ny country friday

Time for a little quick repair to one of my older utility quilts used daily in this busy household.



 This is my nephew getting ready for school. I'll be flying out tomorrow just ahead of another snowstorm.

snow driving in NY

Kitty and I braved the ongoing winter to get the makings for a spaghetti dinner tonight.

 I always loved driving in the snow, especially when I had a '71 VW Super Beetle convertible; there was no stopping me.

All that's good

First thing this morning my sister took me to a crack house...oh, you know what I mean. Everywhere you turn, things to delight the senses and spark the creative juices.

A Stitch In Time

Needlepoint & Knitting Yarns 

276 Greenwood Ave,

Bethel, CT 06801

Fibers, knitting, needlepoint, finishing, custom work, accessories and much more.

Eva Donnelly, proprietress.
http://www.astitchintimect.com

flyover

I looked up from my book just in time to see this, which is NOT my photo, because I was sitting there grinning like an idiot at the spectacle. It was really much better than this picture - much lower and closer and I could see the green spike of the Statue of Liberty just to the left out of this frame.

This is the LaGuardia Airport approach to NYC on American Airlines. I've been flying into White Plains for some many years that I had forgotten how amazing NYC looks from the air.  Here in the suburbs an hour north, there is still a lot of snow on the ground. There won't be any time for a visit to the city this trip, but I will make time in the near future.  It's been too long.

(Reuters/Gary Herschorn)

money laundering

That's right. You read it here. A new low in procrastination activities - someone call the Guiness book of records!

I'm supposed to be packing for NY but packing must always (in my house anyway) be preceded by a paroxysm of laundering the stuff that's been hanging around waiting it's turn.

I started obsessing about a misplaced wheat penny that Jake gave me last week and I peeked into the half full change pot that I keep on top of the dryer. Tips for the maid are always clanking around in there trying to drive me nuts.

I stirred the coins on top with a finger and was appalled to find that SOMEONE dropped a Jolly Rancher in there which melted and half of the coins were stuck together with sugary goo. <sigh> Yes, I washed them and will pick through them half heartedly for that wheat penny which is most probably in the desk drawer with other keepsakes.  I tell myself it was Ant Defense but I know the truth.

dreams afoot

I'm starting to imagine the kind of things I'll be working on at ACA.  This piece is six by twelve feet.. There will be some color too, but I wanted to stop here with just an impression.

I'm one of those artists who do not keep a sketch book. I rarely even doodle because I've found that once I've put a thought on paper, there it stays. I could challenge that, of course, but I woke up with this in my head and needed to keep it. The ones that come in dreams need to be attended to closely. All the designs I've been working on lately have fit within a seven inch circle.

Time to break out.

A question for my readers who dye their own cloth with Procion MX... Which is your favorite black and why?

satisfied

These little projects are divided into three very separate parts. The design of the of the art itself (there is a secret around that part which I'll reveal in time).

Then comes the search for the text which mostly comes from listening to music which is ongoing and finally, the technical execution of the layout and stitching of the words.

Picking out letters on this one injured the base cloth so I excised the art and reset it onto a new piece of damask and started over. It's available here.

Here's the inspiration. I like the film rendition better than Buddy Holly's version.

the comfort of close focus

These two kept me occupied through a difficult weekend but I was daydreaming of larger work..arms thrown wide work, and making a list.

This is the Heart of Rock & Roll #1...yeah, there will be others.

I'm not happy with the way the text turned out on this one so I've digitally removed it here so I won't throw out the baby with the bathwater. I'll take the time to pick out the text and start it over.    "True Love Ways"

B&W redux

Kline, Franz

American

1910-1962

Orange Outline

1955

Oil on paperboard mounted on canvas

38 x 40 in. more

I ran across this as part of a fashion shoot in the Sunday NY Times Style magazine this morning. I'm sure I must have seen it while I was in school in NY. Burnt somewhere in memory.



It reminded me that I'm not really finished with the Karma series.  I need to find a way to let the cloth be as spontaneous and energetic as this paint. I'm flat out of serious black cloth so I'll be researching black dyes  to take with me to ACA.

Karma I      27x36

blankie practice

I've got to be about it now that the studio is 90% in order. Cleaned and oiled Big J and started building an overdue baby blanket for friends of the family.

That's actual sunshine pouring out across the lawn and I have to stop what I'm doing and get outside and get some of it. I think I have a deficiency!

There were no bids in the latest silent auction. I thought I might feel set back or humbled somehow. I don't. Later today I'll move "Winter Behind Us"  into the store..

Winter Behind Us?

Just a reminder, midnight tomorrow night the bidding will be closed on

"Winter Behind Us"

(pray it's so!)

details here

or email me if you have questions.

pull up! pull up!

Unlike many others, we still have power, heat, water, food and we are safe and comfortable.

Time to shake it off and get busy before cabin fever and the blues get the best of me again. I won't find the sun laying on the floor with my eyes closed.

After I put in a little OT I'm moving the heater into the studio and spending the day in there, make some order and think about what I want to be working on when I am away at FOF14. There will be cloth and it would be a shame to not take advantage of the fabulous wet studio there, so there WILL be dyes, resists and more.

L'Heure Bleue

ice storm 2.12.14

So very appropriate to my mood for most of the day. Many thanks to those who helped me row through rough waters today.

A word of advice to all you young lovers out there. Turn off the electronic love lights and make it real. Sit down with pen and paper and turn your hearts inside out to each other. Share your worries, your passion, your hopes and dreams. Write them down. Sign them. Date them and most of all, send them.

 If you are very lucky, many years from now one of you  will find a box inside a box and take out a forgotten packet of letters and you will sit down and read them to each other over tea or coffee and you'll  marvel at that passion, the humor, and the wild, young love all over again...together.

sweet fantasy

here's the reality








    but I have no trouble closing my eyes and being here

storm watch

We are tuckered out and hunkered down. Another Snowmageddon is bearing down on the vicinity but it's going to be ice this time and the potential for losing power is great which is worrisome because we keep cosy here with little room sized electric heaters. We cook with gas here but I no longer have a stove top coffee pot. I wonder if they still sell those squatty pyrex ones where you could watch the miracle unfold.

The Badges are all mounted and signed..many thanks to the collectors who snapped them up...there are more in the pipe if the lights stay on.

This writer is mentally wrung out. The last rewrite (I swear) was finished this morning. I feel like I've been on a trip which is a very inside joke. So, for restoration (even if the power goes) there are three new books, "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls, "the Secret History" by Donna Tartt and "Dear Life" by Alice Munro. I pulled a new tarot card too, just for good measure.

letting the badges go

Taking some time this morning to post the badges on the "buy art" page...

This one, all of them, will be stitched to a plain white 8x11 canvas.

I'm keeping "Breakdown" for myself.

 Sometimes, once these things are finished, I'm startled at how they can be both extremely personal and completely universal. I guess love is just like that.

writers write

I caught a break early morning. Voodoo decided to camp out in the chair instead of my lap which left me free to work at the computer without feline interference.

I pulled up the bones and hair of a short story I have been working on and all of a sudden it was after noon and eight pages were crying out for a rewrite.

I can't wait to paint this room stark, blinding white.

Faithful readers have asked if and when the badges will go on sale.
Yes, I hope to post the ones that will be for sale on the "buy art..."  page..tomorrow if the sun cooperates with this photographer.

Heart of Life

Pain throws your heart to the ground Love turns the whole thing around 
No it won't all go the way it should But I know the heart of life is good


John Mayer

new silent auction

"Winter Behind Us"      2011

I picked this one "in hope" for much of the country..time will pass and so will winter. Hand appliqued and embroidered vintage hand dyed cloth, 11"x 14", faced and ready for framing.

 I will be taking silent bids via email (deborah@lacativa.com) until midnight on Valentine's Day 2.14.13

Please put  "BID" in the subject line and tell me if you want to be notified if you are outbid.

The opening bid is $81.39  US. Shipping included in the US. (International bidders are welcome but the cost of shipping will be determined at the time of sale and added to the winning bid)

Good Luck!

the valentine post

I wrote about these earlier today, but accidentally posted it here  which is where it really belonged in the first place. Funny how that will happen.

more gifts from the universe

I've been gifted a full scholarship to Focus on Fiber 14, an artists retreat at the beautiful Atlantic Center for the Arts  in New Smyrna Beach, FL.

The last time I was there was 2007 and I worked like the devil was chasing me from can't see to half past dark, almost every day I was there, but came away with dyed cloth that became the foundation of the majority of my larger pieces.

My way with cloth has changed a lot since then and since I wasn't anticipating attending, I still don't know what I will be working on; could be just my tan and my improv skills - there is always a crying need for camp fools.

There's plenty of time for me to think about it and bank some bail money..FOF14 once again co-incides with Daytona's Bike Week which always makes for interesting fun on the local highways. Mary McBride tells me there are a few openings in both the retreat and the workshops  so don't drag your feet if you were half planning on going. There will be art, good times and noodle salad!

Romance is a slow dance

I've recently been given a great gift..a chance to travel, be away for a bit and be around some fabulous artists and amazing friends. Details when I know more and can share.

This series is clarifying itself to me. I'll have to back up and give credit to all the musicians one by one.


Romance is a slow dance    by Tim O'Brien