Saturday, September 18, 2010

This Way, Please, Part 2: It's Hell Getting Old

Here are some more pix from my visit last week to Clare Murray Adams' studio. The day ended with a quick dinner at home before heading out to the gallery at BayArts for the member's show opening. My friend Gail Crum's wonderful piece, It's Hell Getting Old, was one of 50 pieces juried into the exhibition!

It's Hell Getting Old, a mixed media artwork by Gail Crum

My friend Gail inside the free-standing library. 



One of Clare's artworks onsite

Everywhere you looked, indoors and out, Clare and her artist husband are surrounded by artwork. It doesn't get any better than that!



Artwork everywhere! Here are some of John's sculptures








After an inspirational tour of the property, we sat in the living room for dessert. How can you not love the Rooster Chair?




After stopping by the opening to see Gail's new work, we headed over to a local winery to see one of our favorite musicians perform, Cletus Black.  A fabulous bluesy singer-songwriter, Cletus is also just a really cool guy. I have never seen anyone so comfortable in their own skin.

Cletus at the winery
It was the perfect ending to a fabulous day.



It may be hell getting old, but I plan to do it surrounded by art and artists; this is what keeps us young at heart.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

This Way, Please, Part 1

 

 
Ah, yes, this way, please. I love this journal, because I treasure my collection of "body parts" images, snapped by my husband at my request. I use them all the time in my artwork.

I am teaching a journal making workshop here locally next month, on October 2nd. All students (young adults welcome) will learn how to make a hand bound Japanese stab-stitch journal. In addition, we will discuss journaling techniques, and I will get the class started by showing them (this could mean YOU) how to "consecrate" their work.  The picture below shows a detail of the binding technique, which I have utilized on one of my own personal journals.

Last Friday was a rare "out of the house" day for me. I get so busy working, that sometimes weeks go by in
which I realize I haven't seen any people...and I'm a Taurus!! Believe, this can be painful. Anyway, my
artist friend Gail Crum and I made a studio visit last week. We talked art all the way there and all the way home, a total of three hours in the car. We also talked art while visiting the artist studio, of course, and we were joined by another mutual friend for lunch, so I got to talk books, as well. It was a lot of fun. Clare Murray Adams and I have been friends for a long time, and our creative paths have aligned themselves through sheer destiny, it sometimes seems.

Here is the door to Clare Murray's studio:

 It was such an inviting and inspiring location. Here is some of what we saw:
Collagraphs:
                                         Zippered rocks and zippered sticks:


                                   and a cool collaborative project Clare is doing with Oberlin artist Rebecca Cross:

And all of this before lunch! More to come in This Way, Please, Part II.





Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

Ahhh, tomorrow. So much gets put off until then, and sometimes, for some of us, it never arrives. Luckily for me, my tomorrow is beginning today. Today is my lucky day, because I think I found the ticket to finally getting some help figuring out some of the things I need to get done...metaphorically...tomorrow.

One of my TagTalk cards from my etsy store

But first, I wanted to post one of my new Magic Baby designs. I love making jumpers, capelets, overalls and the like, but I really love making outfits. You know, matching jackets and skirts, or a top and leggings, a kimono jacket with matching overalls...things like that. Admitedly, they are slower to sell, probably because they are more expensive. In making outfits, though, I try to maintain my commitment to unique, one-of-a-kind styles, which are also highly functional for babies and their parents:, so I try to make the pieces both adjustable and reversible.


My newest Magic Baby outfit, a soft-waisted fairy skirt with a reversible jacket
It's been fun getting out my fall fabrics to work with. For this design, I have pulled out the wonderful star-sprinkled twill for the jacket. It is paired with pinwale corduroy and matching cotton for the details. As you can see, I haven't finished the reversible jacket yet. I have made two matching covered buttons for the jacket, one for this side, and one for the reverse. Tomorrow, I just need to make the buttonholes, then sew them on. The jacket has roll-up, adjustable sleeves, a cute bottom ruffle, and a shaped neckline echoed in the fairy skirt peplum. The back is here, on the left. I appliqued matching corduroy edged with piping to the jacket neckline. Cute!

The back of the skirt peplum dips lower than the front, and is finished with trim and matching covered buttons. The skirt waistband, which you can't see here, is a nice, stretchy soft knit.  I love it!

Because all of my designs are produced by me, and are one-of-a-kind in terms of the fabrics used, I have been really trying to figure out how to expand my design presence. I don't want to mass produce, so I've been thinking instead of how to develop my designs into patterns. With over 25 years and a substantial reputation designing, making and exhibiting art quilts, a solid selling book under my belt, and now my work in designing baby clothing, I want to find a way to reach a larger audience. Enter my friend, fellow artist and tech-guru Shannon Okey.

I first met Shannon when we were both doing book-signings at the Sewing Expo in Cleveland. We were seated next to each other, and I liked and admired her from the moment we met. If you are a knitter, you probably have some of her wonderful knitting design books. I later discovered, by comparing our linkedin profiles, that we have similar backgrounds, the strangest one being that we both speak German! Anyway, Shannon is younger than I am, and I am in complete "I'm not worthy" mode when I see what she does on the web. I had been planning to call her next week to ask for help, when, today, in catching up on blogs I follow, I read hers, and immediately signed up for one of her new online classes, e-book basics. My goal is to learn how to create my own pdf pattern files, teach my honed-over-many-decades workshops online, and generally try to upgrade my knowledge of the online world. Starting a blog and my etsy shop were first steps. Thanks, Shannon, for giving me a "ticket" to my tomorrow.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Marshmallows...As a Food

I really wanted to do something meaningful today. I just can't get my head straight to work and be creative. Today, I just feel like sleeping, or reading quietly, or doing something that does not make my head hurt.

That is how I came to be looking through some old files on my computer, and ran across this delightful picture, an ad for "Cooking and Eating Dilling's Marshmallows"...as a food. Since there are no instructions included, I have been half-heartedly thinking about a) marshmallows...as a food and, b) how one might go about cooking marshmallows. The only way I know to cook them is to roast them over an open fire. In my mind, that is not exactly "cooking." That is, in fact, only roasting: charring the outside of the marshmallow until it threatens to drip off the stick.

If I had a bag of marshmallows right now, I might be tempted to just sit and eat them. That is how I feel today. Being a creative person is hard sometimes. I think this is, in part, due to how the creative brain is wired, and how sensitive it seems to be by nature. That sensitivity occurs in at least two forms: internally and externally. The creative mind is internally sensitive, because it is highly trained, and perhaps inherently so, to pick up on cues, to interpret information differently, and to set to work playing around with that information. A creative person is also sensitive externally. By that I speculate that creative people are sensitive people, who respond with heightened reactions (overly sensitive) to external stimuli. When this happens, we feel burned out, empty and unproductive. That, at least, is how I feel.

How I long to go into my studio and make something. I just don't have it in me today, and I've decided not to fight it...today. If only I had a bag of marshmallows to keep me company.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Whooping It Up

With my hubby off to band practice, I find myself with a few hours in a quiet house. This is a rare thing when both of us are working at home. I have a long "to do" list, like most of you do, I'm sure. Instead of tackling the garden weeds after a nice rain, I decided to look through my blog posts. This is my version, for today only, of whooping it up!

First of all, I just wanted to say a quick "thank you" to those of you who read my blog, even on occasion. In looking through my own past posts, there is some meaty subject matter there, if I do say so myself. I appreciate my blog readers immensely, especially knowing that most of you, like me, have very full plates in your day-to-day lives. So thank you all for taking the time.

I was going through old posts, because I had a sneaking suspicion that I have left many loose ends. Indeed, that is the case, as I read my own promises of "more to come" in future posts. In reality, I have found that life sometimes interferes with good intentions. Most often, though, I find that I am so busy trying to stay focused on the work at hand, the real, palpable work within my studio walls, that I often don't take the time to "document" what I am doing so I can easily post it here. Sigh. Such is life.

Altered Books workshop I taught in July

In the spring "post wedding" (please see my previous posts on this subject), the summer lay ahead, and promised to be a busy time. Now, as August comes to an end, I can say that this summer was very busy, indeed. Having not blogged about each event as it happened, I can only offer a brief overview of the highlights here.

I had a terrfic group of students in the Creating Altered Books workshop I taught at my local arts center. I brought along a stack of my own altered books to show what I have done over the years in this fun medium.  

Writing in a journal is a great way to sort your thoughts

In early August, I presented a Creativity Workshop at the BayArts Women's Retreat weekend. This is probably my favorite class to present. Students only need simple tools, a journal and a pen, to work with in blowing their minds! I have spent at least a decade devising methods to help my class participants find their way back to their creative cores. The methods have been tested with many age groups and in many settings, and are very effective. It's gratifying for me to see the light bulb going off in my students' heads as they work.

For those of you in the area, I have two fun workshops coming up for Fall 2010, both at BayArts on the lake. In October is a family friendly workshop, The Family Journal Night, in which participants will learn how to hand bind a Japanese stab-stitch journal and consecrate it.

Detail of my hand bound journal and the spine


















I customized the spine of my journal by adding spacers made from an old deck of playing cards. Adding spacers prevents thick pages in the journal from interfering with how the journal closes.

In November I am teaching Image Transfer techniques. Transferring images using a half dozen or so techniques is very popular right now, but I learned the basic methods while still in high school in the 1970s, and more in my freshman year of college. I have been using various techniques in my artwork for three decades now. This is another class that is really fun to teach, since the results are instantaneous! If you're around Northeastern Ohio, I hope you will join us!

One of my collages incorporating image transfers

As for the rest of the summer, there was a lot of live music, two class reunions, and lots and lots of sewing. My ongoing challenge for the months ahead is to continue to try to figure out how to balance it all. If you have any insights, I would love to hear them.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Hanging a Rug Part Deux

The top sleeve halves pinned in place.

As I mentioned in my previous post, making a hanging sleeve for a needlepoint rug has many similarities to making a hanging sleeve for a quilt: you have to leave extra room at the side edges to make sure the hanging rod is covered when the piece is installed; if the piece is large enough, you need to allow a gap in the top sleeve for additional hanging hardware; you have to decide on the type of hanging rod that will be used ahead of time, so that you can factor in the width and depth of the rod into the size of your sleeve calculations.

In this case, I knew I needed weighted steel rods, at least in the bottom sleeve. I also knew I didn't want them to be too thick, which causes a bump even in a pleated sleeve, and would risk straining and distorting the closes stitching on the front. But where to get these rods? I emailed my artist friend, Kathy Weaver, who often uses this type of hanging rod in her work. In her area, she finds them at a local hardware store. In my area, I only found them at Home Depot, and had to search the store before finally finding cutable lengths in the hardware aisle. The steel rods are narrow, about 1", and thin, less than 1/4". They can also rust. For this reason, they need to be sealed, and the sleeve needs to be a double sleeve, i.e. a width stitched and folded in half so that no part of the rod comes in contact with the fibers of the quilt or rug directly.

Top sleeve with separation in the middle. If you look closely, you will see that the sleeve is doubled, with the edges finished and the seam allowance, unseen, against the piece.

This type of hanging rod is thin enough that the sleeve probably would not absolutely have to be pleated. The pleating, however, allows extra depth for the hanging rod prevent distortion, is easy to make, and therefore is usually the best solution. To make a double pleated sleeve, add the depth of the rod doubled, plus the width of the rod doubled. Calculate the seam allowance and add that to your measurement. Then add the doubled depth of the rod again, which will create an allowance for a pleat on one edge. This is the minimum size needed.

In my example here, I made the sleeve extra wide, wider than I would actually need, because of the tight stitching on the front, and because I needed to stitch the bottom edge of the sleeve into the reverse side of the needlepoint stitches for added strength. I cut a 10" piece of canvas, stitched a 3/8" seam allowance, then pressed the sleeve along the length so that the seam allowance fell in the middle. I also pressed the seam open to reduce bulk. I finished all the side edges after cutting the length in half for the top sleeve.
Start your stitching with a hidden knot. Sew the top (outside edge) first.

Like many textiles, the edge of this needlepoint rug was not completely straight. I laid the sleeve out to determine the best place to sew it straight across, and pinned it down. Remember to leave room for your pleat at the top edge. My pleat is relatively small, just over 1/4", so I have allowed plenty of space. After stitching the top edge down with a blind stitch and glazed quilting thread, (knots hidden, please!) I created my pleat:


Once the top edge is stitched in place, gently pull the entire sleeve toward the top edge to create the pleat. Since the sleeve had been previously steam ironed, the ironed edge on the bottom of the sleeve will give you a visual guideline. Check to be sure that, when the pleat is in place, the top of the hanging sleeve does not show on the front. Make adjustments as needed, then pin the bottom edge of the sleeve in place and pull the extra sleeve bulk toward the previously sewn edge. This will help keep it out of the way while you stitch.

The sleeve bottom edge is pinned in place. Notice how the pressed line provides a visual guide.


Notice there is enough room along the top edge to accomodate my thin hanging rod to prevent it showing on the front when the rug is installed.

Do the same to the bottom edge (minus the two-piece sleeve) and you are ready to install.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Hanging a Rug and other stuff to figure out

Magic Baby booth at a recent event.

Now that the Artist as Quiltmaker exhibition I curate has opened, and my daughter's wedding is over (I know, I never finished posting the pictures of the dress and jacket made for her...soon, soon, I promise!), I am back at work on my Magic Baby line and other artwork on my etsy store. I recently finished up several things I had cut out before the wedding. (Have you noticed my life has been defined by "pre-wedding" and "post-wedding?")

Although I had made several prototypes of this adorable little jacket for my granddaughters, I wanted to make one for little boys. This one is made out of snuggly flannel, is hooded, has adjustable sleeve lengths, and is completely reversible, part of my signature style. The first picture shows both sides of the jacket completed and ready to be measured for buttons before sewing it together.

One new thing I wanted to do on this jacket was to perfect my previous attempts to make completely handmade and baby-soft buttons. I have tried several different ideas previously, but wasn't completely happy with the results. This time, I used recycled plastic bottle cap rings covered with layers of quilt batting and flannel to create matching buttons. They turned out wonderfully!


I used the same style of handmade buttons on the inside. Since they are soft, they won't chafe the skin!



I also just finished a prototype for a new design, but will post about the separately. Suffice it to say that, each time I create a new pattern prototype, the goals are to a) have fun with it b) to solve some new problems and c) to try something new.


More on that later.



The other project that came my way in the past few weeks was designing a hanging sleeve. Because I have made art quilts for exhibition for the past 25 years, making a hanging sleeve isn't anything new. The twist for this project was that I needed to create an appropriate hanging sleeve for a very large needlepoint rug. Not only is the rug heavier than a quilt of the same size would be, but there is not backing layer of fabric to stitch into, and the entire large piece is stiff. I couldn't exactly curl up with it on my couch to work.



So, here you see my tools gathered, and the top sleeve pinned in place. Because of the weight of the rug, I opted to use unprimed, pre-washed and pre-shrunk canvas for the sleeves, both top and bottom. I needed very long, thin pins to be able to just graze the needlepoint canvas to hold the sleeves in place while stitching. I used glazed quilting thread that matches the canvas in a single strand to attach the sleeves.

In my next post, I will detail the logistics!