Happy New Year!

There is a fine blanket of white to cover up the ground and the garden and the trees. Ahh, winter. So pretty in its starkness, but so sad in its lack of color.
Fortunately, there is always color so I collected stuff to make a little still life to share the Christmas-New Year season. It's fun to set up a still life. Here is something that I did in my visual journal in water color:

Some more sketchbook time

Yesterday, I was at my sister's house for the family Christmas party. The house was beautifully decorated. Even the napkins had a Christmas theme. So as to prevent myself from gobbling all of the hors d'oevres before dinner, I got out my little sketchbook and used the picture on the napkin for my theme. Here it is:

I'm a happy snowman. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this broom, however. It might have belonged to the Wicked Witch of the West at one point.

Modern Art Afghan (reuse, recycle, reinvent)

I decided to make an afghan with yarn that was left over from previous projects and yarn that people had given to me. I chose to use the same pattern for each square and to not make two squares identical. And so, the fun began.
I made the afghan, one square at a time, and pieced them together as I made them. I was not concerned about matching the squares to each other as each was outlined in white and clashing colors would not touch. After I had crocheted for a while, I realized that I had a great variety of yarns and that I could play with textures, too. I also realized that each square told its own little story with color and texture.
Here are some pictures of the afghan:

here is a corner with the border

mid section

a closer view of the corner

a variety of squares... none identical

This is the modern art afghan.

another hat!!!

Here is a hat that I painted. I meant for it to be very vivid, with a somewhat wild background. Eventually, I would like to go into the decorated hat business!!!

winter dreams

Here is a watercolor painting that I made at Stella Niagara. It is a winter scene, deep in the woods. I think that I'd like to be there!!!