a Sneak Peek

I've started 3 new pieces this week, and now they are waiting on my kitchen table for their stitches.

I typically work this way, placing the backing, batting then background into a sandwich, already cut approximately the size of the finished piece. Then I'll lay pieces onto this sandwich, until I reach a point where I must stitch things before going further.

This first piece is the largest, about 18" x 28", and is my interpretation of a photograph my friend Lydia took on her visit to Croatia to discover her family roots. It's a "lights at night" photo, but to me it represented a snapshot of a moment, a way to capture such an ephemeral thing as time.

The second piece also came to life from a photo of Lydia's, a great shot of the circular stair in a castle tower...this is a small piece, about 8" x 11", and serves as a study for what I hope will be a better, and larger, work!













The last piece reflects another method I have of working; I stitch together elements to create a background that I plan to do alot of stitching on. This piece is a bit larger than the last, and has a piece of fabric that I myself dyed,(dark circles at the top), a commercial fabric by Nancy Crow (left side) and the big dark fabric is a favorite of mine, I've had it for years, incorporated it into other pieces, and I found it the other day and had to use it! I have a plan for the machine stitching, but I don't want to give it away!

I look at my work and see that I do tend to favor certain fabrics; some have quite an emotional response tied to them. There's a piece of Italian cotton, black with multi-colored elephants on it, and I've had it for at LEAST 20 years. Okay, more like 25. I've used it in several quilts, and I still have one little strip of it, about 2" wide by 12" long. I have that strip carefully wound and placed in a storage drawer in my sewing room. I'll find the perfect use for that last little bit someday.

The dark fabric on the last quilt, with the faint wavy lines, is another fabric that has become a touchstone for me. I used it once, in a tiny little quilt, but that quilt is quite possibly my ultimate favorite. I'll have to share a photo of it soon. Everytime I see it, I feel a little proud of it, like it speaks my voice better than anything I had done before and possibly since. The wavy fabric has become for me an element of truth, and I've not used it again because I have been waiting for another moment of truth!

Time....Tempus Fugit?

Time…..it passes, it marches on, it waits for no one. It is linear, it is a continuum, it warps, and it exists. Lots of theories. Lots of disagreement.

I revel in what has come before; I try not to worry about what comes next. I forget to live now.

I have reached a nexus, and have tipped the outcome: I will create my own timeline, and I will fix its beginning far in the distant past, and I will set it in motion today. I will release it to continue long after my personal time has run out, and I will delight in the flow.

No more Schroedinger’s cat; all is possible and exists right now. Nothing is impossible, and little is improbable; as I desire it, it will come into being. Time will be my friend from this moment on!

Tempus Fugit....or how to drive yourself nuts!!

I've decided on a title for my new exhibit. Oh, by the way, I have a new exhibit coming up!! February 5th, First Friday in downtown Delaware, a collection of my art quilts will be opening at Corner Framing Gallery, 27 N. Sandusky Street, come see them from 6-9pm. Actually they'll be up all month.

I HAD to decide on a title because in order to create an event in Facebook, there must be a title. I didn't want to use some generic phrase, like "art show", so I needed a title.

It's really difficult to do; even harder than creating a new piece of art, I think. The title of a show must relate to all the work, sum it up, intrigue the potential viewer, inform them ahead of time, pique their interest, without giving everything away. It has to make sense, so upon viewing the work, there is an "aha" moment where the relationship between the title of the show and the content of the work becomes clear.

I find this very difficult; each of my individual pieces is unique, although there are themes. However, the different themes are not necessarily related to one another, and are sometimes REALLY disparate. It is actually a blessing that the gallery has two opposing walls, because I can use the distance to separate the themes. They don't have to be so far removed from each other, but it helps me wrap my mind around the different thoughts that went behind the work. For instance, the Red Panty series is humorous, light-hearted yet affirming, and relates most specifically to women. The Shroud series is more serious, reflecting thoughts on humanity, mortality, race, gender and the passage of time. Two very different thought patterns that aren't obviously related, at least not in my own head!

But as I looked deeper, I could see this idea of TIME weaving through everything: in the Red Panty series, the idea of women THEN and women NOW; the idea of generations, and the hope for the next one. In the Shroud series, I juxtapose the photos from ancient Pompeii with the photos from St. Peter's in Rome, as well as the "x-ray" which is a 19th century invention. That sense of the time continuum started to become clearer, and as I reach my 50th birthday this year, a feeling of urgency creeps into my thoughts. What have I accomplished, what can I complete, how long do I have left?

Tempus Fugit
The complete quote is from Virgil, and means roughly, "But meanwhile it flees: time flees irretrievably, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail." Fascinating: am I wasting my precious time on ridiculous things? Or am I making a difference, impacting the world, leaving my mark? I struggle to answer those questions, and as I do, I'm creating new work that I hope you'll enjoy!

the Last of 2009!

Ack! a New Year! well, I need to finish off 2009 before I look ahead....


I knitted 2 owls for my daughter for Christmas, from a very cute pattern. The Brown Owl was 2 strands held together, one a heathery wool, and the other an orange-ish alpaca, and the white owl was Cascade 220, with white angora in the head, wings and tail (because there wasn't enough for the whole body) When I felted them in the washer, the brown owl got covered with the little white flecks, and the ladies I knit with thought that was part of his charm, like he'd been hiding in a barn somewhere, so I left them! His eyes are felt and buttons, and the white owl has plastic toy eyes. I love their feet; the little talons! The pattern was very easy!

then I decided to try a new owl mitten pattern, so I came up with this one. When I started knitting, though, I had to subtract some stitches since the variegated background is worsted weight rather than the DK I normally use. Almost done!

Tammis Keefe, textile designer

I've recently discovered a wonderful textile designer, Tammis Keefe, who was very prolific, from the 1940's til her early death in 1960. Super cool, fun period designs....oh no, another thing to collect!

This calendar towel is the same year I was born, so I had to have it! I'm having it framed in the wonderful muted green, to hang in my kitchen!Yay!

Hot Iron....Cool Art!

In October, I was able to help out again with the OWU Iron Pour; even after I graduated, I tried to assist as often as I could. I am normally the timekeeper; ever since Jon Quick built a new cupola, the iron charges are a bit heavier than I can handle!

Anyway, the weather was perfect this year, and I was able to get 4 molds of my own poured.....I used foam vaporization in green sand. Here are views of the cupola and my molds, smoldering! As soon as I get them cleaned up, I'll be posting pics of the finished products.

I like helping out, it's an exciting process, visceral and elemental. I keep track of the time and charges: when we load a bag of coke (coal) and when we throw in 40lbs of scrap iron, when we tap out, when we've loaded enough TO tap out! I give the heads-up to the ladle team, because if you don't tap out in time, the iron will flow regardless!!

You can see the bright orange flow of the molten metal as it is tapped from the cupola into the ladel....very exciting!

Equestrian Success!!

I know it's been ages, but let's get updated!!


Dear Daughter Ana has been on the College of Wooster Equestrian Team since her freshman year, and this fall participated in her first 2 events!

The first was held at Oberlin College. Ana rode twice in the Beginner category, and got a Fourth Place ribbon on her second ride! Yea!!

The second was held near Akron, the University of which hosted, and Ana got Sixth Place on her first ride, THIRD place on the second!! Woo-hoo!!