life goes on...

all is well in my little pennsylvania town, where the eye of the storm is passing over our heads as i write this. a cold morning to be sure, and we might get a few flurries...

my thanks to dr. seuss for this wonderful image that perfectly portrays the day:

check out the official seuss site for some fun games and videos!

: : karen anne

anticipating sandy...

10.29.2012

a clash of titans
politics versus nature
and the woman wins

stay dry. stay warm. stay safe.

:: karen anne

getting ready...

the weather gurus are predicting that we'll be right in the path of hurricane sandy - a storm some are saying will be "historic"...

yikes.

i spent the afternoon pulling my geraniums and repotting them to bring indoors, and helping get the porch furniture secured along with everything else that might take flight in the 70mph gusts we are to expect.

yikes again.

after all the work was done, i picked a bouquet of what's left in the garden. probably the last of the year. it made me so sad to leave the other blossoms, knowing what is to come...

i didn't get to today's quilt until well after 9pm, but here it is:

10.27.2012

cold drizzle grey clouds
hurricane just two days out
come inside for tea

it could be that hurricane sandy will leave us without power for a bit - hopefully no more than a few days! - so if that happens i won't be able to post here, let alone make my quilts, until power is restored. rest assured i'll be back as soon as i can if you find me missing for a few days. and if you're in the path of the storm, or have loved ones who are, i hope everyone will come through safe and dry!

take care,

-karen anne

a simple thought....

"Anybody can start to gain some kind of insight and appreciation of their lives. That's what we call 'sacred.' It doesn’t mean something dramatic, but something very simple. There's a sacredness to everyone's life."

~ Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche 

(i wish i knew who took this photo at 2:00pm on 9/3/2008 so i could credit it appropriately - if you do, please let me know!)


-karen anne

remembering...

i remember being in awe of the way my dad could find the perfect rock, sling it, and make it skip across the surface of a lake. i counted eleven skips one time - and i bet that at 93 he could still get that many or even more. my dad doesn't just get older  - he gets better!

10.25.2012

skipping river rocks

a satisfying delight

find just the right stone

i have the perfect dad! 

-karen anne

this new direction...

the quiet quilts continue and i'm enjoying them. some are more successful than others, but that has been true with the vibrant quilts as well. i've learned to embrace that because it mirrors my life with some days being better than others. accepting things just as they are - in that moment - is always a challenge, but it is a lovely gift to give to yourself and to whatever/whoever you are accepting.

i go back frequently to the quilts that i don't consider quite as successful and try to figure out what it is about them that makes me judge them less favorably. i do the same with my favorites, too - there is information to mine and lessons to learn from each quilt. what pleases me is when a quilt that isn't my favorite is "favorited" by someone visiting my shop on etsy. i love that bit of proof that there is absolutely someone/something to delight each of us if we but keep up the search.

here are two of my favorites from the haiku series:

10.22.2012

the yearning for home

for mountain lakes and birch trees

pink dawns filled with love

                 

10.24.2012

climb up and slide down

way up to the moon and back

a magical ride

both of these have a pictorial presence, though still abstractions, and in both i've "drawn" with my machine. i love to draw, and i like that these quilts have allowed me to just that.

- karen anne

shetland cottage...

i was recently asked to donate a work for a fundraiser for our local art center (CALC) that will be held in november. playing around with watercolor pencils and black pigma pen this morning, i came up with a variation of a drawing i had made of a cottage in the shetland islands after we visited there this summer. after completing the drawing, i cut it up and collaged various pieces together to create this work:

the "cross-stitch" pieces are elements that have often shown up in my quilts - seems i just can't get away from having some sort of reference to textile traditions. i'll mat and frame it this week - the image is just about 5" x 6" so i'll use a wide mat - i love wide mats. the frame i've chosen is a 1/2" black wood frame that has just a thin line of gold traced on the edge. 

i'm happy with it and hope it finds a good home after bring in some money for a good cause!

-karen anne

haiku...

she woke to find frost

crisp grass crunching underfoot

winter will come soon

i especially love the last detail - the cheesecloth has possibilities, i think...

-karen anne

healing...

a year ago today i tripped over my sweet black puppy, jake, who was sleeping on a black rug - in the dark. such a stupid accident since i had many times nearly tripped over him on that rug - but never responded to my inner voice that told me to get rid of that rug! anyway, i broke my left foot - for the third time. my right has only once been broken, insulted in much the same way; by my clumsiness and failure to acknowledge the wisdom that now fairly screams at me to be careful.

today i celebrate being upright and whole even though i'm still mending soft tissue and nerves...that can take a long time. but i'm here and that counts for a lot in my book, and the pain i still feel from that break, and the ones before, help ensure that i'm more aware of where/how i'm moving. for that i'm grateful.

while my break a year ago was physical, there are emotional and spiritual breaks that occur in life, too, and that was on my mind as i made today's quilt:

etude III
(healing in the broken places)

i wish you healing in your broken places!

-karen anne

gentle thoughts....

perhaps this new work is my way of balancing all the vitriol surrounding us as we get closer to the election.

or maybe my recent works on paper are informing my quilts.

whatever.

i'm happy with this new direction. it feels right.

etude II (step quietly into the dawn)

det. 1

det. 2

-karen anne

tiptoe...

entering a quiet zone. tippy-toeing my way in.

i came back from our trip to texas and just don't seem to be drawn to the bright colors that usually want to be part of my quilts.

simple neutrals appeal.

and a simple title instead of a story.

this one?

"etude l (sink into the quiet)"

i have no idea if this will continue or whether tomorrow i'll be back to the brights and stories. but it feels like a change that may stay a while.

i quess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?

-karen anne

quiet time...

orchids as a visual poem:

time with emily...

it's so good to be with our sweet youngest daughter for a few days. a quiet visit since she's deep into her next to last semester of grad school, but it does my heart good just to be in the same room with her. (other moms know what i mean...)

i love how she's decorated her apartment- so fresh with white upholstery, my old coffee table that i painted an intense chinese green, and a mix of green pillows, and then all of it accented with touches of lavender.

and i love that she has fresh orchid plants:

at loose ends...

having a quiet day away from my studio, but feeling odd not to be surrounded by fabrics.

so i drew some and now i have my own little bit to carry around with me for the day...