hwy 1

mother, daughter trip

up, up, up

bay bound a singin'

we couldn't have asked for better weather!  up hwy 1 we drove, my daughter and i to visit her brother jon, now living in oakland.  

we only had four days since tati had to be back to school and work by monday so we set off 

mainly focused on seeing jon, hoping to make the best of the little time we had been given.

it was a miracle what we did with those four days, stopping everywhere along the way, cambria, point lobos, big sur, carmel for the night, and two days of the most amazing oakland we could have imagined.

jon had carefully thought out where to take us. an exquisite dinner at MUA, the first fridays art walk, lake merrit, an antique shop, and the crowning point, the chapel of the chimes in piedmont.

point lobos was open in spite of the federal shutdown since it is a state park.

there i randomly placed the many oyster shells i had painted, inspired by lynne hoppe, as little gifts for the many hikers.  two in particular that really fit the scenery, a shrine of the virgin mary and another of john muir.  i would have loved to leave the horse, but tatiana had claimed it as soon as she saw it finished and i gave in; how not to keep just one.  well, actually three since a few instagram friends had shown interest in them and i promised to mail them to them.

this little beauty was placed at a tombstone in piedmont

tatiana's horsey, the keeper

a few more were placed in trees at lake merritt, where we spent a good part of the day

stopping only for coffee and tiramisu, with hours still left to take in as much as we could.

there, at that coffee shop, was this beautiful photograph on the wall which briefly reminded me of chile.

this little paperclay sculpture was also one of the random placements.  i wonder now if anyone has found it and what they think.

a totem stick placed on a tree

another random patchwork square tacked to a tree

as i always do on trips, i pressed flowers found on the trails

my travel partner and chauffeur acaptured at ragged point, big sur

ofcourse we had to take a holding hands pic

we were so busy having fun, we forgot to take a group picture

but this is the boy that started it all

can't wait to come to see you again

thank you lynne for teaching me how to get in touch with myself again

and the power of random acts of kindness

from small talk to action

as most of you who read my blog or follow my photographs, i switch back and forth between painting and stitching.

as you can see, these have been a stitching couple of weeks.

well, sorta kinda because some of the pieces are more mixed media as in the above pctured book cover and family crest.

but below...the labour of love.  labour intensive since it was embroidered with single threads.  it is a pam garrison template i bought on etsy.  i didn't realize when i bought it that the details were tinier than tiny, but being the perseverer that i am, i just began.  one stitch, one thread at a time.  it took me almost two weeks to complete.  i added a little border in patchwork to give it the finishing touch and it is now framed in my bedroom.  

below, more embroidery with a seaside twist inspired by carolyn saxby in st. ives, one of my favorite fabric artists who recently sent me one her mixed media seaside hearts.

and then.......somewhere over the rainbow also in single thread for a chunky fabric book i am working on, stop and go since it is also labour intensive.  since this photograph a few moremwords have been completed as well as other significant pages.

this is a detail of one of the fabric book spreads, the ever present warmth of hearth and home.

when i am in need of a mantra, i choose repetitive stitches

 if all goes well, this circle will continue growing concentrically until it is huge.

 

only last night did i return to my faces

 

it always surprises me that they usually look so innocent, between childhood and adolescence.  i don't intend them to be that way, they just go their own way with the ebb and flow of the pen and pencil movements.

i love the expression on this sweet face.

 these last two are a bit older, having gotten lost in my hardrive, practices in pencil and ink pens both part of a bookmark that now marks the spot in my present readings.

and what are these you might ask?  well....two miniature portraits on oyster shells  a-la lynne hoppe to be scattered at point lobos also a-la lynne next week as we head up the california coast.

 

at least this lady looks a bit more adult-ish.

please pardon the difficulties in posting since i am now mainly using my ipad which is not user friendly at all for blogging. 
well that is the jist of it for now, hope to see you on the road.

ideas para un finde continued

this is my third post for all my friends in chile and argentina who have come to rely on inspirational things to make i post every now and then.

all of them i have gathered from my favorite blogs, flickr or pinterest.  i place

this pumpkin in first place because this is what i would make first if i had the pattern.  what a glorious mixed media fabric pumpkin.

and this chair reminded me of my friend marcela