First of all...

on the last day of the year, Happy birthday to me! Thank  you God for another year of living behind me, and by your Grace, ahead of me.

After much pondering and pontificating, and to make the most of this propitious moment, I'm ready to proceed and pen my artistic goals as I stand at the precipice of 2013. (This post brought to you by the letter p).

My overriding business goal: Complete Access to Market.  As a result of this this, these things will happen:

• complete business plan
• a website
• professional images of my art

Business Goal #2

• Submit to a minimum of 5 exhibits

Business Goal #3

• Track expenses
• Track time in the studio

My overriding creative goal: To create more quilts

• Start the series that is a tribute to the novels of Toni Morrison          Bluest Eye (1970) and Sula (1974)
• 2 more boat quilts
• 2 more Crowbonics quilts
• 2 more portrait quilts or narrative (jockey, mid-wife)
• 20 small quilts wrapped around frame, 12" x 12" or less

Educational goals:

• bear with me on this one, it is only about the 4 time I'm giving this a try...but follow a regiment of working through at least 3 technique books this year.  (It feels so wasteful to have books I already own at my  disposal and not use them)
• take pictures everyday weekly*
• zentangle daily on paper and on cloth*

* ammended on 01/04/2013

Community/Social goals:

• Goodfolk Festival, I pondered if this was a business goal, but I had so damn much fun that I would do it again and this is also why the concentration on 20 smaller pieces, for the booth there and hopefully sharing it with the same 2 friends since we proved to co-mingle well together already.
• 2 Teaching gigs
• 1 artist's date each month

And my word for the coming year is DISCERNMENT, (I know, not a P-word), to catch sight of, recognize, and understand.  Since I'll be receiving loads of business information, I want to make sure my grasp and focus is good and that I'm able to determine what is specifically right for me given my own heart, mind, and circumstances.

I bid you, as always, Peace...


     

What's ahead for 2013?

In November I was notified of acceptance into a pilot program with the Small Business Association.  A statewide program for 50 artists called Access to Market.  The 4 goals of the program for each artist is 1. Professional images of art, 2. A website, 3. A personalized business plan, 4. education on moving our art or craft into a wider market. 

The first class was held earlier this month and covered product development and placement.  Although there was a mix of artists/crafts people who produce for wholesale markets, there were also artists/crafts people who create one of a kind pieces.  The bulk of the presentation focused on creating for the wholesale market with adapting those ideas where applicable for artists, like myself, who create solely one of a kind pieces.  When I posed the question to the organizer, it was her belief that artists should have a foot in both worlds but ultimately each of us would decide our market.

I left there questioning if I should aim for a foot in both worlds and if so, what would be my wholesale items.  I've pondered this for weeks now, but keep coming back to not wanting to wholesale.  It would not be remotely appealing for me to embrace a "production" mindset.  Creating 500 artsy pot holders, or 500 scarfs, 500 textile bracelets, etc.  is not enough honey for a dime is what I repeatedly return to after pondering the questions.  

I create one of a kind pieces.  This is how I want to spend my time.  I explore new ways to work with cloth in creating my quilts.  This is what is important to me from the bottom to the top and back down and up again.  Time is what I have in abundance, but what I do not have in abundance is physical capacities even though I push as much as I can.  Do I want to sell my quilts, yes!, yes, I do.  Exhibiting is vital to me and ultimately, I want 2-3 galleries around the country to carry my work.  I want to have 1-2 interior designers to consider my work annually for their residential and corporate clients.  And lastly, I want to be involved with teaching or demoing with outreach groups via non-profit organizations.  End of story.

So what will my goals be for 2013?  Give me a few more days and I'll let you know...

Peace,

Negotiating Study (c), 2007, 125.

Having a party...

I lack the discipline to not share my quilts in progress.  I get so excited that I want to have a party and just hang out and drink wine...sharing here is the closest thing to doing just that in a way that provides immediate gratification among community.  Thus, my chances of creating something to submit to exhibits that prevent any form of public photo sharing seem low unless I change my ways. Something I'll ponder in the distant future...but for now...lets get down and party...

I had no intent of going in today, but my son called and needed a ride home from work after pulling a double shift, so to make the most of bathing and dressing and going out, I headed to the studio after dropping him off here at home.  The day went lovely, after an hour or so spent socializing, I finally mosied back to my sanctuary.  The front windows and glass doors needed washing, so I piddled with that until I was as close to streak free to make it worth my time...turned on public radio, rearranged some boxes that really didn't need rearranging, picked up scraps from the floor, put some fabric away, and then finally I was ready to pick up The Mid-Wife and resume quilting.  Her body is quilted and I think her face is finished or very close to being finished and then I was ready for the background...fruit, hanging fruit came to mind since she delivers babies...so I doodled a bit, see above.

Still not ready to commit to stitch, I recalled a method to audition quilt lines that Juanita had shared with me...cover up the piece with clear acetate and use a dry erase marker to sketch the thread lines.

It is generic fruit, buds that haven't come to fruition yet.  I also have to decide how and where I want to sew on the 40+ teeny tiny baby dolls that will embellish this quilt.  If I go with this hanging fruit, I'm thinking the babies will fill the empty spaces from top to bottom.  She will also get a necklace of pinkish/purplish pearls.  Oh, and I also came up with a full title, She Who Sees and Touches the Future.  By the time I got this far, the synapses was firing off and that led me to pulling out the praying crows and thinking about a background and story for them, (see them in the botton right corner on the photo on the left side?).

All this will stew for a few days and hopefully I can return over the weekend.  Now pass the wine and turn up the music!

Studio View

photo credit: Linda Ospital

Ties that bind...

The cold weather slows me down considerably and I'm trying to work out my winter schedule for studio time. My goal is to at least get in 2 days each week and 3-4 if the temps are mild or unseasonably warm.  I'll return to a daily journal practice and might consider setting up a corner for beading on the graffiti-scraps...I have about 30-40 of them that I'm not sure I'm even going to layer since it is a heavy canvas.  I'll also return to working through digital design as it relates to quilting.  And the Market to Access program should also help keep me focused.  I tend to get a little surly when I go more than 3-4 days without any hands on creativity.

I have 2 juried show that I want to submit work to but I'm infamous for missing deadlines but I'm going to plug a schedule into my calendar as opposed to steadily working and then diving in at the last minute to rush to finish the quilt, get it photographed, and budget for submission fees.  I've gotten to old to rush at anything. I've been 87 years old since i was 24, or so I've been told. That is another way of saying "old soul". Well my body has caught up.  A few days ago I had to laugh at myself for the way I'm wearing my hair...sectioned off with 10 plaits.  I use to plait my great-grandmother's hair up the same way...oil and massage her scalp and plait up her hair and that is the way she wore it...opting to put on a wig for church on Sundays.  She was in her 70s when I had that duty...I'm in my early 50s

Here I am in my studio showing my very first quilt to Linda Ospital who was interviewing me for a state archive project.

In this photo I can see my father and my great-grandmother.  I started this quilt in 1990 and completed it in 2003...it is all hand sewn except for the binding.

Hanging out

Being at the studio on Black Friday was a very odd thing...it didn't feel any different from any other Trolley Hop except it was an all day affair...the amount of people on Frankfort Ave and at Mellwood appeared even lighter than a regular Trolley Hop...just don't know that small businesses and art galleries can compete with the big box stores on that day.  That aside, I really don't retail anything from my studio and use days on Open Studio to field questions from wondering visitors about what I do and hang out and connect with friends with a little art making in between.

Brittany came yesterday to hang out with me.  She saves shells from mussels and was interested in dyeing or painting them.  We experimented with acid dyeing with procion mx on a few and gesso and paint on others.  Brittany also makes purses from re-purposing fabric and hand embroidering women on the front.  Here is the start of one of them...

I've known Brittany's Mom, Deborah, since elementary school and we reconnected in the late nineties after we ended up working for the same organization.  

I completed most of the quilt lines on Oliver Lewis, The Jockey and tried to work on the Mid-wife but the day was wearing on me by then.  Tried to pick it back up today but couldn't concentrate well enough to do without making mistakes.  Something occurred yesterday at the art complex that greatly bothered me...another occurrence in a long line of crass and crude behaviors by leasing staff.  There is only so much Ass-holism I can let slide off without it effecting me while there.  This particular thing even found itself into my dreams last night and was on my mind the first thing when I awoke...not good...my head space is too precious and time too short.  If I'm still bothered, and even if I'm not, by Wednesday, I will at least voice my view to the appropriate person.

On another vibe, I was accepted into the SBA's Access to Market program for artists, designed to help artists market their work to a wider audience.  It is a pilot program that is funded via a federal grant and only took 50 artists across the state.  

Catching up with myself...

I went through a major rearranging at the studio.  It took me 3 days out of 2 weeks.  Then when I finished I went through a empty spell about creating anything.  After some days of just sitting, looking around, and wondering about nothing in particular, I decided to just do something...so I grabbed up the canvas scraps I graffiti-ed and started bead work on them.  Slow hand work is good for the soul.

I have at least 20 of these graffiti-ed canvas scraps.  It was my intent (there is that word again...intent, sighing) to get them finished for the small art show/everything under 100 at The Kore Gallery.  But if I get 5 of them completed I'll be happy...this is the first one you see above.  After I started beading on the second one, up jumped the mojo, I went to work quilting this...

Between the jockey and my latest music crush, jazz vocalist, Gregory Porter...I was feeling a full immersion art-gasm!  The music is fine! but the lyrics are some of the freshest and energizing I've heard since Lizz Wright!  Go youtube Porter right now then come back and tell me what you think!  I have his Be Good CD and just like I do with Lizz Wright, I want to order all his cds.

I'm also looking for another photo to portray.  After spending the Spring and early Summer drawing the jockey almost every day, it wasn't until I did this real fluid drawing that I found some semblance of style that felt good for me to portray realism in.  I love it and want to do more of it.  I have a photo of my Great Great Grandmother that I'm leaning toward...here it is.

I'm not doing a big Thanksgiving meal this year...just gave myself permission to let go of it a few days ago.  After letting that go I thought about my cousins and my Uncle's wife who is a very proud Wampanoag Indian who has never recognized the holiday as it is celebrated...being Native American, the take on Thanksgiving takes on a different perspective.  To quote a line by poet Margaret Walker..."let a new earth rise, a new world be born".

GoodArt by GoodFolk

Okay, Good Folk Festival has come and gone...my friends have returned home...and my retreat from the daily grind has ended.  With that said, I'm doing it again next year!  This was the art fair for the 99% or definitely the 47% of us!  The art was fascinating! The artists were engaging!

Our booth was set up right in front of the main stage and other than a band that had a blood chilling screamer, it was all good.  Since I so seldom go out juke jointing anymore the exposure to so much live music was a rare treat.  But I was holding my breath to see and hear Tyrone Cotton who I had not seen in a very long time! One of my favorite all time birthday memories was Tyrone singing a happy birthday tune to me in his bluesy style from the stage of the now defunct Twice Told Bookstore and Coffeehouse.

I've dumped all my "stuff" back into the studio and today I'm going in to begin straightening up for a few hours.  The remainder of the week will be dedicated to rest and grandbabees.

Come and see me!!!!!!!

and even buy some art...if not from me, surely you'll find something to your loving and price point at The Good Folk Fest!  Go to www.junkabillyart.com for more info.

I'm sharing a 12'x12' booth with Mary Jo and Bev.  I've ran myself crazy yo-yo-ing about what I was able to do and not do.  Bev has reminded me at least 3 times in the last few weeks that this was all about having fun when we agreed to do this.  I think I'll feel better come Friday...I wanted to complete 3 quilts before then...realistically, if I get 1 completed, (just needs binding) I'll be doing good.  The 2nd one is 1/3 quilted, the 3rd one just finished the design top and layered with batting but no backing yet.  The 3rd one will get lots of embellishment with about 40+ 1/2 inch baby dolls so I'm considering just quilting through the top 2 layers and then fusing a backing on the top.

The 3 can be seen in this really short clip.

Fabric of the Week

Celebrating life

Today was a celebration of life! After 5 days away from the studio due upper respiratory infection...(I quickly got a z-pac) I felt good to go today and was back...didn't do anything taxing...just socialized, had visitors that came with great vibes, and did a little dabbling on fabric...see...

A daughter of a friend I've know since elementary came to hang out with me today in the studio.  She is reviving her craft and art habits after graduating from college and facing a chronic health challenge.  She is a beautiful young woman and I felt honored that she shared her embroidery and jewelry that she makes and was interested in seeing who I make my cloth.  Art can heal and connect people, in turn creating a vibrant community, yes it can!

I should be in bed now, but I'm hyped...I could have just stayed at the studio all night and messed around.  Tomorrow I'm scheduled to be interviewed by a professor from UofL...she is doing a project of African American women artists in the state.  I don't know what to expect but I'm going to have fun!

Fabric of the Week

Just do what you do...

The days are reminding me to pull out the sweaters.  I've yet to rearrange my drawers and closet for the season.  The nights are dipping down into the low 40s/upper 30s...which serves to remind me winter is coming.  I'll be loosing days in the studio when it gets colder and that is a bummer.  I'm wrapping up the last of the fabric marbling and dyeing this week in order to gain focus for the Good Folk Festival I'm doing the first weekend in November.  I'm sharing a booth with Beverly and Mary Jo.  I was fretting for a hot second over what to display but yesterday I let that go and said to myself, "just do what you do".  Why make something special/different but display what I want to be known for, if it doesn't sale, there will be other days and ways.

beaded leaf on canvas, small art

There are a lot of interesting happenings continuing for me (its been an year of challenges met).  In addition to the festival, I'm participating in a small art exhibit and also joining a co-op gallery, both starting the first of November.  I've also made an application to a pilot program for artists through the local SBA.  There is a staff person who is designated to work with artists and she wrote a proposal for this special program that will work with 50 artists. A few years ago I went looking for something similar at the Dept. of Vocational Rehabilitation and just got strange looks.  Happily to say this SBA program is supported through federal funds and is just one small way that federal dollars help to create jobs.  Off the top of my head, I can't recall the deadline for notification.

A few weeks ago I went to a Tai Chi class with my mother and thought it would become a regular weekly thing.  She had a couple of doctors appts. the week after we started and we've not returned.  I can't seem to wake up  and stay up in order to get there for a 9:30 class now.  I hope to start back next week.

Fabric of the week

back

front

Rainy day ponderings

On the drive back home I was rolling over whether the eye trains the hands or the hands train the eye for visual artists.  My approaches vary on how I create and I think the hand and eye are interdependent in informing the image.  September time in the studio has been given to freedom and exploration and play.  As I've experimented with marbling and returned to mark making with thickened dye with no expectations of outcome, images for future quilts begin to form...so in that case, it is the hand that informs the eye.  Other times as with the Oliver Lewis quilts, I see (or hear) something and think, 'how can I form that in a visual', which is the eye informing the hand.  Like a dance, the eye and the hand.

I set-up a new "size" for marbling tomorrow.  And have a cotton scarf under plastic that I stamped with dye on the print table.  The Boku-Undo inks came today that Carolyn Abbott suggested I try.  They float on plain water without the need to mix in the carageenan. There are periods of waiting between steps for the marbling...the fabric has to air dry after soaking in the alum, the size has to sit for 12 hours before it can be used, the marbled fabric has to completely air dry after it has been marbled.   I mixed up some thickened dyes as something I know I do well...sort of a resting spot between in the learning curve of marbling.

marbled fabric

Fabric of the week

Tai Chi, Marbling, and a Red Dot

In light of my morning plans for tai chi not happening I thought I'd let you know what is going on in the studio and art wise with me.

I've settled on marbling on fabric as my seasonal exploration.  It is my long-range hope that it will pair nicely with paper lamination.  I downloaded the Interweave video with Jo Fitsell and got busy last week.  First results/first layers were disappointing with lots of sinking colour in the "size" made with careengenan.  The video below shows the first attempt which I've since gone back over with a 2nd layer.

So far I've tried floating golden fluid acrylics (as per Jo Fitsell's suggestion), pebeo textile paint, tsukineko ink, FW acrylic ink, and airbrush paint.  The tsukineko ink gave me the best float with quite a bit of sinking with the others.  It seems to be a crap shoot to get the right mix of "size" and the thinning of the colour in order for it to float across the top of the size.  This week I'm going to try walnut ink and india ink.  It is the results that are propelling me on.  I love the stone patterns and that is what I want a stash of.  The one thing for sure I've learned thus far is that it is better to start with fabric that has color than all white.

(said in Ed Sullivan's voice), Now for my really big news ...(switch back to my voice) I SOLD THE BOATS PIECE!  YES! YES! YES!  I wanted to include the picture of the red dot with this post, but I just couldn't wait any longer.  And to add to the significance of this, it was approximately a year ago that I started it the day after Troy Davis' execution by the state of Georgia and the anniversary of his death has just passed.  The exhibit is still up until Oct. 2 and open daily M-F from 11:30-1:00 or by appt.  

Now for this tai chi you ask...my mother and I started last Thursday at a senior's center.  I've wanted to do this forever but the classes are always costly.  At the center, it is FREE and held twice a week.  So off we went and had the best time!  The instructors are kind, patient, and funny, and one of them was an instructor I took karate from when I was 14! Mama and I were both so uncoordinated.  For a few days afterwards I noticed that the knots in my upper back and shoulders were gone.  

Marvelsome!

Whew, what a summer is has been!  So singly focused on preparations for the exhibit that forming complete sentences over something other than any topic unrelated, ceased.  I was getting a bit concerned.  The moment of "okay, I think I'm back to me again" came as soon as I got in my car after hanging the exhibit with Elmer Lucille Allen and Randy Weber the Thursday before the opening.  And every morning since then I wake feeling rejuvenated and that is even before a cup of java!

Often I sit back and marvel at the people in and around my life and thank God for what is a beautiful coat of friendships and blessings.  I meditate on this frequently. Doing so reconnects me to hope and a feeling to not "panic" in the face of Crazy and Chaos that wants to insert as Normal in the affairs of humanity. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, who came to the opening Friday reflected this in my life.  There was a steady stream of visitors for the 4 hours...as a few would leave, a few would arrive, which allowed me to spend time with everyone talking about the art work.  I face my limitations and awkwardness when trying to work through a room of a group of people so in my mind, the evening went as it was intended to show the best me possible.  This also allowed Elmer Lucille to take photos of me with everyone who came and in turn I have a great photo documentation of my very first exhibit opening.

To illustrate and share what I mean...Penny Sisto, her husband Dick Sisto, and Beth Schnellenberger were the first to arrive and for me it signaled that all was in order for a great evening.  Penny and Dick are cultural ambassadors and Beth and I are members of LAFTA.

The next day I received this email from Penny---

Dear Karoda, I loved seeing your new pieces..especially ones seen in progress on your Blog..it was unusual for Richard to come with me but when he heard that it was you and that Elmer ran the gallery he wanted to come..

Your work is amazingly complex and mysterious, it draws you in and is deeply satisfying..that is not easy to accomplish in fabrics..your stitching floors me..looks as though small fairy fingers had stitched it! the hieroglyphics are brilliant..

Elmer, thank you for the gallery, it was so inspiring to see it ..It was hung with space for each piece..Elmer, I admire you so much, there seems to be nothing that you cannot do..you are such a beacon in a world that seems at times to have gone mad..

Both of you..I am so lucky to know you..

Congratulations on the show...

A few days before the opening I, as Fate would have it, I met Ramona Lindsey.  She was wondering around Mellwood and I acting in an unofficial capacity as a Mellwood ambassador asked her if she was looking for something specific or just browsing around (Mellwood is a maze of a building so its always a great question to ask to strike up conversation). 

The back story is that Ramona has been away from Louisville for 15 years and only relocated back here 2 weeks ago and IS A FIBER ARTIST!  Now as large as Mellwood is, I could have very well missed meeting this kindred spirit, but at the right moment it all came together.  Ramona was juried into THE Saint James Art Fair, which is always in the top 5 of art and craft festivals in the nation and is known for the buying crowd and collectors in attendance.  (Congrats to you!) Check out more of Ramona's work at her website.

As for the rest of September, I'm taking it easy outside of the studio and my main goal is to start volunteering for the reelection of President Obama.    Also, I've committed to setting up and sharing a booth with 2 other artists at the Good Folk Festival the first weekend in November.  

I have more to share but as porky pig would say "thats all folks".

Artists Statements for our joint exhbit (click on page tab above for details)

Ronald “Upfromsumdirt” Davis

Digital Collage is my primary medium but I also do illustrations and paintings.  I start with hand drawings using a digital tablet and found images that are further manipulated in digital software.  My work has appeared in galleries, museums, coffee houses and juke joints in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. In 2009 I was a Kentucky Al Smith grant award winner.  As a creative person, I am inspired to create a visual fantasy that expresses an African American narrative and mythology.  I call what I do Abstrack Africana, a fluid aesthetic where technology, science, history, mythology and art merge and co-mingle. 

I gain inspiration from everywhere. However, music and the written word have the greatest influences on me.  Sun Ra, Chinua Achebe and George Clinton have inspired my artistic work just as much as Pedro Bell, Romare Bearden and Emory Douglas.  I hear a riff by Charles Mingus and I ask myself, “How can I make that into art?  How can I reshape the images generated by it into poetic verse?”  This is my obsession.

Additionally, I am the art and poetry editor for Mythium Literary Journal (http://mythiumlitmag.com/) and co-owner of Wild Fig Bookstore in Lexington, Kentucky.

 Karen “Karoda” Davis

With the soul of a poet, I create mixed media art quilts that are heavily process oriented.  Starting with white cloth that receives color via dyes/paints and according to the visual idea, the cloth will undergo various surface design treatments, such as, screen printing, wax resist, stamping, over-dyeing and/or hand writing. The designed cloth then in turn becomes raw material for whole cloth or pieced quilts that receive stitching, embroidery and/or hand beading.  The finished pieces are for hanging or framing.  I am just as comfortable in a hardware store and grocery store and waste can, as I am in a fabric store when scouring for studio materials.

I am mostly interested in the processes of creating as a way to explore my sense of freedom and limitations and as a way to connect to a larger sense of community. Chitlin’ Circuit is the name of my studio.  It is located in the Mellwood Art and Entertainment Center.  My blog, http://chiltincircuitstudio.blogspot.com, is one of the earliest known blogs documenting processes and ideas by an African American art quilter as referenced in This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers Bible Quilts and Other Pieces by Kyra Hicks.

Showing work alongside Upfromsumdirt, my brother, has been a dream of mind since I began my visual art journey in 2004.  We are both products of Louisville’s public schools and the West End of Louisville.

We hope you enjoy the mix of art produced by both our hands.

Feeling the pinch in the shoe

The weather has been wonderful for the last 2 days...in the 80s, low humidity, partially cloudy blue sky.  It was just a bit challenging to stay the course...was wishing for an outside studio today.

Today in the studio was more and the same...hand quilting, stabilizing a quilt that was attached to rag paper, layering another top.  Me sustaining this kind of focus for months at a time has become like squeezing a size 9 foot into a size 8 shoe.

Material Remains(c) 2012

This is the quilt mounted on rag paper and foamcore.  I know this was started about 18 months ago.  I placed it in my front window.  I still need to figure out how to attach wire for hanging.

This is the hand quilting followed by the next quilt to go under the needle.

 Only 1 side edge remains to be quilted.  It will need some serious blocking before I square it up.

3 sunflowers.

When Nysha was here in June he showed me his pocket size journal that he carries with him at all times for the purpose of doodling.  My journals are larger and I haven't made it even a monthly practice of late.  I thought the small size would be more forgiving when it was neglected and easy to do a small page without a lot of preparation and forethought.  I took the last 30 minutes in the studio to add color to some previous line drawings.  My attempt at taking my size 9 foot out of the size 8 shoe.

The journal is 5.5"x3.5"....a photo-collage of the small pages.

Knowing

I've always said there is knowing, and there is Knowing...actually many levels of knowing.  In preparations for the exhibit in September, I've learned some things:

1. For collaborative exhibits make sure everyone has in and has ownership.
2. In estimating time to prepare, figure it up and then double it.
3. In estimating cost, figure it up and then double it.
4. Know the gallery and clarify what work is un/acceptable.
5. Family...you got to love 'em.
6. I'm not ready for a solo exhibit.

There may be more lessons to come before it is over, but these 6 bits I've taken to heart and soul.

August has been all about hand and machine quilting.  I haven't been able to use the summer for any dyeing or breakdown printing or any surface design of cloth at all.

Minor but significant challenges have centered around how to hang a few pieces that are mounted to rag paper without running up the cost.  Joann's gave me an estimate on one for 110 dollars and that was without glass and with the 50% off.  I have come up with 3 other options but haven't settled on any of them.

Material Remains(c) hanging on the line in my studio

The gallery for Ron and me is owned by a religious organization and they prohibit nudity.  I knew that going in but my idea of nudity varies from what gets defined as nudity.  Here I am thinking "nudes" as the man/woman splayed full frontal for all to see.  Here is one of Ron's pieces that was eliminated.  One that I love a lot and just didn't figure in my equation of nudity.

Untitled by Ronald "UPfromsumdirt" Davis 

I'm going to offer it along with another one of his pieces that is more like a cartoon drawing which was also eliminated to The Kore Gallery.  It might be too radical for The Kore also, but I have a relationship with the gallery and I'm going to present Ron's work for their voting procedure.

Moving right along...

If left to my own inclinations I really believe I could become a studio hermit.  Having a chronic disability has made me hyper aware of what is going on with my body and making art is an on-going conversation between my mind, body, and spirit along the lines of what I can and can't do.  Pushing myself releases endorphin (or some other feel good body chemical) and I'm on a natural high.  I hate to pull myself away from my studio when this is occurring but sometimes I must.  I did complete the quilting on the above piece pinned to the design board and before I left I chose the threads for it's companion shown below.  More of my hieroglyphs... 

I can't wait to get back there! but other fun does call :)

BEAST IT!!!!

First of all, I'm not a movie goer...movies in the theater aren't that compelling to me and I prefer watching them in the comfort of my own place.  So when I go to the movies, I'm looking for more than just a "good" movie.  I'm wanting gripping, intense, take my breath away...total suspension and immersion into a story and characters that put me inside the movie.  Sorta like a Toni Morrison novel but in film.  Beasts of the Southern Wild did it for me!  I'm living with this movie inside my head since seeing it on Saturday.  The story, the characters and the actors who portrayed them are fresh and vibrant, but the story! It is difficult for me to come out and just say "it is a movie about such and such"...the story is not simple and their lives are not simple and the cinematography is similar to an IMAX movie...it is pulls you inside the scene and is right there in your face.  There is a community of people living off a coast in an area called The Bathtub...its about how they survive and the choices they make and the love they have for one another and the land...the lessons of life are not about judging but taking life head on and winning no matter what comes.  It revolves around a family of a father and his young daughter and the tenacious spirit of love they have for one another.

There are only 3 other movies that I can think of at the moment that got inside of me like this one...Crash, Daughters of the Dust, and Bamboozled.  Oh Brother Where Art Thou and The Color Purple I can re-watch (I seldom re-watch) over and over because of the story line that and genius script.  So I'm telling you to go to the Beasts of the Southern Wild website and check the calendar to see when it will open in your area.  It is worth a 2 hour drive to see!

Now, what have I been up to in the studio?  Still plugging right along.  I took yesterday off to stay in and rest but today I completed the quilting on one piece and made progress on this one...

This is one is set in a custom built wood frame. It is on a wood frame canvas and is permanently set in the custom frame...this is the 2nd small piece finished this way and I think it sets them off well.

the side view...

the back view...I need to attach eye-screws and hanging wire and it will be ready for the wall.

I'll get back into the studio tomorrow because I got to "BEAST IT!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Taking a mental break with a blog meme

I just read a post on Patricia's blog, My Quilting Adventure!, and she posed these 5 questions she had seen on someone else's blog and well you know how it goes...right?  Here goes (and feel free to do your own either in the comments here or on your own blog)

1. I am.......
2. I wish.....
3. My friends think I'm......
4. Books are......
5. Top or near the top of my Bucket List.......

My anwsers...

I am slow and steady.
I wish I owned a home in the country but just outside the city.
My friends think I'm insightful (ssshhhhh, lets not blow my cover, okay?)
Books are people.  (hey! why not?)
Top or near the top of my Bucket List is to return to the Crow Barn next year for another workshop with Claire and Leslie.

We didn't get to see Beast of the Southern Wild last night due to a storm that wiped out the lights on Bardstown Road (major street) where the theatre is located...I was back in my studio when it moved through only to emerge into a hard rain...became drenched going to the car but not as drenched as I could have been thanks to Jamie who gave me a ride back to the back 40 acres where I was parked.  Mary and I sat and had coffee at Vint (lemon poppy seed muffins are delisimo!)  til around midnight.

Profane or Holy? It depends....

For those of you who do solo shows more than every other year, I toast you with a glass of champagne! Yes, I do!  I'm not even preparing for a solo show but one shared with Ronald Upfromsumdirt Davis, my brother, and preparing work is serious SERIOUS bid-ness (business).  After about 4 hours I begin to get cross-eyed and tonight I was only able to work 2.5 hours before eyestrain set in.  I got a feeling I'll be schizoid between counting my blessings and cussing up a storm during the month of August...hopefully if you run into me it will be while counting blessings and if not, remind me to.

Tonight I went back in on the washed out piece I showed in the post below.  What you see is the before, the after, and the do-over on the bottom half.  Looking at it here I think the shadowing on the left is too stark but it is a lesson for next time.  I didn't re-apply the no flow, just went back in using brushes and Dye-na-flow.  After it dried, or somewhat damp dry, I ironed the phuck out of it! using dry heat and kept the iron moving.

I prepared a sample for rinsing tomorrow or Saturday to see what will happen...of course the sample might be fine but the actual piece might loose color again.  That will be another cussing moment.

This piece is also under the needle...

Karoda's hieroglyphs inspired by various African writing systems.

Well it is late, I'm tired, and tomorrow I'm going to go see Beast of the Southern Wild and it is also Frankfort Ave. Trolley Hop so I'll be hanging out at Mellwood in my studio or someone else's.  Peace.

Hard lesson learned #7450

Just look at the wash out here! I used Jacquard's No-Flow and Dye-Na-Flow.

The instructions call for rinsing the No-Flow out after the paint as been set. I rinsed under cold running water and the paints air dried and were heat set first.  So what the hell is up?

I'm thinking of re-doing the No-Flow/Dye-Na-Flow over this...maybe I applied the No-Flow too heavy.  Maybe I'll give Jacquard a call on Monday.  I really really loved it...still do, but I am pissed over the amount of color loss.

And finally, I'm quilting the first Oliver Lewis piece.  I decided to start with the spires to warm me up.  I'll be back at it tomorrow. 

And another FINALLY....I received my last box of colored pencils giving me a grand total of 500 PENCILS!  (How you like me now Beverly?  That would be Ms Karoda to you!)

What a relief!

The conversation across the nation is about weather in some form or another.  After a 10 day run of temps in the high 90s and over 100, it rapidly dropped along with the humidity causing scattered rain storms, but what a relief, I tell ya!

My hours in the studio are awkward. Today's hours were from 6:30pm-11:00pm.  I could have stayed longer but I had reached a point that I needed to rest and think about the 2 pieces I worked on this evening. When I push myself to go forward at the point of uncertainty, I usually flub it up.  These 2 pieces couldn't be any more different...

The top one being an abstract landscape. It is heavily layered with mixed materials and is evolving intuitively.  The bottom piece is Oliver Lewis, the first Kentucky Derby winning jockey in 1875.  I keep drawing him over and over in different ways using different media. (you can google him to see the reference photo I'm using)  With this piece I'm more conscientious by being more deliberate, moving with a slow hand, and thinking more about value, light and shadows.  When I ask myself which one is most representative of my spirit, I answer the top one...but as for the processes both are very representational of why I enjoy doing what I do.  And the transition from one piece to the other was a smooth one.

I love to see that ol' evenin' sun go down...

It wasn't until 8:30 when the sun was going down that I even dared to venture outside.  It has been holding over 100 for most of the day and our outdoor thermostat read 108 for a good while.  It was my intentions to get myself to the studio so much earlier than I did but nevertheless, I arrived at 9pm and left at 11:30pm.  In 2.5 hours I made 4 ATCs that are overdue to the recipient.  

The good thing about going in late is the ability to stay parked in the loading zone which is closer to the entrance...shhh, lets just keep this between you and me, okay?

Lookey, lookey! Its me and Kristin!

I wouldn't have thunk it some years ago when I "met" Kristin online at her art blog while she was living in Germany that I would be standing outside of Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, Kentucky after sharing a meal with her and her family yesterday !  New Social Media is continuing the legacy of Old Social Media, the stoop, the telephone, the answering machine, 35mm cameras, snail mail, etc.  Kristin tapped me on my shoulder like we see each other every week when she first arrived and the conversation with her, and her husband and children went the say way...like we were picking up from where we left off the last time we shared a meal..  I like that...no, actually I love that about people...I even found myself trying to sell them on Louisville.  AND she placed icing on the cake at getting KARODA without me explaining how I arrived at it!!!!  I kinda suspected we would be a members of the same tribe but when she got that, we're now sitting on the same tribal bench.

I came home yesterday and caught up with Kristin's travels across the country on her blog...check it out, its fun reading.  Peter and I have often thought about doing such a thing when he retires...I like the idea of doing this when one's children are at the age that such a trip will impact their memories for a life time and hopefully shape their ideas and behaviors in a positive way.  

My time at the studio has been off due to Peter having a medical emergency but we have finally gotten some routine and balance so I'll be back but my hours will be sporadic.

On Tuesday...

Missing more than 2 consecutive days from my studio results in discombobulation when I return.  So this week hasn't been as productive as I envisioned it would be last week.  I've finished the top for the Oliver Lewis quilt and am working on a 2nd quilt top (also of O. Lewis) that will be done in Dye-na-flow paint.  I applied No-flow to the cotton top today and hung it to dry.  No-flow prevents the Dye-na-flow paint from wicking on the cloth.

I pulled from my pile of unfinished pieces to audition threads for this piece.  The size is about 24" x 36".  I thought it was going to be easy peasy tight straight lines but after a closer look I'm thinking not....

the bottom is cut off.

This is wipe up paper towels collaged and laminated to white cotton.

auditioning threads

Auditioning threads

Auditioning threads

  To consider some wonky geometric thread lines I doodled and played around with color...

 Tomorrow is a health advisory due to heat and high ozone...Other than going to the eye doctor with Peter, I'll be at home tinkering with digital images.

Natural Highs!

My last 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of creative juices starting with the SAQA Trunk Show...it was also 2nd Saturday Demo Day at Mellwood and Janet Bailey Burch snapped these of me when I was talking about my work...

I believe Nysha snapped some photos too and when he shares them I'll give you a heads up. Nysha started us off by leading a discussion around design principles and how the SAQA samples met the principles and then he had us curate "an exhibit" by selecting 8 from the 30 quilts.  Which lead to discussion on various criteria to use when curating and the many ways to "art".  The group was small which allowed for intensity in discussion and although it would have been nice if more were in attendance, it was the perfect group!

Instead of scattering for lunch we all gathered at the Mellwood Cafe and continued our discussions.  After lunch, Joann Weiss, Mary Nehring, and CJ Pressma shared our work and the day ended with 3 new people becoming SAQA members.

I rode high for days afterwards until I had to switch gears to take advantage of a booth opportunity at Brown-Forman Distilleries which is headquartered here.  Last Thursday their LGBT committee held their first ever annual Pride Festival for their employees...it was a 2.5 hour event held in their courtyard.  It was a blending of a cookout, service organizations, artists, and samplings (love Chambord with Sprite! yummy!)  It was  good PR for Mellwood as a majority of the artists were Mellwoodians.  Two of the local stations covered the event on the evening news...here is a link to one of them...WAVE3.

Unfortunately these 2 handsome men could not be sampled (did I just type that?! you bet I did!) but Elmer Lucille (who retired from B-F in '96 and was one of the participating artist) did manage this photo.  I had to steady myself for all the wrong reasons ;) before I snapped this shot.

I'm taking the next few days to be lazy...will not be back into the studio until Tuesday or Wednesday...peace yall!