Mr. Tolson, I need your help...

I am still trying to "take back and keep my righteous mind".  I have been decluttering since 2016.  Household is pretty much done, except for books.  Remember back in the 70s how paperbacks looked.  They were much smaller than today's books classified as paperbacks.  I really should send them on to Goodwill.  But its hard to part with them for the sole reason they are African American literature and our books are the least to go into reprint or even digital availability.  Also, its hard to part with them for what they represent to me in my development as a teen-ager and young adult who struggled to be aware and conscious or as they young admonish today "stay woke".  That is an emotional attachment.  I will never reread those books (my aged eyes can't handle the print).  My oldest son reads and I have been passing some on to him.  I thought about just giving him most of them and let him pick  and choose what to keep and what to pass on.  That sounds like a sound plan...I think I'll go with it.

A friend who is a volunteer at an Art House in Louisville's West End took some art supplies.  I'm trying to keep a minimum.  Today I returned to the basementm (I had been avoiding the space for month and months), to move some things around.  Oh mercy me! More is more.  If I had my phone down here I would snap a picture and let you see all the stuff that has ended to one side of the room.  I want to go through and make a keep pile and a giveaway pile.  This pile includes more art supplies and art instruction and quilt instruction books.  No, I do not want to have a yard sale, (although, I might do Half-Price books).

The wall next to the pile in the floor is an old Elna system of wire drawers (that I found on CL for 20 bucks!  I was happier than a pig in slop!  I'm channeling my Mother with that one.(  I want to get back to quilting...contemporary and art quilts; but I do not want to keep a large stash.  Not that I have a huge stash, but I still think I can go through what I have and let go.  For contemporary quilting, I want to buy as I make and for my art quilts I want to keep a a couple of different rolls of PFD and paint and dye as I go.  I want to create more slowly and with intent.  Which means my blank art journals are definitely a keeper.  Its better to make crap in a journal then with fabric.  Restarting a journal practice can translate to a masterpiece in cloth.  Right? Just say sure and lets move on.

I want to be a good steward of the spaces I have to create in but to tell you for true, my creativity was higher and more productive when we lived in an apartment where I used the wall in the hallway and the kitchen table and cleared it up daily before my kids came home from school and we ate together as a family.  The next morning after everyone left I hauled my projects back out to the kitchen table and hallway.  To dye fabrics I rented out space 2-3 times a year at Mary Anderson Center (is that now defunct?) for the Arts on the grounds of Mount St. Francis (a peace/piece of heaven on earth).
 in southern Indiana.

But whenever I glance at the chaos on the other side of this room (I'm still in the basement) I envision Mr. Melvin Tolson placing his hands firmly on my shoulders and looking me in the eye and saying with conviction "I'm trying to help you take back and keep your righteous mind".

Until next time, Peace.

Karoda University School of Art

Let's see, I have a lot running through my head this morning.  First, let me go make a pot of coffee and I'll be back.

I'm back, but not with coffee but a mug of lemon ginger tea.  This past Sunday I wrote out a curriculum for studio time.  I've done this several times before and although I rarely complete the course, it is due to me jumping off onto my own rhythms.  Having a curriculum brings intent and focus instead of waking up every morning undecided and loosely hodge podging something together for the day that doesn't continue the next day.

On Monday I woke up with a upper respiratory and throat irritation and was in bed most of the day.  Today I'm feeling better and am ready to begin.  Here is what I'm going to focus on:

• Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) and Zentangles (I see these as complimentary) and will use Leah Day's videos as a resource and the book Zentangle A Day by Beckah Krahula
• Piecing: Expanding the Basics by Ruth McDowell
• The Crocheter's Skill-building Workshop by Dora Ohrenstein
• Mixed Media Portraits by Pamela Carricker

When I did this before I called it Learning Curves.  I think I'll call it Karoda University School of Art.

I've divided my days into AM and PM segments leaving room for experimenting and deep porch sitting.  For May, I'll do gel plate printing and just as soon as I finish typing this and playing a few rounds of Puzzly Words, I'm going to mix up the ingredients for the plate.  I'm making one that will be plasticized.  It doesn't have to be kept in the fridge and is pretty much permanent.  I've only made the one which has to be kept in the fridge so I'll let you know how it turns out.  

I've also been rolling around the idea of starting a YouTube channel for crochet and with some art quilting thrown in.  Since the Hubster can't stop watching MSNBC, (has this not been the most grueling, painful, and LONGEST campaign season ever?!!!  This is the one that has broken me of calling myself a political junkie; although I've turned my sights to following our evil minion of a governor....the first Pub in 40 years and boy is he all of a mess up one side and down the other)  (that was a pretty long interjection in this sentence) I've taken up watching YouTube videos.  Most of them are yarn head type videos and there are tons of them with knitters.  Not enough crocheters and its been a while since I've had a tech challenge (Mo and Ade would say I'm challenged by using my smart phone, but I beg to differ).  And it seems like another way of putting myself out there for a chance to connect with folks who share the same interests and renew some presentation skills that have languished since I've been out of the world of employment now.  I really have a lot of time on my hands and I have everything I need to create the art I want to create.   It is a miracle after all the years of working 2-3 jobs and 60-70 hour work weeks.  

I'm listening to a pretty cool podcast called Crafty Planner.  I started from episode 1 and am up to 17.  She has focused on diversity within the Modern Quilt movement and I've been introduced to some pretty hip young women and men.  It is good studio listening.  Check it out.  

And in closing...Alonzo Davis sent me an email yesterday saying our collaborative piece received a red dot!!!!!!  That did my heart good!

Honey, I Love*

okay, So in my crazy mad crocheting, I thought I was ready for a sophisticated Interweave or Vogue pattern...(never underestimate my delusions)  I'm not quite there yet, but I could create a yarn bomb explosion...on you if you stand still long enough.

Also, I told myself a lie...because I'm going to have a small yarn stash, nothing massive or anything like collecting fabric (although I've noticed this could become competitive between yarn vs. fabric). 

I started another scarf tonight.  This is my 6th project in less than a month.  I'm going to block these made with this fine microfiber yarn just to see what that will do.  What I can gleam so far, there is a debate among the yarn heads, to block or not to block.

wave pattern



window pane pattern

 



Also, at the moment, as in the last few weeks of moments, I'm leaning toward blowing all the creative goal setting.  I'm going to walk into the ethereal realm creatively speaking and see what I leave behind on the trail of time. 

What I want to do hasn't changed...it is the pace in which I will do it that will.  In the slow re-read of Beloved I have been so struck by how LOVE is a force, energy, power, action that it has reminded me and shifted me...in the midst of this is the almost daily care and life with 2 small children (I thought this was all behind me) and the experience with my mother (early dementia) is showing me that at any age, all ages, change is truly inevitable, change that you can sometimes control and change you have no control over at all and at the end of the day none of it matters but that which is in LOVE, that force, energy, power, and action of existence.  This is what I'm choosing.  (remind me down the road lest I forget). 

So I think from here on out on my blog, among the artistic pursuits, I'm going to wax off my tongue and just talk about whatever I'm led to say.

*title is a reference to a poem and book by Eloise Greenfield.

Keep Swinging

Here it is the first week into February and I've not committed to goals for 2014 for the Chitlin' Circuit Studio. I've ruled out taking any major workshops this year even though Dorothy Caldwell and Jane Dunnewold will be giving workshops here locally.  I know, I know.  How fabulous...but it is not showing up cowrie shells, or tea leaves.

My focus is getting through winter and I must recognize that I'm doing better than previous winters.  My granddaughter is back in the hospital and has been there this time since Monday of last week.  She is 3 and quite spirited and mature for what she is experiencing.  The medical team is quite encouraged by her energy for the pulmonary diagnosis she has.  I'm encouraged and can't wait til she is well.  In March we're, well she, will start ballet.

Back to this goal-setting.  The first quilt study inspired by the novel Sula is prepared for quilting -

the heads have since been painted in.

I'm not sure I will do a study for each one...the next one up is The Bluest Eye.  What I'm hoping for this series is to teach myself to narrow the focus of the techniques I use.  But to recognize my own growth to this point, the idea to do these quilts came to me way back, like in '06 or '07, but didn't feel at that time I had the skill and confidence to go beyond just thinking about it.  I'm now at the point where my confidence is not intimidated by attempting it and I hope to learn something about myself at the end of this year.  My goal is to have 3 or 4 finished.

I will continue with this series as my main focus for "making" but will have other works going on between these quilts.

For my learning curve, my focus is doing Zentangles.  I've been looking at the zentangles and quilt lines of Nysha Nelson for awhile now and thought I've finally get down to trying them myself for the purpose of broadening my free-motion quilting ideas.

this is Day 1, working through the book One Zentangle A Day (6 weeks total)

My reading material will be continuing to read and re-read books on art and marketing to assist with the co-op gallery (current book is New Market for Artists which focuses on online markets) and do 1 day a week for gallery coverage.  I'm also, re-reading the novels of Morrison (Beloved is the current book) and will begin reading through the books that I have from the David Driskell Series (started the one on Keith Morrison last week).

And lastly, in light of missing a recent deadline for a juried exhibit, I want to submit to 4 shows (yet to be identified) this year.

In the words of Hank Aaron, I'm going to "just keep swinging".

Peace,

Knowing Myself, Showing Myself

Watching the clock, but can't even tell the time...so the song lyric goes.  Let me hit the repeat button..."I hate (Mama always warned us of using the h-word) do not like winter".  Such a cruel trick of fate, I say, that my geography even includes below freezing temperatures.

As always, December finds me slowing down from any activities in the studio.  I've been reflecting on the year.

This is what I wrote in February:

Joining The Kore Gallery at the end of January necessitates a do-over for 2013 goals.

The Kore Gallery:

• Keep a minimum of 5 pieces in the gallery
• Take gallery photos bi-weekly
• Maintain FB page
• Develop website

The Chitlin' Circuit Studio:

--> Complete Access to Market (A2M )

          Business Plan
          Personal Website
--> Complete 10 new pieces
          2 Crowbonics
          2 portraiture
          2 Graffiti quilts
          2 inspired by Toni Morrison novels (Bluest Eye, Sula)
          2 Boat
--> Complete 20 small pieces
--> Maintain spread sheets on time, expenses, sales, etc.
--> Submit to 4 shows
--> 2 Outreach art activities
--> Continue Learning Curve (working through books/online workshops)

Most of my creative time was spent on surface design.  I completed about 20 or so small pieces, most of them where the Mojo paper quilts, most of which have found new homes and where purchased from the co-op gallery.  XX and The Mid-wife were the only larger size quilts I completed. I have two others on the design wall that are near completion but they do not fall into the category of quilts I outlined in my goals.

the A2M program was completed.  I do not have a business plan and will not create one.  After immersing myself in art/business lit for the year, I'm coming away with some tips on promoting and organization, only to conclude I'm serious and passionate about creating but "business" is not what I'm doing.  I am not trying to make a profit. I want to sell my art to buy more art supplies and share what I create with others.  I do not want to run workshops, but am happy to have others come to my studio to explore technique and talk art and life.  End of story.

The co-op gallery fits the bill for me...it is a partnership, it provides the space to show and sell what I create. It is flexible...just reduced my gallery sitting from 12 hours a week to 6.  And it doesn't come with the weight of being self-employed.

Getting back to my goals...I have 2 sketches for the Morrison quilts.  I created the website for the gallery and have my own near ready.  I used WIX.com.  I kept the spreadsheets for a quarter of the year until the laptop I used went belly up.  Learning Curve was hit and miss...not structured that way that I'd like to maximize benefits.

Submission was to 2 shows...with 1 acceptance for next year...The 20th Annual African American Art Exhibit at Actors Theatre of Louisville...both XX and Crowbonics: The Prayer will hang and there will be a purchase catalog created.

And for closing here is the outcome of the fabric shown in the previous post.

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,

Thinking stuff over...

Here I am facing the last quarter of the year...assessing my goals and monitoring my body's responses to the change in the season.

I went back to look at my goals for 2013 here.   Where I need to gain strength is completion of quilts, especially the ones for series.  Also, I need to have more defined limits about experimenting...when to start and stop.  The dyeing, marbling, breakdown printing, took over much of the summer months.  It was a journey to get back to quilting which the Mojo series (my paper quilts) was the boat that carried me. 

After going through the Artist2Market program (1 more session left), I am affirmed that wholesaling is not for me!  It doesn't fit into my already given responsibilities or ambitions and dreams.  Being in the co-op  this year has been good for selling my small pieces.  Seeing my larger pieces hanging has helped me identify technical areas I need to address.  I put a lot of time into the Sunflower quilt and because I didn't have a large enough table to properly square it up, it hangs badly.  Also, I'm going to consider metal bars for hanging instead of the plexi-glass or wood slats.

In answering the question of my idea of a successful artist, I think, I'm not an un-successful artist.  I put the time in, the time is about process, other than what I referenced above, it is all good.  Joining the co-op gives my art a place to be when it is complete and that was a goal.  Where I need improvement is submitting to other juried exhibits across the country.  My ultimate is to have a piece in Quilt National or Quilt Visions, but I'm not focused enough yet and am not ready to force that focus. Summing up my idea of a successful artist it would be, "Create, Hang, Submit".

I love love love it when my pieces are purchased and commented on by art lovers...it sends my spirit flying.  Art lovers who purchase and comment get me through the periods of  "why bother".  But I don't have them that often and they have been short lived because I turn my ear back to the first part of the mantra in "Create, Hang, Submit" and that is my healing balm.

2013 has been filled with adjusting to the co-op gallery and being an office holder in the 501(c)3 organization formed by the tenants and artists at Mellwood called AiMave (Artists' Initiative of Mellwood Avenue).  The goal of this group is to pull together our resources for positive marketing, ideas, and events.  The leasing agent and owner are often associated with negative publicity which makes our tasks necessary as we are all there for the same reason, affordability.  I didn't foresee this at the beginning of the year and I think it will be my last year as secretary.  The goal is to write grants to support the artists and involve us in community outreach. 

When I look at the full circle of my life and what I'm responsible for on a daily basis, being a professional artist isn't in the cards for me.  I'm serious about what I do and how often but I think the lack of appeal to embrace my art as a business that I want to depend on to bring in an x amount of $ each month brings that feeling of a size 20 trying to fit into a size 8 dress.  Creating, whether writing or visual has always been about inhabiting a spiritual realm where I can listen to myself feel and think, where I can honor God's presence in my life. 

And she's off....

to the studio and readying for Derby Dye Fever!  Today I prepped for marbling, dye painting and screening, and will add painting on silk in my experimenting for the month of May.  I made 3 strengths of sodium alginate thickener, 1 for painting, 1 for screen printing, and another for breakdown printing should the weather outside get hot enough this month.  I also made up a batch of Alum and marbling size using metho-cyl.  Last year I used carrageen for the size and had a time with getting the paints to float and I used everything from fluid acrylics, inks, air brush paints, to prepared paints for marbling.  I did get some good results but still had a lot of loss of paint that sunk to the bottom of the tray.

I use a blender to mix my urea water and thickner.

3 strengths of thickener from sodium alginate (seaweed derivative)

 

Since my fabrics have been sitting for awhile, I decided to scour them again to remove dust,...a combination of various pfd (preferred for dyeing) silks and cottons.  The silks are washing as I type.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past week I was at the studio and gallery for a combined total of 19 hours.  On Saturday I did a demo for my ART Going Postal(c) postcards while gallery sitting.  The visitors were few but I enjoyed the company and conversation of fellow artist Dennis Shaffner. 

 



 

 

I haven't made new postcards in years.  I used designer silk fabrics from a sample book.  I'm going to make these as warm-up exercises on a weekly basis until I exhaust the fabrics.

Poetic touch stones have filled by day...started last night with Proclamations of Forgiveness by Estella Majozo.  This morning Cherryl Floyd-Miller shared the link to this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye. And the radio show On Being posted this poem on their FB status and I ended up listening to the podcast.  I'm still feeling strong and joyous...gonna ride this vibe as far as I can!  Peace!

Purge, Pack, Prepare

Friday before last I put in a request to relocate my studio 2 doors down the hall and felt myself being anxious over the weekend and at the start of the week waiting to hear that the request was okay'ed.  Skipping the details, it wasn't until I took Richard Pryor's advice and just said "phuck it" let what come, may, that on Wednesday it was approved.  Lesson (re)learned...don't sweat the small stuff and keep company with integrity.

I somehow managed to finish binding the flowery quilt and the setting the layout for the Kore gallery website (hasn't gone live yet).  On Saturday, Don, one of the gallery members, showed up with the idea to paint my new space...and he even located free paint in a calming light green and he was ready to get it done.  He and I, mostly he, got the first coat on and he and Robin, his partner, applied the 2nd coat on Sunday!  I thank them with my whole heart for such a gracious gift!!!!!

On April 6th I am teaching a 4 hour workshop on Art Going Postal at The Little Loomhouse.  Between now and until then purging and packing and preparing for the class and the move will be most of my focus.

one of my favorite pieces by Donald A. Cartwright

Just doing what I do...

The binding on XX is being sewn down. The fabric was designed some time last year but the quilt I started in January and if this is any indication...it takes me about 2 months to finish a quilt  Yeah, I've been working on other quilts and haven't been singly focused on just the one.  But it is typical of the way I create.  Last week I was in the studio for about 15 hours.  I'll finish XX on Sunday when I'm at the gallery.  But it looks like I'll finish out this week with about 10 hours of studio time.

I'm already thinking about my next portrait quilt.  A newly discovered photograph of a great-great grandmother was shared last August at our family reunion. Her name was America Shannon.  I'm really puzzled and curious what it meant to her parents to have given her the name America in her birth year of 1860 (or 1863) at the start of the Civil War.  We have a marriage certificate of her 3rd marriage at age 40 to William Burnside. in 1900 having her age listed as 40.  Of course her portrait will be the focal point but I'm challenging myself to come up with a background which reflects my curiosity about her.

 America Shannon

The fabrics hanging around "Home" (working title) are being auditioned for 2 borders that I want to go around the passage way.  I have a vision of how I want to quilt the center with bronze metallic thread but I'm not sure my skill level can pull off the design.

 The fabrics at the top and the yellow-orange fabrics on the sides come from Southern Africa but I cannot recall what country specifically.  They are Jacquard and were made by a women's collective.  The backing fabric is a tie-dye that came from Nigeria.  Is my passage way a "door of return"?

Tomorrow, I'm heading to the Kentucky Crafted Market...a prestigious exhibit opportunity for artisans and craft persons in the state and region.  It started today but it is not open to the general public the first day, only to galleries and corporate buyers. I have a few studio neighbors who have been juried into it.  I hope they do exceptionally well! It gives us all hope to focus on the possibilities!

Peace,

Accountability Sunday on Monday

My caboose jumped onto another track last week.  Looking back over the goals I set for the week I managed just a few...gallery sitting, completed quilting on XX, read half way through camera manual, and the next deadline for entering an exhibit is March 29th.

Some additional time was given to understanding what goes into a press package and press release and plugging along on the Kore Gallery website and my own and snapping photos.  It was a full week with Saturday being a looooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg day that started off with running late for an 8am appointment with a hair-dresser and returning home to "prep" for a gala event that night for the National Kidney Foundation. Uneena, one of the co-op members works for a team of nephrology physicians and Kore donated 2 art pieces for the silent auction and currently have a quilt I owned and donated but was created by Juanita Yeager as a fundraiser for NKF.  I have a family members that have required kidney disease and transplants and moved that Kore will make this one of their charities to support.

I really had forgotten how much effort goes into "dressing up".  It has been nearly 10 years since I purchased pantyhose and I jumped back out with a pair of Sphanx...WTH? I thought the Women's Liberation Movement addressed the thing about oppressive clothing decades ago?!!!!  And I had to reach in the very back of the closet for "dressy" clothing and dust it off.  I'm glad I still had something to choose from but I did have to replenish my make-up which I had thrown most of it out years ago right after I stopped working.  I haven't been much of a shopper since the 80s and with each passing year I've become even less and less of having the stamina and patience for it.  Being inside the mall for me is like being at a carnival with the carousel music too loud and tent mc's barking and dangerous animal sounds and nauseating sugary smells and too close for comfort tactile experiences.  I took my 83 year old Mama along for comfort and stability who reveled me with stories of shopping enjoyment of her days gone by.

In between the hair appointment and gala, I had a co-op meeting and stayed in the gallery.  Being out and about is always interesting and fun but I'm just barely able to think clear today.  I'm working on using Epson StoryTeller a program that game with my printer some years ago.  I'm using it to tell a visual story of my art work.  Its an mental exercise that is a way of sliding some oil to the brain so I can ease on down, ease on down, ease on down the road this week. (I love the Wiz!)

So I'm just going to re-run the goals I didn't attend to last week with the added goal of getting the press release together for Kore Gallery and any other Mellwood artists who are interested in showing off for the Derby Trolley Hop.

Peace,

Accountability Sunday

Okay, before I get into the week...let me share this story my daughter shared with me about my grandchildren.  I watch them during the week until 3pm at which time I leave, if I'm going, to the studio.  Previously, the studio is a place they come to visit from time to time also.  Now when they pretend play along with all their stuffed animal friends...they play "being at the studio at Mellwood".  Sometime Anaya will read her books, Carter will colour or diagnose and fix an ill stuffed animal friend and ask for Anaya's opinion all while at "their pretend studio".  Can I just say it makes me all gooey and drippy with love on the inside! 

Sopping up the oozing Nana love, I'll get to how my week has been...

I forgot to add up my hours yesterday but I was there 4 days this week. 

The paperwork was mailed off!!!!!!!!!

XX quilt is 1/2 way quilted.

Mid-wife is finished (but I want to add about 5-8 more babies)

Going Home (GH) quilt, which my sistah-friend Penny said reminded her of a totem of spirits, humans and animals, now has prarie points sewn on and bottom section and was re-squared.  I did decide that it would receive a border of some kind that emphasizes the geometric shapes (triangles and whatever that is called when a rectangle is wider at one end).  I wanted what is the doorway to me to be more surrounded structurally.

(incoming: while typing this, Anaya just gave me a shot with a crayon...told me "it will not hurt you but will make you feel better" and after the shot, she rubbed the spot and said "now, all better" and ran out of the room)

And I did cover Saturday hours at the gallery and right before I got there, someone purchased one of my small pieces!  I was going to send it to Kweli Kitwana who opened Art Shack, Baby! in Harper's Ferry, WV to place in her shop.  Unfortunately, the couple who purchased had left before I got there.
Don't you wonder where people are going to hang your work and what about it appeals to them?

*****
My studio mate Aimee informed me that she will be closing shop at the end of March.  I hate to see her go but I definitely understand since she hasn't been there much with her attentions given to a handsome newborn son which is her first child.  But what really took the wind from her I believe was receiving a letter from a firm supposedly representing Fiestaware.  Her favorite items to paint are toys, broken toys and vintage items.  She had a painting called "Fiesta" of a cup of coffee on a saucer and a spoon.  It was a big stretch in my opinion! if anyone would like to see it, I'll send a picture of it via email since I am now the owner of it.  She is having a 40% off listed prices at her Etsy Shop.  I'm going to miss seeing her paintings so I did get 2 pieces...the piece in question above (which I thought was a very weak case) and a piece showing scissors, thread, and a vintage cow sugar bow...or maybe it is a creamer.  If anyone would like to see The Cup of Coffee on a Saucer in Dishes that Shall Not Be Named, I'll send a picture of it via email since I am now the owner of it.

I'm between and betwixted if I should find another studio mate or move my items from the storage unit OR just move my studio altogether!   Uneena and I went to The Cavern's first 3rd Saturday Open Studios last night.  The Cavern was started by 4 artists who use to be at Mellwood.  They are expanding and jurying in other artists.  I'll just cut to the chase and say one of the spaces is PERFECT!!!!  Two walls of kitchen counters/cabinets, good indoor light, and a steel double sink with a catch area will be installed!  and I could bring all my quilting supplies out of storage!!!!!!  Especially my 2nd folding table...without it squaring up work has been difficult! 

But with every perfect thing comes some concerns.  There are two artists who work in wood.  Industrial ventilation has been installed and a wall could be built to close me off more but the dust with wood can be overwhelming and for health and fabric reasons it is of concern.  The other concern would be leaving my "art family" at Mellwood.  There is a core group that has formed naturally and we do support and encourage one another and get along very well.  My life is pretty limited to family and studio time and although sometimes I feel the weight of being so restricted with getting out and about more, I also know that I'm richly blessed with having an outlet of self expression as an artist.

Cavern's location is very close to the University of Louisville and I'm digging close access to the art library.  I will not leave Mellwood until after the April Trolley Hop since I'm committed to giving it what I got to make it the best April hop in order to make it an attractive place for Derby visitors to the city to come to!  But with all that said...what a wonderful dilemna to have, eh!

(incoming:  Anaya returned to paint my nails with a green crayon and I even got a cuticle massage).

Next week's goals:

• Complete 2 chapters in Hansen's book and 3 zentangles (1 for Nysha) (between M-W)
• Select, cut fabric, and make block for The Lynching Project (LaShawnda Crowe Storm)
• cover 3 hours at Kore Gallery---sketch or sew or read while there
• Quilt to at least 3/4s on XX
• Give at least 2 hours to reading camera manual and snapping photos
• Order filters for camera.
• check preparations and deadline for next exhibit submission.

Thank you for stopping by the Chitlin' Circuit blog and reading my updates...

Accountability Sunday

Here we go...I'll start with the goals I set last Sunday for this past week.

I did baste the XX quilt and started quilting it with 1/3 of the quilting lines complete...do a little dance!
Mid-Wife quilt is so near completion...binding 1/4 sewn which leaves 3/4 left and the sleeve...make a little love.
Things not set but significant were Kore Gallery coverage and brainstorming session with other Mellwood Tenants...get down tonight (am I dating myself with KC and the Sunshine Band here? oh, well, its still good).

I did not do the exhibit paper work (ugh, this is going on 3 weeks.  (I need a admin assistance!) nor did I start Hansen's book or the Zentangle exercises.  

I was in the studio 18.50 hours and worked here at home for 5.50 hours.  What my tracking does not include is reading for information which is kinda like a prelude to the "doing", which is more important.  I'm hoping that by warmer weather I'm in a such a routine of staying accountable that the fun of printing and dyeing fabric will not induce guilt because that is definitely going to happen.  Breakdown printing, marbling, and lamination are techniques that I've missed doing.  I'm still on the fence about fabric encaustic...what I'm considering is renting studio time at Mt. Saint Francis for a day or 2 to try it out.  My current space is filled to the brim and with more open space it might be easier to explore.

Goals for the coming week: updated 2/14/2013

• Put together a media list and make 15 contacts via email/phone (between M-W) started but not completed
• COMPLETE PAPER WORK FOR EXHIBIT! (typing in caps does constitute yelling at myself)   completed 2/13/2013!
• complete quilting on XX
• Complete 2 chapters in Hansen's book and 3 zentangles (1 for Nysha) (between M-W)  before Saturday night
• Select and cut fabric for The Lynching Project (LaShawnda Crowe Storm)
• Sleeve/binding on M-W  (then stand back and admire) binding complete
• download The Bluest Eye from the library (yes, this is quilt related)
• cover 3 hours at Kore Gallery---sketch or sew while there

whew! makes me a little nervous looking at them....better print them and post them here on my desk, on my fridge, in my car, and at the studio.

peace,

Untitled, 2010(c) sold

Take 2

Joining The Kore Gallery at the end of January necessitates a do-over for 2013 goals.

The Kore Gallery:

• Keep a minimum of 5 pieces in the gallery
• Take gallery photos bi-weekly
• Maintain FB page
• Develop website

The Chitlin' Circuit Studio:

--> Complete Access to Market (A2M )

          Business Plan
          Personal Website
--> Complete 10 new pieces
          2 Crowbonics
          2 portraiture
          2 Graffiti quilts
          2 inspired by Toni Morrison novels (Bluest Eye, Sula)
          2 Boat
--> Complete 20 small pieces
--> Maintain spread sheets on time, expenses, sales, etc.
--> Submit to 4 shows
--> 2 Outreach art activities
--> Continue Learning Curve (working through books/online workshops)

For the month of January I was in the studio 16 days for approx. 77 hours with approx. 12 of those hours engaged in socializing with other artists.

Additionally, I attended the 2nd glass for A2M. It was on pricing and left me with worksheets to complete.  I surmise it will take me 2 months to get them done.

I did not complete any quilts but started 2 new ones and have 1 in last stages of completion.  Some time was devoted to transferring images to fabric but no clear direction for using them, but leaning toward decorative pillows but not a high priority.  Piddled with reverse applique.

What I did not get completed but should have was meeting the deadline for Form Not Function Entry and submitting some paperwork for an independent exhibit I have already sent the quilt to curated by Carolyn Mazloomi.  The hang-up was getting my work photographed for for the former and not being able to lay my hands on measurements on the quilt I've sent for the other.

Objectives for this coming week in order of priority:

• complete paperwork mentioned above.
• complete mid-wife quilt
• baste a quilt
• start zentangle workbook
• start Digital Elements by Gloria Hansen

XX (graffiti quilt in progress)

Listening to Public Radio...it's not illegal yet.

I'm really quite sleepy at the moment...but my head is still swirling from yesterday.  The class yesterday was on pricing wholesale and retail.  Do you see see yourself as an entrepreneur or wanting to become one?  If so, are you creating multiples that can me marketed to wholesalers? Do you see yourself as creating one of a kind pieces? multiples of one of a kind pieces?  how quick can you turn over work?  how do you find your target audience?  The presenter's pov is that an artisan should have a foot in both worlds.

I find myself having to adapt much of what is being presented for the way I work when what I really want is to have a business model to fit the way I work instead of me trying to pour myself into what feels like a size 8 dress.  When it comes to business models, does one size fit all?  There has to be various models out there?!  I love the physicality of creating art quilts.  Exploring processes is a dialog that I'm having with not only my mind and spirit, but my body as well.  I try to focusing on doing while at the same time listening and focusing on what my body is doing and learning.  I don't want to loose that.  I think I can take some of the ideas and apply them, just not all.

For months I've been yo-yoing over joining a new co-op gallery at Mellwood that opened last Spring.  Well as of yesterday, I'm in!!!!!  I'll have a place where my work can hang and breath instead of being stored away!  I will gallery sit about 4 hours each weekend and will do a website.  I created the FB page and update it already for The Kore Gallery.  (see why my head is still swirling?).  More info will come as plans crystallize.

Do you listen to Moth Radio Hour?  Saturdays are great for listening to the local public radio.  This American Life, followed by Snap Judgement, The Moth Radio Hour, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and Bob Edwards (a Louisvillian, btw).  When I'm at the Studio I can listen without interruption while piddling around.    I heard a great story today about a therapist who was challenged by a dying patient and a dying automobile and how both gave her clarity in the end.  Last week I listened to a story about a young white woman whose father became ill and her mother, thinking her husband might not make it, revealed to the daughter that her father had kept a secret...he was actually a black man from Louisiana.  I didn't hear the end of the story and looked for it on the website, but I couldn't find it.  If you caught it, let me know how it ended please.

I think I finally have a plan to feature this fabric in a quilt...

Here is the design I layed out:

The green fabric is hemp.  I ordered 1 yard of it and dyed it when I was all in love with chartreuse.  It is more textured and weighty than the focal fabric which is cotton.

Let's Barter...I have this...you have _________

The temperature dropped to 12F 2 nights ago and the high was in the low 20s.  I'm taking it in stride but today, right after I pick up my grandson from school, I'm going to the studio...it is currently 34 degrees.  After the studio, I'm heading to the gym for a mile walk on the treadmill.  Mo, has renewed our membership so I've been going 3 times a week. I lay my portable oxygen on the floor and do a quick start on the treadmill at 0 incline but going from 1.5 to 2.2 on speed...I'm able to get a mile in at 40 minutes or less.  I'm thinking about adding water aerobics in the spring or even yoga. But first I want to keep up this routine of going regularly. 

The Mid-wife didn't get stretched.  I damp stretch my quilts on the carpet in the living room and my grand kids are with us at night and sleep on the pull out couch which prevents me from stretching the quilt and allowing it to dry.  

The other night I was thinking that I never shared how The Mid-Wife quilt came to be.  I will in a few weeks, after I finish it, but I can't right now.  I've put a note to myself to remember to do this mid-February.  

I am finished with Secrets of Digital Quilting by Lura Schwarz Smith and Kerby C. Smith.  Doing the projects in the book didn't interest me.  What I found the most valuable was the digital filing system for working with images and the argument  for shooting photos in RAW format.  The 3 files, original, master, and target are organization tools I'm going to work with from this point forward.  It is too daunting a task to do this to the photo files I already have.  Shooting in RAW captures and retains more of the image in without compressing the image...it takes up more storage but if I have an image I want to continue to work with...because each time an image is opened and saved in jpeg (a compressed file) there is some digital loss in the image...probably not readily apparent to the naked eye but over the long haul it with repeated use, it could make it harder to get a rich image on cloth.  

The images I printed out, I'm wanting to make pillows with them so I've talked to Stephanie who has made pillows with her woven cloth and have of course did the google search.  I haven't ordered any pillow forms yet...and am thinking I just need to do the first few with polyester filled pillows to see how it goes before ordering down/feather forms.  

I printed the bottom on cotton and the top on organza and over laid them.  This will be my first pillow.

Now, let's barter...this year I'm about checking my spending and using the tools I've already invested in and not keeping things I know I'm done with.  Keep in mind, I'm fairly easy,...I'd like to trade Secrets of Digital Quilting along with the Fall issue 2012 of Fiber Art Now.  email me at seamless_skin at yahoo dot com and let me know what you have to exchange.  If you want an idea of things I might like...here ya go...fancy napkins, foam for making stamps, paints, mediums, painting knives, bead storage boxes, other books, silk scraps, adhesives, scrapbooking paper, tissue paper, paint, dye, crayons, a flat griddle, videos...just name it.

Accountability Sunday

The week was spent with my grandchildren during the day.  I turned them loose with glue, scissors and paper and watched them go at as I sat alongside them and did the same.  They are so free in their approach, not giving a hoot about colour, design...just the joy of working with the materials.  I tried to get in the same head space when I finally got to the studio Friday afternoon.

I began by rummaging through my fabrics looking for colours that spoke to me and threw them at the wall.

Once I got these up, I knew they were too close in value and taking a photo and then putting it in gray scale proved me right.  Dyeing fabric would have been too much of a distraction as I've never been able to dye just what I need and one thing leads to another and I'm screen printing, wax resist...and it takes on a life of it's own.  I left them on the wall as I really want to work with the shroud fabric in the middle. 

The 2 days, 12 hours I spent at the studio minus 3 hours for socializing was spent trying to come up with a design for the fabrics above and then moving into my graffiti fabrics, the start which is below.  I devoted 4 hours here at home to Digital Quilting by Lura Schwarz Smith and Kerby Smith and am completed it with it.  I've made some prints on fabric that I'm considering putting on the front of pillows.

The paperwork did not get completed, I did sew the binding on the jockey quilt and got the baby embellishments attached to The Mid-wife.  I'm going to damp stretch it tonight.  

This coming week the temps are dropping but I'm still going to plan on getting to the studio before Friday for at least 6-8 hours.   Additionally, I'll be hanging out Friday night for Trolley Hop, so come see me.  My goals for the coming week is to get 2 sets of paperwork completed, get the binding sewn on the mid-wife and add more embellishments at the bottom and get the graffiti quilt to the next stage.  These objectives fall under creating more quilts this year.  

I finished reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  The first book I've read by this author.  For me, it was an epic read.  I never thought the book would end and even after it ended, there was an interview with the author (10th anniversary edition), a reading group discussion guide, and words by the author.  The first 1/3rd of the book I was going to give it up...but a little further and I was beginning to "get it" and it had me pondering and wondering and questioning about our society and how it is structured and what drives it.  What does it mean for a country to call itself a melting pot and what happens to the cultures, beliefs, ways of life to those who melt?  It was a very visual read that created a world that engulfed me in the last half of the book.  The movie, The Book of Eli, is a good companion to this read although they are two separate worlds but the theme of faith and belief strike through both of them.

Accountability Sunday

It is a light gray sky with a steady rain. The perfect day for blogging, reading, napping, drinking coffee and being in the studio...4 out of 5 here since I have to drive 10 minutes to get to my studio, but I did bring the jockey home yesterday to sew down the binding since I was not sure if I'd return today.

I found these clips in a drawer yesterday that I had forgotten I had.  I don't like using pins and I'm finding these more comfortable than the office clips I typically use to hold binding down.

I took advantage of the warmer weather and was in the studio for a total of 23 hours working on 2 quilts + 2 hours here at home today.  I didn't do any zentangles, weekly photography, or textile experiments or learning curve.  Other business energies were spent submitting a bio, images, and talking with a grant writer of a local non-profit who is aiming to extend outreach workshops to seniors living in nursing homes of which I'll teach 3-4 sessions if the grant should come through.  My mind has been all over the place with ideas of what would be interesting and fun to do with seniors who might be facing some physical and/or mental challenges.

On another note, what is the difference between kombucha and apple cider vinegar? I had a bottle of kombucha a few days ago and I swore it is nothing but apple cider vinegar.  The bottle I had, had ginger in it, and the kombucha wasn't as fermented as vinegar, but taste wise, they are siblings if you ask me.

Next week:  I need to complete paperwork, embellishing and binding The Mid-Wife, 2 sleeves and Digital Quilting.  The photography and zentangles I'm moving to the first of Feb. to start.

Sunday night summary

I've been setting up spread sheets to track my goals and I think for me to ump it up this year, a weekly summary is best for me to be accountable. I'm not going to track time in additional administrative task just yet.  I've printed off my goals and they are taped up here at home and will be taped at the studio and on my tablet and pc calendar.  This might be overkill but I know me and its not.

• I spent 7 hours in the studio; 4 of them spent on working on a quilt for exhibit.  
• 3 hours w/ Digital Quilting and working with my photo files, printing, transfering methods for a minimum of 10 hours last week.  
• I snapped a few pictures with the tablet and did a short in-studio video, but not with the D40. 
• I prepared paper and fabric for zentangles but didn't do any.

Here is a short video of results printing on foil using Golden's digital grounds.  I used a brush to apply the grounds, but I'm thinking a foam brush will get a smoother even application OR either I need to apply more than 2 coats.

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...