My trip to Comic Con and San Diego

We just got back from Comic Con in San Diego. I didn't take any pictures there--it was a madhouse, I barely escaped alive. My favorite bit was meeting Lynda Barry and getting her autograph on her new book, "What it is". But I did see some other nice things in the city.

I spent one day in Balboa Park, so here are three photos from there. The black and white people are painted on a wall around construction at the art museum. I saw a very interesting photo show there, as well as Georgia O'Keefe's paintings (plus work by other women artists of the same era). The palm trees are next to the museum. And I always love to spend time in the Spanish Village--it is full of little shops selling handmade things, and many artists are there, making more things.

I just discovered this marvelous sketch blog for you to check out--the artist's name is Pete Scully.

Watercolor postcard

A painting buddy, Linda, sent me a card with a sketch of her cabin where she is spending the summer. I used that reference to paint this quick postcard to send to her. I'm also working on a more "formal" painting of flowers, but it's fun to mix things up and do something looser sometimes.

Future quilts?

I took pics of the photos that I printed on fabric after the SAQA workshop--they are still pinned to my design wall, waiting for me to do something with them. Too much knitting! As you can see, in the top image (ferns) one print did not fill the page, so I need to figure out whether I want to chop all of the ferns off to match, or somehow fill in that space. Also, I want to paint the white areas to tone down the contrast. The others are all pretty close to what I wanted, it's just a matter of figuring out how to sew them together, if they need borders, etc. NOTE: All of them are still attached to the paper, so that's why you see white borders around the edges in some places--I have not trimmed them off yet. Sometimes those white borders end up inside the seams when I sew the photos together, so I leave them on until I have chosen a layout.

a new quilt is born!

This is my contribution to the SAQA "1 foot square" fundraising auction. I took a photo of a lion statue at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California earlier this year, printed it on fabric and altered the colors with Photoshop. The "exit" sign is from another photo that I printed last year. My daughter helped me print some of the fabric with rubber stamps, several years ago.

farmer's market flowers

I don't know what these flowers are called, but they called to me at today's farmer's market. It's a great place to stock up on fresh vegies and fruit from local growers. I've been very busy knitting, no new paintings to show you yet, but soon!

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Today, I went to San Mateo's Central Park for World Wide Knit in Public Day, where about 25 other knitters had assembled. Here I am (on the left) with three other knitters. The weather was sunny and almost warm (if you sat in the sun) and we had a great time.

LATER: I won two skeins of Shibuiknits sock yarn for my WWKIP Sock Knitters Anonymous Scavenger hunt photos! (a contest on ravelry.com)

The year of giant roses

We have been having the perfect weather for roses--everyone's bushes are covered with flowers. Even mine! I cut a few and brought them inside to enjoy. The white roses are HUGE.

1 new painting done, 1 to go

Yesterday, I added a few more touches to the Pink Orchids painting that I have been showing you "in progress." And I also worked on a new, White Orchids painting. Last week, I painted the green leaves, and yesterday I painted the background, leaving the orchids pure white. When the background is done, I will add details to the flowers.

Fair Isle socks--Memorial Day Weekend

I don't want to turn this into a sock knitting blog, but that is what I've been doing, mostly. This is the latest pair--using a fair isle pattern and several yarns from my stash, plus one skein of white yarn donated by my friend Margie. I did a lot of ripping on these socks, because the colors didn't always knit up the way they looked like they would in the skein--the main problem was not enough contrast. But persistence paid off and I have another nice pair of socks.

Firebird socks in all their glory.

These were some of the most challenging socks I have ever made. But now they are done and fit great. They are called Firebird, designed by the Tsock Tsarina for her 2008 Sock Club.

The Knitting Tornado

My darling daughter made this wonderful card for Mother's Day. Notice the thimble on my head?

Pink orchids and the knitting drummer

I painted for a couple of hours this morning, the pink orchids are beginning to look more like a finished painting, but there is still at least one more session's worth of work to do, especially on the flowers. I also forgot to post one more pic from yesterday--this guy was drumming and knitting at the same time--he actually was using those big wooden needles to hit the drums! He was selling CDs with knitted pieces attached to them, but the music didn't thrill me.

Seeing the great Yarn Harlot

Saturday, I went to the Maker Faire to hear Stephanie Pearl McPhee, the Yarn Harlot, speak. The first shot is her--there were many people knitting in the audience, including me. I bought her new book, Things I Learned from Knitting whether I wanted to or not, but did not get it autographed. Afterwards, I wandered around and saw many interesting things--a giant cupcake vehicle, a giant woman sculpture, and many crafts--I really liked the crochet display that someone had attached to a post, showing the different shapes that could be made. I was sorely tempted by some solar dyed yarn, but bought only one indie-dyed hank from Red Sheep. That is a new record for number of links in one of my blog posts! I also met a friend, whose blog is linked on my blog already, Debra Roby, we sat and chatted for a long time.

Snyderman gallery

In Philadelphia last week, I got to see the wonderful textile show that is currently at the Snyderman Works gallery--if you get a chance, see it. You can also buy a CD of the show from the gallery. This picture is the window outside the gallery, which is in an old row house. The crows are also "fiber art."

Fiber arts tour of England and Scotland

Come along on this wonderful trip! I went on a quilt-oriented trip with this same company last year, it was fabulous. This one should be even better. If you send me an email, we can sign up together and get the $100 discount.

Orchid painting is beginning to gel

Just what you have been waiting for--an update on the orchid painting I started last week. Today I managed to start filling in the orchids and deepened a few of the background leaves. Doesn't seem like much progress for nearly four hours of painting! I also did a bit of painting in my journal, which is so far behind, I may never catch up. I have been sketching in it but not adding the color ALL YEAR.

Here is where I will be next week.

What the heck is it?

My son requested this item--he calls it "bug bait" and it's a weapon in the game, Half Life 2. I knitted the ball, using a pumpkin pattern I found on the web. Then we wrapped dark brown yarn around it, and glued on tiny brown felt triangles to make the spikes. The crowning touch was the blue pony beads. Looks lethal to me.

March Mystery Socks are finished

March Mystery Sock pattern in the Sock Knitters Anonymous Raveltry forum.

This was an insane sock pattern--she had us start in the middle of the leg, knit half the entrelac cuff, then knit the other half of the cuff and bind it off, pick up the leg stitches and make the entrelac heel. I was exhausted by the time I got to the foot! But I finished them both. I used smaller needles since others in the group said that the cuff was too big, but mine is still a bit too large. However, the rest of the sock fits great and it is a true "conversation piece."

Gardening weekend

Spring is really here! At least, it is warm and sunny and things are growing that weren't growing a few days ago. Here you can see a shot I took today of a wonderful nursery on highway 92 near my home. I love the shadows.

The second picture is the new painting I started today. The photo I am using as inspiration is in the foreground, behind it you can see how much I got done in three hours of hard work. I drew the shapes last week so all I did today was paint green areas. Some of them will be much darker in the finished painting, but I need to get them started so I can see them as shapes, not lines.

My new 3D art quilts

I finally took pictures of my new 3D art quilts today--they aren't really quilts, although I did print photos onto fabric and sew them together. Then I fused them onto 300 lb watercolor paper (which is made of cotton) and created these two shapes, a square and a circle. Or a cube and a cylinder. Or whatever. They are for the CFA "Dwellings" exhibit which does not have a venue yet. Not sure I will make more of them, I like making books better. But it was an interesting challenge. The photos were taken at Ft. Mason, except for the grey windows inside the square piece--those were taken at Oxbow school in Napa. Size: they are both about 10 inches in height, the square one is 7 inches wide and also 7 inches deep; the circular one is 9 inches in diameter.

More SF Garden show

I almost forgot to include two more fabulous shots of the garden show--a giant metal rabbit (this garden was all edible plants and vegies), and a mysterious fountain with glittering tiles.

San Francisco Garden Show

Last Sunday, I went to the San Francisco Garden Show at the Cow Palace. It's not as big as in years past, but still a ton of fun. I got new garden shoes, two huge white orchids ($10 each!) another garden clipper (never have enough of those) and of course, took photos of my favorite displays.

The first is Bikini Pool--no people, but two discarded bikinis, a postcard mentioning how this guy has met two terrific girls on his vacation, and a brand new Subaru packed with picnic gear. Very cute concept.

The second is an outdoor canopy bed and also a funky bathtub--they were in the same garden display.

The bonsai display was also fabulous. I always enjoy this show, which is held in the spring every year. Be sure to check it out if you can.

Winter Garden painting is finally finished!

I started this painting way last summer, but thanks to my new little painting group, I managed to finish it today. I invited some friends to come and paint at my house on Saturdays, and this forces me to paint, too. It took three more sessions to finish this one, which I called "Winter Garden." I also drew up my next painting--it's a photo that I had already chosen and even printed up large, but it has been waiting patiently for months. It feels so good to be painting again.

California Fiber Artists meeting

Another day, another California Fiber Artists meeting. Actually, we all get together only one day a year in person--at other times, we communicate by e-mail and we hang, on average, about four shows a year in various galleries and museums. Our next show is a display at the upcoming East Bay Heritage Quilters Show in Oakland, CA. in April.

These pictures show quilts by Karen Flamme (she pronounces it "Flame"). We met at her house in Oakland, just at the edge of where the Oakland fire burned so many homes about ten years ago. The views of the bay are spectacular. She has a very pretty back patio and a super-neat home studio. (is it always that tidy???)

Stitches West, knitter's paradise

I spent the last three days fondling fiber at Stitches West, the biggest knitting convention in the U.S., which just happens to be about an hour from where I live. I took a class in backward knitting (handy for entrelac) and "Foxglove sock architecture" from Cat Bordhi. Yes, I bought some lovely hand dyed sock yarn, more Noro Kureyon so I can make some felted bags, and a few other goodies.

Marianne North

Have you ever heard of an English painter called Marianne North? When I went to England last year, I found an old house/museum packed full of her paintings at Kew Gardens. You can see how the walls are completely covered with her work. She was a Victorian-era artist who traveled all over, especially to tropical countries, and painted the weird and wonderful plants and scenery she saw there. There are a couple books of her paintings available for sale on kewbooks.com.

A scarey sculpture at the Getty Villa

I just got back from a whirlwind three-day trip to LA. The initial reason was to check out the LA Art Show, which is held at the Santa Monica Airport in a couple of hangers. I also wanted to show my daughter the Getty Center and visit the Getty Villa, which I have not seen since it reopened a couple of years ago. So here is a scarey sculpture from the Villa, my daughter outside the LA Art Show standing next to a large yellow sculpture, and another shot of the art show entrance. The last picture is me, sitting in front of a tiled fountain at the Villa. I used to go there when I lived in LA, and it was very nostalgic to see it again--now all the art is Greek or Roman, and a new cafe, bookstore and open theater has been built on the side. But the museum, which is a recreation of a Roman villa that was buried at Pompei, is still much the same. You need reservations to get in, you can make them online and find out about both Getty museums at www.getty.edu.