Pastimes and Passions

Thankful Thursday – Valerie Goodwin

Thankful Thursday – Valerie Goodwin

Another #thankfulthursday post for my art teachers and inspirations My “work” life has involved maps and geography for years and the Map Haiku workshop with @valeriegoodwinart gave me a way to cross it over into my art life. Don’t judge her work by...

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Thankful Thursday – Carolina Oneto

Thankful Thursday – Carolina Oneto

Keeping myself in gratitude, I’m sharing #thankfulthursday posts on Instagram highlighting the generous teachers who have inspired me and upskilled me in pursuit of my #passionsandpastimes. Today, thank you to @carolina_oneto for her help with...

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The Stocking Story

The Stocking Story

When I was a child, my Aunt Mary was my window into the world of craft, or as I think of it, art.  She, along with one of my grandmothers, were the ones who could sew, knot, crochet, and opened that world to me.  In many ways my Grandmother had a...

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Oops, October!

Oops, October!

October passed me by too quickly to get this post out and included in my month-end summary email. It’s important to me, marking the passage of time even if no one else ever read it. October is a long month, but it felt short.  I met my own...

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Transformation or Resolution?

Transformation or Resolution?

I’m carrying on with revisiting some old mixed media paintings - some I knew were unfinished, some I thought might be unfinished.  It’s really fun to reword these.  This one is an example of a piece I thought might be finished some time ago, but...

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AAH, August

AAH, August

Well, I sort of stayed home in August.  One quick day trip from Chicago over to Grand Rapids to attend a quilt exhibit and show.  Great inspiration pieces and a great opportunity to do a little exhibit hall shopping as usual. This was the...

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Before and After #1

Before and After #1

Moving on from collage to mixed media painting.  I have a stash of unfinished pieces that need some resolution.  Love working in layers, but boy if you get interrupted it can sit there for a while in a pretty unattractive place.  Sometimes I just...

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The Sun Sets on the Series

The Sun Sets on the Series

The series of 10 collages based on views through various windows that have been meaningful to me is finished - pretty fast for me considering I began it during a class in June and there has been a lot of away time since then.  On the left, what I...

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Mixed Media from Montreal

Mixed Media from Montreal

The series continues.  This “window” collage is from the Montreal Botanical Gardens, a really magical place, and is my interpretation of a view from inside a little pagoda-type structure in the Japanese Garden, I think.  I highly recommend spending...

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July’s Jaunts

July’s Jaunts

It’s hard to believe a year ago I didn’t own a car, hadn’t owned one for five years, and now we have over 20,000 miles on our little Accord.  July was another cross-country month, starting with a quick lunch with the family in suburban Detroit,...

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