Crochet

⊗ CR2006.02: I’m now past the I got past the hard part of the scarf — the diamond inset pattern — and i’m back to dc stitches. This bit weighs 0.5 oz out of a 50g spool.

⊗ CR2006.04: I’m decided to share the Friday morning progress scan with Laura, as she’ll visit in March and see it then, anyhow. No holding out on a completed surprise. She promply posted it in her new baby blog.

Photography

⊗ Finished Roll2006.01 out at salt pond A2W. We biked out carrying the tripod in my bike bag, stopping once to try and shoot a green winged teal. I didn’t identify it, but asked birders further down the creek. I should recognize them by now; we keep seeing them at the Crittendon bridge and down stream. Christine took the last few shots on the roll, including the moon shot.

Painting

On the 14th of FirstMonth i put acrylic to my first canvas. Christine had “bought” them for me for my birthday in 2005, but i didn’t go pick them out at Flax until last fall. The under-painting was done with a roller and bubble wrap sometime with a simple palette of black & white, with dabs of red, green, and stainless steel. (I suppose i should document which pigments i have on hand so i know WHICH red it was.)

Saturday evening I was going to do another layer, but i may have finished it. I added yellow to this palette, not Hansa but another. The green shoots remind me of a meditation/vision i had about joy a couple of years ago, so i’m calling the painting Joy. (Or Paint2006.01) I need to paint the edges of the canvas, and i ponder painting some of the forms again so the color is more opaque.

While Christine likes the textures of the bubble wrap and the stainless steel thick media, i think i’d choose to do that last next time. there are places the texture ended up where i wish it was flat.

I’l post photos of the paintings from Flickr.

Surfing

⊗ A Craftster forum reference to my ATC
⊗ Craftster Magazine Bowls. Cool.
⊗ Silicon Valley Arts Site, reminding me it might be about time to look into more tickets for a performance at The Pear. The Merc also reports on South First Fridays:

The monthly event, dubbed South First Fridays, kicks off tonight. Three venues — Anno Domini//the second coming of Art & Design; MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana; and the Museum of Quilts and Textiles — have agreed to stay open until midnight in hopes of drawing art lovers to the strip. The fourth, The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, will remain open until 10 p.m.

Picked up Roll2005.06 at Wolf. 37 shots of B&W goodness to scan in.
Inspired, and sighting the delicate new moon, ushering in the Year of the Dawg, i loaded Roll2006.01 (OLD film, “07/2002 3715804″, Kodak Select Royal Gold, 24 exp, ISO 200/24° C-41 RB135-24, CAT 129 8041).

I shot three shots: the first two were some thing like 30 second exposures, the third was 1/2 s. I forgotten how to use the timer as well. Ah well.

060201: Spaceweather.com has a photo like the one i was trying to shoot at swpod2006/31jan06/joye1.jpg. Their write up links to an explanation of earthshine or the “Da Vinci Glow”. It will be a while before i get mine developed….

Mail art — from the Mail Box

Received the Altered Photos ATC swap (LMAO2005.08) from nervousness. Ironic, because Christine (aka greycat) hasn’t received hers, but hers arrived at the swap first — even though they were mailed together. Last out, first in?

Crochet

Working on the Nord/ette’s blanket (CR2006.04)– have a 3″ square worked “in the round” of mainly hdc with the 2.55mm hook. It’s something like 7 rows. Sometimes i doe the hdc in the back loop and sometimes i don’t creating this occasional ridge. I figured that out this evening and have only done both-loop hdc. It’s not exactly square by stitch count, but i think i have time to straighten that out. If every row adds two stitches at the end (i’ve been doing dc there in contrast to the hdc), i’ll say the next loop should have 18. Sides A & B add two, C adds one, and D none.
        A: 16 st
B: 16 st     D: 18 st
        C: 17 st

Surfing

⊗ Signing textile creations: A Grumperina tutorial. Requires iron on printer transfer stock and satin ribbon.
⊗ Hundreds of types of Crochet! Noticed in a Crochet Me forum and thought of the collection of stitch references that i began … and which seem to have been a victim of the site move. How odd. (Also, it seems many of the topics and author identities went away.)

* finished Roll2006.01 with shots of GreyBeard.

* took digital photos of Meyer lemons for MA2006.OAP.Jan

* did the front side of MA2006.CBTI.Jan.05 using an image from Roll2005.01 of the hawk at Moss Landing.

* visited the 10th anniversary exhibit of Bay Area Book Artists

* did a row of double crochet backwards/left handed. I think i could manage.

Email sent to sf-artpals in “repsonse” to a spam message, subject “I’ve found my perfect match!”

I thought, oooh! Someone’s either got a sweetie who’s keeping them busy -OR- they’ve found the perfect creative medium. Must read!

Piddle.

So here’s a real post in belated response to Ruth’s invitation that we fess up to what we’ve been up to. For me, mail art and — as of Dec 24 — crochet.

http://www.grey-cat.net/elainephotos/JEB-CrochetProcess2006.shtml

I’ve been fascinated by the process of crochet, excited by a continual sting of exclamatory thoughts, “I could crochet *that*! I could crochet *that*!” So i’ve crocheted curling ribbon, wire, and the plastic film of the dry cleaning bag. As well as yarn. Beading will happen soon. And my sister is sending my hair from the tail of our ancient Morgan horse.

My sweetie has taken up cross stitch, and she gifted me with a great telephoto zoom lens for my film camera.

Mail art wise, i’m participating in a “chunky book” tip in swap in the new nervousness forums, and an artistamp omnibus project. I don’t know whether i will persist in those monthly endeavors: on one hand they take me away from larger projects by having deadlines. On the other hand, the small scale plus deadline forces an invention that is, i suspect, good for me.

No perfection, but a lot of fun. Must get back to the easel. An underpainting has been sitting there since summer waiting for me to commit color.

Cheers,

judith

PIF to “By The Sea,” with an added ATC2005.02.09 and a home-made envelope (greycat & mariposa artistamps). I was very pleased with the orange and purple colors in the stamps and addressing.

Packaged up LMAO2005.09 to send off in a 9years-9lives envelope.

Experimented with crochet and gift ribbon. Single crochet of wire ribbon sliced in half. (I was hoping for an eyelash effect, but i’d need to fringe it even more. Still — it’s a possibility.) Open stitch with curling ribbon. I can imagine making a recycled shopping bag from a collection of ribbon like that. Pretty neat.

Mid-day went to take photographs starting Roll2006.01 (TMX 135-36, 100 speed) through frame 19 at Crittenden trailhead & Crittenden marsh. Experimented with the lightweight tripod, which would fit in the new camera bag. The tripod is too short, too wobbly — more so than the aluminum yard-sale tripod. Fiddlesticks. Christine took some shots through frame 30 at La Avenida.