Moss & Lichen

I Be Dancin'!

And not because I've won a prize, or had a piece accepted into a show, but because I spent a big chunk of the day in the studio starting a new piece. And it felt great! I cranked up the stereo (something I rarely could do when I lived in the fourplex), got out fabric set aside a long time ago with thoughts of making a fall-themed wall quilt, did some calculations and dived it. Above is the test block surrounded by all the rest of the pieces I cut today, enough to make 56 pinwheel blocks.

Not sure where this is going. My original idea has morphed along with my interests and skills. I thought I'd incorporate a newer batik bought last year, but when put next to these fabrics, it was clear I needed to stay with my original leaf fabric. The idea comes from a tablerunner pattern, of all things, but I liked its use of this pinwheel block coupled with the fall fabrics. The blocks may end up being the border, or they may end up being the center. I may make more blocks with the larger triangle in green, or I may just stick with this. Eventually, birch trunks will be appliqued in the center.

I enjoyed the relaxed pace I found myself working at. No pressure in terms of deadline. This is for me so no pressure to make a great work of art. I found myself dancing to the music as I worked - yes, a happy dance. I could have incorporated some speed techniques, but I opted not to. That way I can take my time, think about how the colors are working, better control the mottling of the hand-dyed fabric. The two rusts I'm using are very similar, and depending on the cut, can have very little or quite a bit of contrast. The finished size of these blocks is 3-1/2" and I hope I don't get bored making so many of them.

More leaf printing

Does leaf printing count as time in the studio, even if it takes place in the kitchen? That's the trouble with getting too literal about things. When I added "3 days in the studio" to my goals, I must admit my mind was envisioning 3 days in that very room, and by default, 3 days sewing or cutting or embellishing. But painting or dyeing will never take place in there, yet they definitely count toward "working." So I guess I need to expand my mind to include the kitchen as part of the studio...Here I am set up on the kitchen table with commercial batik, sheers, leaves & paint.

I worked exclusively with Liquetex acrylics today, adding textile medium and mixing a few colors of my own to more closely resemble the colors of the willow leaves I had on hand. I used camel hair brushes this time, instead of the foam brush, and I think I like the way it applied the paint better. I didn't apply the paint thickly enough on the first few tries but got more consistent as I went along. I thought these acrylics were opaque, but apparently not. You can see one white leaf that was printed over with brown. Or was it the other way around? No telling as the white showed through the brown.

Printing on sheers was an idea that came from Margaret. I'd never thought of it on my own, I'm sure. I rather liked the effect. I suspected there'd be bleed-through, so I tried laying the sheer - really kind of a netting - over the batik.


Here's the netting after printing...


And here's the batik with the bleed-through. Very nice, although hard to see on this particular fabric. I decided after the fact that this was too busy for these colors.



This is a polyester Georgette. It was difficult getting the paint the right consistency to work on this. The effect changed depending on what the georgette was laid on.

I'm not sure what this is but it is the densest sheer of the group. No bleed-through to speak of. Not sure I'm happy with the colors & positions of the leaves, but I liked the way the leaf prints worked on this particular fabric.

Immortality

Every experience deeply felt in life needs to be passed along - whether it be through words and music, chiseled in stone, painted with a brush, or sewn with a needle, it is a way of reaching for immortality.

Thomas Jefferson

I remember the exact moment I decided what I wanted to be remembered for, my little bit of immortality. I was 39, worked full time, had prominent roles in several worthy organizations, and was childless by choice. I'd dabbled off and on with patchwork over the years, along with other needlecraft, but I'd recently hand-quilted a top appliqued by my mother-in-law as a wedding gift for her daughter. I had little time to make tops but could always fit handwork into my schedule, while she found the hand quilting process bothered her neck and gave her headaches, but appliqueing did not. We struck a deal, and by the time I finished that double-bed size quilt, I not only knew this handcraft was what I wanted to devote my time to above all else, I also knew that my quilts were what I wanted to be remembered for.

I felt this was quite a departure from what everyone else I knew thought was important - what might end up in an obituary to describe one's life. Civic leadership, career achievement and advancement, even children were all the ways others planned to define success in their lives. Not me. I wanted something a little more tangible, a little more lasting, something that, even if the link between me and it were lost, someone in the future might pause over it in awe, wonderment, appreciation or just enjoyment.

It wasn't long after that epiphany that I got the opportunity to quit my job, learn my craft and start amassing a legacy. Some quilts have already gone to new owners - relatives, friends, the needy. Some I will always keep for my own enjoyment and hope they go to appreciative homes after I'm gone (yeah, I know - make a list and get it in the will). The more recent twist in the legacy making is wanting to make quilts that may sell, going to a different type of appreciative audience than I originally envisioned. It's been an exciting journey, and I don't regret my decision to start down this path, forgoing the more typical means of "reaching for immortality."

Goals for Week of Nov 13

I decided two things yesterday as I thought about goals for this week. One was that I needed to get into high gear on these placemats. A look at the calendar jogged me to the realization that Thanksgiving is next week, so completing the placemats couldn't be left for later in the week, in spite of the fact I planned to do the leaf printing today. So I got down to work today and got the two layered and turned pillowcase style, then machine quilted. Quick and dirty and the set of four with tablerunner are packaged, ready to mail tomorrow.

The other thing I decided was that in addition to individual goals, I needed to set a goal for time spent in the studio. I've been undisciplined for so long that re-establishing some discipline in my work habits is a bit of a challenge, especially since discipline is not one of my strong suits. I've fallen back into bad habits and mindsets not conducive to doing the sort of focused and intense work I'd envisioned for my first year out here. Time to get serious and schedule time in the studio, regardless of how it is used.

I no doubt am thinking along these lines because I am re-reading "Art and Fear," a slim but meaty book every aspiring artist should read. In the first few chapters I am reminded that all the misgivings we struggling artists have about our talent and our work are no different from any artist be they amateur, professional, genius or not. In other words, time to suck it up and get to work, because everything we need to learn to move forward can be found in our current piece. I like that thought, and in fact know it to be true from my journey with traditional quilts. Why I'd think it would be any different with my art quilt journey , I don't know.

So here are my goals for the week:

1. Finish placemats (done!)
2. Print batik and sheers with willow leaves
3. Spend minimum of three days in the studio

As an aside, I noticed two things while working on the placemats. One is that the room has a disturbing echo - nothing on the walls yet and no curtains on the windows either to soak up sound. Will have to get those design wall flannels up soon. The other is that I get great natural light falling just right where I position myself to work at the ping pong table. As I looked up, I noticed that although I'm looking at the landlord's vacation home, now that the leaves have fallen off the trees, I can see through them to the lake and mountains beyond. And yes, that's snow on the mountains.

Curves, light, reflection

I planned to leaf print this afternoon, but only got as far as getting everything out and set up. My lower back is giving me grief so instead of pictures of leaf prints, here are more pictures taken last week.

The lake has been drawing down for weeks now, exposing mudflats which the ducks, geese, heron & swans don't seem to mind. Every day the level goes down a bit more, changing the landscape, changing the curves.


Shafts of light were prevelent that day.

One of the things that has always fascinated me about this area is the way the sun plays along the mountainside, creating ever-shifting patches of gold against the shadowy forests.

Clouds and mountains took turns reflecting in the water.

Texture

I promised to share some of the pictures I took around the property on Sunday. Once the fog of relocation cleared, I noticed several birch trees over by the landlord's house. With leaves gone, it was clearer that they were there, if that makes sense. They are unlike the slender white-barked birches I avidly studied back in Wisconsin. See sample here.

These weren't the only kind of birches in my neighborhood though. Before moving, I took this picture to reference a birch with a different look. It interested me because the shape and horizontal lines in the bark made it look bottom heavy to me, ponderous as opposed to lithe and souring. This is the type of birch here on the property with trunks that are stouter and straighter, bark less starkly white.

Here's the Idaho version. At first I was shooting to capture basic lines and shapes, then zeroing in closer to capture texture. Some shots I concentrated on composition too as it occurred to me it would be good practice. Much can be learned about composition with a camera. Not telling which shots are which! And as always, you can click on a picture to see a larger view.

As so often happens when snapping away, I was missing some subtle details at first. Like the flesh-color undertones of the trunk, and the delicate green of lichen and moss. I lowered the camera and stepped forward for a closer look.



Then I looked up at the branches. Even more texture going on there as bark curled and lichen multiplied.





These last two are of a different type of tree - not sure what but it had fruit when I first arrived. The upper portion had rough angular texture...



...The lower portion a different look.


Don't know where these images might show up in my work, but it seemed important to capture them for future reference.

It's alive!

And humming along contentedly, as am I, while dog also seems contented if the sighs, moans and snoring are any indication.


Gosh, it's good to be back at the machine, even if what I'm doing isn't rocket science. I was right about the placemats being a good entry point to getting back to work. No decisions to be made, just simple half log cabin construction to remind me of how it goes and to make sure the machine is working fine. It seems to be sewing better, oddly enough. Maybe we both needed a rest.

I was further along on the samples than I thought. Instead of two placemats left to piece, I only had one. The other was done except for adding the border strips. Here they are ready to layer and quilt.


And here's that Sunbonnet Sue fabric that is cute, but just not me.


There's a hunk of it left - I'll probably send it along with the placemats and tablerunner in case the recipient wants to make hotpads or something. Too bad I can't actually alter it like I can on the computer. See what Sue can do when manipulated.

Goals for Week of November 6th

Yes, shocking I know. I bet you forgot (or perhaps never knew) that I used to post weekly goals. I gave up on that in August when the upheaval from the impending September move got too much, and it was obvious that creative work was not going to happen.

But that's all behind me now, I'm feeling fairly settled and complacent, and it's high time I discipline myself again. Took me no time to located the "Project Lists/Weekly Goals" notebook, and I decided to check the project list first. I'm not only miles from where I compiled that list, I feel light years away from it as well. Not going to amend it or worry about it or even think about it right now. I know what I want to do over the next few weeks, whether or not it's on the list, and I'll worry about how much of the old list is still relevant much much later.

Then I flipped to the last goals entry and was a little shocked to see August 7th. I know I didn't quit sewing then, just quit setting the goals, but my, again that seems so very long ago, another lifetime ago. Odd.

I do remember the weeks when I felt it necessary to keep my goals simple, and the weeks when I needed to push myself more. This week feels like a "keep it simple" week, since the studio isn't totally set up yet. In fact, that could be one of my goals for the week, but I'm leaving it off for now. Instead, I'm going to ease back into sewing and goal setting with two simple things. First, I'm digging out the pre-cut strips and pattern from a placemat class I taught. I like the Lover's Knot pattern a lot and even designed and made a matching table runner. Two of four placemats were finished in the course of teaching the class and two are left to make. These are not for me, although I could really use some new placemats. Just not these, with their pumpkins and sunbonnet sue fabric - fabrics I had to use to keep the shop owner happy. One of the on-going frustrations that convinced me to give up teaching. However, I think I know just the person who would really like them and use them, so I want to get the set finished up in order to present them in time for Thanksgiving. Yup, I'd better get on it.

That's all I was going to put on the list, but apparently, the willow leaves have been feeling left out, that I've been paying too much attention to the maple and oak leaves. They think I should work with them. I started noticing a few willow leaves on the ground over by the landlord's house - no willows near my house - last week and that jogged my memory about the willow series I started, then put on the back burner. (See the inaugural quilt here.) Not now, I thought, later much later. But the willows apparently don't agree. It's been pretty windy and they've taken the opportunity to fly up onto my lawn. Still I ignore them. This morning, I find them covering my porch. Alright already! Guess there's no reason I couldn't gathered up a bunch, get the paints back out and do some more leaf printing. I'd planned to try stamping with homemade willow leaf stamps, but printing with the actual leaves is even better. So yes, an assortment of willow leaves are now bagged, and I'm adding leaf printing the fabric for the next in the series to my goals for the week.

Getting closer...

...and I sense the need to get back to setting weekly goals. I've been drifting a bit in general from lack of making lists. Last night, I thought about what needed to get done this week and realized that completing the unpacking and setup of the studio had finally risen to the top of my priority list. I'm finally feeling some urgency to get back to work, and I can only do that with a working studio.

And I'm nearly there. All boxes but one are now emptied and almost everything put away. I need to hang a few things and get my design wall flannel up, but I could work on something tomorrow if I so desired. I've thought from the start there were certain things I could work on without benefit of a design wall, for instance, so total set-up would not have to be a prerequisite to getting back to work.

I was reminded of this again when my brother, drawing on his own experience, cautioned against the temptation represented by "this beautiful empty space" with "a chance to set up a shop the right way" and how long that might keep one from doing any serious work. I don't have to deal with insulating and wiring and some of the other things he wanted to do to make his workspace perfect. All the same, I know exactly what he meant when he concluded, "I just felt that setting up the perfect workshop could easily turn into a grand procrastination that would take on a life of its own." As queen of procrastination, I hardly need more excuses for dilly dallying.

By the way, I had another chuckle at the expense of my movers and the way they labeled some boxes:


"Plastic sewing bds" are of course my rotary cutting mats, and "plastic measure angles" are my acrylic rotary rulers, some of which are indeed angled. No chuckles about the job they did though. Not one ding on any furniture and not one broken or chipped anything. I was very specific about those mats and rulers, having heard some horror stories, and they did a superb job of packing everything to avoid damage. Thanks guys!

One thing that can't be avoided though is this:


The edges of a ping pong table are very rough - at least mine are. I've solved the problem by covering them with a vinyl tape. Unfortunately, over time the adhesive breaks down and is easily damaged. So after each move, I find I have to remove some or all of the tape and re-apply new. It's not a fun job, but once done, I can work without fear of snagging delicate fabric.

Local Holiday Art Market

Yesterday was a gift weather-wise - a sunny, relatively warm day wedged between two wet ones. I spent part of the afternoon outside filling three more bags with leaves, then walking about the property taking advantage of the air washed clear of the usual smoky haze to capture interesting light patterns, views and textures on camera. Will share some of those later.

But first I headed over to the Pend Oreille Arts Council Holiday Art Market (note no mention of craft here). I've been wanting to add some serving bowls to my everyday dishes for a long time, and I had no problem finding something that I liked. On the left are two bowls bought long ago with my plates behind, and on the left are my two new bowls, made by Diane Simons of Sunnyside Pottery here in Sandpoint.


Diane and several others at the market also exhibit their wares at Pottery Place Plus in Spokane, WA. This cooperative gallery of "fine craft artisans" was founded by a group of potters, but now includes other media such as wood, metal and fiber. It's a place I definitely want to check out - perhaps a place where I can display my own wares some day? You never know.

The market included 65 artists, some coming from several hours away. In addition to ceramics, the usual offerings of paintings, photography and jewelry were well represented, and a bit of wood carving, basket weaving, candles and food items were also in evidence. Two booths had quilty items, which surprised me. I'm talking log cabin wall hangings, potholders and placemats with a calico feel - more craft than art. At least three booths had fiber - silk scarves that had been painted, dyed or batiked, scarves woven from alpaca, artistic and tasteful garments and handspun yarns - all out of my price range but tempting all the same. I had to keep reminding myself that, with the exception of the yarns and weaving, it was stuff I could (or should) be able to create myself. Still, the level of artistry was very high - beautiful pieces. What I did not see was any fiberart or textile art for the wall.

I had another motive for attending this market besides shopping and checking out the local art scene. I was curious to see if this was a selling venue I should consider for my own work. I've done the arts & crafts fairs before with hand-dyed fabric and found them not the best place for that sort of thing. Now I want to sell individual pieces of art so suspected this type of venue would not suit me or my current interests. As I cruised the aisles, noting how much stock was still in each booth just hours from closing and imagining how I would have to work to make participating worth my while, my suspicions were confirmed. This sort of thing just isn't a good fit for how I want to work right now.

Hidden treasure

The studio is almost unpacked (although much remains on the ping pong table, waiting for me to choose its final resting place). I decided to see if I could consolidate the contents of two battered boxes into a single newer one, and look what I discovered at the bottom of one of those boxes.


These are all silk. I've been looking for the center blue one since the last time I moved six years ago. I'd bought it when my mother-in-law took me to the Gunne Sax outlet in San Francisco 15 years or more ago. It was destined to become a dress, but obviously that never happened. Instead, I found myself contemplating using it for jacket lining as I purchased some screen-printed panels and black silk in a booth at an AQS show in 2001. But do you think I could find it once I got home? I knew exactly which box it was in, yet it wasn't there. I tried other boxes, a footlocker; I'd given it up for lost, sure I'd exhausted all the possible hiding places for it. Apparently, I did not look in this particular box, or if I did, didn't dig deep enough. Labeled "Handkerchiefs/old clothes" I can see why I might not have bothered. I must have done some re-organizing prior to that move and failed to relabel the boxes, thus out-smarting myself.

The other silks are leftovers from yardage that did make it into clothing, with enough to spare for something else. Didn't get far on that either, did I? But the fact that I had other plans for them explains why they were squirreled away separately from the smaller silk leftovers I've kept more available.


At the very bottom of the pile was this bag. Mmm, what could be in here?


Well, obviously fabric I planned to make into a blouse. Neatly wrapped no less.


And here it is - not one, but two pieces of silk! It is vaguely coming back to me now (which tells you how long I've had these if the memory is only vague). Gala Fabrics is a store I discovered in Victoria, B.C. in the late 1980's. It was run by an older Chinese gentleman who was a tailor in Hong Kong before immigrating to Victoria. He carried more silk than I'd ever seen in one place, and was very helpful as I tried to decide what to buy and how much to get. I remember being surprised that he mostly carried Italian silks, not Chinese silks. On subsequent visits to Victoria, I always stopped in to pick up a piece or two. These, I'm sure, are from my last visit - probably in 1992. I couldn't resist checking to see if the store is still there and sure enough it is. And wouldn't you know, they're now carrying cottons "suitable for quilting and crafting" as well as their signature silks. Go here to learn the history and current status of this family business now in its third generation of operation.

So does any of this old silk qualify as vintage yet? And what shall I do with it now?