Sunday, April 30, 2006

"A" is for...


Amber, I love the perfume and the stone/petrified resin
Anger, something I was taught not to feel, but I'm working on it
Art, Artist, Artistic, Artful - but never "artsy"
Anachronism, Society for Creative Anachronism, I spent almost twenty years participating and it was certainly a growth time for me, and sometimes I do feel like I'm in the wrong time or place
Anatomy, mine is giving me some grief right now, but healing
Arbitrary, I really hate it when I have to deal with arbitrary rules or people... tend to ask Why?
Assimilate, trying to assimilate all my past and come to my future a more whole person
Activities, love to participate, hate being left out
Answers, always looking for new ones, in addition to the obvious
Armor, learning to live without mine as much as possible
Antipathy, just a little Alice
Archery, I used to shoot a little recurve and crossbow, badly
Above, one of the seven directions
Abilities, still exploring mine, love to encourage others in theirs
Alchemy, personal transformations
...And...
Autumn, one of my four favorite seasons!

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Woo Hoo! I won a first prize!!!!!

My ocean picture with the BIG splashy wave, which had more details done after the photo, final photo to follow (my camera died and now I have to develop film, which I haven't done in YEARS!)...

Won First Place - Watercolor! I got the Milford Zornes watercolor award, which is quite an honor, plus $150. prize money, which I already spent on a mat cutter, and sheets of mat paper, so I can do a better job of framing my pictures. I thought that was appropriate!

!!!!!

B*B, Ysabeau

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Student Art Show - I got in! and some beadwork

In fact, FIVE of my six entries got into the show!!!!! Woo hoo! ... and rumor has it that one of them may have done more than just get in, but I have to wait for Friday to find out more, all I know is that my teacher told me to attend the awards presentations, for Sure, on Friday... B*B, Ysabeau














Here is a hair ornament I made for myself with tiny beads on a polished stick, and the circlet was something I made for a friend's wedding, with amethyst, moonstone, crystals, rose quartz, it came out really lovely for my first ever attempt at wire work. B*B, Ysabeau

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Possibilities and opportunities

It's funny how things happen. I went to a local craft store, Tall Mouse, a fairly large independant store that has been in the area for many years. They have classes in some techniques to use what they sell, and they are putting in a larger upscale beading sales area. I was purchasing wire and the clerk was telling me what was coming in, when she suddenly (and I can't think why) decided that I needed to talk to the store manager for the classes, and possibly teach something.

I don't know if I want to, how hard it would be, if it would pay much of anything, but I'm going to have some free time over the Summer and I do love beading, and sharing creativity. The manager wants to see some samples of my work, and I'm going to take a look at what I have ready to show her. B*B, Ysabeau

Friday, April 21, 2006

Student Art show part II

I put these two into the Art Show, too, after I did a little finishing work on the left hand one...















The left one "La Jolla in Spring", is 16X22", I think, and the right one "Stolen Time" is 11x14" size, I just realized that I probably didn't sign them (if they accept them into the show, I think I will have to take them apart and sign them)... oh, dear. and probably lawks... well, I'll just be really happy if one of the six I submitted gets juried in, and even if NONE of them do, at least I did try, and I will try again. B*B, Ysabeau

Student Art show

I did put in three pictures, the "Gateway" one shown
on another post, a large abstract floral that is large and
very wild and mostly purples, I called it "Easter Parade"
as a joke, and a smaller picture of a small girl and smaller
boy with pails on their way to the beach, called "Big Sister"
that for some reason, I personally liked.
My teacher said -
WHY didn't I include one of my seascapes... reason is I had no
frame that would fit it, so I took the hint, picked up a couple of
likely inexpensive frames at Target on sale, and I'll try to make
one or two of them fit, and turn them in tomorrow.
B*B,
Ysabeau

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Overcoming Trepidation


I have the opportunity to enter the annual Student Art Show at my college, and I've been encouraged to try by my professor, as well as fellow students... but my block is that it is a "juried" show. So, the ones they don't accept won't be in the show. It is only $3. per item to enter, and I have that... but I don't have anything matted and framed the way they want. Time to enter is "by" this Saturday, starting today. I tried to get my dh to say it wasn't a good idea, last night, but before I could get it all said, he was saying Yes, enter! Go buy matting or whatever you need! oh, great, no excuses there.

So I'm venting my total fear here, and I'm going to go find something that I can cram into a frame, and take that to class with me today. Wish me luck.

B*B,

Ysabeau

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Birth data ideas

I was thinking that it might be fun to try using symbols and colors from my birth data in a collage, or a multimedia quilt style wallhanging, or combine some of the aspects in a piece of jewelry, or other wearable art. So, just brainstorming, I could take the Lion for Leo as an obvious focal point, and have a streaming mane with other symbols hinted at, here and there, maybe give the Lion (or lioness!) ruby-like eyes, or put a miniature symbol of fire like a reflection in the eyes. Colors and lighting could influence the mood of the piece, joyful or sad, meditative, whatever I wanted, and I could use lots of texture, visual and tactile, to make it more interesting.

Another idea would be to combine symbols for my sun, rising (Libra), moon (Gemini), and perhaps midheaven (Cancer)... or make a pathway or map collage, symbols along the journey...

B*B,

Ysabeau

Birth data on me - thinking I can use some of it Creatively?

Your date of conception was on or about 2 November 1953 which was a Monday.
You were born on a Mondayunder the astrological sign Leo.Your Life path number is 7.Life Path Compatibility:You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 4 & 22.You may or may not get along well with those with the Life Path number 9.You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 3, 6, 8 & 11.The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2434949.5.The golden number for 1954 is 17.The epact number for 1954 is 25.The year 1954 was not a leap year.Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/3/1954 and ending 1/23/1955.You were born in the Chinese year of the Horse.The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 18 April 1954.The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 25 April 1954.The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 3 March 1954.The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 6 June 1954.The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 13 June 1954.The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 28 September 1954.The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Sunday, 18 April 1954.The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 2 March 1954. As of 4/18/2006 3:35:19 AM EDTYou are 51 years old.You are 621 months old.You are 2,699 weeks old.You are 18,894 days old.You are 453,459 hours old.You are 27,207,575 minutes old.You are 1,632,454,519 seconds old.Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 7.39491193737769 years old. (You old hound dog, you!)
There are 99 days till your next birthdayon which your cake will have 52 candles.Those 52 candles produce 52 BTUs,or 13,104 calories of heat (that's only 13.1040 food Calories!) .You can boil 5.94 US ounces of water with that many candles.
In 1954 there were approximately 3.6 million births in the US.In 1954 the US population was approximately 150,697,361 people, 50.7 persons per square mile.In 1954 in the US there were approximately 1,667,231 marriages (11.1%) and 385,144 divorces (2.6%)In 1954 in the US there were approximately 1,452,000 deaths (9.6 per 1000)In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.Your birthstone is Ruby The Mystical properties of Ruby
Ruby is said to open one's heart to love.Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
CarnelianYour birth tree is
Cypress, the Faithfulness
Strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give, happy,content,optimistic, needs enough money and acknowledgment, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered,unruly, pedantic and careless.There are 251 days till Christmas 2006!There are 264 days till Orthodox Christmas!The moon's phase on the day you wereborn was waning crescent. Copyright © 2006 Paul R. Sadowski (http://www.paulsadowski.com)

Monday, April 17, 2006

Felted Wool bags




These bags were made from tapestry wool, cut lengths tied together and then crocheted, then felted by running through the washing machine and dryer several times on HOT, then embellished with beads, silk, shells, and whatever I could get my hands on. They were a lot of fun to make, no patterns just forming them as I crocheted. I love the textures! B*B, Ysabeau

Sunday, April 16, 2006


These are three quilts I entered in the Indelible Spirit challenge, and my dh who didn't want his picture taken (isn't he cute!). I won a "judges choice" for the one he's holding, which was the only one large enough to qualify for that contest.

There was some confusion in the process of dealing with entering things, but that was a good experience for me, in the long run.
It was enough to just get the quilts done, send them out on time, with labels, hand done sleeves (which turned out to be different from the requirements, which was frustrating) entry fees, and make the committment to believing in myself that entering something I made by hand entails. It was harder to do than it sounds. B*B, Ysabeau


looking for a way


I kept thinking of different ways to approach creativity while I was working on this large watercolor. I tried to use as many of the techniques I had learned as possible, including using resists of tape, wax, commercial resist, different salts, glazing, layering, lifting out, and it was a lot of fun, and even though it is quite dark, I liked the way it turned out. It has meaning for me, even though it's an abstract, it looks like an old stone wall and arched gateway, with light coming through, stones, trees... it was fun.

B*B, Ysabeau

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Watercolors are fun, fun, fun!!!!!


This is probably the nicest piece of work I did last term in my firstest ever art class. I went back to college after thirty years with a lot of trepidation, but I was really interested in learning more about painting... so I gave it a try. I got really lucky, finding a teacher who is generous with encouragement and information.

B*B,

Ysabeau

Why I'm Here

Probably the last thing I thought I'd ever do, is write a "blog". That's something that young people do, something computer savvy, technical, engineering minded folks find fun... but I'm doing some really fun things and learning to do new creative work, at the same time as I'm healing from physical challenges, or at least enduring them, and this computer was given to me for my birthday last year, and it can be a lifeline to other people who may have similiar interests, so here I am. I'll post photos, discuss my progress and lack of it, vent some occasional frustration, and share my artistic and creative journey through words and pictures. I hope to find that this is a useful tool.

Blessed be,

Ysabeau