September Art Fair at Mellwood

Looking back over August.

The exhibits at our state fair do rock!  I know Dennis Shaffner and the troupe of volunteers deserve much kudos for putting it together year in and year out!  Thanks Dennis!

Here are some of the pieces that struck my fancy...

3 cakes

tie quilt made by the daughter of the man who hired Peter at his company 20 years ago.  The man is now retired and these were his ties.

vintage dress

 

altered phone in the floral arrangement exhibit

 

children's art

 

sorry for the poor photo, but his is a batik print by LAFTA member Judy Banks!

 

 what do you do with your garbage? 

 

this is a fountain made from dishes and a sink! 

 

another piece by Judy Banks that is also an award winner!

 

high school sculpture from cardboard!

 

ghostly elegant art!

 

this might have been a high school student art. the layering is beautiful as well as the urban feel and calm of the human figure

I'm still sketching America Shannon. 

 

and the prayer wheels have received blue...

I really love this picture of Anaya and I.  Thinking about putting it on a canvas frame via a photo service.

Prayer Wheels

Can't sleep

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

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

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

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

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

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

Showing up...

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

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

You know it is August when you see these lovelies!

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

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

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

My first mobile post

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

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

Loving Life...

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

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

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

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

Indianapolis Children's Museum

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

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

National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio

Krohn's Conservatory in Cincinnati, Ohio

Studio work July/August 2013



Gone sight seeing...

I'll be back blogging the first of August.  In the meantime, here is the Kore Gallery website...it isn't finished, the photography will be improving over time. I'd appreciate any and all feedback on the lay out, the print, the links, the info, grammar, suggestions for improving it and making it awesome, etc.  To get this far took some major focus and work on my part. Thank you for taking the time to share feedback! 

Peace!

Summertime and the living is easy...

Lisa, my cousin, visited from Kansas and came to play in the studio with me.  She is a new quilter having been spurred by the birth of Tutti, her first grand child a year and a half ago.  We had so much fun catching up and hanging out! So much fun that the days following when I was again creating alone, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. 

I've been beading on a recycled quilt cut into 3 6"x6"s mounted onto a canvas frame...(you know what has been said about idle hands).  Beading, like hand stitching, offers space for quiet meditation for gaining clarity in thought and returning to my center.

and it was Marla Jackson's photo  on her facebook page that pushed me to finally try ice dyeing after months and months of seeing snow dyed and ice dyed fabrics on blogs.

These are 6 small pieces that were layered in a parfait.  They were placed in wet.  When I return tomorrow or on Thursday I'll try it with dry fabric to see if it gets a sharper crystalline pattern.

I'm considering overdyeing these with ice  with orange and aqua marine dyes. 

 

If you're in the city, stop by Kore Gallery this month to see more of my work as the featured artist.