Dancing Crow Designs

look, up in the air...

Walking around Smith late last week, I spied interesting carved leaves I wanted to photograph. Once I got there, I realized there were critters in the cornices, and finally I realized that both sides of the doorway were completely different. I present the squirrel with head injury:

squirrel
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

a mysterious daylight bat

bat
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

a proud poppa bird,

bird
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

who is clearly not paying enough attention to his nest

snake
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Mar TIF 3 of 16

Mar TIF 3 of 16
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

A total of sixteen 2 inch squares, all different media. This one feels more like and exercise to me - there is a different kind of feel to the plan and execution. But I like looking at things close up. And I figure I can do almost anything for 2 square inches...

Shown here: paint, transfer, beads
Still to come: DMC embroidery floss, machine embroidery, possibly another of those, craft string embroidery, couched yarn, different paints, more different paints, markers, pens...

this may take much longer than I expected.

Mar TIF background, close up

Mar TIF 1
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

the whole is about 12x18 inches, horizontal this time. This is a small section near the center.

cups of stuff

March 19
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Attempting to warm up this morning at Cup and Top before heading into the freezing rain - my coffee, plus a cup of crayons (in crayon, mind you) and colored pencils (in colored pencil).

I refrained from attempting to draw the coffee cup in coffee.

forks are hard

March 18
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Dedicated readers will wonder if I will ever draw anything besides what I see in front of me at the table (or counter). They may also wonder if I spend any time not thinking about food. Short answers are, respectively, yes, and no. Eventually I will endeavor to introduce more color as well.

I am still getting into a drawing groove, and the whole sketchbook concept still feels kind of forced. I had to wrestle my plate back from two energetic wait-staff today so I could sketch the wreckage, which was funny but embarrassing. Forks are a really strange shape.

Yoga this morning, circus this evening, plus a band concert from Aerin. So we will race home from Vermont eating bagel sandwiches so we can sit and be serenaded by the middle school bands. Good times. Really. Knitting time.

Week 11 artichokes 2

Week 11 artichokes 2
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

More of the artichokes. I tried to print with glue and foil over it, but I think I used the wrong glue - the print was tolerable but the foil didn't adhere to it properly and it came out kind of patchy. I like the roughness of it, and I tried to emphasize that with the stitching. The center is a layer of printed silk chiffon over a green silk dupioni , both with the artichoke printed on them in contrasting colors.

Aerin's birthday was today. We had the party over the weekend, and carpeted the floor with mattresses and sleeping girls. One parent came at 10:00 to retrieve a daughter to be told they had not woken up yet. We fed them waffles with stuff, and they dispersed by noon.

My mother and brother came out for a quick visit. A lot of driving for them for a short visit with us. Like most visits with Mattie, we ate well.

Week 10 artichokes 1

Week 10 artichokes 1
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

The artichokes we so compelling in cross section that I saved one out to experiment with. This is last week's postcard a little late.

march 16

march 16
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

My mother and brother came out for a visit, so I fed them: roasted chicken, roasted beets and fennel, baby artichokes braised in a frying pan, plus cake and two kinds of pie for dessert. A lot of driving for them, and nice visit for us all, I hope.

Pi day

Pi day
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Apple and Blueberry Pi(e) from Atkins, lightly toasted to make it properly crispy and make the crust crunch and the filling hot enough to melt ice cream.

Why Pie Day? 3/14 = 3.14 = Pi (I'll have to dig around for the greek letter) the relationship between the radius of a circle and the circumference. Plus as an added bonus, it is Einstein's birthday.

salt, pepper, coffee

IMG_3463
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

I remember now, the reason I made myself do something Every. Single. Day. for a lot of last year, was because once a week is not enough.

So, starting here, a sketch a day, on whatever I have handy. I will probably get organized into one of the (several dozen) sketchbooks I have collected over the last several years, until then I'll be pleased with documenting whatever I manage via camera and Flickr.

I have a plan for the TIF, I'll post more about that tomorrow.