Moving On

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….to lesson two

Here’s the last random collage from lesson one that I just finished. I may go back later and do a couple more but for now I’m satisfied with what I’ve accomplished and I am anxious the try my hand at ‘moon papers’. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that is. I’ll explain in the next post.

For this collage I started with the tree trunk. After much searching I found the illustration of the girl meditating and it went from there. I decided to try my hand at adding lines of stitching. I picked up this idea from Jill Kuhn who is also doing the class, 2019: A Year of Collage. Jill is a wonderful source of inspiration and constantly praises what I do. Thank you Jill.

Is This Monster Too Scary?

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….our granddaughter decided today that monsters are too scary and she wanted to see the fish from Friday again….????

“He Has Really Big Eyes”

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…according to our granddaughter after she saw her Papa’s latest drawing

Word of the Week Challenge – Forlorn

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Fandango for hosting FOWC

for·lorn

Dictionary result for forlorn

/fərˈlôrn/

adjective

pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely.

“forlorn figures at bus stops”

synonyms:

unhappy, sad, miserable, sorrowful, dejected, despondent, disconsolate, wretched, abject, morose, regretful, broken-hearted, heartbroken, down, downcast, dispirited, downhearted, heavy-hearted, crestfallen, depressed, melancholy, blue, gloomy, glum, mournful, despairing, doleful, woebegone, woeful, tearful, long-faced, joyless, cheerless, out of sorts; More

(of an aim or endeavor) unlikely to succeed or be fulfilled; hopeless.

“a forlorn attempt to escape”

synonyms: hopeless, with no chance of success, beyond hope;

Friendly Friday – Coral-ish Colours

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Snow for hosting this week’s Friendly Friday

I guess ‘coral-ish’ is any colour in the orange family.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…..the weather that is

I’m not talking about the weather that we’re experiencing today but the weather that we had when we were in London, England back in October. Most people think of England as being foggy, cloudy and teaming with rain with a bit of sunshine here and there. Fortunately for us that was not the case. Out of the 14 days in London we only had one rainy day. That happened on Day 8.

Originally we planned to take the train to Brighton and enjoy the seaside. The relentless downpour that day changed our plans. Instead we took a bus to Brick Lane. Brick Lane is in the East End of London and is famous for its curry houses. Having said that I found it unusual that our son wanted us to try a deli where they serve salt beef sandwiches. I guess they’re pretty popular because there was a huge line-up to order one of these massive buns. The weather certainly didn’t keep people away. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the area because the rain was really lashing down.

After sampling the salt beef we ventured back outside and maneuvered our way down the street with umbrellas overhead. We made our way to the Whitechapel Gallery to see the Elmgreen and Dragset show. It was to say the least, a most unusual show. On the ground floor gallery they present the ghost of the Whitechapel Pool.

Throughout the exhibition there are more sculptures, such as, a cash machine, in front of which a baby has been abandoned. This supposedly acts as an emotional precursor to sculptures in the rest of the galleries. These include a rifle on the wall, a judge’s wig, a pregnant maid and a frightened schoolboy.

Later that evening, closer to our accommodations, we all went out for dinner together. It would be our last night together with all six of us. Andrea and Josie were heading for Scotland and my husband and I were moving to a hotel in South Kensington the following day. Our son picked his favourite Ramen restaurant, Kanada-Ya, Ramen Bar on Upper Street.

Not only did the good weather come to an end but so did our time with our daughter and daughter-in-law. Luckily for us the good weather did return for the rest of our trip but Andrea and Josie had quite different weather farther north in Scotland.

I’m Getting There

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….with my 8 random collage pieces

This is number five. Even though lesson two has appeared in my mailbox I’m hesitant to start it until I get a least a couple more of the random collages done. I struggled with this one and didn’t know where I wanted to go with it. I decided to just pick up my pen and start adding detail to the blue waterfall that I had posted into my sketch book. It did remind me of the body of an emu or an ostrich so I decided to turn it into some kind of bird. As the bird neared completion I added a horizon line and then the little bits and pieces came out to make a landscape scene.

One of the other reasons I haven’t started lesson two is because it requires a lot of space to lay out the papers made with the Gelli plate. I’ve been deliberately cleaning out boxes of things that I brought with me after I retired from teaching. Purging feels real good and it’s gives me a bit more space to put up another table in my art space. This one is collapsable and can be stored under my bed when I’m not using it. I’ve also wanted to do some sewing and use my machine for some of my art projects. The only place I had for the sewing machine was on my dining room table which isn’t ideal either. This new table will also come in handy for the machine. It adjusts to three different heights so I can stand at it and work, sit at it with the sewing machine and the third height is lower and will come in handy when my granddaughter comes over to do art with me.