BirdBrain Designs

hooking by the trent canal

September 9, 2014 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

For the third year in a row, the sun shone on the Campbellford hook-in. This hook-in in this charming town on the Trent Canal is one of my favourites. It is a beautiful venue, the host group is generous with food and prizes, and lots of rug hookers with inspiring rugs are in attendance. I didn’t get a chance to photograph all of the rugs I admired, but here are a few.

First are Jane Holland’s frog and Marg Dooher’s geometric. Both pieces use colour and texture to great advantage. The turquoise in Marg’s piece is dazzling–it demonstrates how a familiar pattern can be made extraordinary by thoughtful use of colour.

A piece that caught everyone’s eye was this calendar rug by Rosemary Malone. The pattern comes from Christine Little in Mahone Bay. Each month Christine sends a pattern to participating rug hookers who hook it and add it to their calendar. Rosemary has won the contest for best month twice and is waiting to hear about June. Her personalized details like the railway tracks in the June piece and the red high heels in March are what makes it so delightful.

Thank you again Cambellford Rug Hookers for an inspiring and enjoyable day.

weekend sketches

September 9, 2014 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

We stopped in Madoc on our way to the cottage, just long enough for me to do this sketch and to have a take-out latte in the wonderful café. I worked in Madoc in the high school for five years, but it wasn’t until I started to sketch the buildings that I really came to understand the history of the place. This church, built in 1874, is a tribute to the dignity and hard work of the early inhabitants of the area. I love the symmetry and the charming details in the arches and peaks. And those clocks are still working!

Friday night we had a terrific storm. The sky was yellow and lavender against the black pines as lightening stalked the lake for over an hour. The power was off for much longer than that–but the next two days were glorious and I was able to get out in the kayak to do some sketching.

bucket bag 2 — the sparrow

September 4, 2014 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

This is some of my very favourite leather. It is a rich colour and a great texture, making a bag which will go with everything and still have its own personality. Two large exterior pockets are great for phone or keys and inside there are three slip pockets with birdbrain graphics. Its lining, a khaki brushed denim, is extra durable. The bag has a long adjustable strap for wearing cross-body–my favourite way to wear a bag both for travel and everyday. High quality metal zipper closure for security. Measures width 11.5″, height 11″ and depth 3″. In the shop tomorrow.

september and the studio

September 3, 2014 by Birdbrain 3 Comments

This cartoon appeared in the Globe and Mail on Monday. The sketch really captures the wistful feelings I have at summer’s end, even though I am not going back to school, or even to a fixed schedule. The feeling comes with Labour Day. And then Jian’s piece yesterday with which he began the fall season is an important reminder of ‘the sombre summer’ many people experienced.

So it’s with all that in my mind that I’ve been working in the studio. It is what I love about studio work; my hands and part of my brain are busy, but I can listen and process while I work. It’s activity that allows, even encourages reflection. I’ve decided to do a series of bags. Usually I make a ‘one-off’, a version of a previous one, maybe, but with enough variation that I am starting afresh each time. I made a blue bucket bag (out of this leather) and I like the proportions so well I decided to make a couple more. I’m varying some of the details, but the proportions are the same. Here is the first, the Blueberry Bucket:

This bag is made from durable pebbly leather, has a front inset zipper pocket, and three slip pockets inside. It is lined in striped red canvas, has metal hardware, including protective feet on the base, and an adjustable strap which can be worn cross-body or over one shoulder. It measures 10″ high, 13″ wide and is 4″ deep. It will be in the shop tomorrow.

a new travel tote and a new everyday bag

August 28, 2014 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

I’ve been back in the studio this week and have two new bags to show you. I’ve tried some new things including a zipper placket and an inset panel. I’m very happy with both bags. The leather is really beautiful and the size works, the first for travel and the second for a good all-round day bag which is large enough to hold your laptop. Both bags will be in the shop tomorrow morning.

First, meet the Junco travel tote, a roomy and serviceable tote in a great slate distressed leather. It has a large zippered pocket on the front and inside an ipad pocket and a double slip pocket with a leather phone pocket tucked behind. It has all the essentials of a great travel tote: carry handles, an adjustable cross-body shoulder strap and a wide double bottom with metal feet to protect the leather when you have to set it down. Great hardware and metal zippers. The lining is a new piece from the market in Bondo, Kenya. The Junco travel tote is 19″ wide, 14″ tall and 7″ deep. The shoulder strap extends to 49″.

And here is the Siskin Day Bag made from a beautiful brown/green pebble leather with metal zipper and hardware. The lining, from the Amsterdam market, is durable and sprinkled with cupcakes. Outside there are two large pockets and inside there is a double leather pocket for phone and keys and a double slip pocket. The shoulder strap is adjustable, extending to 52″ and it has a double leather bottom with metal feet. This bag can easily hold your lap top and other essential papers or you can fill it with sketching or school stuff. The Siskin day bag is 16″ wide, 12.5″ high and 3″ deep.

the weekend and more on text

August 25, 2014 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

My son was up early this past Sunday morning and captured these images of the lake awakening. This is what a summer morning on the lake is all about. Meditatively silent and beautiful.

And then, on another note entirely, I had an interesting email response to my last blog post on text in art. The writer wondered if I was familiar with the work of Jenny Holzer, an American artist, whose marble benches are inscribed with thought-provoking text. I am familiar with Holzer’s work because someone I know very well has a Holzer bench in her front hall. It is inscribed with words we could all live by:

TURN SOFT AND LOVELY ANY TIME YOU HAVE A CHANCE

going around in circles

August 21, 2014 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

I have recovered my interest in my big rug with the Annie Dillard quotation at each end and have been hooking away on it. Of course we had a very rainy, cold weekend at the cottage and sitting by the fire, listening to music and working on a rug is a great way to spend a wet day. I’m working through the design block I’ve had about this rug and soon I’ll show you what I am up to–but let me just say that my fellow rug hooker, Liz, made a casual comment about my hooking in circles–or did she say going around in circles??–and that was the germ of the rest of the design. Interesting how it goes.

And here are a couple of sketches I managed to do when the rain held off and I could actually get out on the water. I’ve been using a Fabriano Venezia watercolour sketchbook (this book is happily available in my local art store). This is the second of these books I have tried and I really like the paper and size and weight of the book. I wish it opened up better–but now that I’ve read that review, I’m working on giving the book more ‘encouragement to lie flat’.

I am also back in the studio after several months away and have a new bag design almost ready to show you. I should have two new bags on the blog next week.

cycle and sketch 2

August 14, 2014 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

This week my friend, MB, and I cycled and sketched in a corner of Prince Edward County. It was about 35 kms to North Beach and back and we followed up with a delicious lunch. Since I am doing Liz Steel’s class this week in SBS, I was delighted that they had run out of cappuccino saucers in the Tall Poppy café (which was full of cyclists) and instead gave MB and me a tea saucer. I could not resist doing the homework assignment on the spot.

On the way home I did a few preliminary sketches of one of my favourite churches. I like it because it has lots of symmetrical architectural detail but it is not ornate or elaborate. It was built in 1878 and as I sketch I like to think of the people who designed and built it and those who attended it when it was new. So…I had to go back and have another coffee and finish the sketch. There is tons to learn sketching this building…and that is reason enough to go back for more delicious coffee and more sketches. (Did I say they make amazing lemon squares?)

kilim keeners

August 11, 2014 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

Fifteen Moira Mat makers took a Kilim workshop with Anne Boissinot this past weekend. Anne provided us with an amazing array of examples, an overview of the history of Kilims, and a full package of templates to help us design our own Kilim patterns. It was a busy three days with lots of colour planning and problem solving. By Sunday, everyone had a design on their backing — each one with a story and each one different.

Above is a portion of an award-winning Kilim designed and hooked by Anne and below are a few of the many Kilim examples she brought to inspire us.

Templates are carefully cut out, traced on the backing and then the hooking begins. Anne was there to support and inspire through every step. The Moira Mat Makers say a big thank you to a wonderful teacher. I am sure there will be some incredible Kilim rugs at the next annual!

a cycle and a sketch

August 10, 2014 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

I often end the day with a cycle along the waterfront. It is a wonderful way to unwind and put things in perspective. We are having some perfect summer weather and so tonight I took along my water brush and paints and stopped to do a quick sketch of the city from my vantage point across the river. I will try this view a few times and take more time and add more detail. I will also be sure take my stool so I am not sitting on the grass! This first basic sketch is what Liz Steel calls ‘the overall configuration’, just getting a sense where everything is and how each building relates to the others. Liz’s class in SBS semester 2 btw was very inspiring!

I have spent the last three days in a great rug hooking workshop. I’ll write about it tomorrow.