New work

I have been a busy little beaver in my studio this week.  Working on a few on those UFO's lying around.  

Here is a sneeky little peek at one of the pieces of work I have been creating.

Have a happy creating day xxx

Awesome August photography challenge

I am participating in a photography challenge for the month of August.  It is called the Awesome August photo a day challenge (go to the link below for more details)

http://www.livemoreawesome.com/awesome-august-photo-a-day-challenge-2/

The aim:  To feel more grateful for the world we live in and the place we are in that world

I love joining in something that is a way to improve our mental health and to show appreciation for the people in our lives. 

So here is my first weeks photographs.  

Day one:  A happy self portrait

Day two : The sunset.....Taken from my mum's deck on her new home

..

Day three:  My passion...........Art quilting

Day Four:  I'd be lost without....... My wonderful man

Day Five:  Holding hands........the relationship between my daughter and her cat is really special

Day six:  Handwritten goal........to be at peace no matter what life throws at me

Day seven:  Giving a gift................Making my daughters bed

Day Eight: A book I am reading.............The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer.

Sketchbook this week

The new sketchbook challenge theme for August is 

Journeys

This theme opens up so many possibilities in my mind

Maps

Travels

Moving

Trips

Roads

New possibilities

Relationships

Friendships

Scenic routes

Personal growth

Challenges

This week I have created my pages around photos from above.  Images from above our world.  The possibilities of new journeys become more apparent and the excitement of the adventure becomes real.

Just around the river bend.

Journey of weather

Our journey into our new house

What a journey means

Finishing those UFO's

I have a short attention span.  I have learnt to start a project and finish to the end in one go rather than coming back to it.  I just find I lose interest in a project when I put it to the side to come back to.  A few years ago I went through all my UFO's (un-finished objects)  And either forced myself to finish them or I gave them away to charity (hopefully for someone else to finish)  or I cut them up to make into something new.  This process was very scary but also very liberating for me.  I now have no fear of just moving on from art pieces that just aren't working.

I somehow have got a pile of UFO's again.  I think it is because painting is so much easier to do in a day that quilting and with all our sickness in our house, moving and other challenges with my health, getting back to quilting has been very challenging.  My goal this week is to finish some of my UFO's.  I have 7 art quilts and 7 journal covers/ pouches (I haven't decided what they are going to be yet) so I have a lot to choose from.  I spent some time a couple of weeks ago slashing pieces that weren't working for me to combine at a later date into a contemporary patchwork piece so now I am left with pieces of work I just want to finish.  You never know I might just get that pile down to zero again so I can start some new work.

Photography this week:

We are very foggy in the Waikato at the moment.  Some days the fog never lifts. I have never liked fog too much, but I am growing to appreciate its beauty.  

It is very interesting taking photos in fog.  It is very eerie and private like the whole world has disappeared for a moment.

Like low light conditions it is challenging to take photos but those challenges are easily overcome using some of the techniques I spoke of last Friday

1. Try and use a tripod so that if the light is really low the shot can be kept still
2. Look for as much natural light as possible. Check out in what direction the sun is in the cloud.
3. Practice using manual settings to create more light without using the flash
4. Use the sun to your advantage.  
5. Use a white piece of card angled in the direction of the light to reflect more light into your photo.  (this only works if you can actually see some light)
6. Look for interesting shadows and shapes to capture.
7. Try taking the same object in fog,  low light conditions,  sunny conditions and at different times of the day to see how the light changes. 

Here are some photos I captured this morning in foggy Waikato

Sketchbook this week

I have created 4 pages this week.  

My intention was to create more but school holidays never go to plan. 

My mental philosophy is

Anything that I get done in the studio during the 

holidays is a bonus"

That way I don't get disappointed.   

The following 4 pages are created with acrylic paint, metallic paint, and gold pen.

A photo challenge

There are many challenges on line for taking photographs.  So many it sometimes hard to choose which ones to do. My cousin posted this one on Facebook. So I went and had a wee nosey and it looked very good. It is great to take a challenge because it helps focus us,  pull us in a new direction,  it gets us out of a comfort zone and helps us see differently.

So I am going to try this photography challenge for August.  It looks so interesting and a little challenging.

Check it out at 

http://www.livemoreawesome.com/awesome-august-photo-a-day-challenge-2/

So for today's photo it is a happy self portrait.

I hopefully can pull this one off with 3 sick kids :) I'm exhausted.

Love Catherine xxxxx