Friday, November 22, 2013

Breakdown printing

Carter, GS, has learned to do the duck dance from school and is very entertained by it as i am watching him while I dadadadada the music to it.  We told Papa to watch and learn.  I put him on the bus this morning and slid into the studio where I am piddling as a form of self care. 
I have some dried screens, very old dyes, and some print paste going bad so I am seeing what sticks with Breakdown Screen Printing. 

I don't expect much from this but while doing it I kept wanting that ethereal appearance like with encaustic paintings. It is sopping wet in this picture and with the materials being old the depth of color will be no way near this.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Cold weather, foggy mind...

My time in the studio as already slowed down due to cooler to down right cold temps.  A month earlier than what I expected.  This year has been a good year thus far.  (no hospital stays! yeah babee!)

My goals have been a guiding force for the year and I've held to them even though I didn't achieve everything I set out to do.  I move slow but steady.  I know at least one thing I need to let go of for next year....being a office holder in the artists' group at Mellwood.  Artists are hustling trying to make art and hold jobs and attend to family and health and studio turn over is too frequent to keep momentum going on projects.

This was a year I immersed myself in reading marketing books geared at artists.  I kept thinking I was missing something in the Access2Market program with its emphasis on wholesaling.  Two or three of the books I've read take a tone of slight arrogance and too expert-y which comes across to me as a 'hustling books mentality instead of living what is written about'. 

The exception, the one that reads like real talk, is The Artist's Guide by Jackie Battenfield.  I don't regret reading the other books which I'll not name.  I seem to constantly need the affirmation that I do not want to be a "business" in the strictest sense of the term, yet I'm serious (as defined by absorbed) with creating with cloth and I'm joy-filled when someone even inquires about my art and when someone purchases a piece I really can't feel my feet on the ground!
Kore Art Gallery
 

Most of what I do for the co-op is online and my winter hours will reduce my gallery sitting to 4-5 hours each week and about 8-10 hours in the studio...maybe 15 in a good week.  My body started to rebel a few weeks ago.

My major focus for next year will be the Novel quilts...at least starting the first one and possibly continuing with a smaller series like the Poetry quilts or paper quilts.  I'd like to take on 2 or 3 workbooks...but I always fall off the wagon about 1/4 of the way into the year.  My real challenge is not to fall into the rabbit hole of surface design.

I returned to the book Spirit Taking Form tonight.  Need to slow the train in my mind and find artistic clarity.

Peace,

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Warming up

This is a practice study for free motion quilting for the lungs and heart. 

Human anatomy

In stitch, a heart and lungs.  I am reconsidering hand stitching the outline of these innards and then sketching arteries and such with machine thread.

Swatching it!

Well, well, well...look who is swatching!  The plan (here goes...) is to knit my grand daughter a sweater.  This will be my first knitted ...