every-single-day

Cloth, my life is about cloth right now.

This is 1 of 4, it needs washing. The concentrates were mixed yesterday so what you see is what I will get. You are looking at 1.5 yards of cloth.
I like to start my studio time out by cleaning. Organizing. I have a peg board behind my work table and I like to see it waiting at attention. If I need soda ash I will mix a gallon or two, same with thickener. Unfortunately it is too cold for me to use the hose outside. I have been presoaking fabric all week so my drop cloth needs cleaning.
I need soda soaked cloth for these commissions.
EJP and Jeri Riggs and I are planning a mini retreat for the weekend of the 11th. We will be playing with wax, we will need lots of soda soaked fabric for our two day retreat! They will be sleeping over.
You should see the piles of prepared fabric.

I am a very efficient artist. I use my time wisely.
These are my positive affirmations.

This morning as I wrote my morning pages, I thought about how I do not feel like a blocked artist. I know how to access and use my creativity. I know that creating connects me to my divine source.
There is one area where I feel blocked: I have fear of approaching galleries with my portfolio. I am working on this. A friend and I have worked out a trade. He will photograph my work and I will make him a piece of art. So I will have a full set of slides.
I am making progress to overcome my artistic fears.

I have been cleaning up my web site too! Please check out my textile gallery! More cloth!

Self Care

Here is the little man greeting my newest aquisition. Three new Tjanting tools.

He can be seen in the upper left hand corner of this photo too.
I am a frugal person. I love quality; I fret over purchasing but always buy the best I can afford. The tjanting tool I am using at the moment was one I bought on workshop with a scant amount of wax that I have been thinking of using for much too long. Now that I no longer need to worry about the task of removing wax (this is the joy of soy wax), this old purchase has been put to use. I haven't had my supply of wax for more than two weeks and I notice the end of my old tjanting tool is wiggling. Not a great purchase... a quick one that got buried for years.
So I bought three new tjantings, which are touted as being better tjantings at dharma.
I can't start using them until the weekend though. I need to start working on a set of commissions. I am about to make 4 baby quilts! Three are commissioned, the forth is to market to potential sales outlets.

I am making handprint cloth using the hands of the father, mother and child I am making one of the quilts for. The other two quilts are for thier respective nephews and cousins and will also get the handprint cloth in them. Does this last sentence make any sense? I know what I am talking about.
The sample has only my own nephew's hand print in it.

Bubble Tea...

Since my experience with the boutique owner, I have actively engaged in making more art. The Artist's Way, which I am now positively happy to be participating in (it took a while), says that after a negative critic says things that may not be the most helpful, to make more art. Making art is the cure for not so helpful critique. I agree.
So this weekend was steeped in cloth making.
I named this post Bubble Tea because I tried bubble tea for the first time last week. It was oddly fabulous and I would love to have it again. Maybe I will call the above textile bubble tea!

Today on my Artist's Date, I bought myself a copy of Danny Gregory's Creative License. This was after taking myself out to coffee and playing in my journal for a while. It was short, sweet and I felt quite loved.
This third chapter is so packed full with information that I need to ingest it slowly. I have read it over twice so far.
Like this paragraph:
"The Universe is prodigal in its support. We are miserly in what we expect. All Gift horses get looked in the mouth and usually returned to sender. We say we are afraid of failure, but really what we are afraid of is success."
Julia Cameron, Artist's Way page 66.
And it goes on.
I am not afraid to put myself 'out there'. I will carry a presentation to see Martha, go to show my wares to boutique owners, send my book proposal out and recieve rejections. I am also aware of the time it takes to heal after doing these things. The healing time gets less and less as I continue.
I am a brave artist. I hold what I need to close to my heart until I know I am safe. I am safe more often than not.
I do know the difference.

Communing with Yum

Let us all have a moment of silence. On the count of three say, "Yummmmmmm!"

1....2....3...

I was so happy when I pulled this out of the washer last night! The back of the piece looks totally different from the front, so I couldn't tell when I first put it in the washer what would come out.
This is what I had hoped would happen.
I love soy wax!

A Day with Martha and Other Adventures

Me and the Gals went to see Martha on Thursday. We had front-row-seats! The camera men were stepping over me. It was so much fun.
I need to make a comment on the photo above. Can I say that everyone looks pale in comparison to Martha's looming, airbrushed head? :)

And this is us at Cafe Dante in Soho. Yummy cappachino and desserts. From the top left, Alison, Day, JJ and I.

I have been super busy this week. There was a chance that I could have met Martha, so I put together a presentation of my work for her. It was gorgeous. I never got to pass it off to her.
Yesterday I had an appointment with a boutique to show my bags. They didn't fit with her vision and she had much to say about them. Wrong colors, too small, too labor intensive, maybe they should have plastic lining. the list goes on. Then she asked if I would execute some designs she has been thinking of but does not have time to do, could I make a prototype?
Now all you Artist's Way folks? Can we all say CrazyMaker? Louder!

So. I am feeling drained, tired and I want even my cats to leave me alone.
I have finally settled on a look for my shop! I have priced this first batch of purses to move.
I am going to continue to find a shop keeper that is enthused about my work and style and believes in me. I will not internalize what this one woman had to say.
I will send my presentation to the craft editor at Martha Stewart and see what comes of it.

OH! And! EXCITING NEWS!!!
I have a 5 page article coming out in the March Issue of Quilting Arts Magazine! I am jumping for joy!!!! It is a surface design article about freezer paper resist with paints. I can't wait to see my work on glossy pages.

And!
I am scheduled to teach the Freezer Paper Resist technique at the Northern Star Quilt Guilds Super Saturday event! April 1, 2006

html head

Hey everybody!
I now have html head. I have been screwing around with my site. I am messing it up too! It will get it back together. It may take some time though. I have to disconnect from the computer and go complete some projects.

In the meantime. I have created a shop page! As I said, I need to disconnet right now, but if you have suggestions for improvemts, I will read what you have to say. I may or may not act on them but I would love to hear your thoughts. And hey! You are welcomed to buy while you are at it.

And because I think no post is complete without a photo, I present Monk!

Sing with Confidence!

Today my Man and I went to a music workshop. He is a musician, I am a person who has solid musicality. This was an improvisational workshop given by some folks schooled in Music for People techniques.
This morning when I did my Morning Pages, I wrote about using my voice with Confidence. I get intimidated being musical among Musicians. Like, I know how to be an Artist but not a musician. Really though, if you listen to music you acquire ideas and an understanding of it.
Similarily, it is very difficult in our culture to remain ignorant of design, it is all around us. All we need do is analyze what we are seeing, assess color, relationship, proportion.
I forget that I do this with music too.
As I listened and tried to make beats using my feet, hands and chest, I thought about how much visual stimulation I take in willingly. I take it in in an effort to encourage creative flow, to see where my mind will take it.
I danced all during my youth. Tap, jazz and ballet. I had the hardest time with tap. There is a visual and audio aspect of tap dancing that I have always had to pause over. This occured again today. It made me wonder how to utilize the visual skills I have in an auditory manner.
All of this is to say, I had great fun. I used my voice confidently. My voice, as I was reminded, is my 'first instrument'. Our first instrument.
My Man and also also participated in a quartet that I feel went quite well. I feel quite proud of both of us.

So here are the washed and ironed pieces from yesterdays explorations:

And my favorite:

Now I am off to take a luxurious bath while reading the next chapter of the Artist's Way.

Playing with Giants

I am a giant. Larger than life. Faster than a speeding bullet. So are you.

The wax came! The wax came! Sing praise from the rooftops! The wax came! Can you tell I am excited?
On Decemer 21, I ordered 50 pounds of wax from Soyawax.com. Don't buy from them. They have nonexistent customer service. They still have not issued my credit. I am going to have to go to the proper channels to get my refund.
When you want to buy soy wax, purchase it from Gelluminations, they know what they are doing and they care! This time, I only bought 25 pounds; I came to my excited senses.
Hooray!

These are my first tries with this medium. A bit clunky but never the less quite exciting. I wish I could wash it out right now!
I chose fabrics that I wasn't in love with. As I get my confidence I will draw from my better pieces.
I will post wash, dried and ironed samples as soon as possible.

About The Artist's Way. I took myself out on an artist's date on Wednesday, it stank. I was sad and unable to embrace the spirit of the thing. Today I took myself for an impromptu date and loved it! I went to Kate's Paperie and bought myself little gifts. Pretty ribbon to hang tag's off my purses, and filofax refills for my pretty date book. An excursion for less than 10$, yeah!
I have been doing the morning pages faithfully. I hate doing them, the actual DOING of them. But I love how I feel afterward. It really is a dump. A thought dump. And I don't have to involve anyone in any of it!
I look forward to reading more of the book tomorrow. One week is further than I have gotten in the past.

Letter my Internal Editor

I wrote my morning pages this morning, and a core negative belief popped right out onto the pages! So I wrote a letter to my intertnal editor and am going to mail it as soon as I go on my Artist's Date this morning.
After yesterday's rejection, I woke up not wanting to do morning pages, not wanting to go on my Artist's Date (I was excited all day yesterday just thinking about the spinny cups) and feeling oppressed by a noxious, black, rainy cloud of negativity.
No more! That editor is going to get blasted away with my letter.
I decided that my artist date should also include purchasing sparkly glue to glue sequins onto the cover of my morning pages book. I mean if I am going to actually DO this, shouldn't my inner-artist-child get all excited?
YEAH!!!
Three pages of mental goo in an external hard drive!

I had to change this post a little bit. I am not writing this to the publisher who had to turn my proposal down. She was super nice and I totally understand where she is coming from.
In the Artist's Way, Julia Cameron discusses the inner critic who butts into positive affirmations with negativity. This is what I am addressing in my letter to the editor. As I wrote "I am a prolific and amazing artist" in my journal, my inner critic roared its angry substandard head, telling me that my art and creativity is substandard.
Yesterdays post helped this voice emerge but the word substandard came from deep within me. Time to exorcize that monster, quick!

Personal bum deal.

OK. I just need to say that the publisher who has my book proposal emailed a Dear Jane letter today. She is/was super nice, very helpful, gave further suggestions and all.
But still.
Rejection.
My take on this process is totally water-off-a-ducks-back. Next publisher, please!
But I did have hopes and dreams.
I think my next step is to approach agents.

Blogging the Artist's Way

I have decided to do the Artist's Way with fellow bloggers including Kat's Paws and Kristine from Notes From the Laundromat to name just a few.
I have owned this book for a long time and having just quit my job and begun to redirect my creative energy, I think it is a great idea to gather support and begin the course. My Man says he would like to participate too!
This is a scary endeavor! I wrote out three pages this morning. I didn't scimp because I was told not to in the book. I like to follow rules....
But this is where I have faltered in the past. Three pages every day? Three pages of internal dialog unembellished? Messy!
So I went to buy a book to write the rest of my pages in today. Believe me I thought of buying a spiral bound set of index cards! 3x5 INCHES of morning pages doesn't sound so intimidating. Instead I bought a composition book. It was the cheapest journal with a cardboard cover, no plastic. Yuck.
On the otherhand, making dates with my inner artist is easy! There is a local park that has these 'spinny cups' they use your body weight to spin you in circles. I love them. I will go play and then take myself to coffee for draw in my journal. Or the other way around, whichever.

Rad Designs by a Bitchin' Babe

I have begun production.
My perennial question is, of course, should I bead and embroider them? We all know I am prone to say yes. For now I think I will bead and embroider one of each design and offer those at a higher cost. If folks go for them I will factor in the difference and begin doing them all that way.
Now all I need to do is create my shop page.
I have an appointment with a local boutique for this week. I am shopping for the right venue. I know who I would like to purchase them, I just need to find the right stores.

A technical question:
When you view the layout of my blog, is it evident where to click to see my gallery of artwork?

You People...

Keeping a blog is funny business. Many folks come and read and I never know they were here. I can view my statistics and tell you that this month my blog has gotten 379 views, mostly from the United States with Canada and Australia being close at heel. Much of the viewing is between 9 and 10 in the morning. I get the most vistors from Little Fish and I see that my new friend Leia has added me to her list of links.

Yesterday I got an email from a woman whose name starts with an 'R'. She didn't give me permission to talk about her and the email seemed private, so I wont say her name. 'R' wrote to tell me what an inspiration I am.
And, well...
I am flattered.
Thank you folks!

I made this purse for my mother as a christmas gift. In my new capacity as a self promoting artist, I am working on creating a selling web site for my wares. This is the first prototype. I am trying to cut out the work intensive stuff that I have done with these purses in the past. This is the simplest purse I have ever created.
I am aiming for beautiful, intriguing purses with integrity that I can still make money on. I hope to sell them directly from my site, as well as to high end boutiques here in Connecticut and in Manhattan. My goal for today is to begin making purses at 8 A.M. and continue till 4 with a lunch break in between.

I am also creating a lectures and workshops page to encourage folks to contact me about teaching. I am also thinking about taking an advertisement in a favored quilt art magazine to this effect.

Why did I wait so long!?!?

I have been in the dye studio, kickin' up some dust. I don't know why I have hesitated to mix thickened dyes and work as though they were paint from the tube. So today I went at it.
Being an artist is akin to putting yourself through growing pains on purpose. I keep wanting to push myself further. I want to close the gap between how I paint in my journals and how I appoach working with cloth. So mixing dyes and working on several pieces at once is a start.

I am going to immerse myself in the dye studio this week. The dyes are ready to go, the my studio is clean and ready.
Repeating motifs, working in series and bringing together my disparate approach to painting are going to be the focus of my next few studio days.
I think I am off to a great start.

I have not washed these samples out yet. I fear for this one, as I just learned after a full day of painting that my refridgerator was not on and the black dye had been stored in it. Oh well.
That is the only dye I will need to remix at the start of the day tomorrow. A quick fix.
I am working small in an effort to try out new techniques and to put a new body of small works together.