Love letters

36 Questions You Can Ask Anyone to Fall in Love

I have just completed a piece for the upcoming 36 Questions Show that will be shown April-June in the Esther Building Art Space in Vancouver, WA. The show revolves around the idea of 36 questions you can ask anyone to fall in love. The premise is that you can ask someone these 36 questions and with sustained eye contact fall in love. For more info on the study check out http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/how-to-fall-in-love-36-questions-and-deep-eye-contact

While the theory is interesting, my husband hates questions and would have run in the opposite direction if I had asked him more than two questions in a row much less 36. However, maybe this show will lead to new loves in Vancouver. For the show my question to respond to is: What Is Your Most Treasured Memory?".

I dug way back in time to high school when my husband and I dated the first time. After rereading all his old love letters, I selected my favorite lines to scan and print on silk organza. Having the lines in his handwriting is important to the realness of the piece. These snippets of organza are a little frayed and lightly faded to represent how our memories evolve over time. Over many years, a long separation, and the roller coaster of life these letters have remained. The letters contain the memories I treasure most as they remind me of young love and the question of where our lives would lead.

Ice Dyeing

Saturday was a fabulous day of experimenting with ice dyeing with Sheryl LeBlanc and Judith Quinn Garnett.

The process steps we referred to for this experiment were from Linda Johansen.

Prewash fabric with Synthrapol if it is not PFD fabric.

Make a Soda Ash Solution:

1 Cup of Soda Ash
1/2 Cup of Salt
1 Gallon (16 cups) warm water

Stir until dissolved.

Soak the fabric in the Soda Ash Solution for 10 minutes. Wring out fabric. Scrunch, pleat, or fold the fabric as desired and shove it in a small (32 oz. ideal) clear container. Clear containers allow you to see the dye penetration. The tighter the fabric is gathered the more crackling and resist. Break up a bag of ice in to small pieces (as small as possible). Cover the fabric in the containers with a layer of ice. Immediately sprinkle dry MX dye powders on the ice (roughly 1/4tsp or more per color). Wait for the ice to melt. Rinse. Final wash in machine with Synthrapol.

I use Dharma's MX dyes primarily and have referenced my samples with their dye color numbers (unless otherwise noted as a ProChem Dye).

Silk Organza - Truffle Brown (135), Azure (56), Golden Brown (113)

Silk Organza - Musk Melon (ProChem 200), Deep Orange (6), Rust Orange (8)

PFD Cotton Sheeting - Brazil Nut (116), Buttescotch (ProChem 115), Truffle Brown (135)

PFD Cotton Sheeting - Avoacdo (33), Moss Green (134), Bronze (37)

PFD Cotton Sheeting - Maroon (16), Black Cherry (111), Fog (L-14)

PFD Cotton Sheeting - Bronze (37), Eggplant (115), Black Cherry (111)

PFD Cotton Sheeting - Gun Metal Grey (150), Charcoal (41), Storm Grey (Pro Chem 6160)

PFD Cotton Sheeting - Black Cherry (111), Plum (19)

The Southern Ties that Bind, Strangle, and Gag

Acrylic on canvas, Cotton, Wire Armature, Hand Stitching

24 X 24 inches

Old School Coffee

Since moving to Portland, I have been hibernating in my studio while working on incorporating several new medias. Just in time for spring, I have escaped my cocoon. I am showing some of these new works at Old School Coffee on PCC's campus. This showing is a mix of my fiber pieces, acrylic paintings, and digitally manipulated photographs.

While on the college campus, Old School Coffee also serves the local neighborhood. Old School Coffee faces Division Street at the PCC Library Building. Stop by to see my newest work and make sure to try the best lemon bars ever.

You See But You Do Not Observe

Sherlock Holmes: "You See But You Do Not Observe"

What is the best part of being an artist? Looking for the beauty in your environment on a daily basis changes your perception of the world around you. Observing, instead of merely seeing enhances your experience of even a simple walk around the neighborhood.

Let's start with something easy. Flowers are easily appreciated. Pay attention to their shape, color, textures, and fragrance.

Pay attention to all the different types of bark on the trees. The colors and textures are more obvious in some barks.

Look at trees from different perspectives.

Leaves can be touched, held up to the light, and observed at close distances.

Make note of the contrast of the organic leaves to the manmade asphalt.

Move around the leaves you are inspecting. Change your viewpoint by squatting down. Pay attention to how rain effects your view.

Much of the Pacific Northwest is covered with a carpet of various types of moss and lichen. Pay close attention to the variations in texture and color.

Vines produce wonderful organic patterns on buildings.

Rocks and stones vary based on location, lighting, weathering and moisture.

Pay closer attention to insects and animals.

Look at the pattern and iridescence in a dragonfly's wings.

Chickens, birds, and other animals have amazing patterns in their feathers and coats.

Some angles cause distortion or foreshortening.

Now, try to find the beauty in what is normally considered ugly or plain.

An endless number of color combinations can be found in rusted metals

Note the repetition that creates patterns

Explore the city for different patterns on the sidewalks and roads.

Be up close and personal with concrete to see the rocks that are in the mix.

Sidewalk repairs made with different materials easily catch your attention.

Some patterns are more obvious during or after rain.

Even wet trash on the sidewalk can make an interesting composition.

Light poles weather, age, and change in texture from environmental influences.

Oil and water may not mix, but they do make lovely colors and patterns on the road.

Sometimes dappled sunlight, shadows, and reflections are more interesting than what is creating them.

The absence of color noise can sometimes illuminate the lines of a subject.

Cross-sections of objects create a unique perspective.

Looking through color filters, camera lenses, binoculars, etc. sometimes help eliminate backgrounds that might be distracting. My oddest technique is squinting. Look at the aerial view of this intersection.

Borrow someone's glasses, close one eye, or squint. These techniques can trick your eye into seeing shapes instead of identifying the object. An abstract composition emerges when quickly blurring this aerial view. You stop identifying what you see as an intersection and instead see color blocks or shapes.

Grab a sketchbook or camera and take a walk. See how many interesting images you see using these techniques and thoughts. I imagine that within a mile from your house you can document numerous items that you observe instead of simply seeing.

Amanda Snavely

Blog

Love letters

Ice Dyeing

The Southern Ties that Bind, Strangle, and Gag

Old School Coffee

You See But You Do Not Observe