Seamless Skin

Daily Grind of Living Faithfully

I returned to my workshop on Monday as I'm committed to keeping the schedule...like Deb said in the comments...just do it anyways.  Grant it, I wasn't as productive as I'd hoped but I did manage to finish writing on the last panel for the 2nd top in the Poetry Series...I also experiemented with writing with acryllic inks...this sample was ironed after it dried and then wetted with lukewarm water...it bled which kinda surprised me since it is acryllic base.  I also prepared screens using the drawing fluid and screen filler.  The duct tape I use is 3M brand but I do not get a good adherence to the screen...I've tried a cheaper brand and had the same problem...I'm thinking about trying "artist tape".  If anyone has any other recommendations please let me know.  I'm rinsing the drawing fluid out here at home and will print with them (2) tomorrow.

Yesterday I was up to actually running the sewing machine so I sewed the panels together...re-sewed one seam 4 times...I found that I was more committed to getting the seam (it really needs to be straight in these related pieces) right than being frustrated over having to re-sew!  I couldn't believe how calm I was about doing this over and over...one of my more mellower moments for sure!  I also prepared the last of my cotton fabric for dyeing by soaking it in soda ash...it will be in the bucket until tomorrow.  I'm still uncertain about dyeing there or if I should rent out space for a day (20 bucks a day) at MACA to dye fabric...because I don't have that much I think I'm going to attempt to do it at the workshop since I have less than 5 yards and I'm only doing 2 colours, 3, at most. 

A few weeks ago I caught Alice Walker on a monthly tv show called In Depth that runs on booktv.org.  A 3 hour interview at her home in Berkley, California.  I've been told through the years that I exude an intense calmness but I've never seen myself that way...I do see Alice Walker that way and only hope to be able to express my inner voice with such calm and intensity as she...she definitely makes a strong case for meditation and writing practice.  Because I've been pondering motherhood, motherhood and being a poet/artist (something I've never resolved satisfactorily since I first began to question 27 years ago) I'm being led to read the books by Alice Walker's daughter Rebecca Walker.  I've never read any of her 3 books but would like to know her views on feminism and motherhood and to see if I can gleam any more understanding about the mother/daughter relationship...I have a quilt by the name of Faith of the Mother which examples marking time as a mother by my faith. 

I will be putting an update on my book blog in the coming week.  I started reading Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott.  Michele sent it to me with the note that she thought of me frequently while reading it and I've since thought of 2 friends frequently while reading it.  This is my first book by Lamott and I'm enjoying how she plainly speaks about the daily grind of living with the daily grind of living faithfully  I will pass it on when I'm finished.

Of course Jesus would water his tomato plant!  Oh, and thanks for letting me know that "sit a spell" was not a phrase peculiar to the peculiar south.  I don't know why I'm so fixated on southern sayings or even the origin of cliches but when I use one I question how it got started and where it came from.  One that I believe is peculiar to my family (me, a sister, and my great grandmother) is "whatsonevah" meaning "what so ever".  You must use it like like one big word interject the n sound and say the er as ah. 

 

.25

I'm reading two books on writing, How To Read a Poem and Fall in Love w/ Poetry by  Edward Hirsch and Writing Alone and w/ Others by Pat Schneider.  As I read them I'm not thinking about my own writing but my quilt art...over laying the ideas to how I perceive my work and my process of working on quilts. 

Hirsch spends the first chapter, 30 pages, passionately, almost orgasmic, stressing the intimate relationship between poet, writing, the poem, and reader.  Its the reader that completes the life cycle of the poem.  While reading the various ways HIrsch describes this relationship, I keep thinking that is what I want to achieve with my quilts.  It is the viewer who will breath life back into a quilt long after I've completed it.  In my eyes, I've yet to create a quilt that I think is wholely worthy of inhabiting another's soul but have come close with the the 2 pieces that make up the Liberation Quilts: Cilium 1 & 2.  Also, with the prayer quilt for my children and the 3 small quiltlets that I showed in the recent preceding entries I am proud to release.  Negotiating Territory was one that I was able to apply technical knowledge I'd learned on using value and designing an original block and I loved the concept behind the quilt's message.  These works I am happy to show publicly.  Other works are exercises for various ideas and techniques, such as the one above.

In Schneider's book, so far, I've fallen in love with her definition of discipline as less of a duty and commitment and more of being led by spirit and belief that the work is important.  Schneider writes: To be disciplined as a writer you need a compassionate and welcoming attitude toward your own work, and you need the support of others who value and call forth your writing.  She goes on to say: Failure to be a "disciplined" writer--whatever you may mean by that--does not mean that you are not a "serious" writer...Often the phrase (not a seriuos writer) is used by a critic or a teacher referring to a writer whose work they don't like...Anyone who cares enough to take a course or a workshop is serious.  There is no place for this kind of arrogance.  The desire to write is serious.

Schneider asserts that discipline begins with understanding HOW YOU work...the patterns that we employ to bring a project to completion. Also, that discipline is a matter of love and not duty...when you love a thing you make time for the beloved and the love is the root that drives us.

The other thing I find myself doing while reading these two books is thinking over the parallels of how I developed as a poet and how I'm wanting to develop as a quilter.  I do wish I could employ that certainty and confidence I had when I was younger without over thinking.  Now, I have decades of experience to reflect back on and I tend to not want to loose any lessons that will help me develop my sense of voice or a least a signature body of work. As a result, I could be guilty of over thinking my quilt making.  Maybe (Cherryl) its not up to the creator of the work to identify the voice or signature and time spent worrying about whether one has one or not is wasted. (?????)

Incoming thought:  I have no idea of what to prepare for dinner today...its cold and I don't want to go out and the fridge is pretty close to bare.  Last night we had cranberry tuna salad, cheeses, pears, apples, grapes, crackers, and wine.  It satisfied me and to my surprise Peter enjoyed it.  Ade had burger and fries which he prepared himself.  He will be 16 on Sunday.  He is the youngest and has been so slow to mature.  We keep stressing to him that in two years he will be 18.  Lord help!

AH! I got it! I have 2 cans of lentil soup...that with some rice and baked sweet potatoes!  Push comes to a shove and something will always turn up!

Peace

Comfort Reading

Textural Rhythms: Quilts in a Jazz Tradition. WOW WOW AND WOW! I've been hesitant opening this book because handling it feels like unlocking gold at Fort Knox! The book is so exquisitely beautiful and designed that I question whether I should wear gloves while holding it, test the temperature and humidity of the room before lifting the cover!  Additionally, this book introduces Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi's first work from her own publishing company and poses a huge challenge for what will be her 2nd publication from Paper Moon.

There are several essays and a poem in the first half of the book all addressing the interlocking of jazz and quilts.  I can't get through a paragraph without having a near holy ghost or holy ghost moment...I get so excited and provoked in thought that I have to stop and have a dialogue with myself...the ideas from the 3 essays and 1 poem deliver testimony to the power of the word! And then the quilts providing a visual testimony to the power of the quilt to transcend any narrowly defined concepts of African American art.  And together, the essays and quilts, are underscored by their relationship to JAZZ.  My own personal testimony speaks to the effect that this book moves my mind to further ideas...After reading the first 2 essays and turning the pages to the quilts, my mind begins to see snippets of a staged performance with a jazz orchestra, a poetic sermon, the quilts in the back ground and dancers, all being filmed.  Can't you see it?  Wouldn't it be fabulous?  I was introduced to many new-to-me quilters and discovered Carole Harris.  Of course I had to google her to find more.  What I love is expansiveness of black/dark fabric with the abstract, bit wonky, traditional blocks.  Two of Valerie White's quilts are included in this exhibit and I've seen these quilts up close and personal so I know how fabulous they are and I keep waiting for a website.  I find her trademark to be how extremely well she executes on whole cloth to obtain a pieced look! 

Another book that I've been slowly digesting is my own copy of Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life and Times of Zora Neale Hurston.  Ms Hurston's niece, Lucy Anne Hurston and controller of her estate put this fabulous book together in the likeness of a scrapbook that include letters that she has sent and family photos as well as replicated copies of her first written works. Even a cd of her singing is included.  In one of her letters to either Booker T. Washington or W.E.B. DuBois she suggest the creation of a National African American Cemetary that would allow visitors to reconnect, comtemplate, and reflect on our struggle...I was so there and high-fived Zora across our planes of existence! HA!

The third item that I've buried my eyes in is Somerset's newest quarterly journal, Artful Blogging! Yes, and entire publication devoted to Bloggers with online journals dedicated to visual art and craft!!!  Among all the bloggers ran the theme of creating connection, community, and friendships through blogging...and it struck me that communicating in this way allows for a more relaxed way of maintaining individuality, whether communicating to oneself or with others.  Even those who had disconnected from writing expressed how blogging either reconnected them to the written word or developed the skill of writing for self-expression.  I hope some of you artful bloggers will check out the journal and consider submitting. 

The next gem on my list to read is Kyra Hicks' Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria.  And then my time will be devoured by school preparation for my petites...Mo for college and Ade in the 10th grade...both start in 2 weeks. 

I hope to get my screen printing experiment on here soon...I used the drawing fluid/screen filler method which I liked but messed up the designed by improperly applying the screen filler (ran it over the screen too often and scraped off some of the drawing fluid...came from thinking "I got this" when I should have re-read the directions again...lesson learned and duly noted).  I like using the drawing fluid/screen filler, so more exploring with it is in my future.

Peace,