Creative Life Sampler

Wildfires, Blackouts and Resilience By now most everybody has heard of the rolling power outages due to very strong Santa Ana winds and the wildfire threat here in California. We have experienced blackouts for large blocks of time on a couple of interspersed days and are expecting more. So, I thought I'd take advantage of this moment of computer access to check in with you and share my latest word. Resilience - recovering readily from adversity, illness, depression, or the like,                  the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc.,  after being bent,                  compressed or stretched...                                                (Webster's Dictionary) This word is reverse appliquéd, the smallest letters measuring 2 inches and the largest measuring 4.5 inches (see this link for another example of this technique: https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2019/10/writing-with-fabric-last-month-i.html  ). Actually, I had planne

Airport Observations (3 of 3) You know I'm always interested in what people are doing to enhance public spaces, especially utilitarian buildings like airports. So, I thought I would share a couple of items I've found on the way to catch my flights. At LAX, the brightly colored work of Pat Warner paid homage to flowering plants native to California in Floragalora ... and Marianne Sadowski's body of work, entitled Rhizomatic Variations, used maps of LA as a starting point for her richly colored prints. The Birmingham airport had this marvelous vertical garden, entitled Earth, Wind, and Water: The Landscape of Alabama by Murray Johnston.  It took up an entire corridor and was filled with lots of textures, shapes, and many shades of green with splashes of other colors. . Keep your eyes open folks, you never know when you will run across something special!

Across the Street (2 of 3) Directly across the street from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, is Kelly Ingram Park. The park marks the beginning of the Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail; a self-guided walking tour of the downtown area which takes in key spots along the routes taken by civil rights protesters. This statue is dedicated to those who  worked on the front lines for change. The park itself contains several statues and installations depicting powerful imagery of events associated with the fight against the oppressively segregated experience of the African American community. These pieces of art are each well executed and designed to evoke a reaction to the events they commemorate. Several installations are bisected by the walkway, so you actually walk through them. This is an especially effective way to give an idea of what civil rights demonstrators faced. The narrow space in this installation conveys the violence protesters experienced when they c

Trip to Birmingham Alabama (1 of 3) The historic 16th Street Baptist Church  (see note below) We had the occasion to travel to Birmingham Alabama recently. Since this state, and especially this city, played a significant role in the civil rights movement, our trip wouldn't have been complete without a visit to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, located  in the Civil Rights District of Birmingham. The stated goal of B.C.R.I. is: "to enlighten each generation on civil and human rights by exploring our common past and working together in the present to build a better future."( check out this link for more information-  https://www.bcri.org/  ) The subject of civil rights stirs many emotions in American culture and it seems to be a topic this society is destined to examine and re-examine,... until we get it right. B.C.R.I. has done a great service in addressing this head on, in a clearheaded, dispassionate, and fac

Autumn Colors Idly gazing out the car window from the passenger seat recently, my thoughts turned to the month of October. The thought process went something like this: “Isn’t it strange how orange becomes the dominant color this time of year… advertisements are covered in orange,… stores are robed in it,… but…I wonder how it became so closely associated with Halloween?…”  And then we passed this sight by the side of the road:   Oh,… Duh. The simple answer is: Nature. Halloween is the orange holiday because it takes place in a harvest month when the fields are awash in the warmth of autumn colors: reds, browns, yellows and, yes, orange. In fact, nature is always making impressions on us in subtle, and not-so-subtle, ways. When you are aware that everybody makes these observations, it becomes a common language that connects you to your audience. It’s no small wonder that advertisers rely so heavily on orange to promote everything pumpkin flavored during the bri

Writing with Fabric Last month I started creating words in fabric. There are now twenty-two words spread out on the guest room floor; blocks in many shapes and sizes. I've just realized this has become the text version of a sampler. I'm not sure where it's going yet, but I'm improving my skills through experimenting and exploring the possibilities and limitations of this medium in producing text. ( To see how this all started, check out this link: https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2019/09/new-guild-member-2-of-2-my-first.html  ) Many of these blocks are variations of block letters mixed with a few appliquéd "o's" and other circles, combined with straight lines. But I've wanted to break out of that approach and I've been uncertain how to accomplish it.  On a trip to the library recently, I picked up a (new-to-me) book on quilting history in which I found a lovely example of "reverse appliqué." This technique

Linen Closet- Bible Themed Wall Hanging  This wall hanging was created in 2016 as a thank you gift to a friend. The inspiration fabric was a floral print in autumn colors and the sampler blocks included off white, hunter green, burgundy and gold fabrics against a moss green background.  The name for each block in this sampler references a Bible story or citation. The center medallion is a Tree of Life block. From the top left corner, moving to the right around the outside, they are: 1.   Bethlehem Rose- top left corner 2.   Crown of Thorns 3.   Golgotha 4.   Star of Magi- top right corner  5.   Garden of Eden 6.   Dove at the Window 7.   Heavenly Stars- bottom right corner 8.   David and Goliath 9.   Joseph's Coat 10.  Carpenter's Wheel- bottom left corner 11.  Jacob's Ladder 12.  Lion's Paws Most of these blocks and the overall design can be found in Rosemary Makhan's Biblical Blocks :