Layered with stitch, color removed first.

Blended and layered and blended and layered.

Spots made by someone else replaced with spots made by me.

Deb Lacativa thread and fabric and inspiration from a lot of places.

I drew the butterfly right on the fabric, inspired by the spots.

More about the card later.

getting back to 15 minutes of making

Today's 15 minutes, the product of a lot more time experimenting.

 

I can see a row of these on  my Peace and Plenty quilt.

I've learned a lot from this...

I've done more since this stage and am liking it better (switched to color pencils and markers).

And yet... I am not really sure.

A large part of me wants to sand it down, paint it over, try again.

I suspect I'd like it better if there was more repetition.

And yet... there is this.

I like this.

A universe of possibilities.

This is also a revision, another layer.

I had tried adding trim with stitching but didn't really like it so...

I made a patch.

Much better.

Out in the garden I found the Pulmonaria (lungwort) had started blooming.

Spring says, "Let's try again."

beware the person on the bench

This morning

I spent an hour or so down on the beach.

I went to walk but also to recenter myself. 

Not sure that was accomplished.

(I also stood right at the water's edge and said to the sea "Liz says hello.")

I sat on a bench for awhile.

I have to confess to a fascination about what people talk about.... Today conversations included switching bank accounts to one with a higher interest rate, someone's child, someone following up with a complaint, a book they really enjoyed, how dogs will follow their nose... 

The funniest was when I heard someone say, "uh-oh."  I looked up to see a jogger pick up her little dog as a man on a hoover board went by.  She called out, "He's not okay with hoover boards yet!" The dog started barking and all three of us connected with a smile.

For my staycation week I decided to sign up for an art class being presented this week and next.

This is still very much in progress.

I am embracing the beginner mindset.

Somewhere on there it says, "Don't ask why." 

Sometimes I do that too much.

I can see some connections with this project to what I am doing with my Peace and Plenty blanket. I have been thinking of as something to doodle on for awhile...adding words, shapes and lines as they occur to me. 

As a kind of journal.

And then there is this.