Hi all, Kirstin here. Thanks for your concern about my shoulder. It looks like it’s going to be a slow healer, I’m afraid. Anyhoo. I’m close to driving myself nuts, since I can’t do any of the things I normally do, but I have had time to collect some reference pictures for inspiration.

I’m thinking my next project will be a large felted scene. For such a potentially long project, I want to choose a subject that I love. I went through all the pictures I have from backpacking with Dad and my brother, and hiking with my friends.

I think I’ll start with the above scene. We took this picture on a trail named “Endlich” (which means “finally” in German) in the Weminuche wilderness area, in southwestern Colorado. It was long trip and this was our last pass. We were really in the groove, our packs were light, and we beat the afternoon storms to the top. As we rested before heading down the other side, we turned around and took this shot.

I think it would really fun to play with perspective and dimension, having detailed flowers and grass in the foreground that fade to more impressionistic splotches of color in the background.

I’m less certain about the other scene. It will be some amalgamation of the pictures above, with lots of granite and snow (ideal, since we have grey and white alpacas). I’ll probably add a high alpine lake to the foreground. That one will require some sketching before I nail it down. I don’t improvise well when I’m felting.

Actually, that sentence could just say: “I don’t improvise well.” 😉