Feast of the Archangels

A small acrylic study of St. Michael the Archangel.  

Today is the Feast Day of the Archangels: St. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

Gotta' love the day when you know you're being watched over in a large way!

Fabric and Watercolor

I'm still working on my embroidery piece of the Immaculate Heart.  It's one of those things where I'm not quite certain when to stop.  So I'll keep adding until it either looks overworked, or intuition kicks in and tells me to "put down that needle."

In between projects, I experimented with fabric and watercolor.  It's not the best day to attempt it--rainy weather prolongs the drying process.  I limited myself to painting in the facial colors and will add the darker garment colors after this is completely dry.  I used the dry-brush technique, but it still seemed prudent to wait so there'd be no bleeding over of colors.

When we were visiting Quebec this past summer, we spent quite some time at Notre Dame's  museum--it was her 350th anniversary and we didn't want to miss one aspect of what she had to offer.  The displays of various embroidered pieces and vestments were exquisite:  I was drawn to two pieces that were painted and then embroidered.  Fabric, paint, and thread;  I tucked the thought away until today.

I'll stumble along and see what I can do with this.  At some point thread and beads will be used to enhance this icon.  Some aspects of producing art are like trying to wade out against the incoming tide, but the nature of watercolor on fabric is most pleasing.   The watercolor appears to know where it wants to go, so I'll give it free rein and enjoy the happenstance.

Labor Day

Labor Day may not be the start of fall, more like a forerunner to it, but it signals a change all the same.   Fall is more about adhering to schedules and routines--unlike the spontaneous and carefree happenings of summer.

We had our usual family Labor Day get-together, which gave me an excuse to make my new favorite chocolate cake.  I'm a firm believer in, "It's not dessert unless it's chocolate."  I'd make this cake even if we weren't eating Primal/Paleo--it's that good.  I doubled the recipe and made it an 8" two-layer, with plenty of frosting in between.  Because everyone was casting their eating habits to the wind that day, we indulged in a piece much larger than we should've.  But Labor Day is only once a year, so why not?

My sister gave me saucer-sized dahlias to take home for a bouquet for my kitchen table.   I have no luck with dahlias in my garden, but don't I wish I did.  These were so splashy and over-sized--it was eye-catching and a change from the smaller arrangements that are my usual norm.

And last came a trip to the harbor to watch the setting sun--the amber rays gave everything a golden glow. Ahhh, I wished it weren't all so fleeting.  Of course sea air gives you an appetite, we have to believe that, so we had our"end of summer" Dairy Queen--it has been a tradition since ours were little.  They're all grown and no longer enjoying the tradition with us, but my husband and I keep it all the same :)

The sun rises an hour later now and sets almost an hour earlier.  Another change and another season on the way.   But guess that's what the various seasons of our life are all about.