Hold ups, Set Backs and Getting to Paris....

The summer seems to be over, there may be a few more days of warmth in our near future, however, the energy has shifted to back to school, routine and regimen, structure and discipline. Not at all bad things; keeps things orderly and running smoothly.

There are great ideas with the blog and sharing information, inspiration and all. The hold up seems to be doing it the way I want it to be done and finding my own style. Winging it is always an option and keeps one in the moment, which is great when there is a solid routine and knowing of one's abilities and  limitations.

Now, when it comes to creativity, there is nothing that intimidates me, frustration is lately at a heightened state, but intimidation, no. If I don't understand a technique or how to execute something the way I visualize it or a comparable outcome, I am off my game. There is a gap that must be filled.

Integrating technology is my problem these days. Setting things up to do things efficiently, daily, weekly and monthly tasks, keeping myself organized and accomplishing is of paramount focus recently. The world has been turned upside down in the last year, moving a collection of creative materials and supplies, along with just plain life paraphernalia, has had me a bit out of sorts. Talk about creating a whole new routine!

My life of 18 months ago is far different than it is right now. It feels like I have been put through the wash cycle, several times over and hung out to dry a couple of times too.  (Here would be a great place to post a photo of my recent laundry out on the line at my mom and dad's house. It was a wash day of my small vintage table cloth collection, beautifully blowing in the breeze against the backdrop of a bright blue sky and brilliant green grass.)

I didn't even think to snap a quick photo as my mom and I spent the afternoon out on the patio, reminiscing about my grandma and laundry and tips that my mom learned from her mother about properly hanging clothes out on the line. My mom was also pleased to share with me a newly cherished memory created with my niece, who had no idea the concept of hanging clothes outside to dry. Mom took the opportunity to share some home keeping  wisdom and memories of her childhood. I hope my niece remembers the experience, too, when she gets older.

But, that is not what this post is about.. I haven't been writing much, I have been slowing getting into creative endeavors, only to be thwarted by broken sewing needles and not sure where the supply is currently located. Recently, I have created a box of file cards with potential topic cards to keep the blog(s) more organized, consistent and fluid. That is the goal anyway. Getting back on a regular writing schedule with a routine of topics is my goal.

Sometimes though, just journaling what is in my head, keeping me stuck, is the best release. Being heard,  if you read this, you are thinking something about what I have written. It will go through the filter of your experience, you will either relate or not to what my experience is. My hope is that you will recognize the same or similar insights in your own areas of creating. Yes, creating, it could be a sewing project, a painting project, writing or a home project, even a life project.

Maybe you are in search of a new career expression, or expanding on an old one. Just looking at where you are at in the process, being with it, is all you need to do to move forward. After all, you can't get to your destination without starting from where you are currently at. It is impossible to get to Paris, via New York, if you are still in Minneapolis. Gotta figure out how to get to New York from Minneapolis first. (Although, Air France is back at MSP for direct flights to Paris!)

Paris greenery.... how quaint.

The Beauty in Chaos

Marbled paper 1990

It has felt as if my urge to create has been thwarted the past 18 months. Not a lot of production going on over here. Just an abundance of ideas and no where to take action on them. No idea where the tools and materials are that would allow implementation of such inspiring projects. So, they have not yet been realized.

Then this morning as I realize what I have been doing, in the past 3 months, in spite of unpacking boxes and purging, is that I HAVE been creating something. I have a goal in the back of my mind that is always emerging as I move a box from one corner to the other, not quite ready to take on its contents, or releasing items that have only held emotional connections for me.

I realize it is the memory, not the thing, so I snap a photo of the thing with my iphone and let it go. Maybe I will do a collage or something some day. There are some things though, a tangible item that a dear person who is no longer in my life may have touched. A sort of evidence and physical reminder of their existence. More like a channel to them, to experience being in the moment with them, one more time.

As I let go of things and hang on to memories, I am forced to sort them, to file them in my heart, not keeping them cluttering the foreground for any new blessing to trip over. Instead in a sacred place dedicated in honor,  a location that I can retrieve and re-PLACE,  should I wish that experience for any length of time. A moment may be all that I need or desire.

Yes, what I realize I am creating is order. An order for my past to reside within, with built in flexibility to accommodate an ever expanding future. Life will no longer pile up in the doorway, scattered across the floor to step over and be reminded of incompletions. It is time to pick up the laundry, neatly fold the clothes and put them away in closets and drawers.

In preparation for writing this blog, I have organized topics and have sub categories of how to best communicate them. Actions are being taking, one small, baby step at a time to keep it orderly and fluid. Thus a context and expression in my life for all of the things that interest, inspire and have me being alive.

What makes me feel alive is a unique blend of images, thoughts, values and relationships. The relationships are the result. How to relate to these things, places and people. What has you feeling alive? Which takes precedence for you? Does the order of your things, in your places reflect the relationships you have with people? Which are most important to you?

No matter where you are in the creative cycle, find the beauty where you are, ground yourself in it. There is after all beauty in chaos too! http://www.chaos.umd.edu/gallery.html

The cracking open of the Cocoon!

Playing with my own photos and using them as creative inspiration, never having to worry about infringing on copyright issues (that is complex business!) This has been something I have wanted to do ever since my college photography class.

Technology has finally caught up with my desire and the ability to create quickly and eloquently is at hand. Painting and drawing have their place and I will continue to practice and polish my hand work skills, but learning something new that can net FAST results... that is wonderful!

I am starting out with a photo of some roses at Lake Harriet Rose Garden in Minneapolis. Yes, they really are that color! Isn't it great! I love this color!

The original photograph, taken with my iPhone

 After bringing the photo into Photoshop from iPhoto, I have simply posterized the image. This is in the Edit menu on Photoshop. It has become more stylized and the colors have been reduced. I didn't want it to look too simple, a complex screen print is what it is starting to look like.. hmm yes, I like that.....

The photoshopped version, posterizing the image. 

Next, the photo is shown with the color bars of each of the main colors in the palette. There are twenty colors shown in this image.... yes the idea is becoming more clear...  A few posts back, my fun with illustrator was featured, creating quilt blocks and a resulting pattern of two blocks used together.. stay tuned for how that gets integrated with this thread of thought... connecting vibrant threads to create something.. I can't see clearly where this is going, but it is definitely going somewhere... Welcome to the beginning of Vibrant Threads, the butterfly is cracking the cocoon!

The color palette extracted for identification

More Techie Explorations

For the past few years I have been fortunate enough to own Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. While playing around in Photoshop and getting comfortable with that part of the suite, Illustrator, well, that has been completely sit and stare at the screen wondering what the...??? Where do I start? What does it do? What do I want it to do? There have been ideas of things I wanted to do digitally, but where to begin to learn it... it is a whole new language to me....

So last week, I started a tutorial from a book I picked up at Half Price Books on Illustrator. It is amazing how a little bit of practice helps to pick up new things just by doing! I haven't even finished the first chapter yet!

Then I started researching hex codes on the internet. You know the color code that is the universal formula for all of the colors on the web? The look like this.. #FFFFFF or #000000 (white and black respectively) and any combination of numbers 0-9 and/or letters A-F.  I often wondered what the pattern or code meant...

Well, here it is.. there are three colors in the formula, Red, Green and Blue (these are the light primaries, as when all are mixed together they make white. This is subtractive color. Additive color uses pigment or dye and when all of the colors are added together the result is black.

The first two spaces of the formula are the code for RED, the second pair of digits/letters is GREEN and the last two spaces are the code for BLUE. The combination of 0-9/A-F in each of these spaces is the formula for any color.

It feels for me that a great mystery has been solved.

A photo I took at Lake Harriet and the main colors

The photo above is one of my favorites of sailboats at Lake Harriet one evening at dusk. Often color palettes are inspired by nature and the environment.

The pursuit of images and color combinations and how they impact emotional responses and communicate on a feeling level is an area that this technology will assist me in researching... and studying. My questions to engage you, my readers... are these..... the same questions I ask myself when working on a project of any medium.....

What do you feel from the image and the colors that emerge in the palette? What do the shapes in the photo suggest? Are they enhanced by the color palette or in opposition? These are the questions about design that fascinate and intrigue me.... this is why I love what I do... to create palettes, shapes and relationships to communicate a subtle message or cue. It is my way of being heard, without SHOUTING!

What do you think? Are you aware of the subtle language all around us? How do you feel about this communication?

PS The hex codes are as follows.... DDAABB, 445566, 778899, 886666 and CCAAAA.

I think there will be a lot more of this in the future. I am working the details on one, that is quilting inspired..

A Quick Fix Creative Expression-Illustrator and Quilting

Today, I sat down at my computer with my Jinny Beyer  The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns and created a couple of blocks from the 12 x 12 grid section. I found out from my friend Google how to color the sections then put a quick quilt together to see how the patterns create a secondary pattern.

Playing in illustrator a whole new creative quickie has been born!

The Jinny Beyer book is beautifully photographed and a true inspiration to any quilter or any one interested in pattern for that matter.

I like what got created. That may be as far as the idea ever gets... for this one, but what a great practice ground for exploring color, pattern and scale.

My next task is to play with the swatch libraries and create some of my own... the creative juices are flowing again... so, when lack of time or inspiration hits, there just might be a quilt pattern of the day showing up.

Writing and staying focused has been challenging lately. Feeling a bit like a pin ball in a machine, bouncing from one bumper to the other and occasionally falling into the hole... only to start a new game... Creative rescue has been found... at least for now!

Bodega Bay on the Balcony!

The heat has finally broken here. There is a beautiful breeze flowing through the apartment and the birds are chirping like crazy. Actually, it looks like Bodega Bay on my balcony! When we moved in so did some swallows. We didn't do much about it, as we were moving in and no time to sit outside.

Now that things are getting put away,  the babies have hatched and found a perch circling the top of the wind chime. Apparently the whole flock comes and feeds them and there are droppings everywhere. The chairs are covered! I will spare you a photo as it is not a pretty sight. Now, how to get them to move on. I like having birds around, but they have taken over and we can't even go out there. So, a request to the office, I guess.

Things definitely are getting 'put away'.  This weekend, I went to my parents and sorted through and reorganized the things being stored out there. Extra furniture, painting projects, and most all of the fabric. Not much here to work with. Everything is packed tightly to minimize the space that I would need to take up.

I would like to get my sewing machine cabinet back here, I think I have a space for it in the LR and so much of my sewing things can be stored in the upper cabinet. My bedroom is still a maze of boxes and unpacked miscellaneous things that need a home.

Sew, no painting this summer I am afraid, maybe some small pieces that I have here, but none of the furniture. Sewing, yes, small projects. I am really wanting to work on some silk Sylvia's blocks... but I have to find the silk. It is in my room somewhere, maybe even packed in the closet... Some serious organizing has to happen in there. The closets also have to be purged and sorted. Getting a system of storage and workspace set up is essential to getting anything done. Including design work.

Creating a new office routine, setting up new systems that work is a challenge. The thoughts of it have me exhausted. Which, is why there has been little writing. As I progress, documenting the process will be good blogging material, as this is the major obstacle of creating. The ultimate distraction!

I am wondering to write in the moment or to have planned blog posts. Sometimes I think the planned ones are more visually appealing, but the spontaneous topics, are more cathartic for me. Inspired, that is what they will be... until next time... 

Style- Your own Personal Discovery

Style -


We all have it. It is there, in our DNA. How we express it is also unique to us and part of that style. Self expression of style is a sign of a healthy relationship with yourself. 

Developing your personal style is like developing a personal structure. You have to follow someone elses until you find your own.

Magazine photo of a lovely tile floor

Where do you start? Choose an area of self expression that you are drawn to. Your personal clothing, your hair, make-up, a room in your house, the exterior color of your house... and look at what is out there... Find things you like. You don’t have to actually do those things, just begin collecting things that appeal to you. Gather a folder on your computer, or a stash of magazine tears in a folder (or in my case a box, well, no actually BOXES) Anything that you find that you like. 

Just collect, allow yourself to do this over a period of time, days, weeks, even months. Don’t anaylyse, just collect. 

After an allotted amount of time, start looking at your collection. Sort the photos in any way that makes sense to you. Maybe you like the colors in a picture, or there is a furniture piece that is really great. Perhaps there is a silhouette that excites you or a pair of shoes that puts a spring in your step. None of the things have to be related. There could be a pile of pics that feature the same color, shape, room, a wardrobe, a garden, just allow your intuition to sort it all for you. 

You may find at this point, that not only have you found fabulous photos that depict your style, but you may have found that certain objects, colors or apparel peices have crept their way into your possession. 

A beautifully textured white purse

Detail of a ceiling in a local ice cream shop

Congratulations, you are attracting those things that are the most expressive of your personal style.  The areas of your life that have your attention now, should start to shift.  Your consciousness is now engaged and you are beginning to know yourself. 

Remember, style is not stagnant, it evolves as a personal beacon, illuminating to the world how you as an individual are growing and expanding. (hopefully not your size!) While you may always be drawn to certain colors or clothing articles, keep yourself from becoming too saturated in one area, venture out into changing it up a bit. Venture out into a clothing article you wouldn’t normally wear, or a color that is a bit darker or lighter than what you normally wear. Maybe add a color to create a combination you haven’t tried yet. When you allow your style to breathe, it doesn’t date you. You find the things in current fashion that work and utilize them. You will inherently avoid the things in the current fashion that don’t work for you. There is nothing less appealing than being a slave to fashion and looking like it in your dress or in your home. 

All should be a natural expression and reflection of you and where you are at. Have fun with it.