Friday, June 19, 2009

Good vibrations are contagious!

Yesterday I attended the summer social for Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists (LAFTA).  This is my 3rd year having a membership.  Joining 3 years ago was a part of my plan to re-socialize and get out more after coming to grips with how my life had changed due to pulmonary hypertension.  Now slinging my portable o2 tank and breathing treatments are old hat and I think very little about it and my life is once again centered around my aspirations first and my limitations second. 


Anyways, I had a great time yesterday at the social and received fantastic feedback on the 3 6x12s and woke up this morning itching to return to my workshop today.  Good vibes are contagious! I'll go this evening for a few hours after some appointments that I hope will not take too much energy from me...there is a heat advisory warning today.  Louisville is situated in a regional valley and pollutions travel from afar and just settles...couple this with high heat and high humidity and it is nasty...no matter how blue the sky looks and bright and beautiful from inside, it is not healthy. 


Looking into my basement workshop from outside:


View into Workshop


I keep promising myself to order a portable door screen to go over the doorway...I love to keep it open on cooler days for the light but then I find myself swatting at flies.  Its a great working space and I'm still trying to make it more efficient and supplies accessible.  After flipping through the art studio magazines, I feel this pressure to make it pretty...but I know that would last all of a hot minute.  When I walk into this space it says to me "are you ready to get down to work", it asks "do you have what it takes today? if not, you better go play somewhere else".  The space feels very purposeful.  Pretty would relax me and make me feel whimsical and detached from the reason I have the space in the first place.


Part of LAFTA membership is the availability of monthly workshops offered free and lead by other members.  Two months ago Joanne Weis, who just finished Jane Dunnewold's 2 year master program (YOU GO GIRL!), did a basic soy wax workshop.  Here are my samples using ink, paint, and dye and no, I didn't bother to mark which was which like I was instructed, so i can't tell you which piece received what.


Soy Wax




Soy Wax2


I do believe the one on the left was ink since it is black...the other two where black dye/dye paint.  I added a second layer of colour when I was testing out the old dye stock and here it is now:


Soy Wax3


Issac, my 6 yr old nephew is here for the summer from North Carolina and he and my great-niece Zaria took interests in watching me sew.  Issac wants to paint.  When I set up my workshop space I seriously considered having an area set-up for children.  From time to time on Craiglist, the old school children's desks and chairs can be found very cheap. (I do not want the bright coloured contemporary plastic ones, yuck!) I think I'm going to keep an eye out for 1 or 2 of them just for moments like this.  I'm just a hair short of being cramped but I don't want to regret not making space when a child in my life requests to share it.


If you've read this post, or stopped by to browse my blog, I hope your day is everything you need it to be! Peace,


 





5 comments:

  1. I love having a place for my grands and their own box of supplies. Nice to peek into your workshop!

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  2. Wonderful new things and outlook. You are right, I'm infected with the good stuff. Thanks!

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  3. Glad to see you are able to post pictures again. You are so right about good vibrations being contagious which is why I like to read your blog! I also take myself on art dates to see what others are up to. I smiled when I say your comment about adding screen doors. I am having doors installed as I write. Like you, my studio is downstairs in my basement. Being able to open the doors definitely allows me to provide more light. It is hot as Hades in Atlanta right now too so I can have the light without the heat and bugs. Last thing, other than keeping my studio organized I resist the urge to make the space "pretty." I say this as a woman who loves interior design. Still, if everything is so pretty then I think I would find it difficult to sling dye, paint and wax around. DGB

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  4. Your decision to "re-socialize" has been so rewarding! Love your workspace which seems to have inspired even more experimentation. This is fly season, I think. Annoying creatures.
    The blue and brown combination turned out great!

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  5. Sheila, Cocoa QuilterJune 24, 2009 at 4:05 PM

    Greetings from Arizona.
    I love reading your "posts" and seeing your studio.
    For safety reasons ... please consider adding a "permanent" screen door that you can "lock"!
    All the best and keep up the good work (smile).

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