every-single-day

What We Retreat To

Last year, I took matters into my own hands. I researched religious retreat centers, with the criteria that it be affordable, serve food, have enough electrical stamina to accomodate at least eight sewing machines and an iron and could house the same number of people. I found one within two hours of my home, gathered seven women and sent off a small fee to secure the weekend.
It was a success (although one members' back went out and couldn't come :(!
The facilty was fantastic.


Spacious, clean and charming, the center even had good food! Maybe I should say; great food, made even better because I didn't expect it to be half as good!
We each worked on our own projects, stayed up late into the night, had great conversation and fed our creative souls. Removing extraneous distractions and focusing on the creative task at hand is a luxury that every artist must attend to!
We booked three more retreats that lead us well into 2005!
Thank you, Elizabeth, Judy, Joanna, Kevan, and Brienne! Get better Beth and join us in November!
I feel so charged!
I also got the acceptance letter from the NSQG show that the piece I worked on all weekend has been accepted into it's May show!

Partin' Shots!

I know it's scary! Angela and I gave ourselves 'tape lifts' yesterday! I think we look smashing! Jolly good, mate!
For good measure, the Queen of Oink.

I am off to a long weekend of sewing with five women, a rented cabin, all meals made! Wine, eats and sewing machines! What could be better?

Decisions!

I turned BOTH heels on my Knit-Up socks! No photos, They look quite similar to the photo below, really. All I have to do is knit the ankles and I will soon have a pair of socks!
I am already planning what I would like to knit next! I want to knit a sweater, perhaps the Everyday Cardigan,
or the Must Have Cardigan. What do you think I should tackle?
I pause on the Must Have, which is the sweater I REALLY want to do, because I have never knit a cable before! But I can see myself wearing either sweater and enjoying both! I am not adverse to challenge!

My class went really well. My students were really engaged and for the most part, ready for what I had to offer. I was concise, focused and open. I taught well. I was so drained at the end of the day, it suprised me! I felt I did better this year, than last.

Small Art

Another sand paper painting. This little guy measures 2x3.25 inches. I like small art, I like creating small art, I have no problems translating small art into big art, but I think it has a value outside of becoming a larger piece.
Many people ask if my small quilt art, generally 4x6 inches, are actually studies for larger works. The answer is, no. I make small works in quilt art because it is easily and quickly finished,

I can explore new ideas and techniques without a major commitment and it is affordable to the average art buyer.
This is not to say that my small paintings aren't used as inspiration to make larger pieces of art, but I have also used them to make 4x6" pieces as well! Girl is an 18x24" piece that I created from an 11x14" painting, Two Chairs (each 4x6 Inches) were created using two paintings sized 2x3.25".
Large art isn't my goal. Good art that satisfies some part of both me and my viewer is!

Progress on my 'Knit Up' Goal.

Alright! I have made a commitment to myself; and the Internet community as a whole, to finish these socks. I have never done a pair of toe up socks before and as a result, froze right at the heel turn. I must have put these babies aside for the last two months in fear. Pure and total heel turning fear!
I am learning to knit these socks from the Crazy Toes and Heels book, or as my Man likes to call it, Crazy Teels and Hoes. This book teaches you to knit socks within the context of a formula rather than a pattern. I recommend it, not only for the fact that it is self published, but that it is well thought out, explained and illustrated.
So last night I began knitting again!
Saturday, I will be giving a class for my quilt guild.

This will be the second time I give this particular class. It is called, Bead, Embellish, Encrust! I will teach beading, embroidery and artistic approaches to embellishing quilt art. In the last few days I have been reviewing the progress I have made in this area in the last year.
This past year, I decided that I no longer needed to bind my quilt art if I didn't want to. I have whip stitched raw edges, embroidered and/or beaded over bindings, folded cloth over quilt sandwiches and stitched the hell out of it. I haven't yet left a raw sandwich where the batting shows, nor tucked Tyvek-painted and pretty into the sandwich, so many possibilities!
Whenever I teach, I am amazed at the blocks that folks put between themselves and their stated goals. I have infinite patience, I can sit and intensely bead a project for hours. When I see folks resisting transferring beads from a hank strand to a strong beading thread while still wanting to couch the beads down, I have to wonder! I have asked, would you rather puff paint the beads in place? This is an acceptable approach! it has its uses and requires no sewing! More often than not the answer is, 'No', in fact I have never heard the word, 'Yes' in response to this question.
I must say though, that on average I am an exception in the patience in beading and embellishment area. I know I had great affect on many participants last year, hopefully I will again this year! Not everyone has the ability to sit and bead for hours!
My goal in the class is to sho people that the possibilties are endless, they can create thier own rules, and they are in control of thier own art!

Everything Old is New

Such tumult! These last few days have been introspective, searching and grounding.

May all the higher beings be with those who have lost kin in Spain!

I have been searching through old journal entries. Looking at what I have done and what artistic paths I have followed. Here is an entry, created after I first discovered Sabrina Ward Harrison's books. She creates fun, introspective, visual journals! She helped me understand that I could do anything I wanted to do in my own journals. The most liberating thing I got from reading and voraciously taking in her approach is that; if I want to use tape filled with acid, I can!

At work, I fix tape stains and non archival faux pas on vintage posters, I know what tape does to paper. I know how difficult it is to remove, and what color it turns paper after a few years. But why let that bother you if you are in flow and need to slap something down? No one but me will ever own my journals! After years of removing and covering tape stains, perhaps I would like to see them created within the pages of my own book!
FREE THE TAPE STAINS!
You will see that this entry uses scrap cuttings from Winter Reflections. I like the idea of my textile art and journal art overlapping one another, bits of drawings enter my quilt art and scraps of cloth sneaking their way into my journals. It's all one thing anyway!

Love is Love

I feel kind or ranty today.
I am a married "straight" woman, I have a fantastic man whom I love and support and who loves and supports me. I am both happy and lucky to have such a healthy and growing relationship.
I am not going to have children. The world, by my own estimation is overcrowded and in need of introspection and renewal.
Gay people have as much right to get married, show thier love and affection in public, and (gasp) have children as any of the rest of us. Perhaps gay, married, comitted people raising children is just what this world needs. New perspectives, alternitive ways of thinking and parents who choose to be in commited relationships.
Our government needs to get out of our bedrooms and focus on the world at large.
If you are so inclined, please sign this petition. I did.
Million for Marriage

I Dyed Last Night

I have to admit, dyeing last night was an act of shame! I put this yarn to soak in the acidic acid solution about a month ago! I watched the solution slowly evaporate, feeling guilt and shame each time I looked at it. It took all of 35 minutes to decide on, mix, prepare and microwave the yarn. I let it sit overnight, rinsed and spun it in the washer and now look, Isn't it pretty?

On a jounaling note:
Here is an older entry in my journal. I put a pen in both hands, did not look at the page and drew with both hands, letting my hands mirror each other.
I still makes me chuckle to look at it!

What I carry!

Here is the bag I carry daily.
I recently bought this bag, I tried to buy a small bag that would carry less than my previous back pack. The thought process being that if the bag were smaller, I would carry less. I was fooling myself.
I still like the bag, though!
I carry my journal with me everywhere. Along with that I carry 5, count them, 5 rapidograph pens-a new acquisition, these pens have white, sepia and black ink in them. I love them. The line they create is beautiful. An assortment of other pens, a technical pencil, a box of Caran-D'ache watercolor pencils, a waterdropper and a gluestick.

I never leave home without a gluestick.
I do carry just a bit less with this bag... and I miss the box of Pelican Opaque Watercolors that have been left in the studio. The box itself is combersome, which is why it stays home. It bulks up my bag! All of these items are on a rotating basis, so I could carry my Pelican box again in future.
I also carry the things I actually NEED on a daily basis, like my wallet, glasses and personal girlie stuff.
You can see in the photo that my moleskine is becoming poochy! This is because I use wet media in it. I like when my books get the lived in look, the pages do not buckle too terribly. I also put pieces of tracing paper between the pages that have smudgable surfaces and this makes it pooch even more.

Hover Craft

This morning, my Man and I went to Westport Connecticut, where there is a walkway overlooking the Saugatuck River. Seagulls are fed from this spot quite often and will hover about six feet overhead, waiting for a tastey morsel. It is impossible to capture how close they come in photo, as there is nothing in the sky to guage against. The above seagull landed on a piling about four feet from where I was standing. This bird accepted four chunks of bread, thrown directly to him without flying off.
My Man held a piece of bread over his head and a bird came to within an inch, before my guy lost his nerve!
Birds are beautiful and frieghtening at the same time. Their eyes, bodies and wings are so foreign-especially when they come so close. I wouldn't have had the nerve to hold still while the bird took the bread!
Another photo, of seagulls.
I love feeding the birds at this spot! It is thrilling to be so close and to listen to the birds talk, watch them fight and throw bread directly to them!

The Tortured Concerto

Haven't you ever you wondered what Melly does during the day...as in...her day job? Well, I am here to tell all you fans. I am her supervisor. Let's call me "Mr. Grant", like from the Mary Tyler Moore show. I chose that name because he and I work very similarly, though Melly is not quite the Mary Richards we all knew. Any hoo - here is Melly doing what she does very well...restoring vintage and antique posters. This poster in particular, has caused much angst and unhappiness today to poor Melly. It began as a sort of Humpty Dumpty.

It was in 1000 little pieces and by some miracle it has been slowly put back together. Melly had 3 major crisises today. Here they are in no particular order 1.) The heat gun died. She needed the heat gun to remove the tape she used to mask off the areas she needed to re-paint black. She attempted to buy a heat gun, but to no avail. Mission aborted. I ran home and got my hairdryer. Melly was back in business. 2.) The black paint oozed and ran off the border, creating a Tammy Faye mascara nightmare along the white margin of th poster. Melly somehow recovered and repaired but neverless, felt very sad. 3.) She thought that the male figure in this poster looked like a thinner version of my soon-to-be ex-husband. I suggested adding hair-plugs to his forehead. Melly opted not to do that.

In conclusion, this poster is a very bad poster. It has made this week very painful for Melly. She is almost done though.

Sew Nude!

Last night I brought my Bernina 1001 to my figure drawing class. This drawing, or maybe I should call it a sewing, was a successful piece!
It is a tough thing to do, drawing in this manner. The most difficult part is plotting where my stitches should end up while not being able to see over the machines' head. I have figured out a way to plot using my fingers and studying the model.
I need to remind myself to loosen up, embrace the medium for what it is, and not to expect a pencil drawing from my machine. It is not as easy to lift the needle and begin drawing in a new place as it is with a pen or pencil.
Really, I am happy enough to be able to draw anything remotely similar to the figure itself!
When the model saw me setting up my machine she said, "I have never seen anyone do this before!"
My reply, "I don't know what classes you've been modeling for."

Many have written about how my sewing room is so organized! This is a new development! I just bought the bookcase and plastic boxes* that are behind my sewing machines. I am still in process about how to effectively store my fabrics. I think plastic drawers are in order, I want to be able to see into the drawer as well as pull them out and replace them when finished.

* my yarn stash fits in one lime green plastic box!

More IS MORE

A photo of my studio! and another from the other direction, showing my new design wall. In the pop-up photo you can see the extremely beaded piece above the ironing board.
I beaded yesterday for about 5 hours, which is an amazing amount of time to bead. As it is hard on my body, I try to bead for small incriments and give myself rest periods. I do have fatique in my right arm and beading exacerbates it.
Maybe I shouldn't use big words if I can't spell them, but they pop into my head and I can't seem to access my inner thesaurus to find a better one!
Anyway, I love to bead, it calms me.
When beading or embellishing, my basic thought process is- More IS MORE.

Extreme Beading

Some people like extreme ironing, I like extreme beading!
This is a detail of a piece I am working on at the moment. It is not finished enough for me to want to show more, but as I did just buy a digital camera- I can show you an extreme detail!
Excitement!

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Here is a page from my journal. It is done in Pelican Opaque Watercolor. The pages buckle slightly when using wet mediums but not enough for me to worry. I like the tatty-bulge you get from a well used book!
When using watercolor in this book, I take a brush full of soap from an old bar I keep in my art bin and mix it into the paint. This works for many things- painting on plastics and glossy surfaces for a start. Unfortunately I don't like how watercolors look on the Moleskine paper even with the soap. But don't let me sway you! Try it for yourself and prove me wrong, I am partial to opaque paint!