bee creative

#72 over the garden, from a garden, in the garden

It was a beautiful day...while puttering in the garden this morning I heard a flock of swans go over.

At the farmer's market there were a few yummy things to get...eggs, beets, Swiss chard, honey, and bread.

Gibson would have liked to have gone but I told him he had to stay home.

This afternoon I pruned blackberries and roses.

Using the rose hip ink seemed appropriate for tonight's marks.  Also a coffee ring and oak gall/iron.

If I get brave (it would require a wood fire), I might make charcoal from the blackberry vines. I also saved a few canes that seem about right for basket making. 

#63 when you want to hide

Or not.

#51 things I love (not lightly)

I was able to get some fabric out of my basket...the boys were exploring the dripping faucet in the bathroom (to keep the pipes from freezing).

I also added some petals to the circle made yesterday.

I used white crayon as a resist.

While doing these, I listened to an "On Being" conversation with Nick Offerman.  I already had listened to another conversation with Ezra Klein so I knew it would be one I would find interesting.   There is so much I love in this conversation I don't even know what part I would share...it's about making, words, how we live.

The conversation is just as much about Wendell Berry as Nick Offerman. If you love Wendell Berry's writing it is worth listening to hear Nick Offerman read Wendell Berry (at around 31 minutes).

One more link...Wendell Berry reading "The Peace of Wild Things."

 

 

 

 

#50 a cold day

It's been cold...really cold. The wind has finally stopped though and that helps.  Still too cold to prune, it would all be in the shade.

Snow/rain in the forecast for the next week. 

Not planting peas yet!

This crocus is really trying.

Since it's too cold to garden, I decided to play with some earth pigment today and added rose hip ink.  The earth pigment has a lot of texture.

 

I was also going to sew on my "Good Enough" quilt but Gibson decided to nap in the basket with the fabric strips. I didn't have the heart to move him.

Timber didn't care about disturbing him.  But Gibson didn't move and Timber couldn't get comfortable.

Timber gave up and joined Widget on top of the armoire.

And I sewed something else...because Gibson still hadn't moved.

#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.

#12 darker, layers of marks

Part of the text hiding on this says, "I found a stencil with M, N, O and found it funny that N follows O and says NO."

Gibson says NO too.  I was trying to get a picture of his eyes.  He has a gooey eye and I am trying to track if the medicine is helping...

He really doesn't like eye drops.

#9 failure is important

Today I experimented with a dropper.  The inks are rose hip, quince leaf, and onion skin.  The way the drops sit on the paper is so beautiful to me. It is tempting to stop there but there is more to explore.

I was thinking multiple flowers but then ended up with one big spotty flower. 

It definitely is "in progress." 

It looks like it has a rash... I have a plan though!

Right now is really more about learning how the inks and paints that I am making work, what can they do.  What can be done with them?

To play and discover.

To not be attached to purpose.

Purpose is so important to me from an environmental perspective but it also becomes a rationalization for why to make something. The thought process is, "If it is useful or I can sell it, I can do it." Or that a skill is only worth cultivating if it leads to income.

There is also the desire or expectation to be good at something before sharing. 

I like the idea about being open to failure as a characteristic of creativity.

Timber has his own opinions...

"Quit messing around with this stuff and pet me."

(P.S. The cats have a new category..."cat-a-log.")