Karma IV wip

I've stopped looking at the other candidates now that this one has been peeled off the nasty, heavy base it started on and pinned to an nice expanse of black fleece. I'm not sure if I am going to lose the formerly irregular edges in exchange for this oh-so-tidy rectangle. There will be time enough for those decisions as I try to work from the center out to the edges. I'm not certain about that big central gold "butterfly" either. Even after I baste everything, nothing is carved in stone - all remains in flux.

still uncommitted

Judy, I was inclined to agree with you at first and I still haven't settled.

What I do know is that if I really want to, I can approximate any of the runner-ups another time, thanks to the digital gods.

What I do know for a fact is that this piece was built on two pieces of thick, synthetic mattress pad which is terrific (especially for large  pieces)  for its stability, but grisly to do hand stitching on. When the layers of cloth on top are three, four, even five in places, as this one is, hand stitching becomes tortuous.

The plan is to peel this off the base, one pin at a time, and then relocate it onto a piece of black fleece.Stitching through damask over fleece is like sewing butter -it's lighter, more flexible and very portable.

 I've got an acre of warm and natural cotton batting hanging around and I love it but experience has taught that hand stitching through vintage cloth over a  cotton batt is asking for gross bearding, especially bad when the piece is mostly very dark. I'll save the cotton for baby quilts.

hooky Wednesday?

one

I'm ever tempted but instead, just going to spend the shift eyeballing these four on the screen and see which one makes the cut.

Right now it's just all pins, 24" x 40".
Once I make the final choice I'm going to do most of this one by hand. I need time to think and I'll want this one with me while I visit with family in NY next week.

Cast a vote in comments for your favorite if you have an opinion. Saying why would be a sweet bonus. I'm seeing just how contrary I can be

two

three

four

series finale

What was originally planned as a small, hand-stitched piece has ganged up with some other cloths and may turn out to be the largest in the Karma series.  Way to early for anything more to see. It's still brewing.

I know a lot of visitors came here for their daily  overdose of color and must be grumbling over this series. My motto has always been "fuck 'em if they can't take a joke" but this foray to the polar ends of the rainbow has been deadly serious for me and feels like a fork in the creative road. I won't know for sure until I take up with the colors once again.

Way back in the day at SVA we learned about black being the absence of color and white being all colors at once - or something to that effect. Keep in mind the teacher sold loose joints from his shirt pocket.  Any way I mix it, paint (in my hands) can't approach the complexity of cloth in black and white and all the stops between them.

I used to be impatient with the necessary techniques of cloth and raved about wanting to fling paint to achieve my vision, but, through this series, I've finally come to appreciate that cutting, trimming, pinning, basting, and stitching have forced me to take the time to consider at each step, keep one foot in front of the other and my eye on good design principles as each piece develops. It only took removing color from the equation for me to finally get comfortable.

Karma III

"Karma III"


36 x 36



(this is an updated photo..all machine quilting is finished)

I wasn't happy with the level of intensity on some of the black damask so I laid in what was left, piece by scrap, from those black linen slacks and now its jumping.

Karma 2

Karma II (20"x 24")

Just a quick and dirty snapshot - I shudder to think what the actual photo sessions are going to be like with this lot and I'm not totally convinced of the orientation of this one just yet, worked in the round as it was.

 I put the last delicious stitches in the pink just as Lady Mary came down the stairs in her so chic bridal gown. I explained to my son that in the twenties women didn't go out and buy breasts. Two hours of the new season of "Downton Abbey" put cream cheese frosting on a busy studio weekend. And now, right on it's heels, one of my Mum's favorite movie "An Affair to Remember". I'll be asleep before the weeping begins; I recall this movie was about an hour longer than it needed to be.

#3 is on the design wall now, chock full of pins and standing buy for about four hours of machine stitching tomorrow. I'd really like to wrap this series up before I head up to NY mid-month.

the details

I have four pieces in this series in varying stages of  "almost finished" and I don't want to get sidetracked and  let them languish.

This one has been backed and blocked and I'll spend some time anchoring the layers with (invisible) hand stitching for stability. I'm already thinking "bigger" and will be scouting around for more black and white clothing to recycle.

fiber apostasy

I felt the need for some retail therapy yesterday. I got some nifty gift cards for Christmas and have waited to pair them up with some 50% coupons. At Michael's I  scored a long coveted set of Derwent Inktense blocks and busied my self seeing just how 'tense the ink was. I opted for the blocks instead of the pencils -why pay for wood?

They are pretty blazing amazing on paper but not worth wasting on cloth..I've dyes for that. Can you tell by the rainbow riot that I'm a little parched for color so deep in the B&W series? I feel a tattoo coming on.

inktense on muslin

questions from left field

The strangest things will come in dreams.

I had a dream that I was looking at a painting - it was a very large, old oil landscape, something like a Frederic Church spectacle - quickly, the painting morphed into an intricately worked leather belt and, when I looked again,  a bracelet of layered silver links and then, a very large watercolor seething with flowers.

Then I realized that I was looking at these things from the perspective of a person who had no concept of "making" anything - a pure consumer of end products made by others, the mysterious Makers.

It was the oddest feeling; an off-putting incompetence with a dash of defensive arrogance. I thought of a TV show where a crystal skull was being examined and it's provenance could not be explained so it was attributed to aliens. It was a little scary. Who are the Makers? What was their objective in creating these things?

My Maker guise quickly stepped up and took back control of the dream and I was left with questions.

Who are the non-makers and what do they think of Art? What does Art matter to them. Are they another tribe altogether? When does resentment fade and wonder take over?  Do they ever get over being on the outside looking in? I have to ask around outside of this space since I know 99% of my readers are Makers of some sort.

2013

"Starwatcher"  by Moebius

"The start of a new year can be like opening a magnificent gift"
 Thomas Haller Buchanan

my 2012

music by Choi Seung-hyun from the film "old boy'

close comfort

The last of the posse was just too eclectic to join forces with any of the others. All on it's own, it's acquired a little color and, as time passes, a lot of hand stitching.

So all told, in the B&W series ( the Karmas) there are two fairly large pieces, one with a mix of machine and hand stitches, the other strictly machined, and two small pieces; one hand and machine and this one,  only hand stitching. I have a feeling that I'll be setting up an entire segment of the cloth closet strictly for the B&W. I love the drama!

There's a disturbance in my personal force right now; both my brother and my dad are in the hospital and my baby sister is sick..everyone with varying forms of flu-ish things.  Here I am dispensing old wives wisdom over the phone and clutching at my cloth 800 miles away.

good studio day

Got this one oriented to my liking and stripped off a lot of "fluff" including half a dozen snitches of color that I added just because they were snaking around in the basket at my feet.
Glad that I pulled back from that cliff before I ran off it. I won't say I'm starved for color yet, just appreciating it more in smaller doses.

There will be very little hand stitching in this one. There are extra layers of fleece underneath in places where I want the machine stitching to carve the cloth.
This is the largest one so far, maybe 40 inches on a side.  More tomorrow.

very happy friday

Things are really hopping in the studio right now and I am SO GLAD  this work week is nearly over. All of the B&Ws are clamoring for attention at the same time.

My day job entails listening to  never-ending of tales of woe, stupidity and venality and it gets so tedious after a while that I get giddy and long to tell some of these people which train goes straight to hell and where they can get free tickets! I do remain grateful to have ANY job, but this weekend I will only be an artist.

Don't forget the full moon's promise tonight!

morning cloth herding

Late last night I started trying to get some of other members of the gang to work together but it wasn't happening, mostly because I was insisting that this one, the original B&W, be one of the players and he wasn't having any of it. So I took it up alone this morning to see where it could go.

The black linen background is just too strong to try and incorporate with the others which are grounded mostly on a softer black damask.

Color is creeping in and I'm glad.  It seems that  nothing is totally  black & white. Nothing satisfying anyway.

banish the wintertime blues

All that's needed is a Braves game on the radio, some cherries and the Sunday NY times.

home made!

Ok,  haste made for hilarity!

 Here's the chef and his custom made apron (and evil assistant) now that the pocket has been  sewn back on the FRONT of the apron (below the J)  instead of the back where it was when he first opened my gift.  There was much jesting about what he might stash in the pocket in it's former position.

And speaking of home made, a new Lacativa joined the tribe on Christmas day. Landon Vincent Lacativa is Jim's brother's first grandchild. Mazel Tov to the families!

Christmas Eve

Yesterday was given over to baking, some for us, some for neighbors. I have to call over there and check on the survivors. Although I make a stellar apple pie, this was my first ever made-from-scratch crust, recipe courtesy of Joe over at man handled threads.

Today, everything is wrapped, there was a little pre-lasagna prep work and now, time for a little hand stitching. Merry Christmas everyone.

Karma 1

Karma 1"    2012    27x36

I didn't have anything to say about this one right away because I was quite taken by surprise when it threw up the checked flag and said “stop..done, finished” and for once, I listened. 

 There is some hand stitching planned that won't really be noted from a few steps away because I intend on matching the thread to the cloth and keeping the stitching low key. It will be faced unobtrusively and I will honor the irregular edges rather than crop the off. It will be nice to have this to occupy the few spare moments I'll have over the next few days. 

The next one in this series is pieces in the closet and will have to wait a few days for the holiday festivities to subside before I start anything new.

I want to be able to give it full focus.
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Still shopping? Me too.

Still Christmas shopping? Yeah, me too. I wish it was this easy for me but the family members still on my list don't know which end of the needle to thread; they leave that stuff to me. But if you need a gift for a textile or mixed media artist, I have just the thing!  Come see....  and don't forget to be good to yourself too! Happy Holidays.