silent sunday - 11/25/12

proverbial pain in the neck

i've been rather quiet this week because i have been unable to do much stitching. aside from doubles at the cottage, i have also managed to pinch a nerve or something in my neck and haven't been able to move much without excruciating pain. even sitting here trying to type this brief message is exacerbating the problem. my trusty tens unit is helping but i will be more than relieved when the kink works itself out!

meanwhile, i was playing around with overlaying some old sketches on that recent background cloth and am rather fond of this one...

but for now i need to step away from the computer and give my neck a rest.

namaste'

silent sunday - 11/18/12

just continuing...

working a string of 70+ hour work weeks in the cottage leaves little time for much else but sleep, so i'm just continuing to stitch some neutral backgrounds of rust-dyed cottons, linens and silk blends stashed in a small linen bag to help fill the between time with something useful. i would like to start in on something more. or continue something else more. but mostly am too tired to think. to tired to listen to the whispers. so, for the moment, i am just continuing thusly...

namaste'

hellcat has arrived!

i am so stoked! my new tim armstrong hellcat guitar arrived today!  it is a stunning fender guitar based on tim armrstrong's beat-up old sixties acoustic on which he writes all the songs for the legendary punk band, rancid. of course, my baby is gonna rock out some awesome blues and will probably never know what punk sounds like. ha!

tim added some wicked flair and style with pearl hellcat logo inlays on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th frets, along with a couple of cool skulls on the 12th fret. of course, not to be outdone, i found an amazing canadian hand inlay artist, scott swirski, and commissioned him to make a new truss rod cover for my own personal hellcat made of ebony and mother of pearl. he finished it up over the weekend and it will arrive toward the end of next week (i can hardly wait for it to arrive and can only hope turkey day won't slow delivery down too much).  here's the pic he sent me of the finished truss rod cover:

this sweet guitar even has a pre-amp with a built-in tuner so i'll be able to take it to the clubs and not get lost in the din!  it has a rich, balanced tone with a nice bass line and responds well when played soft and easy with a warm, mellow sound, yet rings loud and clear when you dig in hard and get aggressive!

looks like i might have to get the mic out again and do a little recording...

namaste'

silent sunday - 11/11/12

winter wanders in

it would seem our lovely, prolonged autumn has finally given way to winter. temperatures have dropped into the teens and twenties and six inches of snow fluttered down from the skies to blanket the countryside with glistening wonder.

not all of the leaves have had a chance to make peace with their lives and let go of the branches overhead. but they will find their time, perhaps sooner than they had hoped.

it seems they are not the only ones not quite yet ready for winter to wander in. i still have hoses to wrap and stow away and covers to put in place on the the barbecue and the swamp cooler. not to mention a bit of burrowing into the closet to find warm winter coats and woolen shirts.

i shall be looking forward to spending more time by the fireplace, stitching cloth and watching the cat purr and slumber on his pillow next to the embers as the snow continues to assert itself on what appears to be promising a long, frigid winter...

namaste'

a little background boro

snow has been promised in the next day or two...and the heat is not working in my truck so i passed some time today stitching a little speculative boro background cloth while waiting for the mechanic to call me with news of its repair. stitching together bits of cotton, linen, silk/linen blend, and rust-dyed cotton, all salvaged from clothes and household linens, to create a background for some embroidery.

i have in mind one of two things. either a continuation of calaveras (perhaps this time with wings?) or the beginning of a series of figure studies in cloth and stitch. once this cloth is finished being needled, i'll have to scan it and print a few copies out in color to play with by sketching in some shapes and figures to see what happens...

it's been really freeing of late, not worrying about what i *must* stitch. but, rather, allowing my hands free reign in creating whatever they are inspired to manifest. even if it is *only* a background cloth!

namaste'

it's politickin' time

silent sunday - 11/04/12