fall photo shoot, YES paste and finding useful tools

The trees at the end of October are still stunning. An occasional yellow (maple or beech) lights up even when it's raining. Oaks vary from a near burgundy to rust to golden yellow. I took my camera on the walk this morning to document this colorful extravaganza.
I just glued the tag book I made for August. I wanted to use "YES" paste to get that extra stability it provides, but I usually get it all over my fingers.
I used "YES",  and discovered tools to not have the usual problem, which would make it impossible to position the tags on the tracing paper backing. I spooned a dollop of paste into the cup that came on the cough medicine. I used a plastic knife to spread some on the back of each little tag. I held the tag down with a skewer. I used an old coin catalogue so I could turn the page and always have a clean surface to work on.

I'm adding a new feature to my blog using Picasa web albums as soon as I can properly install Picasa on my laptop.I use it on my Artists Workshop blog with kids' work posted.

DAILY HAIKU 2009

October 31, 2009 Where has another month gone???

I used the name of the day as the focal point, lettering tightly with bubble letters. They've been colored with ink pads. The word "halloween" adds texture to three letters along with the date. One large pumpkin and a string of small ones add to the image. A touch of green with the edge of an ink pad provides contrast and refers to the last line of the text which is written in one corner with pencil.

     Orange pumpkins glow.

   Crinkly leaves, yellow and rust

            blow over green grass.

October 30

Oh, I dislike celebrating Halloween at school. Particularly because I miss my two afternoon classes on Friday during the parade. I did make these fun projects with a couple classes. This is a marker depiction of a cut paper project. The text is an integrated part of the image and sums up the day:

                arrange cut and glue
excited by Halloween
                         sugar before art

October 29 was the day of the memorial service for my friend, Barbara Tebo. The purple honors her love of the color. The image is a disconnected assembly of flowers and  cheesecloth to represent textiles. The text is written on strips of white paper colored lightly with purple.

     a longterm friendship collects sadness and laughter say farewell with time 

October 28 I wove a small piece of scrap papers. The text appears on the laighter strips and documents the weaving project I do with fifth graders. A  woven-look advertisement frames the visual.  

October 27   I used the inside of an envelope for the basis of this entry. As I post this, I see a spelling mistake, but I think the verse is worth repeating:

Text and imagery illude my creative catch. Where are they hiding ?

A portion of the text is written on the card and the middle syllables are on a scrap of white paper. The date is also part of the image.

It's raining enough to keep me from walking as early as I'd hoped. Soon, I'm off to school to photograph work and hang some work. With just under 200 students,I can't put all the photos up.  I'm going to create Picasa web albums with all the work and just have the link on the Artists Workshop blog.

Yesterday, Mary L. and I met for breakfast. Then we stopped at our friend Barbara's grave. It's been a year since she passed away and we felt we needed to say goodbye again.


DAILY HAIKU 2009

October 26 Stamps of the sun and flip flops capture the weather -warm and a walk. The puppy paw paper brings Deezel along and occupies the majority of the entry. The verse is written on a scrap of vellum and attached across the mid section of the entry. A primitive "border" of irregular log shapes ttightens the space.

       beautiful oak trees
thousands of leaves on the ground
       temporary loss

A sense of vagueness requires interpretation by the reader and is more of an impression than a specific meaning. This strikes me as a strong Haiku for that reason.


October 25th

The name of the day is the central image for this entry, I colored it with red and yellow pencils. Puppy paw tissue  and flip flops show Deezel and I walked together. The text is written on a frame cut of light weight vellum. I first stamped it with the stamp I'd used for family celebrations. This was to celebrate Steve's 60th birthday. 

Again, the text has a degree of vagueness: what was made note of by the family? the glowing Fall?
That's an acceptable assumption.

the next to last Sunday in October, razzle dazzle maples

Again, I am marveling, and  yet bewildered, at the speed with which the days, weeks and months pass.
Deezel and I had a 3 mile walk this morning even though I am coughing due to COPD irritated by allergies. Need the walk.
Several maples along our walk are still stunning. They're aglow with a yellow-pink color that's begging to be photographed, and yet illudes being captured on film or in digital form. A perfect specimen on a property about a mile from home was taken down to make room for a new house. I can still see it standing there. Its off spring are getting bigger, but it was truly stunning. I was in tears at its destruction. Was it necessary?
The  grasses in my garden look nice. The leaves are filling in some areas. I rarely take the leaves off in the fall. In the spring, I take the loose layer or leave them as long as the new plants can pentrate them. It's Mother Nature's mulch.
I sat down at my work table to think about art for "ART JOURNAL - July- Dec". I just sat there. I tried to demand the work to come, but it didn't. I may use the technique we worked with in our journaling class last week: number from 1-31, beside each number write something (e.g. laughter, loss, toads, fruitcake, etc) . If one is stuck, look at the number corresponding with the date and write/make art about whatever is listed.
 I seldom am stuck for an idea, but have to listen to see which idea is really calling to me.I could look back at the art I made one year ago and see if that triggers the creative juices.I have used the entries in D.H 2009 for art in the past by enlarging the work or even printing the photos and working them into the image.
What did I do a year ago?

DAILY HAIKU 2009
I went to Portsmouth Spa for a haircut. Jodi and I met first at Popover's for breakfast. This entry uses the pink from my appointment card, cut in small squares and triangles and arranged in a traditional quilt pattern "maple leaf" . It's those fabulous maples that amaze me every year. I wrote the text in a font similar to the writing that was on the appointment card.
                                                          Despite the steady
                                              rain, trees glow pink and yellow
                                                      against the grey sky.
I  added interest to the background by inking a lined stamp pad irregularly and with varied colors. I used it for the border also.

Feels like November, still looks like October

The backyard is covered with pale, but colored leaves - mainly maple. As is the back deck. Every time we go out or come in we bring leaves with us.
The catalpa leaves are still green. They fall all at once and really do blanket the lawn. Some of them are 8-10 inches long and almost as wide.

I have some errands to do and I promised Deezel a walk today (even though  walking into the cold wind does not help my copd).

DAILY HAIKU 2009

I remember that the second grade class was oblivious to the need to clean up until I raised my voice. They just get settled in after 20 minutes and it's time to clean up. The art work came from my frustration and sadness that I resorted to "anger" to get a response.

I attached a piece of rice paper to the card. It has Chinese-looking characters on it.  I wrote the verse on vellum, didn't like it so I turned  those pieces upside down and glued them horizontally. Then I wrote the verse on a textured piece of paper from an advertisement and glued it diagonally over everything.

October 22

Paula, Dawn and I went to Concord for an art share with a group from the Women's Caucus for art. The three of us started meeting for our own share after this.

Purple tissue covers some of the base card. Purple gauze covers some scraps, stitched in place with tracing paper..

Exploring, sharing,

new directions, new ideas

women together.

anniversary, new blog

October  2009

October  2010

Roger and I took the dog to the beach for some sand and play time. He made a friend there who was a very cute, busy and dominating puppy that looked like a Corgi with a Rottweiller face. Deezel is about 10 times the size, but the smaller dog was trying desperately to be the dominate one - dog lovers can probably envision the types af attention this means.He tried to dig a rope from under the lobster trap.
We stopped at Barnes & Noble for some new movies and books. Then to Kitchen & Company for margarita glasses. We stopped for a Deezel- stretch at Dover Point and went to Dover for a yummy dessert at Cafe Ciabatta. Then to "Ear Craft". Roger finally bought a new guitar for himself. I was tempted by the mandolins. I would have to learn to play it, they are so pretty. The last stop was at the florists for a bouquet for me, the bride of 32 years. At lunch, we spent some time looking back over my various careers during our marriage. All have been teacher related, except for odd stints at Flora Ventures, Cecilia's Bakery, The Patchworks, Newmarket Post Office and Measured Progress.
Now, I am happily semi-retired and work as art teacher at East Kingston Elementary. I am at the planning stage for a blog to connect to the "Artist's Workshop". I'll be posting kids' work there . The blog will have single images with links to additional photos of classes' projects. It'll be fun to do and fun for parents and kids to see their work on-line. Watch for announcements.

DAILY HAIKU 2009
The small watercolor of hickory nuts on a scrap of paper. The dark sides are from a photo of Indian peace pipes from the summer.                
                                            The passing season's
                                             devotional - collecting
                                                   green hickory nuts.

Every year I can't resist picking up the gems of nature - nuts, acorns, colored leaves, and chestnuts.

The background is from the inside of an envelope. It looks woven, so I added to the idea with some scraps from a photo from a few days ago. I went to the ballet at UNH with my sister, Anne.

                Weaving together
             sights, sounds, work, play, which is the
                  warp, and which the weft ?

where does the time go?

Sorry to have missed so many days. What was I doing?
Friday: I was at school -it was another fabulous art day.
Saturday: After a walk with Deezel,I went to the Cocheco Quilt Show in Rochester - I got a piece of fabric for the back of  a small fabric piece based on a Daily Haiku entry.
Sunday: Deezel and I got our walk in first then I went to Exeter to see "The Vision & The Voice" exhibit at the Town Hall Gallery with Dawn and Paula.
Monday: I took a long walk with Deezel, washed floors and went to Stamped Designs, Red's Shoe Barn and Goodwill in Dover.
And now Tuesday: I will take along walk with Deezel -I do 4 miles on Tuesday and then go to school to photograph kids' work to be ready to create a website tomorrow afternoon.
I  have to take a few minutes, again, to tell you about Friday at school, It was a SHARE day for all the Friday classes. With our new schedule, we dedicate a class to STUDIO, followed the next week by a SHARE only time. The kids are responding to this extended time with thoughtful writing about their work. And it seems their work is better also. I wrote about this also in the post for the 16th.

DAILY HAIKU 2009
October 19
October's vivid
sun returns to shine the leaves'
rich varied colors.
This is a photo of oak leaves taken on  the New Road walk. I trimmed the same photo to border it. I used this photo on the 17th also.October 18
We had one of those fun and funny weather days with rain, giant snowflakes and colored leaves falling noted by the verse.  I used my leaf pattern to trace and cut from a scrapbooking paper. I made the snowflake with tracing paper, folded and cut out like we did as kids. I stamped it with a silver ink pad - a little too much, I think.
The text enlarges the image written around it in a varied size font.
It reads: Giant snowflakes, rain and leaves all falling on a cold dreary day. It's missing a syllable. I should write it to read: Giant snowflakes, rain, leaves all falling on a cold  dreary autumn day.

October 17

Cocheco Quilt Show in Rochester, NH

I glued a piece of that fabulous blue paper to a card with a commercial scrapbook paper over it.There is a border design drawn on the orange paper.  I shaped the "quilt " with  the same photo twice and Haiku of leaves in the center, bordered by white papers with the text printed on them. This is one of a few that is not a sentence. It's missing a syllable. "Sculptured" looks like it works, so it works for me.

                cloth  patchwork  stitches

     geometry floral curves

             sculptured designs

first nor'easter of the season

Yesterday we had our first nor'easter which brought a lot of rain and winds. We're still having strong winds today. They're good for drying laundry and the tons of leaves that came down with the wind, but Deezel and I will be buffetted around on our walk. Our color along the coast is still very nice. I took this picture last weekend in New Castle. I've never found that blue in fabric.
I had such a satisfying day yesterday. It was a write and share day. Other than the fact that the Friday classes have only done this once before, it went well. Each student chooses a work to share. Since it's early in the year, most shared portfolio work. Except for the first grades, they write in their sketchbooks. Most of them use the prompt, "When I dive into my picture, I see... /I hear.../ I feel.../ I smell.." It's an open ended, yet can be specifc prompt.
We talked about why I am such a believer in this part of the process. I do tiny postit size sketches of the work to help me remember what each is doing. The last class of the day is a fifth grade and their art and writing was impressive.
I've adapted this format from what I've used for years past. I had been on a two week cycle.  It was never very satisfying, not enough work time and not enough share time.
So, at the end of year, after asking the classes what they'd change about art, and many of them said more Studio time, I thought about this schedule. I was apprehensive about a 40 minute time in the Studio, but it's proving to be well worth the change. I actually can do some individual instruction for kids pursuing their own interests, they can get into a work and they can be very thoughtful about what they see and say in share time. I can also be responsive to specific interests that arise,  since "Studio" time has an element of choice, while still presenting what "has" to be taught. I've also been conscientious about leaving time at the end of classes to prepare them for the next week.  It has reminded me in a big way that the art process is about  each of them, not me.

Now, I have to get efficient about photographing their work during either studio or share time. Of course, I'll teach them to photograph work as the year goes by.

DAILY HAIKU 2009

October 16

This marks the day that I found the giant oak leaf . I used a stylized leaf that I had made as a stencil with a single red color.

Single leaf fallen

to the ground, wordless beauty

 powerful beauty.

October 15

I worked as a judge for the Cocheco Quilt Show. I was amazed at how so much of what I learned all those years as a quiltmaker is still accessible in a practical way.

Lovely cold fall day

the feel and look of quilts bring

back another self.

This is a pencil and colored pencil sketch of a made up design. I did later enlarge it and create it in fabrics.

from summer to winter

It was a zesty 36 degrees this morning. The cemetary we walked by had a coating of frost and gave it that soft, yet unreal look. Leaves are falling creating a crunchy multi-colored carpet. In the woods, the acorns are ballbearings under foot. I am careful when I walk. It's a little freaky to feel my foot roll along on a few of these little things. It's hard to believe that I don't just crush them.  They're just not that big.Soon they'll be covered with lovely white snow and I'll be using snowshoes to get through the woods.
I feel fall has been very quick.
After I get my car from the garage, I'm meeting Paula for lunch - not Paula from East Kingston, but from Montessori days. She's babysitting this afternoon. I'll go with her to see Amy and Benjamin. I may do some odd, light chores outside this afternoon. Or, I may make a quick trip to All About Paper on Route 1 in Hampton. I am beginning to plan for my annual Christmas card. Last year I replicated a Daily Haiku entry on a postcard and had it copied on white cardstock

DAILY HAIKU 2009
October 14
I am the mighty
oak leaf inspiring awe and
 creativity.

I came to appreciate the five syllable words that worked either in the first line or the last. For the art work, I traced the oak I'd made, split it as I drew and used colored pencils. The text is written with a Sharpie pen on tracing paper.

My favored style of lettering has the text traveling around one side of the card. It's effective for the content and the day. The right side has a light blue background and the sun stamp. The left side has the word rain written to enclose a drop shape and vertically.

The text has a square, irregular look to it with  a paw drawn and  flip flop stamp for my regular walk with Deezel. I added a few shapes and lines to the sun stamp.  The rest of the day was spent making winter preparations, then recuperating.

busy days,

WOW ! What a weekend. We were at the Governor's Inn in Rochester yesterday for Kim and Justin's wedding. The day started with shopping and a walk with Deezel. He'd be alone most of the day and needed some time and exercise. Gay, Roger's sister from Florida, came here first and we went to breakfast. Then to the wedding. It was a marvelous time and the weather was just about perfect also.
Saturday, we were at Great Island Common in New Castle, NH for a cookout and carving of pumpkins. Each pumpkin was a letter to spell out "Kimberlee &Justin". These were arranged as part of the circle formed by guests and attendants at the wedding. It was very windy at the Common, but sunny and the maples were sparkly - yellow, green and orange in the sun. We got home about 3:00. Roger and I caught the waning sun in our field with Deezel and Buck Wheat.

Friday, October 8, was a school day. It was "Studio" for all the classes. On those days, the kids work on whatever they started (or wish to start) to get ready to share the next time we meet. I've restructured the Artists' Workshop format. In the past it's been Week1 ,a lesson, Week 2 split for studio and share. At the end of the year last year. I asked all my classes what they liked and didn't like about "art". Every class wanted more studio time. And since I felt sharing time was always rushed, we are now on a 3 week model: week 1, a lesson, with some work time; Week 2, all studio time; Week 3 write and share time. This is modified somewhat for 1st grades where I offer them another project after they share.

Thursday, October 7
I didn't schedule to the last minute with chores. I did whatever I felt like. I called Mary L. to catch up. Of course, I walked with Deezel. Then we went to Newington to Kohl's for pants.Since I had finished two pieces for the exhibit in Exeter, I didn't do any art work.

Wednesday was a rainy, blustery day. I went to school and had a very good day. It was a write and share day for these classes. At the end of the class, I asked them why I ask them to do this because I sense some doubters about the work. Several were right on about it being time to see each other's work and be inspired. I also pointed out that it was a time to appreciate and really look at their own work. For the 5th grade, I pointed out it was a time to include all the art related vocabulary they'd heard these past 4 years. I stopped in Exeter to drop off "My White Dress" and "Haiku Collection-Fall'09", two 8 x 10 collages for The Voice & The Vision to open Saturday. Then I went to Dover for the journal writing class at Dover Adult Ed.

DAILY HAIKU 2009

This is colored pencil study I did. It recognizes my perpetual habit of collecting these lovely little items each fall.Actually it's a required ritual since I was young to fill my pockets with hickory nuts, acorns, and/or chestnuts only to admire their handsized beauty.

October 10 This depicts the view through the porch window of a geranium inside and the maple leaves as a backdrop. The yellow is a Crayola paint brush. The red and green, colored pencils.

 October 9
Making art with kids
brings satisfaction and keeps
personal art fresh.
This entry is a Crayola paint brush and Sharpie representation of an Oaxacan wood carving. My sister, Anne, brought it to me from one of her trips many years ago. I use it as a sample for second grade to make animals of Model Magic. Then each of them made a postcard using their animals as the subjects. .

October 8

I saved this leaf for its minute, jagged edges.I put it in a little zip-loc bag and stitched it to the card with an orange border from a postcard. I used a straight stitch and decorative stitches. Little pieces of puppy paw tissue paper and the flip flop stamp show Deezel and I took a walk.

Lovely fall day, leaves
blow violently on the branches,
skip across the road.

leaves are sparkling

It's a windy, cool, partially sunny New Hampshire fall day.  Good for drying sheets outside and blowing leaves everywhere.
It clears to a blue sky with fluffy clouds, then it clouds over with steel-blue, heavy, cumulus clouds.When I was driving to Portsmouth through Dover near the water, the cloudbank edged the tree-filled horizon. Squeezed between them was a band of robin's egg blue sky. The water in Great Bay reflected the steel, cold sky. Wish I'd had my camera.
Don't you think Time is traveling too fast?  I'm still trying to slow it down by visiting 2009 through Daily Haiku entries.


DAILY HAIKU 2009
 Paula, Dawn and I went to this exhibit in Manchester. I used the brochure photos and text for this entry.
The book is by Johanna Finnegan-Topitzer. Her work is inspiringly lovely. 

October 6
The text notes that I made this Tuesday card by mistake when I had already done one, I saved it for the next Tuesday. It singles out the look of the name of the day in lettering, slightly bordered and with a soft shadow.

dark at 6:00 am, and an eery quiet

I woke up having a funny , oddly funny dream. It involved people I got to know whenI worked at the New England Quilt Museum. We were setting up an exhibit. I was gathering items to show from different places. I was apprehensive about my bags of things not arriving on time. A woman asked me about what I was doing now; she knew me and I knew I knew her but could not remember her name. Somehow, my childhood home was involved and falling apart. Both my parents were present.
It wasn't a bad dream, but an odd aggregate of people, places and energies. I laid in bed thinking about it and then came down at 5:00 to write.
It's a very dark morning, deep black envelopes my small lit area.
It's a very quiet morning.  I can hear a small clock ticking and my ears ringing. My laptop's humming is loud. I can hear the distant jet engine of a plane overhead.
Too early for Deezel or the birds. All the windows are closed, all the plants are in. Fall's preparations are seriously underway.
Sounds like a Haiku, or maybe a Haibun.

Darkness, stillness hold
and soothe me. I am not free, but
captive to their charms.

What will my image be?  How does one depict silence?
DAILY HAIKU 2009

The rectangular shapes in this entry began as tiny textiles for another art journal that's waiting to be worked on. It's about "Patterns". I've done a few pages and will pass it along to Dawn or Paula for them to add their images.

For  this entry in DAILY HAIKU 2009,   I used Bristol board for the shapes, cut them out, attached them and used marker to draw two much used symbols - the sun, and a spiral, puppy paw print. The blue between the shapes is colored pencil and leaves a white border around the shapes.

early autumn winds

scatter acorns, pine needles -

earth's seasonal wear

I wish the text didn't fall off the top edge (poor pre-thinking ). The image and text are un-related, but

I like both.

lovely October day on Saturday, rainy and cool on Monday

I started the day with some art work in ART JOURNAL : July -Dec and chores. It looked like rain, so I didn't walk. After I vacuumed, I finished photographing October's entries. I retook some of the blurry ones -still have trouble not moving my camera slightly when I push the shutter button.  Then,I photoed all 31 days together.

Before the day is over, I need to bring in the house plants that are still outside. We're getting some cold evenings. First, I have to move stuff in my studio to make room for the begonias that winter in here.  The clivia I bought last spring has been outside but it has white fly, so I need to treat it.

Sunday, Deezel and I walked after shopping. I went to Kim's shower for the afternoon. She's Justin's (our nephew) fiance.

 On Saturday, it was sunny and bright out with all the yellow maples adding their radiance. After a four mile walk,I spent much of the day inside finishing "My White Dress" and "Haiku Collection - Fall '09" art work. I left gluing and final assembly into the frames for Sunday. By the way, both the bamboo frames from Dick Blick and  the frames from Frame USA are very nice. I used one of each .

I also  finally finished two pages/one spread in ART JOURNAL: July -Dec. I started them nearly a month ago. The scraps and possible things to include have been collecting along with the dust!

 It seems that approaching work that has a deadline and keeps me working, helped with the work I was stalled on, and maybe the other way also.

DAILY HAIKU 2009

October 4

This is one of a kind for the whole of this project. The original is in a frame on my wall. I liked the entry so much I couldn't get myself to trim the cheeecloth and scraps to fit into the plastic sleeve. I photo'd the work, printed it out and put that in the book. The cheesecloth is stitched over words on small strips. The collection of scraps under the words was odds and ends left over that I scooped up and dropped on a card, as the text says. It has a dark blue border of mat board, seen slightly in the photo.

Scraps, bits, odds, and ends

compiling a day's events

gathered together.

October 3  The text creates the image and the border for this entry.
A day of rain brings
rest for the body and soul.
Dripping leaves shimmer.
The center of the image has oak leaves floating under a piece of tracing paper with "rain" written and vertical lines in the background. The words  provide depth repeated in the border which has a touch of green ink and lines to imitate a constructed frame.

October 2

Most often it seems that sadness or illness causes a loss in creativity or at least creative thinking. This entry speaks to a full and happy frame of mind having no room for creativity. I have used this leaf before. this is a coloring of an outline made using a stencil. I wrote the text in an outer border textured with pencil lines.

The poetic line

escapes one's nourished heart.

The yellow leaf floats.

October 1

Summer has released its green, and new mixed greens appear and float down.

This entry is framed with ink from stamping pads and it has a few simple strips of colorful papers left over from another day. The font of the text helps to fill that space in the right and serves as the image.