snow? yes, please.

It's snowing in Tucson, which hardly ever happens.

Totally.

Magical.

 

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roll it, roll it, roll it...

We have been angling to repaint the interior

of our house for several years now. However,

we were waiting around for sufficient funds to

kick the whole thing out at once as well as

an end to the Leaky Roof Situation of '98.

With these things recently resolved and the

kids in the midst of bedroom shuffling, we

decided that it was high time to do away with

the purple ceilinged coffee room, the green

ceilinged hallway/kitchen, all the random murals

and even the orange, purple and blue everything else.

As the seventeen-year-old of the house says,

"You guys are moving on to

the old folk's home stage of life."

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the remains of a lunch

This here is the remains of a lunch I had downtown

at Bruegger's Bagel last time I had jury duty. Do

you see the shadow bird emerging from the paper

wrappings? The winter sun was so bright pouring in

through the windows that it cast fabulous shadows.

 

 

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my favorite dishcloth

As I mentioned before, I have been maintaining a few

obsessive pursuits so far this year. Here's one of them:

I was introduced to the wonderful world of handmade

dishcloths by my friend Hannah a couple of years ago.

She taught me that cotton is the best yarn for these

things, since it is more absorbent than acrylic as well

as less scratchy (I hear acrylic yarn can make for good

kitchen scrubbies, since it is slightly more abrasive).

I had seen the sort of homemade dishcloth pictured above

and didn't much care for the way it looked. But I liked

the idea of having something to wipe down kitchen counters

and then toss in the laundry, easily washing out all the

germs and bacteria therein.

So I started with crochet. I enjoyed all the lovely colors

available. I tried single crochet, double crochet, half

double crochet, scallops around the edge, etc. They looked

great! Unfortunately, these all came out rather dense. The

tight weave, in fact, only thickened up in the laundry,

making them very difficult to get dry between uses at the

sink. So I moved on to a Granny Square pattern.

This one had more open spaces but was even thicker than

the last, taking me back to (you guessed it)...

the trusty knitted dishcloth. It's stretchy,

springy, and just the right thickness. When it

gets all bent out of shape, we know for sure

that the time has come to toss it in the wash

and grab another one off the shelf.

If you'd like to try your hand at this, find the pattern here.

Just be warned: it may take you down a long and winding road!

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journal cover in progress

A friend recently sent a couple of Moleskine Cahiers my way.

I decided to do some sort of mixed media cover over the

standard, black flaps. Here's the first stage of the process.

It just entailed fitting bits of paper together and affixing them with

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Gloss Gel Medium. I also added a coat

on top with a sponge brush to seal the whole thing once it was all down.

And a layer on the inside of the cover to keep it from warping.

Next up: select a composition and start painting, stamping, and rolling!

That, however, will all have to wait until this current bout of flu passes by.

 

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the hubby's huge desk

My husband has the most gigantic desk ever in his office.

While it looks rather demure in this sketch, it has to be over

six feet long. It's huge.

Anyway, thanks for sticking around through my long silence.

This month has held a miserable case of the flu and several

obsessive diversions which I will fill you in on soon.

What have you been about lately?

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new years fortune

 While I don't adhere to the prophetic power of

fortune cookies, I do find them highly amusing.

This one that came to me last week, though,

has me wondering if I should take it personally.

This fortune, however, is one I can really grab hold of.

I will start a new exercise... tomorrow.

pulling out the oil paints

So, I did the underdrawing for this painting about four

years ago. It was supposed to be a graduation gift.

It's from a photo that marks an important moment

in a life and a community and I think also somehow

captures the expression of a true identity -- some of you

were there and remember it, right? So I've always wanted

to finish this painting. However, I put my oils away a long time

ago and have just decided to bring them out again. I was afraid

they might be all dried up, but things appear to be

in working order. Now if I can just remember how to paint!

 

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washing makeup brushes

So... did you know that makeup brushes are

supposed to be washed prior to their first use?

And then, I guess, on a fairly regular basis after that.

Well, I hardly ever wear makeup, but being

an artist I'm always glad for the right tool

to do any job. So here are some of my new

makeup brushes. They're super soft,

and I'm looking forward to giving them a whirl.

But first I decided to give them a wash.

Apparently, you just have to dampen the hairs,

swirl them around in a mild soap (I used baby soap)

in your palm, and then rinse thoroughly, all

while keeping them pointed down-ish so as not to

get water inside the metal ferrule. Shape them

and dry flat on a towel. Once dry, give 'em a fluff,

and they're good to go! I was quite surprised how

much they acted just like paint brushes, but I

guess that's really what they are. So if you

haven't washed your makeup brushes in a while,

give it a go! They'll be glad you did.

 

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Sheralee