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

Sometimes I just have to leave it alone

for awhile and come back to it when I can see something new.  A lot went into this quilt...dyeing, breakdown screen printing, stamping, building up colour with watercolour crayons, going back over with medium, then quilting.  My first challenge after all of that was not having a table large enough to square it up...I did my best with what I had and then zig-zagged the edges for a finish...this is where it went wrong. 

Wanting not to be defeated by my own creation...I comtemplated cutting it down in size and sacrificing the flowers on the end...but my inner 2 year old kept whining and asking why?  I left it alone for months and last Sunday while gallery sitting I used Don's large table to recut the edges.  This week's time in the studio has been dedicated to sewing a binding on it. 

While looking for a fabric long enough to cover the 160 inches of edge, I begin to rummage and everything I liked I didn't have enough fabric...didn't want to dye or paint any, so it hit me to piece together the binding from all the fabrics I had selected...I've never tried this before but it is really working for this quilt...

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)

Hemp ain't cheap...

Its been almost 9 years since I've been in the workforce but I still get excited about Fridays. I'm tracking my studio time this year so I can have a clearer picture of the amount of time I'm there and what I do while there, believing that my time and how it's spent is a direct link to achieving my goals for the year.  In addition to a calendar where I write my start/end times I come home and enter time into an excel spread sheet along with abbreviated notes of what I did while there.

The hemp fabric might be a blend of hemp and rayon.  It has a lot of give in it.  I ironed on a leave-in stabilizer to give me more control with cutting. Today I decided to add prairie points at the bottom in the black fabric.  The points will be in front of 3-4 inches of green and cowrie shells will hang from the ends of the point.

The state legislators on both sides of the aisle are discussing returning hemp growing to Kentucky (Kentucky was a producer in the 1800s) and with Rand Paul (groan) and the state chief of agriculture leading the pack plan on asking the Federal govt. for a special waiver to start.  The state police are the voice of highest concern.  I'm not sure what the process is to turn hemp, the plant, into hemp, the fabric...but my selfish interest is, will it bring the cost per yard down.  

I spent time combing through my fabric stash...I don't have any brights...I lean toward shades which might account for my love of grays.  I was looking for fabric to write on. When I found it, I tested out markers for colour...the ones at the top of the fabric I eliminated and the ones on the right are possibilities.  The b/w image helps me with determining value...all of these will work value-wise.

Wordless Wednesday

It has something to do with Home.

High winds and rain are predicted to move in around 3:00 am...so possibly, I could find myself in Oz tomorrow looking for the Wizard.  But I'm hoping all will be well and whatever comes will pass through quickly and without any loss of power and life.

I just came in from the studio. When I rough sketched the quilt out I wrote Welcome Home underneath it and tonight while piecing it, I kept thinking "going home", "returning home".  The center fabric represents a passage, an illuminated door. You know by now, I just listen to what comes and at this time I don't know what it means really.  Before I left I cut the right and left side down to bring more focus to the doorway. and some of the top will also get cut down.  The other idea that came was to place a face at the top.

While meditating on it the idea came to me to make it 3-D and I saw a room with about 50 of them varying between 4-6 feet tall.  I don't think I'm going there but I'm noting it here for reference.

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.