June 5, 2011

Rain in June?

I can't quite figure out what is happening with the weather . . . it's been raining here for two days! I know that sounds normal to some of you, but, I've never seen it rain in June in the 30+ years I've lived here. Generally, it pours between December-March, and that's it for the year. This time of the year, we have June Gloom . . . heavy fog that burns off by noon. There seems to be a lot of strange things happening worldwide . . . it really makes you stop and think, doesn't it?
Our back yard is still a work in progress but we're getting very close. After 15 drawings in Illustrator, we've finally decided on a design for the patio. It will be a free-form, L-shaped patio with and a couple of cutouts against the house for plants. It will be colored and stamped concrete, that will look like flagstone. Once dry, we'll grout the low areas so it looks even more like stone. We chose a contractor and now we just have to get the irrigation done.
We've been trying to recycle/reuse as many plants and materials as possible. These large patio pavers have a new home under my potting bench and under the trash cans. Each one weighs about 400 pounds and was very difficult to move.
The old concrete path has been removed and is ready for the new patio and path. A cutout in the patio will be made for the angel trumpet tree on the right.
I'm still exercising quite a bit, and have lost 14 pounds. At first, I was exhausted from all the exercise, and didn't have much energy left for other interests, but it's getting easier now, and I'm back in the studio making art. Yeah!
This will give you an idea of what I'm working on. These are made from the knotted ends of washed fabric. They will look different once they are stitched together and mounted onto the painted canvas.
I'll share a couple other pieces made with the same materials in next post. I'm just about ready to applique my hormones onto the background.
Progress in several areas is underway!