Second Time Around

It only blooms once, at night, then I must wait a year for the next. Well, I missed the bloom again. Twice bloomed, struck out both times. Will you remind me next year to be on the lookout?

Bonnett of Pins

Angela Ellsworth's bonnett is made with straight pins used for holding corsages. It is striking, and deep in meaning, and just compelling at any depth. Glad that the Memorial Art Gallery chooses to display this.

Finger Lakes Exhibition

The 64th Finger Lakes exhibition is on at the Memorial Art Gallery, and tonight I took a look. Having boycotted for the past few years, I am reminded again why I did. No art hanging resembled work that was fiber/textyile in nature, and the few that might be construed, were cleanly framed or mounted. Might not bother with the 65th.

Ta-Da. Design Walls

Well, this is not glamorous, but here it is. After much fiddling with the track (using two standard closet brackets) I have hung six doors fitted with backerboard, batting, and soft flannel material. Now to get out the pins and get going.

Meanwhile, In the Front Yard

While working on the studio design walls, this is my distraction. You saw the root ball of this tree, but I thought you would like to see how friend Jerry helped to uproot the Hawthorn tree with a slow drag behind his truck. And don't you love the no-dig method?

Design Walls from the Ugly Side

Adding felting, or a soft grabby fabric like knitted polyester, to the front of the hollow core doors was done with an electric staple gun. Heck, it was about $30 and worth each hit. Even easier is to have someone help you. They are priceless.

Backyard With Dye Pots

Getting fabric ready for shibori dye, I have painted, but not fixed, dye to pfd cotton. I'll wrap the poles with these fabrics later this fall for the shows ahead.

Design Wall Brackets

My design walls will slide on common sliding door (think closet door) hardware, and the rolling brackets are fixed to the top edge. Any door works, but the hollow core doors I found for $11 each at the lumberyard bargain bin  fit just fine.

Design Walls

The new design walls are slowly taking shape. I have hollow core doors that will have a backer board material (used behind shingles when siding a house) glued on, then covered with batting, then flannel sheeting. The backer board is a dense fiberboard, easier to pin than homosote, but denser than foam board. Cheaper as well.

Seen in the Stall

I am so used to die cut lettering that this hand painted sign took me by surprise. And made me realize that my iodine piece is waiting to be dealt with. But, got to love this sign I saw at the coffee shop at the public market today.

Thorn Tree Gone

Progress in the yard means that the Hawthorn or Thornapple tree is now waiting for the city to pick up for composting. I won't miss the thorns. And now to dream what will take its place. Magnolia?

Between the Locks

The fact that there is an awning makes this so much more believable as a hanging sign, don't you think? It sits between locks 2 and 3 in Seneca Falls, New York.

Walk at the Falls

Along the gorge was this nice composition of rock, earth and roots. Those lines of the roots are just what I am interested in. At Taughannock Falls in Trumansburg.

Smelling Roses

Okay, summer is a time for taking time. Out to pick blueberries, and I am the shadow on the right.

Three Studies with Triangles

Jeanne tried some works using half square triangles. The smallest used solid fabric, the second, and mid-sized, was a random assembly. The third had a restriction in the amount of fabric. Were it on my wall, it might take forever to decide -- as that half-square is too much fun to rearrange. I know.

Time to Gather

Each month the Peeps get together to discuss current work, to encourage and provoke thought. Glad we could arrange the day, and glad to have a sounding board. Have you got one?

Germ of an Idea

This small sketch (see the key for comparison) will be used to make a larger draft for a piece. It is painted paper, fabric, and some plain printed paper. But this is the one that will be the start. And now I have two dozen more for ideas as well.

Drawing Circles

I use circles a lot. And my friends know I am a fool for polka dots. A young friend reminded me that that circle is one of the first shapes you make. Here she is "painting" my deck. But the circle is to there.

Poster Holder Idea

The Little Theater has always had great ideas for design and their new poster holders are part of the industrial look that works well here. Atop a slab of steel (?) is the poster held down by a rod on the bottom and top edge. So simple, so wing nutty. 

Surface Layered and Stitched

Terrie Hancock Mangat makes quilts like no one else. Up close, I could see the rich surface, embellished with anything that fancied her pallette. This pic was taken a few months back while I was out in Santa Fe. Seems like another world ago.

Blobby Plants

Whatever soil I put in that pot, it must have been good, because this sweet potato vine is getting ready to sit down permanently. Beside that, I like the composition of this pic (not that it has that Deidre Adams quality) because it has that round vs. square thing going.

Tree Hydrangea in Full Bloom

I left a tree hydrangea behind at my old house, only to inherit this one in my front yard. It is spectacular, and a hit with all the bees.

Four Square Sketch

The piece is am making is 11 feet tall, and the design can be more complex. So, I have combined my sketches to add more elements, as well as change the scale. They are paper and fabric sewn on cardstock.

Twenty-five Sketches

Paper and cloth are sewn to a cardstock to form a sketch for a piece I would like to make. Of these, I might like two. So, tomorrow morning, with fresh energy, I will do more.

Money Crazy

On display at the Seward House, this vest must have a reason to be there. But that escaped me, for all I see is what might be a leather war vest, "sequined" with Chinese coins. It may have been collected by Seward during his visit to Alaska. I just like the rows of dots.

Sandra's Sky

A few weeks ago the sky put on a show. Although I missed it, Sandra caught the drama. She admits to pulling over the car and snapping over and over to record the image. This is what art does, it stops you in your track, letting you know that something visual has meaning and memory.

More Gardens, Glad Ones

I love gladiolas. I carried them as my bouquet when I was married in 1986. These are in the Unitarian church's extensive gardens, and happens to be a couple of blocks away from my new house. Now, my garden needn't be so large -- I have this one.

Garden of Sculpture

Summer months have our garden group out touring. Tonight was a special treat, and we visited a sculptor's garden. I felt I was walking into a collage, through his wonderful compositions. A city garden, this one is filled with shape, texture, and form that is way beyond the norm.