This is Whats Up...

I am in my space this morning to start a shawl I had counting difficulty with last night and unfrogged. The softness in the air and the quiet while everyone remains sleep I am hoping will allow me to concentrate more.  I am using a foundation single stitch which is one I haven't used often.  My plan is to also do a little piece work from Piecing by Ruth McDowell.  Once I work through a book as part of my Karoda School of Art I am also deciding if the book will remain a part of my arsenal.  I want to streamline, reel in, what I create over a long swatch of time.  I want to have more command over what my resources are and should be in order to do what I do.  You know  there is that tendency to be a grasshopper, jumping all over the place and trying out every knew tool and trend that comes out.  And that is all cool for awhile, but I'm longing for a more distinct look in all that I select to keep, whether it is encaustics or quilts.

Yesterday I spent some time working on a Mojo.  I usually do these in painted papers stitched and embellished, I do them in down time to relax my mind.  This one is fabric and has been hanging around for two years. I plucked it off the board and began adding hand stitching.  I love everything going on so far with this small piece. Here I am auditioning the porcupine quill.

This study below I did previously last year...I want to revisit it in a larger quilt.  I made a small adapted version of it that was part of a collaboration.  It is about commanding spiritual transformation.

Every Friday Mo and I have lunch.  It is her day off.  Last Friday was our next to last Friday lunch date.  She will be going to a different shift at her job so we will have to come up with another way to connect.  Maybe she can be persuaded to take up a knitting class with me in the evenings.  Here we are at Long John Silver's.  Summer means we are a foursome instead of a twosome.

I hear footsteps upstairs, so I'm going to get this shawl started.  Peace.

Tea, You Are Not Coffee

8:00 o'clock and I'm in the studio with tea in hand.  Although it is a black tea, so far it ain't doing the trick. Might have to make that pot of coffee.

I've started my studio time by watching videos on stencil making particularly katazome.  My mulberry papers has been gone several moves ago.  (one of those if I haven't used it by now, give it away moments).  Katazome uses mulberry paper.  I woke up thinking about turning my face sketches into stencils this morning.  I have used file folders, acetate sheets, and stencil sheets in the past.  I can only recall using one on a small graffiti quilt named "Do Not Fear the Intellectual".  It was a journal size quilt and I have no clue where it got to.  Hopefully it was one I sold from the Mellwood studio as that is the last time I recall seeing it.

Anyways, I'm back to my School of Art activities.  Here is my curriculum: (links will take you to Amazon)
Zentangle A Day, Mixed Media Portraits, Crochet Workshop, Piecing and Creative Strength Training.  I have yet to find a consistent rhythm for days and times so I snatch time daily even if its just 30 minutes.  Mornings seem to be my best time now.  Here is the sketch I'm returning to in just a bit.  I'm also going to start another side sketch.

I'm going to do another side view sketch before I advance to the next chapter in Mixed Media Portraits.

Naw, this tea ain't gonna do it.  Peace.

Trying It On for Size

So we are moved in and progress has been made.  Most of the boxes are unpacked.  The boxes which remain hold decor, books, toys, etc. and are pushed into corners until I decide where things will fit, hang, and so on.

My studio is set up and functional and today I piddled in it for about 5 hours trying to get comfortable with where items are placed and how to move in the space.  The new shared arrangement with Peter is nice.  He was doing some technical stuff with the computer/tv connection.  I didn't know when he was in the room or out unless he said something to me.  With what I was doing today, the only time I couldn't hold conversation was when I was crocheting.  Overall, it was a fair run for trying the space on for size.

I did a zentangle to warm up followed by a face sketch and ending with exercises from the workbook on crochet.  But in full disclosure, a lot of time was spent browsing Facebook on my phone.  Discipline is the word for the rest of the month and must be had to get a groove going.

studio music was Regina Carter's CD, Southern Comfort

A friend asked me about dyeing fabric in ombre and that got me excited.  It has been 2 years since I had my dyes out.  We're working out a Friday that she can come.  This will give me the opportunity to to try out the set-up in the garage.

Trying to describe to myself what I feel like is going on with me as a creative person, I feel like I'm forever waking up from a slumber.  The closing down of my Mellwood studio and the year dealing with breast cancer and 2 moves in 18 months created an alternate reality that I'm trying to shed or bloom out of the pod.  But one thing I know is God is here in and of it and I'm trusting the process!

KU School of Art 1st month update.

This was suppose to be an update on how I've progressed through the first month of KU School of Art.  Instead, I'm here to say we will be packing up to move house.  We're grieving over it while moving into that knowing space where God's got a plan that our vision is too short to see.

Such Great Vibes Today

I was in the studio today from 7 this morning until 1.  I started out by unmolding my gel plate.  It is damp feeling but seems pretty tough.  I was expecting it to feel more plasticized and not as malleable as it is.  I'll start some mono-printing tomorrow.  I also will try another recipe to compare the "feel".
Do you have a recipe that uses glycerin for a semi-permanent gel plate?

I did a daily zentangle this morning and pulled a ufo (unfinished object) off the design wall and made a decision about quilting.  I will not tell you how long it has been waiting patiently for me to return, but I was surely joyful that I felt on top of my vision to get with it.  I decided to hand stitch it to go with the folk/other worldliness vibe that it gives off.  I will do some light machine quilting solely functional to secure the 3 layers.  I'm only hand stitching through the top and a light-weight stabilizer. Here are some snapshots.

This is the thread I am using for her hair has been a booga bear to work with but it hasn't got the best of me!  

After homework and dinner with the hub-man and the grandkids  I hope to return back to the basement and work on some crochet and do some exercises from the crochet workbook. (see previous post).

Oh, and the studio music today!  Everything from Alberta Hunter to Zydeco....B.B. King, Mahalia Jackson, Fela Kuti, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Art Tatum, John Legend, Gil-Scott Heron, Anita Baker....its been awhile since I flooded my space with such great vibes.  Today, life is good. Peace...or Karoda out (drops the mic)....okay, I'm not as cool as our President...but wasn't he absolutely the best at the WHCD?

fat quarter enhancements

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!

Health and Creativity.

Last week my son helped me rearranged some in my creative space..  While I was watching him move things, it hit me...I've always used my studio as an indicator of how well my health is holding and watching him do things I did for myself just two years ago, it dawned on me at a little deeper level that my energy post-cancer is not the same as it was pre-cancer.  My expectations were high thinking once it was all behind me I'd soar like a bird and it would be for an extended flight bursting with energy.  How I use to work in my studio, i.e., whether I did dyeing of fabric, screen printing, or hand stitching, beading, or machine quilting was not just an indication of where I was in the process of creating a quilt, but also, an indication of how laborious my breathing was, how fatigued I felt, if my muscles and joints ached, and if my diet was off or way off.  I haven't spent much time creating because I have lower energy and become winded more easily.  For me, I can know something and then I can really know a thing.  I knew it but didn't want to accept it.

For awhile my daughter and I were on a role with healthy smoothies and had started incorporating ginger tea into our diet and eliminating the unhealthy stuff but that too has been sporadic giving way to fast food and convenient eating.  I did feel better.   My weakness is home baked sweets.  Yea, yea, I know about Splenda.  I would rather go without and make it worth my while when I do eat something sweet.  It is really hard to stay consistent but I'm thinking I need to get back to cooking (which I don't do much either anymore) and being a predominant vegetarian...Peter will follow as he isn't "real" picky and is usually very thankful for home cooked meals.  He cooks but it is always the same meal in the 30 years we've been together...a Nigerian stew over rice and fried plaintains.  I on the other hand, love to experiment and try not to cook the same meal too often, except for, as my family would say, my version of ruebens...they will swear we had them every week for a period.  I don't believe them although I do love me a rueben!

The studio rearrangement has opened up more floor space and receiving a cast off chest of drawers that belonged to my granddaughter has opened up space for my growing yarn stash.  I've been vegging out on YouTube vlogs and video channels by other yarn heads.  Among knitters and crocheters it is a "thing" to show your yarn stashes and yarn hauls.  I'm entertained by it!  Here are some channels I enjoy: Kim Cee, Milkshed, Essence of Me, B.Hooked Crochet and I discovered Bonnie K. Hunter's Quilt-cam and I seldom watch Bonnie's entire episodes but I find her idea and the concept delightful.

Also, I'm still in need of a woodworker to cut a hole in my sewing table so my sewing machine can be flushed.  I've been looking at studio tours on YouTube and Pinterest...but I don't really think I have storage issues....maybe organizing a bit.  I'm not sure if I want to have an ironing board, or a Big Board or turn a table into an ironing table.  I'm thinking my print table could double as an ironing table...it is still relatively clean since I have not used it but might not be practical once I'm up and rolling.   When I was in my Mellwood studio and had to iron a quilt top or quilt in the past, most of the time it came home with me unless I had a clean cloth on the print table which was rare.

And here is the shawl I made for one of my sisters modeled by my daughter:

I've got the same one going for an Aunt and this is from a YouTube tutorial.  This one is my sleeper...it is very repetitive and I can watch tv and do this one.  I also have another one using lace weight yarn an it is one that says "you better sit up and pay attention".  I like having at least 2 crochet projects going...one that is a challenge and one that is a sleeper.

What's Going On?

I have been neglecting this blog and neglecting my studio.  I have maintained patience with myself but not I think it is time I openly explore why.  It is not as if I'm given up on "making"...oh no!  I have turned into an obsessed crochet (again) but this time it is even more compelling than in 2014.  When I first started buying yarn way back when, it was with the intent of couching it on my quilts because I love me some visual texture and that process.  I also thought I would use it to machine felt which I haven't done much of.  All my yarn fit into an over the door shoe holder and it has been sufficient...until now.  My favorite yarn to use is lace weight and I love making shawls and am ready to dive into making sweaters which calls for tons and tons of yarn per sweater.  My yarn is just beginning to spill over and I'm having to think about "organization".  I want a full blown stash...I can't afford to do it, but I want one...like a wall of yarn...but I'm in the basement (my dining room does remain empty however) and I wonder if my yarn would me a nice warm spot for spiders.

Have I given up on fabric and mixed media quilting?  Heck no!  Other than the collaborative piece (see a few posts down) I have not done much or really enough to say I'm doing anything at all.  I started making a piece I had done a study of and wanted to enlarge and designed it with fussy cut diamonds on the bottom....when I say they are a PAIN IN MY ASS! to sew, I can't get closer to the truth!  I have about nine put together of a nearly 30 something total.  I've consulted other folks, YouTube, books...it just isn't clicking how to sew them right the first time without getting them uneven...I'm sewing on the bias too! Good lord!  The thought of changing the design has entered my mind, but I can't just now as I still feel it is the right design for the overall quilt.  Soooo, I've done nothing.  Nothing.

I was drawing faces...and I just stopped going downstairs to do it.  My 500 coloured pencils where coming off the wall so I took them all down and not sure where to "organize" them so they are all just thrown in box until I can figure something out.  I didn't want to permanently attach the pencil holders in place so I used double sided tape...they held up for a long while before they began to drop off the wall.  It always happened overnight...so I'd go downstairs the next day and have to find and pick up at least 25 pencils off the floor.  Then my drawer on my drawing desk broke completely off the desk...then looking at the drawer I was getting ideas of how it could be used in an assemblage...that overwhelmed me and I have not been back to the basement since...about 2 weeks ago at least.  And I've already mentioned it was cold even with running space heaters...and the lighting is poor...I have 4 Ott lights, 1 overhead shop light, and 3 spot lights...and the iron doesn't even have to be on to trip the breakers.  I have been thinking I'll do some mono-printing on cloth, but it will be outside.  I wish I could chalk it up to remnant effect of winter leaving me cranky and irritable, and maybe that is some part of my avoidance...who knows....

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I always have at least 2 projects going on the hooks.  I'm on a mission.  No, really...I am on a mission and each piece is an intended gift for someone.  I have a list, a fairly long list that I want to tackle so I can go on to make pieces for myself.  I wake up to crochet and before I know it the day has filled itself with hooks and yarns.  If I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I crochet.  I mentally project if I'm going to begin to create my own patterns; sometimes I ask the question of how can crochet and quilting be married; I'm considering getting customized labels for my finished projects; I wonder if I should make enough items to set up booths at local craft shows; and then I tell myself, "lets keep this purely a hobby".   If you're on Ravelry, I'm Karoda2, look me up!

My next several posts will probably involve continued exploration of why I'm avoiding my studio.  Feel free to share your own issues with studio avoidance and how you resolved it.

2nd Biennial Exhibit of African American Women Artist, 2016

Me at opening night at the 2nd Biennial Exhibit of African American Women Artist.  I"m standing by one of the two pieces I have in the show.

Collaboration and Co-signing

I've read articles about women who began their artistic life past their 40s, 50s, and well into the Crone years.  Although I began way before those decades of my age, I am thinking over how my creative life has changed and wondering if it's post-cancer, over 55, or living with illnesses or some combination of all three.

Unlike some cancer patients, I couldn't engage in my own artistic endeavors and once again found crochet, following patterns created by others, as a way of staying calm and relaxed.  My own art is on-going decisions and questions and physically engages my whole body and being.  I gave myself a pass last year and was alright with that....but kinda imagined myself going gung-ho (I wonder where that term originated from) in my basement studio.  My days creating remain hit and miss as the basement is colder than I anticipated, even with a heater, and the lighting, even with supplements,  is sub-standard.  But I've been getting a little something done and thankful for an opportunity of a collaboration, I completed my first art quilt of 2016.  

THE COLLABORATION 

This collaboration really highlights the beauty of the internet and social media.  Some years ago I was interested in doing a group art project with a few girlfriends and was looking for short term art retreat spaces and contacted the owner of A.I.R. Studio Paducah.  The retreat didn't pan out but he became a reader of this blog and we became friends on Facebook.  Hi Alonzo Davis!  He was invited to create a piece with The Smith Center for Healing and the Arts...a Center he was familiar with...after we had a phone convo and looking over the call for the exhibit we knew this was something we could create as a team instead of the invited artist interviewing someone and then creating a piece based on the interview.  The medium that all the artists were given to work with was a wooden cigar type box.   Alonzo had the outside and I did the inside.

My process was first to flip through my sketchbooks.  I found this image based on a poem I wrote in the late 90s or early 2000s and the poem was based on an African folktale I read back in the 80s. Getting in my groove, I adapted the sketch several times, played with different ways to transfer the image onto cloth....

and the weather was unseasonably warm during this time too!  

The poem and the drawing illustrate the ability to change, adapt, camouflage if necessary for survival and growth ...my great-grandmother would say "if you don't change, life will sho' change you" and this was always co-signed by my grandmother and my mother.  My very good sistah-friend, Estella Majozo, use to say in reference to writing (and life) "it's all process, all process"  Living with chronic illness and then coming out of cancer has me co-signing with "Lord, yes!" to both of them.

After I mailed my small 8 in square piece to Alonzo and he mailed me back the photos of the finished piece, all I could think to say was I want to buy it now..:)

It was a beautiful experience with a beautiful outcome.

If you live in the D.C area, you should consider attending the opening and acquiring this piece....it is the only one that was the collaboration of work by two artists!

ALCHEMICAL VESSELS 2016

2nd Annual African American Women's Exhibit @ the Kentucky African American Heritage Center.

Flyer for upcoming exhibit and reception! <----click