Question of the month, Karen's reply

Today we have Karen's answer to the question, "How did you get started making your art?  What steps led you to where you are, what you are creating now?"  All art shown in this post created by Karen.

GOOD QUESTION,JAN. I DON'T REALLY REMEMBER A TIME I DIDN'T LOVE TO DRAW,COLOR AND MAKE THINGS WITH PAPER. WHEN I WAS IN FIRST GRADE I REMEMBER DRAWING AN AIRPLANE ON THE CHALK BOARD, AT SCHOOL, WITH COLORED CHALK. IT WAS MOSTLY RED AND MY OLDER SISTER ,SUE, WHO WAS IN THE THIRD GRADE,SHOWED IT TO THE TEACHER AND ALL OF HER FRIENDS. EVERYONE COMPLIMENTED ME AND IT WAS LEFT ON THE BLACKBOARD FOR ALL TO SEE. I WAS VERY SHY BUT AT THE SAME TIME THRILLED TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR MY ARTISTIC ABILITIES.

FROM THE BEGINNING WE WERE ENCOURAGED TO COLOR AND DRAW AND HAD PLENTY OF PAPER AND MATERIALS AVAILABLE AT HOME TO CREATE THINGS. WE WERE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO MAKE CARDS FOR OUR GRANDPARENTS AND RELATIVES AND ALWAYS TOLD MAKING SOMETHING YOURSELF WAS WAY MORE SPECIAL AND THOUGHTFUL. OUR DAD SOMETIMES DREW THINGS,MOSTLY COWBOYS, OR COLORED IN WESTERN COLOR BOOKS AND I ALWAYS ADMIRED WHATEVER HE DID.

I TOOK AS MANY ART CLASSES IN HIGH SCHOOL AS I COULD AND TOOK A FEW CLASSES AT PORTLAND STATE FOR A TERM OR TWO. ALSO MY DAD AND I WOULD OCCASIONALLY TAKE AN ADULT EDUCATION  ART CLASS TOGETHER  AFTER I WAS MARRIED AND HAD CHILDREN.

MY SISTER LYLA AND I HAVE ALWAYS MADE GREETING CARDS TO SEND TO EACH OTHER,AND TRIED MANY ART PROJECTS TOGETHER OVER THE YEARS.WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED ALL ART SUPPLIES AND LIKE TO GO SHOPPING AT THE BIG CRAFT STORES. I'VE NEVER CONSIDERED MY SELF A REAL ARTIST BUT JUST SOMEONE WHO LOVES ART AND ALWAYS DABBLES IN IT FOR MY OWN SAKE AND PLEASURE.

NOW THAT I HAVE MORE TIME,THAN WHEN I HAD MY KIDS AT HOME, I AM HAPPY AND THRILLED TO HAVE FOUND OUR WONDERFUL ART GROUP AND TO HAVE BEEN INVITED TO BE A PART OF IT. I HAVE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT AND THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND FEEDBACK AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRY NEW AND DIFFERENT PROJECTS. I'VE ALSO ENJOYED SEEING SOME OF MY WORK ON OUR BLOG AND HAVE EVEN BEGUN TO THINK THAT MAYBE IN MY OWN WAY, I TOO AM AN "ARTIST"

 

Question of the month: April's reply

Today I am posting April's reply to the question of the month which is, "How did you get started making your art?  What steps led you to where you are, what you are creating now?"  The above picture shows April being very polite and pretending like she likes the little sock monkey someone gave her.  All the art in this post was created by April.

I don't know why this was such a hard question for me, but it sure was.  My Dad is a graphic artist,  my Mom is an avid cross-stitcher, my eldest brother does some artistic welding, my sister is exquisitely talented with paper cutting, and my little brother plays the guitar by ear.

So basically I always grew up thinking they were all so talented and I couldn't do any of those things, so I just assumed I wasn't artistic.  Lots of different craft interests kept me busy over the years...macramé, scrapbooking,  eraser carving, stamping, calligraphy, and then one day making clay Christmas ornaments.   I was always a 'starter' of projects, but would rarely finish something. . . just move on to the next thing.(but only after buying every possible thing that went with that craft, of course.)  About 15 years ago (or more, maybe) I got to know Jan better, and she encouraged my daughter, Amber, and I to make some clay beads.  Then we made a yard art hanging wind chime-type-art piece out of clay and beads.  It was so fun! 

  After that we started our Stitchin' B group, and it has been so encouraging.   In 2000, Jan had made a bulls-eye quilt, and told us all how easy it was, and that maybe we could try it as a little challenge.  Well, I'd had only one HORRIBLE  experience sewing in high school home ec, so I was quite apprehensive (as you can imagine.)  Well, after much encouragement from 'my girls', guess what I called my bulls-eye quilt.....FINISHED!  Yep, that's right!  I have FINISHED on my wall proudly displayed in my hallway.  It was the first project  that I  EVER had actually finished. 

We have made all kinds of things, and my fellow S&B'ers ALWAYS say the kindest things to each other.  Even if we don't care for the other's art (I mean maybe the subject matter, or the style, or colors) we can honestly say how much we appreciate the time, effort and artistic expenditures that have gone into it.  I absolutely LOVE Tuesdays, and look forward to them every week.  Can you believe that?  It's wonderful!  I don't just feel like a person who crafts anymore....I feel like I'm an artist!  And that's because of my fellow Stitchin' B'ers.  They are so encouraging.  I love them!

 

As to what I'm working on now, well....a whole load of different things.  I've finished three advent calendars for my grandkids & daughter last week, made a boatload of Christmas cards, finished two fresh fir Christmas centerpieces today,  have a baby's cootie cover in the making, with a calendar challenge and a tag board challenge waiting for me to work on and get finished before another week goes by.  What would I like to get started on?   I want to make more beaded broaches, get my studio organized AGAIN, maybe knit up some washcloths (and in my wildest dreams make two-in-one-pair of knitted socks.  Mostly I just can't wait for the next challenge that my fellow S&B'ers will present to me.  It's always a challenge and it's always fun.

    Bet you're sorry, Jan, that you asked me these questions?  Didn't know you were gonna get a novel, did ya? 

    Love,  April

 

Our guest Cathy's paintings

Here is the birthday girl herself,  she looks happy to be here. 

This is one of Cathy's paintings, where she used some special items from her life to create a still life.  She had preferred landscapes and was reluctant to do a still life but her teacher persuaded her to try one with her own items.  Evidently that made all the difference in Cathy's enjoyment of this painting. 

Same with this one, items from her own collection to create the still life for this painting.

This one Cathy created from an old portrait of she and her sister. I especially love this one.   They are so cute in their dresses!

These are a couple of gifts that we gave to Cathy.  On the left is a little folded paper book from Jan and on the right is a folder from Karen that contains.....

these hand made cards.  What a lovely gift!  Karen loves to make cards and this was a great gift for Cathy.

Here is an inside page from the folded paper book from Jan.

April didn't hold back when she laid out this scrumptious feast for us. Breads, cheeses, meats, crackers and dips, fruits, desserts, it was all delicious!  It was another fun filled day with lots of laughs and sharing.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone...The centerpiece pictured was made by April for Cathy's birthday. Just thought it would make a nice Christmas photo. Scroll down to see the photos of Cathy's paintings and our final calendar viewing.

April made us a beautiful lunch. Cathy brought us all bags of cookies (yum!), and April gave us each a goodie bag. We also exchanged Christmas cards. We will have our actual Christmas party in January and exchange gifts then.

We may not be meeting for the next two weeks...depending on what everyone is doing and where they are going for the holidays.

S&Bers...feel free to post on here if you are working on projects at home for Christmas or just for fun and will see you in a couple weeks! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. God bless you.

We celebrated our friend, Cathy's, birthday on Tuesday complete with gifts and lighted cupcake.

Cathy comes all the way from Portland to visit with our group. We all enjoy it when she pops in. We had asked Cathy to bring some of her paintings for us to see and was so taken by the ones she did of memories. We all thoroughly enjoyed seeing them and look forward to seeing more in the future. You can double click to see more detail on them.

The Calendars Are Done!

We had our final unveiling of our calendars on Tuesday and it was so fun to see the next phase. The best part was that we got take them home with us! The cowboy themed one was done by Pinky for Karen. The quote about loving animals was Mary's for Jan. Karen is holding a page she did for Mary's calendar. April is showing a Feb. page for Pinky that was all in pinks, of course... Jan shows a page she did for April's calendar. This was a fun project and one that seems to be an annual event now.

More from last week at Pinky's

Karen was getting a big kick out of the little reindeer that Pinky gave her. She is so talented and balanced the reindeer on her little chocolate snowman;-)

This is what Mary was working on, creating more Christmas cards. They look marvelous!

Karen gave us all hand made cards and this is the one she gave to Jan, along with the envelope it came in. Nearly as much work goes into the envelope as into the card! Lovely. The dogs on the card are Karen's two dogs, Joe and YumYum. Sweet! Thanks Karen! And thanks to Pinky for the stocking full of goodies and for the delicious lunch you laid out for us. Your house looked so nice, all decorated and warm.

Question of the month: Pinky's reply

This week we feature Pinky's reply to our question of the month, "How did you get started making your art?  What steps led you to where you are, what you are creating now?"  The photo above shows Pinky eating red velvet birthday cake at Joan's house.

"April is the reason and Mary too. We all went to Aprils and made 20 cards. That's the first time I had ever done anything like that before. I found I wanted to keep going and I started collecting bits & pieces of stuff for cards."

"I don't know that you could call mine art, but it certainly is fun and being with you all is the best !  I think you all had a part in it. April , though, showed us how to make the cards. I probably would have never come up with that."

Love-

Pinky

Above is the cigar box Pinky recently altered.  I think it is beautiful and quite elegant. 

Laughter is good for the soul...

On the top, you will see the card Karen made me for Christmas with her little dog, Joe, on it. She made us each a card and if you other girls care to post yours, that would be great. I didn't take pics of all of them. We are thinking of making a challenge for next Christmas to each design and make a card to have printed.

Pinky, Karen and I worked on Christmas cards. Karen was even writing letters in hers! Jan was working on a new beaded piece. Jan if you took a pic of it, would you please post it? April was working on her new project...see below. The pic of the little stocking and goodies is what Pink had for each of us to take home. We had yummy lunch of ham, turkey, bread, lettuce and EVEN mayo (inside joke...:>)) She made scones to eat with our coffee. All of it was wonderful!

No wonder I look forward to Tuesdays!

Another terrific Tuesday hosted by Pinky. To the left you can see the start of April's new project with added beading. She is making a brooch. April told us a story that made our sides ache and cause tears of laughter. We all agreed that laughter is such good medicine :>)) You know...we can just let go of all the cares of the world when we are together and just laugh. Don't get me wrong...we have gone through our sad times too, but honestly this group can pick you up instantly. That's what I love about Tuesdays :>))