Category: Photography

Posted in bipolar disorder, Photography

Mood Swings

Posted on by debthumanblog

Is the bipolar disorder getting worse as I grow older? Or am I finally starting to take care of myself? 

I seem to have more mood swings now than when I was younger. Used to be, it didn’t matter how I felt; I went to work, walked in to court, and represented clients. Nothing that happens in court is ever about me. It’s about the person standing next to me so why care about my mood.

What about the mood swings? There were obvious manic episodes. Like the day I threw an inch-thick pile of discovery at a witness and told the witness to go through the pile and tell me what else he had refused to turn over to me. I actually got away with that. Or the time I told a client to stop speaking immediately or I would staple his lips together. I got away with that, too. 

I didn’t realize I had a problem until I screamed at a secretary. She made a joke about me volunteering to cook the turkey for the office Christmas party. I backed her into a wall as I screamed that whoever put the fucking turkey on the menu should have to cook the fucking turkey. I made an appointment to see my doctor the next day and started on Effexor that evening. It is a sad and terrifying statement about my office that no one noticed my behavior was out of control. 

Now that I’m retired, I notice every mood swing. I think. Frequently, it’s difficult for me to notice I’ve started to move away from center. I was depressed the other day. I was above suicidal but significantly below center. I had to take a second antidepressant. My doctor knows I do this when I’m significantly depressed. Earlier in the week, I had a severe manic episode. It snowed overnight. Although the university was closed until 11:00 AM, Jim got up at 4:30 AM and went to work. I’ve been battling insomnia and had only three hours sleep. Then Brady ate my hearing aids. At least she didn’t swallow them and the damage she did chewing on them could be fixed. I spiraled so far above center that I was unable to calm down. I needed to go to school for my photography class. If I took enough klonopin that I could start to calm down, I’d be unable to drive. If I did nothing, I couldn’t function. Brushing my teeth was the extent of my self care that day. Fortunately, my photography class was held via zoom rather than in person. I didn’t need to drive anywhere, so I took a day’s worth of klonopin in one dose. I calmed down. 

The next day, I took my chewed hearing aids to the place where I got them. A half hour later, I left with hearing aids that were fixed at no charge. 

I wonder. Is the bipolar disorder really getting worse? Or am I starting to take care of myself so I’m noticing the swings? Or am I entering the Art Zone – that place where the world disappears – less frequently?

As frustrating as the photography class is, I am learning things. Embarrassing things. Things that after 42 years of serious photography I ought to know but don’t. I discovered there’s a light meter in the viewfinder. I rarely use live view because I do so much outdoor photography and the live view monitor is useless in bright sunlight. I use the viewfinder. And never noticed the light meter. Last week, I learned that I can set the focus on my camera for fine detail. Years of macro photography, and I had no idea that setting existed. 

I did some snow photography this week and used the fine detail focus setting to get some ice crystal shots. 

I sold two designs from my Spoonflower shop this week. You can find my shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

You can find my online store, Deb Thuman Art here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com My store is filled with jewelry and one of a kind art.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in anxiety, Judiasm, Photography, Suicide

Life As I See It

Posted on by debthumanblog

I did the final shots for Shalom Shabbat and Yahrzeit. Yahrzeit was shot at the beginning of the yahrzeit for the person I knew who committed suicide three years ago. Then, I let the candle burn down and thought about how the person’s life burned down and disappeared. I still don’t understand why the suicide happened and I’m not enthralled with the idea I will never understand. This is the first time I was able to say kaddish. I broke down after the first two words and had to force myself to say the rest of the prayer.

Shabbat Shalom
Yahrzeit

I’ve taken a few more shots for the sense of place assignment for my photography class. I made the decision that I’ll do the assignments that interest me and forget about the rest. It’s a difficult class. The subject matter isn’t difficult – it’s the class itself that is causing severe anxiety. The class is taught by a grad student. I’ve had grad student teachers before and some are fantastic. This grad student is far from fantastic. She proclaimed Annie Leibowitz is a fashion photographer. Certainly what John Lennon was wearing in the famous shot taken a few hours before he was killed was fashion forward. I had no idea Rolling Stone had a fashion section. Yes, Leibowitz shot several covers for Vogue, but those shots are clearly portrait shots. To shoot a good portrait shot, you have to focus on the person’s eyes. Fashion photography focuses on the clothing. The covers Leibowitz shot focus on the face and the clothing is an after thought. The student next to me said that Georgia O’Keeffe was “some sort of artist, I think.” I live in southern New Mexico and it’s impossible for me to imagine any art student here isn’t familiar with Georgia O’Keeffe’s work. I try not to have physical reactions to things the other students say, but I did a face plant when I heard that. 

I started playing around with a photo of a bunny-munched prickly pear cactus pad.

I got out the macro lens to shoot yucca seed pods.

Apparently 14 years is the lifespan of an iPod. I had to break down and buy an iPod Touch. When I want music, I want music. I don’t want texts. I don’t want phone calls. I don’t want games. If I’m going to watch a movie, it won’t be on a 4” screen. I blasted off all the apps I have never used on my iPhone and certainly would never use on an iPod. Next, I had to buy new earbuds. The ones I had will only pair on one ear. I bought a set of JBL earbuds. They stay in my ears and both pair with the iPod. 

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

Posted in Emotions, Fiber, Grief, Photography, Quilts, Suicide

Candlelight

Posted on by debthumanblog

I’m taking a photography class at the local university. The class is being taught by a grad student. I’m the only one in the class who has worked with film. My first single lens reflex camera was a Valentine’s Day present in 1980. Canon – AT1, the last fully manual camera Canon made. I loved that camera, I still have it, and it’s older than everyone in my class. My current camera, a DSLR Canon 90D, was a Valentine’s Day gift in 2020.

We’re assigned to take a series of photos showing a sense of place, but not the usual chamber of commerce type shots.

These are studies for two photos.

Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat shalom means sabbath peace. I made the quilt after a terrorist armed with an assault rifle walked into the Tree of Life synagog in Pittsburgh and killed 11 people. When congregants were allowed back into the sanctuary, they saw blood spatter and brain matter on the walls. The blue in the middle is Chai, the Hebrew word meaning Life. On shabbat, two candles are lit to celebrate the beginning of shabbat. The candleholders – which can be elaborate or simple – are a ceramic pair I made specifically for shabbat candles. The final shot will be taken after dark and with the candles lit. I wanted to get as much of the shot as possible set up in advance.

Yahrzeit

Three years ago, someone I knew killed himself. Tonight begins his yahrzeit – the anniversary of his death. The quilt is one I made in an attempt to make sense of his suicide. I’ll be taking the formal shot after sundown and lighting the yahrzeit candle.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

My store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

Posted in Fiber, Peripheral neuropathy, Photography, Sewing

Progress???

Posted on by debthumanblog

I’m still decluttering and organizing the sewing room. It seems as if I get one spot clean, and the mess moves to another spot. 

I’m finding odds and ends of fabric and I’ve an idea how to use those. The city of Las Cruces has a new ordinance – no single use plastic bags. If a vendor puts your purchases into a paper bag, the vendor must charge 10 cents per bag. Then the vendor must give 5 cents from each bag to the city. Eventually, I’ll go back to setting up at the Farmers Market. I don’t want to keep a second set of books to record how many paper bags and then fill out extra forms to give the city a nickel per bag. The solution: fabric bags. Bags will be assorted sizes. Either buy my art and don’t expect a fabric bag free of charge, buy a bag along with my art, buy just a bag, or bring a bag with you. I’m considering making some larger bags and sewing zippered pockets onto the bag. It’s nice not to have to fish for your car keys after shopping. Just find the zippered pocket. Some bags will be muslin. Some bags will be upholstery fabric. Some bags will have some sort of applique made from small odds and ends of fabric. More than 10 years ago, a friend bought one of my fancier upholstery bags to give to her granddaughter. That bag went through high school, college, and is now going through grad school. 

I have been doing a bit of photography. Last night, there was a smiling moon and I’ve been wanting to shoot a smiling moon. Ideally, I would have used my 150-600mm zoom lens and a tripod. Instead, I had a neuropathy flare up. CBD massage oil, CBD oil put into a capsule, gabapentin and marijuana. I wasn’t as steady on my feet as I would have liked and I don’t want to destroy my photography gear. Instead, I used my 18-400mm zoom lens and skipped the tripod. I’m not in love with this shot, but I’m not disappointed, either. 

Art is a reliable way to kill neuropathy pain, so I’ve been doing some shooting when I’m in pain. That gave me golden hour shots and some sunset shots. 

This one was taken about 45 minutes before sundown. These are the Dona Ana Mountains about six miles behind my house. One of these days, I need to go hiking in these mountains. They are actually part of the caldera of a very long-dead volcano.

I’ve been playing with my photos again and will eventually turn these photos into fabric designs. 

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

My store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

Posted in Brady, Fiber, Photography, PTSD, Sewing

Decluttering. Organizing. Cleaning.

Posted on by debthumanblog

Sewing room decluttering, organizing, and deep cleaning continues. I found three incredibly dusty thread organizers I had forgotten I had. This is good because I have more thread than the new thread organizers I bought can hold. I’m putting together a box of goodies to be donated to a thrift store. I’ve kept the wooden thread spools because of memories. My grandfather would hammer four nails into the top of an empty wooden thread spool and I’m make yarn ropes. This was a way to keep me occupied, and I thought they were wonderful toys. I’ve no idea what I’m going to do with the spools, but I can’t bring myself to throw them out. Some memories need to be kept.

I’ve put 84 new deigns into my Spoonflower shop including several whole cloth designs. You can find them here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

We’ve had some wild weather the last few days and I photographed the storm blowing in and the resulting rain and mountain eating fog. 

Brady is now 35 pounds. Jim took her to the shop and let her zoom. Here, she’s taking a brief rest. She’s got boundless energy. She plays hard, then she sleeps hard to prepare for the next zoom.

PTSD sometimes takes a while to appear. I’m now having flashbacks from the hell I went through at the public defender office from February 2007 to November 12, 2015 when I retired. I’ll have to work on this with my psychologist. I believe flashbacks are my brain’s way of indicating that I can now process the emotions I had during the trauma. I get tired of the flashbacks. I lived through the crap once and I’ve no desire to live through it a second time.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My online store, Deb Thuman Art, is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

Posted in Beads, Brady, Child abuse, Fiber, Jewelry, Memories, Photography, Quilts

Maybe Making Progress

Posted on by debthumanblog

I’ve been making progress on the spirit dancing quilt. I gave up on using iridescent fabrics because they just didn’t work against a dark background. Instead, I’ve re-designed the quilt and now it’s about dancing in the place where I buried the ghosts. This is one of the trails at Rushford Lake. We had a cottage there. I used to walk these trails every weekend because I needed to get away from my toxic family. One summer, my mother decided to take my siblings out to the lake for the week and left me home to babysit the drunk. I’d spend the day going through cookbooks to find something interesting to make for dinner. Eventually, the drunk would stagger in and announce he had already eaten dinner. I asked my mother if I could go out to the lake with her and my siblings. No. That’s how much she hated me. Later, I discovered that although my siblings and spouses could go to the lake and stay at the cottage, I couldn’t. In 2018, we traveled to Rushford Lake and I buried the ghosts that had haunted me for 50 years. 

I’m not sure if I like what I’ve done so I’m letting the quilt sit for a few days. Frequently, something I thought looked terrible, looked much better the next day. 

Brady looks so innocent when she’s asleep. Usually, I don’t like a photo to be this grainy, but I like how this shot came out. I used my cell phone for this shot. 

I’ve been playing with fabric designs. 

Eventually, these will be in my Spoonflower shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

I’ve been playing with beads The blue stones on this necklace are recycled glass.

The pendant on this necklace is agate. Eventually, these will go into my store, Deb Thuman Art http://www.DebThumanArt.com. 

I’m linking with Nina Marie. http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in Beads, Depression, Judiasm, Photography

Let The Light Shine

Posted on by debthumanblog

I’ve been working with beads this week. I have more snowflakes. The snowflake frames come in 3.75” and 6”. It’s interesting working with symmetry and finding beads that work well with each other. With necklaces, I use a necklace board that has channels for beads and inch marks to let me know how long the necklace will be. With the snowflake frames, I have to find beads that work well together but still fit on the frame. 

I’m having a hard time photographing the snowflakes. I want a blurred background and the entire snowflake in focus.

This is the setup I used to shoot snowflakes.

Once I get decent photos, I’ll be putting the snowflakes in my store, Deb Thuman Art http://www.DebThumanArt.com

I’ve had some sales of the designs in my Spoonflower shop, https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman It’s exciting to discover people like my designs enough to buy them.

I wanted to test out my new, cataract-free eyes, so I started working with 0/8 seed beads to make a beaded cuff. I haven’t figured out the best strength for reading glasses yet and I’m not able to work well with 0/11 although I’ve been trying. 

This one is made with 11/0 seed beads and it’s not finished.

This one is made with 8/0 beads and it needs a clasp.

Used to be, I’d go into a major depression the third week of November and stay depressed until New Year’s Day. If you had to suffer through holidays with my family, you’d be depressed, too. The screaming. The fighting. The crying. The yelling. For a while, we took off on a vacation over Christmas so we wouldn’t have to spend time with the families. My sister-in-law said we were just running away. Damn straight. 

It’s been a long time since I got depressed in mid-November and stayed depressed. This year, something odd happened. I decided to make Green Stuff. Every Thanksgiving, my mother would make Green Stuff. It was the only enjoyable part of holiday dinners. It took a while to find a recipe. It’s a lime Jell-o salad with whipped cream and crushed pineapple. I wanted to make it on Thanksgiving, but I forgot to tell Jim to buy whipped cream. He went grocery shopping today and discovered three stores are out of heavy cream. He bought a can of Red-I Whip so he could make puppaccinos for Brady. I’ll be using Red-I Whip in place of whipped cream. I think it’s a sign of significant healing that I want to make Green Stuff this year. 

I’m still suffering from malaise. I printed out a Seamwork pattern, taped the pages together to form one big pattern. Now, I have to transfer the pattern to an interfacing that has a grid on it. Or not. Maybe I’ll live dangerously and just cut out the paper pattern. I’ve marked the lines for my size. I want to make this loose, oversized dress so I will have a cover up for when I model nude. Can’t very well walk naked down the hallway to get to the ladies’ room. 

Hanukkah starts tonight. My favorite Hanukkah store comes from an article I wrote many years ago. I wrote an article about Judaic collectibles for AntiqueWeek. I visited a museum in one of the larger temples in Buffalo, NY. Among the fascinating objects was a small menorah. During WWII, a soldier took a tin that had held K-rations and 9 bullet casings. He attached the casings to the inside of the tin to make a menorah. Hanukkah celebrates the triumph of a small band of Jewish soldiers who vanquished Antiochus IV and re-took the temple.  During a time when Hitler was trying to wipe out all the Jews in Europe, a Jewish soldier celebrated Hanukkah. 

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in Beads, Brady, Jewelry, Photography
Posted on by debthumanblog

Art

My eyesight is getting better each day. My right eye is 20/25 and my left eye is 20/30. Before cataract surgery, my vision was worse than 20/200. It’s interesting having to learn to take off my glasses when I need to see distance and to put on my glasses when I need to see things up close. 

I now have a pair of reading glasses, each with a beaded string, in my office, my sewing room, the living room (so I can knit while watching TV) and in my purse. And I have a pair of decent sunglasses. Used to be, I had bifocals, computer glasses, and sunglasses for distance only. 

I’ve been working with watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons to make backgrounds for fabric designs. I like how the colors blend when I brush water over the paper. Spoonflower had a sale and free shipping so I ordered proofs for 84 designs. Several of the designs are whole cloth designs to be added to the whole cloth designs already in my Spoonflower shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

Setting up at the Farmers & Craft Market isn’t an option. Jim is getting physical therapy for the repair to a torn rotator cuff and a torn bicep. EZ-Up is a misnomer. It doesn’t go up easy, and it requires two people to set it up. Then weights have to be attached to each corner to keep the EZ-Up from becoming a Flying-Up. Jim doesn’t have full range of motion in his arm yet. Instead, I’ll be adding things to my store, Deb Thuman Art, each week. My store is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

I made some snowflakes. I bought some small frames and some large frames. These are made with the small frames. I also made a beaded string for reading glasses. The snowflakes and beaded string will be going into my store in the next couple days. I need to figure out pricing. It’s interesting trying to find a price point where I make a profit, but I haven’t priced the piece so high that few people would be interested in buying the piece. No, I haven’t figured out a magic formula.

Brady held still long enough for me to focus the camera. She’s eight months old and weighs 33 pounds.

I shot the sunset the other day.

Jim went to a thrift store and came home with a Nordic Ware snowman cake pan. $6.00. I feel a pound cake coming on.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in anxiety, Beads, bipolar disorder, Fiber, Mental Illness, Photography, Quilts

Finding My Way

Posted on by debthumanblog

I’ve been working on whole cloth quilt designs and I’ve gotten proofs for 42 of the designs. They are now in my Spoonflower shop here:  Click on “New” and all the newest designs will pop up. My shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

I got my Pfizer booster shot on Thursday. On Friday, I had a reaction which wasn’t unexpected. I had a reaction after the second Pfizer shot. Brady knew there was something wrong. She insisted on sleeping in the bed with me. She covered me with puppy kisses because she’s convinced puppy kisses will cure everything that could be wrong with her human, and she brought me some of her toys to play with.

It’s not always easy living with bipolar disorder. In mid-September, I had reason to believe I had been exposed to covid. Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I could have a breakthrough infection or worse, be shedding covid virus while asymptomatic. I got the first available appointment for a covid test. The results were supposed to be available within 24 hours. The results were 9 hours late. By that time, I was having stress pains in my chest. Fortunately, the test was negative. 

Once I have a major anxiety attack, I’m susceptible to severe stress pain for a while. A friend passed away recently and the funeral was yesterday. For an assortment of reasons, there are people I never want to see again who were likely to be at the funeral. I made a plan. If I absolutely had to interact with one of these people, I’d say hello and walk off. Even with a plan designed to spare me the greatest amount of stress from seeing any of these people again, I still had severe stress pain. Fortunately, none of the people I never want to see again were there. 

Today, safe from people who tried so hard to hurt me, I’m having major stress pain. I’ve taken extra klonopin. My choices were increase the dose temporarily or have chest pain for a couple days. 

Now that I can see distances clearly, I’ve noticed I have invisible eyelashes. So I bought some mascara. Being a bit eccentric and not wanting boring brown or black mascara, I bought a tube of purple and a tube of green. If you’re going to a funeral, make sure your mascara is waterproof. Mine wasn’t. I had to try to soak up liquid purple mascara before mascara ran down my cheeks.

One of the side effects of cataract surgery is the need for reading glasses and the never ending search for my reading glasses. To that end, I’ve got more than one pair. One for my office, one for the living room so I can knit while watching TV and one for my sewing room. I’ve made beaded strings to replace the ugly string that allowed my glasses to go around my neck. 

Last night, I looked up at the sky and saw a thin slice of moon. I tried to get both the moon slice and the tree in focus but couldn’t. So I have three versions of a moon shot. 

Slice of moon. Nice, but boring.

Fuzzy moon. Almost, but I really wanted both in focus.

Moon in hiding. I like this one the best.

My online store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in Fiber, Jewelry, Photography, Quilts, Service Dog, Sketchbook

I Can See Again!!!

Posted on by debthumanblog

Both eyes are fixed and I’m seeing in stereo again. This is good. I’m learning to grab reading glasses when I need to see the computer, read or sew. I used to be able to read and sew without glasses. My eyes have been corrected to overcome the extreme nearsightedness. The right eye, the one that was fixed first, was tested last week. 20/25. The left eye was fixed this past Friday and, although fuzzy, my eye was 20/70. The fuzziness has now disappeared. The vision in my left eye will improve. I’m left-eye dominant so I’m back to being able to look at the world from the left rather than try to look from the right. I need to relearn how to use my camera. For wildlife and landscapes, I would wear prescription sunglasses that were single vision for distance. I’d look underneath my glasses to see the camera settings. Now, I cannot see the settings without reading glasses. This relearning is going to take a while. 

I just put 42 new designs into my Spoonflower shop. I’ve ordered proofs for 42 whole cloth quilt designs. I find writing tags for my designs tedious, and finally decided to skip writing tags to say what the design could be used for. Fabric is fabric. You want to make lingerie from fabric that has a street sign pattern? Go ahead. There are no lingerie police. You want your yoga pants to match your wallpaper? Go ahead. There are no yoga pants police or wallpaper police. You decide what you want to make from my designs. I’m now writing tags just to list the colors and explain the design.  

I ordered proofs of 42 whole cloth quilts on Friday. I should be getting my proofs in a couple weeks. I’m excited about putting them in my Spoonflower shop. 

I’ve been working on figuring out how I want to quilt Ketamine Brain.

I thought about using a different color thread for each quilting design, but now that I see it, I don’t like that idea. I’ll have to look at this for a bit before I make any decisions. If I go with this design, it will be the most complicated quilting design I’ve ever done.

While I was looking for an empty page in my sketchbook, I came across this sketch.

I’m not sure if I want to turn it into a quilt.

I’ve been working on fabric designs again.

I need to think about adding jewelry to my on-line store, Deb Thuman Art. I had intended to sell my latest creations at the local farmers & craft market this month. That’s not going to happen. Jim had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff a couple weeks ago. He’s not going to be in any shape to put up an EZ-Up. Don’t let the name fool you – it’s only “easy” if two people are getting it set up. Brady isn’t ready to be at the farmers & craft market. Too many people, too many dogs, too many interesting smells. We can’t leave her home because we will be gone about eight hours. That’s too long to leave her in her crate without her having an accident. I’m not interested in finding a gallery in which to sell my work. I, and everyone else I know, has had a miserable experience with galleries. Damaged work. Payments not made. It’s not worth the headache. 

http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.comI’m linking with Nina Marie here: 

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

My on-line store is here: http://wwwDebThumanArt.com

Posted in Fiber, Photography, Quilts

I’ll Be So Happy When I Can See With Both Eyes

Posted on by debthumanblog

It’s not easy sewing with only one eye. My computer glasses will help with the eye that has the lens I was born with, but not with the eye with the new lens. Working without glasses, I can see up close with the eye with the original lens, but not with the eye that has the new lens. I’ve tried taking the left lens out of an old pair of bifocals. I can see with the eye with the original lens, but only distance with the eye with the new lens. PITA. 

I discovered I can’t drive. I’m not seeing enough clearly. I’ll be able to drive again when I get my other eye fixed.

I finished the prototype for a messenger bag. I’ll have to use it for a while to see how I would like to change the pattern. I managed to twist the handle when I attached it. I’m not in the mood to remove one end and remove the twist. It stays as it is. It’s too difficult to see what I’m doing.

There are outside pockets on the front and the back, a pocket on the flap, and inside pockets on the front and the back. I don’t know what happened with the color. The bag is really gray and tan. I used upholstery fabric for the outside of the bag. Jim used to work for Gunlocke – a company that makes high end furniture. He could buy leftover fabric from the company store for $1.00 a yard. That was 21 years ago. I still have a generous supply of upholstery fabric.

I don’t know what went wrong with the color. The bag is really gray and tan.

I’ve been working on cheater blocks which I’m told are now called whole cloth quilts. I start with a background, and then play. I’ve got almost enough whole cloth quilt designs to order proofs. Once I get the proofs back, I’ll put the whole cloth designs in my Spoonflower shop.

I’ve been working on creating my own backgrounds to be a starting point for my designs. Colored pencils on white paper. I blurred the background so it doesn’t look like a bunch of pencil marks.

I got my proofs back from Spoonflower and I’ve put 84 new designs in my Spoonflower shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My on-line store, Deb Thuman Art, is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

Shipping within the US is included in the price. If you are outside the US, email me at debthuman@zianet.com. I’ll research the shipping costs for you. Just let me know what you would like to buy. It’s possible the shipping costs are more than you wish to pay. Not a problem. It cost me $1.50 USD to send a Christmas card to my brother-in-law who lives in Canada. Shipping outside the US can get expensive. 

Posted in Fiber, Photography

In The Meantime…….

Posted on by debthumanblog

I had cataract surgery in my right eye. The left eye gets a new lens on October 29. In the meantime, I’m not seeing in stereo. I’m severely nearsighted, so the difference between my eyes now is huge. Jim took the right lens out of an older pair of bifocals so I can sort of see in stereo. 

I’ve been trying to work on the messenger bag prototype, but I can’t work on it for very long before everything is a blur. I don’t have the ability to insert a zipper when I can’t see clearly. The prototype will have three outside pockets and two inside pockets. Eventually, I’ll figure out how to do a recessed zipper and make the “real” messenger bag. I’m thinking of using one of my fabric designs for the “real” bag. 

Spoonflower has a 20% off sale and I had $30+ in Spoon Dollars – my commission for designs I’ve sold. I picked out 84 designs to proof. Including tax and shipping I only spent $5.39. The proofs should be ready in a couple weeks, and I’ll be able to get the designs into my shop. My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

I’m not that confident in my ability to do photography at the moment, so I’ve been working on fabric designs. Usually, I start with a photo I’ve taken and then manipulate the photo. This time, I’m starting with a black photo and playing around with editing. I’m using PhotoScape X. Most of the program is free. I think I paid a one-time charge of $40 to unlock everything. There’s a version for both Mac and Windows. 

I’ve used light leaks, bokeh, nature, extras, and overlays to create the following. 

I use Fill a Yard to proof my designs. I’m hoping to get 42 designs that I like to Fill a Yard before the sale expires. I can’t sell my designs until I proof them.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

Posted in Fiber, Photography

Seeing Clearly But Only With One Eye

Posted on by debthumanblog

I finally reached a point where my vision problems were bad enough that I needed cataract surgery. Yesterday, I had my right eye fixed. Today, the fuzziness has disappeared, and I can see better with the fixed eye than I can with the other eye even with my glasses. Now, I get to learn how to function with my eyes radically different. I’m starting to see a difference in color between my eyes. So many people I know who have had cataract surgery said the cataracts had given the world a yellow cast. When I look at the world through my left eye, the world has a warm cast. When I look at the world through my left eye, the world has a cool cast.

Being an artist makes the bumps in life easier to navigate. I had the surgery done in Albuquerque which meant spending most of the day in the car. We left about 2:30 AM. Brady slept most of the trip. I had to be at the surgery center at 6:20 AM. My followup visit was at 1:30 PM. Between appointments, we went to a park. After some experimenting, I found a new use for a cloth mask.

Next, I had to deal with bright sun.

Yo, ho, ho. I’ll take the bottle of rum, but not the parrot. I was told to wear a blouse with buttons down the front. So I borrowed one of the shirts I made for Jim.

When we came back from having breakfast this morning, I noticed this growing in the front yard.

I looked around a bit more, and found this growing.

I tried sewing a messenger bag, but had to give up after a couple hours because I couldn’t see. My other eye gets fixed 10/29. It’s going to be a long three weeks. I’m trying to type this with a pair of reader glasses. I put cloth over the left lens and I’m only seeing with my right eye. I’m not sure this setup is an improvement. For my next experiment, Jim removed the right lens from an old pair of glasses. At least I can see in stereo as long as I don’t need to see anything close up.

I’ve been playing around with editing again.

My online store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com

My Spoonflower shop is here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in Fiber, Photography, Sewing

A Few Sewing Thoughts

Posted on by debthumanblog

I read an article in Seamwork magazine about “unskilled” garment workers and how they have been and continue to be exploited. https://www.seamwork.com/magazine/2021/10/the-myth-of-fast-fashions-unskilled-labor

Garments are made in southeast Asia and workers are paid less than minimum wage and only a fraction of what workers in the US would be paid. None of the cost saving has been passed on to the consumer. 

I’d like to tell you that I sew because I’m appalled by how garment workers are treated. I am appalled, but that isn’t why I sew. 

Why do I sew? It’s not to save money because fabric hasn’t been cheap for a very long time. Quality fabric is expensive. Cheap fabric from stores such as Walmart isn’t worth buying. 

I sew because I don’t want my clothes to look like everyone else’s clothes. I sew because I like to sew. I sew because the entire world disappears when I’m making art. I sew because I love color and detest that Panetone imposes colors of the year on us. I’m a grownup; I can choose colors all by myself. I sew because I love dying and manipulating fabric. I sew because I like designing fabric and love having fabric no one else has. 

I’m slowly working on a messenger bag using a free pattern from Pfaff. https://pfaff.com/en-US/Inspiration/PFAFF-Blog/December-2016/2-in-1-Messenger-Bag?utm_source=PFAFF%20Master%20Database%20as%20of%20February%2C%202021&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PF%20US%20Weekly%209-22%20%28WSPbrB%29&_kx=5QGBvh8dFFLpunc1mkrSNSSxO1pfMewr295QkvGARtE%3D.UYnuUe

I’m also tweaking the pattern. I like having zippered pockets in my purses. So I’m adding zippered pockets. I like to have an outside pocket for my keys and another outside pocket for my cellphone. I like an inside pocket to house my passport and emergency psych meds. Another inside pocket will hold one of the pens Jim made for me and my checkbook. I also like having a recessed zipper at the top of my purse. 

Before we moved to New Mexico, Jim worked for a high end furniture factory. Employees could buy leftover upholstery fabric for $1 a yard. This was fabric that originally cost $70 a yard. It’s heavy duty upholstery fabric and perfect for purses and bags. The current messenger bag in progress will be the prototype. I’ll make final tweaks and then make a perfect-for-me messenger bag. 

I’ve been designing fabric. A few start to finish photos….

Here’s what I did with a photo of the seed pod on a red yucca that’s in my yard.

Seed pods on barrel cacti are edible although I’ve never eaten one.

I had seen a photo in Threads magazine of a garment made from fabric that was pastel squares.

Dead cactus pads, dead agave leaves, dead plants all can be turned into interesting fabric.

Sometimes, instead of an editing progression starting with the original and ending when I can’t make another good design from that fabric, I’ll take an original photo, edit, revert to original, edit, revert to original and so on until there’s nothing more I can do with the photo. That’s what happened with this shot.

Not every photo gets turned into fabric – just the ones that I find are intriguing. Eventually, I’ll proof designs and put them into my Spoonflower shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

I’ve also got an on line store, Deb Thuman Art where I sell my art. http://www.DebThumanArt.com

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

Posted in Fiber, Photography

Frustration, Healing & Photography

Posted on by debthumanblog

After taping together 38 pages of a pattern and cutting out the pieces, I discovered I had printed out, taped and cut out the wrong pattern. I printed out the right pattern, but can’t make myself tape all the pages together and cut out more pattern pieces. 

We’ve got some wild weather blowing in. Maybe. Sometimes, we get weird looking sky only to have clear blue a half hour later. 

Having a coupon and about $43 in commissions, I decided to print out some fabric and proof some designs. 42 new designs are in my Spoonflower shop here: https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/deb_thuman

This piece will be a healing quilt. This is near Rushford Lake where so many hurtful memories reside. I buried the ghosts here. Several years back, I had a vision where I saw my spirit dance. My spirit was iridescent and dancing in the woods. I’ve got some chiffon that would be good for a dancing spirit applique. I’ll have to play with this a bit. 

I need to make something to wear when I pose nude for the art department. Something that’s easy to slip on and off between sessions. I found a dress pattern that will work, and this is the fabric – one of my designs – for one dress. The other dress will be a batik of sorts. I’ve got some PDF linen/cotton blend that’s dying for some fancy dyeing. 

Just created this design today. I think it’s going to make interesting fabric.

I’m linking with Nina Marie here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

My store, Deb Thuman Art is here: http://www.DebThumanArt.com