It's June! New Word - Suggestion for Blog

It's June!  

June is a great month for parties - wedding, graduation, fathers day - you name it!

Here's what I propose:  IF you need a word prompt for June - the word is Party!

So many of us are busily working on projects and haven't had a moment to work on our Haiku Art pieces. (I plead guilty to this).

If that is the case with you then please post the work of your choice for June, with one very important request. Please post your work along with a Haiku that you feel exemplifies your work.  You may write the Haiku after the fact OR before you start your project.  Your choice.

Members:        Please leave some feedback for this alternative posting idea.

Our blog is Haiku Art and my personal opinion is that so long as each piece of art is accompanied by a haiku, I feel that we are fulfilling the goal of our posts.

I really want to see all of our work represented here regularly most of all.

Have a great June!

Guila

Phases of the Moon

I thought of all the different sayings that we have to describe the moon: some quite descriptive, others turned into common expressions and a few quite fanciful.  So much folklore and romance has evolved from our common experience of viewing this orb in the night sky. 

I chose just 3 such expressions to paint a little mixed media piece called Phases of the Moon.

The Phases are:  Blue Moon, Green Cheese Moon and Harvest Moon

At a future time I plan to do a textile piece based on a similar theme:

and the Haiku

chameleon moon
many faces to delight
changing yet constant

Exhilaration

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "Exhilaration" as    "The state of being stimulated, refreshed, or elated."

Sometimes all it takes to experience these feelings is to step outside on a sunny day.

The Haiku

scent of new mown grass

sunbeam caresses my cheek

living...feeling...aaaaah...

For the art work that I was preparing to go with this haiku - I didn't want to be too structured.  I wanted to indicate an almost childlike feeling of exhilaration with my composition and color choices.

At the same time, as a developing art quilter, I wanted to incorporate a couple of new techniques and see "what if"?

First off I used a "blah" pastel print in lieu of plain muslin as my base. I didn't mind that it partly "showed through" - just felt it added some interest.

I felt that color was of first importance in this piece - so before doing anything else I painted my background using acrylic paint.  In order to add some texture to the piece I used some Golden Light Molding Paste to parts of the grassy area.    

I quilted it extensively with heavy thread.  

Guila Greer

My Peach Rhapsody

Just about the time we got the Haiku prompt word for September I was itching to do another fiber/ribbon collage quilt.  The perfect opportunity arose when we were presented with the word “Rhapsody”.
I always think it’s  interesting to look at thought processes and how we end up where we end up so I hope you do too.  I considered “what have I been rhapsodizing about lately?” Peaches!!  I had brought home some from the market and every time I had one I was oohing and aahing about how declicious and perfect it was.
AND, just a few days before I had been in the local quilt shop looking at orange and PEACH fabric and carrying on about how gorgeous it was.

Tada!……………….. Peach Rhapsody
And here’s the Haiku

late summer harvest

fruit heavy branches bow low

ripe juicy peaches

November - Gnarly Old Cat

For several years we have had a little family of feral cats occupying our back yard. Yes, we’ve been feeding them, and at one point early on we trapped them (3) and took them to be sterilized and for shots. We then turned them loose once again. There was no way these were ever going to be pets. 
Now, there is one plus a couple of neighborhood interlopers who come around from time to time.  This remaining little cat is the original – the Mom cat – she must be at least 15 or 16 now and is a tiny tough kitty. And very gnarly indeed.
Here is my Haiku:  

Gnarly Old Cat

Gnarly old cat waits

Not quite feral not near tame

Now running away

 

Journey

 

detours? distractions?
unplanned stops, uneven road
part of the journey

We are the sum of all that has happened to us - positive and negative. It is all part of our journey through life. 

 

 

watercolor wash,  overstamped with household utensils and distress ink, ink messages and road map collage, manila tag painted with distress ink and attached with brad and ribbon.

Guila Greer

Honeyquilts

July Haiku Art - Balance

What balance means to me these days is the attempt to put the mind and body into a balanced or integrated state as we do through Yoga practice.

My quilt incorporates the words: "Shanti" which means peace and "So Hum" .  So Hum is a mantra that we use for focus while doing deep breathing.

The Haiku

close your eyes breathe in

jasmine scented air swirling

find your center - stay

 

Shanti 2

 

June Haiku Art: Waterfalls

I love the June prompt word:  Waterways.  Having grown up on the Great Lakes and steeped in the history and lore of the St. Lawrence Seaway I immediately thought of Niagara Falls.  And a more recent Falls discovery - Minnehaha Falls.

I am currently working on a couple of water related quilt art projects and did not want to start another one right now.  So I turned to another art form and designed and made Waterfall earrings.

Waterfalls    the Haiku

cascading splendor

mists rising torrents swirling

mighty falls thunder

 

and the Art

Waterfalls

 

 

Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystals

A Soft Day In Ireland

The Irish are used to a lot of rain.  Sometimes it rains hard; sometimes it's more like a misty blanket covering the earth.  They call this a "soft day".

 

steady gentle rain

Irish hills shrouded in mist

another soft day

Fragments of Time

I loved the prompt word - Procrastination.  Really got me thinking.

Process: first thought of "why" we procrastinate - in general. Could be some  underlying fear of failure or for some - fear of success. Maybe we don't think  that we have the specific skill required or talent needed to complete the task  and that we will face ridicule. Maybe we're in conflict about the task at hand  and aren't even sure it's something that we want to do. Maybe we're overwhelmed  by other demands in our lives and can't give adequate attention to this newer  demand. Maybe we don't have a clear enough image of exactly what it is we want  to accomplish. Maybe the task is boring compared to some other activity that  could substitute.

I considered these ideas and wrote the following Haiku:

           The Haiku

Demands, wants, needs, musts

I want to..........I don't want to

Relentless tick - tock

I decided that I would set specific goals for the art work.

1.  To complete the work in a set amount of time -      time that I alternatively would have spent that evening playing a game on the computer . I thought that it was not unreasonable to have the main designing and rough assembly done in 45 minutes.                   I would do the quilting and finishing the following day.

2. I have a plastic storage box full of previously fused cotton scraps - some of which are remnants from previous projects.  My challenge was to use ONLY fabrics from that particular box.  Believe me, there was plenty to choose from.

Done! The completed piece is approximately 12 inches by 12 inches. It is entitled Fragments of Time. Disparate elements brought together to form a cohesive whole. It demonstrates how focus, definition and time
limits overcame procrastination in one dedicated to that art.
Constructed in a very traditional straightforward way - cotton with fused  applique, machine quilted. 

Fragments of Time

Detail -Fragments of Time

Forest Canopy - March Sunshine

I've always been fascinated by the patterns made by sunshine as it is filtered through dense foliage.

Following is my photo of a sun drenched redwood at a State Park in Northern California.

Armstrong Redwoods State Park

               

Forest Canopy        

Clefts in rain soaked branches         

Sunbeams bursting through   

Upon resolution of machine issues I hope to have this piece executed in cloth.

Faultlines of the Heart

When presented with the February word: "love" I thought of many ways to go with it - parental, romantic, physical, familial - even love of music, nature and so on.  But what I really wanted to deal with was loss of love - specifically loss of loved ones.  When my Mom passed away last year I had to deal with the sadness of her loss plus the fact that she was the last one. Her passing followed my Dad's (by many years) and my brother and sister's deaths more recently.  I reflected on how we all suffer loss of love - or loved ones - then have to face our publics as though everything was completely right in our world.
Here you have a heart that has been fractured into many pieces along the faultlines that were there all along.  And floating over the pieces of the heart are a tangle of ribbons attempting to hide the tears underneath.

detail:  Faultlines

The Haiku

Letting go of love

Hot salty tears flow freely

Bruised battered heart cracks.

January Haiku Art

Treacherous frost lurks

Tender shoots defy the chill

Hardy rosebuds thrive.











We received our "prompt" word for January at midnight  Wednesday.  Earlier in the day I was in the garden checking the rosebushes. We had a little frost the night before and I was concerned.  All the bushes looked healthy- even hints of new growth were evident.
When we got our word I thought of our rose garden immediately and scribbled down my thoughts. Today I took some photos of the new buds.  I incorporated one of the buds into a winter scene that I shot 2 weeks ago in Minneapolis. I wanted to portray the idea that not only can Nature survive some pretty harsh conditions but that she indeed can begin anew and thrive.
My next step is to portray this image as an art quilt.