oxalic spiky airmen

“A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.” 

― Leonardo da Vinci

An internet friend sent me a squirrel here and we both thought it was a blow-up of a quilt.  There was no attribution from where she found it on Pinterest and that made me nuts-  such a cool squirrel had to come from SOMEWHERE.  So I tracked him through several winners  and a bit o' googling later I found he was from Alberta, and indeed not a quilt, instead he was a gridded watercolor painting of a Columbian Ground Squirrel!  Each grid contains a different pattern, just like a quilt!  I find this amazing.  The artist is Kali Fell , and she has some more wonderful work on her site.  GO, LOOK!  

***

I had my stitch group this morning and had to leave to go OK a piece of whitewashed wood for the ceiling of the lanai-  first try the painter got it right!  After the meeting I hit some consignment stores with my old pal, the Walking Nazi (who doesn't walk much anymore) and I found a set of 12 grapevine plates I needed as much as another hole in my head, but bought 8 so I can now serve yalanchi as soon as I am in my new kitchen.  I don't think I will need more plates than that.  I was robbed at $2 each.  It's over 90 here today and I got a bit dehydrated so now I am in the AC and recovering nicely with iced tea and lime juice, no sugar.  

I started a knitting project to carry around with me to the stitch group, a plane ride, and for nights in front of the tv which are rare these days.  But I really need a non-studio thing in addition to the giant quilt.  

AND I made my plane...and dog... reservations back to Boston to clean out the condo and make it ready for the new owner.  This involves dividing all our stuff to e=stay up there for an eventual new condo and also send down to FL for the new house.  It's gonna be tough making piles when TY hates to part with anything, ever.  So my mission is to get my own stuff and house stuff divided up and deal with the movers and slide on back to FL asap.  My doggies will miss me.

Today we are going to see some leaf art from two different people.  Leaves... imagine!

Painted leaves… not paintings of painted leaves… painted leaves! Sigh. So pretty. These are part of a personal series by Brazilian artist/pattern designer Gabee Meyer. Now, it’s not enough that she hand painted them with repeating stripes and triangles, but she also put them all together into one big leafy, pattern

To truly appreciate the delicacy of Susanna Bauer‘s leaf sculptures, think of crunching a dead leaf in your hand, how it disentigrates into dust with the slightest effort. To work with dry and fragile leaves as a medium for crochet seems nearly impossible, but Baur somehow manages it with ease, turning leaves into cubes, tunnels, and geometric patterns with techniques that might be more appropriate for durability of leatherwork. 

Pillow-hat for those late night rides home where your eyes keep snapping shut.  Doesn't seem to phase her fellow traveler.

Or, are your a front dozer?  Your choice, nap time whenever, wherever.