Day 4: Word Inspiration

Pick a word, any word, google it, and write something inspired by the 4th image (since today is the 4th:) .
I like that this could work for any day of the year because sometimes the blank page of the blog can be intimidating.

So today's word is travel and here is the 4th image google showed me after clicking one of the additional prompts at the top- "National Geographic"

THIS MAY BE MY NEW FAVORITE THING!!!

‘Crossing the Pond’ by Yousuf Tushar / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. A boy crossing the little pond beside sea beach at Coxís Bazar Dry fishing village, Bangladesh. In the village, more than 5000 families engaged with dry fish processing. Their children have no modern toys to play, so sometimes they play and making fun by themselves like as jumping or running.

How does this inspire me?  Well I could sit and look at the work of these amazing photographers for hours.  I am not the best photographer but I do love taking pics.  My husband hates that part of traveling with me because flowers and buildings can stop me in my tracks and make walking somewhere take that much longer.  He jokes that he always adds 15 minutes to our time if we are walking somewhere:)

I am not sure that I am inspired as much as the photo makes me nostalgic. 

This seems reminiscent of my childhood in the fact that we made up a lot of games and fun out of nothing.  Your imagination was what made the day better and if you had a group of people adding to the ideas, all the more fun!  Maybe that is why I love brainstorming groups so much even to this day.  That high of ideas and exploration can be intoxicating to me.

I have also lived by the water many times in my life and there is something so peaceful about the water.  Many people feel this and it makes me ponder WHY?  What is it about water that speaks to the depths of us as humans?  

That is a question for another day I think.  Today quilting is calling me as with most days.  Quilting calms my soul too.  

What most calms yours?

Pop over to see who else is blogging...
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And Yet, another direction

Last post I spoke about the direction of my work; and yet, here is another direction entirely that I also love to work in.  Somehow painting the piece vs. printing a photograph before I do my thread painting makes it feel more my own.  When I wrote of this in the past, comments were very favorable toward the work and time involved in getting a good and balanced photo and they are absolutely correct.  Good photography is a skill set unto itself.  I don't claim to be a very good photographer and so the thread enhances them, in my opinion.  The texture of a thread painting is another draw for me as well.  These have become my Threadscapes and they keep me excited.

 

View from covered bridge in Indiana

This newer piece is painted on watercolor paper during a class I was taking.  Watercolor really appeals to me although I am not very good at it either-yet!  What I am excited about is the detailing I will get to add as I start painting with thread on the machine.  It may not sound like it will make a big difference but the next picture shows my point.

 

Here is Majestic and how it came to be .   When you look at the before and after, is there any doubt that the stitches add depth and richness to the painting? This piece sold promptly at the next show I entered it into which made me very proud.

 

Do you have a favorite method to work in (raw edge fusible, painting, dyeing, abstract, etc)? Do you concern yourself with whether all your work should be in the same style or do you like to have 2-3 different styles?

Today is Off the Wall Friday so please be sure to see what other wonderful styles our fellow artists are working in here.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse 150th Anniversary

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse in North Carolina, they will be holding a juried art and photography show. I decided to enter one of my Threadscapes and this time I changed it up a bit. Instead of using one of my photographs, I chose to try my hand at painting instead. The picture above shows the piece once it was painted and you can see the threads laying across it while I choose which threads will work the best.
Going back to painting has been on my list for awhile now and this seemed the perfect opportunity to do so. Once the paint was set (acrylic mixed with textile medium) and the threads were chosen, it was time to take it to the machine and do my magic. I am very pleased with how it turned out and hope that whoever is jurying the art show will feel the same. I will be thousands of feet in the air on my way to St. Louis while this is happening and so I won't have time to fret over it until later.
Some are surprised to find that I don't decorate with lighthouses since my husband is in the Coast Guard. I was in the CG at one time as well and that is how we met. So even though I do not decorate with them, I have a huge respect for the men who have served them for so long before automation....my father being one of them. Although he didn't get to serve in one of the traditional ones as he would have liked, he spent a total of 4 years on 2 separate lighthouse platforms out in the middle of the ocean before they were automated as well.
We are a Coast Guard family and so I painted this lighthouse and entered this show in honor of all the lighthouse keepers and their families.

"Majestic"

If you are in the area, please go visit the show at the Core Sound Museum, Harker's Island, NC. It runs from Oct 10th- Nov 1st