...the kids' bird seed garden has flooded...

...the kids' bird seed garden has flooded..., originally uploaded by jckirner.

We've had lots of rain.

The kids' bird seed garden has flooded.

Rainy season has begun - soggy yards and gardens until October!

I learned a lot about tires yesterday. A flat tire during a rain storm sidelined me in the middle of the road until AAA turned up to help. Took 20 mins for them to arrive and meanwhile I was checked on by the sheriffs to make sure I was okay.

Same AAA fella' that fixed my flat (different tire) in Feb. Huh! Only this time he had a trainee along.

Tire was shredded and not usable and spare donut tire - 9 years old - turns out to be rotten - who'da thunk it!! Wouldn't hold air.

So I wait for the tow truck - another 30 mins. (Calling neighbors meanwhile to cover school pickup) Flat bed truck turns up with another trainee! First day on job - he's being coached through the process. Rain had stopped by now, I get a tow to Goodyear.

A Goodyear trainee at the desk apologizes for the wait as he learns, job market seems to be hopping in tire service!!!

I enjoy (no really!!) a 2.5 hour wait while I get new tires and alignment and chat merrily away to a PBCC math professor who went to school with my sister.

Funny day. Ended with Girl Scout party meeting for end of year.

Sketch and a Home Tour

sketch, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Paused at my desk, waiting for turtle-speed internet loading, a small sketch - pen and pencil.

Spent time over the weekend with my house guests touring the HGTV green home

in Port St. Lucie, FL, an hour and a half up the road from here.

I took pictures. A handful. The beautifully staged photos are available online, so no need to duplicate them.



A shot of the shower transition to the floor - ideas for my future bathroom renovation.




Just liked these watercolors over the w/c.


Looked for ideas for gardening - combinations of plants that are tolerant to our heat and perhaps less bug/rot friendly.



A stellar shot of the composting/rain barrell area!

Idea homes are curious to visit. The furniture placement that works for photos does not always mean livable placement. Things are forced much closer together to photograph well.

But good ideas are secreted in the rooms despite the intial impact in the mind of "that won't work". Sometimes it's a room function idea, sometimes a color/texture combination. Sometimes it's a surprise of scale.

I took the chance to visit Southern Living magazine's Idea Home in Disney's Celebration neighborhood over a decade ago. Reflecting back I realize many choices I've made over the years in my own home and decor have come from prompts from that tour. And that's despite having some initial shock reaction to the choices made in furniture, placement, colors, and room usage.

Circus punk

Circus punk, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Shhhh - house guests sleeping - so I can hide online for a bit.

Another of my circus punk interpretations - rather fond of this one actually.

The face is stitched, painted and uses molding paste for texture.
The mane is painted laundry color catcher, while the body is painted tyvek.


Played with the back a bit too...

This one's Peru punk, from the handcarved stamped motifs found on an old tapestry fragment.
He's all color catcher body, painted/molding paste face, and machine cording mane.

Face emerging

Face emerging, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Back to 'supposed to's'. Yet I'm rebelling at every turn.

Packing up surfaces in the workroom - a week of house guests imminent.

This folded dropcloth started staring at me - and I enhanced with fabric markers and Caran d'ache crayons.

In process...

Spotlighting

Spotlighting, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Things transform themselves sometimes. I'm learning to abandon expectations and work with what results.

I experimented with glue gel resist on painters canvas. I used a fabric underneath the canvas to absorb the excess dye - and create another fabric to play with. Not my idea - apparently iro design uses this technique when painting silk scarves - and uses the absorbing canvas to create other items.

Here I've glue-gelled and painted.

Waited for it to dry.

Washed out the glue gel and dried again.

Overdyed the pieces again. Then stitched.

Mother's Day stitching detail

Mother's Day stitching detail, originally uploaded by jckirner.

I've noticed I work more freely with snippets, leftovers, and deconstructed inner pieces of items. On mother's day I spent a chunk of time playing with a $3 bag of batik strip scraps.

Color combinations at play - and the idea of stitch as a color wash over a pattern.

Rulers abandoned for free cutting with the rotary cutter to give less uniform lines.

A total delight to create - and am loving the texture of the densely stitched piece onto the batting sandwich. Almost the feel of stitched felt.

Back in the chair

Back in the chair, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Dentist office doodle is done! As is my toothwork - yay!

On the reverse of this postcard I tried to sketch some palm trees I viewed out the window from my chair - but I was too shaky to do decent lines. Stippling was the way to go - and this is the result.

I'm done with it - anyone want to take over from here? I'll mail it to you!!

Henry

Henry, originally uploaded by jckirner.

I like the shadows. And I have new respect for photographers and lighting experts - since I've fumbled around like crazy trying to capture an image this morning.

I have this newly blank piece of wall to fill. I grabbed my Henry wire figure to dangle from a pin in that spot and fell in love with the shadows. That was followed with a flurry of "what can I mount it on", "where's the drill kit", "where's the chunks of wood", "where are those little nails", and then,

clearing out the junk drawer in search of the perfect nail,
and
sorting shelves in the garage as the hunt continued
then
fumbling and grumbling with light positions , knocking tins of pencils and scissors to the floor as lamp cords dragged across surfaces, balancing fax machines and phones on top of computers to poke Henry into position for his vanity shot.

Never did find the nails. Hello Home Depot???

Testing testing...

Testing testing..., originally uploaded by jckirner.

I'm waiting for paint to dry!! Before I plunge ahead with my project I'm sampling the potential colors. In my quest to quell the art supply purchases I'm determined to use what's on hand.

All part of my clutter control - or rather - abundance management scheme!!