Nebraska!

Well. More change... change can be stressful, but it can also be exciting. We are now in Nebraska, and I have the chance to explore a new environment. One ecosystem I am not familiar with is the prairie, and now I am in Nebraska. This is exciting.

My art will change again, as it always does after a major move. It will settle down with a new palette, and a new way of looking at things. I expect this process to take a couple of months. I am already figuring out that it is windier here, and I need to learn to deal with that. The skies are clearer and sunnier, for the most part, which also has an effect. White paper in full sun is blinding, as I learned in Idaho. Fortunately, there are trees here, and shade can be sought out. They just aren't as abundant as in Louisiana.

I will continue to blog here about my artwork, but will be starting a new blog about nature in Nebraska. Thank you for reading this, and stay tuned!

Origami folder

I'm working on a Cosmos Ball origami project, from Meenakshi Mukerji's book, Marvelous Modular Origami. This project requires folding thirty small units of paper to make a beautiful ball. I have previously made the Poinsettia Ball from this book, and enjoy seeing it on top of my bookshelf. It is beautiful.

I needed a way to corral all those little pieces of paper, so I decided to make a folder. I found a heavy decorative paper in my stash, collaged on some end-piece offcuts of wrapping paper that I am using for the origami, and used washi tape as a way to decoratively secure it all. After that, I added a bit of cheerful calligraphy. Here is what I came up with!

You can see that I just folded the paper in half, and then folded the sides in a bit. Then I folded up a pocket on the bottom. The sides were then secured with the tape.

I really like this folder! I can use it to bring my origami with me if I have to go somewhere I know I will have to wait.  Thirty pieces of paper is a lot to fold. I can't do it all in one sitting. And I really want to try the 90 unit dodecahedron she has in the book... that's quite a lot of folding! Folding is relaxing for me, and I like to take my time and enjoy it.

The little offcuts are from a wrapping paper that I found the other day. It's a roll of Hallmark paper, and the back is printed in a 1" grid. Many of the models I have been making use rectangles instead of squares. This is a big time saver.

I hope to post a few more projects in the coming days. Hope this week is a beautiful one for you!

Announcing Dinner

This is an easy way to use calligraphy in daily life. My family is really enjoying this. I will post more of these in the future. I'm announcing the main dish... no room on the little chalkboard for the side dishes, or dessert!

And, yes, our fruits and vegetables dance. They have for years!
The colors did not really show up in the photo. I try to use a lot of color.

I'd love to have a large, sidewalk-sized board to work on, but there is no room in the kitchen. I love working with chalk, though, so I will have to look into some other ways to use chalkboards, or chalkboard paint.