Sunday Snapshots

I was told that there was a flax field blooming off of 'Old 27'.  (I had to look that up...)  It happens to be the road I go to a lot.  Thank you Bernie & Patti for the heads up!  When I got there, I think it was already starting to close for the day, but there was one low angle that got enough blue all in one shot.  VERY PRETTY!  With the evergreen, it reminds me of a sprinkle of snow except for the fact that it's blue.

you can click the image to view it larger

It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  20 degrees, which means the sun is warm on your face, and the shade is very cooling.  Well, I gave up on the flax and just kept driving, when all of a sudden I spied this.

Do you see that?  I see a heart, right in the middle above where the road meets the horizon.  So I got to thinking... haha!  Why not a bit of spray paint editing?  ; )

: )
I hope your Sunday was lovely.

Jour d'ete - FIN

I finished one last piece before my final trip to the framer's last week.  It's super summery.  I was considering a final winter piece but then I realized I had no flax fields for Winnipeg!  I had some photos from last year that I really liked.  This one has blue and yellow, and a BIG view.

flax on a summer's day, 2012

I was good this time, and I made a quick sketch in my empty sketchbook.  : )

my sketchbook rendering

Next, I put together the fabric and thread for the background.  Let's just say that my thread is getting a work out!  : )

i'll clean up later.  i'm busy.

After a day of threadpainnting / free machine embroidery, I'm getting ready to stitch some flax by hand.

French Knots, here I come...

I ended up taking this with me a couple weekends ago to work on it during the public stitching day with the the embroidery guild.  I'm glad I had the photo and sketchbook along, laying out.  As I sat beside it to do stitch, it sure stopped a few people in their tracks.  : )  Here is the finished piece!

bottom corner detail

I had a hard time naming this one too, so I enlisted my bilingual boy.   "How do you say this?  How do you say that?"  I asked him to translate a whole schwack of phrases.  Finally this particular translation came out sounding just right to me.  In English, it means Summer Day.  (phonetically - jshoor daytay)

Jour d'ete, 2013

I love the swoops and swooshes in this big view.  It's a very happy piece, and one of the biggest too!

i love the way the soft gold threads shine in Jour d'ete : )

I have some news too!  I will have one of my Winnipeg pieces published in the Summer 2013 issue of Fiber Art Now magazine.  (You'll have to wait and see which one they picked.)  How exciting!  They had a call for entry on the topic of Flora and Fauna that I jumped into at the last minute.

* * * Also, Jackie White interviewed me for the CQA blog.  It's now up and you can find that post here.  (Thank you Jackie!!)

Okay - back to work.  See you soon! : )

Frames, Photos, Threadpaintings (oh my!)

I have lots of news today!  I had a meeting with a local framing store to entertain the idea of passing that job on to someone who knows how to do it and has all the right supplies.  No more coupon trips to Michael's.  No more wiring frames.  No more 'making the art to fit the pre-cut mats'  !!!  Ooh I can't wait!  I'm hoping that I will have my December show all framed professionally by them.  If I'm a regular customer, I can likely get a good price.  Plus, I plan to still mount my own work which cuts down cost.  Sigh.  Oh it feels FANTASTIC to move forward this way.  It won't affect the current prices of my work.  I raised them back in the spring and I feel they are good where they are at. 

I have more good news!  One of my photos was selected for a provincial themed calendar.  I just got the email from SGI to announce that they are sending me a $500 honorarium for that.  WOW.  At the top of my lungs I hollered, "WOOHOO!" for a half hour and did (mental) back flips around my living room until I could calm down enough to phone my mom.  She gets that calendar every year and always encourages me to enter.  This is so awesome!  I haven't been this pumped up for a long time.  This prize will pay for a lot of framing too.  It just couldn't be better timing.  BIG SMILES all around. 

Good news comes in threes, right?  Well, here's my last bit.  I 'Finished it Friday'!  Apparently it's B's birthday soon and she sounds pretty darn excited about this commission.  ; )

"Prairie Summer" 2012  (sold)

Prairie Summer, 2012   4x6" Double matted & framed

Thank you once more to MeinkeToy for the $25 gift certificate and also for the goodies you sent my way.  And now, the winner is...  KIT LANG! : )  Congrats!  She was picked randomly by my six year old.  I'll pass Kit's email on to MeinkeToy and they will get in touch with you.  : )

Have a great fall weekend everyone!