art observations

Moody Crow

I was going to write a post on how I use Twitter, but the day is escaping me, so here is a photo instead. I saw this crow land on this pole building near my house. Actually, I heard its claws scrape the metal as it landed. This building is in an industrial area with an old business with agricultural structures nearby. I caught the following shots, too.  

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art design

Blended Photo 1 – Trestle With Escaping Water

I have the Autodesk Pixlr app (remember when we used to call apps software?) loaded on my computer. One of the most interesting editing features on this app is the Double Exposure tool found in the Refine menu. I was messing around one day and started experimenting with this tool, which allows you to lay one photo on top of another and change the transparency with a few settings that are part of the tool.…

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art design projects

Slow Art: Corvid Bag

I completed another slow art piece this past week. Years and years ago I was inspired by the Ojibwe bandolier bags in my museum’s collection to make a bag that was roughly the same shape, featuring a large square pouch and wide shoulder strap. The feature of bandolier bags that makes them so incredibly beautiful is the bead applique, which covers practically the entire pouch and strap. This makes for a very heavy bag, but…

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art projects

The Long, Slow Quilt

Finally! It is done! Last night, I tied my crazy quilt and hand-sewed the binding, completing a project I started probably a decade ago. I can’t tell you exactly when I started it because I don’t remember. It was quite the process, though, with lots of lag time between tasks. I was inspired to create a crazy quilt after hanging and examining some at work. (I work at the Weyerhaeuser Museum, which gives me the…

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art design inspiration projects reading

A Tale of Two Books

I like books. Must be the understatement of the year. I come by my appreciation for printed books honestly. My mom is a reader, both my grandmas were readers, and one of them had a habit of giving me books as gifts. I have passed my fondness for books onto my children. All of them enjoy visiting bookstores and when we were in Portland visiting my brother years and years ago, our favorite place, the…

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