Daybreak Shawl by Westknits

This is a fun shawl or scarf to knit because it starts out with only two cast on stitches.  It grows from that point to almost five feet in width.

Besides starting from the center of the piece with only those two beginning stitches, it is also intrigueing because  it keeps the interest of the knitter with a myriad of color choice selections.  Many people on Ravelry have knit it, and it looks quite different each time it is constructed.

Washable sock yarn is a favorite yarn to use for this scarf, although thicker yarns may be chosen.  Designer Stephen West says of his pattern:

Daybreak is a semicircular shawl, featuring clear graphic stripes that echo a rising sun. The generous wingspan allows the fabric to drape comfortably around your shoulders and neck. There is plenty of room to play with color in the three sections of this arched shawl. There are three sizes available to knit this shawl.

The photo above shows the Daybreak shawl that I just finished, prior to blocking.  This link displays many more variations of the scarf. It is fun to see others' choices in fibers and colors.

Pattern availability can be accessed here for $6.  It comes in an immediate download.

After blocking, the scarf mimics the look of a sunrise: a very clever and fun pattern.  This is my just finished Daybreak Scarf knit in the medium size; it required about six 50 gram balls of wool, one of which was a sock yarn.

Tips on Painting Flowers

Thursday has become painting day for my friend Shirley and me.  We start at 9 AM, lunch around noon, and keep right on painting until about 3 PM.  We have enjoyed our time together, and mutual critiques have helped us both keep on track.  It sometimes takes another's  discerning eye to catch improvements that need to be made.

Painting flowers is mesmerizing for the artist because so many techniques are used to create shape and depth to both the petals and leaves surrounding the flower.

A bit of an internet search found here was helpful in yesterday's work:

•Don’t be afraid to use bright colours neat from the tube for expressing the colour of flower heads.

•Applying the sunlit or pale colours before the shaded areas will ensure the rich colours of the flower heads will not be contaminated by the dark colour

•Don’t use black to darken the colour of the petals, but its complimentary colour, which is any opposing colour on the colour wheel

•Periodically standing back from the painting and using a wider brush than one might expect, will add boldness to any floral painting

•A good quality sable is essential for detail. A number 3 or 6 round is often ideal

•Over-mixing a colour might kill the life out of a bright colour. Allowing a few streaks of a colour mix to remain will add expression and life to any flower painting.

This is excellent advice which I attempted to incorporate into two current works in progress (below).

More definition and color delineation is needed, but these two pieces are coming along.  Just viewing these petals on screen already shows several areas that need improvement.

Palisade Art Lovers 30th Annual Peach Blossom Show

For thirty years, the Palisade Art Lovers (PALS) have been displaying local artists' work at the Palisade, Colorado Memorial Building.

Palisade Art Lovers began in 1964 in the basement of the Christian Church in Palisade, Colorado by a group of Ladies who simply wanted to paint together. Eventually, they moved their meetings to the Palisade Community Center. Only a couple of original members are active in the group, but Palisade Art Lovers has grown to about 20-25 members. PALS members meet twice a month to paint together and critique each others paintings. A guest artist is invited each month to perform a demonstration using different media. The group's goal is to "Promote Art Locally". The group's major event is the Palisade Art Lovers Annual Peach Blossom Art Show in April.

You can access the 2010 Gallery of Art prepared by this group by clicking on this link.  The meeting schedule for the group may be found at this website.

Artwork for the 2010 show can be no larger than 40" in any direction; all media is accepted.  Deadline submission is March 31, 2010 and the show starts on April 15 and goes through April 18, 2010.  This link provides all necessary information for artistic submission.

Several years ago, I sold a large floral poppy painting in oils at this same show. This year, I'm preparing two florals for display, judging, and sale.

This is a picture of one of the mixed media pieces (watercolor and pastels), that I will be displaying at PALS:

  Hybrid Hibiscus

(27" x 32" framed in wood, double matted)

Come join us in Palisade, Colorado for a lovely show in mid April while promoting our local area artists. 20% of all sales goes to PALS.