White Powdered Donuts

Yesterday I was late again to the studio. If I had a real boss, I'd be fired by now. But Russ and I spent the morning taking our old boiler apart. It's broken and the old part of the house is sucking the heat from the rest of the rooms. I liked learning about how the system was supposed to work, even if I'm helpless to fix it, at least I'm a smarter helpless person.

Which reminds me of one reason my husband and I get along so well. I have a great talent for taking things apart, but not much skill at putting them back together. Russ on the other hand, can fix anything -- computers, cars, machines, you name it.

We met in a university sculpture class. Maybe it was fate, we were both auditing the class (meaning no credit, no grade). The first day I was sitting there, eating those little white powdered donuts for which I have a real weakness. I saw this guy looking at me, and became self conscious. It's hard to eat those donuts without getting the white powder all over yourself. So, embarressed, I offered him one. He said it was love at first sight!

Our first date was for jalapeno and mushroom pizza. Our second date was to the hardware store.

Later one evening when we were dating, we were driving in an old truck to pick up some firebrick to build a ceramic kiln. He asked me what I wanted out of life. I can't even remember what I said, something like "to make art, to live in a cool old neighborhood near a university, to travel and have fun..." The next day he asked me to marry him. I guess I said the right thing.

As to where and how he asked me, well that's a story for another day...

Slugfest (with fabric)

The reason I called it a slugfest yesterday: I have all these great fabrics on the shelf screaming for attention. When I'm laying them out on my design table, I always feel like it's big fight between patterns and colors, but it's survival of the fittest. I'm waiting to see if the pink and purple polka-dots knocks out the blue and orange plaid.

For my current project, I wish I had more shocking pinks. I only have a few good ones in the semi-finals.

I know many artists only use their own hand-dyed fabrics. but I love plaids, polka-dots, and stripes and avidly collect them. There's just something funnier about a plaid pretzel than a plain old orange one.

Humor is a strange and mysterious thing. Why for example, are some words funny and others are not? When I was first thinking about doing a yoga quilt, I thought "Yoga" or "Pilates". Yoga just sounds funnier. Pretzel sounds funnier than rice cracker. At least to me, and maybe I'm all alone here?

72 Art Quilts & 1 Drawing

This morning I did yoga in front of the big window again, and the falling snow was mermerizing. It was beautiful last night also, falling heavily as I left the studio. This is the first snow we've had this year.

Yesterday I was feeling like I got a whole lot of nothing done, because I'm so wanting to finish some work for the show -- but instead, two remodeling jobs in progress, ordering new signs, three heaters malfunctioning...PLUS an hour talking to a reporter about the show, a newspaper photographer in my studio, and typing the list of all our quilts for the show. Here's the exciting thing:

72 WORKS OF ART! I had no idea we would have that much! Not that we're going to hang all that, but it gives us a really good base to select from. I'm so excited!

At the end of the day, I finally printed out a pattern for one of my yoga sketches. I hadn't thought it was very good, but seeing it life-size on the wall (30 x 49) got me so excited that I stayed late to do a color study. Here's a drawing, although I still have to work on a few things.



Today I'm going to work all day in the studio, first to start pulling fabric for the design. I imagine it will be a slugfest as usual.

Correction

I stand corrected. Yesterday I wrote that Lettie didn't know how to sew, but I just found out she has a background in garment construction. Maybe that's why in only a few weeks she has learned how to do things I don't, like borders and bindings!

Pumped from using the Sewing Machine!

With a nod to Dilbert, my favorite cartoon besides Calvin and Hobbes, PUMPED so much describes how I felt after yesterday's meeting of our art quilt group. I was so impressed with the amount and the quality of work we have been able to bring together in a short time for our BIG SHOW.

Of course I expected Lucy to show up with a gazillion huge quilts, but even I had to ask her how she got them all in her car. Then there's Merrilee, who broke her leg very badly in November. She had to learn to run the foot control on the sewing machine with her left foot, and still produced two new bumble bees and one new fish.

Lettie was the sleeper. I knew that as a watercolorist, she had all the right skills (except for sewing!) to make great quilts. But she showed up with the most gorgeous landscape quilts, I couldn't believe she had learned those skills and created several show-stoppers in one month.

It's so amazing this show is happening, considering we only walked into the gallery in December, yes armed with with a group portfolio, some sample quilts, and the promise of a newspaper article, but unrealistically asking for a show in February. Here's our classy card:



It's been a lifetime dream of mine to have a gallery show. There's no way I could do this alone, and it's so much more fun as a group. And at yesterday's meeting the arts writer showed up to look at all the work and interview some of the artists, so our feature newspaper article is on track too. As my nephew would say "Awes!"

I can't wait to get some photos of the show here and on my website, so stay tuned. Until then, there's the vital data:

Uncommon Threads: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art Quilts
featuring ten regional fiber artists: Lucy Silliman, Pam RuBert, Emmie Seaman, Merrilee Tieche, Susan Leslie Lumsden, Cathy Jeffrey, Diane Kelsay, Lettie Blackburn, Maureen Ashlock, Rosemary Claus-Gray.

Hawthorne Galleries
214 East Walnut, Springfield, MO 65806
February 3-26, Tues.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Artists' reception and demonstrations Feb. 3, 5-8 p.m.
First Friday Art Walk, Feb. 4, 7-10 p.m.

Yoga, the Moon, and the Zone

This morning the old 1904 part of the house where I normally do yoga was freezing! I guess the radiator heat system is broken. Not being able to do my yoga there, I moved my mat, quilts, and other yoga props into the new part of house.

At first I was disgruntled by the uneven terra cotta floor, which I blamed for not being able to do my balance poses, (handy excuse). But over the next forty-five minutes, I realized that I was fortunate to be able to watch the full moon set across the winter sky through the big glass wall in the family room.

Every time I looked up from a pose, the moon had moved a little more, and as it moved behing the winter trees, I saw how big it was. That huge white circle in the dark sky reminded me of a poem I wrote about a winter moon in high school. I always did a lot of creative writing when I was younger. I think the first story I ever wrote was called "I am a Pickle."

But as a kid I always struggled with the concept of being a writer versus being an artist. It was so unfair, writers could have their work reprinted by the millions and could be experienced by so many people. Artists on the other hand, I thought, could only have one original that would be experienced by a limited audience. And the visual arts were undemocratic too, because buying or owning a work of art was much more expensive than buying a paperback book.

I suppose recently those internal arguments have been softened a little by computers, the internet, and other digital media. And recently I have been working more writing into my artwork in little devious ways.

But back to the moon. I have never watched the moon set, and I think it put me into the Zone. I think the Zone is a meditative state of mind, or maybe a kind of out-of-body experience. Athletes talk about the Zone, artists talked about a creative mental state, yoga masters try to reach some kind of bliss, but I think it all might be a similar experience.

Sometimes I can get into the Zone when I draw or paint. But sometimes I'm not sure how I get there, it seems to happen accidently. All of a sudden I'm just there, and then I write or draw some of my best stuff. One time I was eating lunch, I think it was a hot dog and Campbell's soup, and suddenly I got up from the table and wrote one of my best poems ever.

I guess that's one reason I started this blog. I'm not sure how to get to that place where I create the best, but I'm always searching. I could try writing after yoga each morning, but if I add that to my current regima, even though I'm getting up at 5:30 I might never make it to the studio before noon.

I shouldn't even be writing this right now, because I have a full day with four meetings scheduled, the biggest one being the art quilt group meeting where we are going to review all the work for our show. But you know, probably a lot of great art would never have been created if people always did what they "should." Not that this is great art. But hopefully it's on the road to making some.....

Sushi Zen WIP

It's been really frustrating all week. I have all these ideas, lots of work to finish, and the group show coming up--but I haven't been able to get any significant time in the studio. For some reason, my phone has been ringing non-stop with business calls, whah whah whah!

Anyway, I really am about to wrap up the quilting on my Whine and Dine at Sushi Zen, and then I'll just have to put a border and hanging sleeve on it. Here's a few morsels, not the full image. I'll post that on my website when I'm done.



Oops, just noticed I haven't sewn on the octopus eyes yet. Oh well, just imagine them.



I've been taking little snapshots of different areas of my big quilts, and it has convinced me that my friend Emmie is right. I should do some smaller quilts with just a couple of figures. Think I'll do that with some of my yoga ideas, before I launch into a big one.

Cartoons in the Mail

Spent another day futzing around with the postcards I'm sending out about our group show at Hawthorn Gallery. I don't know why I have to be so picky, but as I was stuffing the cards into neon-colored envelopes, I suddenly realized that once people opened them and tossed the envelope, they would no longer have my phone #, address, or website.

So I designed a big sticker to add to the postcards with all that information, plus a bonus cartoon. My theory has always been that people will always read the cartoon first. I was actually very proud of figuring out how to overprint the color on the Avery labels so my cartoon has a full-bleed. Ho ho, more fun with common office products.



I know I spend too long on these mailings, but I really feel that they are like little gifts I'm sending out to friends and family in the mail, and I like them to be just right. I especially like picking out pretty stamps at the post office. These cards will be mailed with the New Year's Lunar collector stamps.

So now it's back to Office Max to get more neon envelopes...

Persistent Pear Shape

It's been six weeks now since I started going to my early morning yoga class which meets MWF at 6 am, so I have to get up at 5:30 am which is a new thing for me.

But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it, so much that I wake up early the rest of the week and practice at home in my living room which I've converted to a personal yoga studio by moving all the furniture to the sides, stuffing a towel under the front door to prevent drafts, and plugging my iPod into a set of speakers.

The class is Ashtanga Yoga, which means we are constantly moving and breathing in an almost aerobic routine. Having done Pilates for the last year has really helped prepare me for the yoga, because I'm much stronger now than I used to be.

Yoga has taught me something about New Year's Resolutions. It's better to start on a resolution in December, or if you don't have that foresight (which I didn't), make a resolution up about something you've already been doing for a little while. Then as January and February blues sink in, then you can feel superior because you've got this great head start.

But even though I'm doing the yoga every day for over an hour, and Pilates twice a week, I'm still the same old pear shape. Guess I'd have to cut down on the food, but I'm really eating pretty healthy, just maybe too much.

The other day I was shopping, and the woman who was ringing me up said, "Do you realize you're buying the same pair of pants in different sizes?" and I was like, "Yes, well this pair is for my skinny days, and that pair is for my fat days. And that pair of warm fuzzy but too big cords are for weekends when I've had pancakes for breakfast, and I'm going to the studio where no one will see me and I want to be comfortable and warm."

The best part about the yoga is how good I feel afterwards, lying on the floor, wrapped up in quilts and meditating. I've always wanted to become better at creative visualization, and now it's actually happening. I listen to music and let images flow in and out of my mind, almost like a waking dream. Sometimes I see dancing plants or animals. Sometimes I make up a crazy story. Today I thought about sparkling raindrops and camels.

And I've got loads of ideas for quilts, I can't wait to finish up my Sushi Zen quilt and get started on these yoga ideas....Yogi Bear, Super Tasty Pretzels, blue Matisse cutouts, Indian goddesses with lots of arms, a new super-hero called Yoga Man...it's going to be a blast!

The Crane Beast

I was waiting for Russ to come home for dinner. And waiting. And waiting. Finally I called him, and he wasn't coming home because he was trying to move the crane from the front of the studio to the back when it stalled. In the middle of the intersection in the street. So he stayed at the studio until midnight trying to get the crane running again.

It really is a beast of a thing, and especially frightening when it's stuck in the middle of the street. I have this fantasy of someday getting some spray paint and fixing it up really arty and painting "The Beast" on the side.

Sometimes it's very interesting being married to a sculptor.

Magic Carpet Ride

I've been interested in learning creative meditation, so I decided to make up my own Meditation story. Today after my daily yoga routine, I lay on the floor and day-dreamed this magic carpet ride.

I'm wearing a long white nightgown with puffy sleeves, my hair long and flowing. There are silver rings on my toes and the carpet is a thick, soft Persian carpet in deep purple and red colors.

I'm floating in a blue sky with little white fluffy clouds on the horizon. I'm a little hungry, but not worried because there's a refrigerator on my magic carpet and it's filled with all my favorite foods. A little later I'll sit up and eat something with Charlie and Mary, who I just realized are on the magic carpet too.

The carpet is squishy soft with what seems to be hills and valleys, and I just now realize that I'm as big as a mountain and I'm really laying in hills of soft grass. Then I get up and eat breakfast.