45 days left but who's counting???

Okay so I made a goal of having 10 art pieces ready for this juried textiles show that I haven't entered in approximately 25 years but they keep sending me info on it every year even though I might be dead or moved to another state or employed as a donut hole tester and not making art any longer. There are 45 days left to make the art. I do not have to have 10 pieces but since there is one fee for "UP TO 10", of course I am going to try and make it worth my while. Myrna has been encouraging me to enter some of the small pieces she knows I have stashed away to save some time and mental fatigue. Good idea. Which leads me to the question: Why do we make art? I would like to know your reasons so feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

(I put this picture here to keep you interested in reading the rest of this....did it work?)

I make art because:

1) I have tried to NOT make art and each time I have become mentally goofed up which includes being depressed, despondent, and eventually becoming over weight.

2) The adventure of making art takes me places I can't go if I were, for instance, a donut hole tester. Now I must admit that I have never BEEN a donut hole tester and do not even know anyone who IS a donut hole tester so perhaps that is a very exciting job but.... being an artist- I start with a pile of supplies and end up with a thing of beauty that expresses some deep (or shallow) emotion or expression of who and what I am all about which is extremely satisfying. Does this happen when a person tests donut holes? I seriously doubt it but perhaps I am mistaken.

3) Better put another picture in here to keep you interested ...

I make art because...well just look at this picture and tell me that it doesn't make you start drooling and saying to yourself..."why am I just sitting here reading this ding-dang blog when I could be making art too?" If you could take a piece of white or natural fabric and within 10 minutes turn it into a flowing pool of color and texture that makes you want to fall to your knees and cry like a baby because it is so amazingly beautiful, wouldn't YOU do it too? Of course you would. To NOT make art is crazy making for me.

Your turn. Why do YOU make art???

Want another picture? Sure you do....and I like finding them to post so I'll look for another neat-o shot of some shibori fabric.

It's been awhile...

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!

Talk to me!

There are many reasons why people come to look at another person's blog. Some come out of curiousity; some come for encouragement or information. Some people are just flat out bored and looking for a way to kill some time. Some people come to chat or share inspired moments. Why did you come here today? What would you like to talk about or see on this blog that's not already here? Give me a topic and we'll go from there. It's getting pretty quiet out here in cyberspace.

Kayaking trip

Here are a few shots of my recent trip to Monterey Bay to take a kayaking class with my pal Laurie. Being in the boats allows us to really get up close to the wild life. We really were this close to these sea birds

I'm in the blue kayak and Laurie is in the yellow.

Need some fabric?

Don't forget to sign up for my next Quilt University class that starts January 12th. See posting below-

COMING JANUARY 12- QUILTER'S PALETTE CLASS!

Have you registered for the Quilt University hand dyeing course called Quilter's Palette? There's still time. Go to http://quiltuniversity.com and sign up for fabulous dyeing fun. I recommend that you take one of my other dyeing courses at QU before taking this class. The basics are good to have in place before launching into this 5 class series which is fairly intense. Hope to see you there.