Shooting the Moon

I stayed up waaaay too late last night, trying to catch the "Super Moon"; a full moon of rare size, a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look."

Full moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee). Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.

I managed several detailed shots:


And then I started playing, silhouetting various bits of plant life in front of the moonlight:

This one is my favorite, a glowing orb cradled in cedar fronds:

Spring? Maybe...

It's been tough shooting images for my 365 Project lately, everything just seems so tired, worn out and as abandoned as this nest from last year.

But there are a few encouraging signs, the birds are becoming more active and visible, especially the crows. I'm hearing cardinals calling and courting, it always sounds to me as if the males are saying "I'm so pretty, pretty, pretty" - which, of course, is completely true!

There's no activity in this greenhouse yet, the pots patiently waiting to be put to use.

But I did notice this very pleasant sight today - bright, new, green growth, a preview of blooms to come - soon I hope!

Sheer Delight

One of the features of the annual Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860's conference is the "conference fabric"; each member of the faculty is sent the same fabric, a dress length for ladies and a vest length for men, with the instructions "make a dress (or a vest)", 1860's style of course!

Having been a member of the faculty three times now myself, I know that those packages are opened with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation - what if you just don't like it?

This year's fabric was just lovely, a predominantly red and black stripe, with just a bit of purple and yellow and quite sheer - note how you can clearly see the fancy petticoat beneath this example.







Saturday morning begins with the entire faculty up on stage, with each telling us a bit about the choices they made in the construction of their garment. You aren't required to construct your dress or vest yourself, but many people do, again it's your choice.

It's the details that make the difference, here a sleeve detail was replicated from a CDV:


Some replicate an original garment; this dress has no shoulder seam, the fronts and back were cut as one piece, as seen in a dress in the collection of the Shippensburg Fashion Archives.

Some people choose a certain color to emphasize, here the bit of yellow in the stripe was used for trim and accessories:






By careful pleating, black is the predominant color on this bodice:





This was one of my favorites, with the use of the stripe cut on the bias for trim, alas, I'm far too old for this style!



Special details of an ensemble are also frequently shared, like this covered cage:

Some people cloth more than just themselves - Emily also has a new conference dress, many of us are quite envious of Emily's extensive wardrobe and jewelry.

Here's one of the gentlemen, with his new vest:

I'm always amazed at how everyone manages to imprint the fabric with their own unique perspective; yes, it's obvious that the same fabric has been used, but it's definitely not "cookie cutter" effect.

A couple years ago, I wore one of my conference dresses to an event... as did two other ladies! We were asked to come up as group at the fashion show; it was amazing how long it took for the spectators to realize we were all wearing the same fabric.

It's all about the details: by making carefully considered choices, it's quite possible to express your own sense of style while staying well within the parameters of true period fashion.

La Petite Fleuriste - Advanced Level

Last March, I was fortunate to be a student in a faux flower making class based on mid-19th century techniques, offered by Martha McCain. When I heard that an advanced class was available this year, I jumped at the opportunity.

This year, class was an all day event; we would be creating a poppy, a morning glory and a cornflower, expanding on the techniques we had learned previously.

We entered to find our supplies waiting for us:




Martha had prepared the starched silk in advance for us, but we would be creating our own stamens and centers this time.

As many parts needed time to dry between steps, we worked on all three blossoms throughout the day.

The first step was cutting all the various petals, corollas, etc from silk - basic botany knowledge is a definite plus when assembling flowers!

We started by creating stamens; repeatedly dipping waxed linen threads in colored gum arabic and allowing them to dry between dips.

The cornflower needed to goffered - shaped using a hot metal tool. The goffering tools are in a variety of sizes and shapes, each has it's own particular use.


The silk is dampened before goffering; it takes practice and deft hand to obtain the desired shape without scorching the fabric.



After goffering, each flower shape was tightly wrapped around the tip on awl and allowed to dry.

A teaching board, with the various stages of construction:


That little blue twist is what you end up with after twisting on the awl - it sure doesn't look very flower like at this point!

But after wiring the stamens together and carefully adding three "fluffed" little blue twists and binding it all together, here's the result:



We started by painting blue dye onto white silk for our morning glory blossom and bud - I should have left a bit more white showing - and allowing them to dry.

Creating the center was a multi-step process, involving wire, cotton, waxed thread, starch, glue, paint and gum arabic. It's time intensive, but provides great results.

The flower is glued along the center seam, goffered to shape and bound together. The little bud is formed from that square with a blob of blue dye in the center and amazingly enough, when twisted and assembled results in a very realistic bud.

My favorite is the poppy; shaping the petals takes an interesting technique - each petal is folded in half and twisted in a damp bandanna on a bias fold (thank you to all my hand models in the following shots!)

Here's what you end up with:

In the meantime, a poppy center needs to be formed, by creating a stuffed silk "lolly pop", embellished with just a bit of embroidery and 48 stamens:

After the petals have dried, they need to be colored:

The period references call for "china ink", but Martha was unable to find modern black ink that was colorfast, so black fabric markers were substituted.

Just a bit more assembling and voila - a poppy!



I can't say how much I enjoyed this class (okay, there were some frustrating moments when all the flower parts were NOT cooperating).

Martha and her husband invested countless hours in preparing materials, tools and supplies and I'm deeply appreciative of all their efforts.

I'm seriously considering prepping everything needed to present a flower-making sweatshop scenario to the public - but first I need to convince my friends that they really do want to be a wage slave for a weekend...and the wages would consist of flowers!

Flying Home

Traveling is fun, but it's always great to come home!

Currently, flying is the only way on or off Mackinac; Great Lakes Air runs a six seater plane on a regular schedule between St. Ignace and the Island.

I love this shot, you can see the majority of the Island, with the air strip prominent near the center and the surrounding ice.

The Ladies & Gentlemen of the 1860's Conference was fabulous as always - I will have several postings to share, including my continued adventures in flower making, original clothing shots, my take on the presentations and some treasures that followed me home - so more to come!

Color Palette Blog Walk 2

I recently discovered a really interesting blog that focuses primarily on color and when Brandi invited people to participate in a color palette blog walk, I jumped at the chance!

We were challenged to consider what inspires us, photograph that inspiration and come up with an accompanying color palette.

So what inspires me?

Truthfully, everything!

But my biggest inspiration is my surroundings as a year round resident of Mackinac Island. It's easy to focus on the big, obvious things: Grand Hotel, Arch Rock, Round Island Lighthouse, etc. But for those who slow down and look a little closer, there's so much more, some man made, some natural. I decided to focus on the natural progression of change throughout the year, starting with winter:

Winter colors are subtle and well worn, like this lingering leave cradling the snow. The sky is our most changeable feature, sometimes a soft blue, sometimes brilliant blue and sometimes a sullen grey.

Spring brings pastels, soft pinks, blues, purples with small touches of bright yellow - all against that same subtle background of greys and beige. Even the greens are subdued, soft and in the background.

Summer comes in a absolute blaze of color - is there anything more stunning the blue of a morning glory? The mauve vines are the unexpected "pop" that really makes this palette work.

One palette is just not enough for summer, summer's colors become even more intense as the season progresses, preparing us for autumn.



Fall is my favorite time of year; I rejoice in being surrounded by the ever changing kaleidoscope colors of autumn in Northern Michigan - fiery bright at first, gradually muting until once again winter has arrived.

From my palettes, you may have figured out what my favorite color is: a bright, poison green. I use it frequently in my work, and wear it often, both in modern and period clothing.

A good example, an inspiration image:



The resulting mixed media piece:

The walk isn't over, stroll on over and visit the other participants for today:

Friday, March 4th

Rachel at Balanced Crafts

Wren at Each Day

Kelly at Mackin Art - You are here!

Kristy at Simply Shiny Blog