Color by Emotion on Off the Wall Friday

Inspiration

 It's been a tough week.  Nothing like a crippling icy snowstorm to cramp your creative style.  The bright moment in the week was Cindi Gay's Rug Hooking class.  I really look forward to her classes.  They have just enough structure to make them productive but she doesn't mind going off on a tangent of everything rug hooking.  Because her background is originally painting, lots of times it comes with a fine arts bent.  

This week we finally summarized our Geometric Rug Journey.  What started off with how to do a geometric rug back in September ended up with a season long lesson on how to design a rug overall.  The funny thing is that it's not really that much  different from the way you design a quilt.

The Process

1. Find Inspiration and Do Research

2. Brainstorm Design Ideas

3. Settle on One or Two Ideas

4. Do Value Studies

5. Pick a Palette by Color Emotion

6. Pick a Directional Hooking Plan

7. Do Small Sample Pieces

8. Transfer Design

9.  Hook the Rug!

Looks cut and dry doesn't?  No, its a LOT of work.  The nice thing is that when you are doing this much work ahead of time, the hooking will go quickly since you know it's going to look great.  

Most of these weren't unfamiliar but one concept that was new to me was pick a color palette by emotion. Anybody who has been paying attention knows that I love color.  I've explored a ton of ways to pick palettes.  But Cindi's favorite way is to take pick two emotional descriptive words and go from there.  I could explain it but it's more fun to show you....

Romantic and Muted

Joyous and Bright

Moody and Mysterious

Neutral and Serene 

You get my drift. Plus, Cindee doesn't like to limit herself to a handful of colors like they do in these examples.  She's happy to pick as many colors as she wants as long as they stay in that emotional category.  I think this is really smart.  I always say that the color palette you chose for a piece is going to go a long way to helping you convey what the message of the piece is overall.  After all, emotion is at the root of most art.  

All along I've been doing the exercises she's assigned, but now it's time to 

Defecate or Vacate

Fish or Cut Bait

Paint or Get off the Ladder

Or simply decide on one of the MANY designs from step 2 and work my way through the process.  

Stay tune...since our homework is to do exactly that, I should have something to show you next week. 

So What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?

 

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The Storm before the Calm on Off the Wall Friday

View from my window

 Yes winter is in full swing here on the Great Lakes.  I know this has become an annual rant but LORD I hate the snow and the havoc it brings.  Storms are so destructive to the routine of everyday life.  It makes me want to hibernate rather than my goal of resetting.  

Let's face it.  Saying you're going to reset and actually doing it are two different things.  This week, I set out to walk the walk to go along with all that talk last week.  To that extent I had to start digging out my studio. 

Right now, I can easily say my studio is going through an identity crisis. It's a small space to begin with and to bring another art form into it is going to take some ingenuity.  But first things, first it needs digging out....

Right now it looks like this....

I believe in showing it all

Not just the pretty pictures  'cause the struggle is real 
And if you know you know..

I took a little time each day getting things put back, cleaned up and thrown out.  I was doing good actually...until I came to the elephant in the room.  Well - rather - the sheep.  What was I going to do with the small stash of wool I had accumulated?  Storing it in bins was not ideal...its hard to see what you own and find what you're looking for.  Not to mention, it's best to store wool in a well-ventilated area.  That really meant I needed to get more shelves.  But where to put them?  

Luckily, I took the problem to my husband and he said why don't you buy them with wheels and they could slide back into an under utilize corner.  That way you can slide them out when you need them and tuck them back when you don't.  Oh he's smart...no wonder I married him!

The trick to buying good shelving is to figure out what you want to store, how you want to store it and how much space you have.  THEN take all that information and head to Amazon which has a ridiculously huge variety of sturdy, inexpensive metal shelving.  I decided that I wanted 6 tiers, about 30" long by 15" deep on wheels...for under $75.  It took a while I found buy what I was looking for. 

I sorted and folded the wool and it easily fit.  I took all the smaller pieces and put them in a bin that fit on the bottom tier.  

It went from this....

To this....a perfect solution for $61...I'm all happy.

You'll have to wait to see the final reveal of the whole room because I'm not quite done yet.  I've been working steadily but I don't want to get all crazy.  

Speaking of crazy...here's what's new on this week's Rug Watch! Little by little, he's shaping up.   I'm getting the hang of hooking yarn.  It gives a more nubbly texture that is appropriate for the trim of his vest.  But it's harder to control that's for sure....

That's it for me...What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?

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The Word of the Year...Reset on Off the Wall Friday

2023 Block of the Month Club
Where I left it

 Here I am!  WoW, its hard to get back to the normal routine after all the hoopla of the holidays.  I hope everyone found peace and happiness as 2025 ended.  Our family was blessed for sure.  Just getting a break in the winter weather to celebrate Christmas was amazing.  Spending some quiet time with my inner circle was a gift too.  It seems that lately, I'm getting less and less time to do that.  

Maybe with getting some well-deserved rest, has me wondering....what comes next?  I won't lie.  The last 10 years has been hard.  So much change...change of jobs, change of family dynamics, change of life! I never found my groove living in a state of flux.  Just in the last year, I am beginning to see the light at the end of a long tunnel....finally.

2026 has me looking at my studio again...if I could find it under all that stuff in there.  It has me feeling like sewing again....there are at least three projects I want to work on this year...my 2023 Block of the
month, my mosiac sunflower girl and finish quilting my Rain, Rain quilt.  It has me looking forward to a week at John C Campbell's to learn how to make a textile doll. And of course...continuing on my rug hooking journey.  

All these feelings help me choose my word of the year....Reset.  Honestly I think that's what I need...a total reset of my creative life.  2026 is about leaving the personal condemnation of the last decade behind, giving myself some grace and a big reset. 

I'm not quite sure where 2026 is going to lead...but with writing this all out...at least I have an idea.

Thank you for listening.  

What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?

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Off The Wall Friday

 

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Off the Wall Friday

 

Happy New Year to You and Yours

Blogging will resume next week!

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Off the Wall Friday

 

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Off the Wall Friday

 Due to a long list of "Things to Do"...I'm taking the next three weeks of blogging off.  I'll happily host though - so feel free to link up.  I want to wish everyone the joy of this season and if you are going through trials, I offer a hug.  Thank you for keeping me company on this creative journey!

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