Candy Apron

My Mom's family gets together every Christmas Eve not just to celebrate the holiday and eat delicious food, prepared by my Grandmother, but to have fun and laugh together!  After the meal is complete and we've read the Christmas story we then put on performances, sing songs, anything!  Sometimes we have props to photograph those hilarious moments.  One year we had wild colored wigs, another year crooked teeth, and last year we created ornaments that marked a funny family story.  A few years ago, I wrote a poem titled 3 Aunts and 1 Uncle.  This poem was about the funny things myself and my cousins remembered growing up with our Aunts and Uncle.  They loved it!  So, this year, my Aunt wanted us to make aprons.  It could be purchased and decorated, created out of unique materials, whatever you wanted.  After 2 other attempts, I finally came up with this....

Candy Apron

Materials included;  plastic candy bags, black duct tape, paper backing, thread

I chose candy bags for a reason.  My family is known for a serious affection for anything sweet!  I knew they all would enjoy seeing the collage of various sweets.

I cut the bags completely open and proceeded to cut them all into strips.

After I wove them together, I then sewed the Smarties banner in the lower center.

I traced the actual Smarties with the thread for a nice touch!

Next I used black duck tape as the binding to hold the weaving to the paper backing.  I also used the duck tape as the ties to wrap it around the body.

Everyone did fantastic on their aprons.  This was a challenging task for sure!  We had an aprons with hand tracings, cookie cutter tracings, family names, and remembering fond sayings and times past.  What will we do next year?.....  

sharing a bit of family traditions on this artist holiday,

hannah

Poconos Texture Tuesday

On a recent brisk walk in the beautifully cold state of Pennsylvania I captured some beautiful natural growing textures!  My in-laws live in the Poconos, a mountainous chain of hardy woods, beautiful rocks, flowing streams, cascading waterfalls and roads so curvy I get car sick about every time I visit!

These next photos are some of what I captured when walking on their property.  It may look dormant, yet with a closer eye, you can see many things are still very much alive and growing.  I hope you enjoy these textures as much as I do..

Tree Bark

I just love this photo!  It could be so many other things.  A view high from an airplane, eroded concrete, ocean coral, a microscopic view of an intricate organism....

Weathered Tree Sculpture

How beautiful to come across a broken tree that looks like something you would find in a museum.

The beautifully colored exposed wood in such a flowing curve.  The copper colors and beautiful greenish-blue patinas I see make this dead tree even more elegant.  It reminds me of something.....

Monekana by Deborah Butterfield

Smithsonian American Art Museum

I saw this over the summer in Washington, DC (one of my most favorite cities).  It looks like driftwood arranged to resemble a horse.  What is amazing is that the artist made this "driftwood" sculpture out of bronze.

Please check out this link to view a much better photo of this beautiful sculpture.

As we are walking I noticed moss growing just about everywhere!  The rocks that are protruding out of the earth are gorgeous with their grand scale, stunning grays, spectacular lines throughout and various colors of moss atop.

Another protruding rock almost completely covered in a moss that looked more like a miniature fern.  Beautiful coloring as well.

This is a closeup of the fern-like moss.  Another photo where it could look like something entirely different. I see ocean coral again.

I felt very proud to take this photo, because my 8 year old pointed out the circle in the rock to me and commented how cool that was.  So exciting to realize she is aware of her surroundings and takes notice of the small things.

More beautiful ochre, yellow, brown and green moss coloring.

I especially liked how there were areas where varieties of moss grow together.  Different color greens atop lovely grays.

enjoying the humble surroundings on this artist holiday,

hannah

Texture Tuesday

Happy 2012!

I wanted to start this new year with texture!  Texture is an element of art that is crucial to my work.  Whether I am making a low-relief wall hanging, painting or jewelry - texture always seems to be there.  Sometimes only the appearance of texture is there, but can take an artwork out of the realms of flatness to legions of depth.

I am always looking for texture or it is always finding me!  Either way, I see and usually try to capture it with my camera.  I want to start sharing my texture shots with you more regularly.  

I hope you find them as inspirational as I do...

Can you guess what this is?

I am a big fan of circles, which is what immediately caught my attention when I saw this.  Then having a closer look, seeing the velvety texture and the organic nature of the circles, a photo was a must.

  It is a cup of hot chocolate!  I was about to drink it down when the surface caught my eye!

What could I do with this, you ask?

Many things come to mind, however, I most enjoy thinking about how I could translate the circle pattern into a painting.  Large circles with tiny circles around them.  The creamy brown color I also enjoy.  The almost marble-like effect is another point I will want to remember.  These are just some of the thoughts that ran through my mind when I saw this.

There are several reasons why I want to share these photos with you;

1.  A visual record for my (and maybe your) reference

2.  Sharing with you how I see the world around me.

3.  Sharing how I could translate these bits of inspiration into artwork.

4.  Honing in on my writing skills.

Here's to an even bigger, bolder and more artistically driven year on this artist holiday-

hannah