Orange you glad THAT's over!

I am beginning to have a suspicion that August has it out for me.  Last year at this time, as we were getting ready to take my older daughter off to college, I was stopped in my tracks with a ruptured appendix.  This year, we had a close run-in with Hurricane Irene.  Whether or not my daughter made it back to school became a race between a complicated balance of factors:  the time the school allowed students to check in, how long it would take us to drive there and back, and when the storm was scheduled to hit Connecticut...

She made it back just fine, and we all came through without major damage, thank God!  We did lose power, though, and then our backup generator failed.  The repairman actually made matters worse by frying some major electrical circuits -- but all that pales in comparison to what happened to so many others.  My thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost so much in this storm!

My internet returned today, so I have to celebrate by joining in the fun over at Kim Klassen's cafe!  Click here to see some seriously gorgeous images.... The theme today is the color orange!  The color is certainly perfect for this season, although there are no leaves even remotely that color around here yet.  It's also one of my favorite colors:  I love to use it with hot pink and purple.... but more on that another day!  

These are raw fibers, no textures added....
I've been working with silks and wools lately -- can't wait to finish my project so I can show you!

OK, here are my "official" oranges:

I used Kim's "Chamomile" (overlay @ 100%), "Drop Cloth" (soft light @ 34%), and "Canvas Back Magic" (difference @ 100%) 

"Silence" (overlay @38%) and "Canvas Back Magic" (soft light @30%)

I couldn't resist adding this fly -- I didn't texturize him, though.

Speaking of critters, I found a lot of them recently.  They aren't orange, but they are fun to look at!

"Canvas Back Magic" (soft light @25%), "Canvas Back" (overlay @49%)

"Silence" (overlay @100%), "Canvas Back Magic" (overlay @38%), "Canvas Back" (overlay @55%)

"Silence" (overlay @78%) and "Mayzee" (overlay @42%)

Well, maybe the bee counts as "orange".....

I'll sign off with one more image.  This is my youngest daughter, Sam, who just painted a portrait of her grandfather.  She is an amazing artist, and wants nothing more than to be finished with high school and happily established in art school, where she can paint all day and all night.  (Patience, grasshopper.)
In the meantime, she has decided that she will set up shop as a freelance portrait painter here in our town....

I bet she will have a waiting list very soon!

Bittersweet

The end of the school year is always bittersweet -- even now, when most of my kids aren't in school any more.  Today my quilt group has its final meeting of the year, and that always makes me a bit sad.  My quilting friends are the nicest, most creative and giving group of women anywhere, and the thought that I won't see them for three months always makes me feel like I'm being cast adrift.  This year, though, there is some consolation in the fact that my wonderful online community never takes a break!

In that slightly woeful vein, here is my submission for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday link party.  The task today is to use text on your image:

I used Kim's "warm sun," "pour vous," and "grey slate" textures on a photo I took of my daughter Sam in Rome several years ago.  I have been teaching myself to use photoshop elements over the last year, and am now at the stage where I can use layers and textures pretty easily.  The trick is to do so artfully, and I'm still working on that part.

Of my three children, two are passionate about the arts.  One is a singer and actress and the other is a visual artist.  When they are both at home, life is a pure joy.  Ali never stops singing, and Sam is always drawing.  I have to admit that there are moments when it can be aggravating, as in when the songs are so loud I can't focus on paying my bills, or when my best pens mysteriously go missing, but that is small price to pay for the energy and creativity they surround us with.

Here is Sam's latest painting.  I love how she focuses on the eye, and the whole piece looks so abstract until you come closer.  Bittersweet is the word here, too. Sam is going away for the summer to study art at an artists' dream school.  She went there last summer, too, and had a secret wish that we would just forget to pick her up so she could stay there forever.  I'm happy Sam can live the life of an artist for a few months, but if truth be told, I'm also very jealous!

Here is the latest finished page in my art journal -- it just about sums up how I'm feeling these days...: