sidewalk balloon, 2013Saw this little blob of chewing gum gritted into the sidewalk when I was trying to find a gallery in Chicago. Suffice it to say that Milwaukee Ave is a lot more confusing than google maps leads you to believe. It is one of those little angled streets that changes the way you think about North and South. I walked 6 blocks the wrong way before I realized it then turned around and went 12 blocks the opposite direction. Chicago has long blocks and the territory was a bit vacant. Hence my focus on my feet and the sidewalk. When I saw this blob I decided I would add my own little drawing to remember the day.
webbed
The bugs are making their last efforts before the chilling nights arrive. We have clouds of mosquiltos, armies of ants and sporadic spiders everywhere. This one was particularly industrious and perfect yesterday. A thrilling sketch that could be my next quilting diagram.
shadow and light
©2013, Paula Kovarik
The photo on the left of this image is a detail shot of a quilt I am working on. On the right I turned it 360 degrees. Isn't it interesting how the shadows on the left make the piece look concave but the same pic turned upside down looks convex? Since I was turning the image to see if the curves were balanced (an old trick for judging layout) I was confounded on how different they looked. I had to shoot the piece again by turning it upside down to be able to have a fairer comparison.
A fleeting shadow
This fleeting shadow on my studio floor reminded me of a wonderful show I recently saw of Carrol Cloar's work at the Brooks Museum in Memphis (The Crossroads of Memory: Carroll Cloar and the American South). His studied observations of life in the south, sense of design and mastery of his medium inspired me to see the world differently after I walked out. That is the power of art.
universal pattern
What is it? This is a high contrast graphic I created by scanning in a catalpa leaf and playing with the contrast and color. To my surprise as I zoomed in to the 600 DPI image I found this city scape of interconnected roads and arteries. I need to learn to stitch like this, it is a universal pattern.