INSPIRED DIGITAL MAGAZINE

                                                                                       

IT'S FREE!  

From Artistsnetwork.com

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EXPLORE NEW ART IDEAS: THE WINTER ISSUE OF INSPIRED INTRODUCES NEW TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES FOR YOUR ART-MAKING!

Winter is the perfect season for creative exploration. Try out new painting techniques and explore new styles to energize your art. In the latest issue of Inspired, you’ll find creative ideas for using poured paint to create unique effects. You’ll also find an introduction to and demonstration of Chinese watercolor painting. Plus, you’ll enjoy a collection of captivating portraits and figural paintings by a variety of artists in a variety of media! It’s all here in the latest issue of this digital magazine from ArtistsNetwork.com—and it’s FREE.

IN THE CURRENT ISSUE

Exotic Florals: Expand and complement your watercolor painting style with artist Lian Quan Zhen.
Play With Your Art: Discover how to create unique veiled effects in your acrylic paintings using poured paint.
Inspired by People: Enjoy an astounding range of expression for portraying this favorite subject
More Inspiration View these stories, watch video, follow links to more great content and products in the Winter 2013 issue of Inspired!

Isn't It Supposed to Be Spring?

Well, yes, it is!  But in Edmonton you would never know it.  Yesterday the sky fell in Edmonton...at least the snow kept coming and coming and coming down until we ended the day with about 24 cm of snow....and for all of you non-metric thinkers, that was about 12 inches that all happened in the morning.  It did continue falling all day but somewhat less as the day went on.

Today driving was interesting as I followed graders all over the south side of Edmonton.  Anyone with a Tonka grader?  Get it out and send along to Edmonton so we can dig our way out of the snow.

I came home early yesterday and spent the afternoon cooking things that could bubble on the stove, preparing a sourdough starter and baking.

I also hunkered down in my studio to work on the current project of printmaking.  A friend went off to Colorado this past summer to take a print making course from a Japanese instructor.  She came home with a fabulouse body of work and really inspired me to get at it.  I have taken a class from Sara on Solar Print Making and want to expand my work in this area.  so I am carving print blocks and finding and developing ideas for more solar prints which I will work on in the spring and summer.

I have finished several projects.  My canvas work embroidered 'Biscornu' is done and was fun.  I am set to start another one.  They are lovely gifts and maybe some day I will use up the embroidery thread that I have collected over years.  I have been working on calligraphy projects following a three week class with my instructor.  I now have lots of new ideas to incorporate into my calligraphic works, books and even thinking of ways to apply this technique to my cloth works.  Look for those ideas in the future.  I have finished another 'Map quilt' for my Saskatchewan class this summer.  I have used the Batoche River Lot survey as my inspiration.  All of you who are planning to take my class this summer might develop some ideas from this project.

The knitted baby blanket is finished and presented to wee Tess.  Where is the photo?  I'll have to run across the street to photograph it again.  Now I have started a knitting project of wrist warmers for myself.

More baby business.  I finished and delivered the quilt to Liam for his first birthday.  Happy Birthday Baby!

That sounds like a pile of work.  However, since I cannot seem to post this
blog more than once a month, I should be able to produce quite a body of work in this amount of time.

DID YOU KNOW that there are wonderful books available showing many different book forms.  I have been devouring these titles from the public library and the Edmonton Calligraphic Society Library.  Here are the titles:
ARTFUL JOURNALS by Janet Takahashi
MAKING HANDMADE BOOKS - 100 +BINDINGS STRUCTURES AND FORMS by Alisa
Alisa Golden.
THE SPEEDBALL TEXTBOOK - A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO PEN AND BRUSH LETTERING - by Joane Fink and Judy Kastin
MICHELLE MILLER from Estevan Sk has had her lovely hooked rug published in the current issue of 'A Needle Pulling Thread'.  Congratulations!

Front and Back of Liams' quilt

Cover of Accordion Book

Made in a printing workshop with the ECS

 

My Front Yard March 22nd

 

Calligraphy Class with Jeanine Alexander

Inspired by Joanne Sharpe in Letter Love

 

Biscornu in Canvaswork Embroidery

 

And hoping the snow melts soon.  Can't wait for spring!

Here are some photos of the day...

Goals for a Happy New Year

People with goals succeed because they know where they are going...it's as simple as that. Earl Nightingale
A few of my goals for this upcoming year relating to my artwork...
Make a studio space where I can 'spread out'
Spend time each day doing artwork
Explore new techniques...this seems to be including printmaking projects like Blueprints, Solar prints, Block prints, Stamp prints
Inkblots have become an interesting project for exploration and the end of 2012 journal is full of them.
Make a book a month...explore new book structures
Enjoy the Edmonton Calligraphy Society workshops and produce something for the June exhibit
Create a 2013 journal
Knit
Quilt
Publish an ebook for Amazon.

I did lots of knitting this past year...it has been an easy way to accomplish completing projects without having a 'space' to work.
I completed a journal for my 'mapping project' based very loosely on Jill Berry's book "Personal Geographies". Now I have much fodder for projects that will be quilts of sorts.  mmmm sewing, how I have missed you. Worked on some print making - gelatin prints, solar prints, and a teensy bit of blueprinting. I have new ideas already this year and I am laying awake at night thinking about them.
This is a basketfull brimming with ideas for my artwork and I will have to fit it in between my other life work but it will happen.
Let me know what your plans are for this year. I look forward to comments on my blog.

DO YOU KNOW that the library is a fount of books for inspiration. I ordered up several mixed media books that you might be interested in.
ACRYLIC FUSION - Dan Tranberg - Experimenting with Alternative Methods for Paint, Collage, and Mixed Media
WATER PAPER PAINT - Heather Smith Jones - Exploring Creativity with Watercolor and Mixed Media
SURFACE TREATMENT WORKSHOP - Darlene Olivia McElroy & Sandra Duran Wilson - Explore 45 Mixed-Media Techniques

Here is my Christmas knitting project - a gift for a special girl. She watched me knitting and was still surprised when she opened her Christmas package.

Well Blogger doesn't want to let me upload a photo so will try again soon.

Itty Bitty Knitting - Part 2

Well, it seems that this Itty Bitty Knitting is taking longer than I had planned...or is it just too many 'Itty Bitty' projects on the go. The neighbors have a new baby so with a gift unfinished, the best I could do is this 'Wee Sweater' card. The new parents (especially Mom) loved it so now I can breathe easier knowing that the gift will be made at least in the New Year.

Several other knitting projects have been completed and are ready to wrap to put under the Christmas tree. Can't put them onto the post yet since the recipients may subscribe to my blog postings. I have also had some teaching assignments last month - Fabulous Felted Scarves - for the Edmonton Weavers Guild www.edmontonweavers.org/. Next posting, I will put up photos of my fabulous student's work. I sold my felted scarfs at the annual Edmonton Weavers' Guild sale as well. I have a few available that I will show you here, so if you are still shopping for Christmas gifts, give me a call or email and I can send one or more along to you.

DO YOU KNOW that Interweave Press, the folks who bring you the magazines, Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors, have many ebooks and How To videos available from their website www.interweavepress.com. You can also subscribe to several enewsletters that they publish (nearly every day to my delight). They including Quilting Daily, Cloth Paper Scissors (almost daily)and Knitting Daily. These newsletters include FREE projects and lots of FREE advice for quilters, knitters and journal junkies like myself. This is such a furious time of year and today I am taking a breath following a family birthday, knitting madly and stitching madly to finish Christmas gifts, and just the general furor surrounding Christmas preparations. Now I will get down to writing the annual Christmas letter. I am planning to post one more blog before Christmas so watch for that. In the meantime have a glorious time preparing for your own Christmas celebrations.