Dahlias and Photoshop experiment

I went to Volunteer Park last week on a sunny afternoon. I visited one of my favorite places there, the Dahlia garden and I took some pictures. When I got home and looked at them they were very pretty, but just pictures of flowers... I decided to play with blurring them and pushing the colors around in Photoshop. Here are the results of my experiments. Dahlias are my favorite flower....

Monte Cristo - Indian Summer Hike and Bike

I went on a gorgeous bike ride yesterday to the old mining town of Monte Cristo. It's off the Mountain Loop highway in the Cascades. There used to be a railroad up to Monte Cristo and 100 years ago it was a thriving town with a hotel, shops and saloons. There was gold mining in them thar hills and people flocked there to find their fortune. Now it is a ghost town and a four mile hike in. We took our mountain bikes but it was an adventure riding there. We had to cross the river via a log (dicey business when you're on a bike) and the road was very rocky in many places making it necessary to get off the bike and walk.

The payoff was worth it though. It was a beautiful, late September day, the sun was shining and the mountains were splendid. This could be the last nice weekend for a while.

I love Portland

Toys at Cargo

Oregonians

The Red Guard with pink flowers at Cargo.

Handpainted sign on Mississippi St.

Flutter on Mississippi Street. Wonderful clutter.

Colorful Frocks outside of Flutter on a sunny day.

At Cargo

Rainbow shoes at Cargo

I'm just back from an artist's date to Portland. It was just an overnight, I stayed at the youth hostel in the NW neighborhood, otherwise known as "Nob Hill". I like it because its a ten minute walk to the Pearl District downtown. Easy access to Powell's world of books and one of my favorite stores, Cargo. After spending the morning in the Pearl, buying a new book on felting by Sheila Smith and having an excellent reuben sandwich at Kenny and Zukes, I drove over to explore the Alberta Street neighorhood. From there I went to Mississippi Street which was my favorite part of the day. See a few pictures here...more to come.

Portland is inspiring!

Decorative Balls - Inspiration

I came across this website at Dollar Store Crafts and loved the ideas of decorating balls with things made from nature. Check out this post.



I've also been making felt balls, using both dry and wet felting methods. Here are some of my felt babies. They look great in glass bowl with the colors shining through.

Arts Aglow

I went to the Arts Aglow event in Burien last Saturday. It was a wonderful party filled with children, art, lanterns and light. It took place in the Interim Art Space and was filled with all manner of interesting things including a sea horse, shadow dancing, and 3D glasses. Good things are happening in Burien. Denise Hendricksen spearheaded this effort.

Figs

Yum, black mission figs are showing up at the store. I bought some and they were so pretty when I cut them open, that I had to take some pictures. A good appetizer is to cut the fig in half, place some Point Reyes blue cheese on it and wrap with a piece of prosciutto. Divine!

Collage

I've been going through my art and have found some collages I did a few years ago. I love the medium and I am a notorious paper junkie. I can't part with cool scraps of paper I've been saving for years. Here are two collages I did on cigar boxes and one that's a portrait of...see if you can guess!

Hand Painted Inspiration Boxes

I've just added some of my hand painted inspiration boxes to my Etsy Store. I'm offering free shipping for the month of September for anything in the store. (Make sure you email me and let me know you saw the free shipping promotion here.)

I use these little boxes as inspiration boxes. I put ideas that come to me in the shower in here as well as dreams and wishes. I have some friends who call them God Boxes and they put their cares and problems in the box to be sorted out.

Epicurious.com

I'm a big fan of epicurious.com...they have thousands of recipes and the reader reviews tell the real story on the goodness of the recipe. Yesterday I made two recipes that I'd highly recommend: Cumin-Scented Beef Kabobs and Red Velvet Cake with Raspberries and Blueberries. I added an extra stick of butter to the cake mix. The frosting is divine and it's a visually stunning cake.

Making Lanterns for Arts Aglow

I'm helping out with a cool lantern making project put on by the City of Burien. It's called Arts Aglow and is spearheaded by Denise Hendricksen. The Event takes place on September 12th and will feature workshops and end with a parade in the dark with everyone's lanterns lit and glowing in the night.

Artist book

This image is from an art project I did in an old book. I gesso-ed the pages then did collage and printing with found materials. This one uses bubble wrap and an old hat making supply catalog that was my mothers. She made hats and other cool things. That's where I get my love of making.

Joseph Beuys - Inspiration

CREATIVITY

"One of Joseph Beuys' fundamental messages, delivered again and again in lectures, interviews, and artworks, was that human beings can and must learn to be creative in many different ways. His famous slogan "Everyone is an artist" was not meant to suggest that all people should or could be creators of traditional artworks. Rather, he meant that we should not see creativity as the special realm of artists, but that everyone should apply creative thinking in their own area of specialization--whether it be law, agriculture, physics, education, homemaking, or the fine arts."

Quote from the Walker Art Center's website.

Shrines and Virgins

The Virgin of Guadelupe is my favorite saint. I've traveled a lot in Mexico where you can see images of her everywhere. I have adopted her as my own. Here is a shrine I saw on the Georgetown Garden Walk earlier this summer.

I'm teaching classes in Needle Felting

I'm going to be teaching needle felting beginning this fall. The fee is $20 an hour in your home or mine. There is a starter kit you can buy with will include everything you need to get started. Felting base, needles and an assortment of wool roving. The cost for the kit is $10 or you can provide your own supplies.

Click here to see some samples of my work in my etsy store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5823533&section_id=5463056

email me at: diane@dianetdesign.com for more details.