Some thoughts on inspiration

Posted on April 10, 2013 by quilligraphy

My guides for inspiration.

 

Keep your eyes wide open for inspiration!

Look for a beautiful sunset.  Feast your eyes on the perfection of flowers – the perfection of their colors and of their conformation. Did you realize that none of the colors in nature clash with each other?

See the world through the camera’s lens and you will be inspired by the beauty that you have chosen to record.  It will also help you to focus on your subject with clarity. This will give you an appreciation for form.

sunset photo tips

 

Keep your ears open for inspiration!

Listen to a John Phillip Sousa march: then listen for the sound of the birds singing on a new Spring day.

Hear the 23rd Psalm word for word.  Sit back and hear a Beethoven Symphony in your heart and WONDER that he was deaf.  It brings me to tears and I think you will experience joy.  Feel that experience; let it soak into your inner being; let it imprint on you.  When you need inspiration you can call up the memory of how you felt during those moments.Beethoven

Posy with Music

There are so many ways to be inspired and I will be blogging more about them.  For now please enjoy these and make them part of your inspiration journey.

Judy

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Trying a new art technique

Posted on March 19, 2013 by quilligraphy

As an artist, it is always challenging and fun to try a new technique.

So recently,  my friend, Sally, and I got together to try a new technique using pressed flowers.  This was a new process that we learned through the world wide pressed flower guild.  Kate Chu  of http://www.pressedflowerart.com  was the teacher who created the video that we watched to learn this.

So we gathered our materials.  We needed card stock, aluminum foil, alcohol inks, spray adhesive, black shoe polish and a spray sealer.  And of course, pressed flowers.  We needed to choose flowers or leaves that were sturdy.  Many pressed flowers are very delicate and do not hold up to any manipulation.  Both of us used ferns.

We glued our ferns onto the card stock and then put the aluminum foil over that and started to smooth out any air bubbles or irregular areas.  We kept working that until it was very flat.  Ferns with aluminum foil before adding the shoe polishThen we added some shoe polish and rubbed that into the design created by the ferns.  After that we used the colored alcohol inks to create a back ground.

The images at left are what this looked like in the beginning stages.

 

The next step was to add the alcohol inks and create a background.

These images show what the final products looked like.

Fern with alcohol inks added in the background.Alcohol inks added to fern It was fun and the results were quite different.  Quite a few members of the guild were doing this also and we all shared pictures and compared notes.

What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

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Volunteering for OLLI

Posted on February 13, 2013 by quilligraphy

There are many rewards to volunteering especially when you are retired.  I often wonder how I ever had time to work.

One of my most rewarding volunteer stints has been being on the curriculum committee for OLLI (Osher Life Long Learning Institute) at Penn State York.  I have served in this capacity since the inception of OLLI 5 years ago.

There is a huge amount of work that goes into planning and presenting the presentations that OLLI gives.  We have a 10 week schedule twice a year and in that time frame have offered as many as 70 presentations per 10 weeks.  Also we have bus trips and various social activities.  Some of the presentations are a one time effort but we have 6 week series also.  All of these presenters must be contacted by curriculum committee members and then we must entice them to fill out forms  (the hardest part of this job).

Currently we are working a year in advance.  It is a fun job as finding new presenters is always a challenge and their willingness to teach us at no compensation is always rewarding.  Many are repeat presenters as it is so exhilirating to them to teach people who want to learn and who are very interested in the topics.

OLLI has given this community a forum for senior members who want to be active.  Our roster has grown rapidly and we who volunteer for OLLI have great pride in the organization.  There are many volunteer opportunities besides the curriculum committee.
Come and find out about OLLI.  Check the website to find out more.   olli.yk.psu.edu

 

 

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January in the pressed flower artist’s world

Posted on January 28, 2013 by quilligraphy

There is not much pressing going on in January.  It is time to plan my year for art promotions,  art production, and to go to the movies.

Art promotions will include me joining the King’s Courtyard Collective Gallery at 124 E. King Street in March.  This is a collaberative effort by about 10 artists to provide an art experience in York, PA.  I am very excited about this.  The artists who are already involved have “approved” me and I have “approved” them.  A very nice group of people who are excellent artists.  You can get an idea about it at

www.facebook.com/KingsCourtyardCollectiveGallery?fref=ts

This particular block of King Street is becoming the place to be for art.  There are several other addresses in the block that are art only. lavandewscHere is one of my botanic collages on canvas that will be available for purchase at the collective.

Art production has involved me attending a class at York Art Association in Abstract Collage.  I want to learn new techniques.  My collage work in the past has been on canvas and has involved botanic material.  This is on paper and involves layers of paint.  It kind of evolves as you go along.  I will be at the 4th session this week and so far I have some interesting parts of the large paper work.  I do not know if the total work will be pleasing to me but I can see where I could frame smaller sections of it.

Abstract collage

 

OK and for movies…gosh, there have been a lot of good ones.  “Les Mis” is one of my favorites.  But I also liked “Silver Linings Playbook” and then there was “Lincoln”.  The carpeting shown in the oval office and in another room of the White House was woven by
Family Heirloom Weavers of York.  Many other York references too as Thaddeus Stevens was living in York and of course we are pretty close to Gettysburg.

So my January has been quite productive and enjoyable.  Minimal snow is always a plus, too.

Best:

Judy

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How to make Pressed Flower bookmarks

Posted on January 22, 2013 by quilligraphy

HowtoBookmarks

 

Making pressed flower bookmarks is fun and quite easy.  Above are the basic instructions.  You can make them and take them to a copy center where they can laminate them for you.

Figure out how many bookmarks you can fit on the rice paper, leaving enough space between for cutting to the final size.  Then lay out your pressed flowers and anything else you might want to add.  Tack them down with minimal glue (you can use Elmer’s or any paper adhesive glue).  They are now ready to be laminated.  Or if you don’t want to laminate them you can put clear contact paper over the work.  Be very sure where you want to lay that paper as the flowers will want to jump up; so it is good to start at one end and roll it over eliminating any air bubbles.  Punch a hole near the top and add a tassel and VOILA!

BM2008

Here is a finished bookmark.BMfloralprint                                   And here is a sheet that I use before laminating.

You can see these bookmarks at www.etsy.com/shop/judyorcutt

Please visit me at www.quilligraphy.com  and LIKE me on FaceBook www.facebook.com/quilligraphy1  where you can enter a contest for $20.00 worth of QuilliGraphy art work.

My best:

Judy

 

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