Stitching Update....

 

 A Stitch Here... A Stitch There...

It Has been a while, Dear Readers, since I showed you progress on the many petit-point projects I have under way. Above is the mini Christmas stocking kit I started on the "extra day" of my recent travels. I was so worn out once I got home that tackling big projects was beyond me. So I pulled out the little stocking and just added a few stitches from time to time. These stockings are quite small and the stitches add up quickly!

Before too many days had passed I was seeing great progress!

The background is supposed to be "pink" for a girl...

but it is such a pale shade of pink it almost doesn't look pink!

And as I began to recover my energy 

 and look around at all my waiting projects....

(a few too many perhaps?)

I realized that I was so close to completing the 

William Morris carpet that I should just get it done!

All I needed to do was finish the border background

 and bind the edges all around.

Sorry about the darkish picture......

But you can see that the stitching is finished!

Here you can see it has been removed from the frame 

and I have begun to bind the edges.

And as for the Dragon Carpet, Dear Readers, 

I had reached a difficult place and hadn't done much....

I had completed most of the leafy vine sections

 that I was sure I would use as the original chart placed them.

You might remember that the original was very different... 

(no dragons for starters!)

 

 The central medallion was way too small.... 

so I designed the Dragons for the middle...

But on either side of the center there is a

 "golden" figure of something I can't quite decipher.

Is it supposed to be a pineapple...?

A Turtle...?

I just am reluctant to continue with this part of the design!

It needs a makeover....

Which I am starting to attempt to design....

You will be the first to see it when I have it figured out!

But meanwhile, the border needs to be worked on... 

and this frame is too small to do that comfortably....

But, Hey, I just took the other carpet off the bigger frame....

Here are the two frames stacked for comparison.

It doesn't look like much of a difference....

But more space is more space...

so I stretched this in the bigger frame.

Just look at all that extra room!

(Sorry it is a little blurry...)

 

I put the frame in the stand and got to work!

Up until this point I had used the smaller frame like a hoop

just holding it in my lap which was a bit awkward.

 

Now I have room to work on the borders 

as well as the redesigned side sections.

We shall see how it goes!

Meanwhile, I have finished the little stocking kit.....

 

All I have to do now is stitch it to the backing....

I'll add it to the collection of stockings waiting for that step!

 

So you can see, Dear Readers,

a stitch Here and a stitch There 

adds up to a whole lot of 

stitches in Time!

 

Over The Hills.....

 

And Far Far Away....

It Was that time of year, Dear Readers, for my Annual Trek out West to visit my Family. It is a Long Long way to Silver City, in the southwest corner of New Mexico, requiring several flight changes through several airports.... up and on the road way before dawn to get to the first airport an hour from home.... a mad dash from one flight to the next in Denver on those moving walkways.... a couple of hours waiting in Albuquerque, where I could at last grab some food... and then onto the little plane out into the desert in the late afternoon. I was lucky to be able to schedule all the flights for the same day!

We took off in the middle of the afternoon up into the clouds....

I didn't manage to get window seats in either of the long flights, 

which I usually try to get because

 I love the view from up there above the clouds!

The little plane seats only eight passengers

 and everybody gets a window seat.

The pilot is right there and you can watch the instrument panels too...

Here we are approaching the landing in the desert.

It is waaaaay out in nowhere.... 

a tiny little airport in the desert.

There are a few large towns nearby 

and a couple of Enormous open pit copper mines.

My brother met me at the airport 

and brought me to my Mom's house in Silver City.

My goodness it is a long way to go!

It was wonderful to see them....

but it wasn't the same.

My Dad died last April at age 94 and 8 months...

so everything was different....

he wasn't there anymore.

 

 I spent some time at my Dad's house with his partner... 

in the house he designed.... 

sitting at the table that was my Grandparents table...

going through his things... 

deciding what to do with his artwork, 

his sculptures.... 

his writing and his photo slides.....

I packed up boxes of stuff to ship home to my house 

(not that I have much room... but it needs careful reviewing....)

This will take time.

 

 

I spent days at my Mom's....

going through more boxes of things from Dad

 that had already been moved out of his house

 and were waiting for me to look through...

packing more boxes...

discovering some treasures....

(he wrote quite a lot.... poetry and philosophy....)

a file of ancient family photographs... 

that I had never seen before...

And I spent hours with my Mom talking about "stuff"... 

family stories from long ago....

Interesting tidbits I had discovered about some family history...

(I am the family historian in case you couldn't tell)

looking at family trees I had put together...

and helping her with paperwork that had piled up.

It was much too short and way too busy....

and then it was time to go home.....

Retracing those steps...

On a crystal clear desert morning... 

at the Tiny airport.....

Except.....

There was a problem with the airplane.

It was grounded.

They moved it away and we had to wait

 for a replacement plane to fly in from Phoenix Arizona....

which took hours.....

 

It finally arrived three hours later 

and they did all the "turn- around" as fast as they could. 

And we headed North to Albuquerque...

more than three hours late and I was sure 

I would not be able to catch my scheduled flights.

It was a bumpy flight through lots of clouds...

(a bit too bumpy for taking photos...!)

And when we arrived I needed to reschedule my flights

 for as soon as possible which turned out to be not until the next day...

so I got a hotel room near the airport....

on the seventh floor with a great view of the Sandia Crest...

(that big hummock of a mountain)

and watched the rain showers passing through.

And pulled the embroidery out of my suitcase

 which I had not even had time to do all through my visit!

Yes, it is another of Janet Granger's mini stocking kits,

this time with a girl theme... 

pink, with a doll and dollhouse

and other toys.

I was so glad I had it with me!

I started right away...

and I made some good progress before the light began to fade...

(these kits are 40 stitches to the inch and require good lighting to stitch).

The sun was setting.

And the following morning, 

up well before dawn and at the airport and through security

 and on our way at seven AM...

It was pouring rain in Chicago where I had to change planes,

but there was time to catch a snack before boarding the last flight home.

Once again I had no window seats... 

so no pictures of clouds to share...

I was going Home at last!

I arrived well before sunset, East Coast time...

but after the Autumnal Equinox....

Fall had tiptoed in while I was away.

Yes, Dear Readers, 

It's a Long long way to Silver City, 

And it just wasn't the same... 

(but it really never is...!)

I am Very glad I went.... 

over the hills and through the clouds,

 and wish it could have lasted longer...

But it sure is Wonderful to be Home again!

No Body Is Perfect....

 

I Wasn't Listening....

I was On a Roll, Dear Readers, charging ahead with the Next important part of The Chapel interior; the painting of the Temptation in The Garden of Eden. The space was laid out, the subject was well defined and all I had to do was be decisive and start! As I have mentioned a time or two on this project, I am trying to keep the style of my paintings to an early era, not quite primitive, but not entirely naturalistic either. I have found surprisingly few examples to use as my guide, and I am afraid that my creative "impressions" are colored by later more well known versions. Most of the representations of this scene are tucked in with the Creation scenes... the next sequential events in the history of humanity, and are therefore tiny and difficult to use. But I did find one good example that would be my main guide.

Here, you can see it in the bottom right hand section

of this manuscript illumination from the thirteenth century.

Mind you, this is not large... 

the image is about one inch square and difficult to see details.

But it shows the stance and lay-out of the scene

 that I wanted to try to capture.

 

And for good measure, here is a larger, similar one

 that clearly shows the standard elements of this scene.

The Tree with the serpent in the middle 

and Adam and Eve naked on either side,

and the "sharing" of the fruit.

 

And as usual, 

I apologize for the dark picture...

As I said, I was charging ahead with the painting...

first inking the design and then as quickly as possible

 beginning the painting of the figures...

And again... just taking the next steps....

But really, I was Ignoring that little voice

 that had big misgivings.....

(it doesn't look right...)

(they are too "bulky")

And I will not bother to show you more images

 of the failed attempt....

Suffice it to say that at a certain point I stood back 

(a little hard to do with a painting inside the Chapel...)

and realized that it just would not do!

I am Terrible 

at Body Proportions!

(I know this.... 

I have to work at it all the time....)

Yeah.... No Body is Perfect...

Buuuut...

There are accepted "norms" used

 in artistic representations....!

 

"Aaarrrggghhh....."

 

It was clearly "make-over" time.

And as usual... 

I neglected to take pictures of the process.

Lots of white paint in strategic places...

lots of "slimming" and "lengthening"

(Even a lowering of the picture frame!)

But most importantly, 

shrinking their heads.

Adding the flesh tones...

Redoing the outlines....

adding the hair....

I am still not at all convinced that it is fixed...

I may have to redo the redo.....

(that even sounds terrible!)

But I am Not rushing it....

This is as far as I have gotten, 

and I'm going to leave it here for a while....

while that little voice

becomes a little clearer.

No Rush!

Yes, Dear Readers,

No Body is perfect...

but Especially not my rendering

 of Adam and Eve.

A Little Bit of This....

 

A Little Bit of That....

I Left You, Dear Readers, with the Creation of Adam and Eve barely begun as I waited for the ink to dry before painting could begin. And the Very next day I did begin the painting process for that Roundel. I have included that inked-only photo above, because when I began to paint I didn't take any good enough pictures of the process to show the beginning part. These ceiling panels are curved so the camera sometimes focuses on a part of the curved surface leaving the rest out of focus. I will include the blurry shot anyway, but I wanted you to know why!

Here you can see I began with the flesh tones for Adam and Eve.

Then I forgot to take pictures for a while!

Because I was jumping around.

Here you can see the ceiling propped against the opening wall

as close to its correct position as I could put it.

 I wanted to see how the ceiling scenes looked

 in relation to the windows and the two wall sections.

I have penciled in the areas that will have a scene painted. 

Between the windows will be The Annunciation

 and on the right will probably be The Tower of Babel.

And as I was lining up the frames, 

I noticed a missing detail on the Ceiling panel!

 

Here you can see I am adding two 

"Golden Rays" from the head of God,

 directed to the place on the opening wall

 that will tie them to The Annunciation 

and Saint Anne (who will be in one of the windows.) 

And because there is a lot of waiting

 for small amounts of paint to dry,

 I am jumping from place to place...

The Rainbow in The Judgement scene was calling to me...

And then as I turned around... 

I noticed the sunlight shining into my house 

and striking the Peter and Paul Window in the Chapel!

It only shines in at this angle for a brief spell

 in the Fall as the Equinox draws near...

But Oh My Goodness it fills the Chapel 

with such a beautiful light!

But it only lasts for a moment or two and then is gone.

And I return my attention to the opening walls...

Here I am showing the "pillars" which will be

 attached after the windows are constructed.

I needed to have them available so I can

 position the ceiling arches in the right places.

And here I am trying to get a sense of

 the Judgement scene's relationship with the wall...

This is with the arch sections in place...

 trying to see how the demons from Hell

(on the bottom at the right)

look when viewed from "inside" the Chapel.

(As if you could stand in there!)

It seems to me I need to adjust the way

 the "ground" slants to the arch below.

But before I figure that out.....

I decide to add the "cloud" shadowing

 in the borders of the Roundels.

I think of these as like those "thought bubbles"

 in modern cartoons...

 revealing the idea in image not words....

Here they have all been added.... 

don't worry... 

there will be more details eventually!

As I mentioned before, Dear Readers, 

 I am trying to get an idea of the overall color balance

 among all the parts of the ceiling...

And The Judgement was way behind in execution.

Fleshing out the naked bodies...

Adding the purple robes of Christ..

The coffins that have floated to the surface

 like so many boats on water...

And I keep testing it in place....

 

I wanted to shift the Demons a bit lower onto the wall...

Holding the arch section in place to try to line up the edges..

Adding details to Christ and the angels....

Wings, halos, hair, trumpets....

And then circling back to the Creation scenes...

Here I have added details to the water....

and the trunks of the trees....

And Hair for Adam and Eve...

And lots more plants.....

And changed my mind about Eve's hair...

 it was too dark...

And going all out on a richer bluer sky!

Once the background is darkened these will stand apart as lighter.

I wanted the birds to stand out against the sky...

And I Love what it does to the Moon!

And I need to see it in place again....

It is night again... so this is with flash...

which distorts the contrast...

But I feel like I am making progress!

Here I have added details to Adam and Eve...

and bright red flowers to the landscape.

 

 Here... you can see a little closer...

Some days this is all I accomplish...

And others....

All I add is structural framework...

Here the frame for The Garden of Eden

 has been painted.

And on the opening wall I have added 

the blue portions to the walls.

Starting to paint the arches...

These are really just underpainting to get the positioning correct.

Eventually there will be some "three dimensional" arches 

to go above these windows... just like on the rest of the walls.

Except that these have to fit around the opening doors...

which will be a challenge when I get to it!

And with the pillars in place...

You can start to get a feel for how this wall

 will look in relation to the ceiling.

Then I changed my mind about

 the framework for The Annunciation....

I want it to mirror the Framework of 

The Madonna and Child over the altar....

on the opposite wall of the Chapel.

And with the pillars and the ceiling propped in place...

I think I am starting to get a feel for this wall.

As you can see, Dear Readers.....

I am hopping all over the place...

But a little bit of this and a little bit of that 

Adds up to a Whole Lot of progress!