the Mob Scene series

At the moment the piece that's on my design wall has it's back to me, literally. For lack of table space I built the layers right on the wall and it's waiting to be pinned and trimmed, a dark over-dyed disappointment assigned a new and useful life as the backside of this piece. <--This one, my favorite from last weeks dye fest, will be the first up on the wall when the studio is done. The fabric was pre-soaked with soda ash solution and then allowed to dry out before I started dye painting with no thickeners. The little creepy business that happens where the colors meet but don't mix is interesting and something I want to work on making happen again. Dry fabric and nearly dry brush with fairly concentrated dye and no auxiliary chemicals at all.

New Studio

Here's some before shots in the earliest stages of conversion from what was a teenaged boy's den of iniquity into my new studio. The walls are all patched now and the first coat of off-white paint is scheduled for tomorrow. There will be a big,brand new window in the north wall, a huge mirror on the facing wall to pick up more light from the existing floor to ceiling window and one whole wall a floor to ceiling design wall - I just haven't decided which one yet 8x8 feet, perhaps more. There is going to be a solid walnut sewing table with a cut-out for my Janome, a some wire basket shelving and maybe a wing back chair and ottoman by the big window for handwork. All this - the sweat, scrounge and skill - a gift from my biggest fan, my husband Jim.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday and today is our 30th anniversary. Did I mention that in August of 1976 I came home from work to find the Last Good Man sleeping naked on my living room couch? We celebrate both days because of a clerical error. We had our wedding at home and when the Justice of the Peace got to our address to perform the ceremony he found that he was outside of his jurisdiction. He took his honorarium anyway and went through the motions for the guests but we had to report to his office at town hall the next morning at 8 am. The only problem with having your wedding party at your house is that folks are having too good a time and don't know when to leave. So after being up half the night we dressed in our crumpled wedding finery, I took my nearly dead flowers and we headed out for town hall. The judge met us on his way to a baseball game and performed a speed version of the wedding ceremony dressed in a baseball uniform and thoughtfully giving Jim a second opportunity to change his mind. We both said "I do" two days in a row. Last night we had a lovely dinner at a local restaurant and I had to bring my flowers to work today so Jinx wouldn't eat them.

Craft in America

After coming home from work at 3:30 and going straight to bed until 6 pm, I spent the evening doing handwork and generally attempting to restore my sanity. The PBS special "Craft in America" came on and I got sucked completely in watching every minute of the three hour-long segments. It was completely engrossing but I was a little disappointed in that mention was never made of how artists and craftspeople everywhere have to struggle and compromise to support themselves. "I just decided to quit my job an do it", oft repeated, seemed disingenuous to me, almost irresponsible. I will continue to think about how the show made me feel and perhaps watch it again. What did you think of it? There will be a full moon tonight, the second one in May, and tonight there will be ritual! The Full Moon in Sagittarius is an invitation to bask in the light of some good old-fashioned Jupiterian optimism and joy! This Full Moon represents the union of the physical and the spiritual in the search for knowledge

O TV

Sometimes the commercials are even better than the show...the wait is killing me. Click on the picture to hear My Chemical Romance's take on life in the Mob. Hilarious.