a fresh start

April started with sunshine and a few showers
but rather cold and windy
so a perfect time to start a new painting.
I always make several small sketches
of ideas that come into my head
for the narrative gouache paintings I love to make.

People sometimes ask
if I shouldn't make illustrations for (children's) books
but then I always tell them
there is already a little story in it . . .

"helping a friend"

I love the visiting birds in our garden
so here's another painting with a great tit in it.
(I made one with them before and it was sold)

Because the Amelanchier (Juneberry) in the garden is in bloom
I thought it was just right to add that one too.
The fun part is, that this (still) small tree
was sown by some bird a few years back !!!

I start with the background when the sketch is on the paper
(300grams watercolour)

There are more sketches
but, tomorrow we have daughter and the children
looking for Easter eggs in the garden
(and it doesn't matter they don't have the egg-hunting age anymore !)

snippets

The long "Tabula Rasa" strip
that I started in Januari
is lying around most of the time
but near by
in case I want to add some snippets
or make a few stitches.

Because with the start of spring near
and the garden changing each day a bit more to green
I decided to move that colour
for this month.

There are clumps of yellow
of the small "tête-à-tête" daffodils
but the rambler rose is already showing many green leaves !

I leave this for a bit :
other (red) things to do !

again red

March already
and the weather is really spring-like.
Snowdrops, aconites and crocuses are gone
but bunches of small daffodils
and wood anemones are taking over.

The lava-piece is growing slowly.

The center section will be the flowing lava
so there will be lots more dark stitching
on the top and bottom
(20 x 50 cm)

Of course there are some lovely
Kaffe Fasset bits in this piece !

("Roman glass" and "Paperweight")

There will be another RED piece in the making in a hoop
that has to be finished by the end of the month !

("Playing with red")

And even more red :

for earrings

red

RED
I love that colour
(I even have 4 pairs of red shoes !)
But this time I made a base for stitching in red.
(50 x 20cm)

There are all kinds of snippets in it
that have special memories for me, I like that.

Of course the next step is always
basting everything invisibly down, the way Jude Hill taught us.
So every bit is really secure before any real stitching starts.

I don't have a clear idea of where this is all going
but I saw a marvelous video somewhere
of lava streaming from a volcano.
HOT

I let it rest a bit for now
(and work on something else) 

13

I'm not superstitious,
at least I think I am not.
Many people though think of Friday the thirteenth
and think it's bad luck.
But for me today was just a fine day
as good as any other day in the last few weeks.

Though I must say there was one particular
February Friday 13 that turned my world upside down :
28 years ago I went to our GP
because I felt a little lump in my right breast.
She sent me to the hospital right away.

I'm really LUCKY that I can say
"and the rest is history"

13 days later I had my operation
and sadly, after just a few weeks, chemo therapy too
BUT
I was lucky and am still here !

And I'm glad I can say that I had a perfect Friday 13 today !

But girls, please
don't forget to check your breasts every month !!!

weaving and mending

I once saw some weaving on forked twigs
(sorry I don't remember her name,
otherwise I should tell you)
In the garden I used to be on the look-out
for some good twigs to give it a try.
I finally did !
(I think the twig was a bit of my rambler rose
that tends to grow so vigorously
that I have to cut it down real hard
or otherwise the Malus will collapse under the weight !)

(I only have pictures of the finished piece :
after an update my phone refuses to speak with the pc
to upload the pictures I took from the start)

Front and "back" side

It was really fun !
For the warp I used cotton
and for the weave wool (sock yarn leftovers)
The weaving is about 9 cm.

*

My mending basket is still really full
though I did already some overdue work.

So today I was darning more socks !
Hmmm, I didn't find the right colour . . .
but because the holes are always at the bottom
I don't really mind.

Done !
and the crystal ball (really handy inside while working)

tells me I will enjoy these socks for some time !

more colour . . .

The white start of my "Tabula Rasa"-project
has changed to a bit more colourful snippets.

I've thought about the gradual change in colour
and I've come up with a rough scheme now.
The white of the wintry start of the year will
be followed by yellow.

Why ?

THIS is why !!!
When most of the cold is over
the Aconites push their bright yellow heads
through the old Ginkgo leaves that cover the ground !
Yes, way before the Snowdrops, though they
come soon after.

 

And because the weather here in the southwest of the country
is very mild right now
even the first small crocuses are showing !
(the northeast had LOTS of ice, snow and even black ice last week !!!)

But    YELLOW  it is
for the next part of my 15 cm whide strip !

I found a bit of my "Magic Thread" for an extra swirl
(which will appear in the work from time to time
though there is only a small ball left)

*
(SOOOOO many other ideas are whirling in my head
and I've started a few backgrounds already
but
I can't seem to decide what to do next with them)