Seamless Skin

Ms Z and me

I took a workshop from the noted teacher Ms Z and here she is making a critique.

It was tough but I came away with the distinct impression that she was very pleased with my work.  If you get the chance to take a workshop from her, be prepared to hear the hard truth and don't let her cuteness fool you.

Will it be blue or yellow come next?

I'm beading right along on Red.

I need to pick up 2 more odd shaped beads for one section and place red foil in small spots and it will be finished tomorrow.  Here it is on the left waiting for the glue to dry.  So far this has been the best photo image I've taken of this piece.

The electrician came yesterday to give me an estimate on another wall outlet and overhead light that will prevent me from running extension cords. 

For next week I have to set aside some time to dye some silk...will use MX dyes and the microwave and also introduce myself to using acid dyes.  I hope I have enough silk.

Here are some close-ups of Red.

And to end this post, how about another shot at the current state of affairs from The Basement Workshop. 

   

The Workshop

Red, the colour of passion.  Yesterday was my first day of working in the shop.  My father calls the space "my workshop"...I prefer that over the word "studio" so that is the word I'm going to use.  Mary asked me if I'm going to have a ribbon cutting ceremony...and at first I chuckled but after giving it some thought I think at one point I actually will have an open house for fiber friends and associates.

I pulled out this red piece that was inspired by 3 pieces from Sam Gilliam's exhibit at the Speed Museum last year.  It is really more vibrant red than it appears in this photo.  I want to see how dimension can be created using one colour with different weights and styles of stitching. The aim is to create 2 other pieces in blue and yellow that will be companion pieces to this one.

The Making A Way photo album was accepted as a mid-point check in for the grant from KFW.  This lets me know that it does a good job of communicating the story.  Also, it was appreciated that I had given thought to the best way to spend the grant money and produced an even better solution than my original proposal.  Go ahead and check the final pictures for yourself.   

Conjuction Function

It was rainy and cooler yesterday when they applied the one-coat epoxy on the floor so a longer drying time was needed.  They will return tomorrow and either apply another coat since I had 2 gallons of left over paint or go ahead and move the stuff into the storage room, whichever I decide.  But I'm eager to get it up and functioning and not sure if another coat is really needed. There is a storage room that runs the width of the basement behind the wall in this photo and much of what will be kept will go in there.  If I was a planner and organizer I would measure the wall and floor space against the items I'll be moving in...but I'm neither a planner or organizer so I'll move it in and then decide. 

For basic functioning I'll need an anti-fatigue mat to stand on and some daylight bulbs...I will be scouring the 2nd hand stores and craigslist for a comfortable chair and rugs.  All the comments sharing in my excitement for this space to work in are very much appreciated.   

Making A Way

To get some idea of where I'm starting from with the basement, take a peak at the 7 photos I've uploaded in the photo album, Making A Way, located in the side bar.

My oldest son is suppose to refer someone who does hauling and painting...I'm antsy, excited, anxious.

It was there all the while

My parent's house has been and continues to be a station of transition for many in our family and is continuing to be for her grand-daughter and great-grand-daugther, the latter who is inseperable from my Mama's lap.  Mama has never been a cooing-cawing type of grandmother and if anything a serious pragmatism has always characterized her but this one great-grand daughter has her wrapped around her finger...talk about mellowing with age. 

Sunday we were there for dinner and basketball games (hey, i'm not a sports fan, but i can play along) and it hit me, not that it hasn't before, but not with such resolve that this would be a great solution...i'm going to set up a studio in their basement! Yesyesyes! its a good size basement and the only activity that takes place is laundry down there.  It is stuck in early 70's remodel job that Daddy never finished and has a cave like quality because the panelling is dark but Mama said she didn't care what I did with it (talk about mellowing with age)...so I'm going to paint everything white including the concrete floor...but first I have to move out large items that are stored there including an old upright piano (a throwback to my piano lessons) a 60's stereo console (a throwback to my parent's parties where I first heard jazz and blues) a couch and other cast-off furniture pieces...the biggest challenge will be not to get sentimental by the memories that all the items will elicit and be tempted to keep them.  I'm going to craigslist the console stereo and the piano, prolly for free for pick-up.  I've already starting looking for organizational stuff and mats to buffer the impact of the concrete floor.   I'm going to take before and after photos but have set the date for it to be completed by the end of May.  I'm still going to take my daily month long art retreat in April simply because I desperately need it!

What Happens to A Dream Deferred?

It is not often that I actually sit down and watch 3 hours of television but I was hyped about the new A Raisin in the Sun that aired last night.  The time seemed to go by quickly which translates into I was pretty enthralled.  The cinematography was fast moving which I think helped to conveyed the intensity and the life of this family, The Youngers, living in Chicago in 1959.  Two of my mother's siblings relocated to Chicago from the south looking for better wages and a better life...this embodied their story and still embodies many stories of anyone immigrating to the U.S. today.

Even though I've watched the original version several times the newer one still seemed fresh...its a great story and hopefully introduced a younger generation to this classic.  Ade, my youngest, made me smile when he recited the poem What Happens to A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes as part of the intro to the start of the movie.  Up until recently, this blog turned up most frequently in searches for Langston Hughes...some time ago I posted one of my favorite poems by him.  Now my blog comes up most frequently for searches on "skin carvings".  I know that is from my stamp carving but what in the world is up with the interest in skin carving???

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Do you ever come across art that just makes you shake your head and wave your hand in the air and renders you speechless?  And sometimes you have to avert your eyes because the vision is so breathtaking?  Music, poetry, literature will sometimes get ahold of me like this and when I look at the artwork of quilter Valerie White I hear music and see poetry and literature.  Yesterday I received word that she has finally established her place on the web.  Check out her quilts at www.valeriecwhite.com . My prediction is that Wynton Marsalis will come across her work and give her a call to illustrate the cover of his cd...I think it would be a perfect marriage of her art and his music.  Also, some talented children's writer should contact her to illustrate a story.  Her quilts would be a wonderful accompaniment to a children's story. I would predict Virginia Hamilton but she has passed already.  But this is a small portion of what happens to me when I view or hear something that gets me excited...immediately ideals start to flow about all the possibilities...sometimes I have to calm myself down. Valerie's work is exciting like that. 

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Woohoo, I love getting goodies through the mail among bills and coupons.  On Saturday I received a Pay It Forward gift from Nellie Durand . After I opened the envelope this is what I saw:

wrapped with such care that I waited a day to open it until I could get a photo.  Then when I unwrapped it and struggled over whether to save the paper for a future project, (this going green is not easy), this is what I saw:

A lovely beach scene which is refreshing here in cold Febuary.  Thank you Nellie!  It is very textured which I love running my hand across. 

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Speaking of dreams deferred...the last space I looked at for a possible studio was too small...it was a great location but wouldn't allow me to move all the stuff I want out of this apartment plus it squeezes my budget by 50 bucks. 

The space that seems perfect is in a warehouse. It has 4 really giant-size windows that run across the front and is in a very long room that would be great for viewing a design board.  The room is painted a stark bright white.  Other artists are there, but the location gives me pause...the other locations I've looked at have some measure of being open to foot traffic although they were too small or way over my price range.  This location is in a humungous warehouse that use to be a woolen mill that folded during the depression and since the 1930s through the 1960s was used as a warehouse by one of the tobacco manufacturers.  The area is a combination of residential and old commercial buildings that I wouldn't feel comfortable working in after dark.

In the same neighborhood a few weeks ago a warehouse burned down to the ground. It housed about a half-dozen, maybe more, artists' studios and living space.  A man and his dog lost their life.  This put a chill in my bones about this "almost perfect space" and I knew that if I go this route I'd definitely want insurance which would be another cost I hadn't really given too much weight to.  But this warehouse is about 100 years old or more and fixed up "just enough" and there is a glass artist who works in the undeveloped basement where there is a lot of "stuff" and dust.  I hope these second, third thoughts are a sign of wisdom trying to seep in and not fear and procrastination...