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.