A post from the Past: May 28, 2008 - Notions

I am transferring my blog post from Live Journal over here to Blogger. I will start with the newest first so that the last post I post will be the oldest one from LJ.  That way you can scroll down and read it in order. 2008 to 2009

May 28, 2008  Notions

So the box of books and a few more notions came yesterday from Knitpicks. I put all of the needles I own on the floor to check out all of the beauty of these wood needles. I do have some straights that don't fit in the little box.



Then I put them in their Striped Box. I love Stripes and the box is metal and I wrote in the lid all the sizes I have in DPN's and Circulars.
I know you can hardly see my writing but it is there.



So I started the next pair of socks for my daughter in law. Her birthday is July first. I am starting early because she will get 2 pairs of socks and a hat/felted. I have started the hat, see other blog. 

I cast on the new socks while sitting at the plaza, outside at a table, in the sun. It is a beautiful day today. Warm but not hot. 




I'm using Harmony's size 3.00mm DPN's this time. I think the step socks were too tight, they fit but they are snug. The swatch was asking me to go up a size too. Well ok, it was yelling at me to go up.





That is my new sock cast on and a few rows done. And that is my knitting bag with all my Notions, Lovely Lovey NOTIONS.
I have the pattern, notebook, Ipod, pencils, etc. in the bag.
I keep my ball of yarn in a plastic bag so that it stays clean and doesn't get all fuzzy. I embroidered my name on the bag. You never know....

Now for the bad news. I timed myself on the last sock I made. For one sock it took me 3 weeks and a day. There was a wedding for my son thrown in there during that time but I did knit at his house in Idaho while we visited. I think I am slow. I hope I speed up with each pair of socks I do. I read that some people can whip out a sock in a day or two. How do they knit so fast?
I have been knitting socks since the middle of March 2008.

HAPPY MAY 1ST !!!!!!!

Happy first day of May.  It is windy and sunny here.  I'm happy that the sun is shining and my life is happy.
I read this and I like it:
A good walk cures most problems. Want to lose weight and get fit? Walk. Want to enjoy life but spend less? Walk. Want to cure stress and clear your head? Walk. Want to meditate and live in the moment? Walk. Having trouble with a life or work problem? Walk, and your head gets clear.


I would add that walking my dog is fun.  He is so cute.  More on Bob later.


I wanted to share my 2nd lesson painting from my online class. The subject was Boxed Gardens.  The photos I saw of flower boxes were not getting my mojo moving so I set out with camera in hand.  I drove all over Redlands and I walked the sidewalks for a good photo. 
It is legal to take photos if 1) you took the photo (or I)  2) if you can see it from a right of way or public domain.


Here is my painting:


This is the photo:



I had a little problem with the border. I tried to tape around the painting and then paint a dark border to frame my painting.  The problem is that the blue paint bled under the tape.  


Since I didn't find a good flower box I chose to paint this tree with a grate and the Nasturtiums.  I love Nasturtiums.  


About Bob.  He is so funny.  I was working in my garage and he wanted to be near me.  I left the garage side door open and put a childs gate across. He jumped over it. So I raised it up to make it higher. 
See here how it looks:



I did put a hand dolly in front of it and that stopped the jumping over. Eventually I brought him in the garage and he is on a chain. I live close to the street where  people speed. I'm always scared that if he gets in the street he will be hit.  So I use the long chain in the garage.

Bob is looking older here I think.  He is 8 months old now.


So the project in my garage is this. I wanted to organize and clean up the clutter. I installed these racks with my handy dandy power drill.

They look so puny on the wall.  But the internet says that the toggle bolts will hold a lot of weight. I'm just so use to having a handy husband who would weld up a rack when my heart desired it.  Now that I am a widow I have to go to Home Depot to buy their puny racks.  I really need to buy another for the brooms.  
Oh and YES, I do put art work on my garage walls.  You can see the ballerina by Degas.  I bought it at the Norton Simon Museum.  I love Degas' work.
I also have hung many of my own paintings on the walls of my garage.


RACK  with tools



It looks a little crowded but I'm happy with it.  I have the tools out of the large trash can, so floor space is empty, clean and roomy.  I will keep on working on the garage.   
I'm not sure that I posted what I did to my work table. I put a sheet of metal on the table to have a nice heat resistant cleanable surface. 



Here is a wide shot.  I have an air compressor under my table. I love my tool drawers (by Kennedy) on the left. It still seems cluttered so I might put in some shelves for supplies. Art uses a lot of misc. supplies.



Well that is about all. I will leave you with some pretty Roses from my garden for a HAPPY MAY FIRST to all.


Hybrid Tea Rose: Sheer Bliss



David Austin English rose: Belle Story

Exodus 4:11-12 – Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say Posted: 30 Apr 2011 09:01 PM PDT The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” – Exodus 4:11-12 (NIV)

Converting my Palette Challenge

I'm a sucker for color. Over time I had ended up with 2- thirty-two well watercolor palettes.  I had to hunt down a 32 well palette because usually you find palettes with 8-20 wells. I was lucky when I found the 32 wells. BUT after time I needed more wells.
I had seen how some artist use plastic and glue to divide palette wells. But I am a Dental Technician experienced with WAX. And I have a supply of wax.  So I thought why not use wax that I already have and my dental waxing tools that I have? Yes, I said and it's free. Well at one time I had to buy the wax but if I went the glue and plastic route I would have to make a shopping trip.  I am so in the mode lately to recycle and use what is in my home.
I was also tired of trying to position 2 large palettes by my side when I would paint. It was awkward and didn't leave much room for my water and brushes.
So here is how I began.


I had to clear out the paint in my current palette.  I picked my newest palette to be the converted palette. So I popped out the paint with a table knife, put them in lunch bags and wrote their names on the bag. Some of the lighter color paints I wrote on the bottom side of the paint itself.  I left paint in my old palette. No reason to pop it out till ready to put them in the new palette.


Here is the set up for the project.  I laid out my supplies. On the far right you can see my waxer. It is a tool like a pen with a very hot tip. (more later). Then you see I have the palette. I did use finger nail polish remover to get the old paint names off the outside edges of the palette. I have here also a cutting board and the pink wax is denture wax. It is rather brittle. The little tins are filled with carving wax. I will use that in place of glue.


I cut the wax to shape


I began to wax the divider into place with the green carving wax. At this point I am not sure about this pink denture wax.


Here is the waxing pen. It is amazing. I love it.  It has several tips. I had set the temperature to 400 but eventually went to 418 F.  If you have it too cool the wax won't flow, if it is too hot then it drips off the pen too fast in unwanted places and it starts to melt the pink denture wax. This waxer unit is more than $400. Love it.


Close up of waxing pen.
After a good nights sleep I decided that I didn't like the pink denture wax dividers. So I pulled out my red boxing wax.


Here I am finished waxing all of the dividers.  Some of the wells have 2 dividers to make 3 spaces. Some have 1 divider to make 2 spaces.


Ok, yes the green wax looks messy. I did clean that up. It was from the first attempt with the pink wax.


Here is a Bird's Eye View of the waxing part finished. I really am pleased with this.  This idea had swam in my head for months. I was slow in doing it because I knew it was a big project. But it is so worth it. Now I can carry just one palette to class with most of my colors.


Here we have the colors in their places.  I wanted to group the colors in families, like greens, reds, browns. Years ago they were placed as I bought the watercolor.  99% of these colors are Daniel Smith Fine Watercolors.  I did have to trim down the side of the paint I had popped out of the old palette because they were too big to fit in their new wells.  I put the remainder back in their ziplock bag to save.  After I put the colors in their new homes I wet them down.  I let that soak for a few hours and then went back with a toothpick and smoothed out the paint into the length of the new well.  Some paint is soft and rubbery and some is grainy.




Here I have labeled the names of the paints.  I think it is important to know the names. After using this palette I will memorize what position each color is but I do like to know their official names.  It is so easy to forget and if you have a teacher who says to try Quinacridone Coral, then I want to know which one that is.


Another view of the labels. Yes I did eliminate quite a few colors because they were just old and a cheap brand.



And there you have the finished palette of new wells for watercolor.  Can you guess how many wells I have now?  hmmm?
I have a total of 75, yes 75 wells.  And one is empty.  I thought just in case I buy a new color. Hahahahahahahaa

I did use the new palette in class on Monday 3/28  My Birthday,(yeah) but I don't like the painting.  It is not my style.  I have an issue with my class. ugh.
Here is the unfinished painting.


 I can't tell you how much I hate this painting. I hate the colors, the composition and I would like to go start the fire in the fireplace with it. I thought if I ink in the daises I would like it more but I did a few and I still hate the painting.

I want to do some paintings of magnified views of rocks or flowers or cut glass vases.
The teacher is older and I think she is stuck in old fashioned ideas. The other students eat this stuff up. But then again they are older.  The one thing I just can't stand is that she has us painting from her painting.  I want to paint from something real, real flowers, a real animal, real rocks or a photo of them.  Then it is my interpretation.  I have a different eye and will pick out colors that maybe someone else doesn't see. But how can you do that when you are told to paint from her painting?
Any thoughts?

Well have a great April Fools Day.
Happy Painting.
Carol

Work Shop & Tools I Love

I wanted to make a post of what I am doing in my newly set up work-Art shop-studio. I need a name for it don't you think?
Here is a leaf that I cut out of tin then put some solder on it.  After that I put on some alcohol ink.  I punched holes in this leaf. I might use this leaf as a wall decoration or put it where a candle can shine through.
Do you see that ballpeen hammer?  It was my Richard's hammer. Richard is my one and only hubby who died of cancer. Here is another photo of this much used hammer.

I love that I can see where his hands held this tool. In the background you can see my handtool. It is similar to a dremel but this is what dental technicians use. I am a dental tech. So I like the feel of this in my hands. It is not too heavy. I can change burs, or mandrels at ease. You can see part of my collection of burs on that pink magnetic thingie.

Here is my Sweetie Richard's vise. It has been used a lot.  I brought it from my old house when  moved.  I have it right next to me on my work table. It's probably more heavy duty than I need but that was Richard. If a little was good then more was better.

See that box?  It has a reostat on it and an electrical cord coming out?  My sweetie Richard made that for me when I got into making stained glass windows.
I use it for my soldering iron. I can regulate the heat. I put a tiny night light on it so I can see that it is on.
Other accessories in the photo are a sketchbook which I covered in soft leather and put a shell button.
Also is a model of teeth.  It is a plaster model where I designed a set of teeth with gums in wax.  Each tooth is pinned and could be removed individually, that is if I cut the wax gums. But I didn't.  I like to practice my tooth carving on models.

So here is my work table from a distance.  I was lucky to find the lamp with a double light. It has both incandescent and florescent. It gives good light for detail work. This is the kind of lamp we use in the lab.
That tall think you see on the left, black with a cloth bag & draw string is my magnifying glass. It has a flexible goose neck. I take off it's hat and bend it over.  When I do dental work I am always looking through this.  It has so many scratches it's crazy but loved.

When I was working in my garage studio I took a walk outside to check the weather. Here are the looming snow clouds.

I am looking north towards Big Bear.
They were darker in person. But they were so big and cold looking.

Here I am looking east towards Yucaipa, my old stomping grounds. My family lives there now.

And here I am looking west towards Redlands. This is taken at 5 pm. We have the best sunsets.

Here is a close up of some of my tools. I have a love affair with paint brushes. These are watercolor brushes. My oil painting brushes are in a cabinet. Watercolor brushes are softer and finer.  I have some that you don't even want to know the price of.  I love them.

A couple favorite brushes are on this wall.  My wall is messy. I will work on it later.
That is a real genuine indian ax head made of stone on my wall.  My step-dad Walter made the handle and wrapped it in leather. He also made my arrows. I have 2 branding irons hanging there. And you can see half of a painting I did in 1973.

This was my first college oil painting. Richard had to take a class at the college so I tagged along and took painting.  It was fun.  This painting is ok. I love the deer. I hate the bushes. They look so arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............  I have no word.

So there is a peek into my studio-work space. I need a name for my area.
To end this I will leave you with an image of Peanuts area. She had a little accident. Gotta love her creativity!!!