Prayer Wheels

Can't sleep

So I took to sketching again...things on my mind, starring at the clock, can't even, I say I can't even tell the tiiime...

always questioning, always searching, but still trying to do...

The theory goes that drawing everyday will improve skill level, right?  Well here is today's rendition of America. 

I always see what I need to work on (proportion, light source, etc.) but can't quite get the eye-hand-mind coordination in sync.  On this particular one, there is improvement on the mouth and the brows and brow bone.  When I put this on fabric I want to mimic the old photograph.  I will cloth her the way I did The Midwife. 

I'm also working on a cartoon sketch for a quilt to represent The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.  And another quilt sketch is forming in my head on the food of my childhood.  And I'm asking myself what is the bend toward narrative and metaphoric work versus abstracted metaphors.  And I think it is okay since I'm not a "branded" artist. 

Can I just say how problematic that word is for me..."branded". It gives me the heebie jeebies. It is on my radar because I'm reading a concentration of books/articles about the "business" side of art.  The language of capitalism is burdensome.  The history at this juncture in time is burdensome and doesn't offer a sense of freedom and liberation and well being I want for myself and those who are interested in my art and those who step forth to purchase it as well.  Just sign me "still in search of transcendence"

Showing up...

I showed up today...prepped a few silk screens, was on duty at Kore snd painted yesterday doodle. It kept my hands going while I pondered life over.

August's N*a*k*e*d L*a*d*i*e*s

You know it is August when you see these lovelies!

I just absolutely am intrigued with these flowers!  Although this year they were not as plentiful around town as I've seen in previous years.  A couple of summers ago I planted some that were given to me in my mother's back yard.  They did not come up the following year and she has since moved into her apartment and I find myself each August since wondering if they are up.  The flowers come up over night the end of July, the first week of August and enjoy about 2 weeks of glory before they wilt and fade from the landscape. 

This week in the studio I've been listless.  Those thickened dyes  I was worried about still sit in the fridge...it felt like too much effort, I couldn't even muster interest in my Mojo paper quilts which was the creative life line that got me going last time and the few days in Yellow Springs revved me up the last 2 weeks, but this week, blah.

I attempted to just push the feeling aside and at least do something! So I drew another sketch of America Shannon using crosshatch and made some doodles (see here) that I'll paint with opaque paints tomorrow should the blah-ness continue. 

My first mobile post

Downloaded a blogger app because my life is so thrilling I need to blog on the go...zzzzzzzzz....oh sorry, I fell asleep between my exciting adventures. 

No, seriously, I am riding shotgun with my daughter, 2 silly acting grandkids and a fast talking great niece who can switch topics fastet than superman can fly.

Loving Life...

The months June and July 2013 will go down in my personal history as an emotional smorgasbord.  I already referenced June in the post about my cousin visiting and selling 2 pieces of art.  (a couple of posts below) 

With my Mother, children and grandchildren, we visited my father's gravesite on the 3rd anniversary of his death.  For me, it was my first visit.  So many thoughts were tied into the visit...looking at a headstone with my Mother's name on it even though she is still with us while being present with my children and grandchildren made me think of hope and dreams, dreams materialized, un-materialized, and dreams on the way of becoming.

Then there was the verdict.  The verdict.  The verdict.  It sits in the stomach. 

The end of the month we took a day trip to the Children's Museum in Indy.  Seven of us, four generations riding in a van. 

Indianapolis Children's Museum

I also married my Partner of 27 years!  I couldn't have done this 25, 20, or even 15 years ago due to my perspective on marriage as an institution combined with my own hypocrisy I experienced from my first marriage at the age of 20.  I think somewhere I read, heard Ms Maya Angelou say, a woman isn't fully grown until she is at least 40.  The last 13 years has been an opening of clarity about what love is and isn't for me.  This was the year the conversation changed for us both...instead of "we'll get around to it" it turned into "let us do this and do it now".  And although I can't name it now, it does feel like we're seeing with new eyes and wearing new skin since we jumped over the broom.

We took a brief getaway to Yellow Springs, Ohio with stops in Athens to see Quilt National 13 and Cincy to Saint Theresa's Textile Trove inside Pendleton Art Center and Krohn's Conservatory, and to the Air Force Museum in Dayton.  The breath of fresh air had me itching to return to my studio. 

National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio

Krohn's Conservatory in Cincinnati, Ohio

Studio work July/August 2013