Object Identification

Ok, you know how you use things over and over, and can't think of its proper name? I'll have to look up this 12 1/2" square plastic thingie. I'm lining up my leaf's spine with the square's diagonal. Easy.

A Curved Life

 Kobayashi Kiyochika's 1884 work "Ikegami Honomonki Temple," in a detail here, caught me because of the curves in the paper lanterns and the angles of the composition. I see those leaves (curves, angles) everywhere. Maybe why I can't stand up straight.

Redo, Remake, Reinvent

Next week I'll be teaching a class I call "The Skinny Line Leaf." I had a pattern, but never quite warmed to it. So, I've redone the leaf. It will take some improv piecing, skinny lines, and no pins!

Objects in Boxes

"The Admiral's Game" by Joseph Cornell is one of his mysterious boxes. I saw this today at the Memorial Art Gallery, and it brought back my fascination with his collages -- bits of things suspended, placed, fiddled with. His work made it all right to collect and keep objects. I've got boxes too.

Make Mine Silk

Crepe de chine is more difficult to print only in that is is limp, saggy, and moves like a slippery sock. Otherwise, it takes the same dye paste formula, same screens, same methods of printing. And what a lovely hand.

Groundwork

I lay the ground for this piece last night before I left the studio. So, this morning I could screen over "dry" painted thickened dye. It is a different look, and I like to see the variation in how the color I laid underneath is selected by the screen's motif.

Vacation Recovery

Returning home from a road trip out to an earlier time zone (who knew there was one east of EST?) I happened on these anemones that were stressed by 90 degree heat. Me too, so I spent the day in the cool of the studio.

Life Imitates Art

I use circles all the time. So, I was thrilled to find this just waiting for me on a pier at the tip of Cape Breton. Now to replicate this, maybe over and over.

Stop For Art

Nova Scotia Artist Regina Marzlin had work in Antigonish where I stopped to take in her "Crown, Branches, Root." The SAQA family is world-wide, but the community behaves like you lived around the corner. Fun to see this exhibit of hers.

Goin' Coastal

My journey now has me looping up the coast of Cape Breton. Since I was 20, I've dreamed of visiting this island. Now I'll just have to stop dreaming!

Time for Introspection

Maud Morgan, caught in the perfect pose for reflection, has the perfect attitude for any next step. Just lean back and think. My break from the studio continues.

What Goes Around

Maud Morgan's painting "Gold Coast II" was from the early 70s. Her use of the grid, along with the narrow range in tones, reminds me of some early contemporary quilts. Or maybe of some made today in the Modern Quilt vein. What goes around...

I Know It's Fall

A neighbor gave me these pink anemones in trade, and they are my signal that fall is around the corner. Which means I best get all I can out of this late summer weather. You'll have to excuse my taking a break from the studio to drink in autumn's aperitif.

Thank You, Judges.

Artist Row is a juried show held at the Rochester Public Market each year. It's my first year, and they awarded me this for best in my category. As much as I hate to be categorized, I'm thrilled to get this award. It'll go in my trophy room.

Helen Knew What She Was Doing

Helen Frankenthaler's work "Orange Shapes in Frame" (detailed here) in the deCordova Museum was made in 1964. Her experiment with pouring paint on unsized canvas produced figures unlike any others of her time. Had to stop and take in this large scale work. Always clears the brain.

Comparisons, Comparisons

I've been trying some options for a half yard of printed fabric. All work, but there is one that is more dramatic and that's what I'll use. Deadlines for submitting this is soon, so I'd better get going!

Artist Row is Stacking Up

The Rochester Public Market hosts Artist Row each year, and this Sunday I'll be there (for the first time) selling these pillows, my silk scarves, and whole cloth quilts. Functional stuff, baby. Come by and try a pillow toss! http://www.marketfriends.org/artistrow.html

Halloween Dreams?

My 100 meter roll of pdf cotton arrived (in one day), and it was too heavy to haul to the studio. So, I've cut it into yards that are ready to take to soda soak. Let's hope for sun and warm tomorrow to line dry.

Missing the Full Moon

Was I busy? Was it cloudy? Was I fussing with something else? Life happens, and I missed looking up at September's full moon. But it was certainly on my mind.

Oh I Love Those Leaves

My road took me to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum today. A beautiful day and lovely walk around the grounds and lookie! leaves in the grass! Now what is what I say for 'go big or go home.'

Homework Trick

I'm making linen pillows from my"painted" fabric for next weekend's show. I needed to pin the zipper to just one layer of my continuous loop of fabric, so I slid the cutting mat in the middle. Pin away!

Laugh and Tell

Ahead of my lecture for the Herring Run Quilt Guild in Norwell, Massachusetts today was the quild's Show and Tell. They hardly needed  me for entertainment. We howled with laughter at members' first quilts. Honestly, these gals were funny. Thank you for inviting me. Best laugh in a long time.

Work Day, New Big Leaf Day

The Herring Run Quilt Guild in Norwell, Massachusetts had me over for a day of learning how to make freezer paper templates and apply them to a design. The combinations were lovely, and the company just swell. I had a beautiful late summer day with all.

Work Dirty

I'm in the midst of printing, and thought I'd mention I don't mind those bits of dye stuck to the back of the silkscreen. The perfect print would be clean, neat, tidy. I often look for that drip, dribble, fingerprint. For some prints, I want that character, and the distinction that it was hand made.

Remembering

Every year I buy a bunch of glads. They mark an anniversary, and help me look both back and ahead in time. I'll do this forever.

Filling Holes

I've made this element on my silk screen with a pool noodle cut-off for the round, then sliced again for the half moon shape. I'm filling in the center bite with soy wax. This lasts through many washings in cold water, which removes the thickened paste. Hot water takes out the wax.

Gorgeous Water

A hike to the Watkins Glen State Park (you know, where they used to race cars through the main street) and a hike down the gorge only had me thinking about water, water, and getting back to the studio to wash out the waiting prints. Well, almost. I had a relaxing day. I washed in the evening.

Reading the Stacks

I am limited to the amount I can print and hold flat. But, with a bit of creativity, and waiting till the prints are fairly dry and set, I just hang them. Shift, move, hang, set, print. It is all a process.

Garden Pleasure

A friend brought me little tomatoes. I never knew tomatoes like this, so it shows that the second half of my century is when I can (indeed) learn new things.

No Rain Means Get Hanging

I've soda soaked some cotton, some Marimekko printed linen, and some silk crepe de chine to print this weekend. Chances are, it'll rain this weekend. But I won't care. I'll be printing.