Without prompting.

An artist who started popping into my fees mentioned that it is World Watercolor Month, and since I have been playing with art, I decided to try to do something in watercolor each day.  I am not counting the form I was completing for the library's Summer Reading Challenge, although I did do the first one in watercolor and completed it on July 2nd:

I forgot to take a photo of the completed form
before I turned it on on July 2nd, when I went to
the library's science fiction book club meeting.

Since I didn't hear about this until a couple days into the month, I needed to do some catching-up, so my first couple of images are just trying the paints I have, on dry and wet paper:

Then I did one that was just making lines, to get into the feel of paintings.  And one limited to red and blue for the holiday:

I probably could have studied and done something
that resembles fireworks more accurately, but no.

Starting with Day 5, I wanted to try something that actually looks like a picture.  I'd seen a tutorial of hers, and it looked easy enough - and it was!

I decided to look up the official prompts for the month, and quickly decided that I am not able to follow all of them.  I may do a few, if I think it's something I can manage, or if the prompt inspires me.  Speaking of which, today's was "Hat" and I decided to try:

I need to make lighter pencil outlines.  And the proportions
are not quite right - but it does resemble a sunhat!

As for the reading challenge, we're supposed to mark every ten minutes we read.  That's too fiddly for me, so mostly a mark each time I read at least ten minutes, although if I read for an hour or so I'll count multiple ten-minute increments.  Nobody should be surprised that I've read well over the number of spots times ten minutes and am well into my second form.

As for my personal reading challenge, I've read fourteen books (fifteen if you count re-reading one) for the year, of the eighteen I proposed.  Being in a book club does help!

For an unofficial challenge I wanted to finish an item each day of the long weekend, and I did:

The "Americana" scarf was my 'car scarf', mostly worked on while waiting, so it took a while.  (I immediately cast on another.)  The two hats and other scarf were pretty much done in the last week.  Hats don't take much time and I wanted to do the crocheted scarf to have something quickly done.  Back to the scarf of linked diamonds shown at the top left.

Done and Done.

I finished the scarf I mentioned last week, and a hat from an oddball of Big Twist Lollipop Twistie in a colour called "Clownfish Coral".  I didn't like the Lollipop Twistie (so I am not sad that it is discontinued) and decided to use it all up, hence the little topknot on the hat:

I started another scarf of chunky, and very soft, chenille yarn that a neighbor gave me when she decided her hands were too arthritic for knitting.

I also finished a book, which was fine, and turns out to be part of a series, but I don't know if I need to read any of the others.  I do need to read the book for the library's Science Fiction Book Club.  I picked up a form for their summer reading program - fill in a space for every ten minutes you read, turn in the filled sheet, and get a token item (last year it was a choice of some cool bookmarks) plus entry into a prize draw.  I decided that given how much I read, I would just record every session where I read for at least ten minutes.  That way I don't have to keep adding together reading sessions.

From June 14th to morning of June 23rd.

More art: I decided to try different media to complete each chart.  This one is watercolours.  I have not used those in a very long time, many years, except a token bit as part of a book art piece.  I wanted to practice a bit and this is a very low-pressure way to do it.

I went to the gallery for another round of putting things together to fuse, adding to one of the pieces I did two weeks ago and creating another for this four-panel light box I'm creating:

I've done some more practice pieces for the DFW Fiber Fest class.  I may be doing a variation of it at the gallery.  One of the owners is really interested; she's the one who encouraged me to try fabric also, because she thinks it will be more useful to people.  Since cellulose fibers need a more toxic mordant (soda ash) to prepare, which means people may not be able to do it at home, I searched and found a lightweight 100% wool in a light enough colour to dye, but it turns out to be a deeper beige than I thought it would be from the online photos.  Well, that happens.

First, I did some testing of single-serving beverage powders:

Light blue ReVive and the three options I chose.

Not too much water because I wanted the dye to stay put
and not float all through the pot.

I sprinkled half of each tube, then flipped the yarn and 
sprinkled the other half of the tube.

Simmering.  I wasn't sure how much the dye would spread.

Final result, after drying. You can still see some of the
original colour.  The grape is unimpressive.

Then I did a quick test of the fabric, one piece tied and one loose, with two different dyes in the pot:

I need to remember to photograph the final results.  I showed it to the owner and she liked the effect, so that may be what I offer to the students at the gallery.  Now, what to do with the pieces?

"Leap together"

The title of this post comes from the most-cited part of Kermit the Frog's commencement speech, but I like this rhyming part better:

Life's like a movie.

Write your own ending.

Keep believing.

Keep pretending.

 

This is Memorial Day weekend, and I plan to go to the annual commemoration at the community center.

I have a red, white, and blue scarf to knit (because I fidget), one in the car and one in the house, depending upon whether I walk or (if it's rainy) drive over.  These are scarves I usually donate to veterans hospitals and other programs through the WWII Museum's Knit Your Bit program.

I've also been making progress on my Giverny Shawl:

Almost ready for the third and final skein.

Yesterday I went to Open Studio time for fused glass at the gallery.  The instructor forgot to slump my last piece into a dish shape, so I have to collect it later, but it came out very nicely and he was excited to show it to the group:

I made two new pieces, one inspired by the flames-shaped piece I found, and another just playing with some glass-dust-infused "paint" solution:

I think I will make four pieces featuring translucent glass, all using the same clear glass base (although they are unlikely to remain perfectly square or the same size - glass does that) and set them into a wooden frame, with a light inside.  That will look fantastic.  I have a piece set aside as the focus of the second one, and I'll see what the inspires me for the other two.

I picked up my other two previous pieces, one of which was shaped into what I hoped would be a candleholder but it's a bit shallow, so it might remain a dish:

The large picture, suggested by a piece of glass I found and used as the background, really pleases me:

You can see how two of the lilypads
glitter a bit.  The eyes really add life
to the fish, and the wisteria is dimensional.

Cloudy day light filtering through.

RadioVizion!

A good friend who isn't able to tread the boards (as theater people say) as much as he would like is in a play, so of course I had to go, even though I've just returned home from overseas.  So on Friday I flew to Dallas, worked a bit, then joined my host friends at their usual Friday night supper location.  They walk in and aren't given menus; I was but pretty much know my preferences: Mediterranean salad and a side of gyro.  They give me enough that half comes home (with our fourth flatbread) for a future meal.

Saturday started out usual for me:  yoga class and Torah study, both online.  Then a quick check-in before my friend and I started refreshing our browsers until the "REGISTER HERE" button appeared on the DFW Fiber Fest website.  It went smoothly for me this year and I have a good slate of classes.  Plus nine persons registered for the class I am teaching on Sunday!  And likely there will be more before September.

After that it was brunch at another of our usual locations, then stopped at a local resale shop to see whether I could get some crockpots for my class (no, but I did find two very large colanders) before going to see my friend's play at the matinee.  The Bath House Cultural Center always has art exhibits:

The play is done in the style of a radio show, with the audience in the role of - audience!

It was a lot of fun and very funny and I am very glad I went to see it.  Afterwards a quick stop back at the resale shop because I'd forgotten to look for towels (I found three), and the Red Truck Café for the weekly prime rib special:

Afterwards, my friend and I went to a Joann's to see what we could stock up on before it closes.  Since a storm that had been brewing finally arrived, we joked about needing to take shelter on the way home in the store.    Then it was a quiet evening, and an early flight home.

These are the masks from my trip:

I went again.

I wanted to pick up the glass piece I created a couple weeks ago, and since the teacher is going on a bit of vacation, Wednesday night was my opportunity.  Although work is crazy-busy this week because of the end of our fiscal year, I didn't want to go all that way and just pick up the previous piece so I signed up for that evening's class; the teacher lets returning students use it as open studio time.  I let him know that I would be arriving late due to work, and the basic instructions were still in progress when I arrived.  I wasn't the only returning student, but a group of high school friends were the majority of the class - and they did amazing things.

This is by one of the college-age students.

More by the college-age students.
You can see mine on the middle left.

These are by the other two returning students.

For some reason, the ideas I had were not really gelling, maybe because there were so many people because in addition to our class, the space contained a resin class.  So we were at each other's elbows.  The teachers, at one point, had us all walk anti-clockwise around the table to see each other's work.

(Now I want to take the resin class, also!)

I had ideas going in, but found a piece of translucent aqua blue glass that had been cut out, and a shard of yellow-and-blue, and some other bits that just looked pretty, so made a very abstract thing:

This is the piece before it is fused.  The iridescence on the 
green in the middle doesn't show very well from this angle.

The teacher sent this photo of the piece post-fuse.  I think I should have
used finer yellow frit as I don't know if I like the chunky look. 
Teacher asked if I want to slump it into a dish, and I think I want to
try creating a votive candle or light holder, so we'll work on it later.

My mother asked if I will make a small dish for her, and I don't want to do it from this piece because I think the translucence and transparency of the glass will look very pretty with light behind it.  But I want it to be something other than a suncatcher like the first piece I made.

Those of us who are returning students don't have to start with the small clear squares, but can chose a larger piece from the teacher's stash.  I went to rummage, having an idea in my head for something, then I spotted a piece with yellow and green and instantly was inspired:

The swirls made me think of a swamp, so I cut some pieces to look like lilypads and stylized fish (OK, koi may not live in swamps), and then scattered a few sticks of glass and some thin bits to look like hyacinth or some other flowers, or spanish moss, or a combination, dripping down into the water.  I may do some more after the first firing, when I see how it looks.

It's the end of our fiscal year so I haven't had much time for creativity,  I still need to finish the next book for the Science Fiction Book Club before our meeting on Wednesday.  I've gotten partway into it, and the author manages to give each one in the series a very different perspective.

I did work up these samples for a class I am giving at a local group in April:

Not finished.  The original pattern is crochet; I wanted to
try creating a knit version in case somebody only knits.

They take very little time, and I may make a couple more before the class.  A friend taught me how to make them and gave permission for me to distribute her handout, which is very kind.

Both packages I mailed on Monday arrived - the wee sweater, and the box of thank-yous that a friend distributes to sailors through a program she supports.  I realized I haven't written any more of the cards since I mailed the package, although one of my Lenten commitments was to do so every day, so I am going to try to do some catching-up and continue the momentum.

A peek at spring.

I was finally able to take a proper walk - between weather, travel, and work, I haven't had much time to do so.  I did walk over 14,000 steps more last week than in previous weeks, no surprise given the walking I did at the North Texas Irish Fest!

Spring is starting to appear hereabouts:

Yesterday I took a class to learn how to make fused glass items.  It is in a local gallery and there are many items for sale, and the teacher said that some of their students have graduated to being artists in the gallery.  In this class, after learning how to cut the glass, and the different types of glass to use, we were set free to make our own designs:

My initial setup.  I took a photo before moving the items off the
base glass, because everything has to be cleaned before you can
stick it together for the firing, and I wasn't sure I would remember
the way I envisioned the pieces working together.

These are all the pieces students made, plus one by
a student from a previous class who wanted it fused
further.  You can "tack" which leaves texture, or you
can "full fuse" which melts anything into a smooth
piece.  I chose full fuse for my piece.

The final piece going into the kiln.  My vision is sun and sky;
we'll see how much it resembles this after it is fired.

I will go back in two weeks to pick up my piece, and I probably will sign up for open studio sessions to make more.  The instructor is there on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons for classes or open studio time.  Since my parents don't need quite as much of my time, now that the main part of the books have been cleared (Mom delivered eight or nine cartons of books in German and about Germany to a university programme this week), I can pop out for a session once or twice a month, and still keep Sundays free for my own activities.

Today that involved a lot of cleaning and organizing, some vacuuming, un-gunking a drain, and putting out the trash and recycling bins.  So exiting!  I also watched my congregation's Purim Spiel online, and have been working on the hat I am trying to finish so I can enter it at the Carolina Fiber Fest.  Deadline to register something is Tuesday and they have to be delivered Thursday night or Friday morning; it will have to be the former, given my work schedule right now.