Autrey Sisters 1960s

More fun with photos!

Nude Grasshopper Descending a Cactus Leaf

Four long, exhausting days in, I'm finally closing in on converting everything from my old Dell to my new HP Workstation.  My 2003 Dell was still working fine, but with Windows no longer supporting XP, I was forced to upgrade.  There is something about technology that really sucks up money!  Now, however, with new software from Alien Skin and Apophysis, and a faster system,  I thought I'd have some fun!  The inspiration for the top photo composite is Marcel Duchamp's  "Nude Descending a Staircase."  The original photo is below.

Valentine Collage, Bowling Ball, Rainbows and Stars

Final post of my artwork splurge in Seattle.  Top to Bottom:
Valentine's Day Collage: Done in a fun art session at Amber's urging and using her running magazine and fashion magazines illustrations.
Bowling:  Watercolor of Cole and Wilson's toy bowling pins and ball with helicopter and car reading (surprisingly) Wilson and Cole.  One of Wilson's favorite dice also making an appearance
Rainbow Study with Stars:  Pen and ink and watercolor and crayon.  Part of a series extending over years.

Family Portraits, Scribbles and Creature Drawings

Top to Bottom
Family Portraits Left to Right:  Cole, in disguise as a one-eyed alien; Wilson, with all five fingers on each hand upside down; Matt working; Amber as a water drop; and Grandma Lucy in her polka dot pajamas on top of the world
A Scribble with Feet
Creatures (on the backside of the scribble)
Wilson Taylor's Ladybug, done for his Grandpa Wilson
Water Bottles, with help from Wilson of 2 additional birds in the sky

Watercolor Fish and Ducks

More watercolor paintings done in Seattle, some with grandson Wilson Taylor.  Wilson's twin brother Cole wasn't painting much on this trip:

From top to bottom:
Goldfish - 10 1/4" x 14"
Fish tank - 7" x 10 1/4" (some fish seem to have escaped)
Fish tank line art - with water by 4 1/2 year old Wilson 7" x 10 1/4"
3 Yellow Ducks - a collaboration with Wilson who painted the tower and the pink snakes, gave one duck a red eye, and colored in the fence 10 1/4" x 14"

Nursing and Painting in Seattle

While Amber recovered on the couch, nurse Lucy had fun doing watercolor paintings of twins Cole and Wilson's toys.  Here are a few

Top photo:  Amber, reclining on the couch under her original Lucy Autrey Wilson quilt and beneath the Taylor's original Lucy Ellen Autrey (lea) Green Flash oil paintings.
4 Going on 5:  Watercolor painting of a few of the 4 1/2 year old twins' toys from Little Dora to a Han Solo action figure
4 Going on 5 photo:  When Wilson got home from preschool and saw this watercolor painting, he ran and found every one of the toy models I had put away and carefully placed them on top of their image on the painting
Pooh and Poofy:  A watercolor painting for Wilson of his favorite bear and blanket (She, the blanket, has a name, of course)
Space Bear:  Cole got his own watercolor of his favorite space bear with a favorite Lego toy driving over one leg

Historical Family and Travel Picture Postcards

Various recent Strathmore 4x6 watercolor postcards painted at the request of (and for) sister Susan:

Top to Bottom Left to Right:
The Autrey Sisters
Jean Anne, around 1945 in Delong, Indiana
Laura Jo on bicycle in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1949
Elsa sitting on the stone wall in the front yard of the El Sueno house in Santa Barbara, in the early 1960s
Little Lucy at the beach in Santa Barbara, 1953
Susan in Paradise, 1955

Misc Photo Pictures
Trees in PoliPoli State Park on Maui in December 2012
Cousin Earl on pig in Macy, Indiana in the 1920s
Santa Ynez September 2012

The Taylors in Seattle at the beach in December 2013
Matt playing soccer with son Cole
Amber and Wilson on the beach
Trees and view
Amber and Cole near the brick building

Two New Small Quilts

Top:  Aspen Poppies 8"x10"
Bottom:  SF Bay Birds 24" x 20"

Note to self:  Maybe best to stay away from stripped bindings!

Creating Great Art With Grandsons Cole and Wilson Taylor

Art projects done this past weekend in Seattle with twins Cole and Wilson, age 4 years and 5 months
Top to Bottom:
First:  Wilson's original drawing of his stuffed bunny.  After making a few pictures, he folded them up and put them in his backpack.  "I can take them out and look at them later and they will make me happy,"  Wilson explained.  And, at the farmer's market, he did just that!
Second:  A pencil drawing I did of the stuffed bunny for Cole to color.  This version was rejected when the colored pencil made a slight hole in the paper.  Another, completed version, stayed in Seattle.
Third:  A picture Cole drew of himself with his Grandma Lucy.
Fourth:  A sketch I drew of Cole
Fifth:  A sketch I drew of Cole's blue eye
Sixth:  A sketch I drew of Wilson eating his cereal.  He might look like this in another 6 years.

Crows Flying at Sunset

Loon Button Garden

Version B with layered feather pattern.  Just playing with Photoshop.

1+5+7 = New Fiber Arts Projects

Above top to bottom:
1.  Two Women - 7x10 Quilt Sampler
2.  5 New Grocery Bags:  Bird of Paradise, Crow with Yellow Hearts,a Geranium Bricks, Red Crow and Yellow-faced Bee.
3.  Detail of Red Crow on quilted grocery bag panel
4.  7 new hot pads:  Roosters and Chickens, Bees, Bark and Honeysuckle.

Hearts and Birds

More pattern making, with the help from a few good books:  A Field Guide to Fabric Design by Kimberly Kight, published by C&T Publishing, Inc. over in Lafayette, CA, and Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design by Laurie Wisbrun, published by Chronicle Books in SF.

Playing with Fish in Software

Bought new Textile Symmetry and Pattern Design software from Artlandia then combined it with some pen & ink drawings that were turned into glass objects using Alien Skin software and Photoshop.  Ridiculous amount of fun.

Crafty Monday

Top:  The first four of a new line of Lucy Autrey Wilson original art grommet hot pads
Bottom:  Bee Bag, quilted panel on Simple Ecology canvas shopping tote

Bee World

Six new fabric designs:  1) A little Yellow-faced independent bee flying through the blue sky, and 2) a honey bee in honeycomb.  The bees are surrounded by bee food and habitat, including:  3) Sunflowers in a vase, 4) a close up of a sunflower, 5) a geranium growing out of bricks, and 6) some plant bark.  Add to this the attraction of some Yucca flowers about to be dive bombed by a bee fly.  A recent Time magazine article on Rene Magritte was the inspiration for the presentation - using Magritte's 1937 painting "On the Threshold of Liberty," as a model.  My recent obsession with fabric art was the impetus for the designs.

Marcia Meyers' Pool

New, digitally enhanced, pen & ink and watercolor painting 7x10

T Shirt Made With Original Ear,Eye,Nose,Mouth Fabric

Another T shirt, this one made with my original Ear, Eye, Nose, Mouth designed fabric, available at Spoonflower.com

T Shirt Made with Original Reptiles Fabric

Not much is as fun as designing your own fabric and making T shirts out of it!  Reptiles fabric is available at Spoonflower.com, featuring various or my reptile drawings. Many of those same reptiles are also available on a Lizards and Geckos print at Art.com.

Pixies

New Shopping Bags

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Simple Ecology organic cotton grocery bag with quilted animal pattern and buttons
Simple Ecology shopping tote with yellow flower, blue sky oil painting applique
Simple Ecology shopping tote with yellow and blue flowers applique