Fibermania

Thank You All

Thank you David Walker, who wrote me this note back in October:

Please, I beg you, keep your brushes moving as long as you can.

Unsolicited encouragement like that, early on, made me forge ahead. And I also want to thank all my blog friends who stayed with me on this trek. You have been wonderful. And especially Dave, my husband, who had to listen to hours of my angst.

Thanks to the lovely and talented Tashina for turning me onto these little plastic containers. The idea here is to mix up the paint, so it goes from the heavier tube consistency to loose and fluid, BEFORE I need it right this minute. Plus it takes it a step or two away from being the straight from the tube color. More personal palette happens with the mixing. I got these in sets of 6 from Hobby Lobby for $1.79. I know you want some.

She also advised me to buy pigments of better quality and purity, rather than student grade. Makes all the difference, and adding to that better watercolor paper in blocks, which she also suggested, and I am now using them. Quality makes everything look better, duh.

And Thank YOU IKEA for providing affordable frames with matting and glass, in lovely sizes and finishes. For anyone who wants to frames small quilts, there are now SHADOWBOXES available for $20, in which the frame is 20x20" and the mat, which you could ignore, has an opening for a 12" square. If your quilt is larger than that, just stitch it onto the mat and let it float in the 2" deep frame. Very upscale looking. I am using them for 12" paintings on paper, just so you know. The thought of being able to paint on paper without regard to the framing issues of the past, is just fantastic. Sigh.

And then there is Home Depot, who has these wonderful paint chips. They are huge, like six inches square. I am thinking about the other values in the colors I will be mixing, using black, brown and white to tint the pigments. And also the complements, for muddier colors.

So a new routine has started for me, getting up early, excited to start my day. I will paint small things first to loosen up, and then see where they lead. La dee dah!

PS. I stopped at my local library yesterday on the way home from IKEA and checked out a half dozen Christmas cds. I downloaded 9 hours of music on my mp3 player! Ho ho ho!