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inspiration

matangwe inspiration

March 4, 2012 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

Here are three drawings done by the grade 6 students in Matangwe.  It was fascinating to watch them deeply absorbed in the task of representing their homes for an audience of Canadian students. These students do not often have the opportunity to lose themselves in a creative task. The results were amazing–incorporating colour, unique design forms and flights of fantasy which reminded me of early hooked rugs and paintings.

These drawings are evocative for me–I can’t look at them without remembering the sunshine filtered through red dust, the glorious bird song and the earnest, hopeful faces. I am in the process of designing a rug with houses, as I have mentioned here before. I am sure that the drawings of these children will now have an influence on that process. I am just beginning a chair seat as a trial for the rug design–working out colours and shapes–and I hope to base it loosely on these drawings. I love the flower on the roof, the elaborate blocks and the wreath of flowers around the house, not to mention the trees and the figures of mother and cat.

My trip to Kenya has made me realize that gifts come in many ways, and often when you least expect them.

Filed Under: inspiration, kenya, matangwe

one more sleep

January 27, 2012 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I am all packed and ready to go. I get to Amsterdam Saturday morning, Nairobi Saturday night and Matangwe some time on Sunday. A wonderful new book that I had pre-ordered some time ago arrived yesterday, just in time to take with me. I have promised myself that I will record all the new sights in my sketchbook. This new book by Gabriel Campanario is an excellent resource with loads of sketches from people around the world. Some of my faves are there.

Speaking of art and faves…a local grade 6 class has been helping me with my Kenya plans. They each wrote letters to the students there, they made an amazing 12 minute video to illustrate their lives and they gathered well over 50 pounds of art and sport supplies for the students in Matangwe. I will be so proud to share the efforts of these students with the students in Kenya. My large red duffle bag is jammed to the seams with pencils, pens, erasers, paints and soccer balls. Thanks so much Grade 6’s!

And finally here is Fireworks, three sides of the border done. Working at it each day I was able to complete side three in just over a week. I figure the whole thing will be done by the end of April, with any luck, but for now we are giving each other a much-needed break.

Filed Under: Hooking, inspiration

new thoughts, new rug 2

January 25, 2012 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I love the work of Hundertwasser–his paintings and his tapestries. I think his work has much to tell us and much to inspire us for rug hooking (just look at this background). He loves houses–so I am enjoying his versions as I plan my next rug. You won’t be disappointed if you follow the link to his official website. Friends of mine are lucky enough to have an original–it has so much wonderful colour and fanciful detail. 

Filed Under: Hooking, inspiration

new thoughts, new rug

January 22, 2012 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

These days I am hooking on Fireworks, reading websites about travelling to Kenya, packing, and dreaming about my next rug. Last year when we were in the National Gallery I took this photo of a new book about Vienna in 1900. I am thinking of ordering it here, a wonderful site which has no minimum for free shipping.  I know many others have found Klimt an inspiration for rug hooking–and I see his influence in my own work, even something like this chair seat which was done several years ago in a class with Sharon Townsend at the  Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild’s wonderful November classes and show. (I have just sent off my application for November 2012!)

I am planning a new rug for Owen and Carissa–it will have houses in it, both their family homes and the new house they have together. Somehow there will be winding roads in it–and birds. For me, backgrounds are as important as major images–and much more intriguing. I am playing with the idea of tessellated birds in various colours of the sky. Just playing for now.

Filed Under: Hooking, inspiration

parcels, parcels

January 19, 2012 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

 A parcel was waiting for me when I got home yesterday. Who doesn’t love a parcel even if you arranged for it yourself? I had ordered some Noodler’s ink and a new Flex Nib Piston Fill Resin Fountain Pen, (colour–Cardinal Darkness!!) from the lovely people at the Goulet Pen Company. It came promptly from the USA, no problems, and is everything I hoped for. I’ve been having fun in my journal this morning, just trying it out–and the ink does not smudge when I put water colour over it–how great is that? I first heard about the Noodler’s ink and flex pens from one of my favourite drawing blogs.

And speaking of parcels, these stickers and business cards arrive recently from Moo. The stickers are made from my drawings and hookings. You can use any image you like, and if you have enough images, each sticker in the book can be different. The business cards are half-size and a durable card stock. This is a website that is a delight to use–to my mind they have the dynamics worked out perfectly and a great fun product.

Filed Under: inspiration

outside/inside

January 13, 2012 by Birdbrain 3 Comments

Yesterday was ice; today snow. Winter is back in Ontario. It is an excuse for reading by the fire and hooking by the window as the snow blows around in looping circles. Since this is an inside day, I thought it was a good time to share three articles I have lately loved–for outside and inside living.

1. Annie Liebovitz on How to Sustain the Creative Process: (full article here)

“Talent is something anyone can have. It can go away. It needs to be nurtured, taken care of. The best thing about getting older is that you kind of know what you are doing — if you stick with something. It doesn’t get easier. But you get stronger. Pilgrimage is an exercise in taking care of what I do. My books are my way of being able to express myself completely.”

2. Beauty and Wisdom from Steinbeck’s Letter to his son Thom (full article here)

First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

3. Cold Weather Food from Ruth Reichl (delicious link here)

 

Filed Under: inspiration

hockney inspiration

January 10, 2012 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I have loved David Hockney’s work since I saw an exhibition of his huge canvases in Boston in 1998. This is a painting from that exhibition–I have the poster on my wall. His use of colour and line influences my hooking. Lately, I have been fascinated by his work using the ipad. He has had several of these on the cover of the New Yorker, but this is my favourite (indulging my passion for shoes).

Talk about embracing the new. He is an inpiration!

Filed Under: Hooking, inspiration

moving on

January 4, 2012 by Birdbrain 4 Comments

I have my new Moleskine out of the package but have not drawn a single thing! Once I have finished this last tote–and it is close–I have promised myself to get drawing. I am inspired by Nina’s xmas day drawing and may try out orchids. They are so beautiful right now. I will be in Kenya for three weeks in February and hope to document my visit in drawings as well as photographs.  So, in three weeks I will be shutting down the sewing machines and putting away the hook and frame until March. However, I should be able to blog on the weekends, if all goes well, so you may hear from me.

In the meantime, a new project. My sister has a great eye and fashion sense. She found this beautiful vintage buckle for me and has challenged me to come up with a use for it. She suggested a belt or closure for a bag. Hmmm. I love a challenge. I’ll tuck it away for now–but who knows where it will reappear. I saved the Bally strap in the previous post for 20 years before I found the perfect spot for it!

Filed Under: bags and purses, inspiration

favourites

December 31, 2011 by Birdbrain 2 Comments


For the new year, I thought I would make a list of my favourite sites, (apart from my very favourites listed on the side bar.) But these sites are the ones I go to almost daily for inspiration, information or company–there a couple of food blogs, two or three sketching and design blogs and an excellent place for essays and book reviews. It’s hard to narrow down the choice, there is so much wonderful stuff available, but these are the ones that I have visited most this year.

1. brain pickings

2. Liz and Borromini  and Sketching Architecture

3. Danny Gregory

4. 101 Cookbooks

5. Miss Moss

6. Sketch Away

7. Sara Barner. Her site has not been updated for a while, but you can also see her amazing leather  here.

8. Lottie and Dorf 

9. Skinny Laminx

10. Nina Johansson

 

Filed Under: inspiration

perfectly imperfect

December 29, 2011 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

This time of year is always a time of reflection for me.  The company has gone home, the leftovers still comprise a meal and the hours are open for quiet time. I am back at hooking my big rug, realizing just how long each of those paddles of coloured circles takes and how much time I still have to devote. There is little actually creative now, apart from combining the colours, but it is still a pleasure. And while hooking I am thinking about the past year. These photos and notes are the record of my perfectly imperfect life, the days and the creations. It was a big step for me, this public record, but overall, I think a good one. I would never have documented each product, each event, without it. And I would not have encountered so many lovely people through comments and notes. Thank you all so much for your support and interest.

Below is a poem about the beauty and necessity of imperfection by Molly Peacock and then a quotation from a recent blog entry by Danny Gregory, one of my favourite creators, reflecting on his son’s application to RISD.  I hope you enjoy them and are encouraged to let your own red bird fly.

     The Flaw

The best thing about a hand-made pattern
is the flaw.
Sooner or later in a hand-loomed rug,
among the squares and flattened triangles,
a little red nub might soar above a blue field,
or a purple cross might sneak in between
the neat ochre teeth of the border.
The flaw we live by, the wrong color floss,
now wreathes among the uniform strands
and, because it does not match,
makes a red bird fly,
turning blue field into sky.
It is almost, after long silence, a word
spoken aloud, a hand saying through the flaw,
I’m alive, discovered by your eye.

Molly Peacock © 2008
Used with permission of W.W. Norton and Company

 

“If a half-century of living on this sphere has taught me anything, it’s that regret is a waste of time, that one should seize every opportunity that comes one’s way, and that the fear of the unknown is just a one-way ticket into darkness. Fortunately, my son is braver than I am, less damaged, brighter, more confident in his abilities to change the world. He is my greatest work of art, of course I can’t claim all the credit.”

 

 

Filed Under: Hooking, inspiration

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