It has been awhile since I posted anything that I was doing so thank you for still coming here to look even if I am off doing other mundane things.....such as...
Had to "put our cat down" this morning. That is such a dumb phrase. When an animal is alive it is, I suppose, "up" and when dead it is "down". She was 18 years old and doing odd things that made us change our life styles significantly. She stayed in our daughter's room most of the time and it was so stinky in there that when she (daughter) comes home from college she (daughter) sleeps on the couch in the living room. Cat sometimes missed the litter box which is in my office. One day she pinned herself (on purpose) between the wall and the litter box and started to pee suspended in mid air! Did you know that once a cat starts, they don't (can't) stop? I grabbed her by the back of the neck and ran with her to the back door and threw her out, all the while she was sprinkling the air. This cat yowled a lot in the middle of the night. She insisted on being in the bathroom with me whenever I was in there and she drank out of the tub (and toilet) so sometimes there was kitty litter deposits on my desk, on the bath tub, IN the bathtub, anywhere she would roam, kitty litter followed her. She was a pest but now I miss her.
I am getting ready for a textiles show (juried) that is coming up soon. I need to have 10 pieces ready to photograph by the first of February. I've started on several of the pieces which will all be some sort of soft sculpture. Here is a picture of the first piece in progress which will be called, "She Spilled Her Guts". I know. There is a dark side to me that comes out in my art. If you took Myrna's Self Expressions class when I was there too, you might remember my silver pieces that consisted of nails, tacks, and sharp objects, and things you don't want to step on in the night. What you see below is about 24 yards of hand dyed silk that has been braided and sewn together into one large...well...intestine.
Here is the backing it will be attached to once the gold paint is dry and the backing for the backing is sewn on to it. As usual, I don't have enough paint to apply it to the entire backing so the center which will be covered with the braided silk can remain open. The backing is raw silk. It may seem "way out there weird" at the moment but I do have a vision of this piece once complete and it will be a knock out! It should be about 40" x 40" when complete. There will be some silk that hangs down on the lower right side in shreds so when it is finished, I will post the completed piece. Fun. The colors of the braided pieces range from a medium blue to teal to olive green. Silks used: habotai, dupion, chiffon, and crepe backed silk satin.
I'll post more tomorrow. See you then! Keep dyeing!
7 comments:
Marjie,
Sorry about the cat; it's always a difficult decision that "put down" decision.
I am intigued by 'She spilled her guts' and the other soft scupltures that you will be doing; i hope that you will be able to post pictures. Where is the exhibition being held? Good on you for entering.
Best wishes for 2008; hope that it's the bestest year yet for you and yours.
Question.. Will you disqualify your work from the show you are entering by posting it on your blog? Sometimes exhibits require that submitted pieces never have been published or shown before.
I do love to see work in progress. It offers insight into how an artist develops her work. The finished work is more fascinating to me when I have seen it develop.
My next door neighbor is an abstract expressionist painter. She shares her work with me as it develops. It has been very educational for me. I never "got" the abstract expressionist art movement before seeing her process. It is so much more than splashing paint on a canvas.
Seeing textile art in process is similarly educational. Appreciation grows with understanding the personal exploration that leads to the final result.
Hi Anna and Carolyn,
The exhibit is in the San Francisco Bay area. It has motivated me to get back to making art for my own pleasure which is something that I haven't been doing much of lately as I was, as you may know, a work maniac and that meant teaching and dyeing for others rather than playing and restoring my own sense of personal balance. This, I learned (again) is a mistake and I will talk about that on the blog soon.
As far as the piece not having been published on a blog, there is no stipulation in the rules for this particular textiles show. I plan on showing all the pics in progress and when completed to be used as a teaching tool and for those who are following this blog for fun as a way of entertaining the Blogheads who are amused by this kind of art making. Thanks for leaving your comments everyone! Happy arting!
Hi Marjie,
This piece sounds very interesting. I hope you continue to show your work in progress as well as the finished pieces. Did you finish that other piece you showed on the blog, the one with lots of silk strips?
I'm very sorry to hear that you had to put your cat down. I have not had a pet in a long time but I know it is wrenching when they die. We had a beagle when I was young who developed distemper, even though he had gotten the shots. It was very sad to see him get sick and then my parents had to take him to the vet to be euthanized. I remember being very sad and upset about it. Losing a pet is a loss and people who were close to their pets will go through a grieving process.
I'm glad you are making art again! You are so talented, Marjie! And I am enjoying reading your blog...
Happy New Year!
Kristin Farwig
P.S. See you soon in QP.
Yes, I am still working on the "shag rug". It is a big piece and taking a really long time to get anywhere. I will be posting progress on all pieces as I have the time.
This should be interesting to watch as not all pieces turn out as great as we want them to and so they get tossed and then others take on a mind of their own and do wonderfully unexpected things so stay tuned.
Thank you for your kind words about animals and the loss we feel when they "go". We are now down to 3 dogs and a lizard. House sure smells better. :-)
Sorry to hear about your cat! This happened to me back in the seventies. The family cat Tiger started suffering from Dementia. My son came back from college sports day to announce that when he had opened his sports bag there was a terrible smell of cat pee! There was no other answer than Tiger must have climbed on his bag when the zipper was undone and did his dirty deed there. Son had the wherewithall to zipper up his bag very quickly and announce he had forgotten his sports gear and rang Mum to get his second set.
It is difficult as animals get older, especially if you want to help them, love them, keep them as long as you can. I agree there are a lot of inconveniences but that is life and you just clean up the messes and smells until it is too unkind to keep them any longer.
Love the spilled guts it looks a bit like mine must look I think.
I love seeing all this self-expression stuff. Maybe I should delve into it but I am too afraid of what I might find lurking there.
Maureen in Jersey
What lies lurking there can be a beautiful thing as well as frightening. It's good to stir up the pot now and then.
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