Quack Quack or Going Quackers

Okay I know the title is kind of a lame attempt at quacking a joke (oops I did it again).  I do, however, have a reason.  After mostly recovering from a painful sinus infection I felt well enough last night to finish my most recent square called "Duck and Ducklings".

As I stated in my last post I did make some measuring mistakes and Vivian helped me to figure out how to correct them.  I think I did an okay job at making the last of the corrections on my own because I am very happy with the way the square came out. Now I am on a mission to find an art supply store that can sell me a proportional scale.  Next time I need to convert instuctions for a 9" block to a 12" block I will get it right!

Take a look...

Quilting errors and two more favorites

Alack alas I did not finish my next square in class last night so I cannot post it today.  However I am excited that I made a few measuring mistakes.  Why in the world would I be excited to have made mistakes in measuring?!?!  Well because I made them in class and therefore Vivian could show me how to correct the mistakes.  Check back soon to see if you think it looks mucked up.

In the mean time here are a couple of my favorite paintings from the past; a nautilus shell and a snapdragon.  I love flowers and you will see that I have a lot of them so the snapdragon will be just the first of many.  I also love the ocean (I know funny coming from someone who doesn't eat seafood and gets seasick).  When you look closely at sea shells, even in the seemingly dullest shells, you can find some beautiful colors. Enjoy!

Gentleman's Fancy? Why not Happy Square?

So I'm looking at the book that names all the quilting squares and I realize in my previous post I called the Gentleman's Fancy square Honeymoon.  So I've made a correction to the square name.

It would be a lot easier to remember if they just called them something like "Happy Square".

More than paint

There are so many ways in this world to be creative.  I love seeing different ways that people express themselves though painting, drawing, dance, music, theatre, writing and even television.

While I have mostly focused on paiting, I am expanding my horizons.  My lovely wife Kim encouraged me to take a quilting class with her.  We are about halfway through the lessons.  I find the combination of precision and math (for cutting and measuring) with the creativity of choosing and laying out your fabrics to be truly exciting. Our instructor, Vivian of Homestead Quilts in Bethel Connecticut, is not only a great lady she is a real hoot to be around.

Here are my first squares.  Some of them put together better than others.  I am fairly confident that all 9 that I am doing will come together well in the end.

#1 Gentleman's Fancy

# 2 Pinwheel

# 3 Ohio Star

#4 Yankee Puzzle

Check back for more squares and to see the final quilt!

A few of my favorites

So as promised I am adding a little of my existing art that I used to have posted on my website. Hopefully I can get a gallery set up to view what I post. Even better would be to have new pieces to post.

Since my wife, Kim, and I are taking a quilting course I would guess my next creation to be posted will be the squares that I sew. It is amazing how beautiful they can be. Just with the little bit of quilting I have done so far I have gained a lot of respect for quilters.

So here are a couple of my favorites for now (more to come):

This is an Iris about 4 ft. tall

This one is called "West". I saw this hill when I was in the New Mexico town of Abiquiu.

Starting New

For anyone who previously visited my now defunct website www.goosmanart.com I have decided to start posting my art online again. This time in the format (obviously) of a blog.

Today is just the start and therefore I am just going to post some old images (shortly). I have also been away from painting for a while, so I hope this blog will help with my inspiration to create.

Check back soon...