I graduated to more color (pencils and markers) and the use of fabric for some of my doodles in September. The fabric was a lightweight, fused (rather than woven) fabric - somewhat like interfacing. I found strips of it while I was cleaning out - not sure what it was originally purchased for. The first three items in the slide show below are the ones on fabric. The others are on paper. Enjoy the September doodles!
Doodle posts from previous months are here.
I did so many doodles in August. Looking at the Zentangles site, looking at botanical print books from the 1800s and book illustrations from the early1900s (which have been scanned and made available online) gave me so many new starting points. So - I did some culling from the pile and came up with some groups to share. The collage below is the ones that have a botanical theme; they also show a beginning influence of Zentangle type drawings.
My overall favorite of the month is a "sun."
The ones I liked the best from some of the illustrations from the early 1900s were corner or border elements. they have a bit of a botanial look...also lots of spirals.
Doodle posts from previous months are here.
I’m in the mode of getting rid of ‘stuff’ - all those things I’ve accumulated that I don’t use currently and can’t imagine using in the future. Of course - there are sets of ‘stuff’ that I use partially and that presents a dilemma. One such example is my collection of Blue Tulip Depression Glass. I use most of the pieces frequently - but not the cups. I like larger mugs for my hot tea or chocolate - not smallish tea cups. I certainly don’t want to get rid of the cups….so my idea was to find some other use for them. Here’s what I did.
I arranged the cups in a drawer and then put necklaces, pins, buckles, and other small objects into them. It is better for the necklaces to not be hanging and this keeps them gently cradled and organized. Another plus - the drawer looks quite lovely.
So - I’m celebrating the beauty and new purpose of the tea cups today!
Today’s blog posting shares some results from some recent photography experiments.
The first one is quite simple - some hydrangea leaves photographed on a white kitchen counter top with shadows from natural light from the window on the left. The way the shadows accentuate the shapes of the leaves and the intersection of the shadows of the middle and right leaf intrigue me the most about the image.
The next photograph is of a hydrangea flower - taken with natural light using an old television stand for the black background. It turned out that it provided a very flat black even if it did make for a rather awkward position to be photographing (i.e. essentially lying on the floor).
I did an earlier post on Blue Tulip Depression Glass. This is a photograph of a salad plate from the set photographed on a drying rack covered in deep red tissue with a small halogen light source shining from below.
The image to the right is a gladiola photographed lying on a black deskpad using light from a halogen lamp. The flower looked pinker with natural light but I liked the color shift caused by the difference in light.
This is probably my favorite picture of the group. The swirls and puckers are gladiola petals with a background of black felt taken with natural light. To me, it is easy to imagine that they are swirls of fabric - around dancers just off the frame.
I’ve started experimenting with some different kinds of doodles - ones that go beyond just putting a pen or pencil to paper. This month I’ve been working with slices of cardboard tubes (from paper towels or toilet paper) and stapling them together into a 3-D doodle. I’m still adding to it but will eventually decide it is ‘complete’ and attempt to paint it. The photo at the right is what it looked like at the end of July.
The slideshow below is a selection of pen/pencil and paper doodles from the month. Enjoy!
Summer is a great time for ice cold smoothies. All they take is a blender that is strong enough to process ice and some creativity with things you probably already have in your refrigerator. The basics are easy:
Remember serving size and avoid adding ingredients that will add a lot of calories. For this reason - I rarely use fruit juice for the liquid to get to the fill line in my smoothies.
My favorite fruit smoothie right now is a frozen banana, blueberries, a splash of lemon with water. I may add some fresh mint to my next one.
The pictures show my favorite veggie smoothie: frozen tomatoes, green onion, a splash of lemon juice, 4 drops of hot sauce, garlic and herb Mrs. Dash and water. This veggie smoothie is essentially a lunch salad in a glass! Next time I’ll try to remember to add a couple of fresh basil leaves. 
A facial is quite a treat and something I am going to start doing more frequently now that I’ve honed my ideas about how to do it myself at home.
At one time, I thought the best facials were at a spa but not anymore. I love taking an hour at home to get my skin feeling great without the bother of acquiescing to an environment I don’t control (and is never quite perfect for me).
See also - 10 Cosmetics from the Kitchen posted last December
We were without power from Friday, June 29 about 11 PM to Wednesday, July 4 about 4 PM - that’s 4 days and 17 hours or 113 hours. This posting is a first installment about the experience.
This is the longest time I’ve ever been without electricity at home and the first time to have a prolonged outage when the temperature was getting above 90 degrees Farenheit every day. The first few days were quite difficult because the outage was widespread. On Saturday morning we bought ice at a grocery store that was running a small part of the store on generators and bringing out pallets of ice. The next morning they didn’t have ice so we went to another store that seemed to be fully operational but they must have been on generators since all the stores around them were without power. We settled into a rhythm to go out to buy ice every morning before 7:30 getting more frustrated with our situation every morning; by Wednesday we knew that we were in the last 10% to be restored. The refrigerator items went into ice chests on Saturday morning and the freezer items (minus ice cream which had to be trashed) went into ice chests on Sunday. We managed to save everything except 3 eggs that broke (out of a dozen), the tortillas that got waterlogged from ice melt, and the cherries that absorbed water and cracked/burst. I’m in the process of cooking all the meat. Yesterday I cooked a brisket in the crockpot, barbequed pork chops in a casserole dish in the oven, and a meat loaf. Today I have to do something with the chicken. The ice chests have dried out and I’ll put them away today.
There were some things I came to be grateful for:
I always go into some level of self-analysis during and after an abrupt change like this. How resilient was I? In some areas I did well: switching my reading to physical books rather than e-books, staying still and drinking more water and herbal tea in an attempt to stay cool, and doing what had to be done to preserve our food. My daily sleep/wake cycle was almost unchanged.
So - looking back to the outage days - the two things I can point to as ‘accomplishments’ are
The slideshow below is a selection of doodles from June 2012. The theme for my June doodles is dots or points. I got the idea after browsing through the 1978 exhibit book for the Point at the Philadelphia College of Art on the Internet Archive. Enjoy!
My blog went silent while we were without electricity from Friday, 6/29 about 11 PM to Wednesday, 7/4 about 4 PM. The storm only lasted a couple of hours but its impact was pretty horrendous. I’ll be catching up over the next few days and will include more about our adventure without electricity once I can be a little objective about it.
The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:
Karen Bass: Unseen footage, untamed nature - TED Talk
Put a Cork in It: Research Details Quiet Composite Material - positive results using cork instead of synthetic foam in sandwich structures…250% improvement in dampening performance with no sacrifice of mechanical properties
A Virtual Telescope Turns Back toward Earth - a blog about the WorldWide Telescope software and virtual tour
A smart-phone add-on enables at-home diagnosis of ear infections - remote diagnostics still have a doctor in the loop but no trip to the office
Louie Schwartzberg: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. - TED Talk (time lapse photography)
Researchers Catalog Your Microbial Zoo - microbial cells outnumber human cells 10 to 1 in our bodies. An NIH study seeks to increase our understanding of them.
The Scientific Case For A Return To The Moon
First fledge from Cornell Great Blue Heron Nest - 6/26/2012 at 9:18 AM EDT…and then the next two about 30 minutes later. A summary slide show up to mid-June has also been posted by Cornell. I made a donation to support the cameras in celebration.
Waterproof butterflies mobile - made with recycled paper and coated with wax. These could work for Christmas ornaments too (or would they be too messy with the potential of wax rubbing off)!
A game that heals: Jane McGonigal at TEDGlobal 2012 - psyching yourself to emotional (and physical) health
Today’s topic is home improvements that just about anyone can make.
Adding shelves to rooms where more storage is needed is very easy with the systems of strips, supports, and shelves available at most hardware stores. Wall space over furniture or even higher can add a lot of storage just where it is needed. Consider decorative boxes or bins for smaller items. Bedrooms/offices, garages, and even kitchens can benefit from this type of improvement.
Fresh paint always makes a room seem clean and bright. Choose colors you like but don’t go overboard. Sometimes having a white room with color on only one wall is more effective than having the whole room that color. Or consider using fabric on one wall.
What about the yard? Do you have plants that mean a lot to you? I moved miniature daffodil and day lily bulbs with me. They had originally been purchased and planted by my mother-in-law; I’ve enjoyed them in their original and current locations (dug up and separated and enlarging the bed every few years) for over 25 years now! One of my grandmothers always thought of planting fruit trees when she moved somewhere new.
Making a house into a home is a continuing activity. It doesn’t have to be done immediately but the sooner you start taking the small steps to meld where you live into the space you feel at home…the better.
Today’s topic is walls, windows, and floors.
Walls can be covered by lots of small pictures, left mostly blank and bright, showcase a color that highlights the rooms purpose or furnishings, or be a giant canvas. Whatever is on them is a statement. Some people like lots of family pictures - some like posters - paintings - macramé. Things you like to look at should be on the walls. Even large swaths of fabric can be used to make a statement. My family went through a time when we liked having flags for each season outdoors but I not prefer to keep them inside and hang them from a stair banister instead (I got tired of worn our raggedy flags after one season of outdoor use).
Window treatments are for privacy and visual appeal. They can also help improve energy efficiency. Privacy and energy efficiency are for security and comfort….one of the primary requirements for the feeling of ‘home’ but the aesthetics are needed too. My favorite window treatment is one in my office - sheers with patch pockets for keepsakes over blinds to close when the sun shines in too brightly.
Of course - floors should feel clean and add to the overall comfort of the room. Are the welcome mats at the entrances to your house in good shape? These provide a useful function (wiping feet) and are the impression a person gets just before entering your home.
Tomorrow I’ll post about permanent improvements to a house that make is more of a home.
What is the difference between a house and a home? A house is an empty shell. A home:
The objective of this blog post - and the two others in the days to come - is to provide some starting points for thinking about refinements you might want to make to wherever you are living. I know that my home benefits from periodic tweaks because my needs and wants change; the beginning of summer is a great time to do a little reflection and take action to enhance those good feelings you want your home to evoke.
First let’s consider rooms - the floor plan of the house. Consider that static. What does not have to be held constant is how the rooms are actually used. Getting the most from every room may involve some non-traditional usage.
A dining room does not have to be used as a dining room if you never use it for that purpose. It could become a home office.
It’s an easy conversion.
Using a bedroom for a home office is even easier. Add some attached shelves or assemble some standalone metal shelves inside the closet and the office in the room itself can be very streamlined.
A room intended to be a formal living room may not be needed for that purpose. In fact, any room you don’t use every day should be considered for additional use(s). What about the living room as a music room?
The contents of the built-ins in the rooms - particularly in the kitchen - should be arranged for the way you do things in the room. Spices you use at the stovetop should be near the stove top. Glasses and dishes should be convenient to where you retrieve them when you eat and to put away when you unload the dishwasher. Mixing bowls and containers for left overs should be put away in the cabinets near the place you would use need them. The top shelves that you will need a step stool to reach should be used for items not needed very frequently.
What about drawer liners or shelf paper? That is one of the first things I do to turn a new-to-me house into my home: thoroughly clean the kitchen cabinets and then put down fresh shelf paper. There is a similar idea for bathroom cabinets.
Sunday I’ll post about walls, windows, and floors.
I've scanned my favorite doodles from April 2012. They're all made with gel pins on black paper.
Previous doodle posts: Initial and March 2012.
What are you favorite smells of spring?
The smells I most strongly associate with spring are those that are outdoors.
Hyacinths. The scent of hyacinths is synonymous with early spring for me. The bulbs come up early and sometimes weather a last snow - as they did this year. A few times I’ve bought a pot of them to have indoors but most of the time I am content with smelling them on the March breeze.
Violets. We have wild violets that grow in the shade under our high deck. They bloom in April. You have to be in the right place to spell their scent on the air. They’re small and close to the ground but prolific bloomers so often I smell them before seeing them.
Lemon Balm. I planted a small pot of lemon balm years ago and now it takes over whole beds and grows out into the yard. It comes out very early and imparts its lemony smell whenever it is disturbed.
What are your favorite smells of spring?
I’ve scanned my favorite doodles from last month into a slide show (below). They’re made with gel pens on black paper in a spiral notebook that I found in my spring cleaning this year.
Doodling has no constraints. It doesn't have to look like anything at all. Sometimes it reflects what I'm thinking about - sometimes it is made on autopilot and reflects nothing at all. I've named the doodles after the fact and that is displayed at the bottom of each image.
Previous doodle posts: 3/6
Litter the world in which you live with opportunities to learn. - Chip R. Bell in Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning
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This quote contains one of the few instances I’ve seen of ‘litter’ representing something positive. And maybe the negative aspects we sometimes associate with ‘litter’ carry into this context as exactly what we are after for ‘opportunities to learn’:
I’ve had my Blue Tulip Glassware for a little over a month now. It appealed to me when I first saw it back in December and my appreciation of it continues to grow because its appeal has so many perspectives.
It is beautiful. The blue color of the glass depends on the lighting - all the way from turquoise to a pale Copenhagen blue. The smooth parts are tulip shaped but the nobs often give the impression of sunflowers; at first I thought the pattern was ‘sunflower’ and, based on some questions I noticed on some web sites, others may have made the same mistake. I started a project to photograph the sugar (a cup with two handles) 100 times; 10 of the best images are below.
It has history. Blue Tulip is Depression Glass. It was manufactured by the Dell Glass Company in the 1930s and 1940s. Most of the pieces that I have now were a wedding present given to an Oklahoma couple in the 30s. The set was purchased from the widow many years later by a couple that has known me all my life as they added to their collection of Depression Glass. They added some pieces they found at other places as well. When I visited them last December they commented that they were thinking about selling some of their collection and I offered to buy all the Blue Tulip. They gave me an excellent price for the antiques and it arrived in a big professionally packed glassware box in early March. Sometimes I think the glass is infused with all the happiness around it for the past 70+ years and somehow it rejected any unhappiness; it always seems to speak of home and long term relationships (both general and specific).
It encourages smaller portion sizes. The sherbet cups are a good size for ice cream or custard….any dessert served in a bowl. My husband and I have started using them frequently. The small plates are smaller too; a single muffin fits better than two. The dinner plates are the normal size but I find that the pattern encourages me to put less on the plate - so I can still see the pattern.
It fits the spring and summer season. I love the coolness of the blue color in spring and am anticipating I will like it even more during the summer.
Science is one of the great creative achievements of the human mind. The motivations, the satisfactions, the frustrations of the scientist are hardly different in kind from those of any other type of creative personality, however different the products of the creative act may be. - Marston Bates in Man in Nature (Foundations of Modern Biology)
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This quote is from a book written in the early 1960s but its idea is worth considering today.
It points out that we tend to put a narrow lens to our perception of creativity. We think of artists and writers immediately - not scientists and engineers and cooks and parents and….
Creativity is a big part of every profession. Let’s get over the idea that it’s something special that only a few need apply. It is an integral part of each of us.
Science and engineering are disciplines that enable the building up of creative achievements either through collaboration or organization of individual work. In that sense they diverge from the image we sometimes have of an individual artist painting a large canvas. That doesn’t mean that creativity is not involved.
Every one of us brings creativity to everything we do. It is our choice to apply it and we consciously or unconsciously make the decision many times every day of our lives. Creativity is involved when we think or do anything differently than we have before.
Creativity in all its forms needs to be appreciated by each of us and in our culture. It begins with us.
Celebrating the whole of life....
Thanks for visiting my blog! Enjoy the photo picks from last month:
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