Blue Books

Dragon in the mountain watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

Little Stories – Small Finishes

Posted on December 1, 2021
by Soma Acharya
Knitting, Paintings, The Girl And Her Cat

Little Stories are posts where I share odds and ends from my life and my atelier. Since I missed making posts in October and November, I will share two Little Stories back to back. While I am working on large projects, I like to keep a few small projects handy. When I need a break, I switch over to the small ones. Specially when I am stuck on a project, taking a break and going back to it after a while helps me see it from a new perspective. Before we continue with the adventures of The Girl And Her Cat, let me share a few small finishes with you.

A “little” decision

I have a small announcement to make. Last month, I have officially closed my Etsy shop. With all the recent seller policy changes over at Etsy, I felt like I was losing my identity as an artist there.

Ever since I opened my shop here at the website in 2020, you gave me the confidence to make this decision with your continuing support and purchases from my shop here.

Most importantly, I can keep in touch with you more directly. I always enjoy the interaction that I have with you here.

So, from now on, this is the only place where I will sell my quilt patterns, cards, prints and journals. Thank you so much for continuing to purchase from my shop here. It means a lot to me.

A little warmth

I really like Thea Colman’s knitting patterns at Ravelry. They are beautiful and very well written. This one looks intricate but it is an extremely easy cable pattern to follow. I made this one with extra long ribbing, so my husband’s ears will be covered completely and keep him warm when we travel to cold places in winter months, which is something we do often.

The yarn came from Shropshire. We were meandering around the small villages there when I happened to spot a small yarn shop. I was looking for some English wool. The lady at the shop was so helpful. With her help I got three skeins of this 100% Bluefaced Leicester wool, reared, sheared and spun in Yorkshire. The yarn is wonderful to knit with and softened as I knitted with it.

The combination of the pattern and the yarn made for such an enjoyable knit, and the smile on my husband’s face made it extra special.

A little drawing

Last December, we were visiting one of my favourite places in the Sierra mountains. I wasn’t in much of a mood for gallivanting around the mountainside this time. I saw a tree outside the cabin window with its wild-looking trunk and branches. It was so peaceful to sit by the window-side and a warm fire, sipping hot chocolate and drawing the time away.

I probably will paint this one day as part of a landscape, but for now it is a finished drawing in my sketchbook.

Little bookmarks

Specially since I started book making, the amount of scrap paper I have lying about has increased. They are too small for any significant project, but not small enough that I can toss them in the recycling bin without feeling guilty. I use them for playing with colours. Recently I started making little 1″ x 4″ mini bookmarks out of them. The four botanical ones went to their new homes. I have the flying birds at home now. They are all painted using Van Gogh watercolour on leftover papers from the pocket journals available in my shop.

A little Girl and Her Cat

I have of course also been painting in my little 3″ x 4″ blue books. Here are some more of the adventures of The Girl And Her Cat from the Wandering Pages book. Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –

Wandering Pages has all the paintings that I have shared from this little book so far.

Do you also work on small projects alongside large ones? Or are you a one-project-at-a-time kind of person?

Until next time,
-Soma

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

Wandering Camera – Nearby Adventures

Posted on November 17, 2021
by Soma Acharya
Kitties, Photography, The Girl And Her Cat

The Girl and Her Cat and I had our own little adventures, right where we live. Much to my delight, we already had a few bouts of snow this year in the mountains here in the rain-starved California. That brought rainstorms to the lower elevations. I promptly bundled up in my waterproof clothing and boots and headed to the park for a walk in the rain.

Ever since I was little, I have always loved playing in the rain, the more torrential the better. The world gets quiet, and it’s mostly just the sound of the rain and me.

There is an oak grove in the park. Standing under that canopy, I listened to the rain sing as it danced on the leaf-covered ground below.

This is normally a narrow and deep drainage gully, but to my imaginative mind, it might as well be a stream that I have to cross carefully.

I wore my big boots, so I could splash along as I continued down the rain-sodden path.

I have made up my own names for certain areas in the park. I call this area Darcy Field, resembling a certain scene in the Pride And Prejudice movie. Right around the corner, the path turns hard with rocks and tree roots jutting out of the ground. That would be the Dinosaur Ridge. I love running over those protrusions.

I really wanted to continue on with the rain pelting down on me. It was getting dark though, so I reluctantly decided to turn back.

Rain droplets on these dry stems looked like little crystal flowers. My camera has a rain jacket of its own, so, just like me, it stayed toasty dry. I would have liked to get close-ups, but it would have been impossible to change lenses in that windswept rain. Also, I had to bow to the failing light. This is the best photo I could take with the lens I had at hand. Hopefully you get an impression of what I saw there.

Adventure of the Girl and Her Cat

While my kitties stayed warm and toasty at home, The Girl and Her Cat continued their adventure together in the snow.

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –

Not to worry, they are bundled up for their snow walk. When her cat gets cold, The Girl carries him inside her coat.

Wandering Pages Paintings

I added all the paintings shared so far about their adventure from the Wandering Pages book at the above link. I will add to that page as we continue with their adventure together.

I will leave you with a page from my nature journal. The day before the rainstorm came, my husband hurriedly called me outside to see something he thought I would love. We saw a flock of geese flying overhead against the backdrop of a beautiful sky that only impending rain clouds can bring. We watched them slowly dissolve the right arm completely and then recreate the V pattern as they faded to a distant shimmer. I have never seen anything like it before. I didn’t take a photo. Instead, I recreated the scene in my journal.

I personally hand-make the journals in my studio. You can purchase the journals here in my shop. I have journals for both artists and non-artists.

Let me know which photo and/or paintings of our adventures you liked. The Girl and her Cat, and I would love to know.

Since next week is a holiday week here in the US, I decided to move Wandering Camera one week up.

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that runs on the last Thursday of every month. If you follow me via email, you will get a reminder.

All photo and art/creative-themed posts are welcome. You can continue to link up multiple posts.

Please add the badge or a text link back to this site on your blog, or on each post that you link up. I look forward to seeing your photos and reading about them.

Have fun!!

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