First anniversary

Yesterday I celebrated the first birthday of my Fortune-Workshops blog with Kate, who got me started and inspired me with her own blog. We had lunch on my veranda, enjoying her scrumptious cheese and onion pie, followed by mesclun salad and my black currant parfait for dessert. Sorry, no photos! We were too busy ruminating about art, work, food and plans for the future. Although the sky was sunny with billowing cumulus clouds, we heard thunder rumbling and sudden flashes of lightening. All of a sudden, dark clouds moved in, wind whipped the treetops and sheets of rain pounded down. We watched, heard and smelled this drama from our table: it was over in a few minutes and the world seemed newly born. The air fresh and cool and the colors bright and clear.
Thank you August 11th 2009 and Lady Fortuna for all your blessings!
Another gift: this crocosmia blooming!

Daylily Season

Last fall, I made a flower bed in which I planted all the day lilies that were spread over my garden. They seem to like their new sunny spot and the cool and rainy weather we are having this summer.

July ATCs

This month I decided to use the matte medium transfer method to take images out of a magazine and re-design them into ATCs.

The method is this: choose an image and brush on a layer of acrylic matte medium. Let it dry well and apply another layer. I did about 20 layers until I was satisfied that it was really solid.
Step 2: Place the image in a bowl of water and wait a few minutes until the paper is well soaked. Then rub the paper away. The ink of the image will be imbeded in the medium....in mirror form. That is why this method doesn't work well for text transfers!
Step 3: Turn the image ink side up and glue it onto your ATC card with some acrylic medium. Now add color, lines and words with paint or pens to integrate the image is into your artwork.
p.s. I used the rubbed off paper to make a little "papier mache" bowl, by spreading the paper mush thinly over an upside down wire sieve. When it was dry, I cut the edge smoothly and painted it with acrylic paints.

The magazine I chose for this project was a 1980 edition of "Art-das Kunstmagazin" I had stashed away in my barn. I gave this project the title "woman Series, 1-13". Here you see 6 of them.

Message for Wise Women

Here is a shot of my pink and blue garden this morning....and a transcript of Divine Bean's message for the Wise Women's Circle.



Dear Divine Bean, what do the spirits of the people of Le Chenail want us to know?

The spirits of the people of Le Chenail want you to know that they are deeply moved by your interest and your care.
Us, that is us: Wise Women, who wish to be in contact with their land and culture and history.
What I say to you Wise Women: nothing can be done. Please accept this. Where you stand is a monument to change. Everytime you come here, remember us and...our time, like the towering forest is gone. What is still here is the Outaouais and the sky. The healing is the honouring of our lives and your own. Although you are not our children, we came before you.
Things have changed. Move forward now. I suggest that the people now create a beautiful garden in honor of this land. Plant again the native plants to close the circle of Nature.

Thank you, Divine Bean!

Wise Women's Circle

Last Sunday, blessedly sunny and warm, the Wise Women's Circle met to honor the village of Le Chenail. It had been dismantled before it was flooded by the waters of the Outaouais River after the Carillon dam was built in 1961. The only remaining house was a stone building from 1810 that had served as the office and store of the Hamilton Mills. The house now serves as a tourist office.
I was asked to give a short history of Le Chenail ("The Snye" for English-speakers) and it was a fascinating project. In only 200 years, the area around the Long Sault rapids had been through a transformative period and now that the island was once again uninhabited, we wanted to honor its story. I also asked my Divine Bean to add some insight. The message is to follow in my next blog.

Sunday

Yesterday was a standout Sunday: finally the rain and cold has stopped to bring out a breezy, clear and temperate frame for a fun trip to Montreal. First stop: Botanical Gardens. As a passionate gardener, I cannot get enough of all that splendor and variety. Here is a picture of Reto under a Maidenhair tree (Ginko Biloba). I have a tiny one growing in a sunny spot at home. Maybe in 30 years I will stand under it!

After a few hours of walking through inspiration, we hopped on our bikes and followed the designated path into downtown, where the Jazz Festival was in full swing. So much free and fun stuff! Drummers, magicians, marionette shows...and the people-watching.Here is a shot of the fountain with art-worthy reflections.

June ATCs

This month we are having a special ATC meeting in Dunvegan: our "Christmas bash" has been moved to the middle of summer. We will meet as usual to trade cards and then stay on to share in a potluck buffet, scan over our ATC collections and check out the Swap Table. Each of us brings 3 things of quality that we wish to give away and put it on the Swap Table. Then we help ourselves to any object we would like to keep. Even those who don't bring anything can take whatever they like!

I'm in the middle of my one week vacation and I decided to sit down with my trusty 20-year old Pfaff sewing machine to repair some clothes. In the back of my mind, I was pondering what I would do for ATCs this month. After finishing my mending, I took one of my empty cards and tried out one of the 300 patterns that the machine can sew automatically. I played around with variations on the length and width of the stitches and different colors of thread. Once I had my 11 cards (9 to trade, 1 for Reto and 1 to keep), I took out my colored pencils and put my embroidery into a setting. Then I went over it all with Gloss Medium and added leftover snippets of the threads I had used.

That is how my "Pfaff Art Cards" were made!