Seamless Skin

...And Still I Rise

Update

How good it feels to write a new blog post!!!!  How good it feels that Spring is here!!!!  

Louisville is #3 in the nation for the worse pollen count.  It wrecked a little bit of havoc on my lungs in spite of the emotional uplift the warmer temps gave me.  I just kept yo-yoing with chest crud until I had a brief 4 day stay in the hospital.  In between feeling good/feeling bad I kept plugging along on the boats...

Happy to report the hand embroidery is done and it is ready for quilting...but here is my plan...to continue on to the next quilt(s) and then sometime in mid summer go hog wild, (bat crazy, mad cow) with quilting all the tops.  This year's goal is all about production (don't get too excited...I work slow even when I'm fast).  My goal was to have the "boats" completed by the end of Feb. and it didn't happen until mid-March.  

You may recall me mentioning that my sewing construction studio is in storage due to my mother moving into senior housing.  For months I considered renting a 2nd Mellwood studio to set it up once the storage contract ends.  I turned over the idea of sharing a 2nd space, subleasing, etc.  It was my anxiety talking over not having my design board, fabrics, sewing desk that holds my main machine, etc. accessible.  I spent the first part of this week clearing the studio to make room for at least my sewing desk and to begin the next quilt with the attitude of "making do equals can do". Peter and Ade will haul through the storage unit and pull it out and deliver it this weekend.

Yesterday I actually sat down to begin the preliminary studies for the next piece.  Two of the three studies I finished...one is a thread sketch, this one using tsukineko inks.

The next one will be raw edge applique.  While doing them, the question in the back of my mind is "how can I make the imagery more abstract and still capture the event?".  It  will be a Kentucky Derby quilt.

Blog Love

I don't remember how I stumbled into Karen Walrond's blog and website, Chookooloonks.  I think maybe her book, The Beauty of Different, kept coming up on Amazon's recommendations.  She offers an on-line magazine workshop that offers gratitude prompts with photography prompts called Gratitude 2012.  Karen is an award winning, jet setting photography whose blog exudes kindness, humor, and beauty.  I enrolled in the workshop yesterday.  It is 5 dollars a month and 40% of the fee she donates to Kiva.  

Also, yesterday I discovered the website (thanks to Pinterest) and blog of fiber artist Diane Melms.  I've always wanted to improve my photo-documentation by showing the process involved in completing a piece from start to finish.  I think I'm too wordy to be as succinct as Diane or as succinct and poignant as blogger Judy Martin, another blogger I enjoy reading.  

Wrap-up

Time for a change.  I've been with Typepad now since I first began blogging back in '04.  This is a fee based blog and I'm at the lowest level.  In order for me to customize I would have to jump up to the next fee level and that ain't happening.  Blogspot offers customization and it is free.  My hold-up is anticipating the learning curve (the headache) of moving content.  This will be a goal for April.

Tonight is F.A.T. Trolley Hop.  I will not be having Open Studios but will be around with Carter, my 3 y.o. grandson and Anaya my 2 y.o. granddaughter for a few hours (at least this is the plan) visiting the other studios and galleries at Mellwood.  

 

We made it babee! The grace of another year!

This will be my 3rd year in a row to give "learning curves" (reading and following exercises with daily accountability) another attempt.  In previous years I maintained a seperate blog page to share my schedule with any blog visitors who might have been interested in joining me, but then the page tab was haunting me after I abandoned the practice so I deleted it).

The 1st year I thought diversity would be the key to make "learning curves" fun.  The 2nd year I thought a central focus would be the key and I had 4 books all related to digital art.  This year, year number 3, I'm going to limit it to 2 books and keep the digital focus.  I'll decide on which 2 books by Friday, but I'm leaning toward Gloria Hansen's Digital Essentials and Lura Schwarz Smith's Digital Quilting.  

As far as "distractions" I'm adding the Strathmore free workshops to the mix and when I take a notion, the Sketchbook challenge.  I will not be taking any major workshops this year although Jane LaFazio will be coming to the area in the spring and I'm tempted but I do not want to rearrange my plans to accomodate the change in budget.  As it relates to the previous post, my goal is to obtain a larger space at Mellwood or a 2nd smaller space.  The idea space right behind me has once again come open but I'm not ready to take it.  

There are other books I'm working through but I'm not sharing the activities just yet...mainly because the pace depends on how often I get into the studio during the cold weather and they are not imperative as my other goals around creating and finishing a minimum of 5 new large for me quilts along with small-to-medium size pieces prior to Sept. 2013.

My word for last year was jubilation...the experiences that gave me jubilation after they were done and over...namely my mother's surgery last spring and her move...alongside those events, the time spent with Claire and Leslie and seeing my 2nd Quilt National exhibit at the opening weekend with my good friend Bev and the day I spent with sistah-friends Penny in her studio and wooded retreat and Valerie on a day the Lord held us together.  

My drive word this year will be tenacity!   

The gift of burden or the burden of gift? ORGANIZING.

This morning I started reading Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter by Carolyn Woods. Organization is just an ongoing reality that I seem to address at least every 6 months.  The start of a new year is a good time as any to deal with it.  

My 2 main causes of clutter (following the book's to do) is 1. not enough horizontal work space.  I need a designated space to put thing I'm using when at the print table to keep the print table clear to move on; and 2. not good use of vertical space (do I keep the windows clear for good energy circulation or do I block the windows? has always been my dilemma).  

The next thing Woods instructs is to do a list of pros and cons...here is mine:

Room Characteristics to Change

 Insufficient heat when below 20 degrees F in winter (space heater and work from home more)

 Not enough drawers (chest of drawer conversion to consolidate plastic drawers awkward to slide or use metal drawers to create storage and more horizontal space).

 Not enough shelves (use chrome shelf that is in storage)

 Not set-up for quilting larger quilts (possibly bring in other folding table)

 Insufficient design wall (?)

 No natural lighting (take track lighting out and replace with shop light)

 Focus is mostly on wet work (more balance if other folding table can fit)

 Dislike paint colours (paint in the spring)

 Poor use of vertical space (chrome shelves and stack blue wire shelves on top of desk)

 Inconsistent use of mixed media to justify space it takes up. (if the other folding table comes in, use for mixed media)

 Room Characteristics to Keep

 Great cooling in summer (work in studio more)

 Concrete floor (mats and rugs)

 Location to sinks (love this!)

 Location to other artists (love this)

 Can work from both sides of print table (better than from one side)

 Mixed Media set-up  (materials need to stay but take of less space)

 Small-medium sized quilts can be constructed. 

 One window dedicated to display.

 2 doorways great for Open Studios

Shared space.

Along with blocking some of the windows (energy) is the on-going situation with having 50-feet of oxygen tube attached to me when in the studio...I try to keep an open in the middle floor plan to keep it from getting caught on something as well as keeping the energy flowing and not being blocked by visual clutter.    I prefer having furniture anchored against a wall instead of extending out to the middle of the room.  The sewing table extends but that is because it keeps me facing both doors (it is an energy thing) and the print table extends toward the center but it is good for energy because I can work aroun it and neither of these items is over the bottom ledge of the window.  This probably only makes sense to me, but if you've read this far, you deserve kudos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 dead line met

and I'm still alive!  I made an accountability agreement with Juanita...I would email her daily photos of what I did each day in the studio in preparations to meet deadlines.  Form Not Function was met just with a smidge of a second to spare.  I spent a couple of hours reducing the size of my images with a finicky internet connection due to network issues (the man believes we have been the victim of malware).  I am slightly worried about the quality of my photos but I did the best I could with the time and equipment I had.  I borrowed a photo tent from Uneena, a studio neighbor at Mellwood and there was a slight learning curve with it and the lightening, etc.

Tomorrow I'll return to working on the boats for a November 7th deadline.  I'd like to be in this exhibit, but the juror has been the same juror for the last six-seven years and I don't know why they keep doing that.  It would help, possibly, if I was a fan of his work but I'm not and the exhibit has gotten predictable.  Textiles have been in previous shows but I was personally embarrassed by the shoddy care in construction and not by any means am I hard to please when it comes to textiles and fiber, since I'm excited by all of it.  But it was my impression that the artist threw it together without much thought or concern but just to have something submitted to the exhibit...and luck had it, that the piece was accepted.

Its that time of year where I start thinking about goals...what I'm pondering is placing myself on a production schedule for smaller work like the 12x6 or 10x10 sizes or either dedicating a month to an entire quilt from start to finish.  This might be too far reaching since winter is coming and I just don't handle the season very well at all.  I tend to pick the Learning Curve curriculum back up during the winter as it keeps me somewhat productive even if I'm not actually bringing anything to completion.

October 28th is the next trolley hop for Mellwood and Frankfort Avenue...myself and other studio neighbors will have a pop-up exhibit for that day.  Come by and do your part to help Louisville stay WEIRD :)  Plus the Canadians have invaded...so come check it out!

Peace,

 

almost there

Two sides of the facing to sew on and then the sleeve...tomorrow I'll focus on photography and then I'll meet the deadline for Form Not Function.  My next deadline is November 7th, but unlike the piece I'm finishing up, I started a whole new piece for the November 7th deadline.  

I had a brief off-task activity thanks to a short trip into JoAnn's Fabrics.  I was enticed by these liquid beads described as self-rounding...so I sampled them yesterday.

If you know of any elves looking for work or willing to do charitable work, send them my way!

 

Indigo: In Search of the Color that Seduced the World by Catherine E. McKinley

Kweli recommended this book to me by way of Facebook.  Being a fabric designer herself she was really provoked to think deeper about the state of contemporary fabric production of African fabrics and the history behind it.  I downloaded the book to my laptop but I should have trusted her judgement and purchased a hard copy of the book, because now for 14 bucks I have it on my computer but for 3 dollars more I could have had the hard copy and after reading it, I wished I had.   Not realizing my assumption before hand, I thought the book would be an informative straight forward historical read, but it was much more than that...it documents one American woman's obsession with Indigo and the reason she is trying to discover why.  On a Fulbright Scholarship she journeys through West Africa looking for authentic Indigo production and use, but the cloth, not being in vogue compared to its past, is elusive.  Her adventure is told in antedotes which helps the book move ratherly quickly, but there are times I wanted more details of the story and wanted to get to know more about her feelings in relation to the people and places she visited.  But it is the search for Indigo that compels the story and the human relationships and geography take a back drop.

When I get taken with a book like I am with this one, I go off on a google search to find out more about the author and ended up requesting a FB connection only to find out she has a friend here in Louisville who I consider a good art-friend and has visited here before.   So I'm hoping there will be a chance to meet her and hear more of her stories sometime in the distant future.

McKinley's book led me to order In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa's Botanical legacy in the Atlantic World by Judith A. Carney and Richard Nicholas Rosomoff.  I started it last night and I tell ya it starts my mind spinning because I'm wondering if I can create a narrative in cloth around the crows, the faces I've sketched (the old woman who can be seen in older posts below), and botany...so my immediate challenge is to get centered and just listen for a bit.

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Yesterday I started a do-over, from scratch...hand-painting with fabric and acryllic paint mixed with Golden 900 vs using thickened dye like I used on the first start.  Its fairly large and detailed for me and I just hope I can meet a mid-November deadline for a regional fine art show.

Remember when I said I was in the studio the day after Davis' murder by the state of Georgia and had the intent of doing one thing and then I heard this phrase in my head?  The phrase was, These are the Boats Carrying Us to Heaven.  I decided to put aside my intent and explore what this could mean.  As a result I have over 200 small "boats" to paint with distinct markings on cotton with a working size of 5 feet by 4 feet.  I would like to hand quilt it as the piece has a RAW art vibe on it.  But no way would I make a November deadline if I decide to hand quilt it.  

Also, yesterday, in preparation to attempt meeting another deadline I sent a completed quilt into surgery.  I wasn't happy with one side but did love the surface...so I removed the facing and, today will attempt to square it up better.

Tuonane baadaye (See you later in Kiswahili)

Meeting deadlines

okay, I have at least 3 coming up...one in October, one in November, and one in January.  I'm infamous for missing them because I can't work as fast as my head finishes a piece and secondly, because I don't hold to a strong dictate of what I'm going to do when in the studio.  Like last week, I had every intent of picking something back up when I arrived.  The world was feeling different for me the day after Davis' execution.   Also, I was in the middle of reading a enthralling travel book on a woman's journey to West Africa in search of Indigo and it's meaning, Indigo: In Search of the Color that Seduced the World by Catherine E. McKinley.   It was both of these I believe that came to bear on a change of plans.

Now what I had observed about myself that day was I was moving slower and quietly both physically and mentally. Shortly after I arrived at the studio a certain phrase came to me and held me spell bound and I chose to follow it in cloth and ended up starting a whole new piece, and thus far, I'm very pleased with it.  The size is large, for me, and I'm wondering if I can have it ready for one of the looming deadlines...maybe I should change deadline to lifeline...meeting it could mean a whole new life for a piece of art.  

This week I played around with video taping in the studio...I think I need one of those twisty style tripods.  So far my camera man (youngest son) hasn't been convinced of all the exciting things that I do while at Mellwood and hasn't jumped at the chance to film me.   I mean what 20 year man wouldn't want to party like this!?

 

 dye painted cloth wrapped in newspaper waiting to be steamed

Anything is possible

with dye and fabric!  

 The joy of having the "best me" back can't not be expressed fully in words...words are just failing me, but I can tell you it occurs at the cellular level.  I had been holding in a lot of stress and what the week of being surrounded by creative people and being focused on my own thoughts around my art practice with guidance by Claire and Leslie coupled with being pampered by wonderful meals prepared by Margaret Wolff did for me was to allow that stress to dissipate right out of my body!

The goals I settled on were to obtain a specific palette that I want to work in for awhile.  I came close with this piece ...

 

I will go back into it but I don't want to lose the colors so I've selected an ecru dye that I think is unifying to the cools and warms.

My current short term goal is to completely saturate cloth with dye.  It seems the dyeing and repeated over-dyeing is the answer versus a heavy measure of dye powder with one use.  

 

These represent my other goal for the workshop which was to work with the same motifs.  Below are two more.

The intent for the cloth is to end up in quilts, but I must admit the confusion comes about when I just want to sit and hold the cloth or stare at it from across the room.  I haven't really constructed a quilt this year, so I question if I'm going for whole cloth, art cloth, or what???  If its whole cloth, I'm great at creating backgrounds but need to get better at focal points.  Art Cloth?  Maybe on occassion, but I really love stitch and layers.  The only stitching I'm doing is slow, slow hand work...if I charged by the hour on the piece it would be out of range for the ordinary art textile buyer. (is there such a thing?)

Primordial Womb in progress.

 

WOW! will have to be sufficient.

This is the part where I'm suppose to write something coherent about my week with Claire and Leslie at The Crow Barn.  A very rare occasion that words seem insufficient.  

I have to acknowledge that all my fears and anxieties proved unnecessary!  I stayed well and am still well!  My stamina held until about Thursday when I began to slow down but still it was a full and amazing week for me! And every personal snafu that presented itself worked out smoothly for me which added to the joy and productivity.

I really don't even have adequate photos to convey the week I had because stopping to take photos was an inconvenience and using the camera rarely entered my mine but here are a few:

This is the beginning of a new cloth and a picture of my print table. The bottom photo on the right is me presenting my review to the rest of the group on closing day.  My 2 goals where to create a palette inspired by a painting of Barbara Earl Thomas and end the week with paper lamination.  I came very close to the palette and will continue to work with it here at home.  One of the paper laminations didn't turn out. I used too much medium and I think my print table was too soft...at least it was softer then my own.  The other is destined for greatness!  

I have to give a shout out to my girl Bev, who came to my rescue.  Over an hour from home and close to Cincy, Mo calls to tell me I left my silk screens.  Bev lives just east of Cincy so I called her to ask where I could pick up some screens...and Bev, being Bev, had a friend, etc.  She met me off the highway with 3 screens that she cleaned up for me!  Thank you for the blessing Bev!

Later in the week Bev, and Kel who lives 15 minutes from the Barn, came up Thursday after dinner and I gave them a quick tour of the Barn and then on Saturday Bev (an artist but not textiles (YET)) went to Athens to view Quilt National!  The treats within the treat was seeing Olga Norris' and Judy Martin's work in person.  I think Olga captures bodily gestures like nobody's business and Judy meshes hand work and philosophy so gracefully. I identify with it somewhat but moreso, am mesmerized by it.  However the one quilt that I would have taken home with me if I could was Vera Loves Her Gun by B. Michele Maynard.  The sole factor was it's ability to make me laugh out loud and the strong narrative it held.  I stood there in front of this quilt trying to concoct a story and laughing in between.

I've almost got everything put back in place in the studio but I'm also not waiting.  I've made up 8 quarts  of print paste,different recipes and varying thicknesses.  Soda soaked fabric was left on the line to dry yesterday and I'm going in later today to over-paint with thickened dyes.  My aha moment was being able to see where already dyed and over-dyed cloth still has room to take more dye.  It was most apparent to me while ironing the cloth.

In addition to painting, I'm hand stitching Primordial. The base is silk paper to felt.

 

There is a poem with a line...

"I'm not waving but drowning...." by Steve Smith.  (title is for dramatic re-entry to blogging)

My art making focus is being interrupted by bronchitis, yet again.  I haven't even had the physical energy to take up another creative diversion this time which accounts for me not having much to yak about here.   You may know how much I dislike winter.  I've not been well through most of this season.  It was just at the end of January that I had "a bout" (throwback term there).    And sometime in late Dec./early Jan. my pulmonologist called in antibiotic and I was hospitalized in mid-December w/ pnuemonia.   Its been a very sequestered winter indeed!  My log book of ideas for quilts is jammed and I just wish I could have a long, I mean really long time frame to focus  not on ideas but making the ideas manifest.  

The unspoken threads that weave through the above are realizations that I'll capsulize: one, death is not something one "gets over"...instead it sifts through you sometime slowly and gently, other times with more weigh.  two, now that my mother is a widow, her need for support in many things is growing.  three, it is very difficult to watch young adult children get "seasoned" into adulthood.  (Deb, I really think this is what your neighbor, (was her name Mrs. Sweatt?) meant when she would say "watch a monkey bump his head").  A friend said our generation is the panini generation; slap it on, turn up the heat and we get it from both sides at the same time.  If you been there or are here now, then you know what is going unsaid; and it is possible that the frequencies of illness have not been solely due to winter (ya think?) 

On the good days I've managed to get my studio ready to continue on Crowbonics (languishing) but actual work has been going back in to re-do what I wanted to be finished pieces but in my heart knew better.  This isn't a diversion as my goal is to have 10-15 small pieces to hang in a coffee shop where I'm on schedule this Fall, so I'm calling this my coffee house period (insert low snickering chuckle).  I think I selected October.  Here are some recent desk top snaps:

both still pieces still advancing toward completion

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Annnndddddddddd, my really great news is I have a studio mate!  I started out in '09 with a mate, a sista-friend of over 30 years.  She mostly made her items at home and used the space for display, but since last summer when she moved out of state, I've been flying solo.  I had one serious contender but our combined needs didn't fit the space.  I looked at sharing larger space with 3-4 other artists there but then decided against it, looked at cheaper spaces there but the water source is too convenient and I have 2 entry doors which is a rarity for the price I pay, (I think 2 doors is a psychological comfort for people strolling through).  I gave up on the idea of moving or finding a art mate and then bam!  My new mate is Aimee.  She does daily paintings that are small enough to do on a table and wants to return to doing them now that she is close to graduating with a degree in history.  I felt very comfortable with her and she endeared herself when I didn't have to explain "Chitlin' Circuit".  Grant it, she didn't fall over herself telling me how brilliant a name it was,  but none of us are perfect, eh?  (a light snarky on my part)

Seems like there was more news I wanted to share....ummmmm, oh, the next Artist Interview is coming around the first week in April.

And now to close with an indulgence of being a Nana :) Here is the recent birthday girl!

 

Its All Good!

I'm going to stamp this in the blogosphere and then get a good night sleep and trust the process that I'll know what to do by Monday.  There are 3 choices:  stay in my current studio location in Mellwood; move across the hallway; or move into a larger space and share with a wonderfully energizing artist.

Option 1 Pros and Cons:

I've 5 steps from the big sinks!!! 2 doors down from a great neighbor!!!!!  The space has been blessed and I'm rooted!!!  2 doors provide a wonderful flow to entering and exiting during special events.  Closest to the bathrooms.  The heating and cooling pocket is stable and adequate.  The negative is the burden of covering the rent. 

Option 2 Pros and Cons:

Better lighting and exposure to oustide windows.  10 steps from the sink.  space size is almost the same as current and rent is 75 less a month.  Get to keep my neighbors Janet and Michael. Negative is it is off a secondary hallway that dead ends and visitors during special events rarely walk down that hallway.  Unsure of the heat and cooling as some spots in Mellwood are get too warm/too cold.

Option 3 Pros and Cons:

Space is larger than current space and very adequate for sharing and I vibed really well with the other artist.  There is better lighting and exposure to outside windows.  Shared rent is cheaper than the other options 1 and 2 and would save 140 each month.  If for some reason I end up in the studio alone later, it still would be less than my current cost.  Negatives are further, much further from the sinks and would tax me more physically and thus could lead to even less time in the studio and working even slower than I already do.  (I could pull a little red wagon to and fro or learn to balance a 5 gallon bucket on my head like my African sisters do)  This space is further from the bathroom and I'd loose my neighbors and the neighbors in that hallway do not seem to be in much during the day and when they are I hear power tools buzzing and banging on that end.  The foot traffic is better than option 2 and prolly the same as what I have now because it is closer to the entrance but it also deadends.  Lastly, I'm unsure of the heating/cooling flow.

Now, since living involves facing challenges and dilemnas, I'm thrilled to have this problem when I look back over my life and see how far I've come...oh, excuse me, I thought this was the part of the program where I testify.  Eitherway, all the options are good.  It is just a matter of coming to a conclusion about where to place priority and the compromises.

Peace,

 

I'm one of 1.6 million!

My goals for October:

1. 50 postcards for JD Green's cd release event.

2. Retake photos for Form Not Function, cd and application

3. Complete quilts (binding and sleeves)

4. Flyers (see #2 below)

5. Start a portfolio cd

Thanks it...Here is how it went on last months goals:

1. Have 25 postcards and 25 fiber brooches ready for sale by Sept. 9th.  scrapped the brooches but did the postcards

1a. backing, sealed, on placards, etc.  related to above

1b. on cards, take 5 to retailers.  decided against it due to dropping prices on postcards and discovered there wasn't a need, postcards sold very well.

2. Flyers on renting space by hr/intro to dye in lobby and Mellwood/LAFTA email list.

3. Make up price list  completed

4. Complete applications for 2 exhibits  (still working it out)

4a. 2 pieces quilted and completed  (1 piece used for postcards, still working on it)

4b. Ade to photographed  (need to retake them)

5. Begin putting together a cd portfolio.  (still working on it) 

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Yesterday I read Kyra Hicks' new booklet, a true gem!  It is packed, I mean packed with information for such a small book.  It goes a long way, I mean really long way, in filling the gap in quilting resources and information.  I intentionally left it at the studio for fear that I'd start searching out the online resources and sites, close to 300, and would never ever get up from the computer all in the name of fun and expanding my brain.  There are six original applique blocks by Francine Haskins included and I thought how fun it would be to make them and send images to both Kyra and Francine.  Even though I can't handle making them now because my plate is full and I work so slow as it is, I do intend to make them within the coming year.  Also, for someone whose head is as thick as mine when it comes to statistics, Kyra writes with such transparency on the topic and takes a layperson's tone toward presenting the info that I found myself really interested in something that would normally make my eyes go wide trying to understand.  I had to pinch myself to make sure it was me!  Thank you Kyra for being so kind for the thick-headed among us when it comes to numerical data.