Dogpaddling & SlowCloth

This little duck pillow is finished. I'm not thrilled with the way the velcro closure looks so once I find the right herbal stuffing for it (just fluff inside for now) I'm going to remove the velcro and sew it shut. The way it is, it feels like a hiding place for valuables instead of something small to be cherished for it's own sake. I'm not sure this whole "slow cloth" thing is for me. At this moment in my life, too much contemplation seems to lead to sadness which is probably why I'll spend the day folding laundry and any other mindless tasks I find. Try to be useful. Then again, it's that time of the year to make decisions about what pieces to enter into all the various venues out there that are just warming up. So there is paperwork to be considered and, once it warms up, photos to be taken. Thanks to all the folks who make this information public. Thanks Pam, for this one and Mary Macbride for this one. Sewing sleeves onto interesting backsides is necessary and productive.

Strange sights & freebies

I drive past this doorway each morning on the way to my office. It never fails to give pause. I think about where it came from, what it's life was like, it's death and why. On a lighter note, a recycling one, I was given a huge batch of what appear to be poly carpet samples but (for once) presented in a way that some fiber artist somewhere could possible make use of them. Here's a link to an overview of the whole batch. If you want any, send me an email. All I want is a flat rate prepaid postage envelope. I could probably stuff 20 into one of those. First come, first served and I'll try to accommodate color requests but as you can see, carpet colors are generally on the neutral side. I pulled that strand loose from one of the bundles and it measures 8".

Appliance Demise

How's this for a fresh face. It was taken on the day I interviewed at the School of Visual Arts. The felt hat was screaming yellow and the rayon paisly print dress a riot of turquoise, pink, lime and yellow. Hey, it was 1967! That gets me to the hair. I had not yet given up on fashion and my naturally bushy hair required major taming to be picture ready. I didn't iron my hair like some (terrified of that burning stink) but I did sleep sitting up with it wound around orange juice cans. Tomato paste cans were just too small. One year down the road fashion would find me in a do-rag, torn jeans, theatrical eye makeup and army surplus fatigues. Very early grunge. A few years before this picture was taken my Mom gave me this set of electric curlers for Christmas. I loved the speed of the dramatic change they could bring but if I didn't get them out of my hair at just the right time (more often than not) I wound up with a head full of banana curls that any Victorian doll would kill for, which would stay bouncing around my head until I washed them out. After all these years of faithful service, this great little appliance kicked the bucket on New Years Eve just as I was getting ready to go out. I had left my goat-chewed looking hairdo until last minute, counting on them as usual for a bit of glam, but when I plugged them in this time, instead of the tick-tick-tick of the heat rising, they sat cold and silent. I'm sad. 40+ years of hair doing. Model KF-20 I salute you! I think I'll send the Clairol folks a note....

Innocent Bystanders

Crap - I missed the best outside light of the day by about two hours. I forgot about them damn trees making shadows. I'll have to try again tomorrow or shoot inside. ::in response::: Gabrielle- "painterly". Exactly! Owing to the theme of this series (the world without us) I no longer have to remind myself why I'm working with fabric instead of paint and canvas. Everything here is recycled or scrounged - antique cotton damasks, lawn, sheeting - all salvage of one sort or another. Even the black industrial polyblend in the background was a dumpster rescue donated by a friend. If it was just the imagery I was after, I'd be taking photographs. I need the texture, the feely-ness of fiber to convey the personal nature of this issue. At the same time I continue to struggle to find expanses of color and texture that meet my need for large scale. This one is 62"x42". Thanks for feeling it Karen. This is the third in a series that started with the two big blue pieces back about two months ago. They are all concerned with global warming. In this one you see the bird above, plant life in the center and a fish below. The first two pieces were a more generalized comment on what the planet is experiencing, feeling if you will, at the hands of human selfishness. This one and subsequent pieces will look more closely at the effects of global warming on the innocent bystanders.

Mandala

It's a day for finishing things. I couldn't get any of the usual suspects to pose on this (I think they are waiting for a nice juicy hurk to come on first) to show some scale but it's nearly 4 feet across and has to weigh 15 pounds. (Click on the picture for the full effect) I love this because I can account for each piece of fabric that has gone into it. For instance, that tortoise-shell looking ring halfway from the center used to be a beautiful batik scarf that my sister Kitty gave me years ago. Sorry Kit, it had an unfortunate accident in the laundry - I saved the beaded fringe for another project though! The very dark rings at the outer edges are two pieces that dyed puke-y looking and then over-dyed too fabulous to hack into until now. That hot rose eye? - one of my earliest overdoses of fuschia. I have a show in mind for this one, believe or not! Crocheting this thing has prepared me for a second career as a strangler, but now to rest my weary paws and get busy finishing the Black Duck even though the saintly agenda says I'm supposed to be sewing on sleeves for my "Visions" entries, as yet un-photographed. Yawn. DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ENTRIES - JANUARY 12TH - seems like a lifetime away. At least I've confirmed that I'm still a member.