barn owl

 There he is
or is it a she ?
There isn't much difference in appearance :
the females are a bit bigger
the males are a bit paler in colour.

It was so much fun to make this bird !
I like owls in general but I haven't "met" them
in real life very often, a real "wild one" I mean.

The painted canvas for it is ready
but I didn't have the time yet to stitch the fabric on.

I'm very happy with how all the tiny bits of my stash
came together nicely.

This one will be coming with me to Amerongen
this Saturday !

September

The first of September today,
and after a few days of sunshine and rain
you can smell it in the garden :
autumn is near !

Oh sure,
there still are some raspberries on the bush
the rose has some flowers again
the phlox start blooming for the second
(or third) time
but something is changing
and I can smell it before I really see it.

But for my last Art Market I'm working
on some new items to take with me.
One is a new bird piece
bigger than the usual 20 x 20 cm.
The dark blue background was made already a long time ago,
now I have the right bird to go with it
a barn owl.

This was a week ago
but I was busy stitching and forgot to take
new photos of the progress yet.
The tiniest bits are attached now but lots more stitching is needed.

Besides all this there is the plan for some more felting too
. . . . . 

Warmond

You could say the weather forecast for today
wasn't exactly sunny
. . . .
but we (my dear friend Anet and I)
didn't think that it would be that bad

We arrived well in time in Warmond
to set up the stall and park the car on the parking lot some further away.
But we were halfway finished when a few drops fell,
and we decided it would be wise
to clamp the large white canvas sheets to the back of the stall.
And exactly that moment the rain came pouring down !!!
(thank you Anet you are such a great help !)
Stool wet, chairs wet, we wet.
Thank heaven the paintings were up (or under) the stall.
Hmmm, all stall holders were struggling
to keep their art and themselves dry.

No it didn't last very long
but, after a dry spell a new shower came.
(I was soooo happy I had packed the clamps and the big sheets)
Wet and dry alternated until early afternoon.

But YES there were customers too !
Although not as many of course
as there would have been in dry weather.
but I'm very grateful to the people that did come
with whom we had many lovely talks about my art.

The brand new Sea Spirit (see the previous post)
has a new home and one of my textile birds too.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH
I hope you enjoy your purchase a loooong time !

In two weeks time on Saturday (with daughter) to AMERONGEN

GRIETMARKT

(hopefully with better weather . . .)

wordless Wednesday

 

ART MARKET Amerongen

Only a few more days from now
on Saturday
Mai 9
 

I will be at the

GRIET  MARKT

again !

If you are anywhere near,
please come to Amerongen to this wonderful market
with lots of organic products, design and art
to choose from.
And . . . there will be music too !

In addition to my gouache paintings I am also bringing
textile panels with birds, with flowers and with abstract stitching,
and lots of felt objects.

 

Textile jewelry : like the new necklace here,

small felted bags, fish, finger puppets and insects.

It would be lovely to see you there !!!

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 !)

last day of January

 The first month of this year is nearly gone.
We had a bit of ice and also snow,
though much less than in the north of the country.
Birds are still coming to the garden

but the first Aconites are already above the ground since the 16th !

My mending basket was overflowing and I finally started
on the fingerless mittens daughter made for me last year :

I repaired some stitches and knitted the top again on thinner needles.

And oh my, I really needed those on the Sundays
that I was working on the big "slavery-project"
because it was COLD in the big hall !!!

This BIG project has finally come to an end !

Here they were still filming the last steps of this GIANT tapestry.

But tomorrow we will celebrate the completion of the 35 meters
 with a joint festive lunch !

In February this monumental tapestry is exhibited
in de Grote Kerk, Den Haag (13 - 22 February)
After that it will make a tour along the cities where the work was done :

Rotterdam, Delft, Dordrecht, Gouda, Leiden.

day 30

The little green circle lay waiting for some days.
I just pick the one that speaks to me most at that moment.
Not many left, so the choice was easy.
And just when I was finished stitching
and taking the pictures
. . . .
 a robin sat on the pergola 
No, he didn't wait till I had my camera ready
but I think he/she wanted to say
that I did the right thing !

My  PINK  RIBBON Textile Jewel
for day 30 :

a wet felted circle brooch, stitched with cotton
(5,5cm,  2.2")

For a donation
of (at least)

 € 20,- 

SOLD  !

this little bird comes flying to you
and makes a lovely gift for someone you love
(or for yourself of course !)

Just send me an email at
 fiberrainbow@gmail.com 

and everything can be arranged accordingly.
Bank or Paypal
(+ postage)

You KNOW : ALL your donated money is for Pink Ribbon !

 "ROBIN" 

One more day to go,

one more PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel for you !

day 20

 We are happy
to have lots of birds visiting our garden.
Although small there are trees and shrubs
where birds can hide and forage.
(it is so sad to see how many people think that paving stones and pots
give you a low-maintenance garden : poor insects and birds !)
We LOVE the birds that visit here !

My PINK  RIBBON  Textile Jewel
for day 20 :

a wet felted diamond shaped brooch
stitched with cotton

(8 x 5cm,  3.15 x 2")

For a donation of
(at least)

 € 20,- 

SOLD  !

this little wren can come flying your way.
This perky bird would also make a lovely present to someone dear !

Just send me an email at
 fiberrainbow.@gmail.com 

and all the necessary steps will be explained.
Bank or Paypal
is possible and easy.
(+ postage)

ALL the money you donate will go to PINK  RIBBON !

 "WREN" 

Happy bird-watching
and I hope to see you tomorrow
for a new PINK  RIBBON Textile Jewel !

ART market in Warmond

My upcoming Art Market is on Sunday

August  31

in Warmond
(that is just north of Leiden)

11.00 - 16.00

This market will be a bit different from the ones I usually go to
because I take only my paintings this time
and only a few textile pieces.

The "Fire Bird" above is a brand new painting
that I will take with me.
(acrylic on canvas,  40 x 50 cm)

There will be some funny narrative ones and also
some with flowers, both are gouache on paper.

So why not add some textile flowers too
. . .

So if you love to see (and buy) some art
please visit the market next Sunday !
My stall will be near Herenweg 75.

Hope to see you there !

Colibri coruscans

A big name for a tiny bird !
"Sparkling Violetear" defines more clearly
what this hummingbird looks like.
They are sparkling green and turquoise little jewels
with some patches of bright cobalt blue (violet)
And noooo, they have no (outside) ears, but
a fun wisps of blue feathers behind the eye.

They live mainly in the north western part of South America in humid habitats.
They live solitary and defend fiercely their own territory, by singing !
They feed on honey but they also hunt insects.

Stitching the flowers (front and back !)

All the little parts are there before assembling the bird
based on the example of a paper bird,
with a photo as reference and thin pencil lines on the background.

Ready for the seam allowance to turn under and place it
on a painted 20 x 20 cm canvas.

Yes, happy with it !

August is here

Oh my, really ?
They say time flies
so use it well !

I finally started with the background I had ready for my next bird :
the hummingbird.

I would looove to see these little fellas
in real life but they don't live here
at this side of the ocean.
(you can't win them all . . . )

For the bird I used some snippets
that I had backed with "Vliesofix" ("Wonder under")
because the silk bits can so easily fray.
For the leaves and flowers I just cut out the shapes
and I started to tack them down along the edge,
a lot of work, but I love it.

And, maybe because I'm a restless person,
I've started with another, and also bigger piece too.

Not sure yet what to do with it next,
let's wait and see

. . .

25 - 7 - '25 . . . and another bird

For us
25 - 7
is a special day :
our first grandchild was born !
And today that moment is 24 years ago, how time flies !

*

Though
Stitch Club had a fun but "dark"workshop these last two weeks
by Ruth Norbury
I kept working on a new bird-piece
(for which I started the background during a zoom session of SC)
The bird I chose this time was the song thrush

Nowadays, finding a good photo of the animal you want to portray
isn't very difficult : so many lovely pictures on the net !

I liked this one especially 
because in our small front garden there is a rowan tree
which is visited by many birds when the berries (right now !) are ripe.
 

It starts with building up the bird with tiny scraps.

Stitching in the garden in summer is such FUN !

Though I don't do that always,
I backed these very small berry-bits with "vliesofix"
to stop fraying.

VERY fiddly leaves to stitch onto the background

The last step will be folding the excess bits on the side
so it fits on a 30 x 30 cm (painted) canvas

*

(and now it is time for Ruth Norbury )

:-)