Kitties

As August is trundling along, I took a look back at July. With all the time spent at home, I piled up my days even more than usual with music and Japanese studies. This is my July along with a few more black and white everyday photos, and my finished quilt block.

Simple 365 – Set 12

Here is another set of everyday Simple365 photos. A few years ago, I took one b&w photo of simple little things around me for a year. I have been sharing those photos here every now and then.

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.

I created a page with all the previously shared photos from Simple365. I continue to add photos to that page as I share them here. That way I can relive the journey through the year via black and white photos, like in an old photo album.

I was trying out a couple of old glass pens with homemade black walnut ink. The slanted light coming through the window often casts wonderful shadows. I liked the two little light spots under the glass nibs in this photo.

This is only outing I had in July. We got up around 5:30AM and drove an hour to avoid the hot day. Usually I set my route beforehand, but this time I decided to explore a bit more. Of course, I did have a map and compass with me. It would not be prudent to get lost in that heat in an area without cell coverage. We walked around 7 miles without any incident and then I fell…hard! Just before reaching the car.

The resulting backache took me out of commission for a while. That is the reason for my long delay in email replies and blog revisits.

Get Musical Instruments Quilt Patterns

Playing music calms my mind and helps me focus. This old girl has been neglected for the last four years. “She” is now around 100 years old. I love all the marks showing its age. Nobody wanted it because it was not new and shiny. The luthier repaired it for me, and it was mine.

In July I took it out, tuned it, and started to bring the sweet sound back again by playing a little everyday. As the wood resonates, the violin sounds nicer with every passing day. I am also a bit rusty, so we are both waking up together. I took these two photos the day I took it out of its slumber.

Shortly after I took it out, Tavish climbed into the case…

…and fell asleep. Violin is an extremely loud instrument. I have no idea how he was sleeping comfortably in there!

Get Musical Instruments Quilt Patterns

Even though I learned to play music on the violin, I have been playing the piano a lot more lately. I learn music fairly slowly; I let the melody develop as I play. It makes for slower learning, but I like it that way. Currently I am working through Mozart’s K. 545 Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, II Andante. I find it to be such a gentle, happy piece.

Here is a recording of the piece – K. 545 Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, II Andante

Additionally, I have upped my Japanese studies. My goal is to be completely proficient at it with reading and writing, and hopefully able to do translations one day.

I also finished this little star for my kitty quilt. I will share more about the fabric choices with photos when I share the finished quilt here.

I will wrap up with a drawing of The Girl and Her Cat from my sketchbook. By now, my cabin fever has not only moved in, but has settled in quite well for me. That’s probably what reflects in this drawing.

I wish you a lovely rest of August. I will see you all in September.

-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please consider paying a visit to some of them.

Simple 365 – Set 11

Here is another set of Simple365 photos. For those of you who are new here – A few years ago, I took one b&w photo per day of simple little things around me for a year. I have been sharing those photos here every now and then. These were taken during July and August of that year.

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

Since I share mostly artwork and photos on this website, one thing you probably don’t know about me is that there was a time when I wrote software for most of my waking hours. I loved it and I still do.

This is the month when I worked on the computer almost non-stop while drinking countless mugs of coffee and poring over code and art photos. Tech and art side by side. My shop went live that month. Since then, I have added my handmade journals to the shop and sold quite a few, which has been a dream come true.

Paint Making

This is only a very small subset of pigments I made last year from things found in the garden. I am planning on turning them into paint this year. I need to get a respirator first since I don’t want any of this powder to get into my lungs. I can’t wait to share more with you.

Quilt Making

I design paper piecing quilt patterns from the ground up, not using quilting software, but a vector drawing program. I don’t have a design wall, so I create the layout using a software/app as well.

I have finished making all the blocks for this quilt. Now with the finished layout, I can start cutting the rest of the fabric for sewing.

Notebooks and Journals

My husband is studying for his pilot license, and he loves using paper for his notes. So, I made this notebook for him in the style of old leather books, but with new NAT / vegan leather. I saved the trim for him to use as a bookmark.

More books are in the making as I write this.

Photography

When I am out and about, my DSLR camera is my perpetual companion. A few years ago, I switched over to using non-zoom lenses, which are incidentally manual focus only. It’s a bit old fashioned compared to the modern age of auto-focus zoom lenses, but it suits my style of photography.

I find black and white photography to be highly expressive. As the color is stripped off the scene, it becomes all about light and shadow.

I wanted to try out my recently acquired new lenses. Tavish is the only cat who sits quietly enough for me to take his photos. I took two portrait-style photos of him. I couldn’t decide which one to share since they show two completely different sides of his personality – curious and quiet. So I am sharing both.

Although I miss being outside, looking through the Simple365 photos made me want to play with new ideas, plan for the next road trip, and spend extra time with the kitties. So that is exactly what I will be doing until autumn calls me out to play again.

I hope your summer is going well!

Until next time,
-Soma