Tigers Go Swimmin Wit Bowlegged Wimmin

That title ought to drag in a new and interesting audience!

For the moment this is a picture-less post. A heads up and reminder to self to let go worries and enjoy the good stuff. This is my first Friday off from work in forever and I've packed too much into the day but while it's still coolish outside I'm going to be putting dye to some silk. Pictures will surely follow.

I'll be going to my first ever Friday night Fireworks ballgame at Turner Field tonight.Pray for a Win..I can't imagine enjoying fireworks if the home team gets their ass kicked can you??

As to that strange title - I keep having to pinch myself to believe it happened.

Yesterday Jim and I were drifting around in the pool  when I noticed Sweetie leaning in to take a drink (we work hard to keep the pool clear and clean with minimal chemicals).

I drifted over to her. She didn't spook and split. I scratched her cheeks,  put my arm around her and took her in both arms in a safe grip and stepped away from the edge.

She didn't freak or fight or even tense. I let her legs and body be in the water all the while singing her a little song "tigers go swimmin ...." after a minute I took her back to the deck and let her debark. She was as wet and amazed as we were and scampered off to groom and be cooler.

Next time, I'll try to get pictures. If I didn't have a witness I would think it was a dream.

rescue results

Well, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.





These came
out more subtle than I hoped but then I sometimes get backhanded compliments for being loud...

rag rescue continued

 

This is the step that I like the best - indulging my dot-itis. I made it a dual step this time - while the discharge paste is working, I oversprayed them with a dye/soda ash solution. WooWoo, I've seen some of the results but y'all will have to wait until tomorrow. I need a nap.

remember stitching?

I'm working on a piece now that's designed in a way that I can work on separate elements of the thing at the office, between calls of course. It's going to be a big one when I finally put all the pieces together. It feels good to be thinking in terms of feet instead of inches again. The focus was getting way to close.

Now for the rookies at the office to get up to speed so I am not taking calls back to back, thank you very much. If anyone is thinking about a career that is recession proof, go to work for a company that has something to do with the litigious nature of our society.

Pity the poor restaurant owner who has to worry about a customer making a claim against him because the color of the walls in the dining room upset her stomach to the point where she decided to take the food to go.

She left the food in the car overnight but ate it on the way to work the next morning and then crapped herself in the car as she arrived at the office. She wants to be reimbursed for a day off from work, detailing the car, dry-cleaning her wardrobe and replacing her shoes. Oh, and throw in a pedicure and few free dinners too.

Sometimes my face hurts from trying not to laugh out loud.

belated thank you and shout out

A bit back artist  Marlene Glickman read here about the gift of Colorhue silk dyes that I received and she graciously sent me a copy of her instructional DVD and her information about getting the best out of the product. Thank you SO much!

(That's Marlene trying to dye my hair purple back at the Focus On Fiber week I attended at the ACA in Florida. Really, way back in '07! That week, organized by my friend Mary McBride,  was  the greatest investment in my art career  since SVA back in the stone ages.)

Truth time - the envelope got mislaid in the studio and I unearthed it this morning and found this exquisite silk scarf folded into the booklet. Mere digital photos can't do justice to its shimmering, iridescent reality. I've got the hair thing down now, Marlene! and again, thanks.

rag rescue

Sometimes you can save them, and sometimes you can't. Of course, it's too soon to tell with this bunch.

Jimmy reminded me that some of my best pieces were the ones that started out as head nasties. I remind myself that nobody pays me to pass judgments and today I will focus on relieving myself of that burden and wipe that sneer off my face when I sit down to take my first call later today.

Idle hands - the devil played here

Call someone!
..she's sewing beads on things again. (there are also some of the world's ugliest fabric being overdyed right now!)

My Dixie Mink

From here straight to the pool! I wish I could convince the cats they would feel better after a dip but then I'd be bitchin' about hair in the filter.

I've been off putting up a quick & dirty website for a client ( I NEED CONTENT DAMMIT!) and am just now getting to sort through all the great fabric I dyed last week. A new box of vintage damasks should be hitting the porch sometime today  and I'll be working on them shortly thereafter.

It's been gruesome, August style hot here in Georgia for several days now. We have become accustomed to living without AC but these past few days it's been tough.  Like many people who work in over air conditioned offices I go back and forth between 95 & humid to 68 and crackling dry. Many of my coworkers sit in their cubes draped in Snuggies looking like monks in a cult of monitor worshipers.

I took advantage of the early morning cool to shoot & post five juicy new sets of fabrics to the store  -about half coming from the latest dyefest.  In case you've wondered about the titles, I keep a running list of beautiful, exotic words - place names mostly - the kinds of words you repeat to yourself two or three times just because of the way they sound.  Here's "Night Queen"

pokes

It was too hot to sleep! This is all I could accomplish while watching the Braves last night.  It's a poke - an outgrowth of the cusspot frenzy. These are just big enough for keys, cell and couple of cards or bills. Hands free shopping.

hot hot hot

There were just a few pieces from the last dye fest that needed rescue so I did a little direct dye over painting today. Real impromtu. The only art operations possible right now are those that can be carried out while wearing a bathing suit.

There were brushes lying on the table, loafing. A tub of soda ash water under the table with all the dye colors in their squirt bottles. I mixed up a few paper cups with some primaries and reverted to the simplicity of spots.

This tasty little morsel recalls these two and might be joining them on the design wall soon.

Loose End Roundup

Loose ends roundup today.  "Demon" is finished and up for sale. You can read some history and get a closer look  here and here.  The 12" x 23" base cloth is vintage cotton feed sack, sugar dyed and everything else (except the red square at the top) is vintage cotton damask rich with woven detail. Hand embroidered and machine quilted, this pieced is backed and ready for framing.

Pricing work that I'm ready to lose hold of is so hard. I don't even want to think about it today so I'm going to do something different.

I'll be taking bids on this piece through 12 noon est on Monday, June 14. Think "The Price is Right" and include dollars and cents. You could win by .01~!          
Send me an email with your bid with the subject DEMON , shipping inside the US will be included, outside the US shipping to be determined and agreed upon.  Have a great weekend..I'll be alternately between the ironing board and the swimming hole!