pamgarrison

more art made at art retreat ps #3

I mentioned before that I took very limited art supplies to our little Art Retreat #3 in Palm Springs. Just some art journals and sketchbooks. It felt good to limit my supplies and spend less time sorting through them to find want I wanted, and less time going from one idea to the other vs. just relaxing and really enjoying one. Okay, I consider art journaling and sketching to be different, so make that two. 

After we were finished driving around taking pictures like these:

Thanks Carol for this photo of me behind the Palm Springs sign. When I was a little girl I loved Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem that starts, "There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead." Not so much the little, but the poem springs to mind when I see this. ;)

We headed back to the house for fun, and making art was the main priority. All day long outside and all night inside. 

I plucked ripe lemons from the tree and tried to paint/sketch them in a manner more similar to what I learned in the oil painting class by Leslie Duke I attended. I love to explore different methods. 

Carol bought this sweet teacup and saucer at the antique store we popped into. You can see it in use at her home here. It was too beautiful to resist sketching. 

Carol was also the inspiration for this sketching of a chair that was at the house, as she was the first to sketch it. All three of us had a go at it. Not only is it fun to sketch the same subject yourself a few times, it's even more fun to have three different people sketch the same thing and enjoy the results of how unique each one is, how different the styles are. (The Moss sisters have their renditions on their blogs too.) 

Watercolored birds.

Yep, still birds. 

And then I some art journaling (the difference for me being:not based on looking at anything for inspiration, just imagination):

How gorgeous is this new Antietam ink I bought? Dipped my brush right in it to paint with it, even though I bought it for my fountain pen. 

A little doodly drawing using this Pilot Parallel pen and then watercoloring fill in. 

 

 These two. Excellent Art Retreat cohorts. Even cuter sisters. 

It was a good trip, I highly recommend grabbing a small group and making time to create, I'm never sorry when I do!

And with that, my Palm Springs Art Retreat #3 recap concludes. 

Well, one more:

 xo

 

have wait, will sketch

There was a wait to be seated at breakfast since it was Modernism Week out in Palm Springs last weekend. No problemo...have wait, will sketch. We were on an Art Retreat after all.  

Waiting for the meal once seated is a good time to sketch too. Our waitress saw what we were up to and was kind enough to give us a warning before our food came out. 

Carol and Mary Ann shared their sketches from breakfast on their blogs too.

I don't know why I felt the need to label the blind contours above, it's so obvious who they are, bahahaha. 

Speaking of labeling, it may or may not be a good idea to hand your sketchbook over to Mary Ann so she can add captions like she did above and on an older page in my sketchbook here:

 

It is however, a good idea to copy her good ideas for sketching fodder. Carol and I saw her oh-so-good sketch of the Tabasco sauce bottle and had to follow suit in our books. I was not pleased with my rendering done while at the restaurant (seen above alongside more blind contours), so I tried it again when back home. 

meh. Although I still didn't capture the personality and charm of the bottle, I did discover that I think it's a good idea to repeat sketch subjects. Sketching is so fun, so much to discover, constantly. 

I also like to doodle when I've got some wait time on my hands. I like this as it is, but it will also be fun to color it in, be it pencils, markers, paint or a combination of all. 

I did a few more quick sketches over the weekend:

  

 Of course there was slow sketching done as well, I'll share photos of that next post... 

It's Friday! Hoo-ray!

Might keep the sketching going this weekend here...we'll see how much I can squeeze in. Hope you have some free time this weekend to follow the creative muse of your choice. (Is sleep a creative pursuit? That's what I'm looking forward to most I think. Art retreats are awesome for lots of things...sleep isn't one of them.)

  

field trip • moorten botanical garden

While in Palm Springs, we popped into the Moorten Botanical Garden, a privately owned arboretum on the Moortens' residence estate. It's also called Desertland; a living museum of desert plants and crystals, rocks and fossils, established in 1938. The Moorten's promise you'll see rare plants not commonly seen elsewhere; "Over 3,000 plant varieties!" It did not disappoint. 

I was instantly taken with the obvious decades upon decades of growth on these slow growing plants. To walk along the paths, it is clear that you are enjoying more than one person's life passion. It's humble, authentic, informative and spectacular all at the same time. 

I've never seen such intricate design, such desert plant beauty all in one place before. I was especially taken with the colors (what else is new with me, right?) and (you guessed it I'm sure) the color combinations. I was stimulated by the soft, dulcet hues of the softest blues, greys and greens, especially when combined with soft pinks, peaches, faded orange....and some strong shots of those colors too on occasion:

The plants and pots in the "cactarium"...I want to paint with just these colors, I can feel how soothing it would be just imagining it. 

All that color and shape and gardening inspiration for a $4.00 entry fee...I'll definitely be going back again in the future. I can't believe I've never been before! Have you? It felt like stumbling upon a secret Palm Springs gem, but since it's been there since 1938, it can't be that big of a secret. Mary Ann has some beautiful photos taken during our visit there on this post here...it's fun to see what caught her eye too!

 

 

hello!

I'm back from a fun getaway to Palm Springs with the Moss sisters Mary Ann and Carol, and our 3rd annual Art Retreat. 

Every time I go to Palm Springs, I appreciate it more, and I love to try to capture new photos of  things making me happy while there. 

Just driving around provides plenty of photo opportunities. 

Of course, walking around does too. 

The colors and color combinations, the unusual sights...

And then there's the reason we're there; hanging out and making art at the top of the list.

We've rented a new house each time, and this is the slice of heaven Carol found for us this year. Horrible, right? 

This is what it felt like being there, like floating in air:

Art journaling and sketchbookery madness were pretty much the main creative activities.

Besides quilts and quilting books (so I could put on a mini quilt show), I only brought one basket of art supplies. 

Of course, we shared supplies and gifted each other presents too. 

There is always a show and tell of current or recent journals.

 

I've got more to show and tell... part 2 next post! 

and then, and then, and then...

First of all, thank you!!!! Thank you for all the quilt love on the last post. I love that I can count on readers to understand where I'm coming from on whatever creative journey I embark on. I so appreciate that. We all just want to be understood, right? If you even knew how few people in my real (physical vs. cyber) life could care about my current obsessions or explorations, you'd know I meant it! ;) So thank you, to all that took a minute to comment here or on my IG or Facebook or wherever, and to those that didn't have a minute, but cheer on creativity regardless, you too; I've been there many a time...whether I leave a comment, or even if I miss what you're up to, I'm definitely cheering on your creative pursuits! Always.

Shortly after finishing the triangle quilt, I stumbled upon this quilter, via this book (which I totally recommend). I was completely inspired by both the book and the artist for sure. These quilting scraps left over from the triangle quilt were begging me to come and put them to use. Who am I to argue? 

Clearly, I have been taken over with inspiration. 

The shapes. The colors. The combinations. The interactions. 

Ideas beget more ideas. 

I can't wait to think about making a quilt out of some of them. 

But that's going to have to wait a bit...because last night I had to stop at JoAnn's after dropping the boy at baseball, and the fabrics started calling to me again...colors I didn't have already...new ideas to try...did you know you can buy as little as 1/8 yard increments? ;)

 

 

And so it goes....

 

coming out of my quilting coma

Hello! How are you? Wow, I've not reported in here for so long, having fallen head first down a great big quilting rabbit hole tunnel. I say tunnel because, true to my usual, I couldn't just work on ONE, that would be too sensible limiting. Really, working on two or more of a project (be it paintings, pages, quilts etc.) makes me feel like I have options, freedom to try different ideas out. Usually when I am creating, the ideas flow like wildfire and I want to try this, and that, and this...so working on two of something usually helps with that. Anyway, meet quilt one! This was my first ever triangle quilt attempt and of course, without researching (even google searches) I bought a template and cut isosceles triangle pieces vs. equilateral, which would have been much easier first go at triangles. But since I'm not a perfectionist, I didn't research first, just started full steam ahead and as usual, it works out well enough to please my non perfectionistic standards. 

And I have a pretty new quilt for my family! Creative fun and function, what could be better? Well, ok, forget that question ;).

I cut out the triangles one by one (not an efficient way to do it) using this template and this rotary cutter on my favorite self healing mat. I learned too late to get a new blade, but next time, I'm good to go. This is what I did, I just cut a few of the fabrics I had and then placed them out to arrange and see where I was at. I had all this fabric already, having been thinking about this quilt for over a year, never finding the time. Unlike "real" quilters, I forged ahead with some fabrics pre-washed, some not, and even some cotton, some not. Oh, such a rule breaker. I figure sometimes it's better to be a novice. Caution to the wind and all that. 

I sewed some rows together, and then those rows to each other. Some points lined up so perfectly, others, not so much. This is where the first time triangle quilt and dabbler vs. "quilter" comes in very handy. Who cares?!? Not my family, that's for sure! 

Nicely lined up and points not even close seen above. 

That's a little better! Of course, one improves as one goes along...usually...although sometimes this didn't hold true for me. 

I couldn't decide how big to make it, so I grabbed a Kantha blanket we have and used it underneath as a gauge for size. Back to cutting more triangles...

Eventually, all the triangles and rows were sewn together. hooray! I decided to add a border of fabric scraps left from the triangle cutting:

It seemed the perfect amount of unmeasured make do, with all those same sized triangles. 

Of course, I added one of my labels bought here. ;)

I tried pinning on a bit of fabric I was considering using for the binding. I did eventually use this one, and cut strips of 2" widths, but I do wish I would have done 2 1/2 or 3"...would have made it easier. I machine stitched on the front and then hand stitched the binding on the back. 

As you can see, I went with white for the back. The stitching makes it plain but nice all the same. 

And now that it's had it's first wash and dry, the imperfections are hidden and the character has come out. Because I hadn't prewashed all the fabric, I was concerned about colors running, especially onto the white back. I used this color catcher for the first time ever and it worked great! All the fabric is the same color it was, and the color grabber came out deep pink/brown. 

It's 6' x 4' 5" when all is said and done...and I love it!!! My son even used it last night on the couch- the best part! 

More recent quilting coming...one isn't finished yet, because I'm hand quilting it and it's much larger. But there's plenty to share about it, and other recent sewing tangents...

It's Friday afternoon here...two thumbs up for the weekend!