Poodle Time!-Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Poodle Time. We had a previous post on getting ready for Halloween and I hope everyone is ready. Today's blog is short. Here is one of the cutest little Poodles I have ever seen...........

And Sophia wishes everyone a fun and safe Halloween.......................

How time flies. It's now time to start planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas. See you next Wednesday.

The Alphabet Of Sheep

I was reviewing my Amazon wish list yesterday, and came to the last book. I added it August 29^th, 2004. The book is The Alphabet Of Sheep by Patty Yoder. Patty Yoder died in 2005 at age 61. The book soon went out of print and cannot be found. Once I saw a copy of it for $200. I think I am left wishing.

Patty Yoder was a rug artist, which I am not. But her work was so wonderful, that I wanted her book in my collection. Galleries still have retrospect shows for her. A show closes tomorrow (10-28-12) at the Shelburn Museum in Vermont.

In the twelve years that she hooked rungs, she created 44 masterpieces. Her subjects were her animals and family. A quote from Patty Yoder:

I am in love with wool. I love to bury my hands in the living wool of our beloved Border Leicester sheep. I love the feel and smell of new sheared wool when I gather it into bags as our shearer does his work. I love the yarn produced from each individual fleece. But most of all I love the glorious pieces of dyed wool fabric stacked by color waiting for the perfect spot in a hooked rug that I will create. —Patty Yoder

Gallery

In my research, I found that there is a book that has some of her work in it, but for now, I have to be happy with Internet images. 

Poodle Time!-The Historical Retriever

My First Ever Pin To My Poodle Board On Pinterest

Hunting season will soon be upon us. Living in the American rural mid-west, November can be very loud and at a bit nerve wracking (we have numerous domestic animals that can get spooked). At the same time, this gives me a chance to talk about the origins of the working Poodle.

All Poodles decend from the ancient standard size dog and that dog was a retriever. Even the origin of the word "Poodle" emphasizes this. Poodles originated between France and Germany where it was known as the Pudlehund.  "Hund" in German is dog and "pudel" comes from  a german verb "to splash about". 

Poodles became so popular that they were bred into the forms that  fitted into everyone's life style. But all our Poodles, even if we have toys or miniatures, harken back to this retriever tradition.  

Below are photos with links to good articles with more information on the new resurgence of Poodles as hunters.  I am not a hunter but find this fascinating. 




Hunters who use and breed these hunters are better testaments than I can ever give.  Two great sites that I have found are: 

From an article in a 2008 New York Conservationist Magazine on unusual gun dog breeds. 

One of Lakelands hunting Poodles from their site.  They have great photos of their dogs in action either in hunting or trials.

A red hunter from Louter Creek Hunting Poodles.  These  dogs have even been
featured in a numerous hunting magazines.

This photo is from an article of Gun Dog magazine (Sept. '11"). solely about Poodles
as hunters. 

Happy Hunting if you hunt, 

OK, I retrieved the duck, so where is the treat?

Franz Marc

The Little Yellow Horses, 1912

Among World War I’s innumerable tragedies was the loss of one of my favorite artists, Franz Marc. Marc was born on February 8, 1880, in Munich, Germany and was a pioneer in the birth of abstract art at the beginning of the twentieth-century. Along with Wassily Kandinsky and others he founded the group "Der Blaue Reiter". This group of artists believed in a spontaneous, symbolic, colorful, and especially expressive art. 

Marc had a spiritual view of animals, which is reflected in most of his paintings. These paintings draw me in with the respect and reverence he had for his subjects. His solid forms, beautiful lines, and wonderful use of color are aspects of his work that I have always loved. 

I regularly used two of Marc's paintings when I taught elementary art: The Large Red Horses and Red Dear II.

A shell splinter killed Franz Marc during the Battle of Verdun in 1916.

 Today's Franz Marc Gallery

The Large Red Horses, 1911

Red Deer II. 1912

Cat On Yellow Pillow, 1912

The Yellow Cow, 1911

Foxes, 1913

Dog Lying In The Snow, 1910/11

Two Cats, Blue And Yellow, 1912

Poodle Time! Poodle Out This Halloween

I did add a bow to my carving.

Today's post is an overview of some Halloween projects. The Halloween pumpkin has a link to instructions. Most, are idea inspirations. 

Start Halloween out  with a Poodle Pumpkin. It's easy with the patterns that can be found on the Better Homes and Garden Website. There are 24 different dogs to choose from and they are all cute!

We usually have a family Halloween party and I like my dogs to look nice for it.  But, I want them to look like themselves and not some bug, pirate or a bowl of spagetti.  

Sophia and Niko's bigger brother and sister are going to help model these styles today. Most of my ideas are easy. Sophia's dress would need some sewing experience. But black dresses are easy to find and decorations could be added to them for the occasion.

Sophia, In her Halloween costume-a basic black dress and a Halloween bow. 

The neck ruffle, made of tulle, is a separate item that can be worn by itself. Some years she wears only a necklace with the dress. The necklace is in a photo below. I used beads from Wal-Mart.

Big sis Penny is modeling a ruff for bigger dogs. 

The larger picture show off the tulle. I purchased this material 

from Hancock Fabric but every store has a great selection around this time of the year.  

The edge is just cut into a big scallop and not hemmed. Make the length about 50% longer than your dogs neck. Cut the elastic with about and inch ease and don't forget to add for the overlap. Decorate with anything you want. I had remments of black ribbon and and old pumpkin button. 

Niko is modeling a simple black T-shirt with Halloween buttons that I attached.  The shirt and buttons came from Hobby Lobby. This is a quick and simple answer for a well dressed gentleman. He also has a simple bandana made with a triangle with a band and velcro. Dharma Trading Company is the place

 to get a shirt for you kids from 4-86 pounds and there is a 14 color selection. This is an easy project.  Iron on appliques would also be good for this project. But that is a subject for another day.

Our Mountain Fiest, Dylan is modeling my first attempt at a Halloween bandana.  I just made a triangle that ties; but I don't like bulkiness of the triangles and will only make banded scarfs with velcro from now on.  I also learned a lesson about not making bandanas to long. Dylan decided to chew the tip off his. I had to improvise a new ending. Live and learn, as they say.

A closer view of the Halloween bow.  Bows are one of my favorite things to do.  This one has four layers: tulle, netting, ribbon and Swarovski crystals. I start with the botton layer and work my way up.  Everything is tacked together with thread.  I sew a grooming band on the back.  I think bands are more secure, but a little more difficult to get in Sophia's hair. But they stay in. A clip would also work.

The Halloween Lookbook

"We are all dressed up and lookIng good, so TREATS PLEASE"

Lucienne Day-The Geometric

"Lines"-a pattern created for Heals, a fabric design house in Britian

 Non-objective is pure design. We are not associating the images with anything we think we know. Only The Elements of Art* are referenced. Lucienne Day was inspired by these basic elements. This post is devoted to some of these pieces .

Lapis, 1953

Miscellany, 1952

Cockaigne, 1961

Diablo, 1962

Lucienne Day had a long career with a huge portfolio. This is my fourth and probably not last post showcasing her work. She is hugely inspirational for me as a designer. 

*  The Elements of Art are like the ingredients that a cook uses to create a dish. Artists use these to create a works of art. The These elements are: line, shape, space, form, color, texture, and value.

Previous posts:

1. My first post and introduction of Lucienne Day. This post covers her groundbreaking design "Caylx".
2. The Orange Look-book has some of her orange hued inspired designs.  This post was in conjunction with the color Tangerine Tango, Pantone's color of the year.
3. Some of her work that was directly inspired by nature will be found in this post.