I'm birding again.
Once upon a time, most of my art featured birds: collage mainly, assemblage, as well as little paintings and fantasies. That was before birds in art became the rage. I even sent a book proposal for bird art and craft out only to be told by the publisher that they didn't think there would be any interest in it. Within a year, everyone was doing birds. So much for publishers' opinions.

Not being very trendy, I branched out to other subjects. Too many birds spoil the art.
Now that is seems to have calmed down, I'm birding again.

Today's drawing features the dancer.

It's quiet here. Gone are the sounds of summer. A couple of trees in a sea of green in the park have turned bright red/orange. Soon it will be the season of wood fires and hot chocolate. I don't have a fireplace, but I do have hot chocolate.

Next month (that would be next week) is my birthday, and in blog fashion I will have a giveaway. It will start on Oct. 4 and end on Oct. 5. So don't forget to comment.

Meanwhile, I do what I love: my work. Oh, yes, I love washi tape, too.

I have a small bolt of vintage millinery netting, the kind that would be attached to a hat and pulled over the eyes or face. Very chic! Looking at it and thinking up ways to use it, I knew it would take forever to use it up. I thought it would be nice in a kit. So I put together a kit... along with some favourite pieces. The kit is available in my Etsy shop.  SOLD

Sewing involves sitting down, and since I've been "resting" this week, I did a lot of stitching and embroidery. I used my beloved scraps, and stitched this little quilt.

Then I stitched the outline of a Regency-style dress and filled it in. This is the bottom of the dress, with a double layer of old lace. [Both pieces are in my Etsy shop.]

A perfect Saturday

Just my kind of weather: sunny, bright, and cool.
I think I'll go out looking for butterflies.
Here's one that flew into my living room.

Le bon roi Dagobert

 A while back there were some free clips at stampington.com of ancient French kings that took me back to my schooldays and history class where we learned about the Gauls and the Francs, and the Ostrogoths and Visigoths before them. Their names tended to end in -ic. I can only remember Childeric;  and Dagobert because there was a song about him that went something like: le bon roi Dagobert... and Clovis and the vase of Soissons. Lovers of Paris, you can thank Clovis for the city: he was the one who chose it as the capital somewhere around the year 500.

Anyway, back to the subject of clips of ancient French kings, this is one of them. I thought, as an ancient, he would like being a mythical bird, with black feathers for his cape.

Vive le roi!

I spent the morning running errands. Since I don't want to end up frazzled again, I'm pacing myself. For the rest of the day, I'll be taking easy. Which means sitting down (no pacing around my work table) and reading or embroidering. Something soothing. I may have the TV on, but no news channels.

Meanwhile I've seen Halloween stuff all over the place. It's really too early for me....
I'm not Halloween minded when it comes to art, but I did play around with this. What made it easy was the bird!

Rubber stamps: Paperbag Studios; Catherine Moore (tiny tree)

It's good to be feeling "upright" again! Thank you for your caring comments, and to my dear friend who brought me a big jar of chicken noodle soup that was last night's dinner, and let me say it was delicious. Today I may be able to go beyond soup and Saltines!

Two friends asked if the embroidery in the previous post would be in my Etsy shop. Yes, yes, it is! And thank you for asking.
I found a tutorial on a French blog (one of the perks of being bilingual!) for a bag I really loved. So I made one for myself

And one for my Etsy shop. This one is better made because I had the first one to practise on.

I've been unwell for a couple of days. My body (I always listen to it) told me I needed to rest. I slept a lot the first day, took it very easy the second day and third day. The problem, on the next day, was curbing my restlessness -- which translates into doing something all the time. I shut down the computer, and arranged myself on the couch...and embroidered. I only moved to heat soup for nourishment and make a tisane. It felt very old-fashioned (except for the TV).

If I have one piece of advice to give, it's to listen to your body and give it what it needs. It's very wise, it knows things you're not aware of. It gives you discomfort and pain as a sign to pay attention -- and do something about it.

Today I feel almost 100%.

This is a detail of one of my earlier paintings on canvas. My preferred size was 20 x 24 inches. At the time I was very influenced by David Hockney. I call this painting After San Diego because it's based on a trip in the mountains I took with my friend Joy when I was visiting her in San Diego some years ago. You can see the full painting in PAINTINGS under the banner.

Friday's child

It's been a long day. But a beautiful, cool sunny one. I worked at my Friday joblet, went there on foot to take advantage of the lovely weather, returned home, ate a lentil salad, added new items to my shop, and before you know it, it will be Saturday.

My alter ego

This is today.
R a i n
A good day to curl up on the couch with a good book and cappuccino.
Except that it's thursday, a work day, and things must be done. I have to go out.
But when I return, I'll curl up with a cup of coffee or maybe hot chocolate, a reward for meeting my obligations regardless of the rain.
Sometimes you have to give yourself incentives and rewards!

America's First Master chef

Dear Sweet Whitney,

I rooted for you from the very beginning, when Gordon Ramsey took you on despite your young age of 22. Through the following weeks of the program, you stayed true and sweet and focused, and rightly earned your title of "Dessert Queen."

I could heardly bear the suspense this evening. I wanted you to win because you deserved it, because you have a talent and feeling for food and cooking, and because it will start you on your path to the career you want. And because not a mean word came out of your mouth.

Bravissima!

Whitney Miller, 22 years old.

New lighting in my kitchen, as part of an upgrade, allows me to photograph without using the flash (something I rarely do -- I prefer natural light). I have a lot of favourite things in my kitchen, among them antique glasses, French plates, bowls, and coffee cups that I brought over from France years ago. I don't display them -- I use them.

The project I was working on is finished. I submitted an idea; it was accepted, and then I started. At one point nothing about it looked right, and that is not a good feeling.

So I took another approach, shifted things around; left it alone; came back to it and tried some compositions. And so it went for several days. All the time, deep down I knew it would all come together, this glorious mess. (I've done this kind of project before and it's always the same.)

And it did. It slowly took shape and finally I had something I was happy with. 

Here's a sneak peek. That's all I can show.

Another day, another heart for my Etsy shop devoted to hearts. A good way to start the week.

Have a great one!

This just in...

Cleo babysits Rosie

Rosie hamming it up for the photographer (my sister).

I was out taking photographs of my neighbourhood for a project, so I had my camera with me. A good thing, because as I came out of the grocery store, I saw this. The nice lady let me photograph them. The doglet on the left is Mama to the ones on the right. All together now: Awwwwwwwwww!

Around my neighborhood

Outside Sobey's at St. Clair & Yonge.
Signs of autumn.

But not yet.

Free form. Letting my eye guide me. There was a hole in this old piece of linen; it could have stayed that way showing the fabric underneath, but I inserted a scrap of lace. It could have stayed that way too, but I embroidered around it.

Free. Nothing like it!

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Things that open your heart.
Little fluffy birds do that to me.
So do babies and dogs.

Just kidding. I'll be back tomorrow.

I got this photo from Finland, so I'm assuming they're Finnish women, but they could be from anywhere. Just look at those aprons. They are the reason I bought the photo.

So I was looking at this work table (I have two tables) and thinking, now I have to tidy it all up. And then I realized that it would go back to looking like this again within the hour. It's one thing to tidy up when you're not using the table 24/7, it's another when you are. Like pushing against the river. So I didn't tidy up. I put away the artwork and did something else altogether.

These are (some of) my true colours. There's something about this palette that makes me very happy.

This painting is available in my Etsy shop SOLD

It's been quiet around here. Thanks to the cooler weather I've resumed my long walks, and I've been stitching. People who stitch say it's very calming and soothing, and I find that to be true. In fact, I find it difficult to put down -- "slow" stitch is not my thing evidently.

There's always a way

What if, for some reason, I had no access to paintbrushes? I would use my fingers. So I gave it a try. Not bad, but it plays havoc on the nails.

Hold on to your hats! It's going to be a bumpy ride.

I love playing with rubber stamps, and incorporating them into collage, and finding new ways to use them.

Some lovely old linens arrived today from mantofev and after I got everything out of the way, I did one of my favourite things: I made hearts. It makes me happy to make them! [These have just been listed in my Etsy heart shop]

A coeur ouvert

Land of big birds, part two.
I separated a piece of corrugated cardboard by soaking it in water. The non-corrugated pieces became a nice background paper. Sometimes I paint them, this time I didn't. I love the look of kraft paper and this is one way to get something sturdier.