taking time

Thinking things through is an art that I have gotten out of touch with, if I ever had a grasp on it at all. Instead of more whining about needing a new, better digital camera, I am taking the time to sit with my A95 and, one by one, go through all it's functions, features and adjustments to find out what I've been missing. Lots, it seems. Of course the first thing I did when I got the camera was pitch the instruction manual in the "read someday" pile. Every gadget comes with a Quick Start one sheet that was enough to get me going. All these years later, it's like having a new camera! I started making templates for my batik experiment using sheets of craft foam. It's flexible, waterproof, cuts like butter but I wonder how it's going to like hot soy wax? Maybe I should test a piece before I waste any more time cutting out paper weirdies.

gen-U-wine batik

Thinking about what it's going to take to bring digital imaginings to the cloth, wax and dye. How many yards can I stand...and will I be satisfied when the vagaries and imperfections of the process manifest? Can I cultivate some discipline for a day and be glad with the results? Only one way to find out.

progress

I've been spending about an hour each morning stitching on the latest of the big flags. I'm still not happy that for all the trouble stitching like this takes, the overall effect not what I hoped for. What that is remains to be seen. Tomorrow I'll start working this one over with the transparent Setacolor. Now that the lines are all in place, it will be like coloring in a big coloring book. All I have to do is get the crayons right. ...all.

Doodle Wednesday

I guess if doodling starts with line, then this little mandala qualifies. These two pieces of hand dye have been following me around in the studio for a while now and the other day at work I cut them into 3/4 inch ribbons and crocheted them into harmony. Look closer, be mesmerized. I had it hanging on the wall at eye level in my office cube and find myself staring at it and stepping onto a jungle's edge beach in my mind. My doctor has started me on some medication to even out mildly elevated blood pressure. She and the office lady warned me not to take it at night because I would not get any rest for trips to the bathroom but the label also warned of drowsiness. The label won out - I sleep deeply, restfully and untroubled. I dream about the ocean and have not yet peed the bed.

inspiration

Thanks to Red Thread Studio I have a new image to obsess about. I was captivated by this image and then the name "Conquistador" - a Jack Lenor Larsen fabric at the Minneapolis Institute for the Arts from 1966. So much of his work feels fresh and wonderful. The shapes, the lines the colors (even the description of the colorways!) all made me want to drop everything and heat up the wax.I am already mentally mixing a batch of my secret "Monkeys Blood" dye. Until I have the time to devote a whole weekend to dyeing and waxing, here's a new fish under way for while I am at the office and limited to hand stitching.