Colour Meanings

This is a fascinating study done at University of British Columbia about how red improves cognitive performance while blue improves creativity ...

www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/uobc-cbb020409.php

Marbled Madness

Hard to believe this was a first attempt using shaving foam and Dy-Na-Flow. So often the very first attempt at a new technique is fine to keep in the sketchbook but not something you can really feel proud of.

Susan Purney Mark gave the workshop and I was delighted with most of what I produced. It's fast and I quickly got into a rhythm of primping the foam, laying down the fabric, smoothing it out, lifting it up, scraping off the excess foam, and laying my finished piece to dry. By the end of the afternoon I was like a kid at the beach, exhausted but begging to do "just one more, PLEEZE PLEEZE!"

Apart from the ease of the technique, the other great thing is that it is truly not messy. In fact I have had another session at home using my Jacquard Setasilk colors, and there were no splashes on the rug or the walls.

and since inquiring minds want to know ...

this past week I worked for 33-1/2 hours
the previous week, 39-3/4 hours (this counts attendance at the Victoria Sewing Show)

A Calmer Chameleon!

This is an African linocut from Kitambaa fabrics. See www.kitambaa.blogspot.com, which is Pippa Moore's blog. I heard her presentation at the Victoria Sewing Show last weekend (the room was filled!) and she is at the Westshore Quilters Guild Symphony of Quilts show this weekend, which is where I picked up this little critter. I plan to do something with him and perhaps have him on the front page of the blog when finished.

And a shout-out to "Dragon Lady" Laura for the ride yesterday! Thanks!

Gleeful Celebration

This is a rendition of a collage I made in January. The original is actually a lot more gleeful because it's on orange construction paper with gold chocolate truffle wrappers. Suffice it to say that the celebration involved unwrapping the truffles ...

The sketch effect is from processing the scan through dumpr sketch, a free program with many possibilities, both creative and educational. It can create sketches from photos, so you could create personalized family colouring books, for example.

Go to www.dumpr.net and click on the links!

Modesty in different cultures

Identity by Design, tradition, change, and celebration in native women's dresses is published by the Smithsonian and HarperCollins. Edited by Emil Her Many Horses, it is lavishly illustrated and contains thoughtful essays, mostly by native American scholars, about dress. The perspective goes from historical times to the present.

I was fascinated that the metal ornaments which jingle have a social purpose (not just decorative). Women are not supposed to be alone with certain males, such as their father-in-law. The noise is to alert men that a woman is coming. In Islam, unrelated men and women are not supposed to be along together, but women are admonished not to stamp their feet and make their jewelry jingle.