Maria Wulf Full Moon Fiber Art
Jon and His Werewolf Cane
I took this picture of Jon and his werewolf cane as we waited in the train station on Friday. He’s looking pretty sharp with his new hat and cane.
I’m a big fan of the cane. I’ve always loved the movie The Wolfman with Lon Chaney Jr. and when Jon said he needed a cane, a cane with a silver wolf on it was the first thing I thought of.
We watched the movie a few weeks ago. I haven’t seen it in years but still loved the fog-filled scenes in the woods with the big trees, Larry Talbot’s sad eyes, and Maleva’s mysterious calm.
Ready For Spring
The hens are out and about.
They’ve been spending a lot of time under the lilac bushes scratching around for bugs and digging out nests in the dirt. They can’t go too deep, the earth is still frozen, but it’s another sign that the days are warming up even if the snow still flies and the wind is icy cold.
They like the rest of us on the farm are ready for the first day of Spring.
A Sweet Weekend With Emma and Robin
We dropped Jon’s daughter Emma and his granddaughter Robin off at the train station a few hours ago. When they left the ground was covered in a thin layer of snow and the hens wouldn’t come out of the coop. Robin, who loves feeding the chickens, fed them in the coop, which made everyone happy.
Yesterday we did everything snow.
Robin and I threw snowballs at the marble statue, played baseball with a stick and snowballs, threw snowballs and rocks over the pasture fence, made a snowman (Robin’s first), and sledded down the hill in the barnyard (the sheep and donkeys kept their distance a bit incredulous I think).
I enjoy spending time with Robin. She’s outgoing, fun, curious, and smart. We played well together.
When we were back in the house she showed me how she draws people, dogs, ladders, and waffles and then figured out how to draw sheep and donkeys too. She and Jon had a great time blowing the paper off the end of staws at each other (Jon bought a whole box of straws for the visit).
For a while, Jon turned into a six-year-old, something I don’t get to see very often.
It was a sweet visit and Jon took lots of pictures which he posted on his blog. I didn’t take any. For some reason, I just didn’t think of it. But Jon got enough for all of us.
By the time Jon and I got back from the train station, the snow was mostly melted and the hens were out. The donkeys and sheep were at the gate looking for dinner and I was ready for a nap.
Birds In Winter
It was the sparrows in a tangle of vines, in the back pasture, that gave me the idea.
The vines had a roof of snow and inside of them was a cozy world for the birds to flit through. I watched for some time as they hopped from vine to vine flying in and out of the tangle.
The next morning I woke in the dark. I lay in bed thinking about how to create the birds and vines on a potholder. I wanted the birds to have some color and after some time I had the idea to paint the birds and stitch the vines.
But when I got to my studio and began making what I’d seen in my mind, it didn’t work.
So I decided to figure out how to paint the birds first, then see where it went.
All winter I’ve been watching the birds at the feeder from my studio window.
When the bright red cardinals started showing up, their color was shocking. Not that I haven’t seen it before in real life and reproduced in so many ways. But it was this winter when I understood why they make such an impression.
How their bit of color is nourishing.
So when I started practicing the birds, red was my first choice.
After I got the bird shape I wanted, it still wasn’t right. But it fell into place when I stitched around the red paint, taking guidance from the paint but not strictly adhering to it.
Then I used the idea of the twisted vines to create the lines(vines) to connect the birds. I framed the birds with denim to make them into potholders.
I can’t remember ever making such a simple design. But it satisfies my need for expressing my feeling about birds in winter.
When I was done I painted some blackbirds.
Ravens keep coming to me and I wanted to represent them too. I’ll stitch around these in black and have a few more ideas about the lines that will connect them.
A Visit From Emma And Robin
Jon’s daughter Emma and granddaughter Robin are on their way to the farm. We’ll pick them up at the train station this afternoon and spend the weekend together.
If it doesn’t rain, we may get some sledding in. There’s a nice hill in the barnyard that leads to the back pasture. I’m not sure what the sheep and donkeys will think of it all, but we’ll find out.
I’m not used to being around kids, and I did learn some things the last time Robin was here.
One of them was about hot chocolate. Last visit I made hot chocolate with Almond milk and Ovaltine. It wasn’t a big hit with Robin. So this morning we bought some real milk and Swiss Miss with marshmallows.
Wearing Breakfast
The sheep and donkeys are not happy with the March snow. Even though it’s melting the ground is still covered. Without me to follow, they’re not inclined to go all the way into the back pasture to chew on bushes and vines.
So they nibble on the logs I put in the polebarn from the apple tree and make a lot of noise every time they see or hear me.
It is something to hear when all the sheep start baaing at the same time. No two sound alike and the variety of sounds they make is impressive. Some baas are soft and gentle (although none as soft as Pumpkin’s was) others are low and booming and some hoarse and scratchy.
This morning they dug into the second-cut hay, wearing as much of it as they ate.
More Tomorrow
I began working on a new idea for a potholder today. It was inspired by a tangle of vines filled with birds that I saw in the back pasture yesterday.
I’d write about it, but I’m too tired. I just finished packing up the Cool Cat Potholders that I sold today (Thank you to everyone who bought them, they are sold out) but it’s late and now I’m ready to quit work for the night.
I’ll write all about them tomorrow.
Amish Buggy In The Snow
Jon’s Pink Flower Postcards, Second In The Series, For Sale
This is the second in Jon’s series of Flower Postcards. A pink begonia spotted with drops of dew.
Jon started taking pictures of the flowers he grew in his raised bed garden last summer. When the winter came he wondered what he would take pictures of that would be comparable. I didn’t doubt that he’d find beauty in the grey skies and bright snowy landscapes.
But he also started posting pictures of the flowers he took during the winter. This started a whole flower-sharing series on his blog.
It also inspired us to print some of his flowers on postcards to send as thank-you cards to people who donate to the Army of Good and his blog. Then we decided it made sense to sell the flower postcards too.
The first was a Purple Flower and now this Pink Begonia.
Jon’s 4″x6′ Pink Flower Postcards come in a pack of 6 for $15 including shipping. You can buy them in my Etsy Shop, just click here.
Or you can email me at [email protected]. I take checks, PayPal and Venmo.
