Inspiration: Desert Blooms in Borrego Springs, California

It is springtime in the desert. I drove to Borrego Springs today, to meet up with friends. Our goal was to hike a bit and take photos of the desert bloom. Given that we have had a lot of rain, we expected lots of flowers, but it is apparently a little early for the full bloom. Either way, it was a great day. There is something spiritual about walking amongst all the cactus and plants. It is great inspiration.



Here you can see the cast of characters: Jerry, Kathleen and myself.


This was a shot taken on the drive. It is a tree that was burned in one of our area fires.

A crazy palm tree.. in need of a trim.

Shots of the desert.


Some cactus blooms.

Mesa College: Courteney Fox's Project

Take a look at what one of my student's, Courteney Fox, did for her first project in Adobe Illustrator.

http://courteneyfox.blogspot.com/2010/03/first-illustrator-project.html

The link will take you to her Blog where you can read more.

What do You See? Design is Everywhere

What do you see when you look at this image? Color, pattern, texture?

Do you see canyons and gorges?
Do you see a variegated yarn, used to create a sense of depth?
Do you see the use of a 'zing' color? the leaf green?
Or, do you see the use of shadowing, with more dark grey used in areas.

Hopefully, if you push, you can see more than the bark of a tree.

Looking From All Angles

When I teach design, I try to encourage my students to look at their evolving projects from all angles. One never knows what they will see if they stand back, or change their position of reference.
As in most things, taking an extra few seconds will almost always lead you to a better place.

Below is an example, albeit, not a design project, but a bit of photography, where I was mesmerized by the Auckland Sky Tower, which is the tallest building in New Zealand. Standing 328 meters tall, it offers views for up to 80 kilometers in each direction.


http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/Attractions/Skytower.html

In photogrpahy, as in the design of anything, if you simply stand and shoot the shot, without taking a few moments to walk around and view the subject from different positions, you are probably not going to get your best work.

Thanks to my wonderful hosts in Auckland, Noelene and John Fitzgerald, I was able to see the Sky Tower from various viewpoints, and I share some of the images with you below.

Click on these to see larger versions.

New Zealand Workshop: Beaded Necklace

Laurel Judd taught us how to build a necklace using a metal template for the pendant and stringing beads for the necklace itself.

You can see Laurel's work on her site at www.laurel.co.nz/


The process begins by arranging beads in a ridged piece of metal. Once you like your basic layout (and it helps to take a digital image for reference before you remove the beads), you lay a little glue in the base and start to arrange your beads.
Then, you take the same blue and squeeze it over the entire surface of the beads. It will dry clear and serves the purpose of keeping all the beads in place, particularly those that are on their side, or are extended beyond the side.

Here you can see a group of pendants, and the final glueing process on one.

A close-up.

Now to the bead box, to choose the beads for the necklace strand.

You can arrange these beads anyway you like.

Laurel supervising the attaching of the clasp after all stringing is complete.

Some final pieces on Doreen, Janet, and Carol (left to right).


Yet another creative project and fashion statement. Thanks Laurel!

Irrelevance of Time

It amazes me to think about time. Especially when you can travel and arrive before you left. As an example, I left Auckland New Zealand, at 11 p.m. at night on February 13th, and arrived in Los Angeles at 2 p.m., seven hours earlier than I left. That is a distance of 6508 miles traveled in - 9 hours. Pretty amazing, yes?

Also fun, was the act of putting my foot in the Pacific, at both ends on the same day. Here you can see me standing mid-day on the beack in Auckland, my shawl blowing in the strong breeze. The water was quite warm.


.... and here you see me, with my feet in a slightly colder Pacific, in San Diego, California, shortly after I finally landed at home, at sunset, around 5:30 p.m.


If only we had these long days to pursue creative endeavors.

btw.. when asked how long the flight was, I generally respond with five to six movies. That is generally how I measure time when flying.

Workshop: Maori Flax Weaving

Bev led a workshop on the Maori art of Flax Weaving. In one morning, she had taught us how to choose the stalks of the New Zealand Flax plant, prep them, and weave or braid a variety of flowers.

As an instructor of Textiles, I found the process fascinating. It was much simpler than I expected, and Bev's instructions were thorough and clear. She recommended a book called Weaving Flowers from New Zealand Flax by Ali Brown. It is clearly illustrated and simple to follow. Check the web site for more information on the techniques at www.alibrown.co.nz




Here you can see Bev teaching us how to select proper stalks of the plant.

Now, we are seeing how to use your thumbnail to remove the spine and split the leaf of the plant into strips.

The split strips become warp threads for the weaving.

Below you can see the steps of weaving of a hibiscus. (I'm hoping my textile students can see this, as we just studied plain weave)

Here is the final Hibiscus.

Next we used a braiding technique used to create a Koru.

Next, is the technique for creating a rose.

and my final two flowers..

Below you see a bouquet of the various flowers I made.

One can dye the dried flax if desired, as seen below.

Here we have a bouquet that Bev made. Betty was the lucky winner in the raffle that was held.


This was a great workshop, and now that I'm back home, I'm planning to add a couple of more flax plants to my garden. I'll vary the colors so that my bouquets have greater variety. Thanks Bev for sharing.