Monday, August 20, 2007

Is it Thursday yet?

It's been a helluva weekend. I spent too much time at the computer getting entries ready for two different shows and I'm starting to feel a real need for keeping track of what gets entered or promised where and when. Friday night at Fiber on a Whim listening to Pamela Allen talk about her career as an artist and the evolution of her work was fun and turned out to be revelatory. The last piece she showed us was a subject matter and technique departure for her and I was quite captivated. I've been so far out in whole cloth, dye-painted country that I was beginning to think I might fall off the fiber sphere altogether and just go back to paint on canvas. Pamela reminded me of some of possibilities of working with fiber that I had forgotten about. This "Horned Newt" is hot from the design wall in just the last two innings.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance around the studio.....

My friends are helping me celebrate! Yesterday I got a letter from the Woodstock Byrdcliff Guild in Woodstock, NY, notifying me that "Cellular Seizure" has been juried into their first Biennial mixed media exhibit. Juried by Nohra Haime, my piece was one of 46 chosen from over 290 entries. "Thrilled" comes close. My first reaction was "that one?" and I dragged out the bundle of quilts that I had submitted and remembered why I like it so much. It had an unhappy start, languished with the "somedays" for a long time and then suffered a LOT of manipulation and changes before I called it done and still I had second thoughts about it probably because it's more subtle than a lot of what I am working on right now.I rummaged around in my files and found a picture of the whole cloth that CS was based on. The best part about this piece was that it was so difficult to photograph and it looks so much better in the "flesh" the juror will be glad she took a chance on fiber art. My next thought was "phew!". I wasn't expecting notification until the 30th and there were two other shows that I wanted to enter with some of the pieces that I entered in the Woodstock. Now I have to hustle and juggle and make decisions about what goes where and when.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Acres of Fun

You thought the last one was big, Hah! How do you like my new device for indicating scale? It's actually 40 something by 70 something. It's a good thing I'm going to Fiber on a Whim in Roswell on Friday night - I need thread, LOTS of thread. Some 20 wt sail repair rope please. Something that will make a real impact on this riot.

Pamela Allen will be there to give a yak for Fiber Art Fusion and I am looking forward to hiking over there for the evening and opening my ears. I have had my hair-hat aired and a designated driver lined up.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

The Frosting on the Cake

For anyone who has been following my studio renovation, todays' work is the piece d'resistance that I have been waiting for. What was once a blank wall now has a new window that faces north and the room is now flooded with light. I'll spare you the process pictures because I HATE the construction process. Although it's Jim's line of work, when it's happening in my own house, it makes me nervous and anxious. It's two stories down to the driveway outside this window and the whole time he was on the ladder I stalked around the house pretending to clean. And he wonders why I have heartburn. I refuse to attribute it to the fabulous batch of chili he made yesterday - it's strictly renovation heartburn but I am so pleased with the results. Thank you Sweetie. Of course I asked for the wide window ledge to accommodate cat asses but Jinx insisted on ignoring the new view and interjecting herself into my art.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Braves Pound Mets

Braves 7, Mets 3 and it was a beautiful thing to see. Besides a roster full of 300+ bats, I think the Braves were in their element weather wise. It's been Atlanta hot and steamy in the Poached Apple and our boys are used to it. Of course I have a new appreciation for "Buddy ball" too. My team's momentum drove me on at the machine and I got 75% of this piece quilted in nine innings last night. The stitching motifs are more complex than the others in this series although it was my intention to be less restrained but the colors took over and led my hands and eyes. Who am I to be in charge? Somewhere, someone broke some kind of record. I remain oblivious.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Busy week half over

I started out the week being bored before lunch on Saturday. My solution to boredom is always the Dye Solution and as my favorite old Land's End carryall had gotten pretty dingy, it became my logical victim. The next morning I was fiddling out widgets from beads and wire before I even got out of bed for coffee and the little tag on the bag is all I can say about what the workweek has in store for me. I'll go on about it at length when it's over. Then......... Remember those cute shoes I ordered from Sketchers last week? We were on our way out to see the"Simpsons" as the package landed on the doorstep so I just had to snatch them out of the box and jam on my sweaty feet. Cuter than the pictures and beautifully made BUT (and it's a BIG BUTT) by the time we walked from the car to the theater I felt like I was walking on cheese graters and several of my grotesque toes were being ground down to the bone. I laughed until I cried at the movie - (I've been loving the Simpsons since Homer was really mean and Marge was a 2D doormat) - and then I wanted to cry some more as I hobbled back out to the car. It's not Sketchers fault! The trouble is, I go around barefooted or barely shod most of the time with my giant, prehensile toes flapping in the breeze and clutching at things like a giant sloth so when it comes time to stuff my feet back into respectable shoes, they HATE IT! Does anyone have any foolproof methods for breaking in new shoes that don't involve ancient Chinese foot-binding techniques or spending hours karate kicking sacks of dry rice?

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Other Artist at work

My friend Jan Thompson has gone completely nuts for polymer clay. She's so deep into this stuff sometimes I don't know what she's talking about anymore - the technical lingo is way different than dyers or quilters. She brings her California color and design sensibility to everything and is coming up with ever more fun and entertaining pieces. These are two of my favorites. Makes me wish I was a jewelry gal. These make me think of sugar cookies at Christmas.

Friday, August 03, 2007

The tough job

As summer deepens, water mishaps are on the rise as lifeguards become bored at their posts.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

more Mob stuff in the works

<-This one is finished and ready for a sleeve and a good going over with packing tape for cat cooties. No name yet but I'm thinking it over. I left the images big so if you click through on them you can see the stitching. This one below is next under the needle. I have a moments fancy of doing some hand stitching but then I remember what a mess I got the last time I tried dragging six strands of DMC through cotton batting. It's all pinned tight. Now I just have to decide how I want the stitching to look which is becoming the hardest part of the process.

the Tasty Filler

It's not that Art is not getting done. Well...lots of F'arting" around still trying to stow and sort all the stuff but I keep interrupting the flow of work with more postcards. I'm down to five or six pieces of Pellon which I thoughtfully pre-cut to 4"x6" some time ago. Enough of that. You Shoe-Is-tas ought to know that Sketchers is having a 50% off + free shipping sale for a few more days. These are on their way to me right now. I just hope these Biker Blooms are this cute in size 10!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

I've been trunkt

Trunkt.org Mission Trunkt is an art and design collective made up of talented painters, graphic designers, fashion accessories, apparel and home accents designers and other creative entrepreneurs that make a living from their artistic skills. Our mission is to champion independent designers and small retailers to mainstream shoppers and to keep mass-market merchandise and big-box retailers from overwhelming the globe. Ooo, it's tasty to get in on the ground floor of something cool. I have to thank Tricia McKellar for turning me on to this opportunity. So here's my first selection right up on the Mixed Media page. Let's see what comes of it.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

more postcards

There's still some more floating out there in the ether for me so grab up and nail down but for now I'll put the scrap basket on a high shelf and get on with organizing what's left. This batch will get posted on the Hotcakes for sale page eventually. I just love that green flannel. The silk was rather disappointing so I used it on the backside of some of these.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Say Hello to my rusty little Fren...

Hmmph. I bet they all thought I was kidding about the machete. As you can see by the rust, my garden is in a pretty sad state. I forgot to ask Claire if this method works with silk. This heavy, grainy silk was, I think, a gift from Anna down in Tampa. Yo Anna. Do you remember? I'm foggy with vinegar. Now to store it away someplace and almost forget about it for a while.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Something's brewing

First of all what's a studio if you don't have an assistant? There's going to be a large window in the wall just beyond the sewing machine with a wide ledge where Jinx will spend most of her time. This pose is merely a reminder to get busy on that window. See my spiffy ironing storage back there? It's so cool even if stinky (that new heat resistant stink, heady stuff) and I can move it around with one hand because of the teflon pads under the feet. Here's the view from the driver's seat behind Big J and you are getting a good look at how the Mob Scene series is shaking out. There are at least six more waiting in the wings, most larger than these. These two on the left side design wall are just waiting for the stitching. Jim set the other design wall vertically for me so that mirror could bring the outside in a bit. Here the mob is up to more than just standing around thinking about it. That vacuum cleaner & TV set are just visiting until I find tiny, stow-able versions of both. What you are not seeing are baskets of unsorted fabrics all over the floor lined up along the walls awaiting their turn. There are a lot more still in the old studio. I never thought I had a stash problem like some fabriholics but the evidence is mounting.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

New Studio - new stuff....

OKAY, I admit it - the secret of getting stuff done while I'm in the studio is having the TV on while the Braves sweep the Pirates. I just realized that I am making one per inning.... I won't mention that I should be sorting fabric and putting things away in the closet and a hundred other tiny details of getting one room cleaned out and the new room up and running. Do I think I'm going to "use it all up and then I won't have to store it?" I'm going to scan these postcards individually and put them up for sale on the Hotcakes site in the next few days.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Monkey see, monkey do

I couldn't resist this one. Any site that lets me try on an infinite number of hair colors is going to grab my attention for at least 15 minutes. This is kinda what it looks like since I cut most of it off last week. The woman who cut it measured it at 30 inches before she started hacking away. Cool way to lose five pounds. I wanted to donate it to Locks of Love but they don't love bleached blondes. And of course, I'd love to go to the midnight show when the movie comes out but I don't think I can stay up that late.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Post Card Binge

Even though my stuff is all over the place, making a few postcards after dinner is enough to satisfy my need to put the pedal to the metal. Having the Janome locked into this new table makes it feel like a brand new machine. I had no idea how much vibration and noise I was dealing with when it was perched on a hollow-core door.

From the New Studio

this WIP was on the design wall in my bedroom so it got to go first in the new location. There will be more stitching but I wanted to do some photography with the ambient afternoon light which, unfortunately, in that room, is very green- all reflected from the lawn and trees in the front yard. The afternoon light I used to shoot with in the bedroom had a golden cast that was always something to deal with too. Guess I'm going to have to set up those lights after all. So there's an ongoing discussion on the SAQA yahoo list about RGB and CMYK and I thought I would take a look at those functions in the Paint Shop Pro program that I have been ignoring forever. Mine is V.5 and I think they are up to 12 or somesuch. I "channel split" the original image above into CMYK and then "channel combined" to get the final, large image. I can see the difference but now I have to read up on the why of the whole thing. You can almost see the iridescent paint in the final.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Furniture with history

This piece was given to us before Colin was born and served as a changing table for both kids. Jim removed the four inch maple rail that used to enclose the top and for the last ten years it has been stuffed with "important papers" and holding up the TV in our bedroom. Now I am going to staple ironing board fabric to the top for a terrific functional surface which will also keep me from piling things on top of it. Notice the little Slidey feet so I can move it around easily even after I fill with whatever. I wasn't going to paint this piece but this picture reveals a pretty lousy finish. Hmmmm.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Ta-Da!

Why is Big J smiling?

Could it be his new, custom made table! My husband insists that he can make the cords go away but I'm so thrilled with things so far I hardly notice them. Do you know that I have never been able to use the knee lift before now? What neat thing that is!

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

almost finished

Cue the Brazilian Jazz.... My part is finished. Tomorrow Jim is going to cut the hole in the walnut top and build the support for the sewing machine. It's hard to back up far enough to get a picture of this thing.

Friday, June 29, 2007

My Legs! My Legs!

arrived all safe and humble via Fedex a mere one day after I transferred payment. Through the great storm last night I dreamed of transforming them! It will only take a minor spell to teach this table to Tango or Samba even though I ran out of gold paint.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Three White Walls

So what would be the point of any pictures. Before anything gets moved into the studio, I'm going to take advantage of the white wall and reshoot some recent pieces indoors with proper lighting. There's a another deadline coming up for a mixed media show that I'll tell more about if I get juried in. In case you thought I was laying on a beach someplace, I spent some time uploading pictures to a rather cool artist's resource - another free place to get one's work out into the public eye even if it is digitally. The Irving Sandler Artists File is a digitized image database and artist registry that is open to the public. The Artists File is not curated and there is no fee to join or use the service... Oh, and by the way, there is no category like textiles or fiber so I listed myself under mixed media which is technically correct anyway. When you click on "artists portfolio" you get a birds-eye-view of up to twelve pieces. I put mine in the order that I made them and the continuity (omg - could it be VOICE?!) is interesting. It makes me realize that I need to redo my main website gallery and do away with the cutesy little cropped images that lead to whole ones and show them in some kind of order created and there are things that need to be relegated to "older works". I'm pretty lucky in that my name starts with LAC. I get listed on the first page of the "L"s. Now I wonder who goes in an looks at this site. Time will tell I suppose.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Too hot out to be out

Another UFO unearthed and diddled with. This was from an experiment using alginate to thicken the dye and I wasn't thrilled with the loss of color intensity so I painted over it with Setacolor transparents. A little overexposure in the pool yesterday and the paint fumes combined to make me sick as a dog for most of the last 24 hours so it was supposed to be good for me to work outside on the deck painting this piece except that it was easily 90 out and muggy. I feel like a bowl of overcooked noodles.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

What light through yonder window breaks?

Well Juliet, it's the east and a damn good thing I'm an early riser. Thing is, the old room had the very same view but as you can see, I rarely looked out the window. I also never took advantage of a perfectly respectable closet. Chaos and Mayhem and I used to battle to a stalemate but as I've given in to the desire to work larger, C&M have driven me elsewhere, usually out on the picnic table and recently as far away as Florida. I am taking my workspace back. In the process of looking for backs to build some pieces that are just dying to meet a deadline, I have uncovered vast acreage of dyed & painted fabric that, at one time, I thought had potential. This batch is stewing in a dark dye pot right now. There, with the dark painted circles, was a sister piece to "Rubric". No pangs and no heartache over reassigning these UFOs to a useful existence tells me that the direction of my work has left this path behind. I wonder what else I'll uncover as the shake out continues? Stay tuned and look forward to a fiber give-away on a grand scale in the near future. I have plans to divest myself of a LOT of stuff. I'm also thinking about doing a little investigating into some basic Feng Shui before I start putting things into the new studio. Does anyone have any research recommendations? I know nothing about it beyond that I have no intentions of sitting with my back to the door.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

the Mob Scene series

At the moment the piece that's on my design wall has it's back to me, literally. For lack of table space I built the layers right on the wall and it's waiting to be pinned and trimmed, a dark over-dyed disappointment assigned a new and useful life as the backside of this piece. <--This one, my favorite from last weeks dye fest, will be the first up on the wall when the studio is done. The fabric was pre-soaked with soda ash solution and then allowed to dry out before I started dye painting with no thickeners. The little creepy business that happens where the colors meet but don't mix is interesting and something I want to work on making happen again. Dry fabric and nearly dry brush with fairly concentrated dye and no auxiliary chemicals at all.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

New Studio

Here's some before shots in the earliest stages of conversion from what was a teenaged boy's den of iniquity into my new studio. The walls are all patched now and the first coat of off-white paint is scheduled for tomorrow. There will be a big,brand new window in the north wall, a huge mirror on the facing wall to pick up more light from the existing floor to ceiling window and one whole wall a floor to ceiling design wall - I just haven't decided which one yet 8x8 feet, perhaps more. There is going to be a solid walnut sewing table with a cut-out for my Janome, a some wire basket shelving and maybe a wing back chair and ottoman by the big window for handwork. All this - the sweat, scrounge and skill - a gift from my biggest fan, my husband Jim.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday and today is our 30th anniversary. Did I mention that in August of 1976 I came home from work to find the Last Good Man sleeping naked on my living room couch? We celebrate both days because of a clerical error. We had our wedding at home and when the Justice of the Peace got to our address to perform the ceremony he found that he was outside of his jurisdiction. He took his honorarium anyway and went through the motions for the guests but we had to report to his office at town hall the next morning at 8 am. The only problem with having your wedding party at your house is that folks are having too good a time and don't know when to leave. So after being up half the night we dressed in our crumpled wedding finery, I took my nearly dead flowers and we headed out for town hall. The judge met us on his way to a baseball game and performed a speed version of the wedding ceremony dressed in a baseball uniform and thoughtfully giving Jim a second opportunity to change his mind. We both said "I do" two days in a row. Last night we had a lovely dinner at a local restaurant and I had to bring my flowers to work today so Jinx wouldn't eat them.