Category: Chit Chat

Today

PiaChit Chat

Another gorgeous day to look at after a stormy Saturday by the sea. It’s still painfully cold, but the sun, ah, the sun! Makes me feel like this: (remember to turn up your speakers)

So I mentioned a picture book about my Charlie and how I’ve had the title ready for years but not really getting any further ideas. Well, after going public with it, suddenly little sentences are plopping into my head while I’m driving, when I wake up, nothing to make a Stephen King sized novel, but quite amazing considering my brain has been on strike for so long. Trickle is fine, I still have all the artwork to do. 😉

I’ve also experienced lately how communicating openly about various issues, such as carrying an emotional trauma in my body from multiple “rodeo” incidents in the last 10 years that were both shocking and painful (no, not Charlie’s doing), makes the whole issue, not solved and gone but somewhat deflated, a lot calmer and slightly more rational. Simply by acknowledging, to myself not the least, that the problem exists. I had been putting that one at the bottom of my list of “things to work with” and suddenly realised it might actually belong somewhere at the top (or I just finally got ready to deal with it – long story that I’m not going to bore you with)

This is very interesting to me – how speaking your intention out loud apparently sets wheels in motion that just thinking and worrying in your own head doesn’t. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. But it’s something I’m going to play with. A new level of honesty – not that I lie, but there’s lots I don’t tell for various reasons. Or I gloss over problems: real horsegurlz aren’t scared of anything, right? What is also interesting about this concept is whether it sharpens my own resolve, focus, ability to see the path. Will my words and thoughts about subjects become less fuzzy and click into place? I’m sure we could all use more clarity from time to time, or am I the only one who has no clue where I’m headed and what my “calling” might be?

To be continued – a storm of comments are as always welcome.

I still haven't decided on the image style for Charlies book - 3D, cartoon style, painting, a mix?
I still haven’t decided on the image style for Charlie’s book – 3D, cartoon style, painting, a mix?

Beginning of the end

PiaChit Chat

Do I feel a slight hint of spring on the frosty breeze? When the sun is out, I can almost imagine…. So I put the laundry outside on the line! Aaah, yes, I’m definitely ready.

Not quite there yet
Not quite there yet…

I’ve been working on a few things this week that I thought I was going to blog about, but none of them are quite done yet. I did finish my dry leaves printing experiment and I’m not very impressed, so that project post got archived vertically as we say here. As in, I’m not even going to bother scanning the results for you. Cochineal prints lovely on paper though, but it also  pokes a lot of holes, LOL.

Knitting and spinning progress = 0

I’ve been thinking a lot about my painting etc. which normally is a really bad sign, and probably is in this case too, but I seem to be all over the place and that’s not very constructive either. To improve your skills it really works best to pick a theme and make multiple versions. You rarely fix all your mistakes in one go.

One minute I’m into intuitive abstracts, the next I’m trying for the impressionistic turneresque landscapes in my mind which on canvas then looks more like a naive illustration for a childrens’ book. Which I kinda dig too, in fact it could be a very good way to warm up for a picture book which title has been floating in my head for 7-8 years about my horse Charlie. Problem is, I have the format in place, but the actual plot is missing. Would be a great tribute now that he’s gone. I also had wanted to do a series of cartoons around the critters, probably for 10-12 years, but made TWO crummy attempts. Now we have Fergus who is everything I wanted to do exactly, and I’m not jealous, I LOVE Fergus, but I’m not going to copy any of it when he’s obviously so much better than anything I can output at this time. 😉 However, my brain has produced a couple of cartoon sketches this week, nothing original, but I may just work on them anyway – for the practice.

Charlie's favourite trick - as you can see I take my riding dead seriously
Charlie’s favourite trick – as you can see I take my riding dead seriously

So it’s a lovely day out today, and even though I’d really like to work on my mandalas and one of my wip paintings, I should go be outside. I’m sure I’ll feel all the better for it. Dog to be walked, firewood to be stacked, maybe I should actually go riding on the old silly? And all the frozen horsepoop in the paddock is probably going to unfreeze real soon. It’ll be so good for my back and biceps….

And, well, spring on the way also means photo weather, if my old Canon 20D is still willing (shutter has passed the average number of exposures for this model). Not that it’s impossible in winter, I just don’t like being outside in the cold wind and the batteries die to quick. Anyone want to sponsor me a 7D house?! I promise I’ll do at least one excursion every week to a new location. 😀

Garden of thoughts

PiaGallery

Granada, Spain

“Your existence has many doors, and each serves a purpose
that ultimately helps define who you are.
Sometimes it is hard to open these doors.
Often you would think it just won’t work.
It takes patience and perseverance, but you must believe
that you already have every key for each door you encounter.
Imagine your heart as the keychain where all the keys you will ever need
in your lifetime are dangling, waiting for you to use.”

~ Dodinsky

Book break

PiaBooks & reading

Sometimes I need to zone out from real life, and now apparently is one of those times. So instead of being busy doodling in my repurposed books (I’m planning for 7 with each its own theme, but I only have 5 so far) I’ve been reading and not much else. These breaks are usually very univited, I’d just figured out that acrylic paint doesn’t work in the books because the pages stick together and my promarkers don’t work well on gessoed pages. Doh. I’d tested them on acrylic only… So I splurged on a little box of pastel chalks just yesterday to force the flow, but alas, it’s not how it works. My body reminds me not very kindly, that I’m not really in contol 😉

pastel

This weekend I’ve been through “Labyrinth” by Kate Mosse and “People of the Book” by Geraldine Brooks. On the table are “Of Marriageable Age” by Sharon Maas, an equally brick thick book by a Danish author and “The untethered soul” by Michael Singer (so, it had a horse on it…). I may have another browse thorugh Hugh MacLeod’s “Ignore everybody And 39 other keys to Creativity“. On order from the library are Kate Mosse “Sepulchre“, Felix Palma “The Map of the Sky” and Anne Lamott “Bird by Bird“. I hope that will be enough to see me through to the other side!

ubundne bogensfolk labyrint herskere sepul The-Map-of-the-Sky ignore bird_by_bird_lr

Bogpause

Pause fra mine hjemmelavede skitsebøger og pause til at læse. Trænger nogen gange til at bare stene og lade verden gÃ¥ sin egen gang uden mig… Ikke af lyst, for jeg vil egentlig hellere fortsætte med mine projekter, men kroppen tager over og bestemmer noget andet.

Her op til og i weekenden har jeg læst “Labyrint” af Kate Mosse og “Bogens folk” af Geraldine Brooks. Nu venter “De ti herskere” af Christian Mørk, “I giftefærdig alder” af Sharon Moss samt “den ubundne sjæl” af Michael Singer og pÃ¥ biblioteket er bestilt “Sepulchre” af Kate Mosse, “The Map of the Sky” (den er vist ikke oversat endnu, men “Tidskortet” er) af Felix Palma og “Bird by Bird” af Anne Lamott. SÃ¥ hÃ¥ber jeg at jeg har nok til jeg igen dukker frem af tÃ¥gen! 😉 Jeg skal jo i gang med at lege med mine nye pastelkridt som jeg købte i gÃ¥r, dels fordi jeg ikke kunne fÃ¥ de sprayflasker jeg gik efter (som man bl.a. kan bruge med skabeloner til at lave art journaling baggrunde), dels fordi jeg har fundet ud af at akrylmaling ikke duer i bøger, siderne klistrer sammen, og mine fine dyre tusser tegner ikke sÃ¥ godt ovenpÃ¥ gesso. Doh. Jeg havde kun testet dem ovenpÃ¥, ja akrylmaling!!

***

Jeg har et spørgsmål til de danskere som evt. læser: vokspapir, hvor finder man det? Det skal være mere vokset end bagepapir, altså så man kan bruge det som mellemlæg ved sider som ikke er helt knastørre uden at det hænger i.

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Activity?

PiaChit Chat

So I promised this would be knit-week and then I haven’t had any more show and tell here. Such is life. I did knit, but not as much as I hoped. To prove that I have indeed been doing something, I’ll share my tada! list with you:

skammel1 skammel2

  1. Got the plant dyed yarns out and started on the first planned project – using the oldest ones since the new ones really should sit until next year so I can see how much they fade in storage.
  2. Finished priming one of my homemade sketchbooks, working away on the others, one 2/3 done, one just started.
  3. Started doodling in the sketchbook.
  4. Did some painting 2 days in a row even.
  5. Read some books, some nonfiction as well as “The Sunne in Splendour” by Sharon Perman
  6. Walked the dog in the forest quite a lot, as per request. AND tested the pocket camera I was given.
  7. Started spinning some fiber I dyed last summer, just recreational spinning, no project in mind. Another one lined up for a challenge.
  8. Made a few stencils out of laser transparencies which I was given a whole package of (100). The circular cutter came in handy among other things!
  9. Baked swedish buns “rÃ¥gsiktskakor”. Yum.
  10. Woven almost half of the ends on my sweater dress and wore it.
  11. Decluttered my desk.
  12. Found a foam block and the fiber that I wanted for some needlefelting.

skov2 skov1

skov3 skov4

Aktiviteter

Jeg havde jo lovet at holde strikkeuge, men det er ikke meget jeg har fået rapporteret her. Jeg har strikket en smule, men ikke så meget som planlagt. Så nu vil jeg i stedet kede jer med ugens tada! liste, ikke at jeg holder op i weekenderne, men jeg trænger til at lige huske hvad jeg egentlig har nået.

  1. Rodet lidt i mit plantefarvede garn, taget et par nøgler frem til mit første planlagte projekt og strikket nogen prøver.
  2. Færdig med at grunde den ene af mine hjemmekogte notesbøger, 2 mere på vej.
  3. Skriblet en smule i bogen.
  4. Malet en smule, endda 2 dage i træk.
  5. Læst et par fagbøger færdig og et par romaner, “The Sunne in Splendour” af Sharon Perman og “Taxo Luma” af Lars Muhl (meh).
  6. Taget på hundeture i skoven og testede det brugte lommekamera jeg har fået.
  7. Begyndt at spinde noget BFL jeg farvede i sommer, ikke med noget særligt formål, bare afslapning. Og fundet mere uld frem til en udfordring på Ravelry.
  8. Kreeret skabeloner af overhead folie som jeg fik forærende, cirkelkniven kom lige til god anvendelse igen.
  9. Bagt svenske “rÃ¥gsiktskakor”.
  10. Syet nogen af enderne pÃ¥ min sweater, damn det er kedeligt….
  11. Ryddet op på mit skrivebord.
  12. Fandt en skumblok og de fibre jeg vil bruge til mit første nålefilteprojekt.