luminous language of art

"art washes away from the soul

the dust of everyday life."

-pablo picasso 

kurt vonnegut once said that "to practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. so do it.” in today’s climate, i figure anything that feeds our souls is a worthy pursuit.

i'm trying to be quiet as no one else is up, but my paints and canvas have been whispering a steady lament for some time and I decided it was time to get them out and let them walk around a bit…

namasté

pande…monium

 “i am an artist you know…

it is my right to be mad!”

-e.a. buchianneri

my grasp on this blog has always been tenuous at best. so many avenues with more immediate gratification pulling me in other directions like instagram and facebook. then the pandemic loomed large and out of control. furloughed and depressed, i turned inward, reaching out through those other mediums as they were simpler. faster. required less of me. but is that truly healthy? does it instill creativity? foster artistic growth?

one thing that i have always loved about blogging is that it requires me to look deeper. examine. uncover. share…but with something more. to do so simply for the sake of being honest with myself. more open with myself.

when it comes down to it, i  blog because i want to give that voice a venue in which to whisper. to allow myself the space to see what it is i’m creating from a different perspective…and if that imparts some insight to others, then it is doubly blessed. if nothing else, then at least it shares the inner workings of a madman amidst his creative expressions!

namasté

a jolly little frolic

 “of course there is

a santa claus!”

-truman capote 

taking a break today from all the tiny stitching and having a jolly little frolic through santa’s workshop. stitching a sleepy little santa in his pajamas! he already makes me smile!

fabrics are by tim holtz (except for the skin which is grunge by basicgrey. next up is stuffing and beard making!

namasté

small journies

my favorite thing to do

is go where i've never been

even if only in my imagination

in this strange new world where travel is nearly impossible, or at best inadvisable, we have to find new ways to explore. for me, it has manifested in a series of diminutive stitcheries. tiny worlds filled with stars and moons and bears and hares and trees. story fragments of cobble cloth.

it's amazing, the places and things i've seen while sitting in my studio with a steaming cup of coffee! i wonder where i'll go next? who i might meet?

namaste'

homeward bound beneath a friendly moon

“tragedy doesn’t necessarily change us.
 more often, i think, it just brings out
more of who we are - or were - all along “
-nora roberts  

my dear friends, i know i haven’t been actively posting of late - indeed it’s been so very long that some of you may have forgotten you even followed in the first place - but life rather shook me off my feet a while and i had to set my blog aside, and then of course the longer i left it at rest, the harder it was to summon up the energy to begin again. 

i always thought that i’d come back to it one day. it was here, waiting safe, and appreciated by any of those who still stumbled across it. i had more ideas to share, and no less love for my work. i've made some false starts. perhaps this will be yet another. my hope, however, is that i will be able to fan the spark into a healthy flame once again!

this project roll (pictured above) is my latest endeavour. i started with annie downs’ pattern, “homeward bound”. but i had other ideas for construction, design, and ornament. lol. i always do, don’t i?

i quilted it with decorative stitches from one of my younger vintage machines and carried my bunny under the moon theme to the inside work area, never being one for leaving cloth plain. i also bound the work mat instead of using ricrac. 

it makes for a wonderfully convenient way to transport appliqué and embroidery projects in progress! my modification of using a pool noodle, rather than the called for mailing tube, makes the core a handy pin cushion, too.

with my latest project safely rolled up inside, i’m ready and able to carry it anywhere, even if it’s only from the sewing room to the living room while sheltering in place!

namasté

at home with fragments

“every experience, 

no matter how bad it seems, 

holds within a blessing 

of some kind. 

the goal is to find it.“

-buddha

i got laid off today. the corona virus and the oil price war between russia and saudi arabia have all but shut down the oil industry in the states. of a sudden, i have a lot of time on my hands, so this is happening. a bit of fragment exploration in three dimensions. playing with unusual forms to create old favourites. where will this all lead? i do not know, but it should be fun figuring it out!

namasté

trying a different path

"if plan "a" didn't work out,

the alphabet has 25 more letters."

the apple cores seem beyond my ability to concentrate at the moment. i need something a little less taxing.  a ten thousand pyramid quilt is just the ticket! i have a plethora of small scraps and these tiny two inch triangles are looking pretty awesome.

no plan. no color scheme. just random pulls from the scrap baskets. pull. cut. stitch. repeat. with the first seven rows completed, i'm well on my way to a very large quilt! 

during this covid-19 pandemic and the resulting social distancing and lockdowns, a project like this can be very calming. especially when you just don't want to think for a while...

namaste'

apple cores and snowflakes

fluffy snowflakes are blanketing the view from my studio window. bodhi is dreaming of squirrels and the next door cat, so is unaware of his favorite playtoy romping about outside.

inside, where it is warm, there are tiny little 2" apple cores sitting on my table. ordinarily i would hand stitch these little fragments collected from past projects, but my wrists are sore so i am opting to try out stitching them with my hand crank Singer Red Eye. judge this first group going together not too harshly. machine stitching apple cores is best with two free hands to manipulate the curves.

this adventure of stitching apple cores with a hand crank machine requires that i do all my manipulation with my left hand. not my dominant hand. without any assistance.

i think i'm beginning to get the hang of it...

namaste'

cranking away

time. fragments. rust. sewing machines. emotions.

all cranking away. i get lost sometimes. these past few years perhaps more than before. could be my age? or maybe simply that i haven't been present of late.

i've pulled out one of my hand crank machines to help me slow down a bit. be here more.

my wrists keep me from doing too much hand work at a time. carpal tunnel. there. i've said it aloud. not thinking about it will not make it unhappen.

time to listen more closely to the whispers. hear the stories my collection of fragments have to tell. help them unfold and manifest...

namaste'