snow

i just love the dress that i finished yesterday

and wore out to first Thursday Art Walk

in Seattle!

the pattern is by Yoshiko Tsukiori, Stylish Dress Book,

Wear With Freedom (great title).

what a splendid warm evening for Art Walk it was.

the highlight was Jennifer Beedon Snow's exhibit.

i've admired her paintings for a long time, and

it was great to see them in person,

rather than on-line,

for the first time.

i bought a mini book of her paintings

at the exhibit and had her sign the book.

i almost feel like we are kindred spirits after

reading her interview in the book.

her work is so very Diebenkorn, who is

one of my favorite artists of all time.

grrrrr!

grrr,

someone keeps picking

plants in my pea patch!

i'm going to put up a sign

birdies

experimenting some more with my 

new digital illustration program.

these birdies are based on a pair of lovely

Mexican ceramic gals that i 

purchased at a local thrift shop for 

only $5.!!!

my husband and i love to shop at this shop just around the corner.

you never know what might pop up

from one day to the next.

my husband thinks that we have bought the

most lovely things of our lives 

there in the last year, since

we moved to this neighborhood.

limoges

my latest thrift shop find.

a set of Limoges dishes.

i looked up the maker's mark on the back of the dishes

and they were made between 1876 - 1889!

amazing, since they look like they have never been used!

my dinner salad was oh so lovely.
i bought these with the intent of giving them 
to my francophile daughter.
hmmm, i do like them.....

flowers

happy Earth Day!

digital drawing

i am super excited to start learning how to use Affinity Designer and Photo.  they're A LOT less expensive than Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator but seem to be even more powerful.  the cool thing is that there are example illustrations that you can learn how the parts and pieces are put together. the above was generated just by looking at the layers in the example illustrations and seeing how they worked together. i want to use this software to design more fabrics.

Harebells

On Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

bouquets

day 5 of garden for sale, which calls for a fresh bouquet of rhododendron, weigela, lonicera and deutzia. by the way the garden sale comes with a house.  

Birdie

My 18 year old gal went to kitty heaven this morning. I do hope she is running around and enjoying herself, free of pain, and enjoying the sunshine. I'll miss you my dear puss. Bye sweetie. 

Happy Springtime

My delicious spring garden, yum!

sunshine

I couldn't resist a bunch of white and yellow freesias! Their spicy fragrance transports me to my childhood in California where my dad would plant the bulbs every year. They are the happiest flowers, I just love them!

In an unconscious way I guess I was celebrating, since I never buy flowers, that dark simmering cloud had finally been lifted from above me. After two weeks of waiting and no word from my doctor I just couldn't take the stressss any longer and called for the results of my recent biopsy. Benign polyp! Removed. No cancer!!!!! Yipppppeeeee!!!!!! I now feel like life is starting again, my personal springtime, and I can enjoy what life has to offer, and enjoy I have! I went to an art opening of the most talented water colorist I've seen in years, then to the Joan Miró show at SAM (listened to live flamenco music!), fabulous dinner at Tulio's, overnight at the Monaco, breakfast at Portage Bay and ferry ride home. A mini vacation/victory lap. The flamenco music really stirred me. I love acoustic guitar,  but flamenco is such a passionate demonstration of life that just pulled me into its vortex. I wish I had kept at my classical guitar lessons in high school!!! Then i spent the day applying to be selected for an art installation this summer. I haven't felt so alive and present in such a long time. And to top it off the sun was shining all day yesterday, and the daffodils and crocus are blooming in the garden. The cherry tree is bursting in pink and the lovely Cornus mas, Cornelian Cherry, is blooming in a mist of buttercup yellow. Hello spring. Welcome. I love you. 

knit

I learned the German twisted cast on for this hat. I used Madeline Tosh DK in whiskey barrel. Great yarn. Soft!

SEA

This city is completely nuts right now with Seahawks fever. 90% of the population is wearing some sort of team themed apparel. I like these alternatively spirited displays. I was in the International District today and a calligrapher was selling his work for the new year (it says Seahawks). Gung Hay Fat Choy!

upcycle

I ripped an alpaca vest I knit likely 30 years ago and am now making a crochet ripple lap blanket with the yarn. 

Hohoho

Paper cut pattern was from an old album cover I saw on line.