This month's inspiration came directly from my dear old friend (and one-time house-mate)
Nancy's photo of her poppies -
in her Oregon garden:
I then distorted the image - just slightly - on the computer - to exaggerate the contrasts :
But things did not start out quite this way!
The thing is > I really wanted to incorporate my little motorcycle stamp:
BECAUSE >> June is also when Laconia BIKE WEEK happens.
Which, these past few years, means: I get to stay home
while Mule GOES AWAY! :)
But, I still associate the blooming of the poppies with the thrill of heading off on the motorcycles -
and then the thrill of returning home to see them still in bloom.
These are blooming today just as I'm writing these notes. :)
So, then, I was perusing motorcycle art to see if anything inspired, and: VOILA!
Loved this one! Great phrase: "Life needs more green light." Yes, indeed. :)
Well, I really tried - without a lot of time** or success - to figure out how I might easily produce multiples of all these words/letters and then incorporate them into my intended poppy image.
Alas, I gave up on the words, but before doing so, worked on configuring a large poppy with torn papers - loosely based on Nancy's Poppies -
with a motorcycle emerging from the flower.
But then I just gave up on incorporating any motorcycle biz!
Open Studio Weekend*** was upon us
and I needed to make some PoM design decisions!
And, I thought that instead of tearing paper and having more free-form impressions of flowers
this time, I would instead trace and cut out the shapes of Nancy's poppies:
Sans motorcycle or words! Or blue sky!
Tracing/tranferring/templating/tracing again - I ended up using this very vivid orange Lokta paper :
instead of that cool, not-quite-as-vivid-though, iridescently threaded orange paper (above above). Which I almost regretted until I saw the beautiful 'bleed' that the Lokta was giving me!
I thought these cut-outs with their negative spaces would make cool fabric silk-screen prints****!
The Fixin's
The Steps
Not so many this time!
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6 - Oh, this new green fiber-y 'paper' (that's a stretch!) is SO perfect for grass!
Step 7
Step 8 - Lace. Black Lace. :)
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
Step 12
Step 13
Step 14 - In hindsight, I wish I had used a deeper, denser black for their centers. Ah well...
Step 15
Step 16
Step 17
Step 18
Step 19
Step 20
Step 21 - I don't often add paint, but in this case
I highlighted each of the single (top) poppy petals with a light brush of silver and pearl.
Panel of 21 of June's Postcards of the Month:
Fin.
*Well, not quite a week, and mostly to Maine instead of Laconia... But still - I am not a bit unhappy to hang here with the birds:
and dirt.
**Very busy month: prepping for Vermont's 22nd annual Spring open Studio Weekend (more below);
My sister and I were also helping get my father moved from this big house:
to his new apartment:
with the pastel I did many years ago of my parents' house in CT now hanging above the couch.
note: The beautiful blossoming Dogwood that is featured smack dab in the middle of this pastel was wiped out by a freak tornado the day after I gave my parents this house portrait. http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/courant-250/hc-pictures-hamden-tornado-july-10-1989-20140108,0,2438824.photogallery
Bizarre, eh?!
And then there was just trying to keep up with all the lush greening that bursts on us so suddenly!
New Swee'Pea trellis:
Now I think I need to make a garden fence. :/
A LARGE raccoon is taking full advantage of no more doggie smells,
and is helping itself to the bean bounty!
I thought maybe my hunky bird'd give it some pause...
***Thanks to my great friend, Barb, for the loan of this wonderful old wooden sandwich board for displaying my Open Studio signs!!
She and daughter, Angela, were enormously helpful in getting the studio looking so good! And SO much more!
The weekend was just wonderful! I had lots of visitors; both days, and took MANY chair portraits!
Here's one of the soon-to-be-leaving-me-alone-for-almost-a-week, Mule:
;) :)
Which was based on last September's PoM:
But which I haven't quite finished, so it's not quite ready for a new home...
****Many years ago, when I was in high school, and for several years afterwards, my mother worked for this wonderful, hand-printed fabric company - Marblehead Handprints. Their designs and colors were always so crisp and simple.
I still have several items made by both MH and by my mother:
The blue comforter, Mum made for me when I went away to college! I still use it. She made the little green pillow, and the various duffles, totes and brief-case were all made by MH. I made my nephew a very colorful MH fabric baby quilt when he was born - 26 years ago!!
I still have a dream of having my own fabric store someday. :)
