April, Come She Will, verse 2

Here are a couple of the photos I have been working from for the "April" tapestry maquette, though much of the design comes just from my imagination. The photo above is of my guitar, which will not be slavishly copied in the design, but used just as inspiration. While I had my guitar in photo form, though, I did the version below, which is now my phone screen image! It makes a great wallpaper image, and it makes me happy when I open my phone.

 

The photo below is of the flowering crab tree in my back yard. It is a beautiful mess of a tree! Somewhat like life itself. And a good deal like the month of April, which is always a beautiful mess of a month here in Colorado.

There is very little else in the tapestry; a woman playing a guitar, crab apple blossoms, and, oh yes, the blackbird. I have a lot of crow photos and a few blackbird ones, but I confess that I mostly looked at bird books for the bird. Everything is simplified down to the most basic forms, like I would LIKE life, and the messy month of April, to be.

The maquette is now done. The loom is warped and the heading woven. The cartoon is also drawn up to actual size. I have baskets of (hopefully) appropriate colors arranged by subject on the floor around the loom; a 'guitar' basket, a 'background' basket, a 'blossom' basket, and a basket for the figure. I am ready to sit down and begin. As soon as my company leaves, I will be at the loom.

... and I will be happy to be there!

April, Come She Will.....

detail, "April" maquette, K Spoering

Here is a small bit of the maquette for my next calendar tapestry, the one for April. It will be called, "April, Come She Will," after the Simon and Garfunkel song of that name, which is one of my favorite songs, and has long inspired me in a number of ways.  Obviously, this piece will at least partially be about my love of music. In fact, the bird is also a personal reference to the Beatle's song, "Blackbird," which is one of the most challenging and rewarding pieces of music I have learned to play on my guitar.

I finished the maquette this morning, and this afternoon I am choosing the yarns. Tomorrow, I will tie the warp back onto the lower beam of my loom, and draw up the cartoon. The next step after all that will be to begin weaving, and I can hardly wait!!

I am so enthusiastic about weaving again and about this somewhat personal design, that I believe it will weave fairly quickly. There are also not as many details and fiddley areas as many of my recent designs have included. Perfect summer weaving! I'll post my progress as I go, so you can see if I am right in these predictions.......

Play, play, we played all day!

Final Game Junior College World Series

 (... and a good bit into the night!) My family has been here for the past week. We had our two sons and their families here,, as well as my father-in-law, who comes each year to go to a week of JUCO games, which take place a block from our house.

In addition to a LOT of baseball, we went to a fun park and did laser tag, bumper boats (where this Grandma got very wet), miniature golf, and some hiking in the Colorado National Monument... or rather, they all hiked and I sketched, then drove to the end of the trail to pick them up. So we were very busy having fun, and this page in my sketchbook is all the non-food-related creative work I did all week.

But today, all have gone home except my father-in-law, who will be here the rest of this week. So my brain is ready to start thinking ahead to the work awaiting me in the studio. I have the 'April' tapestry maquette about 80% done, and I think I know how I want it completed. I also am thinking of the 'Send This Artist to Paris' project I talked about in the last post. I hope to get it up and ready by the end of next week.

Sometimes, all an artist can do is think.  It is an important task, though; this thinking. And I am glad it can often take place while I am doing somewhat non-creative but necessary chores; like catching up on the laundry (all those sheets and towels!) and re-stocking the pantry and refrigerator.

So that is what will happen today: putting my brain on 'artist mode' and thinking ahead so I'll be ready to begin the work again in the studio tomorrow, as least for a short bit of work. In the meantime, I will catch up on some domestic tasks, and this evening I'll reorganize my work space (as a couple of grandchildren slept in the studio while here) so I can get to work tomorrow.

Summer is like this for me: I work in bits and pieces; fits and starts. And the play time is such delicious nourishment for the work time!

Send This Artist to Paris!

This is another of my little 'Places I Remember' paintings. It is of Quebec City, in the rain. It is also just 5x7". It is oil on masonite. It is one of the little paintings I will be doing canvas prints of for my new project.

So... here is what I will be setting up, as a new Etsy project: It will be a 'Send This Artist to Paris Sale.' It will include paintings, prints, tapestries, and some other items I  have ideas for. Any purchase for the next 9 months-a year will also include a postcard from me from Paris, when I reach my goal of raising the funds to get there!

I have been to Paris once, with my son in May of 2012 (you can see my posts from there if you go to that time period in the archive list on the right.) I saw a LOT of that wonderful city in the week we were there. But it is something like having just one sip of le chocolat chaud; you just want more! I did not see the Gobelins Tapestry Workshop, nor did we get to Giverny or up to Montmarte or to Sacre Couer. And I could easily spend another full day in the Louvre, and I am missing the Lady and her Unicorns, and wanting to see them (especially the one that was out for cleaning and repair) again. 

So... I will soon set up my 'sale' and see how it goes. I will let you know when (and what) I post on the sight. Wish me luck, and if you have any ideas for what might do well in such a project, please let me know!

How I spent my morning vacation...

I have a very busy week ahead of me, then a few more busy weeks to come after that. So I decided to take a morning 'vacation' and do something just for myself for a small space of time.  I signed up for a sketchbook workshop at a local art supply store. Since I have been keeping sketchbooks for several years, I decided this would be a no stress situation, and I always enjoy learning something from someone else. I didn't even have to take any materials; all were provided. In fact, I think it was that last feature that clinched the decision for me, as I'm always fascinated with what other artists use to sketch or work with.

The workshop leader, a man named Don West, keeps a lovely sketchbook, which he documents on his blog.  He provided us with very nice handmade journals, filled with 90 lb. watercolor pages. He also provided clever paint sets, several sizes of waterproof markers, and a water brush. Then he gave each of us something different to sketch. I got a couple of tickets to a dance performance and a Guatemalan cup. In doing my sketch, I discovered several things: I like my own water brushes better than the one he gave us, as it leaked water and kept the brush loaded with water and too wet, no matter how much I blotted it. Also, I have come to love using fountain pens, so I found the markers somewhat clumsy in comparison, though they are an excellent brand and worked well, not bleeding into the water at all. I have painted so many cups (one of my favorite go-to subjects when I am stuck) that I found myself a bit bored with the cup, but I had fun sketching the tickets! That was good to discover, too, as I often just glue ticket stubs into my journal or sketchbook. From now on, I'll sketch them in!

I did not disclose that I am already a sketchbook keeper. I believe the women next to me had some experience, as well. We all just sketched, and everyone did something clever and unique in their books. It was lovely to have a few hours where I was actually required to sketch. Then, as all vacations go, it was over too soon, and I needed to get back to work. Sometimes a few hours of vacation are just right.... no bags to pack even, for this one! And I brought some 'souvenirs' home with me; the best kind (new art supplies!) As vacations go, it was a pretty economical one, as well.

Life is too short to not take a few vacations here and there. Even if they only last an hour or two.

Working, in many ways....

Bass Harbor Lighthouse, Acadia National Park, Maine

I have been getting a lot done, though I have not been at the loom since I cut the "November" tapestry from the loom. We went up to our cabin for a few days last weekend, and while there I painted several small paintings, including the one above. They are all just 5"x7", oil on canvas. They are of places I have been, and have loved visiting. I am starting to get quite a collection of 'places I remember' paintings; all just 5x7". I love to prop them up on window ledges or on a shelf among other items I treasure. I do not frame them, but let them stand alone; little memories on canvas. I would like to one day do a small coffee shop exhibit of them. But... I also have another plan in mind for some of them, which I will reveal soon.

In the meantime, I have been repairing and painting a cracked basement floor, painting a bedroom, planting a bit of garden, and spring cleaning both cabin and house, as we have company coming this weekend and throughout the summer. In fact, I need to get back to work, as those little worker elves who do your work at night while you sleep just refuse to come here, for some reason.

'November' finally here!

"November" tapestry, Kathy Spoering

The 'November' calendar tapestry is getting closer to being done. The slits are all sewn, and it is blocked. I am just waiting for my in-house carpenter to build me the custom mounting frame; then I will mount it and it can join the other completed tapestries in this series, as they wait for me to find a venue to exhibit them all together, and to complete the final three tapestries.

Good news on that front, as well: I am very excited about a design I am working on for the 'April' tapestry. So far, it is mostly in my head, but I am beginning to pull it out into visible maquette format. It will be considerably different from any of the other tapestries, but that is what I want for the April tapestry, so YEA!

I think I am happy with this one. It takes me a while to decide, once done with a piece. I have been too close to it for too long. But I don't hate it, and that is a good thing. In fact, I believe it captures a feel I have for the month of November, and more specifically, a special time and place for that month, quite well. This is an image capturing the full autumn moon as it comes up through the bare trees up on the mountain at our cabin. In the tapestry, I recognize the specific tree; one of my 'friend trees,' just outside the cabin's kitchen door. I have actually woven this particular tree before - or bits of it - in the "Scrub Oak" tapestry!

Back to the studio... there is more work to be done there today, and for that, I am happy and grateful.