Finally, a break in the grisly weather if not some sunshine! There's been some stitching going on. Here's the start of another summer fling. This time I chose a hard road - for the first time all the applique work will be all hand dyed damasks. As pesky as it is to needleturn, the weight and drape of the results will be worth the trouble. My brother is preparing the traditional Useted family birthday cake for my sister Pat. It's an icebox cake made from chocolate wafer cookies stuck together with whipped cream. The Katonah Thrift shop is having a big sale (all you can cram into a bag for 1$!) and then it's off to Somers Manor to visit with Mom for while.

vacation post

túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

packing post

I'm supposed to be packing but I have been watching reruns of Buehrle's ninth inning. Just wonderful! Stumbled across this total gem titled

"Historic, Vintage & Reproduction Home Decorating Fabrics: A Musically & Otherwise Punctuated Glossary of Textile Terms"

Do not pass on some of the vintage rock & roll music videos scattered along the way!

gasp! some art for a change.

I've put the last of the hand stitching into Gates of Grace and I'm happy, for once, at how the machine stitching and hand work came together this time. Usually, it's an all or nothing proposition for me. Now I have to give some thought about backing and finishing the edge. I was going to mount this one on a canvas but handling it all this time has given me second thoughts. I don't even want to iron it because I don't want to lose the dimensional quality it's come by from layering six or more separate pieces of fabric. There is a discussion going on the SAQA list at the moment about quilts that suffer from the wavies looking unprofessional. I disagree. No one asked me but when I've seen pieces like that on exhibition I'm reminded in a nice way that a.these are quilts and, b. these are pieces of art made from cloth and, c.beating cloth into two dimensional submission is not part of what I'm looking for in fiber art, mine or anyone Else's. You can block a piece until the cows take up the bagpipes but temperature, humidity and handling are going to have their way with textile to some degree unless you mummify it with plastic or nail it down to canvas and wood. It's just cloth being true to it's reason for being. It was originally designed to live, breath, flex and conform to a three dimensional purpose. I like to let it be once I'm done fooling with it. addendum - see the side bar for two auspicious and delicious cards I pulled to contemplate this day.

Reaching back and reaching out

Stumbled across yet another online marketing opportunity this morning and spent a little time rummaging through old files to post these images where someone else might see them. At least I know for sure where this one is physically. See more online here at ArtBreak "Giraffe Crossing Against the Light" (145 x 87 cm)

SAQA Benefit Auction

I donated "Food Chain #3" to the SAQA Benefit Auction 2009 One Foot Squares. The Auction will begin Thursday, September 10th, 2009

dippin'

I took the cure for (everything) a few hours this morning and then spent several more hours picking out a load of injudicious machine stitching from this piece which was buried in the slush pile of unfinished business. I've decided that Glyphs needs hand stitching. What kind and how much I have no clue as yet. There will probably be a lot of stitching, picking out and stitching again as I feel my way.

Step One

A good friend sent me this artistic lifeline in response to my sulking. "The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts." Marcus Aurelius Go on, repeat it three or four times. Have you ever been riding a good horse who suddenly shifted up into a canter without your inept urging as if to say "This is how it's done." Even the rhythm is thrilling.

blog vacation

Continuing the break here until my Eyes, My Hands and my Art Heart remember how to get along together again. No point in throwing good raw materials in the crapper. For the moment picture three willful children standing in the corner pouting, unrepentant and perfectly willing to eat worms until they all get their way.

Moon Chasing.

When I left the office last night I realized that I have been spending too much time looking down. Putting one foot in front of the other and just barely getting there.

I need to go someplace (else) and stare into a brook or up into some trees for a while and see what else is putting one foot in front of the other trying to get by.

There was a great big leopard frog sitting on the doorstep of the office the other evening. He was working the bugs that were flocking to the lamp post. He gave me a disgusted look and scooted away when I stepped outside. Smart and handsome fellow he was. Of course my camera was at home. These are pictures taken in traffic. I really was watching the road.

Market Day

I've spent the morning photographing and posting another half dozen of my recent hand dyes to Random Acts of Dyeness. Now all I have to do is keep my hands off them for a while, you know, give other folks a chance.

old paths, new stones

My moods revolve, never swoop, between swashbuckling exuberance and a 1000-yard stare at the state of all things. For the moment, I'm staring and savoring. Jim has gone back to work full time so no more of that coddling the artist nonsense - I will be shopping, cooking and cleaning with the rest of the working world and doing it with a joyful heart but spooked that I won't ever do it as well as he did. And now I've stumbled on yet another way of making a statement with fabric and color. In this instance, that statement is more of a hissed intimation or mumbled prayer. These are stains that fell out as a byproduct of my Sharpie & alcohol experiments. Fey and fierce at the same time, I'm giving them a new context on a new summer fling. I'll be traveling soon and want to have a heady hand project to take along. This will more than fit the bill.

Happy 4th of July

My 4th of July needed more than just red, white and blue. I'm particularly pleased with the results because I already have a plan for these pieces. No surprises, no new techniques, no serendipity. Just exactly what I needed, when I needed it. Who could ask for more? All this and family, a pool, roasted corn, fresh strawberries over pound cake and fireworks over the neighborhood (like it or not) as night falls.

"VERITAS"

...I saw that tattooed on a guy's forearm in the grocery store this morning. He caught me looking and I didn't hang around to see what was on the other arm. Has anyone actually read the entire Declaration of Independence lately? Ever? I confess, no, but this morning on NPR it was read aloud in what has become an annual tradition. I was captivated by the dense but precise language and after a long list of grievances, (there was a lot to kick about) it was the wrap up that really grabbed my attention back : "...And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." Stunning. We have got to get back to that garden

new thinking about worth

A new approach to marketing and pricing.

little bits and barter (image updated)

File under "things you will find when shoveling out the studio". This little (10x10) grid play started with a piece of that strange, dense cotton batting that was too heavy and dense to go inside even a small piece. It took dye wonderfully and I have another half dozen in various colors. I was whining to the QA Choir yesterday (lesson learned, btw) about the time and energy that marketing ones art takes these days and wondering about the state of Barter in the fiber art world. Tell me about your experiences if you've had any, good or bad.

While the cicada are chewing the air