THE COUNTDOWN IS ON

 As the clock started ticking as soon as the turkey carcass was bare....holiday season is really warming up now.

I'm busy each weekend from Friday thru Sunday at the Sawdust Festival's Winter Fantasy. And what a joyous time it is. Children come all dressed up for their pics with Santa, the marionette show delights young and old, music sounds throughout the grounds that are decorated for the holidays...and of course there are the artists selling their personal magic. This is something not to be missed if you're in town. It is a great way to let the holidays in.

IT'S ABOUT TIME

 

I know it has been a really long time since I have made any contribution to this blog. My only excuse is that I have been busy living...and creating.

The Sawdust Art Festival starts in three weeks and I still have a bit more work/creative play I need to do to be ready for opening. And, of course, there is no day that goes by without time in nature to feed my soul. So... that's my excuse in a nutshell.

I'm having a lot of fun experimenting and playing with new ways to do things so be prepared for some subtle and some big shifts. 

Creative play is the key to ....well, everything💓

The festival opens June 28th and runs 66 days.

LEMONS TO LEMONADE?

Something about this image calms my cluttered mind. It is tranquil in so many ways. The first of several vintage pieces I've been working on, I just keep returning to gaze on it for some reason.

Sure, the recent storms have been rattling my cage--high winds, heavy rain, and more keep me cooped up and restless. And yet....So many others have it so much worse. Who am I to complain? So I turn to focusing on some of what brings me joy...yes, creating. It never fails.

Color, texture, image....all of it softens the edges of the restlessness.

What do you do when things are our of whack, when life seems to bring lemons?

WHASUP?

 Seems like forever since I've contributed anything to this blog. So "Whasup?" seemed the appropriate heading.

So what IS up? 

I have had a couple of really fun workshops filled with not only enjoyment galore but lots of experimenting and learning through the exploration. Fun!

One of the techniques tried was transferring a magazine image using Gelli plates. This opened up several possibilities, including the one pictured here.

Also, what's up is getting ready for the Sawdust Art Festival's Winter Fantasy. I've been at work on some original pieces that can be super affordable for holiday giving and am excited about the result. There are parking challenges for this year's Winter Fantasy, but they are not insurmountable and the city and Sawdust staff are hard at work to create transportation opportunities so don't be daunted...come see us weekends November 19th thru December 18th.

PLAYING AROUND GETS RESULTS

After experiencing beginner's luck with subsequent failures at the last mixed media playtime, I decided to take some time, study, and research to see if consistency might be achieved. And so I began. And went on. And tried again. And went on.

Finally, I met with some successes again--some better than others, I will admit. Still....I think if I keep at this.... Meanwhile, I am having some fun with the results (adding ephemera and more.) So stay tuned to see the final result.

For sure we will be doing more of this experimentation at the workshop on September 18th!!

ONCE IN A WHILE...

 

I have long thought that many of us who create do so in part to make connections with others through our art. Recently, I have been blessed to make a few of those connections and I would like to share this one with you because it is so beautiful:

As I do when I can, I reached out to the purchaser of an original piece--Crow in the Snow--and the following is the reply, which I have permission to share. I think it is pretty special.

"Dear Cherril,

Thank you so much for reaching out to me and I am fascinated to know that you loved this picture so much that you did not want to let it fly!

Let me tell you why I wanted to buy it.

Firstly, it is a beautiful picture and I was attracted to it immediately due to its style and feel.

Beyond that, let me tell you a short story. A true one.

I am English but I live here in Orange County. My daughter was born here. We went to England in June. She had previously bought me a book called 'England's Most Beautiful Villages.' We decided to pick few local ones and make them the centerpiece of individual days.

One day we picked Heptonstall in Yorkshire. On the way there we drove through Mytholmroyd. I knew that Ted Hughes, a former Poet Laureate, had been born there and, according to our charter that all interruptions and segues were to be followed, we stopped and looked for some record of his existence. We found the house he grew up in (until age 8), did some pics, and then I made her listen to me read 'Hawk in the Rain.'

We moved on towards Heptonstall but, in case you didn't know, Ted Hughes' 'Crow:From the Life and Songs of the Crow' was considered his masterpiece.

In Heptonstall, quite unexpectedly, we came upon Ted Hughes' wife's grave. His wife was Sylvia Plath, an American, who was the author of The Bell Jar.

We had a wonderful day.

When I saw your Crow, I wanted it to remind me forever of that day during which we saw Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath but also ourselves and I knew that every time I looked at your Crow it would remind me of that day and my daughter forever.

So thank you for all that!

Keith

WOW! Right? Such a delightful connection for all of us. And now I find I see Crow in the Snow through different eyes and I am soooo glad that I decided I could part with it.

Connections are beautiful things and I thank Keith for sharing.

(I thought to shorten his letter, but found I could not leave out one word.)

AH, YES...THE ANSWER....

 

And of course the answer to "Will there be crows?" is a resounding YES! Whether one, two, three, or an entire murder of crows I seem to not be able to create without including at least some of them here and there.

At the summer's Sawdust Art Festival this year you can find them in many forms, from cards to card collections, to prints, to originals. Several have flown away, but we will be there until August 28th is you want to meet the remaining ones. And of course, there are likely to be new ones coming along too.