Day 111. HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Day 109. The inherent and unanswerable

Outside the wind is blowing
it is calling me
do you have the courage to face me
to stand before me and willingly unleash your soul to blow with me
Can you let escape the creative embroys
that boil beneath your skin
What becomes of you after
has it kept your shape, your mind, your heart?
Where do you exist when it no longer does
are you left in the wake of its ruinous release
Or with each escape do you bloat to form another
are you forever to become a factory of ideation and thus creation
Are you the maker of the creation
or is the creation the maker of you
And if you paled, neglecting the process
would apathy consume you

Day 108. Dusk

Day 107. Turkeys live in these woods

Day 106. Pine tree and berries Merge

Day 105. Cabin Merge

Douglas Michigan is a strange place in the winter. Most of the homes are summer cabins and are therefore boarded up in the winter time, they become a strange ghost landscape.  The garage which is most visible has not been used in over ten years and yes those are weeds growing out of the roof.

Day 104. Merry Christmas with Abstract Nature Merge

Day 103. Finished! Yea! Finally!

Day 102. embroidery

Day 101. Still working on this ornament...

Day 100!!!!! and Happy Winter's Solstice

So since today is my 100th day of artmaking for Everyday Artworks. It got me thinking, what else can I do 100 of?
100 pushups? No Way
100 sit-ups, pull-ups, anything exercise related-ups? No Way
Have I baked 100 batches of brownies? Maybe... it's definitely possible
Read 100 books?  I'm pretty sure
Watched 100 movies?  Yeah, most definitely
Have I ever done anything for 100 days in a row before? (I mean aside from eating, drinking, brushing my teeth (and maybe not even that)) I don't think so! So Yea for me!

It may be not every day that I make a masterpiece, it may be not everyday that I work 100%
But I tell you what:
Everyday I am here. Making something, working on something.  Even when I'm tired and want to throw a tantrum at the idea of having to do this, I get up off my duff and do it (except once when sickness got me down.) And it's on those days when I complain and sulk that something magical happens.  As I am making my piece, my mood slowly lifts and I start to feel lighter and happier and in a matter of 10 minutes, I am glad that I am there working and when I finish, I am surprised to see what I have created, as if I'm not sure where it came from.  I think maybe it's not me that is creating, maybe it's me that is being created.

So Yea for me for 100 days!

And Yea for Winter, It sure worked hard to come around again, and with the voracity for which it has arrived, I think it's excited to be here...

Day 99. Started an Ornament for a Baby's 1st Christmas

Day 98. 2nd Quilted Pillow Completed

They´re colorful, that´s for sure!

Day 97. Finished one pillow

Day 96. Medusa Merges with a Rotting Gourd

Day 95. I'm on a roll with these AbNa Images

AbNa, haha. I love these abstract nature pieces. Just can't get enough. Hope you like them too.

Day 94. And Another Abstract Nature Photo Montage

Day 93. Another Abstract Nature

Day 92. Finished Stocking for Esau

Day 91. 2nd Quilted Piece

Finished the 2nd Quilted Piece for this project I'm working on.  The edges have to be trimmed and pillow backs need to be added. That's this week.  Stay Tuned

Day 90. Stocking for our kitty, ESAU

So my mom was upset that my kitty Esau didn't have a Christmas Stocking.  So today I decided to try my hand making one.  1st time attempt went pretty well I think.  I still need to add some embelishments towards the top and a loop to hang from the fireplace hook.

Day 89. Feeling sick..no post

Oh bummer, I was feeling really sick yesterday and wasn't able to make a piece or post anything.

Day 88. oh the things I dream

Oh the things I dream.
One day I will be able to finish my book, there's only 15 pages left.
One day I will play hookey from work and not feel one iota of guilt.
One day I will stop procrastinating.
One day I will fill my body with thoughts of all things I love about it, rather than hate about it.
One day I will clean my house, including that sticky spot where I spilled the sprite.
One day I will not let the winter blues get me down.
One day I will buy a 365 SAD therapy light box and bask in the glow of artifical sunlight when all you can see outside is gray.
One day I will join that gym like I wanted to.
One day I will take responsibility for my career and mold it to fit MY needs.
One day I will live on a farm and make art work everyday and not have to also work 9-5.
One day, on a Monday I will be lazy until 10am and drink excess amounts of coffee with warm milk and read my book!
One day I will move someplace warm.
One day I will, I don't know...blah, blah, blah....and on and on until I won't anymore.

Day 87. In Memory of my Hero

In memory of John Lennon who truely believed that we can find peace if we band together,
I am making a piece based on old African Proverb,
When Spiderwebs unite, they can halt even a lion"
What I want to know is what you would like to see halted?
is it violence? pollution? racism?
If I agree with your suggestions, I'll include them in my piece.

My plan:
To fill in the words with pictures of things I hope to see end, poste haste!

Day 86. Abstract Nature-2 & detail

Here's another abstracted Nature Merge piece.  I found that while I was working on it, I like so much zooming in to see the details, so I added a detail view for you too.

Day 86. Nature Abstracted

This is a merging of a lichen covered stone walkway and some interesting trees.  Looks to me like outerspace or some kind of cellular-neuronal-synapse thing, at any rate, I like it!

Day 85. New Quilt Piece

Well here it is, one of two "courthouse steps" (log cabin variation) quilting piece from the drawing the other day.  It doesn't quite have the effect I wanted, but it is very colorful.  It still needs some finishing touches and of course the pillow backing.  In the coming days I'll have to make part two for the matching pillow.  Hope to have it done by the end of the week- cross your fingers!

Day 84. Christmas Decorating Snowflakes

Nicolas and I decided to decorate for Christmas today, we went out and bought a tree..I know, I know Christmas trees are selfish and bad for the environment, but we woke up and it was snowing and I just felt like I was filled with the Christmas spirit.  But we don't have many ornaments or decorations, just some hand-me-downs from Grandma, so I thought for my art project I would make some snowflakes.  I think they turned out pretty nice.  I also made some larger ones and hung those on our windows (not pictured here).

Day 83. New Quilt Idea

Tonight I am working on a new quilt idea.  I spent some time researching which kind of piece I want to make, deciding on the log cabin design, then I spent some time thinking of color schemes I might want to employ.  Then I thought (I'm making pillows) should I do just one template like the top image for the entire pillow- it would look graphic, simple, modern or should I do a four piece template and make the logs roll so it looks twisty (not quite what is pictured here)?  I think since I'm going to try to finish them as X-mas presents I'll go with the first option, graphic, simple, modern...
Tomorrow I will have to shopping at the fabric store for some supplies.  Oh I'm so excited, I just love quilting. Just call me Nerd with a capital N.

Day 82. Cooking is Art

Tonight I cooked for the first time ever, vegetable beef soup and it smells terrific!  I also made my family favorite, cheesy rolls.  Cooking for sure is an art form.  I just wish I could capture the smells and taste sensations somehow on my blog...A thick hearty stew and warm rolls - its a sure sign that winter is here!

Day 81. The great christmas tree debate

Re-usable Fake Tree

Fresh Cut Tree

This year is the first year I have ever wanted to set up my own Christmas Tree.  But I can't decide what kind of tree to get.  My two options: 1. Re-usable Fake Tree or 2. Fresh Cut Tree.  My husband and I were debating tonight on the benefits and/or drawbacks of both options.  I realized that debate is a kind of artwork and have therefore brought that artwork here tonight.






The re-usable fake tree is made from petroleum, it enhances our dependence (and stupidity) on a limited resource that wars are waged around and lives are lost for.  Let alone that petroleum continues to pollute our environment.  Also if you decide to throw out the petrol tree, it won't go anywhere, it will remain in spirit for evermore.  I personnally have a difficult time with the fake tree, when I touch them my hands break out in an itchy rash - if it does that to me, what effects will it have on my kitten? What will the cumulative effects be on my lungs?  Can you get cancer from a petrol tree?  Do the people who make the petrol trees have health problems?  After 20 years of making petrol trees, do the makers wind up with cancer or any other nasty illness?  What is the cost, in resources, of bringing all the petrol tree elements together to construct and then to leave, to distribute, to arrive at my local Target?  What about the box that it comes in?  If the built in lightbulbs burn out and they are not replaceable-how many fake trees will I buy in my lifetime? Less debatable but maybe still important, does a fake tree look as good as a real tree?  Also a fake tree must be stored year round, that space is an important comodity.

The fresh cut tree has its own disatvantages.  The biggest disadvantage I can see is that by cutting down a tree you kill the tree, to kill a tree only to put in my living room for about a month is perhaps the biggest waste of resources; if we continue to stupidly deforest, we will loose oxygen and kill ourselves off (but not before global warming goes off the deep end).  The Best part is that if I buy a real tree, I will only buy one that is 3 feet tall, which means that either it is a baby tree and I will have wasted years of oxygen production or that it is just the top of a big tree, so that for the 3 feet of pleasure I have, 6 more feet of tree is laying in a pile somewhere and was never even enjoyed, let alone completely wasted.  Either way, it is surely a loss.  One must also think of the gas it took for the electric saw to cut it down and for the transport to arrive at my grocery store.  In today's economy one must also think in terms of employment, it is most likely that only a handful of people were employed in bringing me my fresh cut tree while hundreds of people must have been employed along the fake tree road.  But the naturalist in me is screaming for a real tree, to rub up against nature-even in it's slow death and to smell the pine fresh scent.

Conclusion: Either option is a selfish act and waste of resources.

What will give me the holiday spirit? Having a sentimental feeling through ornamentation or by giving the gift of life and health to generations yet to come?

Day 80. Final Day of Vacation: 11 states, 10 days, 4 days of driving, 1 birthday, 1 holiday and lots of family.

And it rained All Day!

Day 79. Driving through the mountains

Drove through the Skyline Drive through Virginia today, so beautiful!  Making our way back to the midwest.  Tomorrow will be a 12 hour drive, ouch! 

Day 78. I hanglide and crash!

Tried my hand at hangliding for the first time today.  So I crashed, but it was so fun!  The photo series was shot by my wonderful husband, Nicolas Rojas.

Day 77. Knitting

Had time to work on some knitting today, but spent most of the day walking around small town, Manteo.  This dish cloth will be done in no-time!

Day 76. A Wonderful Day at the Elizabethan Gardens

Had a few hours this overcast morning with my uncle, the landscape architect, at the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo.  It was fabulous! I love touring old gardens-rejuvinates my soul

Day 75. My Birthday with Dolphins!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to me! So I had the best birthday, complete with a dolphin themed cupcake tier and in honor of the most ridiculously funny b-day cake ever, I've made this piece from photos of the dolphin candles and cupcake decorations.  Only in North Carolina...Thanks Aunt Marcia!

Day 74. Tour of the Weeping Radish Brewery, Butchery & Pub