Reclaimed and all that jazz

Blueberry jam on blackberry sourdough to celebrate the reclaiming of my old blogs. Whoo hoo!

Border Leicester Fleece Hand Dyed Annatto w Alum

Border Leicester Fleece Hand Dyed Annatto w Alum
Originally uploaded by celleowood.

Today is the first day of the Tour de Fleece! Until July 23, a group of passionate spinners have committed to S P I N - right along with the cyclers. The yellow jersey is, of course, the coveted icon of le Tour. With that in mind, I dyed a bit of fleece and roving with natural yellow dyes. This first post features what I will be spinning first, Border Leicester, mordanted with alum, dyed wiith annatto.

Oleno Dance Flyer February 2006

blue day

paletteable livejournal for latest art

Well, I've been experimenting with a variety of blogs, and I have to say that the livejournal interface is the simplest and fastest (for me) for posting art. So...I've been putting my drawings and pastels and photos and APCs on that blog. Please, take a sec to click on the title of this post, it's a hot link, and check out the "other" blog.

Florida Fiddlers Convention

Well, today, this rainy ol day, is day #1 of the Florida Fiddlers Convention. The weather is in a holding pattern of rain rain rain, not tropical bullet-like rain, just misty constant make-the-world-green rain until a big front headed south intercepts the big front coming up from Cuba. So, this is not great for those musicians whose idea of a great convention is sitting around the campfire picking til 4am. Even I don't have a collection of plastic instruments.

Adding to the confusion of the weather, we have a new baby in the house, too. He's 10 weeks old, a little ol blue heeler who got dropped off. We found him under the house and the neighbors all plead ignorant. So, the fat wad of vet billage behind us, we embark on quite the wild and crazy ride. His IQ is about 180. Compared to moi, she of the one remaining functioning neuron...he's a genius. His level of energy is superior to any I've seen in the last several years. So, I'm planning on losing 10 pounds just trying to keep up. Tom named him Smitty. HA.

Benefit Concert Success

Well now...that was some little festival!

Huge big fat success. Boy, I wish we had taped the day! Every kind of music you would want...and The Best Musicians!

From Traditional Old-Time, to Non-traditional Old-Time, to Swing, to Bluegrass, to Clawgrass, to Rock and Roll, to Celtic, to Singer-Songwriter, to Cracker Grass, to Boogie Woogie, to Soul...we had it all...

Big thanks to all the musicians and the dancers who came out in force.

We raised big bucks for Katrina Aid.

Hurricane Relief Benefit is TODAY!!!!

Ahhh, geez. I'm beat. This has been a wild week. Crisis in the wake of a hurricane. Shame on us. Flood, death, despair, loss, shock. What can you do?

Tom got on it. He organized a big fat festival for hurricane relief. Tara at the GDMA found the building...the City of Gainesville is giving us the Thelma Boltin Center from noon to 10pm. And, dearys, the musicians came out in force for this one. Lookit, there are only so many hours, and so many stages, but the talent! Holy hootis!

Whitey Markle and the Swamprooters, Boilin' Oil, Tuck Tucker Band, Mark Johnson Band, Mike Boulware Band, Joe First, Folk Jam 99, And All That, Neil & Valerie, Edy Richmond, Palm Valley, Art Crummer, Paula, Mack & Friends, Full Circle, Turkey Scratch Ramblers, and then, there are the dance bands. Screech Malone Old Time Band, Physical Medicine, Flying Turtles String Band, and Lloyd Baldwin & Friends will be be playing for contra dances. Several dance groups will be demonstrating their respective things, and there will be a jam tent outside under the trees.

There is no cover charge. All contributions will be given to the American Red Cross. We're hoping that some of y'all will decide to be especially generous. Yes, we're going to give you a fun day of distraction...but there is a reason that all these musicians and dancers are donating their time and talent. We want to raise the fattest wad of money that we can.

Please come on out...support this effort to give some folks a hand up!

The Thelma Boltin Center is at 516 NW 2nd Ave, Gainesville - behind the Melting Pot on University.

Sinkhole 101

Re: the picture below
Comment: What is an oak tree sinkhole?

Well...this is a very old oak tree. It's huge. It's also growing in a very large, natural depression in my yard. Dents like this are fondly called sinkholes. They occur all over this part of Florida. This one is an oldie, and isn't expected to get any bigger. One family down the road has "converted" their sinkhole into a duckpond, complete with fountain. In High Springs, our band plays in a gazebo at the bottom of a giant sinkhole behind the Town Hall. Sinkholes are not unique to Florida, I have to say. There is an old Kentucky tune called "Huldy in the Sinkhole." It's a real hummer!

oak tree sinkhole 

Worldwide Paint Out Coming Up

Next month, for 3 days, plein air painters all over the world will be engaged in the 3rd annual Paint Out. From September 9 through the 11th we'll be painting outdoors, engaging in an art form popularized in France in the mid 19th Century. There's nothing like sketching or painting outside, catching the light, really catching the moment.

I'll be painting in High Springs, and I invite any and all to join me, here...or in your own town. Sign up at the International Plein Air Painters website (http://ipap.homestead.com/) and bring some art to the neighborhood.

Friday Morning at 8

Well, this field looks different from moment to moment, let alone day to day. I need to get out there a couple times a day, I think.

I did this sketch around 8, right after walking around the garden. (Hey, the seeds I planted 2 days ago have germinated! Zinnia, radish, cucumber...and the carrots are almost ready to go into the bed!) Now, though, it's 3:30, the thunder is a-rollin' in and if this afternoon is anything like yesterday, well, we're about to get some rain.

Any more drawing today will be indoors. That's ok. Blueberry ice cream is almost ready for the freezer. Mmm.

july 28 blackberry field 

Launch Day WHOO HOO in the Field

To celebrate a successful launch, I hauled the ole pastels to the blackberry field again. Hazy day. Hazy hot day. Mmm. That field is warming up more every minute.

blackberry field tree line 

The field below

This land changes every day. I've been taking lots of pictures, recording the mood of this place, but something's been missing. The immediacy of the photo is great, amazing, what have you. But, a drawing, well, a drawing is so much closer. Spending time meditating on the field, using pastels and watercolors, I've just been falling in love with this place.

blackberry field 

And the launch is scrubbed

An LH2 sensor wasn't responding, so, the launch has been scrubbed. I guess they'll have to detank. Ah well, interesting to see that there isn't going to be just a pile of pink paper.

What a letdown. Can you imagine what the crew feels like now? Uuuuuuuuhhhh. Adrenaline overload. Failure mode uhhhhhhh.

So, how long will this turnaround take?

Holy hootis.

Launch Day for Space Shuttle

Well, we WERE going to go towards KSC and watch the launch. We were. But, Tom got sick last week, and today is his first day out of bed. Fortunately, we have NASA TV. Right now, the astronauts are progressing from White Room to Orbiter. Pretty cool.

Is there anything as exciting as a launch? WHOO HOOO!

Tuesday Ichetucknee Idyll

We've been too busy to spit. Today, we took a day off. Rick is up this week, and we all wanted to get together...so the men decided on The River.

The Ichetucknee is one gorgeous river. Famous for tubing...it's pristine.

I've posted a few shots below...more pictures and words later....