Just Under the Wire

Thanks to positive critique from some new artist friends, I quickly (finally!) finished this painting of a cedar waxwing, my favorite bird, and took it in for framing.  I hope all birds, everywhere, find themselves in bountiful settings.  As a matter of fact, my wishes to all for peace and plenty in your lives.

Desperately Seeking Santa

Emerald City Skyline and Jean D

Photo by my son Jacob.  I think he has a pretty good eye!

Beginning Weaving

Six weeks ago I began a weaving class at the Artful Ewe Annex in Port Gamble with Marcia Adams.  What a great experience!  This is a section of the first sampler.  It was so fun to actually weave these twill patterns once I finally got the loom warped.  That was very challenging but this cotton was much easier to work with than the wool that followed in the next project.

Here is the very beginning section of my final sampler.    The white at the bottom is toilet paper, used to keep the warp threads straight.  Any kind of filler can be used.  Both warp and weft are wool.  This sampler continued for almost two yards in length.  I learned five more twill patterns, each one more complicated.  Fortunately, weaving is easy to re-do when mistakes are caught!

This is the final section of that sampler.  It could be a small wall hanging or part of a bag or ???  ideas welcome.  The four middle sections were laundered in different ways to see how much shrinkage was involved, so I have two much smaller pieces that were felted, one by hand and one in the washing machine.  That one really fuzzed up.  Two other sections looks the same -- one was just steam pressed and the other washed in warm water (that one shrank about 7% in length only).

The table loom I was using took up a lot of room on our dining room table so if I continue with weaving, I'll take advantage of the opportunity to rent a floor loom at the weaving annex and go there on weekends and work under Marcia's expert eye.

Fried Green Tomatoes -- well, not quite . . . .

A beautiful yellow squash grown by my good friend Nancy covered for the green tomatoes.  Sliced into half inch rounds and liberally salted, it began sweating while I prepared the rest of the essential ingredients.

An egg and about a half cup of milk (should've been buttermilk for true Southern tradition) in a bowl, flour mixed with cajun seasoning on a plate and cornmeal and Panko bread crumbs on another plate

the stage was set.  After wiping beads of moisture from the salted surfaces, the dipping and dredging began.  First the flour/cajun seasoning mixture, then the egg/milk, then the bread crumb/cornmeal and then

into the hot oil in a big skillet.  What a delicious meal with a green salad and a glass of Merlot!  Who knew  fried yellow squash could taste so good!

Here's a little guilty secret:  I made a crepe from the leftover egg/milk and flour and rolled it up with blackberries.  It was very ugly but the very first bite confirmed my hunch:  the combination of salt, spice and sweet along with all the little crispy debris was sensational!

News Flash

Finally, my own artist's web site -- juliavmiller.com

Google it!      juliavmiller.com

Spring 2012 Sightings

A newly fledged Anna's hummingbird resting in the sunlight, loudly peeping (for its mother?)  This variety of hummer is a common sight in the Pacific Northwest, but I'd never seen a baby before.  It stayed still long enough for me to run to the house for my Lumix and fire off several shots.  I turned to tend to my gardening tools for a second and that's when baby flew off.  Recently, a hummer showed up at the feeder with no clue as to where to put its beak.  It ignored the plastic flowers and kept trying to poke at the seam.  Then it tried some flowers but again was clueless as where the nectar was.  I wonder if it was this young one, still learning how to survive on its own?
 

Goldfinches, the official bird of the State of Washington.  I never saw any in Seattle but they come to our thistle feeder many times every day.  Last year we saw eight at once, not so many this year.
 

Lupine, rhododendron, traveling onion and blue star creeper with a background of dandelion studded lawn.

Sub and coast guard escort, heading toward Bremerton
Seen from our yard looking across Puget Sound 

 

Intruders!  The one on the right calmly began gobbling bird seed from the feeder.  Her left rear leg is deformed from a car accident two years ago.  We all feared for her demise, she was so badly wounded, but she survived and walks with just the slightest trace of  a limp.  She now has a tiny new fawn in tow

 

See the little knobs just starting to protrude?  I think this is her offspring from last year.
 

California quail on guard duty.  They were regular visitors all spring but I haven't seen them lately.  Maybe they are nesting!

California Quail Return!

 First a pair and now two, these busy birds criss-cross our yard several times a day.  The males have taken a liking to perch and keep guard on the back of the adirondack chair that was left out on the lawn a day or so ago.  The females peck their way across the lawn and into the flower beds.  I believe they are the culprits who have been scratching away the soil from around my two little tomato plants.  I don't mind because they're endlessly amusing.


Last year, a pair of adults and ten little babies suddenly appeared out of the hedgerow.  All the wee ones survived to full size and I guess they are starting to come back now.

Right outside the dining room window, one of the females got real involved in scratching out a nest size depression, under the protection of the Oregon grape while the male kept guard.  I thought perhaps she would lay some eggs, but she disappeared into the thicket.


That would have been a nice sight to balance out the views of eagles killing seagulls lately!

Fanciful Fowls

Birds of various persuasions keep appearing on my canvasses lately.

"Balance"

15" x 30"

acrylic on canvas

"Say What?"

14" x 11"

acrylic on canvas

Owl IV

5" x 5"

acrylic on canvas

Tiny Treasure

I startled a tiny bird
It seemed to cower and cry
Back with camera in minutes
"Captured" from both sides.

New Work May 2012

Contemplation     16 x 20 acrylic on canvas
Didn't know a "Super Moon" was coming but woke up one morning  with the idea of cows  leaping playfully through the night sky and across a big golden full moon.  After sketching it all out I went right to the canvas and this is what happened:  "Contemplation."  Maybe a more energetic version with mad and/or blissful cows flying through space is next.  The Pacific Northwest sky is full of surprises, especially in Kitsap country.

Who?


A fluffy but stern owl clutches its perch  and surveys the landscape.

Moving On


With an open heart

April New Work

Lots of layers and texture to create a new pasture for three of the big black cows from the herd at a nearby farm.   8 x 10, acrylics "Kingston Cows"

Another small piece, 8 x 10, inspired by nature.


"You will travel far . . . "

"Coffee Shop"

"Good Friday, West Kingston"  Please click to see entire image!

Snow Falls on Desert Mountain Tops

A cold day at Joshua Tree National Park in southern California.

Stepping back into aviation history

One of the B17's that flew bombing missions over Germany in WWII.  The exhibits in this hangar at Pima Aviation Museum in Tucson tell a very emotional tale of young Americans giving their lives to defeat Hitler.  

 

Then some modern street artists were let loose on some old planes:

This is desert?

Happy hour in Ventana Canyon's luxury resort *****!

San Diego to Tucson

San Diego was chilly but just over the mountains the fog cleared and out came the sun, all the way to Tucson. Happy Valentine's Day! It hailed and snowed on Valentine's Day, got down to 37 degrees.

Mysterious Fields of Something???

Take a closer look and guess what is growing on thousands of acres on the Monterey Peninsula.




I know!

Moss Landing

These boats reminded me of a favorite song, Pancho and Lefty, and especially the lines
"Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too (sub Tonto II)
He just did what he had to do
Now he's growing old"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=8SjwO17gsqU&NR=1






\

Poor ol' gull

Seen on Fishermen's Wharf, Monterey, CA



Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew?

Cannery Row Brewery lights

The joy of choosing from 100's of beers.



The sand dabs dinner was delicious!