sea change

The B&W versions were all composed and assembled (if not finished) at the office but last night, as I poked through the scrap bag, the Crayon People took me over and color just had to have it's way. I've been hand stitching on the color one this morning. The sun streams into my studio right over my shoulder, Jinx and I share the sewing chair, enjoy CBS Sunday Morning and a second cup of coffee and lots gets accomplished. I've decided that I'm going to finish these four pieces by mounting them on canvas and then mummifying the fabric with a thick soaking of clear acrylic medium. I've done this before with smaller pieces and I like the outcome. Of course, the hand of the fabric is lost but that's not an issue with this sort of piece anyway.

steeping

For the first time in ages I am dwelling on my work. It's a total luxury to be able to have it with me at all while I'm at the office. I pin the piece up on the wall of my cube and just look at while I'm taking calls and think about what's going on with it. Then, between calls, I can cut, adjust and stitch, slowly. thoughtfully. only this time I'm not thinking all that much about process or technique. With this kind of time on my hands what could be simpler than honoring the grid and attending to good design elements, each one a wayward and willful sheep? I'm thinking about the cloth and the spirits in it as if possessed. The ground, of course, these antique damask tablecloths that I have rescued from rag bags and dyed, are each full of mystery and history. They came to me mostly white but I feel as if the colors that I have given them reflect something of the character of their lives and service. Some are worn through in places, evidence of what? Years of happy Sunday family gatherings? Years of straight laced enslavement to social requirements? Was this tablecloth washed, ironed, folded and fussed over by a young, Irish immigrant girl brought to New England as an indentured servant before the turn of the century? Did this tablecloth cost more than her family could earn in a year? Did her heart ache as she stood back and watched dinner guests spill wine and gravy on it without a thought? The grid elements are refugees too, all snips and bits taken from here and there. The black here is a messy-when-cut expensive linen taken from a pair of designer label slacks that were incredibly a size 2. Not much fabric here. Each piece of cloth I'm handling is speaking to me of it's origin, it's use, it's history. I hope the finished pieces will convey the fabric's wishes as much as my own.

juicy days

Yesterday was a fine day in the mines! They's choking at Chucky's, puking at PF's and boffing in the bathrooms at El Toadies. (The names are all changed to protect the guilty, of course) . I may never eat out again! All this goes on and on and I get to be the electronic priestess listening, nodding, murmuring agreements and keying it all into the void and all the while struggling to keep a straight face and not bust out howling with laughter. I'm sorry but tales of guests stabbing one another with forks for dibs on the waitress is right up there with Craig Ferguson's best stuff. If you can stay up that late, you deserve giggle fits. I kept my self-promise to wallow more in the music and wore my Ipod headphones on the drive over to the office (arrest me) and got a great dose of Box Scaggs and John Mayer, both live. Add a dash of Joni Mitchell and for dessert, some Sting. Music like that makes me miss a longer commute. Things were slow when I got there - the river of Whining was running slow as sludge so I was able to get a new small piece of hand work underway and it's developing in a very satisfying way. If you've ever worked in a cube farm you know how it can be very self-contained and isolating but I've chosen a seat in a corner lot that no one else seems to want, the southern light filters through pines and a wall of glass over my right shoulder. It's not like working in a dungeon when I can sit there. It's interesting working on a piece when you are sitting on the corner of Main and Exit. Folks pass by, watch for a moment. Not the place or time for discussion but I can tell they are wondering what I am up to. With a tip of my pointy hat, I'll call it "jude scratchin'#1". Until I can work arms thrown wide again, I'll have this personal investigation into the nature of cloth, the grid, of course, and the spaces left where the warp and weft do their dance. So's not to rush a good thing, I set it aside at the stall point and started a new book."The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy that appears to have been written with the artist's eye in mind. Just wonderful visuals at every turn and I've hardly gotten to know the players. This day has been a feast for the senses. Not bad for a cube rat.

camera woes

There was a lovely box of inspiration on the doorstep this morning including some lightweight cottons bound for the dyepots as soon as it gets warm enough. I was inspired to root around in the studio and start rounding up everything and anything that will take color and found quite a pile! Now all I have to do is grind my teeth and wait a month or two. I mounted "Alligator Dream #1" on a 9"x12" canvas and finally got this one trued up and stitched down tight but spent two wasted sessions trying to get it and few others photographed. I'm going to take my CanonA95 someplace and have it cleaned or whatever can be done for an aging and well-used digital camera that is just not doing what it used to do. I wasted another hour online looking at what's new and reasonably price in the way of digital cameras but looks like I'll have to go back to school to catch up on all the latest jargon since '05 when I bought the one I've got now. All suggestions, reviews and wisdom are welcome.

brewing

With the clock ticking I was able to cobble together this little flag yesterday. Must be the anticipation of the weekend spurring me on. There were lulls between calls last night and some notions actually made it into the sketchbook. I'll have to force myself to drag them out of it this time. Good ideas have been few and far between for me lately. Winter blahs without any snow or ice are insidious. One thing I'm sure of...I have to bring music back into the studio. TV is beginning to sicken me. In the break room at my job there is a set that seems locked onto CNN with the volume set at impending disaster level. There seems to be no relief from the perfect idiocy of most of the human race. I am absolutely sure that good, purposeful people everywhere who are working to help or make a difference come home from work, kick off their shoes and yell "you STUPID @!*&$!!" at the ceiling. Then, I hope they can have a dish of ice cream, smile and get a good night's rest before starting all over again the next day. ADDENDUM ((beeep)) " Thank you for calling the Common Sense Hotline. I am not a doctor or a lawyer but I wasn't born yesteday and I have been paying attention...what is your issue?"

new cards

I finally took the time and money to order some new business cards. Graphic design is not like riding a bicycle. If the analogy was true, I'd be dead in the street about now. I decided I wanted more art and less information and this snip from "Up on Wheels" and all of "Hopped Up" remind me what I like best about what I do with fabric dye and paint.

Yes! Spring!

Can't you just hear him complaining about my dirty, empty birdbath? ( A word of warning about the sound link above - two of my cats rushed the monitor and speakers!) This charming fellow is one of Nellie Durand's fabulous creations. And for a little more delight for your day, try here: http://www.adobecards.com/ Thank you, Tristan!

Spring?

What a great combination - the Ace of Cups and a nearly full moon. After what seems like weeks in the deep freeze, the house is open to a blazing sunny day that may see 65 degrees. Eastern Bluebirds are everywhere here, on their way to someplace else but chowing down on whatever they can find while they are here. I stitched on this through the first four new episodes of LOST yesterday. Finally I've starting to cast about for a new direction for some large work. Makes you wonder if being able to stand up straight without shivering figures into creative output. Supplies are low and I'll have to scrounge for stuff but what else is new in the life of an artist? I'll bet batting is 50% off in JoAnns any minute now. And Jinx know what to do with a scrap of batting in a sunny patch on the sewing table.

handwork

A little hand music maybe but I doubt there will be time tonight. We suddenly busy and I'm in the middle of two good books. Reviews when I get a minute. Hail Friday! Last night I found out that I can sign up for Weeks off from work (without pay of course) but still... how civilized!

Scootch closer and hunker down to

"Tales From the Cube-a-torium" ...."Your race please?..... ...What?..... 5K, 10K?....What ? training? ...No, no. I mean, who are your people? I mean.... ...The Dinwiddies of East Toadholler?? No, no I mean your ETHNICITY. ...No, no, I don't need to know about your bedroom doings, I need your ETHNICITY... you know, what COLOR you are. " ....No Ma'am, Summer is not an option here. Are you white? ....Ma'am I'm sorry about the tanning salon incident but can we... ....No ma'am "drowned China man" is not on the list. Are you Caucasian? ....No, not your religious persuasion, I don't need to know about pagan rites and such, I just need to know if you are African American, Hispanic, white, brown ...you know, RACE? ....thank you Ma'am. I'll include your suggestion to the people who write the questions. No, Ma'am. I don't think it's unreasonable to offer Extraterrestrial as an option but for right now...." OK....so it was funnier in person and late at night. Try this

The Bloody Shoe & The Quilter's Prayer

For lack of anything artistic to report this morning, I'm going with News of the Weird. Some time ago I posted this photo-shopped image of a shoe. I bought them online and sadly, the fit was wrong for me to the point of pain but it wasn't quite this bad.

Nothing like a little drama and blood to draw a crowd. There's a huge group of folks out there who seem drawn to this picture like it was an image of the Virgin Mary on a Dorito. Go figger. Have a ball guys!

And the runner up in the hit parade? My Quilter's Prayer, which, btw, didn't prevent this particular piece of hand dyed cotton from winding up in the recycle bin in my studio. Bits of it are in pieces all over the place. As a whole piece, the prayer failed it but I have often snatched up a chunk, cut off what was needed and given thanks.

Cold 'Lanta

It's sixteen whole degrees outside and not a whole lot warmer in the house. Even the furred folk are happier under the covers. To provoke Spring, I've started the handwork on my latest garden quilt. At the new job we don't have assigned seats so, gypsy style, you squat where you can when you get there. Yesterday I had a bad chair, a flicker-y monitor and bad lighting so hand work was out of the question. Pray for a window seat today.

Thanks Arlee...

My photography is not getting crappier. My camera is starting to have issues. I'm going to leave this on the design wall and stay my hand for a while. Less is more. The hole in the center where nothing lives provokes me eye. I had all kinds of snide and entertaining notions to share about the new job but, right now, I'm not feeling the comedy of things but I am feeling deep gratitude for the generosity and kindness of (almost) strangers. The Card of the Day is Strength and there I abide.

Flourish continues

The time I have to do artwork is so precious all of a sudden. I spent most of this morning in the studio working on Flourish. they have an orchid feel to them although I've never given a real orchid a good hard look. They look more like creatures of some kind than plants. They sell orchids in the grocery stores down here, the most expensive things in the produce department. I'm going leave off with this now cause I've stopped feeling joyful about it - got a cold brewing I think - don't want to run off the rails the way I tend to when working past inspiration.

a flourish of progress

Stabbing myself with pins while laughing at "Two & Half Men" has become part of my routine. I'd like to say I'm going up to the studio to spend some time with this but truth is, the job got to me today and I am just plain tired and I don't want to make any commitments with needle and thread that I'll regret come Saturday. Instead of nattering about the job, I will tip my reading list to the late John Updike, rave about Slum Dog Millionaire (OH! the Textiles!) and the latest issue of American Style Magazine (featuring one of my favorite artists, Eleanor McCain) - in my mailbox 'cause I'm a 9/10ths member of SAQA. Long story for another time.

works in progress

I've been fascinated with Tricia McKellar's "Flourish" series and noticed akinship shapewise with a new piece I started last month. Tricia has generously granted permission for me to interpret her work in my medium. Yesterday, I isolated the stitched shapes with soy wax and got it into a dyebath. I wanted a neutral gray but, as any attempt at black in whatever concentration, you get what you get. In this case a rather nice dusty lavender that will work well in the long run. From here there will be much applique and dimensional work, both hand and machine stitching. Given my new schedule, some real slow cloth in the works. And finally, I finished the last of this set for another summer garden quilt. I think the border/edge on this one will be a series of overlapping leaves. That should take me through April or May.

Personal Archaeology

I started digging out our walk-in closet today. You can put an awful lot of crap in one of those construction weight black plastic bags, but then you have to lift it up. I was appalled to find that much of the clothing I was getting rid of would be rejected by Goodwill. I made the mistake of going through an old art portfolio that I have been dragging from closet to closet for some forty years. A lot more crap went into the bag. Why do we keep some things? Seems as if creatures real and imagined, dark views and riotous colors have always been part of my art heart. This was our cat Moses. Probably the only time I've ever been able to capture a real likeness.

The Wheel of Life

It turns for us all.

No, I have not "run oft" with pirates. I have lately been consumed with the logistics of returning to the rat race. I couldn't do it without the love and support of my family.

So far it's a day-long proposition but if and when I get past the training period I will have some time for the studio again.

In the meantime, I put myself to sleep at night putting the finishing touches on a few of the summer quilts and making notes and sketches for future projects.

I've reinstituted my practice of turning a Tarot card while sitting at a light in traffic. This morning - the Queen of Cups.

I have been both chastened and enlightened.

Wild Baby Blue Launching Pad

Between setting up electronic banking stuff, general correspondence and the usual ether-wandering I feel like I've spent the better part of the day on the computer. It's stuff I won't have the idle time to do starting tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to starting the new gig. Feels like the first day of school. I'll still find the time to do as much as moves me in the studio only it will be as the schedule says I can. Maybe I'll be more productive with someone else setting up the whens. I finished this little quilt off last night and gave it a good thrash in the washer and dryer just to make sure it's fit for public opinion. It is. An heirloom in waiting, I've just posted it over at my Etsy place just to see what sort of traffic it brings. I've let that little cyber shop languish a long time. There are detail shots and lots of marketing babble over there too.

Changes Afoot

The painting does not go well. A much as I wanted it to, it never did for me. I can only think of one canvas that, once finished, satisfied me. In dim recollection, it was something I dashed off as decoration for the new nursery, some thirty years ago and so had an important purpose beyond my mere need to fling colors around. All the hard edges that we create when piecing fabric become impossible boundaries when recreated in two dimensions with paint. So far,I've only painted ground colors. The need to have to fashion the effects of the texture of fabric and stitching with paint confounds me. Once the studio warms up, I'll give it another go before I gesso over the whole mess. On a completely different note, I'm delighted to have found a full time job. It's going to be familiar - when AT&T dragged us from NY to GA I spent three years of hell taking inbound telemarketing calls - but there won't be any "marketing" in this position. There's room for advancement - my IT skills and experience were noted, and so, back into the workforce we go! I am deeply grateful.

Crossing back over to the darkside

It's been thirty years since the last time I painted a canvas. I had to open some of the paint tubes with a pair of pliers. Jimmy gave me this easel for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. What did he know that I didn't. I had the alligator dream again last night. It was either paint or start looking for drugs. I made this piece while waiting for the paint to dry. It's going to be one of the book's pages I think. Some people are better at waiting than others.

Seeking Grey & Gray

After spending some time with Alligator Dream and stumbling across Tricia McKellar's new series "Flourish" I am provoked to rediscover how greygray brings harmony to my insane pallette where gang wars break out between the various factions on a regular basis. Did I ever tell you that when I was little I worried that if I didn't use each and every color each time I took them out, they got angry with me and planned evil doings like hiding under a chair and getting sucked into the vacuum cleaner.

The Alligator Dream

I've had a lot of knee grief in my life. Knock wood all is well now but if I have a rough day there is pain in the night and I dream that alligators are biting my legs and are working hard to twist them off. Or could the pain come from the dreams?

real studio time

I was going to get started last night but I was pinned down on the couch by two cats and forced to watch a re-run of the 1991 World Series 7th game between the Atlanta Braves, my team, and a buncha guys with long greasy hair. After watching John Smoltz pitch a few clean innings I was overcome with boohoo at his defection to the Boston Red Sox. I mean, just how much friggin' money does a person need? Is there no loyalty left in the world? I abandoned the game and flicked over to revisit "To Kill a Mockingbird" and so there ended my creative evening. Here are the fruits of the morning so far. These critters are "Waiting for Wings". I'm still toying with the kid's book notion but for me a book has to put the story first. I don't want to slave over illustrations for their own sake and nothing is coming to me at the moment, preoccupied as I am with finding work and speaking of which I have an interview tomorrow. Cross 'em if you got 'em. This piece is going to involve a soy-wax resist and some dyeing but the house is too cold to even think about any of that right now.

Mad Moon

I'm looking forward the influence of this big 'ole moon that they are promising for tonight. Hopefully the incoming rain and clouds won't screw the viewing up completely. Remember this piece? For a while now, it's been staring me in the face from the design wall that's opposite my sewing table and it's subtle charm has been growing on me. I started a companion piece last night by building a damask sandwich that includes that very thick, heavy cotton felt batting. It will be a bear to sew through but the stitches will really "carve" the design deeply. How it's going to take to soy wax resist and dyeing remains to be seen.

Crash Test Dummy

I kid you not. All day yesterday I was in federal court doing a $PAID$ gig as a crash test dummy. Of course, the trial dragged on and I have to come back today to do my little bit. It's totally surreal! Update - more delay, dither and diddle in court, and so I will come back as a dummy again on Monday! Thanks all for the input on the critter series especially Terry - will you be my editor? Today, instead of whiling away the hours with Steven King, I will start work on my own book. Words, pictures and my voice. God help the kiddies.

Food Chain #1

I feel this one. And then I don't. So I won't call it finished but it's the fifth I needed for a deadline later this month. Some paint is called for and maybe more. Being locked into a 12"x12" box chaps my ass something wicked. There are three or four other pieces that were supposed to be a part of this group but I accidentally on purpose let the dimensions get away from the rules. Someone said I should use these critters to illustrate a children's book. Looks like I'll have to write this one myself.

Out with the Old

I meant to post this here.

Hope Rising

"Hope Rising" is on it's way to: Location: Cafritz Art Center, 150 King St., Silver Spring, MD

Dates: February 9 - March 5, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, February 13th

"This show, organized by Susan Walen, comes from an all-volunteer,

grass-roots, multi-ethnic group of fiber artists from all across the

United States and as far away as Australia. Our work is in tribute to our

new President, in gratitude for the hope and inspiration he

has brought us. We present these art quilts at an unforgettable

historic moment in our country's history."

Live Humans!

Hopefully this is the last of my "making frenzy" pieces for a while. Not technically focused at all but I took more time than usual cutting the blocks to size and making some sense of them before nailing them all together. Thinking back (and wondering where the hell it might be) this one is just like Picnic In Hell and the Green Monster, which I know is in the custody of my son Jake. What sort of thing do you do when the muse fails or is on vacation and you just HAVE to make something???

"Pardon me while I have a strange interlude..."

and roll, howling, in the 24 pounds pounds of BOOTY that the FedEx man delivered to my doorstep today!!!! They say that the Good get what they deserve. I was never this good but I will try hard to be worthy. If you look hard you will see the source of all this treasure, my own personal Angel. That's Valdani thread there, and silk yarn and ultrasuede and imported Japanese prints and batiks and woven goods and, and....I'm foaming at the mouth and have to go upstairs now. Upon extensive examination, there is much more here than meets the camera's eye. The soft hand and terrific quality of the yardage has inspired me to imagine myself some new duds. I will be browsing patterns this afternoon at HoAnn's and taking the measurements of the adjustable ( heifer-sized) mannequin that's been set up in that department. There will be pictures!

New Year's Intentions

I've never been much for New Years resolutions. Generally speaking, they have a bad reputation for failure. Who wants to start the new wheel of the year wearing that yoke? As the day goes by I will be having more to say about it. Until then, I had a great post about the matter two years ago. Funny how little things change.