Happiness is a Royal Wedding that's a love match... I love their style. Much happiness to William & Kate.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

I have an article in the brand-new Somerset Studio (May/June). It might get you to identify and abolish some false beliefs....

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

First love

Painting, the kind that requires nothing but a brush and paint, was my first love and I remain faithful to it. The layers are built up with paint, not paper and gloss medium and gesso as they are in mixed media. Two or three layers of paint can look like much, much more.This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Acrylic on wood. (c) Colette Copeland. Inspired by Renoir's painting of the Paris Opera's ballerinas.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

As the rainy weather continues, and I manage my barometric headaches and low energy, I have all these lovely Spring flowers from friends to remind me that this too shall pass and the sun will come out.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Happy Easter

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Friday's child

 I wish you peace, internal, external and all around you.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Snail-Bunny

 I saw this here (Resurrection Fern, thank you for this!!) and had to try it. I grabbed a hankie and followed the directions. The bunny looked more like a snail to me, so I added a tiny snail house, and it became a snail-bunny (the ears!).

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Rain

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Cold and windy, for heaven's sake. Even the robins are complaining (I understand bird talk).

This morning I finished a second large textile piece. Photographing it was a challenge because of all the whites/sepias, but here's a detail. It's stitched onto a piece of French homespun; the photo is a tintype.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

A good start to the week

No, not the weather. It's still doing weird things.

It was a great mail day. One piece of good news can set you up for the rest of the day.
So...it's Spring but only in my imagination, at least until the weather gives up its strange patterns.
Like this:

 

This is one of a series of family "portraits" I made for Somerset Memories a couple of years ago. It features a photo of my Mom, age 5, that I turned into sepia in photoshop. She was an adorable child.

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Is it full moon??

Three weather systems happening today, maybe more, I don't know. Snow showers, wind blowing the showers every which way, sun, all clear, and then it repeats itself. So I stayed home and practised; free-style on the sewing machine takes a lot of control, you have to almost be doing the opposite of normal stitching, using your fingers to guide the fabric, and making that switch isn't easy.

My silly machine tells me to use an embroidery hoop to pull the fabric tight, but my embroidery hoop won't slide under the needle (when lifted, of course). Manuals can be so mysterious sometimes. I used a piece of stiffened fabric instead. Marthaaaaaaaaaa! (Martha knows everything; I always go to her!)

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Wet Saturday

Really, this April showers business is getting old. It's supposed to continue into the week.
The wind broke my umbrella; another one bites the dust (mud?).
Still, I noticed crocuses popping up in the park the other day,.

 Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Friday's child...con't

Where do ideas come from?
I have no... idea.
I was making fabric transfers for a custom order quilt, decided to transfer some of my angels, and before I knew it, this bunting happened.
This is what happens when you get out of your own way...

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Friday's child

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

The subject of angels came up yesterday while talking with one of the angels in my life; angels don't always have to be mystical and feathered. Today I pulled out my sketchbook.

I've been practising doodling. Does that sound sad? "practising"?? Yes, I've had to practise. I draw so when I try to doodle it gets too formal. It's like the straight line thing: I can draw a straight line; I had to practise drawing unstraight lines. I started by using my left hand.

I'm happy to announce that I've covered this subject of drawing in the new Somerset Studio which will be released May 1.

 

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon.

Da: A collage

This is not a "faux relative."
This is a photo of my Irish father-in-law as a boy.
He was a quiet, gentle man who loved me like a daughter.
I inherited all the family photos, documents and ephemera, sorted it all out, sent photos and documents to my siblings-in-law and kept the rest -- antique family stuff, letters my husband wrote to his parents from boarding school, his report cards (my mother-in-law kept everything, bless her!) and have been making collages for myself with some of the photos.
This one is made on an old envelope (I love working on old envelopes), painted, and stitched. It will go in a journal that records my life as a Copeland, which will probably end up back in Ireland when I'm gone.

 

Be good to your friends -- Kevin Bacon

Project Runway workshops

Last year I gave two workshops called Project Runway in Omaha, consisting of making and embellishing three little dresses. My classes were attended by the best people, talented and appreciative, many of whom I still keep in touch with. One of them is my friend Jackie, who took the project and truly made it her own. She's named them Colette Pillows (blush), but really they are totally hers. Jackie has posted pictures on her blog and I can't tell you how thrilled and grateful to her I am.

Have a look!

Thank you, Jackie!! You make me proud.

She's letting me know she's watching over me.
 Here's what happened. Today had some rough moments in it. A few moments ago, I was working on the computer with my blog Playlist playing, and I heard a song that was not on my Playlist...coming from the computer. I checked, and the song should have been Boy on a Dolphin, sung by Julie London. Instead it was Besame Mucho, also sung by Julie London (I've loved Julie London all my life and have all her music but I had no idea that she'd recorded this song).

By now you're wondering what the hey I'm talking about.

Often when I'm going through rough moments, odd things happen. The odd thing here is that Besame Mucho was a song that my mother hummed while doing the washing-up. I was just a little child, but for some reason it's ingrained in my memory. It still has the power to move me to tears.

Detail of a collage I made of my mother.

Tags.
What else?
My favorite feedback on my tags is "Pure nonsense, pure fun, pure joy!" from a certain person in St. Paul, Minnesota, who totally gets me! Thank you, Trudie, for supporting my work and all the lovely words you send my way.

And more tea bag ladies. The downside of tea bags is that they take forever to dry...

For sale in my shop (see menu under blog header)

Lovely weather; the grass is greening and I'm taking big breaths. New foliage must clear the air because it smells so good.

Last night I worked on my Etsy hearts shop. All my stuffies will now be listed there. Hearts and birdies and fish... My fish debuted in Somerset Life about three or so years ago. I happened to be in California and picked them up from Stampington while on a visit with them, and had a fun time giving them away. They are kind of appealing; you really wouldn't want to eat them!

Catch of the day.

I've been busy as a bee all day, even if it's only 1:30 p.m. Suffice it to say that it's a very good start to the week!

What did I make today? I finished a commissioned piece

 
and almost finished an article for Somerset Home. It will be finished tonight. Meanwhile, I have to go to the post office and I have a lot of tidying and cleaning to do....

Offering for a wet, misty Sunday.

Flowers from a precious friend.

Saturday Tea

I've seen tea bags used in artwork before, collaged, or opened, emptied and used as a background. But it was only when I saw a collage with a used tea bag on it that my memory was jogged. I like the idea of a tea bag, but used "as is",  not so much.

So out came the paint and tiny images. It's enough to turn me into a regular tea drinker....

Friday's child

Beautiful things.

Lace gloves, yellowed with age, on my wall today.

Faded old tag from France, with a vintage tie-clip.

Both have stories to tell.

Project completed. Stitching something this big turned me into a contortionist -- the linen background is about 22 inches long. I realized too late that I could have done the embroidery before stitching the collar down on the background... Attaching the cabinet card was a little tricky; as I didn't want to punch holes in it, nor did I want to use glue. Strictly needle and thread.

Everything on this quilt is vintage or antique, and has been part of someone's life. Someone handspun the background linen, someone sewed this piece of clothing and someone wore it, someone posed for the cabinet photo, and someone took the photograph. I hope I've done them justice.

I decided to join in Wee Bit Wednesday (It's Martha's fault) {one} what is one food that, as an adult you love, but as a child you said you’d never touch?Cooked carrots (as a child I liked them raw only).
{two} did you go to college? if yes, what was your major?Yes, I did. My major was French language and Literature.
{three} what’s the most wild animal you’ve seen in real life (not counting the zoo)?Salvador Dali's pet panther in a hotel in Paris. Thankfully it was on a leash.
{four} have you ever been to a fortune teller?No. I prefer psychics....
{five} can you juggle?I can juggle two and three balls at a time.
{six} hardwood floors or carpet?Rugs on wood.
{seven} is it called “soda” or “pop”?Soda and soda pop.
{eight} what was your first car?Austin (not the mini, but the bigger one).
{nine} what is the most decadent dessert you’ve ever eaten?Dufflet's ganache-covered chocolate fudge tart.
{ten} how often do you rearrange your furniture?Rarely. Given the small amount of space, everything is in the right place anyway.

I see it first. I see shapes in fabric or paper. My very good friend gives me pieces of fabric and I saw in this piece of lace a body shape. It morphed into this quilt. Body image, fraught with difficulties, which gave rise to the strip in the middle: pas de panique/don't panic.

Sometimes the vision works, sometimes it doesn't. I think this time it worked. Try as I might I couldn't get the photo right. The sage background comes out too grey.

Now I'm tackling another large piece, one that I've been planning in my head for a long time. Still a work in progress as it is being hand-stitched.

Tags are Us

I love my tags. I love making them. They provide comfort in times of stress, action in times of boredom, fun in times of gloom. In other words, they lift my spirits.May they lift yours, too.

My fabric

I got my fabric swatch from Spoonflower.com, tweaked the colour a little, and am offering it for sale there.
I'm so excited to see one of my wacky birdies on fabric.

Silent Sunday

Put your feet up. Rest your body. Rest your mind. Silence isn't just golden, it's restorative. The world is so noisy that little silent pauses throughout the day are vital.

Happy sunny weekend

On my wall today

Just listed in my Etsy shop.