Whispers in the trees at Dawes....dawn has arrived

I have had a long day ...been up with the little pup after Ken leaves for work and I caught a beautiful sunrise outside on my front porch. The rays of sunshine seemed to wash over me as I prepared for my day...laundry...making lunch... collecting more supplies from my upstairs home studio. It is funny how 13 miles south ...and I feel as if I have gone on a retreat from the world. The quiet...the space...the trees and young sprouts coming up from a winter's sleep...the songs of small birds announcing their arrival ...the gentle breezes are all parts of a symphony for the sense. The earth has a rich fragrance this time of year...the soil is coming alive once again and welcomes the warmth of the sunshine and the arrival of tomorrow's spring showers. This is a real performance of Nature's ballet moving back into the seasonal cycles of rebirth and life. Enjoy my photos and now I need to go and renew my dyeing rules and regulations from Ann Johnston's wonderful books ...she was one of my favorite teachers from about 20 years ago. I also received Seth Apter's new book The Pulse and I want to dive in....am I a greedy girl or what??? Thank you for all you are giving me vicariously through the sweet encouragement of your gentle words. Peace be with you, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Tea for Tuesdays at Dawes...

We started this morning... with bitter cold and a few snowflakes. All of my Spring delights are rising up from the winter's clutter of debris and dry leaves. I am hopeful we are not going to experience winter's rage late in March or even April. Roxie and Rosie seem to really enjoy the warmth of the sunshine in the afternoon... I enjoyed sitting on the back deck watching their enthusiastic leaps and bounds. After a day in the wet studio ...I made fresh salmon with lemon butter and a baked potato with a trio selection of grapes for our fruit/salad selection. I made some green tea today with the lemon zest for my Tuesday celebration of embracing the warmth of the day.

I worked on cutting another bolt of fabric today and washed it this afternoon. I made my soda ash solution and began soaking the heaviest ...hopefully my last delivery will arrive tomorrow. I worked in a silent review of painting directly onto the fabrics with my Seta COLOURS. I layered the colors wet into wet ...allowing it to dry slightly and then building up another layer of sheer color and some shimmer. I absolutely love the direct application with the large fluffy brushes...I can practice my brush strokes as I move into painting with the thicken dyes. I have to remind myself ...patience...patience... and more patience. I hope to prepare some of the dye recipes tomorrow.. I am anxious and yet ready to begin the big pieces of fabric.

I hope you are enjoying good weather now and being creative in your studios. Martha Marshall has shared a couple tutorial videos on mono-printing with me that I look for to experimenting with them on fabrics. I am really immersed ...in this whole process. Blessings and here's to a peaceful Wednesday! Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Happy March and the beginning of a big adventure....

Happy ...that is how I feel about the new temporary studio at Dawes Arboretum. Ken helped me move the heavy stuff and even then I realized today I had forgotten a few more essentials like the iron and ironing board ...the camera ....the dye recipes...a few more ideas and sketches for the stencils I am cutting. I also needed the carving tools and exacto knife for my safety cut stamps I am working on... I organized them on Sunday when I was still looking for my Ann Johnston dye books. She was an incredible instructor and friend who has influenced my works over the past years. I also need to go to the bank so I can cover the checks for supplies I have been buying during the last couple of days. My YUDU is in the studio and I have picked up about 10 different inks to explore screen printing later after I finish the large background for the flutter by panels dancing in the trees. It is funny but working now...with the mild winter month's weather and knowing I will be creating all through the Spring arrival! Now you can see a little bit.... I am happy. The maintenance men came in the studio throughout my day just to see what was going on. They were installing a new set of bathrooms so I had a bit of company ...Ken found an old radio and tape player ...yes tape player but I do have plenty of tapes from the ...could it be the 1980's? At least I can pick up NPR for the afternoon shows. Well I will probably be brief and maybe even sporadic in my blog posts...I am knee deep into a wonderful ...growing ... adventure in Green. Imagine and Live in peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart








































































I would like you to meet Roberto ..86 and a wonderful soloist who sings around the room at Bob Evans where ken and I had breakfast on Saturday!

March came in like a lamb...and happy birthday Dr. Seuss...

Yesterday was a wonderful day when I went up to Medina near Cleveland to visit in Hallow's paper Outlet. I had a wonderful time ..and found some incredible handmade papers and card stock for $1.25 a pound...Yes I said a pound. I also found card selections for 10 for 95 cents with envelops. I bought several scrap packages with interesting papers to create a collage to donate to The Midland Theater's Ovation auction on May 4TH this year. I know I have a very big job to do for my beloved Dawes Arboretum so I wanted some elegant papers to weave and create a collage to celebrate the last 10 years since the reopening of their doors. I think I may have an idea already but as you know process takes time to cook on the back burner. I found glassine envelops to create ten small secrets about the theater...we shall see what develops.

I went in today to my downtown location...having two spaces is going to take some getting used to...organization is going to be my focus. I have organized the baskets of specialized brushed, the small and large stencils, the sponges and sponge rollers to add design elements plus the oil pastels etc to make drawing marks. I have two large boxes of screen printing supplies, Seta Colours for painting, Procion fiber reactive dyes and soda ash and urea and all the mixing tools. I have collected 12 five gallon buckets and layers of plastic to cover the tables and print making spaces. Can you tell I am excited.???

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!!! I ordered a new book of the Lorax to move with me into the Dawes studio space. I am thrilled this idea and creation is coming to fruition almost two years from the idea I had in a dream and last year on Arbor Day I was volunteering at Dawes with the children making leaf prints and rubbings to follow through with the proper identification of trees and their leaves.

We have had some terrible weather forecasts and thunderstorms ...my families in Kentucky and Tennessee are safe and sound from this progression of tornadoes that have moved across the Mid-west today. I am so grateful that our temperatures stayed cool so we did not have the heat to encourage the strong tornadoes forming here. I have a busy day planned tomorrow so I need to get to bed. Have a great weekend in your studios and get out a beloved Dr. Seuss book just for the heart memories. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

p.s. We all rewarded ourselves at a wonderful Italian deli and bakery for lunch when we finished our paper chase! And when we got home Rosie and Roxie player a rousing game of hide and seek around the living room. In the end of this playtime...Roxie as exhausted and Rosie went off to get on the big bed in our room.