Storm Over

I decided to add the quilt I am making for a grand daughter. All done but the binding and I hope to do that tonight. It was on the docket for last night when the lights went out.

Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it, Diane

Here on the island we had a hellascious storm blow through all day yesterday and then power outage all night into the morning. We have been lucky there are over 37,000 people without electricity still tonight and will go into tomorrow. I was just going to post a few paintigs done over the past few days. Here they are.

Almost Done

Well, the rug hookers are close to the wire now in finishing their own specially designed rugs. They not only created the design but sought out the best colors and fabrics. Some recycled woools, some not but all lovely. Its been one of the best classes yet. I suppose a lot of teachers say this but once they were over the hump of the basic learning curve they could slow down create and enjoyand this class has some beautiful rugs to show for all their persistence.

Now I am busy making small stars as prises for star students.

will post them tomorrow along with a view of my grand daughter's quilt to be. The top is done just need to iron again.

Have a creative day, the sun shine is wonderful and even seems to have some heat. Cold weather coming soon though, Diane

Day 9

This one is for Day 9. Clouds after the storm. We had heavy rains last night with all the resident buckets pinging away. The sky tried but never quite cleared off the heavy grayish cloud cover . A couple of times the sun tried its best to poke through and then the clouds covered it over with bright colored sunspots. A slow day here as I feel like my body is trying to catch a cold and i am not willing to let it.... Got a lot of wool cut for the next rug which is a plus for class tomorrow.

Hope you all had a cozy Sunday, Diane

Mr Blue

Here he is! Finally.

Another Foggy Day

This is the view from the bridge. The island is surrounded by 3 rivers and they are tidal. Watching over the rail of the bridge the leaves were in a swirling dance moving with the current. This actually happend after the morning walk and the painting but I could not position the photos below they kept wanting to be first.... All day I was very aware of the leaves as they fell from the trees like rain. They were all differnet, some were softly clattering and others never made a sound adding to the quiet of the foggy morning.

Here are the leaves are moving swiftly

up around the tip of the island.

I woke early this morning to a world softly wrapped in fog. The backyard looked beautiful with the pear tree's colors vibrating out from the fog. I just knew it would be a good day and would go for a walk as soon as possible. Here is a photo of Mr Blue all scrunched up on a tree branch. He stays so long in the fall and ends up spending a lot of time in this tree.

Here is the outlet to the pond.

After walking a bit I came back and got to painting.

This Day 8's AEDM for today. Susan's Garden.

Have a grand day, I just lost the image of the blue heron may post it separately... Diane

Day 7

This is the seventh day in AEDM and I am beginning to see a pattern here. I have my easel set up. I have even begun several paintings. But I find myself gravitating to any unfinished project except the painting.... This avoidance has got to stop. I want to paint. What is stopping me. I guess I'd better journal on this so I can wake up in the morning ready to paint. No more equivocating.... Sounds good sounds strong now to do it...

Today I had the usual host of errands and got back home around 3 listened to the chat with Obama. Took out the knitting needles and finished the leg warmers for a friend. They are fun and quite funky but will keep her warm on her daily walks. Here they are!

Does anyone else have trouble sticking to what they think they want to be doing. I do want to paint and yet find all sorts of "other stuff" to do..

Make it a great Day!!! Diane

One of My Favorite Things

Today I drove to Port Clyde, its about an hour north of me. Once a

month, I meet with a group of women. These same women have

been meeting for many many years. Maybe over 20 years now. There are only 5 of us left from 30 plus at one time. We used to meet and spin on our wheels but over the past few years it has become more knititng, chatting and just enjoying each others company as you do when you have known someone over many years. We meet in each others home, bring our lunch and whoever is the hostess makes a treat for the morning and desert. Today it was one of the members birthday and she opted to make her own cake. And we also had another knitter with us who brought new pattern books and some show and tell to wow us all. Leg warmers was the topic as several have dogs and are out in all kinds of weather and another spinner walks long distances daily. The leg warmers for show and tell were made from Noro a lovely Japanese yarn in varigated colors and the knitting was done circular so no seams to sew and fun to see all the color changes. I brought a small hooking project to work on. When I woke up this morning it was early, dark, and foggy so I got my coffee and sat down to begin this little mat. And because I had a good start I was able to finish it tonight. The incentivce to be creative every day is not new to me but to pay attention everyday and include that conscious bit of creativity as a normal occurance is just wonderful. I would like to be able to maintain this after the month of November is over. How is it that a challenge temps one to get to it when in the regular dailiness of evry day living this does not often happen. Between work, errands , getting the hosue prepped for winter,(which seems non ending) there are always more things to do in a day than the 24 hrs allow. So here is a photo of the snowman mat for a daughter in laws November B-day. Well I still can't seem to make the photos go where I want them and this one looks too yellow. The wool is white and the twig branch arms seem to have disappeared but you get the idea...

Make this an extraordinary day, Diane

Day 4

Yes, I voted and when I came back home felt a bit jittery so knew not to paint. I need to be somewhat calm when I begin painting. And even though I have a good start on a painting of my friend Susan's garden, I thought it best to finish something i have been working on in my rug hooking class. A Lobster Welcome rug. It was small and I felt i could get it done quickly to be an example for my students. But instead it was taking forever and i

needed to be done with it. And since I was just filling in the black background I said today this is what i can do!

The top image is with the rug begun but nothing done in the background. Here is the finished rug all but the steaming and hemming... This is my AEDM for today.

Third Day

Well, it's happening the well is beginning to fill.. Ideas are coming then the question is which one to attempt first. I got on a roll yesterday and after making a painting of the leafless trees in my backyard I went on to begin a painting in the series I will be working on this winter. I was able to finish the trees this morning and will be able to work on the next one tomorrow. What I find so refreshing is that the smell of the oils and using the brushes feels so comfortable and yet just 2 days ago I felt I could not paint. How quickly the rythm comes back. Oh its still in the rusty stages but the actual dipping of the brush into the medium and then the oil is just so seductive. Ita still a dream to be able to paint every day all the time. Am greatful for this time to paint.

Here on the island the weather has turned colder and all thoughts turn to what is coming, winter. I have plugged holes and hung lined curtains, have had some window units built that not only stop the drafts but also cut down on road noise. They work so well that my big room is more comfortable tahn it has been in years. You can read about them on www.ArtTech.com
two inventers got together an dcame up with the idea. On eof the men Guy Marsden came to an informational meeting on the island to help us all get ready for winter and showed how to make these window units. They do work and in my drafty old one room school house they have been super so far and I imagine once the snow flies will work even better...
Make it a great day, Diane

Day Two

Greetings from Westport Island,

Here it is Day 2 of Art Every Day and instead of painting I took my camera out and went for a lovely fall walk. The day here on the island is chilly, the air is sparkling and crisp. The sunlight bright and the pond across the way still has the lilly pads in green against the deep blue of the water. The leaves were blown off the trees except for the oaks this past week during the huge wind and rain storms. The winter berries are red and plentiful, I will have to gather some for decoration. so here are a few shots from my walk.


Well, they are not exactly how I wanted to place them. but will leave it before I loose the post. Make it a great day! Diane

Art Every Day

I joined the Art Every Day for the month of November. Yesterday was Day 1. I have to say it was a revelation to me, I seem to have forgotten how to paint. I realise its been a long while since I had time to get out the oils but yesterday was a real hard day. I spent most of the day fussing and getting things ready . Would it be a bowl of apples in a wooden bowl or the quinces I had been saving to paint? or somthing else entirely.. How well I remember the time a mentor said "just show up!" Ok So I showed up got an old French linen cloth, found a small blue bowl put some quince into the bowl and 2 beside the bowl. Poured my palette and here is the day 1 painting....

Exhibition at Gallery 170

Here we are at the middle of August and the summer has gone by in a flash or should I say in a rain storm. It has rained forever it seems, daily, nightly and then all through the week. Today the sun came out just in time as good natures have been going south. Blue sky and bird song is out in force today.

I dropped off my new encaustic work for the exhibition "Three" opening this Friday at Gallery 170. The opening is at the new exhibition space at 123 Borland Mills Rd in Damariscotta Mills, Maine. Time is 5 -8PM Good art good music good people. Come and join us there. For more information about Gallery 170 or to find directions, check out the web site at http://wwwgallery170.com/

To the left is Memory II one of the pieces that will be in the show. Come to the opening to see the rest of the art. I will be exhibiting encaustics. Nancy Freeman will be exhibiting collages and Fran Kidder paintings. The regular gallery hours are 11-5 Thursday thru Sunday. Please stop by.

Be well, make good art, and enjoy the sun, at least in Maine today! Diane

The Last Weekend of the Barn Sale

Well, The Barn Sale is happening! A slow beginning but ended up really doing well. When I asked Jay at the store who could help me get some stuff hauled off he said he knew just the person and would see him soon. An hour or so later 2 guys came by and took away the scrap iron and then hauled some trash as well. Of course, I gave one of them the treadle sewing machine. So all were happy.

People were here very early , one when I came back from setting up a sign at 8am. I just kept setting up things and taking off the tarps.

The neighbors were aslo having a yard sale so it got lively with cars stopping and trucks manovering in and out of driveways. But was good to have more stuff gone. One more day and I will make a call to see who can come and get the rest of the "stuff" and also see what they will pay to do this!

I am anxious to get back to painting as I have been consumed with the logistics of work and getting everything tagged for the big clean. I already feel lighter and an artist stopped by at work to see if I would give her a refresher in encaustics so there is a sea change in the air which is a very positive outcome of clearing out the clutter.

And another positive note. I could not get the licence plates onto my car. I did not have the right tool and a neighbor on the island said she thought she did and would come back and help me get legal. She brought back socket wrenches but then the bolts were metric, go figure, so I went to look for anything I thought would work and used the tools I open my oil paints with. She was patient and we got the job done. That's one of the perks of living in a small community. You never know who can help you but there is always someone.

Be well and travel lightly on this wonderful earth of ours. She is in need of extreme care, Diane

Chasing time

With the 4th of July, summer has officially arrived to the island. I heralded this with a big barn sale! I am on a tear to have more room to make larger art, to stretch bigger canvasses and just cut down on so much work being done in my one room school house. I want the barn clear and will continue the barn sale for one more weekend and then call the "u-call we haul guys" and it will all magically disapear. At the same time I am rearranging the insides of the one large room. This now houses the encaustic area, the sitting and reading area, the office and the dining room and the sewing room with all the fabric! The fabric and most of the canvasses will be hauled up into the front room, no longer even pretending to be a guest room. This room is for storage. I will carve out a spot to sew in until the winter snows make the room way too cold. That said, and its all only on paper but that is the first step. My dream for many years is to have bare and spare and I do envision this happening now. I have emptied many boxes and put most everything in the barn sale. I will find more I can live without. When I moved to this island 30 years ago, I came from 8 rooms , 2 sheds and a barn and moved into a farmhouse with little storage so we built a barn. Downstairs was for the sheep and hay storage one side of the loft. The other side was for my stuff. So it has been years since I had my stuff out of boxes and now its time to unload this wealth of "stuff" and live the simple life I have yearned toward for a long while. The kids are long gone into their varied lives, no longer want mom's junk or if they d, they need to come and get it soon as that too will be history. My daughter and I still move around beds and bureaus and other things but I do feel we are at an apex now where there is nothing more to move back and forth. Plus with the price of gas its not so easy to say do you want the other spool bed and if so I'll bring it down on my next trip. In fact the bed went with my brother to my daughter's house. So change is in the air, thoughts of winter curtains lined with several layers of insulated warmth are what I am thinking about as we move through this fast paced summer.

In the art corner I have been to the Encaustic conference where I had the delighful honor of having 3 pieces chosen for "On the Edge" at Gallery 301 at Montserrat Colleg of Art in Beverly, MA. I heard lots of wonderful ideas, met many new artists and shared the ride down and back with my friend Kimberly Curry whose diptych made the distiction of being juried into the Conrad Wild Gallery in Tuscon, Congratulation Kimberly.

Once home I have been madly experimenting with many of the techniques I saw demonstrated while at the conference. Adding words into the encaustic ala Mary Hart, trying out new monoprint techniques from Paul Roland's demos and thinking more about textiles from Daniella Woolf's slide show. I have begun also to use some of my new colors but need more time to add to my series of Enzo or the large circles from Zen thinking of infinity that I had begun in my entry to the On the Egde exhibition. One of the images, Memory II is at the beginning of this post.

Now its time to go plug in the wax and see what I will come up with for today. I have been on a mission to be in the studio either making or cleaning and creating more space every day or every other day.

Be well, be creative, Diane

Winter just does not stop!

Hello from a wintry island where it snows one minute, sleets the next and then rains all of 2 hrs then changes to snow again and stays at the snow for a day and a half. Had trouble yesterday loading the images onto the blog so here i am trying again. I wanted to show you the Sahiko stitching in encaustic. Hots wax stitches.... lets see what happens this time. Ok Here thye are but they still are up aboove the text when I want them to be beside the text But you get the idea the blue on the sides is tape to protect the edges. I want to have a wall of the stitches in wax as though it were a futon cover that was patched many times.

I have also been painting today another white painting not quite finshed though. Will now get back to it. And am working on the binding of a quilt and the small 12 " sample for my rug hooking class so even though deep winter here I am finding lots to keep me busy on days I don't go out to work in the fabric store. Live well, Diane

New Images From January 2008

New Years Greetings from the Island, Here the land has turned white and stayed white inspiring a new series of painting using , white!!! At the end of 2007 I challenged myself to get back to the oils and have something to show for it whether it took months or 2 years but to keep steady at the process. I have been able to do this spending many hours in the studio. First off I had to come up with 3 paintings for a show in February called Big Big Love. The show is up now at the North Dam Mill in Saco and runs for the month of February. The image of my submissions is at the top.

And also the drying wall in my studio with a few of the white paintings. In tomorrows post I will show a few of the encaustics I am working on . Its a series harkening back to my days in textiles when I wove rag rugs and did some production weaving in napkins, placemats and other small items. I also used to dye 200 pounds of wool in a season. The series is called Indigo and uses some graphics from the stitching method in Japan to make decorative items as well as common day cleaning cloths. This Sashiko stitch binds cloth togther. The cleaning cloths are called Sashiko Zokin. I have immersed myself in these encaustics and now find myself even trying to do the stitching on some batik cloth which is the closest I can come to the dark blues of Indigo and the other resist dyes that are used in some woven garments. Until then live well, Diane