Trip to Houston

My husband recently took a trip to Houston.  He drove down to Galveston and walked on the beach.

I thought I'd share a few of his vacation photos!

Pier at Galveston

Beach at Galveston

Back end of statue
Galveston

Did you know Houston public libary won't issue out of state library cards?  There's always a silver lining though- a trip to Barnes and Noble became more interesting with these posters made of old gift cards!
 

Redeemed Barnes and Noble
gift card art

Superman made of redeemed gift cards

 

The poppy flower apron

The Poppy Flower Apron
Approx 2' by 3'

San Jose Quilt and Textile Museum

San Jose Quilt and Textile Museum

I figured two weeks was plenty of time to experience everything the bay area had to offer-- where did I go wrong?

...We didn't make it to Chinatown or the museum of modern art-- and though we had some fabulous meals, I didn't get to eat a lobster that had been scampering along the ocean floor that same day..

Maybe I could have fit in more sites with a structured agenda, but we tried to keep things spontaneous.  This probably explains how late one afternoon, after a quick google search of local museums, we found ourselves heading to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles...

Hello!
Hands on parking garage

 

Yarn bomb,
outside museum

Quilt block tiles on
sidewalk outside museum

There were probably 20, and I wish I took
photos of all of them!

I was hoping to see lots of vintage quilts, but to be honest, there were only about six vintage quilts on display.  The museum's collection (though large) must be kept in storage- probably to protect the delicate textiles from deterioration.

In front of a nice
sunburst quilt

  
So, slightly disappointed with the small display of vintage quilts we made our way to the current exhibition, that of the painter and tapestry artist Mark Adams.  It was amazing!!

I had admittedly never heard of this amazing artist, but seeing his tapestries in person was an unexpectedly enjoyable treat.  I was not permitted to take photos of any of the tapestries, but I pulled a few from the net (below).

His tapestries jump off the cloth at you, and from a distance look like paintings.  Some pieces felt mystical or maybe esoteric; others had fabulous graphic pop.  Mark Adams' work deserves more recognition, and getting to see this extensive exhibit in person was great!

Mark Adams
Can you believe this is a tapestry?

Mark Adam
Tapestry

After our museum visit, we stopped in the gift shop, to check out the handmade objects, books, textiles... and we picked up these fabulous Mola embroideries!  We plan on framing and hanging them.  We've owned a Mola owl embroidery for years, it was one of the first pieces of home decor we bought.  The colorful and stylized look of these pieces will fit nicely with our eclectic decor.

Scoring these embroideries was the perfect end to our afternoon!

My paintings; Lady in floral dress

Lady in floral dress

This painting is very large, probably 3' by 6'.  I like this lady, and I love her dress! 

It was fun painting the background; I don't normally devote much attention to them.

Lady in floral dress, detail

My paintings: Portrait of Lady with Willow Branches

Lady with Willow Branches

I will be, over the next few weeks, displaying some of my paintings here at hellohorizon.

You can read about my love of painting here. 

This painting is pretty big, probably 2' by 6'.  I like to paint on big canvases!

Casual Book Review: Painting between the Wars

Painting between the Wars 1918-1940, Daniel Robbins, Published 1966.  From the series 'Color slide program of the World's Art.'

This book is very fun.  It is modest in size; only about fifty pages, but the real cool part is the 24 color slides that are stored in plastic sleeves in a fold out cover.

My husband spotted this one years ago at a library book sale.  We don't own a slide projector, but this makes me want to get one!  Someone got some good use out of this one, there are stains and highlight markings throughout!  The book is a little rough, but the slides are in perfect condition!

You can get your own copy over at Biblio books, my favorite online book retailer!

The one and only Matisse

I'm not very familiar with Stuart Davis' work,
but I love this street scene!

Chaim Soutine was a good friend and often sitter for
my favorite painter, Modigliani

Nice! 

New embroidery pattern for sale!

I am excited to offer an original embroidery pattern for sale!  If you want to stitch this lovely lady for yourself, visit my etsy shop; you can find all the details there!

iPhone Modigliani Cross Stitch case

I finally finished up my iPhone case tonight!  I am pretty excited about it.  If you didn't catch my earlier post, I based my design on a work by one of my favorite painters, Modigliani. 

This was a time consuming project!  Why?  Well, embroidery almost takes the same amount of time no matter how big or small the project.  The only difference is the amount of thread you have to use.  No matter the size of the cross stitch, the needle still has to pass through the material 4 times, and there's no doing it faster!

Cement Head

Me and my husband picked up this life sized cement head at a peddler's mall several years ago.  She weighs about 40 pounds, but we love her anyways!

She's modelling a hat I crocheted a few weeks ago.  I used a big hook and only one ball of yarn; it worked up really quick!

You can get the pattern here.  (you have to sign up, but it's free).

I love her face

Holbein Sketch, The Earl of Surrey Embroidery

Isn't he handsome?  In a very British sort of way!

So, continuing the theme of yesterday's book review of Flowers and Trees of Tudor England, I thought I would share a peek of one of my newest projects, a series of embroideries based on sketches by the great Tudor era painter, Hans Holbein. 

Most everyone is (even unknowingly) familiar with Holbein's work, as he painted the iconic portraits of the large and in charge Henry VIII.

I came across a picture of the Earl of Surrey, as sketched by Holbein, in one of my Horizon magazines, and fell a little bit in love with his handsome face and cool aristocratic expression.  I thought it would make a perfect embroidery!

I have been working on this, and other Holbein based embroideries for weeks, and hope to offer the patterns for sale in my Etsy shop very soon!

My pattern transfer technique is humorous I know- but I was improvising!  I used some
Dritz Mark-be-gone tracing paper and a steel crochet hook!

It worked pretty good!  The lines kept wanting to disappear so I ironed it good to help set them.

I used several stitches, including cloud fill, stem, and very tiny feather stitches!  Those back stitches that
make up the face are about a 32nd of an inch and smaller!

Casual Book Review, Flowers and Trees of Tudor England

Notice all the bookmarks sticking out of the top.  I reference this book often!

So, this is a casual (and by that I mean mostly unqualified) review of a very sweet book in my collection entitled Flowers and Trees of Tudor England.  I think I picked this up at a used book store a few years ago, but it might have been an antique mall.  I loved it immediately and therefore paid more than I normally do for a used book, I think around $10.  I have returned to this book several times for inspiration for various craft projects.  I really love the treatment of the trees.

A brief history of this book:
So this book is a collection of plates taken from a rare and fantastic manuscript dating from around 1504 called the Ashmole Manuscript.  This 16th century 'picture book' came onto the pages of history when it was acquired by a Mr. Elias Ashmole in the mid 17th century.  Mr. Ashmole married rich and was thus able to devote himself to the softer things in life: local history, alchemy, poetry.  His eclectic collection of 'curiosities' was first housed in his own museum, but has since been split between various museums and colleges over the centuries. 

The Ashmole Manuscript is both rare and a bit mysterious, as there is little text and no hints of original ownership.  Its exact purpose is not even agreed upon by scholars.  I like the theory that it was intended as a pattern book that artists could use as reference.  As in, "hmm, I can't quite picture what a cauldron looks like.. let me get my book."

So this manuscript has over the years gathered respect and acclaim as not only beautiful stylized depictions of plants and flowers, but also as a unique source of day to day objects commonly used in the 16th century.



My book, Flowers and Trees of Tudor England, is a partial facsimile of the original Ashmole manuscript, and was published in 1972.  It is slightly over sized (almost coffee table sized), but rather thin.  The paper is thick, and the illustrations are reproduced pretty nicely.  Not the best printing technique, but nice.  There is also brief accompanying text describing each plate.  For me it is useful for what I think was it's original purpose, as reference and inspiration!


**A note: I just installed a new photography app on my phone, so pardon all the effects!  The book doesn't have furled edges, it's actually a really nice copy!

The cover; the tattered edges is a camera effect.  The book is quite solid!

Dandelion and Sweet Briar

Box tree and Pomegranate

Apple tree and White poplar

There are some really nice photos of the original manuscript pages here.

If you want a copy of your own, visit my favorite site to buy books online,   Biblio Books.

Modigliani iPhone Cross Stitch Case

I purchased an iPhone cross stitch case several weeks ago, and have finally begun working on it!  I based the design on a painting by one of my favorite artists, Amedeo Modigliani. 
I've been hopelessly in love with Modigliani and his beautiful, unique style of painting for years.  He lived in Paris in a very romantic time (the turn of the century), and he knew all the great painters of that age.  His life was tragically short, but his style has inspired many (including me) ever since.  I got to see his Woman in a yellow sweater at the (now closed) Guggenheim museum, Las Vegas a few years back, and spent a good while standing and examining it from several distances!
But back to the case, I am getting close to completing it, and I will post a picture of it finished as soon as I can!

Pizza Pan Paintings

I love to paint!  Sometimes, after finishing a canvas, I'll use the leftover paint on my palette and turn out a quick piece. 
These two paintings of my husband and I were born of such an instance.  They are painted on two old pizza pans that had been put out to pasture.  I did both in probably half an hour. (I can't get my husband to sit longer than that!)
I think I look like some kind of monster hah!