Trying to make something stick....

Trying to clear my head and see what I can see...

A gazillion ideas for what to do next have rushed through my mind the last 2 weeks.  When I couldn't settle on any one thing I decided to return to my roots and work with creating texture by couching yarn....

cotton, cheese cloth, couched yarn

wasn't feeling it...I thought about writing on cloth but wasn't up to clearing off any tables.  So after piddling 

this is what piddling looks like...applique and painting

around, I thought I would return to pulling a palette together around the shroud like fabric.  (I've longed to do something with the Shroud of Tourin for some time now, but the focal piece here reminds me of fossils)

various stages of adding and removing pieces

I resisted using a colour wheel, would like to go through the process more intuitively

In pulling fabric, I found the Iron King...this face grew out of seeing the artist, Willie Cole, years ago on tv when he was in his iron phase...I think currently he is in a shoe phase.  I was struck by the his facial features...regal and well defined.  I did an outline in thread as play...but when I saw it tonight I thought I'd try to work with him in a similar way as The Mid-wife.

Several things came home with me...a basting project, gonna try Sharon Schamber's method for basting; more applique, and more embellishments for The Mid-wife.  If the freezing rains come, which are suppose to start around 4:00am, actually come, I'll have something here at home to work on.  

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.

Blues with the blues

With the dip in temps and the ice sleet that started this evening and the car troubles that faced me yesterday morning and the pain in my muscles and joints, I started fighting the blues today.  In asking myself what I need to turn my mood around, I'm longing for meditation in colour.  While I've been looking at old and current family and friends' photos, and vintage photos from the Schomburg and Library of Congress for the next portrait quilt, I'm thinking my next piece should reflect my need for calm, balance and flow...the excavation of emotion and conjuring of ideas that happens for me when I'm lost in music or energies of some poems or the solitude of following a train of thought until it cocoons me or communing with history. Something abstract...until I can see my way clearer and feel joy and gratitude. I have some fabrics in grays and blues that I dyed 2 years ago and a warm rusty colour that are calling me and I'm thinking about lines and shapes that arch over as if I can pass through a portal to feeling better in spite of these earthly demands on me.

the green fabric at the top is hemp with a beautiful drape

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.

slow like molasses

January has been a slow moving month...not that the time has moved slow, but I've been aware that in spite of returning to some regularity with my art, I'm moving slow...steady but slow, slow like molasses slow, but not as sweet.

Mo has been dragging me to the Y and the 40 minutes on the treadmill has me sleeping better but I'm not yet thinking this is going to be a routine and is more than likely her new year resolution that will fade around mid February.

I found my iPod, but the cell phone is still missing and I can't find my point and shoot camera.  The iPod was in my desk drawer...a drawer I open almost daily! What was that about?

I do believe I'll be completely finished with The Mid-Wife and The Jockey (I work on my quilts for a very long time and yesterday self-doubt set in on whether I'll even come close to my creative goals this year). The 23rd of the month is my time frame so that they can be professionally photographed on the 25th.

I'll be back tomorrow night to do a summary of my week in the studio...peace

a ufo from my throw back days

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...


     

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