Itchin' to be Stitchin'

Is it just me, or do you feel like I haven't been doing any sewing?  I have a bit more paperwork and class preparations to get together before I can really begin.  In the mean time, I can feel sewing withdrawal beginning to kick in.  Do you ever get that??  I spent some time gathering my top inspirational photos that are 'calling' me.  Here is the lineup...

early summer at Grasswood, SK after a tornado warning had passed

I've only prepped the background so far...

Then there are a couple of these from this past weekend...  they melt my heart.  This one in particular is pretty full of fall colors, and lots of detail.  There will be a lot of stitching in this one, and it will not be a small piece.

I love the softness of this next one.  It's such a pretty fall palette.

And finally, this horizontal one from Silverspring just has such a nice free feel to it.  I have to do this one too, though I my omit the city in the background.  I'm not sure yet...

So that is my work-in-progress: figuring out where to start.  : )  Well, ya gotta start somewhere!  Have a great day.

Harvest Time Colors!

This weekend as the sun was about to set, I headed out of town with my daughter to see what stitching inspirations I could capture.  The bad news is that my camera was unintentionally set on macro while taking landscape photos.  The good news is that I still managed some terrific captures that I can most definitely use.  Want to see?  Please look at them as composition inspirations, and not with a technical eye.

cat tails at dusk

That skyless, heavily detailed scene remind me a lot of Margot Lindsay's pieces.  There are so many things to stitch in that!  Long, fat, whispy, and french knots of course.  Can't you see it?  And ahhhhh, the field of barley.  I'm sure next time I drive out it will be cut.

Barley, so delicate & soft looking!  I love the weeds in the foreground too.

Needless to say, there are a lot of songs about barley that involve lying down and sleeping in it.  I love the layers of texture and colors that we found that night.  Check out this next one.  It's cropped from a larger photo.  I can't get over the distinct colors!  This picture is cropped only, and though there's not much detail on macro setting, isn't this interesting?

Here is a more "landscape view" from the dirt road as the sun was sinking in the west.  See the road's shadow along the fence line?  These low long evening shadows really make me glad I came back to the prairie.  That slow and gentle sundown kiss-goodnight lasts so long here when nothing is in its way (oo wasn't that poetic!?).  sigh.  I was never satisfied near the mountains.

I am really in love with things here.

Then I got the wake-up call form the little girl in the back seat, "mama!  I have to pee!".  So we put our cameras away and headed to the nearest gas station.  When we were done, we had to take out our cameras again.  Check it out!  I think these next 2 photos are so beautiful.  It was then I noticed the accidental macro setting, and undid it.

tipi top

There are 3 tipis at the Grasswood Esso and you can go inside them all.  They are so magical.

looking up from inside.  sunset glow coming in

Sweet!  I hope you see something that inspires you deeply today.

~Monika

New Spring Energy

Well, IT'S ABOUT TIME!  It's been above freezing for three days now.  We now wake up to ice-covered puddles.  Spring is VERY VERY VERY late this year.  Thursday was fabulous here.  We spent so much time outside.  There was not a cloud in the sky.  We all have mild sunburns on our faces and our winter boots are sitting in the sun to dry.  It's fabulous.  I even served BBQ chicken and lemonade out on the deck for lunch.  Wow.  It's been a long long time since we've done that.

not a cloud...

I spent lastnight looking through more of last year's photos and found some I think will be terrific.  When you play with brightness, contrast, and saturation, incredible colors and details come forward.  It really turns blah photos to O M G.  I had just a bit of canvas left, tubes of lapel stick, and a cutting table full of scraps.  I just couldn't resist.  Here are the backdrops for FOUR more pieces, yet unstitched.  ; )

The top will be the Trains to Edmonton, the right will be the Barbed Wire & Wild Dandelions, the lower piece will be Telephone Poles at Dusk, and the one on the left will be the huge deep summer fields.  Here are the inspirations (see Wednesday's post too...).  Poles at Dusk, with the sky much more saturated is from these:

And here's the shot from the car window last thanksgiving as we drove from Saskatoon to Edmonton.  I edited the top corner to take out the glare of the side view window.  : )

this one should really be poster-sized!

I wish it wasn't taken through a dirty car window, otherwise I would just print it as a photo.  Isn't it magnificent!?  Man, I was laughing and crying over the sky that day.  Fabulous!  Click on it to make it bigger if you like.  : )

Okay... I'm going to get to work on the commissions now.  Promise!
~Monika

Sunday Snapshots, #8

Today was the day.  I woke up calm.  Slowly packed all my art & tools etc into the van.  I drank lots of tea instead of my usual coffee because I figured that's what Michelle F. would do.  She drinks tea.  I made a pot of organic Blueberry White tea and it was soooo good!  I didn't even miss the coffee.

I took a break, and reached for my watch.  10:40.  I screeeeeeeeeeeeamed loud and high!  OMG  I was supposed to be hanging the show at ten thirty!  So off I went.  Michelle showed up later than me so I didn't feel so bad.  : )  We unpacked the van and got to work.  Here she is...

A BIG thank you Michelle!  We were there until 1:30 or so.  We were supposed to end by noon.  oops.  Arranging that shoe on the wall was harder than I thought.  I turned around to see another gallery with a hundred photos hung, and they were done & gone in less than an hour!  We took several hours.  Here I am...

We worked from the outside in.  The big quilts on the edges; the art in the middle.  I wanted everything horizontal in nice neat rows.  She was placing things vertically.  lol  It was Canadian Prairie Woman vs Australian Forest Woman.  That was so obvious.  ; )  

We ended up with flowing curves which I like, and a lot of crappy lighting which I don't like. I'm going to adjust some things and then I'll take a new & improved photo.  I don't even want to post this!  Here goes... (from my cell phone camera - click to see it bigger)

I'm not so happy with the burned out light bulbs and poorly aimed ones.  Good thing there is a glass ceiling above the walkway.  It's well lit in the daytime.  The floor has my red living room curtains topped with scattered photos and thread spools.  That was fun to do.

The mall opened by noon and the halls filled with movie-goers.  It was fun to sit there and listen to people as they stopped and pointed to their favorite piece.  : ) Maybe I'll hang out tomorrow and watch and listen.  

now to tackle the ridiculous amount of housework...

have a great weekend and thank you EVERYONE for your support!! : )

~Monika