Inspiration

Yesterday I ran into a former co-worker and stopped to chat for awhile. As someone who knew me almost 20 years ago, she knew me not as a knitter (I have only been knitting for 5 years) but as a watercolor painter and ceramic/glass mosaic creator. ( I had made for her housewarming a large abstract watercolor and a co-ordinating mosaic top cast aluminum side table, which she apparently still uses as I saw them in the background of the pictures on her i-pod of her daughter's bridal shower) She was wearing a GORGEOUS beaded necklace/earring set. It turns out she turned the beads herself and then created the necklace and earrings. ( I knew her as an amazing embroidery/needlepoint/cross stitch artist) She will be coming for dinner in 3 weeks and I can't wait. In the midst of our conversation the topic of colors came up. And how she decides on the colors of glass she blends for her beads. What inspires the choices. She always wondered about my color choices especially with my mosaics. Most of her inspiration comes from the world outside her windows. She retired to a cabin on a lake in Colorado. (seriously jealous) she takes slide pictures of sunsets over the lake, the trees and mountains, deer in meadows etc etc. As you can imagine she is in no short supply of amazing photo-ops. She then pics things from the pictures. Clear blue glass for the lake, an opaque brown for the tree trunks, sparkling green for dew on the leaves a spot or 2 of red for birds or flowers etc. Sometimes she projects the pictures blurry on purpose so all you get is the colors.

When I was in high school and college I was a serious space geek. really. I had the walls of my bedroom painted an almost midnight blue, the trim in chrome. vinyl floors that looked like diamond plate metal. I had all kinds of space shots and posters framed in the same chrome painted around the trim ( my portholes) Yes serious space geek. A lot of the pictures from Astronomy, and Sky and Telescope, as well as the prints and posters I had served for my color blends and inspirations.

When I got home, I was telling Curt about seeing B. and our conversation and I realized that many of my current color choices and mixes as well as the handpaint/handdyed yarn I just have to have , are in the same color blends that inspired me almost 2 decades ago. Here are 4 of my favorite nebulae courtesy of various NASA telescopes/sites.



The Eagle Nebula



The Pillars of Creation ( a serious hotbed nursery where new stars are being born)



The Orion Nebula ( my personal favorite, as on a clear winter night away from city lights you can see it with the naked eye)



The Horsehead