We are on the Move

Good grief!! We've sold our home of 30 plus years!!

December 12 we received an offer, although we had not even put it on the market, and by December 18 we were done!! And, with no house bought to move into.

Needless to say, with 45 days set to pack and get ready to move and find a home to move into, we might not be posting many of our art works on this site.

Today, while others went about scooping up bargains at the stores, Manuela and I packed and went and got more boxes and packing paper, and packed and picked up some groceries and packed.

I started in my studio, which appeared quite small, but the number of packed boxes just seemed to grow and grow. I did not even get to supplies on my desks nor to the books.

These boxes are stacked in front of my two stacked credenzas. Note the books.



The closet of art supplies was cleared out. Note the books.


Despite my efforts the art supplies not boxed spilled over the desks and onto the floor. Note the bird who keeps cooing as she does not know what is going on. I should coo, too.


And the spillage just took over all the working surfaces of my(?) studio. Note the books.


Even the linen closet in the hallway was commandeered for storage.



Our year, 2008, has ended on a different note, more so than Manuela and I had intended. The New Year should thus be rather exciting as indeed we start a New Chapter in our lives. We are on the lookout for studio space for the two of us in our new, not-yet-found home. Once established we will be back at work with renewed vigour and we will return to blogging when we have more to share.

Manuela and I wish everyone a new and exciting 2009.

"White Christmas" Song Revisited

Santa and his Reindeer sing I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
I like this fun Christmas card based on a classic golden oldie's version of "White Christmas." I also like the animation from Joshua Held of the UK.

Have a Merry Christmas Holiday wherever you are.

A Warm Sweater and Family

The winter storms hit and I put on my knitted sweater -knitted by my daughter's mother-in-law for me. How talented she is at knitting.


As I sat snug in its warmth I thought about the artistic enterprises of the family - which goes beyond Manuela and me.

My mother-in-law has made jewellery, built amoires and carved tables, painted pictures, sculpted, cast bronze, and dabbled in other artistic pursuits -and all after the age of 60.
My daughter has been involved in advertising and directs productions for a television corporation. Her husband photographs some of the most beautiful landscapes and animal pictures (you will have to hunt for them at http://theadventuresofmadmalandhobbes.blogspot.com/)
My son uses his art degree to think outside the box as a director in a computer company that provides a range of telecom and IT in-building services that meet the changing business needs of their clients. His wife, as a manager of a large retail corporation, puts together marketing displays in her store to attract the customers as they walk about. And their daughter, my goodness, she was mixing her paints like a pro at the cottage this year and painting pictures of trees in a storm -and she's 3.

I feel warm and secure surrounded by my well knit sweater and such a talented family -who actually understand Manuela and me as we continually work on our next new artistic endeavour.

Punch Needle Potpourri

While Manuela watches TV she often keeps her hands busy doing punch needle work or knitting ...or continuing any one of a variety of crafts projects that she has on the go. This punch needle potpourri of different fabric embellishments is typical of her handiwork ..this one is in continual progress.
Her she has combined a doily, beads, stones, punch needle and more.

Further Ponderings on "the Craft"

Just pondering while I work....

Details of the Fallen Tree Pyro painting

I have been out in the garage finishing up the pyrographic burning of the fallen tree image on plywood. It was a chilly -3 degrees Celsius out there. I had to put a glove on my one hand as it had begun to tingle with cold. Two sessions of 45 minutes each was enough and then my legs began to feel numb. It was time to come inside.
Nevertheless I finished up the pyrographic detail for the picture. I was looking to accent rhythms in the plywood and the fallen tree image.
At sometime the painting will begin!

Return to the New Pyrographic/Acrylic Painting in the Works

The drawing of the fallen tree that I had penciled onto plywood had to be burnt. I could not do it at home because the fumes were too much for me in my small studio and so I waited until I could go to my son's home where I could use the huge work area to burn the image. And, I bought a mask.

The work was painful -literally. My back strained while bending over the plywood. Usually I have worked on smaller pieces that I could burn while holding on my lap. Not so with this 48" x 30" plywood piece. I could only work for 30 minutes at a time and then rested the burning tool - and my back. And still I worked from 10:00am to 4:30pm (half hour for lunch).

Despite two days of working I still have burning to do -and then there's the painting.

Manuela's Fabric Works -Another Example

Manuela has even used her hand-made, thread fabric to cover this box embellished with drift wood and thread-knot moss.

From Manuela-Made Thread Fabrics to Art Objects

Although Manuela's thread fabrics are lovely to look at in themselves, their incorporation into the art work and embellishment of utilitarian art objects is quite the challenge.

Manuela takes this

to make this

And other pieces have been added along with other material and embellishments to make



and...

and so on...

Manuela-Made New "Thread Fabric"

(Click on the image to get a larger, clearer image)