in a tiz

I recently popped of to have my say at The Painter's Key in response to an article about an issue that been on my mind - working big, working small.  This twice weekly  newsletter has become one of my favorite daily reads. It's becoming more relevant to me as I move to step out of the "fiber" artist box without abandoning fiber as my medium.

And, thanks to Jude for the mention of her recent acquisition of "Mayhem", I have been scrambling to upgrade my store and commit to selling some recent things that I wasn't ready to part with. The response to her post was a great emotional lift. Actual SALES! 

There have been a lot of inquiries about the fiber fossils (thanks for that too, J) which sounds a bit more inviting than what I was calling them - fiber mummies - and I am going ahead with mounting a few other pieces in the same way.

And before I forget AGAIN have you seen this absolute wonder of a piece?
I am so proud of you Arlee!

naming names

I've finally come up with a name train to go along with the series I've been working on. This was the first and I've put it up for sale at              Hand Music. 

"All Unknowing" is 18.5 " x 16.5" unmounted - you can tussle with your own notions of how to matte and frame it - I am fresh out of those ideas. and I am pretty sure I can still get it shipped for Christmas. Even so, imagine getting a wonderful gift a day or so after all the holiday fur has stopped flying.

tracking back

I have not bothered to figure out what that means in blogeez but I have looked back over this current process and the results of this series so far and it's a comfort to discover some order in my art-work-life.

If there is nothing in my go bag to work on I start grubbing about in the studio for cloth souls that are getting along and hold auditions. Sundays are for composing the ground and rounding up the elements. There's a day of two of chess playing.

I am orchestrating the somethings, making them fall into an order, a snap shot that appeals to me.

The next step is a technical comfort - basting densely so I don't have to suffer with pins through the rest of the project which tends to make me resentful and blood spots were not a part of the original design consideration. The embroidery is a whole new adventure in design on the fly. Stitching and picking out. I have some new stitching in mind for this one to help balance and direct.  Jeez, for someone with not a lot to say about the art there are a lot of words today.

I did make a couple of changes from yesterdays post.  A couple of shifts and one addition. Today it's stronger, less wishful.

further exploration

The quickest way for me to be contrary is to put my intentions on paper.  These haloed circular elements originated back in '07 during a particularly frenzied dye fest when I was discovering the magic of discharge using dishwasher gel . I had it all over my hands and picked up pieces of fabric only to find them covered with discharged finger prints after the washout.

I shuffled this piece around for about eight hours yesterday. I had it pinned to my cube wall at the office and moved things around while I talked with the clients. It felt like I was playing Chinese checkers with myself. As the evening wore on the game became chess and I'm now satisfied that I won the match.

One of the first pieces I used these elements in continues to please me.  As I tell anyone who cares, it's a great life if you are easily amused.Below - "Hopped Up" from 2007

third and final

I think I'm done with this one.Twice I've sat down with it and couldn't decide where else it needed to go. Time to let it go and move on. I also have to decide if I want to mount this one (and the other two) on canvas sealed under the plastic. Too soon to tell.

following the trail

I never get lost, although I may lose a little time but I never count that loss because I almost always find something important along the way.  Some have wondered why I don't post links to other places...the list would be too long. I kid you not, there are over a hundred regular linkages in my bloglines list. I love Bloglines because it lets me know when a new post is up. From there, it goes like this:

First stop - Lorraine Glessner's  "oh, what a world, what a world" and I defy you to say it without the Wicked Witch voice. From there I found Rebecca Shapiro's site and her wonderful post "Best of 2009 - Moment of Peace" - a wonderfully personal and insightful post about how an artist feels about connecting with a medium. And that medium? Rebecca's link to Wagner Encaustics, Inc. took me down an incredible rabbit hole to the site of Elise Wagner (you think she gets a price break?) and her incredible art. Looking at her work has made me recognize some of the things visual things I have been trying to find using textiles.
Could it be a time for a change for me too?

PS - I remember that I used to touch crayons to the light bulb to watch the colors run. Of course the smell would always bring Mom running and hollering too.

Holiday Sale

I've put everything in this shop on sale so I can make room for some of the latest things I've been working on. If you'd like to see more images, email me.                 

I'd be glad to gift wrap and send things direct to your recipient - I know a lot folks can't get out to shop this weekend because of the winter weather.  The Post Office is still do-able here in Georgia but there is no time for any international shipping.

New circles and friends

First, this is not Jinx. She is lost to us and the sore spot on my heart and the empty spot in our household will be fresh a long time.

The phone rang at nearly midnight. Colin said that a woman saw our poster about Jinx at the pizza place and was sure she had her locked up in her garage. A month later, and miles away? I was beyond exhausted and beyond hope. Still, I was up dressed and out the next morning in the cold rain.

    It was not Jinx, but a teenaged stray who looked so much like her I had to do a double take. She was so anxious to please a total stranger I could not call her anything but Sweetie. She had the misfortune of finding herself lost, possibly pregnant and in a household of dogs that held no future for her. Caring people who took the trouble to follow up on a lost cat poster - I thank them. I had to think about it all of four hours while I discussed it with Jim and found a low cost spay/neuter clinic. How did they know exactly how much my monthly bonus was, I wonder. We brought her home from the clinic last night.
  Here is  Sweetie enjoying her post surgery drugs.

just waiting for the spell

perspective

                      I'm beginning to see these circles as windows or portholes into some where or some time other than the here and now. Always hazy. Just out of reach and focus.

new looks

Colin and I both went for haircuts yesterday. There are no before pictures for a very good reason. I left more hair on the floor of the salon than I now have left and Colin was looking like the bear's butt.

Work continues on this piece. I don't have a stash of embroidery floss so I find myself literally building thread, one strand at a time, from sewing threads. Six and eight strands at a time will make you slow down and be precise or the nest-knot monster just waits to pounce.You can click on both these shots for a close look.

Innocent Bystanders

                                          

"Innocent Bystanders" is back from the Skinny Envelope Show in Florida.                 According to statcounter, someone in Oklahoma has been lingering over this piece. It's one of my favorites but if you are interested, get in touch and we can negotiate a price that will work for both of us.  Here is a link for a detailed look.

The damasks and metallic washed hand dyed fabrics are hard to photograph accurately but anyone who has seen this piece in person will tell you that this is close....

in Nelly's hoops

It's cold and rainy and twilight dark at lunch here in Georgia, with tornado warnings for dessert. All I'd like to do today is hole up and stitch but it's off to the whine mine shortly. Hopefully all the middle management out there will see this full moon eve as a good day to slack off and leave me a few contemplative moments tween contacts to move some thread around some thoughts.