Wordless Wednesday

Marriot NY, NY

Local artist at work, Choleena DiTullio

Exit Lobby of Canadian Tire at 330 Coventry Rd., Ottawa. The manager of that store loves art and has partnered with OSA to bring art to everyone needing car oil. On now until Mar. 5, 2013.

Choleena DiTullio is a friend and fellow West End Studio Tour artist. Her recent work using paper mosaic is just stunning. Choleena is also a steampunk fan, as am I! You'll see the influence in the picture above.

Here's a link to an article to tell you more about this innovative artist. Read about Choleena.

Creager studios

I had to share this video with you. First of a series about the Creagers work, which needs little introduction from me.

Wordless Wednesday

Snow Horse found in Ottawa

Child's play

Thanks Twister Sifter, for the image

That is a great quote. we must allow ourselves time to play. When ever I sign up for a class, that's my day to play. To learn a new technique, be with like minded people and explore the paintbox of creative essence.

Paul McCartney wrote a song about Picasso's last days: "Drink to me." It was on that fabulous album, Band On The Run. I've been playing it lately and that song is gold, both for the music and the sentiment.

I've had an inspired morning, getting posts ready to go on the Doll Street site. New classes, pictures of members' work, so much creative stuff! You'll see them appear over the next few weeks. Tweaking  a web site is a constant occupation it seems. I noodle around, hoping to tweak it some more, so search engines find it, people find it and inspiration finds it. After all, if no-one comes, it's not much of a party, is it?

So go on out and play. BE a child. We are all supposed to seek our inner child. That's the part of us that is innocent. That doesn't think about the chores or the job, just the fun to be had in every day. Now, I like the sound of that! Don't you?

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Musings

Since I took over Doll Street, I find myself pondering the marvellous variety of work that is displayed there. So much creativity!

Take this class by Linda Misa. Brink uses old stuff like lamp bases to create the new base for the doll. Up cycling old stuff. Such amazing imagination. Linda is very generous and offered members a discount on this class.

Then there are new designers to present. Nancy Leigh-Smith is a friend of mine and I have been encouraging her to get her work out to the world. So finally, I can present Sydney the sea horse. This cute little guy would be a great pattern just as is, but Nancy includes instructions on using free motion embroidery to create the fins. How cool is that? If you click the image, you can see the free motion fins.

I made a sale the day I put the pattern in the store! Nancy was pretty pleased about that!

I'm still learning Wordpress, which is the platform for the site. I was trying to adjust one little thing to update the shopping cart last week. I managed to get the whole of the store part of the site to disappear! Big scary moment! Luckily, Becki over at Quiltroplois has her hands on the steering wheel and set me back on track again. Thanks Becki!

I'm still looking for a Wordpress guru to guide me. Do you know one?

Knitting time

While I was at the Vogue Knitting Show in Chicago, I bought this lovely yarn. It is mohair and silk and feels so silky in the hand. It has been space dyed in turquoise with a shot of yellow. Delicious! How could I resist?

It came with a free pattern, which I found rather complex. It was a chart. I do better with a pattern that is written out. When even my expert knitter sister had trouble with it, I gave up. I came home and found this free pattern online. It's by Shelby Knits. Inspired by swirling water, that is definitely the feeling as I knit it, especially in these colours.

Here it is. It's pretty fine, so will take a while to knit. A few good movies should do the trick. Let's begin with Downton Abbey...

Wordless Wednesday



Crochet protraits by Jo Hamilton

Vogue knitting spreads the word

I was lucky enough to meet some great journalists and bloggers in New York. Marie Segares talked about the Gallery on her blog: the Underground Crafter

Here are some of Adrian Kershaw's video tape sculptures.