make ready

Had a great trip-planning lunch meeting with my FOF14 co-conspirators at La Madelaine in East Jesus today.  Good thing my phone has GPS or I'd still be wandering the desert.

The food was terrific, but they could have shoveled us tripe and offal because the conversation and plotting was far richer. 

It's time to start rounding up all the crap, I mean raw materials, that I want to have on hand.   Laissez Les bons temps rouler!   They give french lessons in the ladies room.

TBT

This came in the mail today..I won it cheap on Ebay and it actually works! We still have a landline here because, although we are less than 20 miles from Atlanta, it's still cell phone hell.

I have to buy a loooong cord so I can run it upstairs and put it beside the bed. The ringer goes off like a bomb.

Let the prank calls begin! And heres to reestablishing some real communication.

do-over, again #2000

Somewhere, something keeps track and this is my 2000th post. An occasion for pause and consideration I guess.


Although I packed this up to NY with me, I don't recall lifting a needle to it once. Too much else going on.

I really let the text get away from me this time and a second pick-out left a mess so I'm paving the mess over and will most probably forgo any text. It's the Heart of Rock & Roll, still beating.






Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and I'm starting to marshall what-all will be taken to FL in less than two weeks.  A great spring churn is underway in the studio...who knows what will surface.

home from away

This is where I am from. The power, elegance and solidarity of these creatures marked every day.

Patty & Robbie

We had dinner at the Blazer pub in honor of Poppy's birthday, the year and date  were still uncertain.

The next day  Robbie found a box with seemingly  every letter  Dad received while he was in the Navy.
His mother wrote him almost daily. There was one from his sister Vera dated Feb. 23, 1943 wishing him a Happy Birthday the next day. Now we have the date right. We may never find out the exact year and he would be okay with that.

Charlie Brown & Kitty

Deep thanks to my sisters Patty and Kitty and my brother Rob for putting me up and putting up with me for a whole week.

I spent  hours in the unheated attic claiming pictures from my mother's picture albums - many I've never seen before.. You'll see many over time.

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

back to the regular programming

It seems to take a fistful of hours over a whole day from "go" to "done". I need to venture out to buy some more canvases, but that will wait until the weekend.

While I was churning the studio for those lost or imaginary canvases I found the piece below squashed between the pages of a drawing pad.

"Silkwinds"      2010       (13.5"x16")

This was an experiment using silk gauze dyed with Colorhue silk dyes that were a gift. The base is some kind of poly that looks like linen with a piece of warm and natural cotton batting underneath to give the stitches a little bite. No backing yet.

I would do stitching things a little differently I think, but it's made me long to work with transparent color again in any medium.

I'm going to mount this one to a canvas also and it will be the next piece up for silent auction.

1.29

For this little bit of winter people were stranded on iced highways in their cars overnight.  Kids kept in schools were sleeping on the floors of the gym.

It's just a matter of practice which most folk down here will never get.

When I lived in NY and worked for AT&T we were expected at work even if the state police closed the roads. I'd show my badge at the road block and be waved on through, and dance my old Honda over the top of the packed snow and ice, slowly, deliberately and so much safer since I was alone on the road.

Snow driving at night was a form of deep meditation; a combination of intense focus on the road and the car and the constant need for the restrained, gentle touch, feeling the conditions through your feet and ass, hearing the changes as you rolled. I couldn't wait for my shift to end so I could get back out into the night and roll on.

snow so rare

There was nothing left to do but hunker down while the locals went crazy on the roadways.

do over

The cloth called while I watched the Grammys last night. I finally got this piece of craziness  disassembled and reorganized and will work it to done soon.

Bunches of fat baggies were packed up before that great halftime commercial (which was better than a lot of the performances)  It was fun and I partially restocked the river basket while I was at it.

Off to join the beer, milk and toilet paper riots at the grocery store - 1-3" of snow/sleet are predicted for our area in the next 48 hours! Armageddon in Atlanta!

Break a leg

Well, that was a change of pace for a Sunday. Colin and I just got back from an open casting call at Pinewood's new studio complex in Atlanta.

I was afraid it was going to be a cattle call, but it was quick and painless and not too many people turning out. Filled out an info card, then stood holding #36 for a couple of mug shots. You know what that looks like.

They are  looking for a pool of local people to be movie extras. Who doesn't want to be in the movies? Liars!  I haven't had this much fun doing nothing since I was a crash test dummy  in court years ago..(and look, I was still writing about writing)

Now for a nap so I can stay awake for the Grammys.

                             And heard this on the way home... thanks Roxanne!

badges suspended -updated

"River Deep, Mountain High" has been sold. 
 I like it well enough that I will probably make  variations.

Now all I have to do is mount all of them and put them in the store. My iron will be coming home over the weekend.

A series of commitments to myself and others will be putting stitching on the back burner for a while.

I went to a local writer Meetup last night and read about eight pages of a work of fiction that I've had simmering for some time.

The reactions I got were satisfying. The lack of "pointers" from published professionals  was interesting. Giving and getting criticism about words on a page is a very different experience from the kind of feedback we give and get from other artists about the things we make.

More importantly, the time I spent selecting, editing and proofreading a chapter for this exercise took me right to that sweet spot when I was writing in the first place. Another time, another place and that other me who operates outside of all time and place. It felt like good drugs with no hangover and hey, I just realized it's Friday.

Badge on

We are back inside the deep freeze again so I've been hunkered down in the nest with two unhappy cats.



Even though they can use the cat door, they are wisely appalled by the cold and have been taking out their cabin fever on each other and their humans. Juicy avoids all of us unless its feeding time.



I wanted to be mixing colors today, but I can see my breath in the kitchen. And where the @&$% did my iron disappear to?


“Joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . Together they come and when one sits alone with you. . Remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.” 
― Kahlil Gibran

production

 Starting on Wednesday I'll be having a week of full time production for hand dyed threads.

Since the market seems to be there and I'm not using the kitchen for its intended purpose anyway, I might as well give over the first dyefest of 2014 to the thread.

It will be a little messier than working outside but I need the diversion and you need these threads.

I need a day to round up a few supplies, write up some business stuff and should be posting items in the store by Sunday.

I'm really looking forward to mixing the first set of new colors for the first quarter of the year. Anyone hungering for anything in particular colorwise?

I need to busy myself with something useful.

The Wheel Turns

For Christmas Jake and Missy got me a Pandora charm bracelet with a beautiful blue glass and silver charm. I think of that charm as my portable ocean.

Wednesday night, after much prodding, team Lacativa returned to the Italian Pie to play Trivia for the first time since Jimmy left us.  I was reluctant, but the boys insisted and Missy and her Dad, Don would be there too. Nice. Family.

I was still getting used to the noise level, managing condolences from the other regulars - a really nice bunch of folks -  and ordering, when Jake presented me with another lovely Pandora bag..another charm.

I was puzzled because there was no occasion that I was aware of until I put on my reading glasses and studied the inscription. The Wheel of Life keeps turning and everything changes, again.  I am delighted for us all.

badge of madness

Lately, Saturday mornings have been given over entirely to the cloth, even though it's a regular work day for me that will commence at 4:30.

I used to be able to stitch while I was working at the office. Over time our clients caught on that we were a 24/7 operation and there are no longer any spare moments, no windows of contemplation between calls.
It grinds.


I am resisting the temptation to have the text on this one read "WTF do you want now ?"

"Badge 2" is available now.

badge-ered

For all my rusting friends out there...I'm still badgering myself about how I spend my time. But more about that in the near future.

Does anyone know Queenbbecky? I have not yet heard from her regarding the giveaway and her profile is devoid of any contact information..

and the winner is.officially Becky!

Thanks to everyone who commented. I had no idea that hand dyed Perle cotton would be such a big hit!

Because of your enthusiasm, I'll be dyeing more in the  future, so if you send me a self -addressed envelope with about a dollars worth of  postage on it  (2$ for all you internationals) and  I'll send you a fat sample as soon as the dye season begins. Write "warm" or "cool" or "Surprise me" on the inside of the envelope so I can accommodate your color whim.

Email me for the snail mail address.

web work

I'm warming up to dismantling and redesigning my aged website but it's been a long time since I taught myself the most basic HTML.  I don't think online galleries should have a lot of bells and whistles; the work should speak for itself. Less is still more, but my naked hand coding may not longer be enough to get the job done.

I don't want to use an "app" for the remodel, but I must remind myself of the hours of frustration I spent tracking down the one misplaced or mis-typed character that would spoil an entire website so I'm looking for new tools to learn; suggestions are welcome but I do not speak mac.

There was a time when I ventured to build sites for other people, but I could never figure out how to cross the great, lava filled void between what they thought they wanted and what I could deliver - never mind what to charge for my feeble magic tricks.  Like this one..


(If you followed the link to the main gallery, which of these pieces would you like to see on the block for my next silent auction?)