Clouds- May "Soft" Haiku

"Clouds" -  May "Soft" Haiku

Soar Above the clouds...
Shimmering in the sunlight...
Floating through the sky....

Dandy-lion

"Soft"
Dandelion puffs
Explode softly in my yard
Hard to get rid of!

The new technique this month was trapunto, for the dandelion leaves. A couple of them wound up a bit overstuffed, once I stitched the veins, so I resorted to snipping the back and pulling out some of the stuffing on the biggest leaf.

I also bought some rayon embroidery thread to use for the dandelion puff. Shiny and pretty - and not too much of a pain to deal with!

Soft

Soft was very hard for me.  Apparently I don't often view my world through a soft filter.  I first thought of cat fur for soft, and then spring colors, which led to this.

Techniques used in this piece include fusing, machine applique and quilting, watercolor crayons and ink for the words, and the use of colored pencils to darken the petals and to lighten the water when I discovered that the thread work wasn't going to fix what turned out to be poor choices of fabrics.

a sudden wind gust
sends showers of soft petals
to drown in a pond

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

Sheer Series #4 - FOG

Stealing silently
through the night, fog mists gather
softly caressing

I printed the image of the eagle in flight on organza using Digital Grounds, then appliqued it to the 2nd (middle) layer of organza and trimmed. The back layer is a "woodsy" print chiffon, Middle layer is striped/woodsy print organza and front/top layer is a grayed purple organza to create the misty, foggy appearance.

This picture is hanging on the wall, but it looks great hanging in the window, back-lit. I just couldn't get a decent picture...my camera insisted on focusing on the trees outside...LOL I will try again later when it's not so bright out.

Another fun haiku challenge.
Comments appreciated
Cherie

haiku housekeeping

when you post haikus
please label them with your name
and this month's word -- soft

when you post haikus
look for the box called "labels"
click "show all" -- choose there


thank you

A Mother and her Sons

I am posting my haiku for this month after a few months of being out of the loop.  It is a picture of my oldest daughter Carly and her two sons, Ethan and Caleb.  When I thought about what soft meant to me, it led me down the path of all the loving relationships which I have in my life.  I am truly a very blessed woman!  I played with the image in photoshop after writing the haiku.  I plan to take it a little farther, but wanted to get what I have posted in a timely fashion. 

Deep within my heart,
memories dance across time,
softly filling me.

Thanks for the challenge which sparked some great time looking through photographs of my favorite people.

Soft..... Hair

Soft for me is 'feminine'....
I thought of a lot of diffrent 'soft' things, downy chicks, kittens, and.... hair.
After thoughtful cogitation and several Haiku's [which will show up on my personal Haiku blog], I decided to use hair.... an d in particular.... silk. Nothing as soft as raw spun silk....

Haiku:
A woman's glory
Flowing gently from her head
As soft as spun silk.

I liked this idea because no matter where we live, our culture, color, race or creed... our
hair matters to us.... ask a hairdresser....

summer breezes

soft summer breezes

filling sails with wonderment.

Natures gentle gift

In creating this small quilt - 16x20" - I used piecing,applique, painting with shivas, foiling, and thread painting on the trees. I'm not happy with the boy on the raft but I guess practice clues one in on what to try next time. Maybe someday I will get it right. The propt word was great. It certainly conjured up any pictures. Thank you.

Haiku-word: Soft

"Pájaro"

 This has been made with paper and fabric and for the background I used paints and did hand calligraphy with a dip pen and inks.
The haiku for this piece:

" Soft is the bird's song

sense of happiness and peace

kind cry in my heart"

                                                             by Margarita Korioth

Challenge #5.... Word Prompt.

Guila is our word prompter this month and here is what she said to me:
I've had a couple of words in mind and have made my decision:

Prompt word for May: "Soft"

So many ways to go with that one - can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Grass Mowing "Procrastination" Haiku - April 2011

Grass Mowing "Procrastination" Haiku - April 2011

Mower sitting idle...
The grass grows taller each day...
Day dreams fill my thoughts...

Procrastination

Ideas are easy for me and follow through not so easy although I love doing the things that put the ideas into reality. Here is one of my favorite sketchbook pages, one which has not been put into the textile form I imagine for it. Who knows why!

Sketchbooks Fun and Full
Ideas Burst Like Fireworks
Fruition Hard Idea

Linda Jacks

Triple Procrastination

When I first saw our April word, I couldn't think how I'd depict such a thing.  But the answer came as soon as I wrote it down in my day planner, along with all the jobs I keep writing in there, day after day, which never seem to get done. I'd make my undone jobs. Or some of them.

The background of this piece is made from leftover strata from my bargello period - fifteen or so years ago.  I always meant to do something with these things, they are too pretty to throw out. (procrastination #1)

I turned up the strata in the cleaning out and reorganization of my workroom - which I started back last fall and still have not finished. (procrastination #2)

The image depicts certain parts of my garden where I never got around to the fall clearances, which I can blame in part on the abnormally cold winter and spring we've had, but not entirely. (procrastination #3)

Techniques used here are machine piecing, fused and machine applique, machine quilting, stamping, ink on fabric, all done from commercial hand-dyes.  This quilt measures 10 1/2 by 11 3/4.

emerging spring leaves
reach for light through old dead weeds
last year's work undone

Procrastination challenge

Procrastination... something that used to irritate me when I watched this happening.
Schooled in the field of "Time Management' I often see procrastination as something to be longed for. I had to learn to set priorities, work at what needs doing using the 'swiss cheese' formula and make every moment count. It is actually amazing what can be accomplished using 'time management'.... sometimes to just procrastinate would feel good!

In my mind's eye I see procrastinationas a big hand blocking what I need to do... and sometimes it even demands my focus. I learned that 'Procrastination... is an enemy of time', and hence really don't spend much time with it.

With all that in mind, my Haiku came into focus:

'Eye' see you out there
Please! don't waste my time today
Come back when I am free

My interpretation:  Journal using at least one piece of fabric. This fabric I had painted then 'marked' using Shiva Sticks... so it was a scrap,  I traced my hand and cut it out.

Procrastination

Sucks joy from my soul
Prevents me from achieving
What is possible

I envision procrastination as a door.


There is hope - there is no lock on the door.


And behind the door lie dreams.

Procrastination

Time is running out

deadline is approaching

time for cup of tea

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

April Haiku

Buds are blossoming

Yet Still snow is falling

Spring, why temporize?

This is suede cloth applique on silk dupioni. The snow flakes are hand embroidered and the cherry blossoms are made from a method I love to use: fuse your fabric to both sides of heavy duty aluminum foil and cut whatever shape you desire. They are attached with french knot centers. It's so much fun as you can bend and shape them and they stay that way!

The quilt is gallery wrap framed.

It measures 11x14

Cherie

Procrastination

My found haiku reads:

I would walk the halls
settle into a big chair
I'd read the papers

The piece is collaged with teabags and paste paper that was patterned with a comb, plus a photo from the newspaper.

Challenge # 4... Procrastination

Oh.... put your thinking caps on for this one!! When this was sent to me by the April 'word-prompter'...
well... I am stuck!!
Here it is: provided by Silvia Dell'Aere 
'Procrastination'................................... looking forward to seeing what everyone does with it!

Carole

Sunshine

My Sunshine Haiku for March 2011

Sunshine glistening...
Beams dance across the water...
It's heat warms my soul...

March - Sunshine

When we got our word for the month, sunshine and the coming spring became intertwined in my mind.  Here in Virginia, yellow crocuses and daffodils are the first to appear, but I've seen them blooming in the snow.   The bright yellow blooms of the forsythia are one of the true signs that winter is about done. This year they appear to have lied though, since we're expecting snow this weekend.

The branches and blossoms on this piece were taken from my own photos and from life, and drawn with various watercolor pencils and crayons and then quilted.

Since I found last month that I don't much like writing directly on the background, this time I placed my haiku on a scrap of rice paper. Then I quilted that and the background with monofilament thread.  The quilting design is meant to illustrate spring breezes.

yellow as sunshine
bright forsythia blossoms
proclaim winter's end

This is a clearer picture of "Warrior Sunshine". I had slept on the couch that night and the sun woke me. Maybe I should have put some of the candy wrapper on the couch as a blanket?

2.5" x 3.5"
decorative and handmade papers from art store, brown bag, pigma pen onto recycled card base; hole in top right corner for carrying on my card ring.

Sunshine silk scarf and pendant

I recently came back from my trip to Peru and had a wonderful time. I got together with an old friend from college whom I haven’t seen in 30 years!! She gave me an orange and yellow pendant design by her. It is made with fused glass and said it represented the summer days in Peru since they are very hot and humid. So, when I came back I wanted to paint a silk scarf that complements it. After I read the March word “sunshine”,  I figured I would  make a Haiku about it:

      The rays of sunlight

              glowing light on the new day

       embrace me fiercely

Marga Korioth