Wordless Wednesday

Have a colorful day!

What's SUP?

Terrible pun in the headline, but I couldn't resist. So, last weekend I went SUPing with two friends. That's STAND UP PADDLEBOARDING, the latest water craze to hit the mainland! (It's been popular in Hawaii for years.) There are even yoga classes on stand up boards.

The day dawned with a thick layer of fog over our end of the bay. (For me it was dawn -- 9 a.m.) I called Sheila to see if we should cancel and I could go back to bed, but she said the fog had lifted at her end. So I put on my orange party pants and purple top and headed down to the harbor. If I was going to fall in, it would at least be colorful.

This is Lee, who said he's an old surfer dude. Now he rents boards to old ladies like us in Gig Harbor. www.leesup.com We ALL used to be hot beach babes, Lee.

Here we are, hot to trot and ready to get our boards. That's Dawn on the left, me in the purple, and Sheila. The fiery redhead, cool brunette and fun blonde. Sheila had done this once before and is also an excellent sailor, so she was our safety net. She brought her own whistle and a waterproof camera, so the photos of us on the water are hers.

After a little parking lot instruction we were on our own in the harbor, and it was a LOT shakier than I thought it would be! Here's Dawn, with me in the background taking our first baby steps on the boards. I thought it would be easy, but you really have to concentrate on not falling.

Here I am in the beginning, still concentrating and afraid to turn my head for fear of losing my balance. I can't imagine doing yoga on these. Note the name of the boat to my left -- Kahlua, my favorite baking ingredient after chocolate. I digress. This sport is a full body workout, from using your core to keep your balance, your feet and legs to grip the board (there's a sticky surface, but I still kept a death grip) and your shoulders to paddle.

Here's a link to REI's paddleboard instructions: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/paddleboarding.html

Only one of us fell in, and I won't show you the photos that Sheila took. Hint: It wasn't the cool brunette, and Sheila was taking photos.

Till next time!

Two openings!

The Feet and Forks by my quilt at the Harbor History Museum's Maritime Art Exhibit.

I have quilts in two local juried art exhibits that opened in the past week. Most of the other pieces were paintings or photographs, so I felt lucky to get in at all.

The top one, "Sunset Sailing In the Sound," is at the Harbor History Museum through Sept. 2. The one below, "Winter Closing In," is at the Gig Harbor Civic Center through Sept. 12. (I'm too lazy right now to look up the links.)

My quilt in the Peninsula Art League's exhibit at the Civic Center.

HINT, HINT: You can vote for your favorite piece in both shows to win Viewer's Choice. Wouldn't it be nice if a fiber piece won? I'm just sayin'.

Juror and textile artist Barbara Lee Smith.

Textile artist and author Barbara Lee Smith, who lives here on Raft Island, was the juror and judge for the Harbor History exhibit. She gave a nice talk during the opening and said that one of her goals is to have textile art accepted in the art world. She awarded 1st place to a gorgeous tapestry.

Lobby of the Harbor History Museum during the opening.

I didn't get photos of the food, but trust me when I say it was colorful and delicious at both openings.

Have a colorful day

Just playing

Stenciling with Shiva Paintstiks

 

I got together with my art quilt friend Janet to play in her studio the other day. We didn't have anything special in mind, but since she had just moved to a new place close to my house we decided that was a good enough reason to look at her stash and play with whatever caught our attention.

We started with her Shiva Paintstiks and some cool stencils that I didn't have. We tried rubbing the the paintstiks directly over the stencils and applying them with stencil brushes and decided that a combination gave us the best results. Warning: They're messy. But you have to expect that from oil paints in stick form.

If you google Shiva Paintstiks you'll come up with a lot of project ideas and places to buy them. Here's the Dharma Trading link: http://www.dharmatrading.com/products/sip.html

Shiva Paintstiks -- oil paints in crayon form.

I also blogged about some of my experiments with Shiva Paintstiks here:  http://sherriequilt.blogspot.com/2011/03/paintstiks-and-oil-paint-flashbacks.html

Next we pulled out her Smooch Spritz spray paint, which I've read about but never tried. It's supposed to be good for adding a shimmery mist of color. Here are some of Janet's:

She taped some white fabric onto parchment paper and started spritzing. We didn't like the paint globs and drips and weren't sure if that's how it was supposed to come out, but it started looking better as she sprayed on more layers of color. We decided it would make a good background. Do any of you have experience with this product and advice on using it?

Janet wore her Shiva and Smooch colors on her hands

by the end of the session!

P.S. I just googled Smooch Spritz and found a lot of product reviews and tutorials about these little acrylic spray paint bottles. The first one I read said you're supposed to hold the sprayer upright, but we couldn't do that because we were working on the floor. I guess if you had an easel or a spray box you could do that. Here's the review:  http://www.crafttestdummies.com/craft-product-reviews/craft-product-review-smooch-spritz-color-sprays/

Other reviews pointed out that the bottles are glass, which could be a disaster if they broke and spilled paint all over.

Have a colorful day

Elvis lives ... in Gig Harbor!

Hey Elvis fans -- he came back for a free concert a few weeks ago in Gig Harbor and brought summer with him! Check out www.dannyvernon.com

While most of my friends staked out their spots on the grass with lawn chairs earlier in the day, Dave and I like to saunter down just before the concert starts and watch from the top of the dock, where we can lean on the railing and see the water and the concert. It's a great people-watching spot, also.

Tuesday concert night always means there's a party on the water, with people listening from their kayaks, sailboats, row boats, rafts, paddle boards and yachts.

Here we are, watching from our favorite spot on the dock. Our friend Sheila set out some crackers and cheese on the railing.

The kids below were oblivious to the concert. It was low tide, a perfect time to explore at the water's edge.

This dog exuded coolness on his paddle board. All he needed was a pair of Elvis shades. Stand up paddle boarding -- S.U.P. -- is all the rage here, with even yoga classes being taught on rental boards down in the harbor. I haven't done it yet, but plan to.

Have a colorful day

Fire rainbow in Florida

Photo by Michelle L. Perez via the Weather Channel

‎ 

Those of you who know me know I'm an avid follower of the Weather Channel, so nothing thrills me more than finding a weather event that includes COLOR! It was pretty exciting to open Facebook this morning and find this photo of a FIRE RAINBOW posted by the Weather Channel. Here's the post:

This phenomenon was what's commonly referred to as a "fire rainbow" was seen above the skies of South Florida on Tuesday by many viewers. Pileus clouds are caused by a fast-growing thunderstorm that shoves air into the upper atmosphere through a layer of moisture, creating a layer of ice crystals. These ice crystals form the fog-like cloud that looks like a dome on top of the thunderstorm. The sun helps form an optical phenomenon through the ice crystals of the pileus clouds and produces a rainbow effect. The technical term for this incredible array of colors is a circumhorizontal arc. Thank you to @WPTV5 in West Palm Beach and Meteorologist Kait Parker.

 

Have a colorful day

Bellingham: Homeskillet in Sunnyland

From the Green Owl Cafe in Madison brought to you by my son (last post) we move to the Homeskillet in Bellingham, WA, courtesy of my daughter. She took me there for lunch last week and I was so excited by the colors -- purple, lime green, orange, turquoise, bright yellow! -- that I could hardly put my camera away long enough to eat.

The colors and funkiness reminded me of favorite places in New Mexico. It was so nice to find this much color here in the Northwest. The funky chicken was above our booth and our table had chickens and eggs in glossy paint.

The food was just as colorful. Look at my daughter's bowl of granola and fruit:

I forgot to get a picture of my food because I was so hungry, but it was a marinated grilled portobello/tofu grinder with roasted red pepper aioli and a side of sweet potato tots and was delicious.

Here's the story (above). If you click on it I think you can read it. Mr. Potato Heads watched over me as I ate -- very comforting.

Have a flavorful day!

Madison, Wisconsin: Owls and butterflies

Green Owl Cafe in Madison, WI

Just back from visiting the sizzling Midwest, and in my search for good color I found a connection between the cafe and the gardens where my son and his honey took us on the same day.

Inside the Green Owl

We started at the Green Owl Cafe, with this great owl-and-birch-trees wall. Love that orange. (Drool over the vegetarian menu at www.thegreenowlcafe.com) The food was delicious, too.

Then they took us to the Olbrich Botanical Gardens, where we found more birch trees and a butterfly that looked like an owl. The "Blooming Butterflies" exhibit was going on, and besides live butterflies that had been hatched in the conservatory, there were cases displaying butterflies from around the world. This one, below, mimics an owl:

This next one has that yellow-orange that I love. You can read more about the gardens and the butterflies at www.olbrich.org

The parting shot is this wonderful plaque -- with that great yellow-orange again -- in the kids' house:

Have a colorful day!

"Sunset Sailing" accepted!

"Sunset Sailing On the Sound" by Sherrie Spangler

Woohoo!

I just got the e-mail notice that my art quilt "Sunset Sailing On the Sound" was accepted into the Harbor History Museum's Juried Maritime Art Exhibit! ("Starfish Rising" was rejected, but one acceptance is good enough for me.)

The quilt under construction, peeling off the Sulky Solvy.

I'm especially honored to be accepted because the juror is Barbara Lee Smith, a world-renowned fiber artist who lives on Raft Island in Gig Harbor. I've never met her, but I've admired her work at a gallery in Santa Fe and I've read her book, "Celebrating the Stitch: Contemporary Embroidery of North America."

The exhibit will run from Aug. 4-Sept. 2, 2012, at the Harbor History Museum.

Have a colorful day