Knitting

I know now that summer is over because I started knitting again. Mostly I think it's because while I was at the last race a wonderful women knitted my daughter a beautiful shawl, and it only took part of a morning. I am in LOVE with bulky wool and big needles! I am almost finished a soft shawl for my mom for her birthday (will wonders never cease!), a long scarf (I will be selling these at a local craft fair this fall) and will be starting new scarf tonight using macrame.

Hasn't helped with the drawing front though. I have a few more ATCs to do for a few swaps and then I'll be caught up completely. I am going to force myself to complete 2 a night for the next few nights and that'll clear up the backlog.

Another race this coming weekend in Shannonville, ON. This one is Round #6 - SMP Long track plus the Final Round for Parts Canada Superbike Championship. Should be al lot of fun if we get a change to go, my husband just informed me that he is considering not going because he is so busy with work. We'll have to see.

Racing

Well, it went well. This weekend was probably the most enjoyable race weekend of the summer. It was the VRRA's Vintage Motorcycle Festival at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, ON.

The only drawback was the temperature at night. It's pretty hard to sleep in the bike trailer at night at 10 degrees C., even with 6 bodies in there. I encouraged everyone to breath out, alot.

My husband and our race friend had a blast. Our daughter (5 years old) is now changing gears on her Honda50 (only up so far) so I am truly just a kick stand now (she steers, uses the throttle, brakes and is using two gears - but she isn't tall enough to put her foot down yet.)

On the drawing front... well, it took a back seat so I could cook for the guys, take the kids to the Bowmanville Zoo and entertain my five year old - when she wasn't on one of her bikes.

ATC Card "Ribbons"-Stage 2

I finished colouring in the blue 1st layer last night. I don't quite know what to do with the thin strips that are left yet. I am thinking to colour them in in tans. I also flipped the image around when I scanned it. It looks more balance now with the darker blue (heavier) at the bottom. I am not too pleased with the scan though. The original is much more delicate.

ATC Card 1 - Ribbons

Ribbons

I started this ATC a while back at a (motorcycle) race. I was sitting in our pit listening to a radio that should have been buried about 20 years ago, trying to make out the announcer's voice, waiting for the 5 minute call for the next next class. I was trying to draw an ATC for an element themed LMAO for nervousness.org. This was an attempt to design a "Water" themed card. I was enjoying the organic flow of it but I stopped drawing it because we had to get the tire warmer's off the RS125. When I returned to it, I thought it would be a little too simple for the theme and I didn't know how to tie the other elements into a similar style.

I got the idea for the water from this picture from http://www.art4spirit.com/Lg-Elem.html

I went through a few more cards after trying water that looked like this before I drew "Ribbons" but I started with this style of water.

I precut all my ATCs. I have been using fine grain white cardstock so far (I am still new at this so I have been sticking with them base until I feel comfortable to move one).

I started by drawing the flowing lines across the card in pencil. Then I started drawing the shorter wave defining lines.

I really like playing with shadow although I am the first person to admit that I pay little attention to having "one light source". (Light generally comes from many sources when I draw. I think I must come from a planet with many suns.) I like to draw with very sharp pencil crayons and apply colour in successive layers. I work on areas I want darker first, starting out lightly and gradually adding more layers. I work on adding colour to the lighter areas last. Some of the folds are more succesful (more realistic shadows) than others. I'll update a picture of the next stage.

New Discipline

I'm going to try an experiment.

I've been to a few wesites where they post a diy or some project a day. I'd like to do that, but chances are I'll get on with doing something else and drop it. Sooo.. I thought I'd try a drawing a day sort of theme.

I figure, if I start drawing a random themed ATC and scan it in in stages, it'd be a cool experiment. Then I could look back and figure out at one point I should have stopped or taken a different turn with it.

I wonder what I'll learn. So here goes.. I have one in progress so it is a little farther along than I would like to start with but it'll do.

"Ribbons"

Kiki Smith

An artist (neilornstein) from Nervousness.org sent me a link today that I really need to spend some time on http://www.moma.org/kikismith/. A style I can relate to. Add printmaking to my list of things to learn how to do.

Racing...

Well here we go again. We are packing up to go down to Mosport for the Vintage Motorcycle Festival. My husband has been frantically trying to build an 82ish RD350 and he is running out of time. All year he has been borrowing race bikes. Now that there is a possibility of having his own, he is excited and stressed. The frame he picked up from a kid at a gas station and the engine he bought from a motorcycle mechanic in Gatineau, PQ.

I keep pondering the possibility of attending RACE school next year at Shannonville, but, having not been on my own motorcycle yet this year, I am afraid I do not have enough road time.

Our five year old daughter is getting quite comfortable on her minimoto and was probably the most photographed thing at the last Canada Cup series at Mosport. It is a replica RC51 and everyone got quite the kick out of her. She had even memorized my speach about the bike and I could see her (from our pit) stopping to answer questions about her bike. She would tell them it weighed about 35 lbs, went 10 miles per hour with her on it, has an 18volt rechargeable battery that lasts about an hour and that it could hold up to 175lbs. Then she would get off the bike and offer whomever the opportunity to sit on it. What a kid! If Cycle Canada does not publish any pictures of her, I'll be surprised!

My husband, not to be outdone, ordered a pocket bike from e-bay. He has already gone through 1 chain when he took it with him to St. Estache earlier this month. Now we all have pit bikes (I am using Lina's Honda50 until she can reach the ground on it).

Focus... an ATC (Artist Trading Card) designed for the Google-Eyed Monster LMAO at Nervousness.org

About me...

I envy those that are able to keep blogs up to date and interesting. It is a pretty cool thing to get to know a stranger that will never know you. What trust or at least self interest there is out there.

I changed my profile on nervousness.org today so I thought I'd post a few of my interests here:

"...abstract art, architecture, baroque music, beadwork, children's book illustrators, classical music, crochet, cultures, cycling, drawing, entrepreneurship, food, genealogy, history, home schooling, human nature, imagination, journals, knitting, lace making, leatherwork, magazines, magical creatures, medieval music, native handwork, pen and ink, personal challenges, photography, printmaking, research, simplicity, surrealism, tatting, textiles, theatre, traditional world music, travel, water colour landscapes, whimsy, wirework, wonder, woodblock printing..."

I've been struggling lately with finding a new career. I am still waiting on the new Fall and Winter continuing education calendar from my local community college. I would like to take some art courses to see if that is where I would like to go. I have to do something. The need to earn my living through creativity is started to become an itch that just can't be scratched.

I need to refocus...