#skogluft / forest air

I've been reading Skogluft during my morning treadmill walks.  It's Norwegian and translates to "forest air".  The bottom line is that a walk in the forest will make you feel better.  Really?  I think I already knew that.  Plants in the house are a good thing.  Really?  I figured that out a long long time ago.  I do think the book is a good read and will recommend it though.  What I have taken from this read, is that my forest walks need to be slower and use my senses better.  I live on 10 acres with about 8 of them devoted to forest.  I know I am extremely lucky.  When I need forest it is only 200 steps away from my back door.  My exercise will be to slow down my walks and really take in what I see instead of power walking to put steps on my fitbit. 

This morning I started my "notice everything walk", and discovered that I never made it past the pond.  I played in the water, trying to get the water lettuce to move away from the shore.  I watched dragonflies dart about in play.  I watched frogs hanging in the water, basking in the early morning light.  

It was all magical and a wonderful way to rejoice in a new day.  

Back to natural dyeing

My houseplant really needed a haircut! The plant was reaching the floor and I kept finding dried leaves all over the place.  Why did I let it go so long?  Maybe so I'd have enough to cook up and dye a piece of fabric?  

Yellow

Yellow in the garden always makes me happy

Cyanotype addiction

My new favorite way to spend a sunny summer afternoon...

#100 Days of Stitching - Finished

Finished it this morning.  Ahead of schedule...

My stitched study of Paul Klee's Castle and Sun:

Paul Klee's oil painting:

Cyanotype / first try

With too many home projects going at the same time, it's been difficult to fit much art into my schedule.  I did manage to play awhile this afternoon with a cyanotype kit from a friend (Thank you Beth!)

I opted to use watercolour paper and a rock for my first try.   First, mix the 2 chemicals together and brush onto the paper.  I worked in a dark room and put the papers in a closet to dry.

After the papers were dry, I placed leaves and flowers on the papers, covered with a sheet of plexi and placed in the sun for 30 minutes.  After the 30 minutes, I removed the plant material and washed the papers in water for 5 minutes.

For the rock, I set the flowers on the rock and placed it in a plastic bag.  I wasn't sure how to keep the flowers from blowing off the rock.  The prints are not as sharp as the flowers on the paper, but are still very cool!  I wonder if a little glue could be used, or maybe setting them in the greenhouse with the windows closed would work better?  I see lots of experimenting ahead.  Too bad I have so few light coloured rocks on hand!

Morning Dew

From a delightful early morning walk...

Atlanta airport quilts

While traveling thru the Atlanta airport earlier this spring (BC - before covid), I was delighted to find a quilt display close to our gate.  Having time to burn, I snapped a few shots.  I'm always looking for ideas and details.