On Kari's Canvas

A while back Kari came to spend a day with me and we worked on some paintings.  Kari started one but decided she didn't like it.  I said, just paint over it, let it dry and then start again.  No.  She was set on starting over.  You see she wanted the white canvas to show around her painting.   So I had her paint over her canvas and set it aside to dry while she painted a new one.  She laid that paint on thick, swirled her brush through it and painted a smiley face in the middle.  That painted over canvas has been sitting there ever since, calling to me, saying "Don't waste me!"  Today, Kari was here again and again we sat down to paint, Kari with a clean canvas. I knew better than to ask her to use that canvas but I picked up that neglected painted over canvas and painted this.  I love the texture from her swirling and I love the dark blue paint peeking through the sky.  I love the misty fog coming in from the lake and up the side of the hill into the trees.  Soft colors, blurry edges, indistinct impressions of vegetation, water and sky. 

Memories

The first thing I remember is meeting my baby brother, Mike.  He was born in June 1957

Quilts for Grown Ups

The first time I tried to quilt was when I mother gave me an old quilt top that my Grandmother Scott had made back in the 30's probably.  It had a white background with hand appliqued vines and flowers in pink and green.  My mother, Karen Johnson had told my daughter, Tiffany that she could have it when it was finished.  The top was stained, the fabric was not in great shape and in my ignorance, I just started working on it.  I hand washed it, I tried stain removers, I re-stitched the applique as best I could.  I went to a quilt store and found fabric that seemed to match, bought some batting and proceeded to stitch it together.  Then I labeled it with the history of the maker, the re-maker and the recipient.  Tiffany was pleased.  She keeps it in the hope chest she got from my mother who got it from my grandmother.  And so the story goes with quilts.  They bind us together with our past and our future. 

When I finished Grandma Scott's quilt, I thought, well that's that.  I will never quilt another one.  And then my grandchildren started to arrive and I made baby quilts.

 

In between all the baby quilts, I did some quilts for myself.  The one below was finished sometime in 2009.  I didn't keep track of dates when I was making them.  In fact, I don't think this one is signed either.

This quilt was the first one I did for myself.  The embroidery patters are from a book with Pennsylvania Dutch motifs.  It is a whole cloth lap size quilt, machine quilted.  I loved the colors which perfectly match the fabric that I used on the back. I bought that fabric first.

This fabric was purchased at the Quilting Connection on Main Street in Ames, IA

This quilt took me a really long time, years.  All hand embroidered, hand pieced, and hand quilted.  It is made for a queen sized bed.  My mother loved this one and made me bring it to Iowa to show her friends at water aerobics.  Close ups of the angels are in past posts on this blog.

This is the most recent quilt I finished.  It is lap sized, all hand embroidered, pieced and quilted and one that is my favorite.  I hated to give it to Karen!  This one started a long time ago when I made tea towels for all my friends for Christmas.  Karen got the owls and per my instructions, we used them!  So quite a few years down the road they had started to show some wear and tear.  One had been burned so half of it was missing, several had holes and some had stains.  It was time to retire them, but it was hard to let go.  Then I had the idea to cut out squares with the embroidery and make them into a quilt.  Now these cute little owls will have a second chance to give pleasure and be useful!

My son was feeling left out and asked me to make a quilt for him.  I am still working on that one.  It has a baseball theme and I used that fabric you can print pictures on.  I will be sure to post a picture when it is done. 

Quilts

    I turned into a quilter because I became a grandma.  I had been embroidering ever since my Grandma Scott taught me how, so the embroidery on these quilts is the fun, relaxing part for me.  I had no idea how to make a quilt.  I have learned a few things since then about quilting but I always start with the embroidery. 

My first Baby Quilt for my Grandson in 2005.  I did the had embroidery but I had no idea how to quilt anything so my friend Deb Halmo took me to the quilt shop to pick out fabrics and then put it together and quilted all the borders and sashes.  She left the quilting around the embroidery to me. 

This pink quilt was made from my Granddaughter, Kari.  It is a whole cloth quilt.

This quilt, another whole cloth quilt was for Grandma's Hope Chest-So far no little boys have arrived to claim it.

This one was a made from a kit.  Again, no piecing.

For my friend LaShawn's grandson, Randal.  This one was pieced.

The second baby quilt I made.  Another whole cloth quilt for Grandma's hope chest.  I did not know what I was doing so it is really not properly quilted.  I used an embroidery stitch to quilt-lots of work.

This one was made for my niece's little boy, Gaius!  At the time I made it we did not know Gaius' name or that he was a boy! 

Lighthouse View

I started this one last week when my granddaughter, Kari, was visiting with us.  She wanted to paint a picture for her mom's birthday.  Her first attempt did not please her but instead of just letting it dry and painting over it she insisted on a fresh canvas. I think she was more satisfied with the second one.  I did not finish my painting and we were pretty busy so I did not get back to this until today.  I tried a couple of different things here, blurring the faraway hills with more blue, patches of plants instead of a uniform texture, adding a faraway lighthouse.  The sky is blue and yet does not appear clear.  Summer skies are often hazy over the lake.  This is a lonely spot, no figures walking on the beach. 

Morning Sail 05152016

I painted this piece last weekend after my visit to MIAD to see the Senior exhibit and to the Milwaukee Art Museum to see their special exhibit of landscape paintings.  It is warmer in the painting than it is here in Port Washington, however, the brave Wisconsin sailors are out on the lake enjoying the sun today.
I planted some annuals on Friday, taking a chance on Mother Nature being kind enough to keep our low temperatures above 32.  It was close last night, but it seems my flowers survived the night.

Two Paths into One 05012016

A painting with no lake, no river, no pond is not what you were expecting from me. Two paths merge into one that leads into the valley between these hills.  A warm day in late Spring invites you further into the countryside. A clear sky gives you a promise that you will not get wet before you return to your starting place. 

Pond at Sunset 04302016

A study of perspective, color, shadow and light.  A small painting, done in the morning on a cloudy day in Port Washington.  Why is this a sunset and not a sunrise?  Just a feeling I have.

Spring Lake 04292016

Working on shadows, horizons and perspective.  Reproducing the color of the painting digitally is a challenge.  Just so you know, spring in Wisconsin does not look like this yet!

From the Wine and Art bar

I attended a fun birthday party for my son's MIL at an Art and Wine Bar, you know, one of those places where you can paint a picture that comes with directions or paint free style.  You can have drinks and snacks while you paint and a chance to see everyone else's work.  Even people who never do anything artistic walk away with a painting.  This painting  pleased me.  The colors reflecting in the water, the lake shore continuing around the corner and the way the grasses came out-all done with a pretty large brush, either using the flat side or the tips.  No small sharp brushes available.

Lake Michigan with Waves 02162016

I started this one on my birthday (2-27) and finished it today.  I am heading for Florida in a few days, but this is not a painting of Florida!  Maybe somewhere in Door County. 

North Beach 02142016

 I see the North Beach from my bedroom window.  The bluffs in winter are full of color, not the greens of spring and summer nor the orange, red and yellow of early autumn, but the browns, oranges, purplish taupes and greys of late autumn and winter.  I see people walking, sometimes alone, often in pairs and often with their dogs running free.  The wind blows in from the northeast, the waves roll in and it takes a hardy type to walk the beach during February in Port Washington, WI.

Lake Michigan Sunrise 02132016

Saturday, 0 degrees outside but clear and sunny.  I am painting in at my table by the north windows and I can feel the cold just on the other side of the glass.  I am not painting the winter scene outside, but the warm summer scene in my mind.    I am trying new ways of using my brushes, experimenting to make the grass on the beach.  More time equals more painting.  Feels good.

Jet Trails @Dawn

I often see the traces of the jets that fly at dawn, but never the actual jets.  I wonder why they are up so early and from where they are flying.  What is their destination? 

Overlook

My dad walks by my paintings and asks me "Is that a real place or did you make it up?" 

I said, " I look at the lake everyday, I watch the skies, the clouds, the birds.  I paint what I see in my mind.  Real and not real is the answer." 

My granddaughter, Kari, visited last week end.  We went out to breakfast, picked my dad up from the rehab center and then came home.  She wanted to paint.  She started out with gold flowers.  She added some green, some pink and then I noticed that she wasn't looking too happy.  "I keep messing up", she says.  She had dragged her sleeve through the flowers on the bottom of the painting.  She was ready to quit.  I explained that she could just paint over the parts she didn't like.  She painted the whole canvas blue but then she was done for the day.  Painting is like that sometimes.  Things don't work out, you cannot satisfy yourself.  I've been there myself.  I will save her canvas.  We will paint another day.  

Sunrises over Lake Michigan are a favorite subject.  I often like the time right before the sun comes over the horizon, when it is still dark but the colors in the sky are vibrant.  I started this one a couple of weekends ago and it came out way too dark.  Today, I brought my card table out of storage, moved the furniture around in my bedroom, laid a drop cloth over the carpet and set up a permanent space for me to paint next to our north windows with the light from the east window at my back.  Then I sat down and took another stab at this one.  I am much more pleased with the results.  That is a good thing because I need to take something new into the Blue Heron Gallery.  I think this one will do 

Happy New Year!

Today is my 60th New Year's Day on planet Earth.  I think it is common for people, including me, to view January 1st as a day to welcome for the promise of a new, better year to come.  I welcome January 1, 2016 with a mixed bag of hopes and fears.  My father is in the hospital after having major abdominal surgery. He is 83 years and has had several health challenges this fall. I hope for fewer MD visits and 0 hospital/surgeries for 2016!   

My children are well and my wife, Karen (yes, I said wife-we've been married a year now) is recovering from a second knee replacement and doing very well.  Karen is retired now and I am planning on retiring no later than my birthday on February 27, 2016.  We plan to travel, see parts of the country for the first time and return to favorites.  I also hope to make time to paint.  When you are working full time and being a caregiver it is hard to find time to paint.  

I choose kindness, generosity, peace, love and happiness for myself, my family and friends.  

Happy New Year, everyone!

Terry