retro

I love this quilt. It was 1993 and I had just quit the job from hell. I hadn't made a quilt since 1984, but the first thing I did after I left that job was to make this piece. It has polyester batting and it hangs over the bed in my guestroom. I saw an antique quilt with coffee cups - white with blue cups - in Jonathan Holstein's The Pieced Quilt (1971) and it was the most comforting thing I had ever seen. I needed one.

There was no pattern for it, so I drafted one on cardboard (I CANNOT believe I did that myself) added 1/4" around all the pieces, and went to work with scissors. If there were rotary cutters and omnigrids, I hadn't heard about it. The three on the first vertical row and the middle red cup (red striped seersucker) came from a blanket cover my grandmother had made from scraps she had brought home from the dress factory where she worked. I needed to give Nanny's old fabrics a new life. The rest I just filled in with whatever I had hanging around: some chintz, some calico: scraps. Here is a very bad picture of the 1910 quilt in the book that was the inspiration.
While I was looking for this book, I came upon 3 others that I highly recommend. One is Merikay Waldvogel's Soft Covers for Hard Times. Those depression quilts are quirky and wonderful - and if Ruth Clement Bond's quilts aren't ART, I don't know what IS. The book seems appropriate reading for today's nouveau depression, especially considering the amount of redwork and retro fabric I saw at quilt market.

The other two are about fifties fabrics. I seem to remember buying them in Lancaster one year, along with some bark cloth I was going to use but never have. It's in my trunk, along with antique blocks and who-knows what other fabric treasures. You'll see that everything old is new again. These books will make you smile.
Tonight, it's back to the fabric stash to see if I can pull anything out of it and put it together so it makes visual sense. But first, I am going to make a cup of coffee to toast this quilt that was the precursor to where I am today.

well, it didn't take long

for my home studio to get back to normal - or what passes for normal around here. Ahhhh - this means I'm working. It has been so long since I've looked at and handled my fabrics that I am actually rusty. It's like speaking French or riding a bike: it takes a bit of time for it to come back and feel comfortable and instinctive.

This delicious pile of fabrics is my attempt to audition various pieces so I can make a few small things. But I think I am too tired now, at 1:am, to make decisions. I already sewed facing to the front of a piece that has been sitting here since the year of The Flood...and I sandwiched another piece that needs to be stitched and photographed. So, I feel I have accomplished something tonight.

more on market

What a happy piece of fabric! I printed this spontaneously (how else?) as I was demonstrating some surface design at Market.
Pam Ronan had spotted the Crafter's Workshop stencil booth and I went over to see what was what. Wow! Not quilt stencils, but stencil stencils - and some with wonderfully abstract designs. I took them to class and then to the Checker booth to play with, and this was the result. I am not a stencil person, but I love these. I used them with paint and with Paintstiks.

For a gorgeous eyeful of Spring Market, go to Susan Brubaker Knapp's blog. She took pictures of the best displays at the show...not to mention having her picture taken with a regular rogue's gallery of who's who - LOL. Her report is totally different from mine and I'm sorry I had to leave a day early. Oh, well, I might have to go to Fall Market in Houston. Here is a picture of Susan and me after class; the pieces in the background all illustrated how hand prints can be combined easily and effectively with regular commercial fabrics.I didn't get too many pix at market because I was working. But I had to snap this picture. You can't see the whole quilt but don't need to. I just wish someone would explain to me why anybody needs to buy a pattern to make this quilt.
Meantime, Marty's eye surgery was an adventure (no, actually, the patient after anesthesia was the adventure) - but all went well and he is recovering. Thanks to all of you who left messages and e-mailed. He won't have any vision in right eye for about 3 weeks, by which time I will be leaving for QSDS. EEEEEEEEK.

Every morning has been early-to-rise; tomorrow we do not have any appointments. Do you think I will be able to sleep late?

Art to Wear

You MUST go to Joanie San Chirico's blog and look at the images from Seams: Contemporary Art to Wear, the exhibit she curated for the Noyes Museum of Art! It is a feast for the eyes. Read her curator's statement first.

In the meantime, we are off to the eye surgery appointment. Thanks for all your thoughts.

home

Landed in a rainy NJ late this afternoon but by the time I got home, the sun was coming out and I was happy to see my postage-stamp garden looking colorful.


Marty has a detached retina and lost fluid, so we don't know what the prognosis of the surgery will be. But I am home and we'll just manage it together.

Time zones are funny things. I was not in Portland long enough to accomodate and was still going to sleep at 9:30 and getting up at 3:30 or some such weird schedule. Now, it is almost 9:pm and I am ready to go to sleep in NJ. Will I wake up at 3:am?

Tomorrow, I will go through all my paperwork and sort the cards I collected so I can follow up with people i promised to contact. Tonight, just resting feet after all those convention center miles on concrete floors.

a.m and p.m.

View from my hotel room this morning at about 5:30View from another part of town tonight around 8:00.
Either way, it is beautiful here. Between dawn and dusk, a full day. Taught a class for shop owners this morning. Many had never done this before and had a blast!
demo'd various fun surface design things this afternoon at a distributor's booth, and tonight - dinner with Jane Davila, Terry Grant, and June Underwood. What stellar company! Here we are, having more fun than should be legal.

L-R - yrs truly, Terry, Jane, June

Are they having fun yet?

Unfortunately, all this merriment comes to an abrupt end as I fly home early tomorrow. Marty has a serious eye problem and needs surgery, so I'd rather be there than here - even 13 hours earlier. Will post from home when I can.

a quick note

My feet need to soak in a hot bath, but there isn't one here. Walked the convention center floor today and saw the new fabrics at lots of booths, noticed that the batting companies are using bamboo and corn to replace polyester, and that aprons are coming back into style. After a while, all those brown country things blend into one blur and you wonder why anybody wants to buy them. Then you notice that the booths are crowded with shop owners.
The convention center is very lovely.

Jane Davila and I noticed this group on our way out of the center tonight - all dressed the same way,wearing signes on their backs. When I asked if I could get a closer picture, they asked whether I wanted them to pose "en groupe." How nice of them. But I declined.
As I got closer, I saw what the signs said. The young woman in the back had a sign that said "quilter in training." It turned out that these were uniforms for people who all worked in the same fabric store. They don't wear them to work but instead, to "events." Hmmm.So Jane and I went to dinner. All the restaurants in Portland seemed to have broken air conditioning systems, as does my hotel. It is 80 degrees in my room: the window is open and the management sent in a fan. My husband says it is 55 degrees and pouring rain in NJ so I guess I should not complain. Then again, he does not need air conditioning for that weather. On the way back from dinner, we stopped to look at this street sculpture - an actual tree.
Here is a detail.
We attempted to take our own pictures, but they were so horrible we deleted them. Then a passerby offered to take them for us. Still not great, but here we are.
Tomorrow I have to get up at 5:30 to be at work, so I am going to sign off now.

to market, to market...

The day is over, I am back in my room, and tomorrow morning I hope to sleep late. We shall see. Being on east coast time, I was up at 4:am west coast time. NOT a good thing. Now it is almost 9pm Oregon time and almost midnight Rayna's body-time. (So I don't guarantee anything).

So, this will be short and sweet?. Busy today - but good. Started the day with a bang! A delightful time and a to-die-for breakfas t with the lovely and talented Terry Grant. What a treat! I simply love it when I get to "know" somebody on line and finally get to meet them in person and they are just a s fun and cool as you knew they would be. Don't you love when this happens to you???After breakfast, Terry went shopping and I hot-footed it over to the convention center. I spent the day wandering around and then attending various sessions given by other authors. Finally, I got my chance to talk about my book and then went to dinner with the wonderful C&T people.

I am going to sleep momentarily and hope to sleep in tomorrow morning - but I have the day free and will make the rounds at Market. Will post again when I can.

Welcome to Portland

I slept for most of the flight, after having gotten up at 3:30 a.m. Happily, the plane was not full and I was able to get an aisle seat in the exit row- plenty of leg room. Even better, the center seat was empty and the window seat was occupied by someone going to Market -- and we discovered we have common acquaintances. Of course!

The weather is iffy here - gray and chilly. Can I believe them when they claim the rest of the week will be in the 80's and 90's? This is the view from my hotel room and I think the sun is coming out.
While I was waiting for my room to be ready I went in search of lunch and an Office Depot, where I could have more business cards printed because I did not bring enough. In a little while, Anna Faustino, another author and I, are going to head over to the convention center to get our badges and say hello to the C&T people while they are setting up their booth. She in napping; I am talking to you.

I called Terry Grant when I arrived and if we can coordinate our schedules, we hope to have breakfast tomorrow before I go over to the convention center.

I am 3 hours ahead so I'll try to adjust before I need to be perky and lively tomorrow! I'll check back with you when I can.

before and after

Every time I go away I wish the gremlins would come in and clean up my ROOM so that when I get back, it would be neat. Oddly enough, they never show up and I come home to the same mess. Tomorrow, I leave again. And tonight, as I surveyed the scene I saw it was worse than ever. Boxes half-packed for QSDS teaching supplies; fabrics I brought home from the studio to make samples to take with me to market; the supply suitcase still packed from last week's trip; 50 lbs of soy wax in a carton. The view from my chair...honestly, not staged.
I knew I couldn't face coming back to this on Monday morning.

So I got to work...and an hour or two later...

I feel sooo much better. And I know it will stay this way because I am not here.

The alarm is set for 3:30 a.m. and it's almost 10:30 so I think I had better try to get a few hours of sleep. I will check in from Portland.

subliminal color influences

...are such a part of our lives as artists that we don't think about them till all of a sudden, we SEE. This morning, as I got out my bag of Gorilla coffee (see yesterday's post) I was stunned at what hit me! I had taken back the tile sample but when I saw the package, it made me smile. Coincidence? Or one of those environmental influences that sneaks up on us when we are not looking?

Now I wonder whether my soapstone choice was influenced by the previous color of my kitchen walls.

We all know how much our surroundings (color, light, weather) influence our work: Jette Clover told me that when she moved from the Netherlands to Florida her palette became much more vivid. I haven't asked her whether it has changed since she moved to Belgium, but I would not be surprised.

Here are the colors that greeted me when I entered the kitchen this morning (before I took out the coffee- LOL).
And then I looked outside at the deck and saw the palette that influences some of my favorite pieces.

Everything looks so GREEN with the spring rain- but I prefer the colors of autumn. Then again, that takes me full circle to the backsplash...
How do the components of your environment (color, light, weather, geography) influence the color and timbre of your work? Are you always conscious of those influences or do they just happen and then you see them in retrospect?

a sneak peek

ONE preview copy of Create Your Own Hand-Printed Cloth arrived here yesterday and I have to say I am thrilled with how beautiful it looks! We won't see the rest of the copies till June - but since June is almost here, I guess we'll survive.

The next two days will be hectic as I get ready to go to International Quilt Market in Portland. My suitcase is sort of packed but I still have a lot to finish before I leave.

Mother's Day was very pleasant: We went to Brooklyn (I drove, so couldn't take any photos en route) and took my 91 year old mother with us to have brunch at Jessica & Tommy's. Jessica outdid herself with two exceptional fritatte, bagels, fruit salad, and my favorite Gorilla Coffee - roasted in Brooklyn, every day. Happily for me, Whole Foods carries it, but I have also mail-ordered it. It's the best. Especially with dark-chocolate covered pretzels, which we brought as a hostess gift.

Here we are after that lovely meal; a rather unglamorous pic of the 3 generations, but I suspect that someday we'll be glad we have it. I remember a mother's day meal 21 years ago and I wish I could find those pictures: my father died suddenly a few days later.
Jessica had an interesting week -- professional involvements with Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, and an up-close George Clooney sighting ( yes, she says he is to-die-for gorgeous in person). Friday night she attended a party with Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart, and numerous other recognizeable names - and said it was fun. I would think so!

My gift today, besides flowers, was the new cookbook from O Oprah - and Jessica says the recipes are very good. New kitchen, new cookbook - I guess I'll have to get to work. AFTER I get home from Oregon. I just hope the weather there is warmer than it is here. It has been a chilly spring.

it's mating season

for wild turkeys. This is the time of year. These two were standing around in front of my house, chatting, but by the time I grabbed my camera, they were hot-footing it up the street.
There was a big article in the paper today about how they are hanging around, chomping in the garden, eating from bird feeders, and chasing people around, barking and biting and threatening. They are extremely aggressive and think that humans are below them in the pecking order, so they come after you and expect you to do their bidding. Yell and swat at them with a oom and they will go away and leave you alone. Ever since some do-gooder re-introduced them to NJ, they have multiplied like rabbits and instead of remaining in wild habitats, have moved to the burbs. I counted 16 of them outside the door a few weeks ago. They are scary.

On another subject, I am done. Today, I ordered the backsplash for the kitchen and am happy that one more decision is off my head. I needed some warmth with the cool stainless steel and soapstone and when I finally got around to following my instincts, this is where I ended up.

I just finished sewing down the facing on a piece I need to take to Quilt Market with me, so that's another thing to cross off the list (if I had a list, which I don't). Maybe I should write a list, starting with the things that are already done so I can fool myself into thinking I have accomplished something. But it seems like too much trouble. Do you write lists? Do you actually know where those lists are when you want them?

I loved looking at the pictures of Susie Monday's clean studio. Mine has been neat many times - for about five minutes each time. I don't have pictures of my studio (thank goodness) but here are a few I took last week when I went into the city to meet Joanie and Jette. As always, I am a sucker for urban grit.


view from a high-profile gallery in Chelsea
G'night.

up to snuff

Karoda et al - here's some background on the origin of that phrase. Interesting how it has mutated (morphed?) - well, how the meaning has changed over the centuries. I love words.

I'd rather have root canal

than drive to Long Island. With apologies to all of you who live there, I still find it daunting. No problem driving the 4.5 hours to D.C. or to Lowell, but Long Island gives me a stress headache. Of course, they say the same thing about New Jersey - and they do have a point. NJ is nuts, but I grew up here.

Taught my workshop today and had a class full of lovely and delightful students who worked in layers: image transfer, rubbings, stamping, and other surface design techniques that some of them had not done before. 'Twas fun. But then there was the drive home...

Anyway, I'm here and I see that while I was away my azeleas began to bloom and my midget Japanese Maple tree has spread its leaves. The ferns are coming up, along with some of the other things whose names I can't remember. yay. Things look a bit skimpy toward the front, under the tree, but I'll have to see what I can do about it one of these days. (While I am writing this, waiting for Marty to get home so we can eat our deli sandwiches, somebody outside is grilling steak and it is wafting through my open window. Yum. You have probably noticed that I have not been blogging much. Truthfully, I have not been feeling well for quite a while - no energy, going to bed at 7:30, feeling lethargic and just not right. I thought I had Lyme disease, but it turned out to be some other thing - a systemic infection of some sort that I picked up who-knows-where. I have one more day of antibiotics and they have made a world of difference. So, look for me here more often and with more energy!

blogger is a fusspot

Every so often it decides it doesn't want to let me in. I have to leave comments on other peoples' blogs as "anonymous" and it asks me for my password, etc. before it will even let me get to my own page. BUT - here I am. Spent a couple of evenings and today taking care of grandkids and daughter who just had a bit of surgery, then ran to visit my mother. It was great to spend time with Hilary, even though she wasn't feeling great -- and with Josh and Ben, for a change. However, I am glad to be home; a martini & steak dinner and a hot shower have done wonders -- and a strong cup of coffee is next.

Tomorrow I am taking a workshop instead of giving one: a luxury I don't give myself too often. Judy Langille and I are spending the day with n'ketiah Brakohiapa, a master dyer and surface designer originally from Ghana. Tuesday, I'm leaving again to teach a workshop, and the week after, I'm off to International Quilt Market in Portland. I expect to have time for at least a drink with Terry Grant! Gerrie - I'll catch you next time.


So, I am going to make coffee and put my feet up to read The Friday Night Knitting Club, a no-brainer, completely predictable airplane book. Exactly what I need. I started it last night and it was such a pleasure to be drawn into a book. I knew it was silly and didn't care. Tonight, I will read some more. This is on my design wall: product of last week's studio days.
If I can take pix at tomorrow's class, I'll keep you posted.

another studio day

Wow - 3 studio days in one week! I puttered around today, moving fabric from one spot to another on the wall. Steamed some fabric I had printed on Monday. Did not get a whole lot done, but it didn't matter.

Here is a piece of cloth I printed with flour paste resist on the screen, some time ago. It does not play nicely with others so it is getting a time out till it is ready to behave.
Come to think of it, I have one piece that wants to be stitched and another that has good possibilities. But I don't have pictures of them.

My friend and studio mate Kathryn Eddy was at the studio - we haven't seen each other in ages, so it was a treat. She's a painter who was juried into the current show at the Brush Gallery in Lowell - and went up for the opening. She came back raving about Lowell and how friendly everyone is. She was surprised that the art critics from the newspapers turned out for the opening, and she said that when she introduced herself to Linda Poras, the gallery director, she mentioned that she shared a studio with me and Linda made her feel super-welcome. How nice!

This will be the first year that I will not be going up for Quilt Festival -- unless Marty comes with me. Otherwise, I am taking the month of August off: no trips, no teaching, no nonsense. Studio.

Tonight I have been stitching a couple of pieces I'm taking to Market with me. I really do not like to sew, so what am I doing in this business? Tomorrow, home in the morning and later in the afternoon, off to relieve the sitter and share a pizza with two of my grandsons at dinner.
On the way, a couple of tile stops? I think so.

etc.

For those of you who have asked about my kitchen, here are a couple of pictures. We're in, we love it and are actually using it, but it still isn't done. It is very easy to keep neat and clean: notice the relatively uncluttered counters. Of course, all the 5 billion pencils and batteries and staple removers and rubber bands and crap , along with god-knows-what papers and mail and user manuals for appliances I no longer own, are all still downstairs in the basement. Shall I throw them out without looking? Can't do that.I won't even mention the cartons of glasses and pots and baking pans and blah blah blah that are also still downstairs in the guest room. But we have guests coming in June, so I will have to do something. But what?? I am getting along just fine, bringing things up one at a time as I realize I need to use them.

Of course, the kitchen won't be finished till the backsplash is done - my continuing saga, which nobody wants to hear about. Even I am throwing my hands up in despair.

Yesterday, back at the studio(yes, Tall Girl, twice in one week) my studio mates suggested I take one of my fabrics and have it made into tiles. Great idea, but I'd have to intersperse them with bought ones because it is somewhat pricey to make your work into 25 sq. ft of tile. So last night I brought home a couple of pieces to audition them for color. These two have that blue-gray, plus the other end of the spectrum. I am really needing warm colors in that cool kitchen. It is a serene place, but it needs some punch! Too much serenity will do me in - LOL.

Today I worked on a slide presentation and finished my article just in time for the deadline. Tomorrow morning, off I go again, fabrics in hand. And then, I expect to be back in the studio, where there is good light. Anyway, the rent is due.

a flimsy excuse or two

1. The dog ate my blog.
2. My computer was impounded and the blog was locked up.
3. Somebody stole my blog.
4. I forgot how to type.
5. I was abducted by aliens.
6. I had nothing to say.
Well, you get the idea. Which one is the truth? Ha- you'll never know. I took a self-imposed, although unplanned, vacation to give my brain cells a rest. I haven't either posted or read any blogs. I've been writing an article, getting ready for my all-star début at market in Portland, and looking in vain for backsplash tile. That sums it up: Wasn't that boring? Now you know why I haven't bothered to post.

But I am back from mental vacation, although not quite caught up. And I am finally, finally in the studio for which I pay rent every month but have hardly used since January. Let's hope the second half of the year will be more productive, at least in a way that does not involve paperwork.

So far, this afternoon, I've been busy going back into some of the less happy pieces of cloth I have made. And because my battery charger has turned up by some miracle after much too long, I'm documenting. So, here's a work in progress.

1. Original piece of printed fabric. This next exercise is called "couldn't leave well enough alone."
2. I printed several other things on top of the grid, then decided I hated them so I discharged, which made it even worse. Then I printed those ugly circles which compounded the felony. So, by this time, I am blocking out parts of the circles for the next step.
3. A rather unsuccessful attempt at more discharge, which I then painted back into. Except it washed out.
4. Here is what this cloth looked like when I brought it into the triage unit today.

5. And here is what it looks like now, after another bout of treatment.

I will let it sit while I go back to some of the other patients. I promise to keep you posted.

New fabrics from Helene Davis

Now that Paducah's gearing up for the big show, it's time for you to visit Helene Davis' new site.
You'll find the latest scoop on Helene, her fabrics, her quilts, and her awards, from her biggest fan -- an artist in his own right. Aha - I see that Helene and Bob have been doing shibori - and from the details, I can see that they are unique! I got to Helene's new website from this post on a really interesting blog from another Paducah artist.

Wish I could be there - but I'm doing my usual 300 things between teaching trips and still dealing with the kitchen. Right now I am stuck in the basement waiting for the first two coats of polyurethane to dry on the first floor. Back later.

shifting gears

This morning, Rachel and I went to pick up work from four of the Studio Six artists who had exhibited at the Mikhail Zakin Gallery in Demarest, NJ. One of Rachel's pieces sold (hooray!) and the newspaper write-up was very flattering to the show. Thanks to all of you who came to see the exhibit and who left such nice comments on my blog and in the guestbook. I hope we get another opportunity in a couple of years to exhibit there again. What beautiful space!

We treated ourselves to lunch and then I dragged Rachel to the tile store because I am still dithering about the backsplash (well, if you make a mistake, it is an expensive and permanent one) and needed to look at the tiles again. I narrowed them down and brought home two samples -- but one is not even a contender. Guess which one is out of the race?

The light in the kitchen is dim at best, and I didn't even try to rev up the contrast for this blog post. Still dithering but gettting there.

One note on the topic of "what do you call yourself?". A few years ago I responded to a call for art from a corporation who wanted to display (without renting, of course) art in its lobby.
When the woman in charge asked me what medium I worked in, I unfortuately responded "art quilts." The response? "Oh, no, we want REAL art, like photography." That was the last time I made THAT mistake. I offered to send images but she was not interested. End of story. This morning I had a Google Alert; my profile and some of my images turned up on a website gallery for the Women's Action Network...under mixed media. Oh, good.

idling in neutral

Intrigued by the results that came out of the shibori classes at Breaking New Ground and sorry that I had not been able to take them, I decided to do some experimenting of my own with clamping. Here are a couple of the results from yesterday's experiments. Forgive the fuzzy pictures, I just couldn't get the camera to hold still. This was a hideous piece of orange fabric. The dark dye is a combination of whatever I had lying around - black, chino, and one of the reds. I like the way they broke down and I obviously need to do more of this.This started as white fabric. I forgot about it till a few minutes ago, when I tooked it out of the dye bath. My camera can't seem to focus tonight. After having spent two weeks with my friend Marlene who was here visiting from England, I realized that we hadn't taken a picture of the two of us. So, just before we left for the airport I handed the camera to Marty, who snapped this picture.We had spent the entire day at home in the basement, screening, dyeing, working with soy wax, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The above pieces were what I managed to get done.

Later on Wednesday...

Conference is over, classes are done, and Marlene and I are back from another too-good, too-big dinner out. Feet up, she is reading and I am here talking to you. We're hoping to sleep later than the requisite 6:30 at which we have been getting up since Saturday. But we shall see. Tomorrow, the 2 hour drive home and a hectic rest of the week till she leaves Sat. night. It has been lovely.

IN THE MEANTIME... my class was lively and creative and they said they could have used one more day. Ah, well, best to leave 'em wanting more - LOL.

Judy Dales, known for her amazing curved piecing, decided she might want to use the paints that have been languishing in her cupboards. Although she claimed to be a novice, she clearly has innate talent for design. Here she is cutting freezer paper for a screen print.
This piece was made early in the week - and this one was done today. In between, there were lots of other goodies from everyone. Candy Edgerly produced a ton of beautiful cloth: this is the first of many.
Louise Ludecke had more than a few beauties.
and Kathy Angel Lee...
Too many more to post, but it was very exciting to see the variety and enthusiasm. Now - feet going up for the rest of the evening in this hotel room.

a day behind

Or is it two? Life has sped by in the past two days - full classes, hurried lunches, lovely dinners out in some of Wayne's good (and not-so-good) eating spots. Janet Lasher and Marina Salume were enjoying their dinners Monday night, and so were the rest of us.
This place was so terrific we went back the next night. Any guesses about what this fabulous dish is?

All kinds of good fun going on in the other classrooms - and certainly in mine. Considering that the students ranged from super-experienced to never having done any surface design, everybody turned out some remarkable pieces of cloth. Christine Wellman
Maryann Stewart

Wendy Anderson, who is an expert on digital printing at Philadelphia University but wanted to do some actual printing by HAND...

Margo Clyma, who had not done screen printing before.


Yesterday we discussed everybody's work and brainstormed about whether a particular piece needed more or was done, was a whole-cloth piece or could easily be cut up, etc. Lots of food for thought. Then we went on and got out the soy wax. Some people stayed with paint, others used dyes.

Off to class - more later.

Catching Up and Breaking New Ground

Last Sunday my friend Marlene arrived from London and we spent the week gallivanting. Tuesday we went to the Met to see the Jasper Johns exhibit,which was wonderful. If you are anywhere near NY, you should go see it. For us, at least, it was food for lots of thought.
Afterwards, we walked down 5th Ave. for about 35 blocks till we simply had to take the subway. Along the way, we saw this sign. What do you think it means? Who determines
what noise is unnecessary? Unnecessary for what? Last time I looked, there were no noise police in New York (or, for that matter, anywhere else).

Wed and Thurs we shopped and we still can't decide which was more fun - New York City or the Eileen Fisher warehouse sale in NJ - very successful for Marlene, I might add.

Friday we drove to Wayne, PA for the SDA/SAQA conference and the opening of Art Quilt Elements that night. The place was mobbed and it was almost impossible to see the work properly through the throngs! Pokey Bolton, Karey Breshahan and Linda Fowler were at the opening; I missed Karey but had a chance to spend time chatting with both Pokey and Linda. Too busy, of course, to take pictures - and anyway, I would only have gotten backs of heads.

Saturday's conference sessions ranged from the sublime (Michael Olszewski & Jason Pollen; Susan Brandeis) to the disappointing, but on the whole, it was an exciting and valuable day of networking and discussion.

Sunday, although the buses were intolerably late, we had a day full of art and stimulation in Philadelphia. First stop, the Design Center at Philadelphia University and a fun textile exibit that included a Drunkard's Path made of underwear.
Then, we had an interesting tour of the textile labs at the University, where they learn about everything they need to learn to go into textile design/interior design/fashion design - etc. While they are really into digital printing these days (see examples below)
they still have a hands-on screen printing course. I would KILL for a screen storage system like this - and as many screens on hand.
Later, at the Crane Building downtown, we saw an installation of what looks like my husband's shirts after they have been through the wash. I don't remember what the price was, but maybe there was not one because this installation was priceless.
We finally made it to the fabulous biennial at Snyderman Works. To die-for. Get there if you can!! Outside, a mini-bite of spring.
and a piece of natural street art I couldn't resist.
Philadelphia is always a treat.

at the museum

On Friday, a group of us who normally meet together anyway were at the museum putting in studio time, working on whole cloth. Rachel is going back into her piece and is concentrating so hard that I couldn't resist the photo. I can see that this will be part of a series.

The next day I was back at the museum to give a soy wax workshop. A couple of the participants had worked before in batik, but never with soy wax. Their work was unusually diverse and it was a lot of fun to see some of the results. Wow! A real batik fish!!
Martha's brushwork took a completely different form; here she is about to combine the next screen with some mesh she brought with her.

Janet's piece was done with wax resist and then she added a layer of dye for a more abstract result.
One day was enough for just a taste, but everybody took some something beautiful and interesting.

"I love your work!"

What is the response to this statement? I've heard it at least three times in the past day or two, which is very nice to hear. Over the years, every time someone has told me they love my work, I've said "thank you!" But that is not what I wanted to say; I wanted to ask "What do you love about it?." I never have.

Asking that question is so unexpected that I expect the compliment-giver would be stunned and maybe uncomfortable. I'd be putting him/her on the spot -- because it is unlikely that he/she would have an immediate answer. I empathize with that. What if I told somebody I loved their work and they asked me what I loved about it? In most cases, I'd have to stop and think. Really THINK. Because most of the time, my reaction to someone's work is visceral and then, when I THINK about it (if I ever do) I can figure out what appeals to me about it.
But that takes work - and probably, time and concentration.

Wouldn't YOU like to know, when somebody says "I love your work," what exactly it is they love about it? We're not talking about one particular piece here, this is a statement that speaks to a BODY of work. What is it about your work that evokes that response? Have you ever asked?

I am going to ask the next person who says that to me, because I really want to know. Why don't you do the same? Let's ask "what do you love about it?" and see what happens. In fact, it would be interesting to compare notes -- report back and let's discuss it.

What Kind of Thinker Are You?

Sunday, Monday

Sunday was a quiet day. We both had work to do and since it is still unpleasantly cold and we had no need to go out, we actually got some things done. Marty worked on taxes. I worked on the piece I had started the other day and am now in the midst of quilting it (my least favorite part, of course). It turned out to be quite different -- more orderly than it began -- once I started piecing and trimming and trimming and piecing - but it is bright and cheerful and it will DO for the purpose.


Monday: Goodness, how did it get to be so late? (have you heard this refrain from me before?). My whole day was askew.

In the more-than-you-want-to-know category: This morning I had my annual colonoscopy - a recurring event since my first routine one in 2000 saved my life. If you knew me 7-1/2 years ago, you went through a couple of death-defying years with me - surgery, chemo, and a year and a half till I began feeling human again. But alive and well. If YOU have not had a colonoscopy and you are over 50, please, please don't delay. I had no symptoms and I was stage 3 when my colon cancer was discovered. Had I gone for one even five years earlier, it would have been a totally different story. Get yourself a doctor who will put you out and it's no big deal. In fact, today I told the anesthesiologist that I wished somebody would give me a shot like that every night. LOL.

I slept so well for the 20 min it took that I am now still wide awake. Back to the sewing machine...

I promised

to post again when it was daylight, but here it is again - 9:20 pm Sat, east coast time, and I am just sitting down to write. Sigh...

Art? Ha ha. I am continuing to make a sample that shows commercial & handprints in the same piece. Didn't have a chance all day, but tonight I have gotten to this point. It's done enough for the purpose.
We'll see how it looks when I sew it together. Actually, this is where fusing comes in handy - but I am not in the habit of fusing.

If you ask me where the day went, I will tell you that I spent a good part of it setting up my mother's files in the top drawer, shredding checks, throwing out papers, and paying her bills. This is a big accomplishment, trust me! Here is the file alcove, which has the only working outlet in the kitchen - so of course, electric kettle is there for the time being. The file drawers came in wrong, so the handles for the right hand drawers are waiting. The holes in the wall have to be patched so I can put up the corkboard backsplash. Maybe Monday??
The bottom drawer will be for my files, when I get to them. Sooner rather than later, I hope.
File drawers! What a luxury! Almost as good as the decadence of a dedicated ice machine.
If you have spent any length of time in my company, you know that when I am thirsty, nothing will do but a glass of ice. Not water; ice. This is probably a leftover need from all my hospital stays, when they wouldn't let me have water but I could crunch on/suck on ice. It makes me so happy to have this available, you have no idea.

Yesterday, the majority of the cookbooks went onto a couple of shelves between the pantry doors.Today, during a much-needed break from the filing, I put a few of my beloved vintage tins on the shelves above the sink. Oh, joy. They have been put away for far too long. I think my love of graphics and text is connected to the old advertising signs and tins I started collecting back in the 1960's - when they were $1.50 -$4.00 because nobody wanted them. The two tins on the bottom shelf are my real tea tins: the Lipton one on the left came home from India with my ex-husband; the one on the right is, I think, a repro and contains decaf tea. That is all a repro deserves to hold, as far as I am concerned.
I especially get a kick out of the Maxwell House coffee tin on the right. Never opened, it is still full of coffee and the key is still on the bottom of the tin. This is the way coffee came when I was growing up; I can still smell the fragrance when the key got all the way around and opened the can. Do you think the contents are still fresh after being vacuum-packed for almost 60 years?
Enough for now. For those of you who are celebrating Easter tomorrow, enjoy your day.