Glorious Day to be Out and About

What is this thing?

The temps shot up today, making my day out running errands especially nice and enticing me to add some extra excuses to keep from going home. First on my list was picking up coffee at Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters. It's located in what is now being call the Historic Granary Arts District - follow this link to find out more and see a pic of the old co-op building which I've tried sketching (and will no doubt sketch again). I've been wanting to sketch this thing in the parking lot between their establishment and the old co-op mill, but the last few times I've been over here it's been raining. I've been doing so much sketching sitting in the car, having to periodically run the windshield wipers to see out the window - I wanted to wait for better weather. Evans Brothers fling open a roll-up door to their espresso bar and put out picnic tables when the weather is nice like today. So I had the pleasure of sitting in the sun sipping coffee while I sketched. I used sepia pen (thus the few stray lines that should not be there) and added colored pencil once home. I can see now that I have the real thing side by side, I could add a lot more dark brown to that rusty tank. And it should be stouter for sure.

Glasswork by Glenda Kochen

Next on my list was to check out the latest exhibit at Panhandle State Bank, Local Masters. I had to agree - these works are truly masterful. Feeling the nudge to get back to work and up my game a bit after viewing these. But first! Still too glorious a day to go home, so I headed to city beach for a walk. Water levels are coming up and I noted a few boats in the visitor slips. Won't be long until the water and park are full of people enjoying summer activities.

Coldwater Creek retail store in Sandpoint, ID

Just one more stop before heading home. Sadly, Coldwater Creek, the women's clothing retailer born and based here in Sandpoint, is closing its doors for good at the end of the month and liquidation sales are in full swing. One last chance to add a few favorite pieces before they are gone forever.

Labeling artwork and foamcore board mount

So I've had my day out and it's time to refocus on the studio. I'm in the process of mounting my two Upward Ticks onto foam core board before slipping them into black metal frames. When I print out labels for my quilts, I include an image of my business card with the Idaho Beauty block logo and contact info. But when I frame a piece or use a backing light enough, I often just ink the label info onto the back. It's always irked me that I didn't have a stamp of at least the block logo to add. That was what was partially behind the monogram stamp I designed for one of my linocut class assignments. I found an archival ink pad recently in blue and have tried it out here. I like the way it works.

And finally, these two pieces of fabric may be what's up next. I seem to be going into my water series sideways, not working on the ideas from my time at the Mayo Clinic as I had planned, but being diverted by fabric that is sparking other water-related ideas. The fabric on the left is one from my snow-dyeing experiment while the one on the right is from my late friend's stash of specialty dyes. When I ran across that one with its squiggly lines, it reminded me of pictures I took of boat masts reflected in the water. I knew I wanted to use that image but hadn't worked out exactly how. These two fabrics will be the background for two versions, keying off a phrase oft repeated in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey - sailing the wine-dark sea. Yeah, it wasn't on my list for the month, but it feels right to get going on it.