Busy busy busy

Unfortunately, I can't show much of what I've been working on the last few weeks. I'm trying to finish everything so early because these projects are intended as gifts and need to be ready for the mail soon. They are meant to be surprises, and you never know who's lurking in the shadows of a blog. So no peeking!
:0)
But I can show you this scarf I crocheted over the weekend from some odds and ends of yarn.

Isn't the nubby texture great? I love scarves like this around my neck when it's cold outside, since I don't like the confined feeling of a turtle neck sweater. It's the first time I made a kind of a ruffle at each end, and I love the way it turned out.

I find myself using different colors and different color combinations lately. It's such fun to play with colors and textures!

Can you believe it's the second half of November already? The holidays will be here in no time!

Are you trying to simplify your holidays? Personally, I try not to be swept into the commercial hype every year. In fact, I don't really enjoy this time of year at all, except for the people and the special foods. There's too much outside pressure to feel and act a certain way for my tastes.

So, I plan on staying under the radar, in life and in blogging, a bit in the next several weeks. For one thing, I want to make some changes in how and why I blog.

Yup! It's time for some changes again! I'll be in touch.

Honest Scrap

Juliet from Crafty Green Poet has presented me with the Honest Scrap Award. I am so very honored to receive this special award for telling it like it is.

Please do be sure to visit Juliet's wonderful blog, which is filled with her amazing photos of the beautiful Scottish countryside along the Water of Leith near Edinburgh. Juliet is also an accomplished poet who shares my passion for the arts and environmental causes. I know you'll love her, and her blog, as much as I do!

I found the best quote yesterday:

"If I create from the heart,
nearly everything works;
if from the head,
almost nothing."
~ Marc Chagall

This is something I was painfully aware of yesterday.
:0)
But today is another day, and I'm focusing mostly on finishing a few art pieces which will be gifts. So I won't be posting anything new until those pieces are finished, since I'm on a strict deadline.

Special thanks to everyone who commented and e-mailed me! You and your words brighten up my days!

Color and texture

I had so much fun playing with color and texture last time, I focused on it completely this time, not even thinking as I applied layer after layer of color. Just feeling the textures and colors, and moving them around instinctively.

(detail)
The colors are even richer and more complex than this,
but you can still get a good idea from these photos.

It all started with the basics: red, blue, yellow and black. The wrapped sides are still those colors, one color for each side. Each basic shape is carved into a spiral, one of the most ancient symbols.

(detail)

It started with an idea to play with colors and textures, and a quote I came across a few weeks ago.

"If we are to achieve a richer culture,
rich in contrasting values,
we must recognize the whole gamut
of human potentialities,
and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric,
one in which each diverse gift
will find a fitting place."
~ Margaret Mead

(detail)

As I was working on this piece, I was thinking about how some of my blogging friends referred to my feelings in my last post as "percolating." I loved that idea! Does anyone else remember percolators, those old coffeemakers of the 1960s and early 70s? The word brought back happy memories of my childhood, and school, and how I have loved color and words from a very young age.

You know how those thoughts go, right? You start one place and go quickly here, there, everywhere in your mind, until you wind up someplace completely different. I ended up remembering all the wonderful literature classes and linguistics classes I had loved as an undergraduate.

I remembered the lovely word "milieu."

mi·lieu

Pronunciation: \mēl-ˈyə(r), -ˈyü, -ˈyœ; ˈmēl-ˌyü\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural milieus or mi·lieux\-ˈyə(r)(z), -ˈyüz, -ˈyœ(z); -ˌyü(z)\

Etymology: French, from Old French, midst, from mi middle (from Latin medius) + lieu place (from Latin locus), the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops; environment
SYNONYM: background

"Milieu"
acrylic
on 16 x 20 x 1 1/2 gallery wrapped canvas

And I realized it would be a perfect name for this painting, because every shape was different. Every color combination was different, yet they all contain a degree of the same four colors. All reflect and complement each other to some degree, just like different groups of people, if we give them a chance. If we realize that we are all more alike than we are different, if we look beneath the surface. If we peel back the layers.