the gesture theme continues

It hasn't taken a lot of contemplation to realize that this new direction is actually a continuation of a theme that I have been working on for almost two years now. The arc, just half a circle, is the simplest track of a desultory lift and fall of a hand. You don't even have to make the effort to join up the ends and there it is. Tongues, tombstones or tonsures, make of it what you will - it's a mere flip of the hand.

backsides and more

Friday brought great mail - this postcard for my new favorite crack house and an acceptance notice from Quilts=Art=Quilts for "Mudmen Procession". I have to think about how this piece should be shipped to minimize the creases in the acrylic paint. The backsides of my work has been preying on my mind but Rayna Gillman over at studio 78 notes has eased my mind about a quilt's less-than-perfect quilt backsides by going public over the matter. Given the simplicity of my stitching you'd think that the backs of my pieces would be fairly tidy- NOT!. I'm sure my machine is overdue for a professional tuneup - the least little change in thread, top or bottom, or needle or fabric, for that matter is usually cause for nests, skipping and other hidden horrors. As long as things look hunky dory from the topside, I'm satisfied. Then I start to think about whether the jurors are going to spend any time looking "upskirts"as it were. I mean really, if you went into an art gallery and started lifting paintings off the wall to check the backs of canvases you'd be ejected . I am still so strongly tempted to go ahead with my idea of making pre-printed stitch or iron-on labels for the backsides of art quilts that say "WRONG SIDE STUPID!" or "NOSY LITTLE BASTARD, AREN'T YOU?" or "WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?". Think I could sell a few? I've been stitching on a piece started a long time back - it's been growing on me as it nears completion. No surprise that I had dreams last night about a variation on the same piece that demanded execution first thing this morning, I mean before sunup even. I don't know what part pleases me more - the hand-dyed flannel, the color scheme or the little 3D tongues standing up smartly and being different colors from different directions. More of this to come for sure.

The Day Job

Did you know that I have a day job? I work at the offices of the Handweavers Guild of America in Suwanee, Georgia. When I first took the job I thought "who knew there were so many weavers out there?" Now I know. Here's my first attempt at weaving. At HGA I answer the phone, do computer stuff and try to make myself useful. They publish a magazine called "Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot" and every other year put on a gigantic fiber art conference called Convergence. The next one is going to be in Tampa, FL hosted by the Florida Tropical Weavers Guild and promises to be the Lollapalooza of fiber art gatherings. The next issue of the magazine comes out in October and contains the registration information for CO'08. This is when we tighten our chinstraps and hunker down.

cross-eyed & crazy

Limbo 38"x68" I spent most of today finishing the quilting on this piece which was actually late born last summer. I'm particularly pleased that each and every piece of fabric from that session has gone on to be part of a finished piece. That was a really good day a the dyeworx. Here is a detail shot. I'm not sure I am completely finished stitching but I'll let it hang a while on the wall and see what comes to me.

Signatures and such

Thanks to Tracy Helgeson for blogging about it first. Over the weekend I decided to dismantle, clean and oil my Janome 6500 which is well overdue for professional assistance. Doing it myself was the next best thing. Once I had it back together I started noodling around on my test sandwich adjusting the tension and such. I have half a dozen pieces either poised for shipping to shows, or waiting to hear if they are going and none of them have labels or signatures. This came out just the way I wanted it to: Now I have to get busy with sleeves for most of these pieces. Colin snapped this picture of Karma standing lifeguard duty even though it's a race with the falling leaves to keep the pool clean. When the air gets cooler in the evening the water still feels warm and refreshing. We are in for a spell of rain and cooler temperatures so I'm afraid the end of pool season may be upon us.