I haven’t done much artwork since I finished the Italy quilt. I have done more organizing, re-organizing, thinning, weeding in the garden, and knitting. I even did some (shudder) mending (I loath mending). While it is all a productive use of time, it is not art related (except, maybe the knitting. Unless you consider that while all these mundane chores are being handled, the brain is engaged in an entirely different arena.

My father was a bit of a philosopher. It’s probably a common side effect of being a Sea Captain; all that ocean to look at for months on end. At any rate, I can tend to wax philosophic on occasions myself. Some call it waffling on… I often ponder the meaning of life - but mostly the meaning of art. Striving to be an artist (or at least artistic) is a journey through many dimensions. One must consider the tools (toys?) of your craft, one usually spends a lot of time learning about techniques and art in general. One must consider and study the world; the world that is and the world as we would like it to be — this requires actually leaving the studio, the world is an interactive entity — and one must learn to speak with their muse(s), inner self(selves?) and daemon(s). An artist’s head studio can get pretty crowded even if there is only one person there! Striving to be an artist is a journey in every sense of the word.

So, while the body toils in the mundane, the mind is off on it’s own artistic journey. An Art Journal (top photo, click to big-ma-fy) is a good way to document your journey. I wish I could say mine is neat, orderly , and a work of art in itself. It did start out that way but the odd bits are definitely sticking out at odd angles and in no particular order now. It is still doing the job for which it was intended however. It is collecting my thoughts on art in general and on specific projects. It is the storehouse for all of my expelled creativity; the flotsam and jetsam of my brain.

Bit scary at times.

I have finished the socks I showed you in April when I thought to help knit Spring into Existence. I have several pictures of them here, mostly because they were a rudy bit of work! The pattern is “Bartholomew’s Tantalizing Socks” from Cat Bordhi’s book “New Pathways for Sock Knitters; Book One“. I adore Cat’s designs and how her mind works.

Her patterns are a bit of challenge to follow as you have to do some book flipping to find the instructions for various sections of the sock. But, I did them and they turned out pretty well, even if the yarn is such a bright and busy variegation that you can hardly see the linen stitch I carefully put on the instep or the fabulous way the shaping is different from a standard sock. I’m not blaming the Tofutsie yarn, I love it; so soft and wearable and perfect for summer socks. It’s just my choice of this particular colorway for this pattern. Obscure linen stitch aside, these are making me happy. I will do more patterns from this book. The designs are so cool, they are worth the effort!

Pointy toes too!

I also knit on my Hanne Falkenberg “Mermaid” jacket. I am getting my money’s worth out of the Silky Wool yarn as I have ripped it back to ground zero 812 times (just a guess) to”improve” the stripe pattern, the final result is very close to the original pattern with only a slight alteration.

Some of us are just tinkerers.

For those with questionable color representation, the colors are navy, purple, and bright brass. I’m loving the contrast. It is knit side-to-side and this photo (click to biggie it) is the left front with an i-cord for the front edge. The top edge is stepped; the highest bit is the shawl collar which drops down to the front and the shoulder line. The first of several gussets is at the bottom edge. Now that I’m done ripping it out every 6 inches, progress is steady. I just hope my gauge is still on.

Oh, my…

Oh, and I taught a dyeing class at Heritage Spinning and Weaving. My students had a blast as they discovered just how addictive color can be. . I managed to throw several skeins of yarn and some silk noil yardage in some dye while my students painted yarns and rovings of their choice. I just laid down the first layer of color for the silk, some wool superwash for a vest, and 4 skeins of sock yarn.

With at least one more layer (maybe two) planned, only one sock yarn is done so far; I call this “Planet Earth” as the colors remind of the Earth as viewed from space.

Deb H

I’m pleased.

I have just gotten back from the Post Office. I mailed off my finished quilt titled “Italy: a rough sketch”. You saw peeks of it in it’s embryonic stage as the painted silk cloth I was calling grapes. This is my contribution to this year’s MQAI (Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational) traveling exhibition. Every year there is a new theme (last year was The Art of Music and this year it is Adventures in Italy) and this is my second year to be invited to participate. As a courtesy to the curators (thank you Mary Andrews and Marty Calhoun), I will not post a picture of the whole, completed quilt until after the official exhibit opening on September 12th. But because I only have so much self control and I’m so ecstatic to have finished it, here is a small detail shot (click to biggie it). I’ll post more information about the opening as soon as I have it.

So that is why I haven’t posted in two weeks; I’ve been nose to the sewing machine, so to speak. We did have a meeting for my art group last night and we played with fabric and did small “elements” (as in “design elements”) that can grow into larger things. They can become the focal point for small quilts, ATC’s or what ever!

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Here are two small “elements” that I made. I think I had water on my mind. The fact that we were in the middle of a raging and quite impressive thunder, lightening and rain storm may have influenced me!

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And every once in a while, Mother Earth wraps herself in such beauty, I have to record it even though I know a photo can’t possible do her justice. A recent view outside my back door, early in the morning after a vicious storm (we’ve had several lately). After seeing that, how can I not go to my studio and create?

Deb H

Friday Morning I had a good start on my layouts. Still an overwhelming amount of fabrics to choose from;
some I like, some not-so-much. I start the tweaking process and doing some adding and subtracting of elements and fabrics or papers.

Today is a short day in that we have to have the room ready for the “all classes walk-through” by 4:30 pm and we are used to working into the wee hours. We also have to get all packed up and be ready for the Small Quilt Auction at 5:30 and the end of session Banquet at 7 pm. Gee, we will have to finish up the week with fun and food - poor us

But, to my everlasting surprise,
I finish all three pieces in time.

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Graduation!

Here are some detail shots (click to super-size). Nothing was safe in this room, here is the morning paper after it had been “transformed” with batik, dye and paint (left), then a detail of panel 1 showing an Angelina bead (right).

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Better shots of the three finished panels.

I feel like I learned a lot this week. I opened my eyes, then opened my eyes again (as Granny Weatherwax would say (from the Wee Free Men books by Terry Pratchett, my hero)). There is more to making fabric than just technique and that is doubly so for making art.

I came home to my vegetable and herb gardens having been overrun with weeds due to our very warm and wet week. Weeding is good right now, I can think and assimilate while I yank the little buggers up!

Deb H

Thursday’s class was a bit more intense, not in the way it had been; making fabrics and using new or improved techniques, but putting it all together in a composition. Looking at all of the fabrics and papers I have been making (with no real thought as to the final goal), I see I have a lot of very busy materials to work with. This will be a challenge!

To start, I cleared a space on my board and started pinning fabrics together to see if they even looked good (click on photos to bigmafy).

There was a lot of this.

And a lot more.

It’s truly amazing how much time you can spend just putting fabrics together.

Then ideas started to come. I decided on a three panel piece to explore the three ideas I had (sort of) forming. Three similar ideas - my first series!

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I got a rough idea of what I wanted for my first panel,
this one is all fabrics.

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Panel B’s first audition, this one is fabrics and paper.

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And the final panel is all paper (except for one tiny square) .

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By this time the day was over and my brain hurt.
But it will be a good start for tomorrow, the final day of class. The pressure is on!

One also needs to reflect on how it would be so great to do this every day, all year. Then I realize how tired I am after four days of this kind of intensity and drag my self upstairs to bed!

Deb H