Snow Tangles

Here on the Front Range, we’re getting one of our two-day snowstorms. This is one of our few storms with measureable accumulation and blizzard-like winds of Winter 2015. Nothing like the Plains and Northeast states are suffering, but enough to use ‘hunkering in’ as an excuse to tangle.

I decided to try a snowflake template. My results are ‘ok’ (shushing my inner critic to post not-ready-for-prime-time results) because:

1). I’m being lazy with my brain and eyes today

2). I’m using twelve new (to me) tangle patterns with no practice

3). The shading technique still baffles me. I overdo, underdo or in-the-wrong-place-do

Meh … whatever.

I selected patterns beginning with S for Snow on the first tangle and ones with F for Flake on the second.

The six patterns here are Sandswirl, Showgirl, Spaanders, Slalom, Snowzags, and Seedings (they are spelled correctly).

By Sammy D.

The six patterns here are Facets, Fiore, Fandango, Fang, Fishnet, Footlites.

By Sammy D.

I like all twelve patterns well enough to practice and use them again, but I would use a design that provides larger tangle areas than my snowflake templates did.

If you’ve stuck with me this far, here’s your bonus …..

Mind-boggling, stop-in-your-tracks Snow Tangles by Simon Beck, an artist whose work was produced next to Mt. Blanc in Savoie, France. HOURS of meticulous design planning followed by stomping kilometers worth of footsteps in the snow to produce these fleeting works of art:

Art by Simon Beck

Art by Simon Beck

Art by Simon Beck

Simon Beck creating his snow art

Even as I marvel at his creativity, beauty and stamina – and strap on my snowshoes to mush around the neighborhood – I’m agreeing with myself this is one kind of tangle I won’t be attempting. But I sure enjoy his!

You can google Simon Beck or see more of his work here.

Thanks to my wing-woman, Coco, for introducing me to Simon!

Good Read – The Divorce Diet

Have you been knocked sideways by drifting snow and power outages? Has the natural (gloomy) light been enough to read? I hope so.

Today (Monday 2/16) was supposed to be Watercolors-in-my-basement Day, but suddenly I heard beeps; saw flickers; and was plunged into darkness. I felt my way along the wall up the stairs to my reading chair. Thank goodness for the nearby large picture window.

If you’ve ever lived in your head; cared for an infant; been dumped and divorced; dieted and ditched your diet … repeatedly … this recently published book is for you.  The Divorce Diet by Ellen Hawley (available at Amazon)

Written in a wickedly funny, Bridget-Jones-like, stream-of-consciousness inner dialogue, Abigail’s pluck carries her through multiple weighty burdens, any one of which is enough to compel a hand grab for calories.

It’s a fast read with loads of chuckles; a few winces; exercise even couch potatoes can embrace; and heartfelt admiration for an in-the-end triumphant Abigail.

The author, Ellen Hawley, is a native New Yorker transplanted to Cornwall, UK by way of decades in Minnesota. If that’s not enough to hint at her quirky perspective on the world, check out her blog.

My favorite-laugh-out loud post is Talking Trash to an I-Pad.

Try her; you’ll like her!

Six Week Check-Up

Six weeks into 2015, I’m reviewing my list of Envisions:

1. Music and Keyboard
2. Mapping and Footprints
3. Urban Sketching and Watercolors
4. Word Origins – a self study course
5. Writing Craft and Practice

If I don’t consciously allocate time and energy, I will stick with what I am already enjoying (Keyboard), and ignore what is more difficult or intimidating. Even as I created my list, I knew which one I’d be least likely to pursue, and why – Urban Sketching and Watercolors.

Me:

• Homebody
• Linear, sequential thinker
• Boundaries, deliberate, precise, defined
• Clarity, balance, predictability
• Silence, alone, lack of commotion

My impression of Urban Sketching:

• People, public places, parking, schlepping
• Vibrant, active, constant movement
• Sounds, noise, interaction
• Quick capture, fast strokes, hurry

My impression of Watercolors:

• Defy boundaries
• Run, ooze, drip, overflow, blend
• The paint is in charge
• Require patience

My incompatibility with these two choices is obvious. Yet taken together as one art form, Urban Sketching and Watercolors seem to rein each other in while simultaneously complementing each other.

I’ve been so stimulated by the art of bloggers who work in this arena, not to mention curious about how they immerse themselves in the very environments they chronicle. Light, shadows, details – I see them now in ways I’ve never noticed.

I don’t fear not doing this well. I fear not doing it at all.

Trying art of any kind is very intimidating. I feel like a kindergartner insisting, “I do it myself”, but I DO have to experiment my own way.

My habit  – until now – with anything ‘artsy’ is to buy umpteen ‘how to’ books; study them ad nauseum while taking copious notes; then never actually begin a project. This time I allowed myself to quickly thumb through two books as long as I promised to pick up a pencil and Do Something!

I read that your first sketch should be a self-portrait. So I stood in front of the mirror and sketched what I saw. Sorry it’s so light – too timid with my strokes – but it’s a good likeness with a vertical wrinkle between my eyebrows and naturally downturned corners of my mouth when I’m not smiling.

By Sammy D

Next, I sketched a body in motion using a ballet dancer on a postcard as my model. After drawing her likeness, I colored her using watercolor brush pens.

Finally I opened my watercolor tin; wet the colors; dipped the brush; held the brush to white paper. Then what? Paint a stroke on the paper? Then another? That went nowhere.

I like tangling because I define the shape and patterns. I like coloring with gel pens and sharpies because they are predictable.

Not so with watercolors.

Whether my perception is accurate or not, I have to figure out how to bridge the divide between my current comfort zone and watercolors.

I decided to start with a tangle form; add pieces of design tape; then color around the tape with sharpies. A collage of sorts, one where colors meet but don’t bleed. I like that result.

Now I’m ready to watch a watercolor demo video.

Then I’ll open a book. Study a chapter or two.

Sketch some more. Paint the sketches.

I might even leave my quiet home sanctuary to visit a café. Draw a hand holding a cup of coffee. Pay attention to shadows and light.

Dip my croissant in watercolors …

Getting Organized: Brain, Blog and Bytes Between

“I really must get organized.” says Sammy D. every day of the week

I fear that will be my epitaph.

Actually, I’m Capricorn-esque Organized. Came out of the womb with a big ‘O’ on my forehead.

Nothing falls through the cracks. Taxes filed, library books returned, work projects completed? I ‘git ‘er done’ ahead of time. Keys, insurance policy, ID from college, photo from 1955? I can put my hands on it within five minutes.

But my blogging mind and blogging-related paper piles?

by Sammy D.

Utter organizational failure.

I am a paper person and information hoarder: scribbling notes, compiling lists, snipping magazines, printing online articles – a pen and scissors are my BFFs.

We bloggers discuss the difficulty some incur channeling our thoughts into cohesively constructed posts. I can’t tackle that challenge until I stop blocking myself by searching the same piles repeatedly.

Thus my 3-step mission:

1. Categorize note taking and list making
2. Create file/purge system for articles
3. Design mapping schematic for constructing blog posts

After researching multiple ‘official’ note-taking processes, tools and apps – none of which appealed – I created seven categorized notebooks for recording and retrieving information.

My notebook of choice is the standard 8 ½” X 11” lined, spiral. It’s the right size, right price, flexible to modify, and comfortable to use – like a pair of broken-in shoes.

In each notebook, I reserve the first 10 pages for Index. I number the remaining pages in the top right corner and complete the Index as I use the pages.

When I begin a page, I ‘guesstimate’ how many pages I should reserve depending on whether I’m starting a list, recording notes or writing a draft. (It’s a work in progress; ask me about a specific notebook if you have questions!)

My Seven NoteBooks:

Blogger Reference:

• Info on bloggers I follow – URLs, locales, interests, notes on our interactions. Enhances my blogging relationships.

Writing Resources:

• Writing craft URLs; books recommended by writers; my notes on writing craft tips; info for online classes

Visits and Explorations to Consider:  

• Upcoming calendar-specific or ongoing events, exhibits and activities
• Shops, buildings, trails, neighborhoods, parks, towns

Drafts:

• I handwrite a draft only after I have composed it in my head. Composing in my head is hard. So is trying to write it on paper without first doing so in my head. Hence my decision to experiment with mapping schematics (future post)

Snippets:

• Future draft material I need to remove from current brain clutter.
• Includes aspects of previously published posts I forgot to include or couldn’t rhythmically incorporate; musings about trends, technology or society; interesting websites or triggers from reading other blogs.

Thoughts:

• Flash thoughts or questions occurring out-of-context. Again – get it on paper out of my head. I might research, ponder or simply cross them out at year end

Words:

• Prompts, words I like, words I’ve never heard, active verbs, foreign phrases, ditties, clichés, slang, mis-used words, made-up words

In addition to seven notebooks, I’ve used this journal for years:

Quote Book with a beautiful antique Parisian-style cover and handmade paper pages. Along with the typical quotes, I record quotes from you or me – phrases from posts or comments that resonate (with proper attribution, of course).

One month after Notebook Launch, I’m very happy with my system.

I’ve gained significantly more focused bandwidth for composing mental drafts by using separate notebooks for Drafts, Snippets, Thoughts and Words.

Better yet, I use the Indexes to quickly retrieve previously recorded information.

What’s next now that I’ve organized my extensive note-taking?

A File/Purge System for my articles-hoarder-habit.

I know …   

It’s called Read Once to Recycle Bin.

A Year Later …

Next week is my one-year Blogiversary, and I’m taking my trip down memory lane before writing a one-year reflections post.

Finding multiple connections as I strolled that lane:

• Some of you/us recently had fun revealing our childhood Man/Mouse/Frog Crushes
• This weekend is the Super Bowl
• Last year my Denver Broncos were humiliated in the Super Bowl
• Last year I wrote two posts about the Super Bowl
• Neither post was about the game itself
• One was about my teenage Man Crush
• Virtually no one read it (the plight of a newbie blogger)

As usual, I interpret it all as a sign that today is a good day to re-post about my teenage heartthrob

And if no one reads this time, well, I’ll take that as a sign 🙂