Sunday, August 05, 2012

timewarping vintage cloth



A little research and I found that the Colombian Line operated between NY and Colon in the mid 30's.






This piece had a few holes and when I made the mistake of hanging it, the weight cause the wet cloth to tear in a few places. Tender as the night.


More tomorrow.

The new palette  has some surprises..
practicing for Los Dados

the cat house

After Friday night's excitement all I wanted to do this weekend was hide away and do the work - and so I did.

Had lot's of help in the studio. The words stitched into her quilt say "You can help by sleeping here"...of course it's the first time any cat has done what it was told since I made it five or six years ago.


She's being more than the usual Mommy's girl because a stray is lurking in the wings. We are putting up signs today because last week a tearful little girl bravely knocked on the door asking if we had seen her cat..at that point, no. But two days in a row a pretty little longhair with turquoise eyes has poked her bold head in the front door and eaten dry food from Juicy's bowl. With a cat door, for all I know, Little Stranger has been sleeping on the couch.

but right now...we are preparing for a DYE DAY!!  
 
Did you know cat hair is an essential ingredient!

Thursday, August 02, 2012

makers mark


I made this piece back in May of this year and I need to find it in the stash..on the "mine" shelf, I hope. Something made me think about it today and I have a craving to make more along the river of this one. The Makers Mark.

Two big boxes were waiting for me when I got back from putting the finishing touches on the show. One from Dharma with some new-to-me colors, soy wax and a few yards of sheer silks and cotton, and a large box of beautiful double damask won from Ebay. These and the linens I picked up the other day  will have me  lost in  dye wonderland for the rest of the summer and deep into fall. 


Wednesday, August 01, 2012

now dashing



We got called on short notice to come over and get the show hung today rather than tomorrow. I'm actually pleased to get it over with and to give the pieces a chance to relax their various storage cramps and crimps.

While I screwed around fitting dowels inside metal rods and playing with the art, Jim and Colin got the whole job done in just about sixty minutes. Tomorrow, I'll go over and put up the signage and arrange a few smaller pieces and try to get some decent photos. Note to self..bring good camera, backup and tripod!

The carpet guys will be there tomorrow putting in a beautiful ocean colored carpeting and in the evening there will be a book signing by author Hedy Habra who is promoting her collection of short fiction called "Flying Carpets".

What wonderful kind of serendipity is at work here?
Jim and Colin got this done in no time at all...
while this character occupied a meditation room.

Zooming

While I was looking for a tiny scrap of something else, the major players in this grouping rolled off a heap and spread out at my feat, dazzling me the same way they did when I first rolled them up together for "someday"...well, someday is here kids. Those weird, store-bought sheers frosted the cake.


I've been looking at a lot of contemporary painting- artists known and obscure - and I  have been zapped with the need to get new things out of my head and onto the design wall hopefully with the same spontaneity and energy of the work that's inspiring me.

I've come to a place of acceptance about the fact that not much about my choice of medium can be hurried and still turn out satisfying. I was reading the back of a tube of acrylic paint in the store yesterday and there was something about drying times - 30 minutes to 3 hours - and I started laughing out loud..the kind of laughing that you have to struggle to get a grip on. Creative hysteria?

<<word has come that we may have to hang the show THIS morning and not tomorrow, I'll know more in about an hour>>

Monday, July 30, 2012

dismembered

I did what I said I was going to ...just took the big scissors and cut it into the piece parts. I like all of them separately. Even the backside was interesting.

For now, I'll set them aside until I have some unencumbered brain time. 

We've done a few simple upgrades to the dye deck - a new sheet of vinyl for the working surface, both tables are now level and flush and the replacement tent was brought out of storage.

Today I scored a half dozen interesting silk and linen garments from the Nasty Thrift up the street and a large bundle of double damask tablecloths fell out of the Ebay ether yesterday. I ordered a few replacement colors from Dharma and more soywax...I feel a monumental dyefest coming on!!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

-








It was a morning for quiet contemplation.









Word came last night that our dear friend Donald passed away after a long illness. He was just here with us in the spring, celebrating life as he always did. Here he is with Jake back in March.






And here, in sweet days gone by, with Peg and Jake again. 

                                                                                                                                                                                      

the path


 Jake continues to take boxes of Stuff out of the garage sorting and mostly filling the trash can. I found my first tarot deck, complete with crib notes,  still wrapped in a square of blue silk.

As I walked up the front walkway I shuffled the deck and drew these three cards - past, present and future. I'm good with it.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Life of Pi

I couldn't explain the book to people when it first dazzled me. Now this! I can't wait to see it in the theater.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

making ready (part 2)



There's much list making and scampering around going on but everything feels under control. I bought a variety of hanging rods and fixtures yesterday and over the next few days we'll experiment on our own naked walls to see what works best. The business cards should come in today, cross your fingers.

I've gathered up a squad of smallish, unmounted pieces that I am going to attach two a neutral cloth banner which will hang from it's own rod, two or three pieces per banner.

I found several small things that were left unfinished and reminded me, like this one, what I love about what I do. These are pieces of hand dyed silk organdy and cotton gauze stitched over what might be linen.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

working fabrics





SOLD....!

 I would love to hear from you if you've purchased any of my cloth burritos but, more importantly,  I want to see what you've done with any of it!  I'd love to put up links or images.

Sometimes when I look at my stacks and rolls of finished cloth and nothing jumps out an smacks me saying "HEY!" it helps to see where they have led others.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

making ready



  I met with the shop owner this morning to make some final decisions about which of the larger pieces would be hung. These in the chair didn't fill the bill,... this time.


I brought all the pieces that she chose from my website and another ten that I thought would work..several that have never been on my website because I never had a chance to get good photographs.  Something I plan to remedy as soon as we can get them up on the walls.


Colin toted the rolled up quilts for me and we carpeted the big room with them..sorry that I didn't take a picture of that.


The riotous array was pretty overwhelming but Candace had no trouble making her choices and ordering them along the walls. This is not something that I would be good at so I was very glad she was ready for us.

I'm particularly happy that she wanted "Front Runner" , "Pirate Circus" and "Giraffe Crossing"  - none of them have ever seen the world outside the studio.




Now that I know what's going up I'll be rounding up the necessary hardware. Starting to get excited.

wrong turn


I made major misstep with this piece by putting a layer of cotton batting under it before machine stitching the larger elements in place.

When I sat down to start some of the hand stitching the first stitch reminded me of the nagging worry that I had pushed back...dreaded bearding. The top cloth was open linen, the batting was old and cotton and the thread partly metallic. A huge tuft of white cotton was pulled through the top along with the black thread. Stop. snip.

I spent the rest of the evening clipping the batting away from the back giving thanks that I had not gotten carried away with the machine stitching and was able to cut almost all of it away.


Every time I catch this piece out of the corner of my eye I think about Karma. Crumpled up in a chair or tossed on the work table, it brings her to memory and mind.



Not that Karma ever let Sweetie get this close but she seems to have an affinity for this piece. The only time she won't get on it is when I hang it on the design wall.

Thank the stars for that  stickybuddy thing.

lazy boro



When I climbed into bed last night I accidentally tore the strap off a favorite old nighty. I was carrying my sewing stuff (which is why I clumsily kneeled on the hem of the nighty in the first place) so I sat there and did a little hasty boro..while I was still wearing it..not bad for upside down and backwards..

Saturday, July 21, 2012

inventory


I am in the market for something like a giant's coffin. Something to keep these cloth logs stored in. I've spent the morning ferreting out rolls of quilts from all the various keeping places upstairs. There was a moment of panic when I couldn't find two of the pieces that my host expressed interest in... but they turned up.

 So did a lot of other things that I haven't looked upon in some time. It's quite shocking to me how much better they are in person than mere images flickering on the web. 

This is "Secret Message" laid out for inspection. This piece kindly reminded me what I love about free motion stitching. No matter how many times I've tried to photograph it - the image on my website is actually an experimental composite of two lightings, natural and artificial - which was a whole lot of work and still it does not do the real thing justice. Sure makes a case for professional photography but that's not happening anytime soon.
detail from Secret Message



There were several that never made it to my website at all, excuse unknown - "Giraffe Crossing" which was born down at Focus on Fiber 07 at the ACA in Florida.  I'm taking this one and several others back over to the shop so she can audition them in person. I have about 35 finished pieces most larger than 45" on the short side, a handful closer to 70" on a side.  A whole lot of fabric has been whipped into a frenzy here.


 a side note about tools...I recently took a chance on a  Sticky Buddy (as seen on an obnoxious TV commercial) and guess what? It really works!  I wouldn't try to clean my couch with it but it's great at the studio work table.












I also uncovered a few red-headed stepchildren that never even got named, like this one which really irks me because I spoiled several pieces of  special cloth in a hasty dash to fool with a new technique. This piece is destined for dismemberment and hopefully, rebirth.




back to work

Thursday, July 19, 2012

slip sliding away....


Now that I've implanted that tasty earworm in your head, here's why it's on my mind. I almost let an important event go slip sliding away.

Back in the spring I was invited to have a one person show at a very popular local shop, the Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore in Roswell, GA.  They have a large meeting/classroom and turn the walls over to local artists. My show is set to open on August 3. Now you know what I know...that's right, the scramble is on.

Of course the work is ready to go. I'm meeting with the owner tomorrow to select which pieces she wants to hang or carpet the place with. There will be pictures, eventually.

 
On my side of the court, I have to order business cards and update my website which has cobwebs on it. The image on the left is going to be the front of the card - a detail from "Stars Out of Place" - and the image below on the back of the card, if I can have my way.

What say ye?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

chaos, ordered up

I spent most of yesterday morning reordering the studio so I can start the machine work on the new piece. Poor Big J hasn't been put through his paces since the last time I had it serviced. The room is a bit cramped but highly functional...warning ..DO NOT open those closet doors!  Order is nice.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

the rush!

Don't know how or why but there's a rush on at the store!
The sale is ongoing, buy one get the next 10$ off . and there's still a nice selection.

Picnic

results


Here's what's come of yesterday's work overdyeing and discharging the black and white pieces that turned up gray and green. The surprise of the whole lot? All the way on the left is a small piece of a big piece of cloth that I picked up at OHCO on the weekend.

 I bought it because it was light enough (beige originally) to dye and the jacquard pattern was bold and interesting but once I handled it, it  was so stiff with some upholstery chemical stain protection that I gave up all hope of dyeing and bought it for backing cloth.

 I cut a foot wide strip to use as a stabilizing base under the damasks as I painted them then I noticed it was wicking up the dye gradually.  After dyeing and discharging it has turned out to be so full of character and potential that  I called Jan to stop by the shop and see if the other large piece of it was still there. dumped in a bin like so much trash. $3 a pound.