There are three colour therapy pouches left in the shop. Also some new triads coming later this week.
colour therapy pouches revisited and more…
Here are some new Colour Therapy pouches made out of my scraps of recycled leather. I love combining the various pieces of skirts and jackets and coloured zippers to make a statement. Some of these are lined with fine black cotton and some with cotton batik. Each pouch will be listed separately in the on-line store, I hope by tomorrow.
I’ve also made another cobalt clutch with detachable wrist strap, great batik lining and a magenta leather interior pocket. This is a rich colour and super leather–you may remember my finding not one, but two cobalt leather skirts. So I should be able to make a couple more of these. This one is a great size–9.5″ wide, 7.5″ tall and 3″ deep–will carry all your essentials. The interior slip pocket is great for subway tokens, credit cards or theatre tickets. And the clip-on wrist strap is for easy carrying — or attaching inside your tote or travel bag. Check the shop tomorrow morning for this too.
USK Montreal part 2…this workshop has it all…
I spent day two of the USK Montreal learning from Shari Blaukopf, beginning at the bottom of Place Jacques Cartier looking toward Nelson’s column. Below are the stages of Shari’s excellent demo from value sketch to the final product. 
In the afternoon we went to a quiet spot with a great view of the 1847 Marché Bonsecours. The skies were changing swiftly, there was lots of wind and a little rain. So much wind, in fact, that my hat blew away. But as I said, this workshop has it ALL. On Sunday Shari arrived with a hat for me! Below is my sketch and two others I managed to photograph before the rain drops. The final picture is from Sunday in Carré St. Louis with me sporting my new hat.
This was a top-of-the -line workshop. Marc and Shari had done intense preparation both in setting up the sights and in preparing the demos. They anticipated all our needs, and best of all, made it such a great pleasure to learn. A big thanks to both!
USK Montreal part one
This is a note from the train after our final day of our Urban Sketching workshop in Montreal. It was a rich and intense three days with Shari Blaukopf and Marc Holmes–two exceptional teachers. The weather was definitely changeable, but we were so lucky–some wind, a few rain drops, but on the whole great for sketching. There were 30 people in the course from all over North America. We broke into two smaller groups and spent a day with each instructor in two locations and then this morning all together in the beautiful Carré St. Louis. Montreal is so great for sketching. Below are the towers of Marie Reine du Monde basking in Friday’s blue sky and great shadows. Not all our skies were like this–in fact there was lots of opportunity to learn how to paint turbulence.
I spent day one with Marc. Here are some glimpses of his techniques for pencil sketching and then layering on the paint–first at Place d’Armes and then Marie Reine du Monde. Lots to absorb! The last picture is my first attempt at the paint layers with no ink outline.
That’s it for now. Still a couple of hours to go–so I am going to curl up with my music and enjoy the big skies flashing by. More on my day with Shari tomorrow.
Triad III
I made a new triad earlier in the week and before I had even put it in the on-line store, I had an email from Missouri wanting to purchase it. It’s always delightful when something like this happens.
I knew I had enough of the red leather for two more totes. As I was packing the Missouri tote, I was thinking what a great bag it would be for my art supplies–it’s strong enough and big enough to hold the sketch book, the palette, the pencil case, the small water bottle and my wallet, lunch and phone. The triple pocket on the inside is perfect for separating out the small things so I can grab them quickly. So I set about making another triad for myself. This orangeade leather is some of my very favourite and I have used it sparingly in many bags. Here is a bag from August 2011 with an orange panel. I had just enough of this beautiful orangeade left for straps and pocket. Inside the triple pocket is made from a teal suede skirt.
It is unusual for me to treat myself with one of my bags. It’s like the old story of the shoemaker’s children who have no shoes. I always seem to be carrying a reject, one I don’t think is worth selling with smudged graphics or a feature that did not quite work. But this new Triad seems really great and I think I will enjoy using it. I will let you know at the end of the weekend.
We went to Kington last night for a special visit and I tossed my new Triad over my shoulder just to try it out. You see I am a fan of the cross-body strap and I wanted to see how these shoulder straps would work with the tote full of all my gear. Would the weight distribution be ok? I am happy to report that Triad III is a big success. The extra piece of heavy leather riveted in the bottom gives it balance and stability. This tote is even a little bigger: 15.5″ wide, 14.5″ long and 5.5″ deep. If you click on the instagram button on the side of the page you will see a photo taken this morning of the Triad packed full of my sketching things. I hope to post later to show you where I am going–this post comes to you from the train.
another Triad
I will be making a small series of these bags so if you are interested, please let me know or keep your eye on the shop. I think that they are a fabulous tote. This one is lime/orange/red. The next one will have teal in the mix. This tote is unlined, but is completely doubled stitched and has an additional piece of leather fastened inside the base with dome-shaped rivets for extra durability. There are two large pockets on the outside and three on the inside and the whole thing closes with a metal zipper. The shoulder straps have an 11.5 inch drop for easy carrying. The bag itself measures 13″ tall, 14″ wide and 6″ deep.
rounding the bend
One of the very best things for me at the cottage is kayaking as the sun goes down. The lake is generally quiet, but in the evenings I have it to totally to myself. It is glorious.
more on hooking text…and the passing of an icon
I mentioned yesterday that ideas and images seem to come into my world exactly when I need them. It’s like when you are thinking of buying a yellow car and all of a sudden all you can see are yellow cars. I am working on a new rug and thinking about the role of text in it–its placement, its relationship with colour and the other images on the rug. This week I discovered Ed Ruscha and quoted his musings on using words in art. Then as I was actually hooking the letters on the rug, I encountered Taryn Simon on Wachtel on the Arts. There is very little in the way of contact with the outside world at our cottage, no internet or cell and the Globe and Mail is one and a half hours away. However, I do have the CBC when the radio is behaving, and it makes ALL the difference. I think Eleanor Wachtel is a national treasure and I save all her interviews with authors as podcasts so I can listen as I hook. My reading list is generated by listening to Eleanor. I have discovered Maggie O’Farrell, Rose Tremain and countless others through Eleanor’s gently probing questions. And every once in a while she will have the most poignant interview with an old favourite like her recent surprising talk with John Le Carré. I don’t always catch her program on the arts–but this in-depth interview with a most interesting conceptual artist is definitely worth a second listen. Simon, as it says in her bio, investigates the impossibility of absolute understanding and opens up the space between text and image, where disorientation occurs and ambiguity reigns.
Alex Colville died this week. A large print of his painting To Prince Edward Island hangs where I see it first thing every morning. When we saw the real thing in the National Gallery we were surprised both by its relatively small dimensions and the overwhelming power of the image. I have had versions of his work with me since I can remember. Here are the two I love most; it is a visceral attachment.
words
It is a curious but recurring event in my life that just the right book makes its way into my hand at just the right time. I happened upon this quotation from Ed Ruscha this past weekend. (Above is one of his images.)
I like the idea of a word becoming a picture, almost leaving its body, then coming back and becoming a word again.
I had not even heard of Ruscha before (and he is, I have subsequently learned, one of Time’s top 100 most influential people of 2013) but his approach to text immediately resonated with me. I have been hooking the Annie Dillard quotation and musing the way one does when the room is quiet and the fabric slips through one’s fingers magically looping against itself on the canvas. The quotation seemed to capture that dance from word to image to implication to association to memory to longing and back again.
markers
Not many words needed for these three markers. Just a deep acknowledgement to Mary Pratt for the second image and more.
