Sweet & Sour & Reheated

Bet you didnt' know I was a secret, closet, reformed and backsliding embroiderer?! Stitching with three or six strands of DMC floss was my very first initiation to the Society of the Needle. I used to calculate my allowance as to how many hanks of DMC I could buy each week. Floss was my crack at the age of five! Back then I made my own colors by pulling one strand from each of several colors and blending them to suit my mood. This UFO, "Sweet & Sour", has been mocking me from the pile for a while now. Last week I went to JoAnns to see if I could use a 50% off coupon on anything I actually needed. Of course not! (Jan, you were right) but I did find myself drawn to the array of embroidery threads and selected just exactly the right colors to set Sweet & Sour on the path to completion. TODAY...DMC Floss is 5 for 1$. I'm putting on my shoes right now. Another thing, I used polar fleece for batting in this piece and there is ZERO coming through as I stitch. No fluffers, no cooties, or whatever embroiderers call it when wool or cotton batting comes a creeping. ZERO creeping with fleece inside. Tasty.

Obama in '08

I predicted this day (if only to myself and my very conservative father) right after I heard his speech at the Democratic convention in 2004. It really is time for the next generation of Americans to stop be so cynical and self-involved and step up to the responsibilities of citizenship and I sincerely hope that Barack Obama gets to lead the way. The best part about his speech this morning was that I got to watch it in the company of some young people who have been so typically steeped in cynicism and powerlessness in the face of what passes for government. They listened soberly, they nodded their heads, they went away quiet and thoughtful. There is audacity in hope.

Packing (mentally)

I'm heading up to NY early next week to spend some time with the folks. My Dad will be sprung from the rehab joint by then, post hip-replacement, and my job will be to remind him to take it easy and do all the the household chores I can get away with so he can ease back into full throttle. I am looking forward to our crack of dawn coffee over the local newspaper. Also, I'm still plotting the March getaway now opting to rent a van each way rather that trying to cram all the gear into my Honda. Someone's blog recently mentioned an elderly horse so that was the excuse to add this photo. Inscribed "Armonk 1930" that's my Aunt Phyllis, Aunt Vera, my Dad and Tom or Jerry, one of my Grampa's horses.

New Venue!

I got word this morning that "3 to 5 For Mopery" and "Cellular Seizure" are bound for a mixed media show "Abstractions, Color & Texture" at the Aurora Gallery in Petaluma, CA. Now for all the scurrying about preparing to ship these fresh babies out into the big bad world.

Dream Fruits

Does anyone else out there every spend the whole night dreaming through the details and possibilities of a new design or technique? The busy box corner of my brain was running on high test the other night to the point where I was still thinking things through when I woke up and wrote it all down in my poor mutilated Moleskine (I left it out in the rain the other day). Browsing through Melissa's blog on dyeing, I was intrigued with the way she used those polished black river rocks to weigh the fabric down into the dye. Combine this image with a rerun of Ken Burns "the Civil War" running on the TV all night and I decided (in my sleep of course) that polished river rocks would make a good dye resist if something soft was place under the fabric to be dyed. Jim stopped at Garden ridge on his way home from work and bought me a selection of stones so today I broke out the dyebox for a trial run of my technique. I folded a large piece of flannel and a large piece of cotton broadcloth (that are usually extra padding on my ironing board) to act as a soft mat but the fabric that I used with the rocks turned out to be a blend that didn't take the dye! It was a mess BUT the flannel & broadcloth soaked up dye like crazy....I discharged them with Cascade in the same crazed mola moves I used for Mopery and I am just thrilled with the results...sometimes dreams do pay off in a cockeyed way. The flannel is at the top of this post and here's the broadcloth which was actually two pieces seamed together.

What Music??

Here's a playlist. Mostly I listen to the streaming archives of Idiot's Delight hosted by someone who has been doing freeform radio since I was in high school. I'm still listening Vin. This was a show from Nov.12, 2005. It's on the air live every Saturday night from 8 to 11 at www.wfuv.org but more often than not I'm nipping away at the archives. Vin plays the old, the new, the mad and the magical. Sweet surprises at every turn and listening to a New York City radio station keeps the occasional homesickness at bay. Artie Shaw - Stardust - Greatest Hits - Fred Astaire - Change Partners - Starring Fred Astaire Mabel Mercer - So In Love Jimmy Scott - I'll Be Around Paul Desmond - Autumn Leaves Strays Don't Sleep - For Blue Skies Winterpills - Laughing - Strays Don't Sleep - Love Don't Owe You Anything Frank Sinatra - More Than You Know Dexter Gordon - Serenade In Blue Dave's True Story - Just Like A Woman Blossom Dearie - I Wish You Love - Kate Bush - How To Be Invisible John Coltrane Quartet - My Favorite Things John Lennon - Gimme Some Truth Neil Diamond - I'm On To You Gary Burton - Cool Nights Doveman - Cities - The Acrobat James Carter - Take The A Train The Fiery Furnaces - The Garfield El Duke Ellington And Johnny Hodges - Weary Blues - Hank Williams - Weary Blues From Waitin' - Paul Kelly & The Stormwater Boys - Ghost Town - Whiskeytown - Dancing With The Women At The Bar - The Mendoza Line - Settle Down, Zelda - Will Kimbrough - I Lie Because I Can - Howard McGhee Sextet - Up In Dodo's Room - Stan Getz - East Of The Sun (and West of The Moon) Ronnie Spector - She Talks To Rainbows - JC Hopkins Biggish Band - Underneath A Brooklyn Moon - Nat King Cole - Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup - 10 CC - Une Nuit A Paris - The Original Soundtrack 10 CC - I'm Not In Love - The Original Soundtrack Ben Folds Five - Fair - Whatever and Ever Amen Bob Dylan - Most Of The Time - Jud Newcomb - Damaged Goods -

"Gravity"

Don't you just love to see someone completely in love with their art? It makes me weak in the knees . Take ten to watch and listen to this

something hatching

These fabrics have been hanging on the wall for months now ( I had to give them a tumble in the dryer for the dust) . Now that the four new pieces are well and truly finished, I sat down with the scissors and started finding things of interest here. It gave my midwinter cranky heart a lift to be slashing away. Once cut up, more fun was had arranging all the parts. I spent most of the afternoon just moving things around like I was playing chess with an imaginary friend. It wasn't going well until I turned off the TV and put on some music. Then it became a dance. The gray ground is a piece of antique cotton damask from Narragansett, the blues are hand dyed and commercial discharged cottons, the orange one of my favorite commercial prints and the "eyes" are discharged and painted Kona cotton. I don't know how much stitching there will be here once the elements are nailed down but I'm leaning towards some hard contrasting colors with the thread. Early yesterday I also got an entry off to my first mixed media show, "Abstractions, Color & Texture" at the Aurora Colors Glass Art Gallery in CA. When I read the name of the upcoming exhibition I just had to enter as it perfectly describes what I have been up to for about a year now. I have to thank Michelle Verbeeck for expanding her online call for entry listings to include mixed media shows; it's the way I want to go rather than staying in the strictly quilt exhibit world. We'll see what happens. When I was filling out the entry form on the "media" line I simply put "textile" and then spent some time puzzling over the fact that they did not require detail shots. DOH! It's Not a Quilt Show! Oh happy day.

PROductivity

This was the first Gorgeous, four-star day we've had in the longest time and I took full advantage. Lookit that blue sky! As soon as the sun was over the yardarm, I dragged the four newest pieces outside for digital pics. All this after doing a mess of laundry and dirty dishes. Didn't want the board of health nailing a notice up on the front door so I had to get that stuff out of the way first. Got the Gallery all updated including "back" links for the navigationally challenged AND got the start of something new and quirky up on the design wall. Maybe some pictures of that tomorrow.

New & Finished

"Cellular Seizure" 43x49 We hung it on the design wall in the bedroom last night and it's been so long since I started it that I couldn't recognize the starting orientation until Colin spun it a few times and Jim stated his opinion. I had spent so much time with my nose six inches from the surface that I forgot where I started and when it was pointed out to me, it was like..."oh yeah, I remember that". Not a good way to work but the results are growing on me even though my feelings of "tightness and overworked" were on this like a bad smell even before it was stitched or painted. I just stayed with a uncomfortable path for some reason. Metallic paint is an absolute bitch to photograph so this shot may be wishful thinking. The sun is shining bright today for the first time in a week and just maybe I'll be able to muster enough energy to drag this outdoors for better pictures. In fact I have four major pieces to shoot and get ready for a show I want to enter.

She Hears Voices

I don't. I've been rooting around in the studio making preliminary guesses about what I'm going to be taking down to Focus On Fiber in March and came across this in the UFO bin. This piece came from my last trip to ACA almost two years ago. It still bothers me even though I painted over the grisly print background fabric I started with. I think I'll hang it on the outside of my studio door so people will know not to come in.

Yes, yes, bowing and scraping my hair in the mud, I sold two pieces last month and I am still pinching myself. That's a story for another day. My main interest in grabbing this screenshot was the hit counter. How much more possessed can I get without committing to some bad tattoos? And here's what this New Moon in Capricorn is good for according to Lisa Miller : "This is the best New Moon for setting goals, initiating projects, and making a serious commitment to achieve." But does it get any better than last month? I insist! I have qualms but now that I look at the word, I have decided that qualms are small mossy growths around the rim of over watered houseplants, nothing to fear. And like JM says, "fear is a friend who's misunderstood".

Painted Trouble

This 10"x 10" canvas is the first painting I have finished in more years than I can remember. At least 25 - I recall doing some murals in the nursery way back when. It was just a matter of time before I started moving off the cloth and onto the canvas. While rooting around in the stuff I found a sketchbook about three years old and the intent at the time was sketches for fiber work. Only a very few came into being and they were unsatisfying. I spent some time reviewing the pen and ink sketches and then started this small panel. It clearly related to the fiber work I'm doing at the moment and it could be a study for a larger fiber piece.

Fiber Outing

Jan Thompson and I went to an organizational meeting of the Georgia members of the Surface Design Association held by Sharon Ahmed at Fiber On A Whim over in Sandy Springs. It was an interesting gathering with the first admirable goal of finding a venue for a group exhibit. Any local surface designers interested in attending the next meeting should email Sharon Ahmed for details. Then, we all scampered upstairs to SHOP! I snatched up this little chunk of dark print which I promptly attacked with dishwasher gel while I was getting dinner ready. Before it was dry I painted it too. Tasty but now on the back burner. In case any of you are into the End Times you can interpret this anyway you like. It's either about to be Armageddon or Peace on Earth: Voodoo, Karma & Jinx

RIP Ralphie Boy

I still recalled the amazement I felt the first time one of these giants swam into my view at the Georgia Aquarium. Ralph died from as yet unknown causes sometime last evening. I wonder if they will take Norton, Trixie and Alice back to the ocean and let them go?

New on the Design Wall

What's new and ongoing now that Mopery is officially done? This piece which began outside on the deck last summer. I'm realizing that the development of these dyed/discharged pieces is not just a matter of cleaning up annoying UFOs. I was just not certain of where I wanted to go with them right after they were created. Now, as they reveal themselves one by one, I'm glad I folded them up and put them away for a time. Who know what horrors might have issued from the studio. Here are some detail shots so far. You can click on them to zoom in bigger images. I'll be moving this stuff to my WIP page before too much goes on with it. Meanwhile, I came across the work of Barbara Cohen and am just loving her paintings.

I'm off to the Scribbler Wing of the Betty Ford Clinic...

The real trick is knowing when to stop.

Addiction

Link Love

Gotta thank Jen Lemen for that wonderful expression but I can't wait for Sunday. To make up for my lack of posting, here is some authentic magic from the wasteland called the web. Speakers on and an open heart are in order for Jonathan Yuen's site. Lisa Miller has good new for the New Moon in Capricorn and she very nearly has me picking up my Tarot cards again. Yes, I do readings. To joggle your creative bone (where is yours? mine is in my butt I think) this marvel from my old buddy Frank Ze. If you make something cool, email it to me.... deborah@lacativa.com <---I did this one...looks like my quilts. I am working hard on a new piece but big things take longer for sure and I can't get a break in the weather to do any decent in progress pictures. For now, it's me, John Coltrane and Miles Davis in the studio. "Some things are true whether you believe in them or not" .......City of Angels

dancing with the design wall

These fabrics started congregating while I was still sorting and folding in the big studio cleanup so they've been stewing on the back burner for awhile. Decks cleared, I'll start staring at them as a group until something moves me beyond the way the colors get along.