Getting Some Control – Some

Posted on by Sandy Webster

These are my new tools, compliments of the physical therapist who is trying to get rid of a bad shoulder/muscle ache. About three months ago I noticed the pain, stopped boxing the bag at the gym, then stopped doing upper body work…..hoping it would just disappear. That is not the way things go any more.

Losing myself in Karin Fossum crime novels, I found this bit of dialogue between a young policeman and an older woman. He referred to her as being in her mid-seventies. That is close to my age. He must have asked her about getting older and she said, in part, the following:

“It is a gradual decline. An insidious, almost unnoticeable process that you only discover at sudden, shocking moments.”

That is a very accurate observation for Ms Fossum to make via her “older woman.” Finding passages like this make me sorry I have her books on Kindle. She has some good bits in the novels that could use a mark in the margins.

I think the shoulder is getting better and have been told that my patience could use some work. Do all the exercises and do them with patience. Focus on healing. Fine.

Aside from that I have dug out some of my favorite tools in the studio. Both are helping me do the finishing touches on work I plan on entering for juried exhibitions far away.

First off is the Harbor Freight belt sander.

When I saw this at a friends studio out near Seattle, and realized it only cost $49, it seemed a must for my own studio. It grinds away things I don’t want on the surface and helps to shape soft foredges of books, etc.

And then that wonderful burning tool I bought after a weekend class on finishes at Arrowmont a couple of years ago.

With the different tips and the speed with which it gets the job done, I am glad to be working with it again.

My new work in collage is all finished and framed for the exhibit the River Gallery in Chattanooga later this spring. And just the other day I received a request to be part of another one toward the middle of the state. They wanted my sculpture works. This will give me a chance to return to boats.

It feels appropriate to go back to boats. They fit me right now. Drifting. Floating. Waiting to get somewhere. Anyway I like the boats of my past.

 

Even this sorry little linen one with bits and sticks tied or stitched on.

I will rework the River Lethe one below. I might build a water line between the boat and those forgetful passengers below decks and loose the monument part they sit on. Sort of make them a river to float through. This one is definitely a reference to dementia. The passengers share fragments of what might or might not have been while other fragments float away. They have stored their “baggage” in the hold overhead before taking their seats below.

In the same vein of “drifting” I think I will put in the piece I made this summer with sticks and papers made in Claudia Lee’s class. The Lethe boat just floats back and forth. This boat turns in circles. In it I carry a bundle of memories wrapped tightly, am given one oar and a rock to remind me to get there quickly. The fish tag along in anticipation. All that and it still makes me smile.

I will definitely make some Sanctuary House Boats. Safe little floating spaces that can only hold one. A place to meditate and tune out distractions. Places to get away from that woman’s “sudden, shocking moments.”

I will be back next week with news on how that is going.

After Christmas

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Our family has started the long drive home. The deer have come and gone. What corn and seed they didn’t eat is picked over by turkeys and anticipated by crows.

It was a fun and relaxing Christmas this year. We kept it simple. Each of the three who came to visit will return to keep Lee company while I am in Australia. After getting all the guest rooms put back together I photographed each of the kitchen cupboards and drawers with their contents. I noticed that not too many of them knew where things go. So now when they open a cupboard there will be a picture of what goes in there…..and how. A good idea I think. When I return things should be pretty much where they need to be.

Our daughter received a new sewing machine for Christmas and tried it out making catnip mice for her cat friends…our’s included. I still  had her business card from forty years ago when she hired her brother and a neighbor girl to stuff them with catnip. Her closet where the “hired help” were kept working on the line was a bit of a sweat shop with dried catnip, fabrics, sewing machine and stuffing. A local paper did an article on her entrepreneurship that resulted in several callers wanting her to come and harvest excessive amounts of catnip. Here are the three she made using a scrap of two sided cotton I bought from the Dairings in Australia and a bit of pink felt and book binding thread.

She also got me sorted out with my new computer and gave me a battery docking station for traveling and away from a power source for charging an iphone. And for fun some lenses for the iphone. Here is the studio using a combination of lenses.

Blurry but pulls a lot into the frame. And then the macro lens alone to do this detail of a luna moth wing.

I like the macro lens. And here is the new computer, an Asus Zen, that is very lightweight. The image for the wall paper or background is from a picture I took of the scarves I dyed at the Botanical Studios in Australia. The last of those were given to two of our three guests and our masseuse who comes the day after Christmas each year to give each of us an hour of heaven.

We also had time to finish off some pincushions to get in the mail.

 

And then before you knew it the week was over and it looks as though no one was here. In about three more hours they should arrive home.

I did have time to work on another of the boat series. Still not sure where this is going but don’t they feel like some sort of travel back to childhood? I will just keep working on them.

The next one will be air ships floating up into the sky like an ascension of balloons.

And from our son came the makings of a pretty drastically bad drink made with only the cheapest whiskey one can find mixed with diet Fresca and about four ice cubes. What makes it palatable is that is should be served in a Jefferson Cup ( metal similar to pewter and bowl shaped). He actually found a set of four to present along with the mix and cheap whiskey. We only drink these when we want to remember our friend who passed shortly before her 100th birthday. This was her favorite drink that she often served with popcorn cooked just right. She, Pacia, was also the reason we decided to come up with the book I wrote and editioned titled, The Spirits Bar. It is about a bar we open when we miss those who have gone before us. The ones we loved sharing a drink with, the ones we would like to see come back for “one more round”. Here is the book. My friend who comes each year with the kids got it out so I could read it while we ate popcorn and drank Pacia’s favorite drink.

I will take a new picture with the Jefferson Cup. I am finishing off the Aristocrat whiskey and Fresca while having a five o’clock phone visit with a friend. We usually drink scotch on these calls but Pacia is still on my mind as well as the thoughtful son who found these ingredients to make a perfect gift, not to mention his encouragement for me to write this little book.

Til next time. I am off to the Spirits Bar.

 

Another Direction

Posted on by Sandy Webster

Illustrator Jill Barklem of the Brambly Hedge series died recently. I love her work and when my kids got me this one and other books by her several years ago, I was thrilled. For hours a person can get lost in this magic. If you loved Beatrix Potter, then this book is a step beyond. The details of the interiors of these little mice’s homes all neatly tucked into the woods, and their little clothes and shoes and smiles….terrific.  Jill Barklem was amazing. She would spend years doing her research before starting on a book. In this one in particular she tells you how she does her drawings.

It was her mention of the pen outlines that really intrigued me. How could she be so sure as to where to put those permanent lines? And the lines always a soft walnut ink color. With the calligraphy nibs that a friend sent recently and a small pot of walnut ink waiting in the studio to be boiled down, I thought I would give it a try.

Another favorite book of mine is this one by Janet Marsh. I think I bought it when it first came out in the eighties. Another English illustrator. Janet went to a pond to document in the most beautiful watercolors what was happening there. I love this book and her dedication to documentation.

See the similarities? Look at those delicate marks and just how beautiful it all is.

Anyway, I got inspired (again) and decided to just escape into the fantasy with my own limited abilities. Giving myself limits of size and pieces, I decided to go about making a boat-like thing using only three things from the natural bits in my studio. Then the boat would be obviously afloat or well-grounded with the addition of some other thing.

Here is the first.

They are each drawn into a marked space of 5 x 7 inches. I loved having the bird in charge of the oar. Fun.

So now number 2. The drawing first.

I am using my new pencil.

An oyster shell, a nest and a quail egg….rock for an anchor. Likely this boat is not going very far.

Number 3.

This one is well and truly stuck on a rock.

And then Number 4.

A fish is helping this one along.

There will be some touch up work on them and certainly better photographs if I want them to have another life beyond Inga’s sketch book. But for now, they are quite satisfying. The size is small, as are the expectations. The challenge is simple….just go ahead and do it.

Think about Janet and Jill and just do the best you can. Simple.

Have a lovely holiday season.

I will be back later.

 

 

Still Unsettled

Posted on by Sandy Webster

I am still floating out there with my fish. Touch of snow still clinging. I thought it would be gone today. When you get older never read too far into the weather forecast on your Iphone. I thought it was going to be in the 50s today….that is tomorrow. So still cold. Still cloudy. Still waiting for hoses to thaw.

And still waiting for inspiration on something to keep me occupied artistically until company comes for the holidays.

I finished the eight small pieces. I tried to not do them all at once, but never mind. I just kept going. All finished, framed and on the wall with the other pieces, all made for an April exhibit.

Here is one.

All in black specimen type frames.

I think I added a touch of something to this one after I photographed it. Funny how something comes to you after you think it is finished.

Anyway, those are on the wall. And then to something else that these prompted. Going back to drawing some of the bits of Nature in the studio.

I found a lovely moleskine type sketchbook that Inga Hunter from Australia gave me a while back. Then I blocked out a section and picked out three things that would fit. My first thought was that I would do watercolors in light layers to build up color. But once I got the new Graph Gear mechanical pencil with a .3 graphite lead, it became all about the drawing, the shading, the building up. It felt good to get out my drawing tools.

The new pencil.

The other tools because .3 is not going to give a whole lot of darks.

A private student had the Graph Gear pencil and this lovely mechanical eraser. I bought them both together on Amazon…my store of choice and necessity anymore. Rummaging through my pencil box is always fun. I like the sound of those graphite sticks bumping into each other. And this Australian pencil box bought at an airport on my way out of the country is wonderful to slide open to find other treasures. I bought this large soft brush somewhere because I just liked the look of it. But it is indispensable in brushing away eraser crumbs instead of using an already graphite-covered edge of my hand. And those gummy erasers that make nasty dark dirty marks simply disappear somewhere in their bellies, never to be seen again. Magic. And a great tension reliever.

So here is how that drawing ended up. I tried to take my time. But less than two hours later what more can I do?

I have three more things that I will arrange and draw next. Killing time. Trying to stay focused. Waiting for someone to visit. Thinking way too much about things that I probably shouldn’t be thinking about.  Sending letters and faxes to selfish, incompetent Congress members who seem totally focused on lining their donors’ pockets as well as their own. When did we get so politically pathetic? November 9th, 2016 is probably the correct answer to that. We just need a November, 2018 to start getting it right again.

Anyway.

I have one more week before company comes. I could easily fill Inga’s book by then. I just ordered more graphite leads for my new pencil. To make the order worthwhile, I tossed in a few colored inks for intaglios. After the holidays I will get back to the press and try to work with color. It seems most of what I like doing has very little color….earth tones at best. And it is not my gloomy mood or the gloomy weather. I just like dull colors and bright people.

Til next week.