Goodbye to Rachel

Bob's mom died this spring, and I did one last thing for her. This is the portrait I drew, which was used in the funeral brochures, guestbook, candle, and other imagery. I printed them up and gave a framed copy to each family member, too. Somehow, when you look at her face with the familiar expression, she doesn't seem far away at all.

Nature Patterns

I will NEVER run out of dazzling patterns to inspire me in nature. I use these for inspiration in sketchbook pages, paintings, photo printed fabric from my copier, drawings made into thermofax screens, and mixed media in general. Lucky me, I plan to keep doing art for as long as I live. And art makes me WANT to live a long, long time!

Royal Gorge Beauty

We visited our friends Glen and Dawn in the mountains Sunday and stopped to take photos at the Royal Gorge on the way home. I was glad to see plenty of good vistas left untouched after the forest fires a couple years ago. Bob's still learning to use his new camera with the telephoto lens, but I thought these shots turned out beautifully.

Photo Day at Audubon

Bob and I went walking through the ponds and riparian areas at the S. Denver Audubon preserve and saw not just birds, but a glorious variety of minnows, dragonflies, butterflies, and flowers. The first picture of the thistles has been edited on Picasa.

Summer Delights

This is me - happy to be sitting in the shade of our new awning over the back patio! The patio faces west, which means blazing heat in the afternoons. Having the awning means it won't get too hot inside the house either, since it shades the slider. The horses are our neighbor's boarders. We feed them carrots every so often, and a couple of magnificent fellows they are! Powerful draft size, but so gentle and sweet.

Ancient Cottonwood

While Bob and I were hiking along the river in Glenwood Springs, I saw this tree and thought, Now I understand what people mean when they say a tree has a presence, or soul. It really spoke to me, and I think it needs to become a drawing at some point.

Discharge!

Here's a can't-miss, no-fail recipe for gorgeousness. Get some hand dyes in the batik section of the fabric store, with their lovely variations of color. No patterns - just dyes. Use a small sponge to apply discharge through a stencil - either commercial or a hand cut one made with freezer paper or contact paper. I get the type of discharge that you allow to dry and then use a steam iron on, but there are other options available. Check at Dharma Trading online for a selection of the different kinds. Whichever you try, they can turn out quite beautifully.

More Artmaking at the Porter Hospital

This is a lunch given in appreciation for all of us who are involved in the workshops with the cancer survivors groups at the area Centura hospitals. Christi Beckman and I will be there again at the Porter on Tuesday the 7th to make prayer flags with the monthly support group. The Healing Arts director for Centura, Jude Kellor, will hang a display of them in, appropriately enough, the Porter Cancer center.

Totally Tutorials: Tutorial - How to Make an Envelope Zipper Pouch

Totally Tutorials: Tutorial - How to Make an Envelope Zipper Pouch: Design your own personalized fabric Tutorial at So Sew Easy Blog "Download and print out your PDF files for the front and back...

More Fun with Photo Editing

I'm using a new photo editing website called iPiccy here. It's got all my favorite basic functions as well as a "posterize" button, a grunge effect - on and on! This is guaranteed to steal my time and put me behind the computer for an afternoon.