Some things never change.

Deconstructed screen printing on the left, Stencil play on the right. After playing with the stencil I browsed through the stash and discovered a look-alike, well close enough. There seems to be a look that I like plus, my color choices seem to remain the same, for the most part.

Even this piece looks like a few deconstructed screen prints. 

The fabric for this piece was previously semi-dyed. 

Sometimes it's good to check the garden early in the morning.

 Sea Urchin after a morning shower.

Happy Easter - Sensational Sunday

Calla Lily

Playing with a new stencil from Artistcellar; loving the
artifact effect.

Wishing everyone a Sensational Sunday!

Studio play and Calla Lily Splendor

 Discharged and dyed fabric. 

Dyed, stamped, and painted. fabric.

 This is the first Calla Lily I've purchased since moving to the desert. I used to grow them up north along the coast. They did very well in the foggy cool climate so for the life of me I can't fathom why every Spring local nurseries sell them here. It's been 85-95 degrees for a few weeks and it's supposedly April. I don't  imagine that the plant will survive the summer like they do up north, but does that matter? Not when it's given me the opportunity to photograph it . . . 

Calla Lily Splendor

Friday Foto Essay

 I love creating moods so the new App I just discovered, Afterlight, is perfect. 

The sky today is stupendous! 

 Echinopsis, Sea-Urchin, in the garden. This bloom is already fading away but

the one to the right will greet me tomorrow. 

 The bloom in the photo above against Hibiscus.

Afternoon delight.

 Fragment, or maybe more of a tiny collage? the leaf is a metal pin.

MizzMolly,  the studio guardian. 

I cleaned up the blog today. New smaller banner and deleted some blogs that no longer seem to be

active. If you'd like your blog listed please let me know. 

Strip playing with a tiny amount of dyed fabric that very

nearly got tossed; there didn't seem to be enough

to do create anything. Surprise!

Wonderfulicious Wednesday, a day late

Dyed or painted? That's the burning question regarding this 

piece of fabric. I don't remember.

 Sea-Urchin cactus . . 

 Sea-urchin bloom.

Euphorbia tirucalli (also known as Aveloz, Firestick Plants, Indian Tree Spurge, Naked Lady, Pencil Tree, Sticks on Fire or Milk Bush) These are blazing for the first time and are

the backdrop

for the fountain in the backyard. 

The Dance

 Photographing paintings can be tricky and elaborate of which I'm not a fan of, or simplified and doable. 

I don't have the space to set up lights nor the patience to do that kind of photography. But when the painting I just finished refused to be photographed anywhere near what it looks like I nearly changed my mind. Bravo to the internet and free information. The above version was taken on Auto. 

I found a fabulous site on how to photograph just about any art.  But, I'm really all about easy these days so when I found a Skye Taylor youtube that was quick and provided a brilliant idea for making a white card, well, eureka!

I don't have a full size easel so a table-top one on top of a stool was something my dad would have done; use what you have. I do have a tripod and a digital camera. For a white card I was able to create something like Skye did in the youtube. I needed a refresher on how to program the camera to custom white balance. The photo below is pretty close to what the painting looks like. The info in the first link is more valuable than a book I purchased a few years ago; I'll refer to it if I ever need a more professional photo of my work In the meantime I'll keep using the easy system.

The Dance. Acrylic 20x24

April is Great!

Fabric play in the studio. I love Fragments. They don't pretend to be anything other than what they are which in this case is simply an unattached piece of layered cloth. 

Fragments stitched, cut, stitched, painted, dyed, cut, and stitched again. 

Feels like an entrance to  . . . ?

The white cactus blooms, it turns out, belong to a family of 128 Echinopsis. Sometimes they're called

Sea Urchin due to the size and shape; very fitting for the variety I have. They're also
known as Easter Lily Cactus.  This bloom was

photographed against a painting that I'll share later.

March Happenings

Hadn't been to the La Quinta Arts Festival in 3 years. It was time for another visit.

We were greeted by Michael Gard's sculpture dancing in the breeze.

Fondness for trees.

The setting for what is known as the #1 Fine Arts and Craft Festival

in the nation.

Hadn't visited Bob William's Nursery in about 4 years.

We bought the plant below about 6 years ago and it's multiplied numerous times. The name on

the pot was Spider Web. But alas at the nursery I found out that it's AKA Lemon Drop Fortnight Lily.

Mmmm, which name is more suitable?

Worked on setting up a studio in what was mom's casita. There is a breezeway

between the house and the Studio. Yes, a separate entrance!

Some furniture I painted for the Studio. 

And once again the magical cactus blooms are starting to greet me daily.

 I think of them as the gift of April!