October Letters

A little bit of this and that, and a touch of whimsy.  I also decided the plain blocks looked well, as the late Harry Chapin said, the work "was pleasant, potentially harmless", but the blocks were lacking. I had some red crochet thread and decided to edge the blocks. I'm happier with the way they look.

Happy Halloween. Blessed Samhain.

August and September Letters

A busy August preparing to send my Young One off to college, and a stressful September dealing with elderly parents, put me very far behind. I was afraid I would have to drop out of the project. Decided the house didn't need to be cleaned and took a day to catch up.  For me, the purpose of joining this project was to forget the stress, recharge batteries and creativity. I'm so glad I decided to let the house go and catch up.

One more letter and I will have enough to make two more blocks.

Though I haven't commented in a while, I have peeked from time to time to see what everyone has been up to. Such an inspiration to come and browse. Thank you.

June and July Letters

I got a little behind since June and July were busy with celebrating my Young One's graduation from high school,  family birthdays, and my parent's 67th wedding anniversary on the Fourth of July. I am now caught up with June and July.

June: The K is a nod to the counted cross-stitch I used to do before calligraphy took over. E and L  were designs I've done in the past. W is copied from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) schwag where The Young One will be attending in the Fall.

July: Inspiration found in books. E from a color blind test. The rest of the letters came from Canadian calligrapher, Ruth Booth's Scrapbooker's Alphabet.

Five blocks have been completed. The gremlins have enjoyed making four letter words. They haven't discovered the fifth block yet. Always fun to see the words they leave behind.

May Letters

Enjoying the feeling of creativity which had been lost. May brought another minimalist letter, palm trees inspired from the art show at The Young One's school, salute to baseball season and Himself's favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, what I saw looking at the bathroom tile, and an illuminated initial a la Sherrie Kiesel.

Blocks

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the letters, but decided to make a set of blocks. The block base is constructed from drawing paper. The letters are glued to the block face with Yes! Paste.

April Letters

This month doodling in the lines and outside the lines. Then, inspired by the minimalist exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum. Recycling a bit from a practice sheet of watercolor tulips; the "U" popped out. Happy Beltaine, Happy May Day

March Letters

This month found me moving from the traditional to brush letters. An out of the square move for me. I'll be experimenting more with the brush. I liked the freedom and the fluid feel of the tool. The letter "R" was done for the record breaking rain my state of Massachusetts has had this month. We've spent each week of the month mopping water out of the basement. Turquoise water color with Dr. Ph Martin gold and silver dropped on it while still wet. Made me think of the rainbows created in puddles. The letter was drawn and colored with water soluble oil pastels. If you look carefully at the letter, you can see spots where the rain hit the paper. I was out at 1am for the finishing touch as the last band of heavy rains blew in. Good thing it was pitch dark and no one could see me. Otherwise, the neighbors would be saying I ain't got enough sense to get in out of the rain.

CJ's February Letters

A little bit of everything, traditional, brush and the back of my spiderweb chair.

I'm so enjoying coming here to see what everyone's been doing. What I especially love about this type of project is seeing all the different ways the subject is interpreted.

January Letters

I find myself in a place where my energy is siphoned in other directions. I know exactly how Bilbo felt in The Fellowship of the Rings when he said, "I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread." I don't feel creative. I can hear that small voice whispering "why bother?" and other negative things. This project is a welcome balm. I hope the doing reignites the feelings of creativity. I hope to be able to dance as fast as I must but enjoy the small space of time each week. That's my goal. To have fun and to keep the commitment. January is completed. (-: A D A I

I am also enjoying seeing all of your beautiful creations. I can feel the stirrings in the fingers to try this or that. For now, the familiar is comfortable.