Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Things I am doing and reading and making.

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What are you doing in these strange and new times we find ourselves in. What are we all doing to stay sane, to use our time wisely and productively? I have been working on a few projects for the library (where I work part time in the normal world) but is of course closed now until we don’t know when.  I like to have the focus of these projects because they are not optional but still fun to complete, not a class I found on Instagram which I may or may not finish.  Having said that I have found so much goodness on the inter webs and most of it via Instagram. I made sourdough bread from a starter my friend shared with me and I have sown zinnia seeds given to me by the same lovely lady!  It is nice to be in a time of sharing and helping, I have made  some sketchbooks and given them to friends and shared novels when I finished them.  I do like to think that most of …

The 100 day project 2020

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The 100 day project starts tomorrow and I am in! I have done the project for about 5 years now and I have always got into it and ended up with a nice chunk of work. Some themes worked better than others and I hope this years will be a winner! In the past I have drawn mandalas and recorded ideas and last year I did 100 days of blueand I think this and the first mandala year are my favorites.   This year I have made a book and I am going to fill it with 100 days of black and white.  This way it will have a theme but I will also have enough scope for lots of ideas to fill it with.

Colour Found

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When I watched Kasia Avery at Everything Art UK using Stabilo Woody crayon/pencils in her art journal pages I thought ‘Hang on, I have seen those before and I am pretty sure I still have some’.  I scurried off to see where mine were and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had quite a nice collection of colours. I used them last when I was at Trent Polytechnic, soon to be Nottingham Trent University (yes I am that old!) way back in 1989-91.  The course was BA (hons) Fashion design and the illustrations were always on paper and lugged about in a giant black art folder which clunked my ankles on a regular basis! They were a joy to use then and they are still as lovely now, I am super pleased I kept them and I will use them until I can’t sharpen them any more. Happy Sunday x

Estate sale finds from the weekend.

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I do like a full estate sale and this one was full, full of dolls and beanie babies! Thankfully it was also full of old paper and books! It was pretty local and my husband had been the day before and picked me up this box of photos and the scrapbook full of film make up research from 1941. When he suggested going again on Saturday, I ditched my yoga class for some bargains. I found a modern paper cutter for $2 which was a good start but a bit boring. I seemed to wade through dolls, beanies and Garfield paraphernalia for the next few rooms and was beginning to feel deflated. The basement was full of Christmas decorations and some books so I had a browse through the books. I picked up a couple from the 1960’s which I can use images from and maybe use the covers for a sketchbook. I am not sure I have any plans for the 1966 calendar but it has some beautiful paintings in it. One last look …

The Books I read in 2019

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These are most of the books I read in 2019, only ‘most’ are in this pile because I own two which I can’t find for the life of me, I even wonder if they have been donated. The others are new at the library and all checked out and I forgot to add one to the pile! They are not a ‘best of’ selection as they are all the ones I read from the first page to the last.  I don’t finish a book if I don’t like it, so these are those I liked (and finished). I remember them all except one and I have more favorites than not. Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens.  I was late to this party as I didn’t really fancy it to be honest, but I am very happy that I eventually read it as I liked it, great characters helped by the main character’s talent for sketching and observing. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn.  This was a classic case of judging a book by it’s …

I like Friday. Art Witch Academy review.

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Art Witch Academy is a fairly new membership art website exploring the concept of ‘art as ritual and ritual as art’, which I like the sound of, so I asked the founding witches if I could have a preview of the Academy to review for Brush magazine. Brush is no longer in print, but the website still has lots of inspiration. The  A.W.A. website provides tutorials, inspiration and information with projects on a variety of art topics, all art witch and magic related. The witches run the academy in semesters and they are full of original projects and ideas. The Academy is the vision and work of three art witches, Vanessa (@dansmoncrane), Caroline (@freya.fennec) and Emily (@fern.and.oak.art).  Each has a unique take on their contribution to the Academy.  Their passion, knowledge and generosity is apparent in every part of AWA as you browse around the site looking at book recommendations via detailed seminars and tutorials. The website is clear and easy to navigate and revisit to carry on with a class or to follow an …

Snow on a Monday

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We have had a snowy day today here in the mid-west as the temperatures plummeted from the sunny sixties yesterday straight down into the frosty twenties by mid morning today. I braved the snow and wind to walk down to the YMCA to pilates class, I arrived looking like a snowman and with a slightly damp mat!  I enjoyed the work out though, so worth the wintery walk, and I got to stomp through the snowy woods and discover that one of my winter boots has a hole in the back heel…..ewwww wet cold sock… Apart from the trip out to pilates I have mainly been drinking tea, eating home made gooey butter cookies and doing a little bit of art journaling.  Oh, and I vacuumed the floor!! Hope you have had a good start to the week. Happy Monday x  

I like Friday – trip to see the Ai WeiWei Bare Life exhibit

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I liked the bikes! I went with a friend to see the Bare Life exhibit by Ai Weiwei at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum here in St Louis and it was  well worth a visit. There is so much to see and learn here, and all for free!  If you are in the St Louis area, be sure to see this exhibit. Of course the other galleries of the art museum are worth a look too, I loved this mini hall of mirrors in it’s own tower. Happy Friday x  

Get Messy Season of Reflection week 1

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For this season I explored the Japanese stab stitch book binding technique.  I have to admit that I have always looked past this method as I didn’t think it would be a great journal binding as it doesn’t lay flat readily.  I always thought it looked too bulky to work with the papers I like to journal on and I was right, it would not work very well with a  watercolor paper even though I am sure it could be persuaded to open flat. So I explored some different papers. I followed the advice of the experts and went for the four hole binding to start with and I used a soft unbleached mulberry paper and my trusty waxed linen thread.  It opens nicely and I like the folds at the outside edge of the book. This technique does not require folded signatures, you can use single sheets or folded sheets with the fold at the spine or the open edge.  I am thinking of all the possibilities to be had with this book binding …