Procrastinating

If you are like me and sometimes have trouble making or finding the time to do artwork, I would like to share one of my favorite quotes with you from a book called "Warrior Woman" by Tina Le Marque:

"The innate, perhaps thinly disguised selfishness of the artist has to come out like a billboard in flames.  'Leave me alone.  I can't talk now.  I'll call you in three weeks, but I think I'm going to forget.  Quit pulling on me.'  You have to do this if you want to get anything done.  The creative side has to be treated every bit as seriously as a 'straight job'.  It is very difficult to communicate the extreme urgency and wierd timing of creativity to the people in our lives that are living by more conventional timetables.  We have to work now  when stuff comes gooshing up.  Not from nine to five.  More like from midnight on September 16 to breakfast time after the next full moon.  'I won't be able to attend your wedding, the dinner party, the Tupperware party, my wake.  I am painting a still-life with a frozen mongoose and I have to work fast before he defrosts between sessions.  Otherwise, the stink is something awful'......Not everyone is capable of understanding this.  Ignore them, let them go, leave them and go paint.  Abandon them if you must, but not yourself."

I am writing this after midnight.  I really should be sleeping.  I am not even doing artwork.  I cleaned off my drafting table after posting a picture of it cluttered yesterday.  So, I have completed the first step of my Bookmark-a-Day for 365 Days project:  getting organized.  The blog is helping me hold myself accountable!! 

This photo was actually taken months ago.  It was a wonderful rainy afternoon and I spent the whole day creating.  It is supposed to rain later this week.  Perfect.  My drafting table is completely cleared off and waiting....................That is another mistake we sometimes make.  Waiting for the perfect time, the perfect setting or some inspiration.  Well, there is no better time than right NOW.

A Bookmark-a-Day for 365 days!

I have decided to create a bookmark-a-day for 365 days or to give myself some "wiggle-room" ....... a book-related art project daily.   

I have several reasons why I want to attempt this.  First off, I have been planning to create an Etsy account for quite some time. I am hoping this will finally prompt me to quit procrastinating and do it since most of my work will be offered for sale. I will also do special orders. 

I also want to give myself permission and the time to create. This may be overwhelming, between creating the bookmark, taking a photo and posting it on this blog!!  So, I guess I will take baby steps, in other words, a bit more procrastinating.

Well, I guess I will start with cleaning off my drafting table of all current projects!    

Tree of Life beaded bookmarker.  Original, handmade beaded bookmarker (also known as a book thong), with Tree of Life and leaf charms.  Will fit books up to 11 inches long.  The durable cord will not damage the pages or spine, fitting inside of the pages to keep your place.  Available for $12.00 plus shipping.  Other bookmarkers, different themes available upon request.

I'm BACK!! (Again)

. I'M BACK!!!

I started a new journal today. One that I purchased in Bisbee in 2005. It is handmade and the artist signed it for me on the opening page. I would like to share what she wrote:

An Evocation ---

What really counts is one's imagination,

a beautiful landscape,

daily caprice,

deep serenity,

the swing of empty and full spaces,

never twice the same.

And the shadows,

vibrating.

We choose these things.

These life-giving roots of artisan

and poet,

in spite of the tyranny of practicality.

HOW TO PLAY CATCH WITH A THREE-YEAR OLD. Equipment needed: 1 light weight medium-size beach ball, fairy wings and a fireman's helmet. HOW TO SEARCH FOR A JOB: Having the attitude of a three-year old that wears fairy wings and a fireman's helmet to play catch with her Grammy!

PIECED TOGETHER: THE ART OF COLLAGE

Three of my pieces All That is Left, What We Do Know and Borderlines are in the following exhibit at WomanKraft Gallery, September and October:

PIECED TOGETHER: THE ART OF COLLAGE

WomanKraft Gallery
388 S. Stone

Tucson, AZ 85701

You can call WomanKraft at 520-629-9976 for more information.

Exhibit runs September 6th through October 25th.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 1-5pm.



There will be two opening receptions:

Saturday, September 6th

and

Saturday, October 4th, 7-10 P.M.

I wanted to drop in and say I am still here. Going through a lot of changes. I don't know how well my coffee mug shows up in the picture, but it has an image of a leaf and says "grow".

That sums it up. After nearly 30 years in the same place, I have moved. I am experiencing new things. I am growing.

......stay tuned.

I am back from my first visit to Portland, OR. The second day there the temperature was in the 40's with showers. So we did what any Portlander would do - headed outdoors! (The photo is of me at the Portland Zoo ducking inside from the rain.) The rest of the visit the weather improved with each day and we actually got to enjoy a few days of sunshine. We walked down by the river, went to the Portland Market and walked around the NW 23rd/Nob Hill area enjoying the shops, the outdoor cafes, the Victorian houses and greenery. Of course, another day was mostly spent at Powell's Books and I didn't notice the weather! I also had a chance to briefly stop into 23rd Avenue Books. I love Portland and would like to go back, maybe for my birthday in November and the Wordstock event.

It was 72 degrees the morning after I returned to my home in Tucson, Arizona and all the usual suspects were in my yard: a roadrunner running by with his breakfast, a snake by the mail box, quail, bunnies and lizards darting about the cactus. Ahhhh, it is good to be back! I guess I am just a desert rat at heart.

Borderlines is on exhibit from Dec 1, 2007 through January 20th, 2008 as part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition: Between Fences. There are several events planned around the exhibition, you can find out more here.

Here I am giving a lecture/demo for the Pima Arts Council. I brought samples of my work from the very beginning to current, including works-in-progress. I did demos on photo transfer, stencils, masking, faux batik and faux marbling. All are non toxic and supplies can be purchased from the grocery or hardware stores if not already found in your household. I want to thank Zophia Kurowski for taking the photographs. Please contact me if you are interested in having me give a lecture/demo to your group or organization. Travel expenses included in fee.

Exhibit opens today in Houston for (you can read more about this project by clicking on this link Journal Quilt Project 2007):

A Page from My Book:
Journal Quilts 2007 - Journal Quilt Project

Impossible Things

The machine-stitched sketch is from a photograph of me reading to my granddaughter, Madison. I left out the tubes taped to her face in my version. Weighing one pound, 13 ounces, Madison was born July 19th, 2006, months ahead of her October 20th due date. Due to collapsed lungs and other medical issues, she was not expected to survive. With her delicate skin, the NICU staff could barely touch or move her. They asked us to bring in teeny beanie babies to help prop her or hold tubing in place. The appliqué animals are based on the beanie babies in her incubator in the NICU unit, where she spent nearly 3 months.
At 16 pounds, Madison recently celebrated her 1st birthday, a happy and healthy toddler. I completed this "page" for the journal project on Grandparent’s day.
If you look closely to the flowers on the left-hand side you can see where I wrote a favorite Lewis Carroll quote, that to me sums up my granddaughter as well as my experience with the journal project: “sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast”.

Tidepools is one of two works of mine that will be on exhibit in the Rural Art Showcase, Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Downtown Tucson, Arizona from:

October 25 to November 25, 2007
Artist Reception: Sunday, October 28, 1 to 3pm

I will be giving a demonstration in the Second Floor Conference Room from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m., sharing some of my other work and my techniques. In addition to the art exhibit, there will be several other demonstrations, slide shows and lectures! You can read more about it on the Pima County Arts Council site.

The above mixed media work consists of sand, shells, acrylic paints, fabric yo yos, couched threads, photo collage, rice paper on a base of quilted duck cloth.

This is a video of a work-in-progress. This is my first time posting video to my blog, please let me know if you have trouble viewing.

The Fine Focus 06 exhibit opens today at the Rosenau Gallery at the Arts Center in Old Forge, New York. This two-year museum and art gallery tour is nearly complete (look for the Fine Focus link on my blog). This is my entry entitled: Faded Memories, Diagnosis, Alzheimer's.

When my Father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's I flew out from Tucson to San Diego to see him. I frantically photographed, attempting to capture that moment forever before the disease took over. This piece is based on my favorite photograph of my parents' that day. Although there is detail in my father's face, I drew a line in place of my mother’s features acknowledging the day when he would no longer recognize her. I stitched this freehand by taping the photograph to my sewing machine. It was such small detail work, it was difficult to draw and follow the lines, it was easier for me to do freehand. This isn't such a good photograph of the piece, but it is the only one I have, the top of the piece is cut off entirely. I am anxious to get it back next year so I can give it to my mom. My father passed June of this year.

I recently tried Suminagashi, which is an ancient Japanese art of marbling. There are several books on the subject as well as info online, so I will leave it to those that can explain it much better than me.

I have to admit that my first attempts were less than desirable and I grew a bit frustrated. I googled suminagashi to see what I was doing wrong (turns out quite a few things, but more on that later) and found a post on Nita Leland's blog about her experiments with it a couple of years ago. (Nita has written some wonderful books on exploring color, creativity and collage.) Anyway, here is a portion of what she wrote about her experiments (quoted with her gracious permission or you can click here to read her whole post on the subject): "I followed directions in a book, but my attempt was a complete failure. I was so disappointed, but I was determined to make it work. The ink I was using kept sinking and the more I added, the more it sank. It was frustrating, because the book said you could use almost any kind of ink or paper, but nothing I tried would work."

Gee, she described my morning! Not everything we try is going to work out and it certainly helped that Nita was willing to share the frustration with her results. Nita's comments helped me more at that moment than reading specific directions on the subject. I think we are more willing to post our successful work and yet I think posting our trials and errors (bloopers) helps others as well.

I purchased the materials from Diane Maurer, she has written a book on the subject (and check out the wonderful work on her website), so I sent an SOS e-mail. She responded right away and told me to give her a call. She immediately knew what I was doing wrong and kindly set me on the right path. Encouraged by Nita's blog and Diane's advice, I did more experimenting that afternoon on paper and canvas (the blurry picture is water color paper), much happier with my results! Even with my afternoon batch that came out much better, I realized several things I still was not doing properly and plan to correct the next time I experiment.

I think to grow as artists' we must be willing to fail!!! I hope this post encourages someone else when they read this blog. And, if anyone wants to try this, feel free to contact me and I can tell you what NOT to do!!

HOW DO YOU LIKE MY MOBILE STUDIO? I think it is evident by this photo of my painting project spread out on top of my car in the garage to dry, that I am running out of room in my studio. Or by the new drafting table still in the box in my bathroom, waiting to be put together. Another obvious sign is not being able to find anything in my studio. Or constantly tripping over things in my studio. Or constantly knocking things over (however, sometimes I find things I was looking for days before by this method.)

Of course, we all make due. At some point in time I have done my art work in every room in the house, including back and front yard. I wonder what my neighbors think when I am doing bleach discharge in the garage and I dash out into the front yard grabbing the hose, dressed in my tie dye shirt wearing goggles and ventilator mask?

This is a photo of one of my pieces, currently untitled. It is 8.5 x 11. I made it as one of my journal pages in March of this year. We made a page each month, but we only had to choose five to submit to the exhibit. This is one that I did not include for the exhibit. I used some of my photographs to experiment in layering/transparency using organza as well as vellum. This photo was taken before I put the edging around it.

I was fortunate to attend the Houston International Quilt show for the first time this year. I got to see and be inspired by this year's journal pages exhibit. It gave me a chance to read the other artists' statements and have a more intimate viewing of such personal/creative/experimental works. I attended the Studio Art Quilt/Journal Quilt reception as well and was able to pick up my copy of Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project in person. Many thanks to Karey Bresenhan for creating this project and hosting the reception.

Raven

I am delivering this 24x36 piece along with Dia de los Muertos (see previous post) tomorrow to the Pima County Arts Council for the upcoming exhibit. This photo was taken before it was mounted to canvas. It is bleach discharged and hand quilted.

Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a new piece, 36 x 36, bleach discharged, hand quilted and mounted to canvas. I just received notification it was juried into the Tucson Pima Arts Council “Artists of Rural Pima County Exhibit. Another new piece, a bit smaller, was also accepted. The exhibit will be at the Joel D Valdez Main Library, 101 N Stone Ave, from November 1 through December 1, 2006. Both pieces are offered for sale. This exhibit is in conjunction with the annual Studio Tour weekend (November 11 & 12, 2006).

What We Do Know (c) 2006, has been accepted into the juried show of Art Quilts XI, Stages, Cycles and Fits, curated by Diane Howell. This 24" x 36" piece will exhibit at the Chandler Center of the Arts from October 20th to December 30th.

My Artist Statement: Since 1993, nearly 400 young girls and women have been brutally murdered or ended up missing in the border town of Ciudad, Juarez. No one is able to agree to the exact body count or causes of the missing and dead. Where rumors outnumber facts, this piece details a little of what we do know, in hopes we may never forget these mothers, daughters, sisters. 'Ni una mas - not one more.

Curator Thelma Smith, has also included this piece as one of the new works added to her exhibit she is taking to France September, 2006, (see previous post on the European version of Changing the World One Thread at a Time), to the Val d'Argent Expo, located in the center of Ste Marine aux Mines, Haut-Rhin, France.