Thursday, January 18, 2007
Yes, yes, bowing and scraping my hair in the mud, I sold two pieces last month and I am still pinching myself. That's a story for another day.
My main interest in grabbing this screenshot was the hit counter. How much more possessed can I get without committing to some bad tattoos?
And here's what this New Moon in Capricorn is good for according to Lisa Miller :
"This is the best New Moon for setting goals, initiating projects, and making a serious commitment to achieve."
But does it get any better than last month? I insist! I have qualms but now that I look at the word, I have decided that qualms are small mossy growths around the rim of over watered houseplants, nothing to fear. And like JM says, "fear is a friend who's misunderstood".
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Painted Trouble
This 10"x 10" canvas is the first painting I have finished in more years than I can remember. At least 25 - I recall doing some murals in the nursery way back when.
It was just a matter of time before I started moving off the cloth and onto the canvas. While rooting around in the stuff I found a sketchbook about three years old and the intent at the time was sketches for fiber work. Only a very few came into being and they were unsatisfying. I spent some time reviewing the pen and ink sketches and then started this small panel. It clearly related to the fiber work I'm doing at the moment and it could be a study for a larger fiber piece.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Fiber Outing
Jan Thompson and I went to an organizational meeting of the Georgia members of the Surface Design Association held by Sharon Ahmed at Fiber On A Whim over in Sandy Springs. It was an interesting gathering with the first admirable goal of finding a venue for a group exhibit.
Any local surface designers interested in attending the next meeting should email Sharon Ahmed for details.
Then, we all scampered upstairs to SHOP!
I snatched up this little chunk of dark print which I promptly attacked with dishwasher gel while I was getting dinner ready. Before it was dry I painted it too. Tasty but now on the back burner.
In case any of you are into the End Times you can interpret this anyway you like. It's either about to be Armageddon or Peace on Earth:
Voodoo, Karma & Jinx
Friday, January 12, 2007
RIP Ralphie Boy
I still recalled the amazement I felt the first time one of these giants swam into my view at the Georgia Aquarium.
Ralph died from as yet unknown causes sometime last evening. I wonder if they will take Norton, Trixie and Alice back to the ocean and let them go?
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
New on the Design Wall
What's new and ongoing now that Mopery is officially done? This piece which began outside on the deck last summer.
I'm realizing that the development of these dyed/discharged pieces is not just a matter of cleaning up annoying UFOs. I was just not certain of where I wanted to go with them right after they were created. Now, as they reveal themselves one by one, I'm glad I folded them up and put them away for a time. Who know what horrors might have issued from the studio.
Here are some detail shots so far. You can click on them to zoom in bigger images. I'll be moving this stuff to my WIP page before too much goes on with it.
Meanwhile, I came across the work of Barbara Cohen and am just loving her paintings.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Friday, January 05, 2007
Link Love
Gotta thank Jen Lemen for that wonderful expression but I can't wait for Sunday. To make up for my lack of posting, here is some authentic magic from the wasteland called the web.
Speakers on and an open heart are in order for Jonathan Yuen's site.
Lisa Miller has good new for the New Moon in Capricorn and she very nearly has me picking up my Tarot cards again. Yes, I do readings.
To joggle your creative bone (where is yours? mine is in my butt I think) this marvel from my old buddy Frank Ze. If you make something cool, email it to me.... deborah@lacativa.com
<---I did this one...looks like my quilts.
I am working hard on a new piece but big things take longer for sure and I can't get a break in the weather to do any decent in progress pictures. For now, it's me, John Coltrane and Miles Davis in the studio.
"Some things are true whether you believe in them or not" .......City of Angels
Monday, January 01, 2007
dancing with the design wall
New Year, new work
Fini. This is
"3 to 5 for Mopery" (39x47) $3100
Okay, so it still needs to be ironed good to set the last of the fabric paint and a sleeve sewn on but I'm satisfied for now. Some sleeve sewing will give me face time with my crew after dinner.
Not a bad way to start the new year and there's a new piece on the design wall, most of the fabrics already chosen and one UFO rescued from the heap.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Happy New Year
It's 11:46...even thought it's pouring rain, the neighborhood across the brook is erupting with fireworks and sporadic gunfire. Earlier this evening I swear I heard a burst of semi-automatic rounds. I watch enough cop TV to know it when I hear it. Even though I seem to be living in a mock Beruit, I am at grateful peace. My sons are both home, their friends will be spending the night, all the cats are in and my GoodMan is snoring beside me. Two pieces of art got almost finished and something new and tasty got started. Here's to 2007!
They are going nuts here in Georgia. It's New Year's Eve and a Sunday. That means that because of the Blue Laws, any establishment that serves liquor but not food will NOT be able to sell any alcohol until after the stroke of midnight tonight. I guess you can tell by my attitude that I'm not shedding a tear for them and I wonder about the lives that might not be destroyed because of alcohol tonight. Enough of my cynicism. Here's a gift for all my readers.
Just sit in front of this for a few minutes and marvel. Happy New Year!
And this just in from Val
"After serious & cautious consideration.....your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2007! It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!
My Wish for You in 2007- May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address!
In simple words ............May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!"
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
continued WIP (Mopery)
After fooling around with Setacolor for the first time on both wet and dry fabric, I was confident it would do what I wanted here and bring that wretched (sorry Deb) RED under control . This is probably not included in the instructions but I've been painting a section, watching it for "creep" and when I'm satisfied with how it looks, hitting with a hot iron to set the paint. To fend off boredom induced sloppiness, I'll stop painting and switch to machine stitching but twice I've had to stop and pick out a mess of stitching because I wasn't happy with a too-casual color choice. Baby steps with this one - it's still a cliff-hanger.
You can go to WIP and scroll down to see the most recent overall shot.
Monday, December 25, 2006
samples
As soon as the lasagna was being slurped up, I escaped to the studio to fool around with the transparent Setacolors that I snagged at Michaels the other day. Great fun to work with. I'm tickled that I won a set of 8 colors from Ebay at a great price if you don't count seven bucks for priority mail. At least I'll have them in time for the weekend.
these are 6"x 4"
the Booty
As much as I have been suffering with my annual case of humbuggery, my Goodman once again came through with a small thing to delight me and lift my spirits. Love by the Beatles is that gem this Christmas.
I've been a Beatles fan since the first time I heard "She Loves You" coming from my mother's portable, leather bound Zenith radio. Something so different and compelling in those young voices working those flirty minor chord lifts captured my attention so completely I scorched a huge brown "V" in the back of one of my Dads dress shirts because I was so intent on this new sound. This is more than a new compilation or greatest hits. The way it's been produced reminds me of how albums connected one song to the next to make a whole that was more than the sum of the parts. For me it adds up to emotional time travel.
I've been a Beatles fan since the first time I heard "She Loves You" coming from my mother's portable, leather bound Zenith radio. Something so different and compelling in those young voices working those flirty minor chord lifts captured my attention so completely I scorched a huge brown "V" in the back of one of my Dads dress shirts because I was so intent on this new sound. This is more than a new compilation or greatest hits. The way it's been produced reminds me of how albums connected one song to the next to make a whole that was more than the sum of the parts. For me it adds up to emotional time travel.
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Saturday, December 23, 2006
Nothings wrapped yet but art gets done
No title yet but it's being fun and has promise. Lots more stitching and perhaps paint.Don't know just yet.
The one below got it's start last year but I jumped on the quilting yesterday and took it all the way through to sewing on the sleeve and coming up with a better name. Formerly "Turd Picnic" is now officially "Skin Keeps Us In"
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Tub Thumping Time
There's nothing like a sale to pick up one's spirits.
"Atavistic Inclinations" will shortly be on it's way to a new home. I'm going to miss all those little intent faces. Thank goodness for digital photography.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Self Indulgence
Now that it's too late to buy anything online and hope to get it in time for gift giving, I found a few pennies left in my PP account and decided to get myself a treat.
I went grubbing about in my Shopping bookmarks and found a link to a product that I have loved for years. Long ago these little clay pots were filled with fragrant cremes from Nadina's Cremes. The scents made me dizzy and the cremes were all-purpose wonderful.
I have cherished this trio of empty pots for so long - it was time to bring some new ones into the fold filled with magic potion!
The paperweight is a one-of-a-kind original by Josh Simpson, glass artist extraordinaire, who I just happened to have gone to high school with back when the Ark was launched . We re-connected briefly over the web over some old photos that I scanned and passed along to him and he most graciously sent this beautiful example of his art.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Holiday Stampede
Like everyone else in blogland I've been busy trying to do all the last minute stuff required for giving a civilized nod to the Holidays. They have never been my Holy days - my Mom used to live for Christmas - thanks to her, I have fond, old-fashioned childhood memories that I perpetuated in my own now grown children so I go through the motions every year. We give and receive generously and gratefully all year so this forced hoopla once a year bugs me as much as I will let it.
Is there a country/culture in the whole world that doesn't DO Christmas? I guess that says more about the power of the United States of Advertising than the power of Christendom but there you have it. If I could find this place and go there (on someone else's American Express card) from Nov.1 until Jan. 2,
I would be gone.
Time to say goodbye to this postcard. I'm tossing it into the tide of Christmas mail and crossing my fingers that it reaches it's destination.
Now I just want to go back to the WIP which is coming along like a sweet song. Some rough patches coming up and scary decisions to commit to but, all & all, a nasty throwaway is blooming magic and it feels good.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Sewing Again
Seems like a long time but it's going well. "Mopery..." is under the needle and making me very happy even though I really don't gravitate to reds, especially the bluish reds, but there you have it. Up close, there are many other little color things going on that I plan to accentuate with stitching. Machine stitching- so you know I haven't gone totally round the bend.
I've added a Work In Progress link to the sidebar and created a non-Blogger place to keep better track of work in progress so I don't have to scramble all over for information once I decide to add the piece to the main gallery. Also (whispering)
I don't trust this new Beta Blogger all that much.
I must publicly thank Shoshana for featuring me in the sidebar of her blog with Senator Barak Obama and Knit Tits. What an honor! She also asked aloud about what folks do when they become creatively adrift or stale. Beside cleaning, I go digging about in my old digital files. I'm a fiendish collector of bizarre miscellaneous digitalia specializing in round things. Go figger. Here's a few I dug up:
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Mopery in Progress
I have been having great e-converse with the Empress of Dirt (don't I hang out with the nicest crowd?), author of Fabric Dyeing 101 a wonderful and generous resource for folks who want to take a crack at dyeing their own fabric. I was reading through her take on the whole process and occasionally giving myself the old "Palm to Old Forehead, Sharply" gesture - the way you do when you know you are screwing up even as you do it...like ironing the wrong side of the fusible crap. Damn I hate that stuff but it's the only way I can think of to close up the birthing slot left when I pillowcase a backing...(who else but another art quilter would know what the hell I was talking about.)
So I took a moment to tell her about Table Moppers, but she'll elaborate on that.
Anyway, to finish off the discharging session I started last night, there was this one piece of fabric left on the kitchen table, one of nastiest Table Moppers from the last dyefest.I got rather caught up in the thing and before I knew it, there were seams and batting and backing and birthing and
"3 to 5 for Mopery" was hatched, another whole-cloth monster just begging for lots of paint & stitching. It's just amazing what can happen when there's a clean place to work and you (mostly) know where all your stuff is.
Just a lazy eyed jump from mopper to mopery, the title refers to a family joke around here. If one of the boys was sulking about and had the nerve to utter the phrase "I'm bored" they would be convicted of Mopery, something I had a nodding acquaintance with as a teenager.
Somewhere on my permanent record it must say "suspected of mopery with intent to creep", not convicted mind you, just suspected.
Friday, December 08, 2006
New Stuff, Like I needed More New Stuff
The deal is, for every hour I spend sorting, folding and making order in the studio I get at least two hours of messing around with stuff. Today I went the lazy mystery route and picked a few pieces from the stash to discharge.
This fabric was from a very old nightgown. White cotton with the shoulders and bodice crocheted from pearl cotton.
This interesting effect on this turquoise commercial batik came from putting dishwasher gel on dry fabric, waiting about 15 minutes then misting it heavily with water and popping it into a hot oven on a cookie sheet for about 5 minutes. and yes, yes Anti-chlor for everyone at the bar!
Ain't it cool?
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Born with the Platinum Spoon in her Mouth
My husband has long suspected that in several past lives I was a duchess or baroness or queen of some such. Not merely some aristocrat but one of the FEEELTHY rich.
No one had to convince me. Given any choice of goods I will invariably choose the most expensive thing in the group without ever seeing a price tag. Needless to say, he is also happy that in this lifetime, I recognize value, live simply, am easily amused and don't covet material things. Still, this car pulled alongside me on my ride home today and I was spellbound and drooling. As it pulled ahead of me so I could see the badge and identify the maker, I said aloud "Of course it is..." I tried to put it on my Amazon wishlist but they don't stock them.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Photoshoot
Sunny days are for taking pictures outdoors.
In the service of gross and wondrous commerce, I spent a few hours taking pictures of a slew of small things from the last two years that have never seen the light of day.
Now, I'll spend the rest of the afternoon putting some them up
on my online store Like Hotcakes and a few over at the Etsy joint. I will be happy when I can stop being a merchant and go back to being an artist.
I must have uncovered at least a half dozen UFOs!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
What Happened to My Weekend?
Here's me and Voodoo luxuriating in turkey poisoning.
I've spent most of the day ironing pieces of hand dyed fabric to post for sale on the web.
Can't buy or make any new stuff until the old stuff is cleared out and as fast as I was posting pictures, people were buying them! Whoopee!
Last night I made pizzas from (almost) scratch. The dough comes in plastic baggies at the Publix bakery. I actually got it spinning in the air with nary a flop to the floor. The guys at Redendo's Pizza would be proud. Next weekend we'll have video - I'm teaching eveyone how to make pizza for themselves now that I've found out how much cheaper it is to make your own pies. All in all they were pretty good but the sauce needs tinkering with.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
More company for Dinner
Friday, November 24, 2006
Feast Day
I can't remember when I spent hours and hours embroidering this linen tablecloth. It was supposed to be cutwork done in ecru. Can you imagine how boring? Here's the detail that makes it an heirloom.
Jake invited a few friends so we had to have a KIDS table. Fortunately it was balmy enough for them to eat out on the deck. Believe that from a 26 pound turkey there are almost no leftovers.
I was most thankful that Jimmy got home at all. Snafu's on the job almost pre-empted his trip home (he and Colin have already gone back down to Macon) and I was about to have a meltdown when he told me on the phone. Things worked out after all and the kitty girls were both mad to lavish love on him.
And even though there are (still) dishes to be washed, I am going to sit down, read a book and take a shot a learning a new addiction, I mean technique
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Buy Now Button Fixed
PayPal finally got back to me about fixing the BUY NOW button on my Hotcakes site. I still have a dozen of these scrap bags left and the price includes first class postage inside the US.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Food Frenzy
So I'm in Publix doing the last minute holiday provisioning. It's the baking stuff aisle and for a full two minutes I am looking for the paper thingies that get baked around cupcakes.
A young woman stocking shelves on the opposite side of the aisle senses my need for assistance and asks what I am searching for. I opened my mouth and for an instant realize that I don't know what they are called.
It's not Alzheimer's - I never knew what they were called in the first place. Without any other thought process I blurted out "cupcake panties". The look on both our faces must have been the proverbial priceless. In a heartbeat, she got my drift and plucked a small container from an obscure corner of the display. Made both our days I suspect.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Webwork
This is not a sane way to spend a sunny day off! I started the morning fifth in line the newest of the Gwinnett County tag offices finding out what became of the renewal sticker for our pickup and getting new plates for Colin's car. Oh the joys of being the family CFO. Compared to my near-arrest at the New York DMV, which is all the bad, evil New Yorker jokes rolled into one, this was a piece of cake for breakfast.
Then I made the unsound decision to spend three hours pushing pixels and html code around to update my website for the first time in nearly two years. NO - I have not finished the gallery and I probably won't today. My brain is fried so I am going to the park to walk and then spend the rest of the day in the studio. All criticisms welcome.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Loose Ends
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