Introducing the Layered Life with Claudia
Welcome to the Layered Life!
My name is Claudia and I am in a business partnership with my daughter, Hetty, having opened Bookshelf Anatomy, LLC together a year and a half ago. The journey is a fascinating, sometimes so funny I can hardly catch my breath, often frustrating and surprisingly it all helps me to see the world in new and interesting ways. My heart is in the art I produce. The business allows me to take images of my art and convert them into products.
Is Technology Our Friend?
Engaging with technology was not something I ever thought I would need to do but, do this I must, now, every day. Most recently, I’ve had to learn aspects of Cricut, Doxie, Epson, Stitchly, Bernina, and Canva. The learning curve never ends either. I’d like to take you along with me and it is my hope you will be encouraged to try out new things, even hard things, as I do.
Under It All...
Sounds of people in the small park across the street sometimes carry over to us, which reminds me I am never alone. Depending on the cloud cover or wind direction, airplanes going to or from SEATAC can be heard, too. All along the property line are old growth conifer forest specifically 150-foot-tall Douglas Fir. Two of those trees were left right smack in the middle of the driveway. Now I do appreciate that they were not cut down however everyone must drive around them to get in and out of this place. It can be a challenge reversing and forwarding several times!
There isn’t any topsoil remaining on this lot; it is all backfill of one type or another. So, being a person who has always had a garden, I ended up planting a container garden that begins along the driveway and moves onto the porch and around the house. This past spring and summer produced peaches and apples the squirrels ate (I guess they must eat too) and currants that lost all their leaves due to the gooseberry sawfly chewing up all their leaves leaving bare branches behind. Those poor bushes lost most of their fruit because they had to make a second set of leaves to survive. In years past I’d made currant jam that was delicious. Alas, there were no currants to boil down this year.
However, the two eggplants, six pepper plants, and three cherry tomato plants all became produce that made yummy food, it was great to pull out my father’s recipes. But I don’t only grow a bit of food; I also grow plenty of flowering plants that bring color and form into our lives. From early spring to late fall the different species come and go in succession in the yard and even a few will bloom in mid-winter. I think nature is a creator of amazing color palettes. Each of the paintings in the pictures below were inspired by the garden flowers.
Building the Art
Abstract art created with mixed media is my thing. Building a painting one layer at time is a marvelous way to produce mixed media. Usually, I begin with a layer of ephemera pasted onto the substrate with Liquitex matte medium. And then, I go to my ‘wall of paint’ and bring colors to the table. And then I zone out; nothing exists in the world except for what I’m doing and often that is simply asking myself ‘what if’ I do this or ‘what if’ I do that? Out of this exploration of medium, color, and texture emerges pretty pieces of art. Often, I’ll ‘wake up’ and look at what was made and think, “Wow! Look at that!
Among my eclectic activities, I do use the flowers from the garden and create pretty papers from the colors within the petals. The color on the edges of this stationery came from the flower garden. When driving, I have a very hard time not stopping the car and rushing over to steal some flowers from someone’s front yard. Just today, I was parked at the bank waiting for my husband, and I was eying some purple pansies but refrained from picking them; they would make such amazing marks on paper though. Getting arrested for picking flowers that are not mine is always in my mind’s eye, so your flowers are safe, at least for now. However, it means I need to be more creative. There is a farm stand not too far from the house and one day I noticed there was a wheel barrel full of flowers that were going to the compost heap. I asked if I could raid it. I’m sure the lady working that stand thought I was nuts, however, she did let me rummage through that garbage. What was garbage to her was treasure to me. I took those flowers home, made some colorful paper from them, took some of those papers and made a couple of small booklets from them, and gave those booklets to that lovely lady. Maybe I’m not such a nut after all!
Layered Life with Claudia
Join me every Saturday at 12PM PST and find out what I’m up to. It will never be the same week to week; always ‘stuff’ happens that I want to share with you. So, till next time; it is my hope that you can be peace, build peace, and preach peace as the Dominican Sisters of Peace suggest no matter what circumstances you find yourselves in.
With a Grateful Heart,
Claudia E. Heyer