Today was the day to take the car in for service before I head out for the quilt show next week. I dread doing things like this, not because they are so horrible or hard, but because I never had to worry about car maintenance before my dearly departed husband rode off to his great reward. A little bit of guilt creeps in when I realize I miss him most these days when I have to handle these things that he always did for me. Oh, well, I know he is up there getting a great deal of enjoyment out of my uncomfortableness. I worry about embarrassing myself with my lack of knowledge, hoping I don't ask stupid questions or fail to mention something that I should. I needn't work myself up about it because the dealership service department is nothing but kind and helpful, but I also dread that I might get a lecture about how poorly I've taken care of my car. That says a lot about me - I really hate lectures, even when I deserve them.
I decided to take a magazine to read while I waited. I'm dreadfully behind on my Antiques subscription - October 2005 issue being the next one on top of the pile. I figured I wouldn't be able to concentrate on any "heavy" reading and the first part of this magazine is mostly pictures of paintings and furniture, jewelry and decorative things featured in ads or the museum notes. Those ads have exposed me to more good art than anything else I've had around the house, and studying their compositions as well as designs/motifs on the other items often helps me with my own textile art ideas.
An ad featuring a Raymond Jonson watercolor (Pictographic Composition No.17, 1947) caught my eye. Yesterday I read Lisa Call's blog featuring another of her sketches she is calling her Plains series. The similarities were striking. So when I finally got home from running my errands, I did not do what I'd planned to do on the computer, but instead tried to find this painting online. I couldn't find it anywhere, but found others of his works and was totally blown away. This is an artist I had not run into before, so I spent quite a bit of time following links to find out more about him and to see as many of his pieces as I could find. His style and subject matter really speaks to me and I think I could learn a lot by studying him. So this particular sidetrack was a very good thing.
If you would like to be similarly sidetracked, this link will take you to a biographical sketch: http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/exhibits/abstraction/jonson.html; while this one will take you to a links page to view his work: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/jonson_raymond.html I also had good luck using the search engine clusty.com, then clicking on pictures.
This wasn't my only sidetrack of the day. I decided to stop in at Hancock Fabrics to see what adhesives they carried. Remember my so far unsuccessful search for a glue to stick foil to fabric and still be able to sew through it all? Well Hallelujah! They had two of the ones on my list, so I am hopeful one of them will do the trick (and one goal for the week met). The sidetrack came though before I even got back to the adhesives section. It's been a long time since I've been in any kind of a fabric store and I found myself doing "the float," eyeing the rows of fabrics with hand brushing over them, perusing the wall displays, considering a piece of poly-rayon in luscious browns that could serve as a wonderful lining to a jacket or purse, spotting a basket on top of that round with discounted remnants of shantung silk...Ack! Silk!!! I'm a sucker for silk and it's so much easier when it's discounted AND I don't have to decide on how much to get. One cream, one tan, both usable with the rayon, oh, I really should not. But of course you know I did. They surely can go into my art if not into a piece of clothing or a special handbag. Yes, even after my bad experience with the three pocket purse, I want to experiment with other patterns. So I also found myself eyeing the purse accessories - magnetic snaps, cords for straps - Oh, my god get me out of here!!! But not before I'd purchased $50 worth of fabric and supplies and greased those balky creative wheels in my mind!
I decided to take a magazine to read while I waited. I'm dreadfully behind on my Antiques subscription - October 2005 issue being the next one on top of the pile. I figured I wouldn't be able to concentrate on any "heavy" reading and the first part of this magazine is mostly pictures of paintings and furniture, jewelry and decorative things featured in ads or the museum notes. Those ads have exposed me to more good art than anything else I've had around the house, and studying their compositions as well as designs/motifs on the other items often helps me with my own textile art ideas.
An ad featuring a Raymond Jonson watercolor (Pictographic Composition No.17, 1947) caught my eye. Yesterday I read Lisa Call's blog featuring another of her sketches she is calling her Plains series. The similarities were striking. So when I finally got home from running my errands, I did not do what I'd planned to do on the computer, but instead tried to find this painting online. I couldn't find it anywhere, but found others of his works and was totally blown away. This is an artist I had not run into before, so I spent quite a bit of time following links to find out more about him and to see as many of his pieces as I could find. His style and subject matter really speaks to me and I think I could learn a lot by studying him. So this particular sidetrack was a very good thing.
If you would like to be similarly sidetracked, this link will take you to a biographical sketch: http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/exhibits/abstraction/jonson.html; while this one will take you to a links page to view his work: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/jonson_raymond.html I also had good luck using the search engine clusty.com, then clicking on pictures.
This wasn't my only sidetrack of the day. I decided to stop in at Hancock Fabrics to see what adhesives they carried. Remember my so far unsuccessful search for a glue to stick foil to fabric and still be able to sew through it all? Well Hallelujah! They had two of the ones on my list, so I am hopeful one of them will do the trick (and one goal for the week met). The sidetrack came though before I even got back to the adhesives section. It's been a long time since I've been in any kind of a fabric store and I found myself doing "the float," eyeing the rows of fabrics with hand brushing over them, perusing the wall displays, considering a piece of poly-rayon in luscious browns that could serve as a wonderful lining to a jacket or purse, spotting a basket on top of that round with discounted remnants of shantung silk...Ack! Silk!!! I'm a sucker for silk and it's so much easier when it's discounted AND I don't have to decide on how much to get. One cream, one tan, both usable with the rayon, oh, I really should not. But of course you know I did. They surely can go into my art if not into a piece of clothing or a special handbag. Yes, even after my bad experience with the three pocket purse, I want to experiment with other patterns. So I also found myself eyeing the purse accessories - magnetic snaps, cords for straps - Oh, my god get me out of here!!! But not before I'd purchased $50 worth of fabric and supplies and greased those balky creative wheels in my mind!
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