Depth Perception

Depth Perception

Acrylic and collage

22x40"

I am feeling so relieved! That is a strange feeling to have when finishing a painting. But it has been so long this time to get into the groove of it all. This canvas was a false start that I agonized over for two days and then ignored it for two weeks. It didn't improve in my absence so I just gessoed over the whole thing and started fresh.

I collaged on some squares of paper towel and some strips of rice paper and added some heavy gel and let it all dry. Then I chose colors that are familiar in our house, lavender, lime and aqua, and proceeded to paint the canvas like it was a cabinet or any old piece of furniture.

While it was still wet, I laid some plastic wrap onto the surface and let it sit for a minute and then peeled it up. I learned this technique from several artist's magazines and painting books.

It develops a pattern which can be a trigger for compositional ideas. Hopefully.

Then I looked for areas to emphasize and blocked in darks and lights.

Today, day two, I flooded areas with glazes and added details, eliminating hesitant parts.

I forgot to eat breakfast and thought I was done with the thing by 2pm. I called Dave in for a look and he was silent for an interminably long time.

Then he asked me to tell him about the painting.

Wow! An art professor couldn't have approached me any better. I explained that I had no preconceived ideas and just let the paint tell me what to do. The thing developed as I painted it.

He was reticent to express an opinion other than to point out an area that seemed unfinished. I agreed that it was unlike the rest of the composition and I would address it after I ate something.

I ended up repainting the entire central lower half because of his comment and it is a great improvement. I am going to be dependent on his responses now. O my!

When it comes to a title, I have several which I rejected. I hate to be specific and restrict the viewer's chance at interpretation. Since I had no plan for this image, and what it became, I hardly feel protective of its meaning. Non-representational art is so much more than a picture of a thing, which is what I love about it. You would look at this piece differently than I do and bring your own responses and experiences to the viewing. I want to keep that door open.

It took guts for me to paint this. I can't explain all the pangs of fear involved. Wasting the canvas was the big spur to make me try again. That, and the need to get closer to the invisible unknowable goal I want to reach.

Such a fabulous day!

Breakfast party at Frieda's! What a great way to greet Monday. Laura is preparing for her trip to the Big Show at Houston and took a break with us. Pretty dishes, lovely fruit, coffee, muffins and yoghurt for fruit soup, which if you've never had it, is Wunderbar!




Frieda foams the milk for our lattes. Too too, n'est pas?

We oohed over everything, and wished to have a set of china like this.

Ms. Dimples. Laura never takes a bad picture.

Afterwards I went grocery shopping. It was bring out the big guns day in my store. I have never seen such huge fruit. These are Pluots, um, a hybrid of plums and apricots. I am guessing here.

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My plans for the day included going to Joann Fabrics to buy some plastic to cover my work surface so I could gesso some canvasses flat on my cutting table.

And the clearance aisle had this stuff waiting for me. Delightful. No coupon needed.

My next stop was Hobby Lobby where I had a coupon burning a hole in my pocket. But the stuff I got mostly was 30% off, including these already reduced to $5.99 tubes of paint.

Going with the theme of Giganto, they are HUGE compared to the tubes I had at home. I have tons of paint already, but these were practically a steal. If you have an abundance, you feel less stingy when squeezing out a blob. Which hopefully results in better paintings. At least that is the theory I am going with.

These are the items I actually went there to buy. I had to get this spray finish stuff because I HAD to get these pastel sets. Also 30% off.


Totally unnecessary and totally irresistable.

It's like the first day of school. All new stuff, and the time to use it. What more can you ask?

what to do when you can't blog

Although I gave it the old college try, Blogger wouldn't let me post yesterday. So I was up a creek without a ladder, as my brother used to say. This would be my other brother Bob, aka Bruce, of whom we never speak. Say no more.

I have been trying to use this time between Yellowknife and the my last gig of the year to get back into painting. My success rate had dropped to -25. I was knitting like mad to compensate. (Note: when I am knitting like that, you know something is up)


So as a remedy I started another canvas, and then gessoed over that failed attempt and made it white again. A few days later I discovered a $25 Border's Gift Card in my purse so I took advantage and bought an inspiration book. It didn't work either. I wasted the $25 which made me sink even lower.

In my anguish, I said a desperate prayer pleading for help.

Do I think God needs to be bothered with stuff like this?

Apparently.

This is only the first day's work, but I can tell I am back in the groove. When I post details like this, I don't expect/want/need feedback, it is just that until the thing is finished I am compelled by my fragile ego to show my progress.

Now something you can use:

My brother Cary, of whom I often speak, is deep into sibling competition with me. He beat me once at Scrabble and will never play me again, fearing defeat. Now he is trying to match me at crossword puzzles, and catching me off guard on Sunday, presented me with a puzzle that he had already completed earlier in the day. My copy was blank and he challenged me to finish it in five minutes. Ha! He was breathing down my neck and making comments the whole time. Alas it took much more than the five allotted minutes to complete. Grrr. So now I am onto the playing field and am practicing for our next match.

The lovely and talented World Wide Web (isn't that such a grand name?) has dozens of wonderful sites with daily crossword puzzles and the one that I like the best is aptly named Best Crosswords.com This site lets you key in the words on the computer, no printing out necessary, and then if you type in an incorrect word, the letters appear in red, so you can immediately delete. There are levels and timing, and points etc, making improvement calculable. O what a lovely addition to my mornings!

Also, I know you who have HBO are already hip to this series, but Dave and I have had a wonderful time this past week watching the complete set of dvds of Entourage. What a hoot. No wonder Jeremy Piven won the Emmy. I am now looking to rent more series, which I can never see due to my inability to stay awake past 9pm.

And to make me even happier, I was online renewing a library book(s) when I noted that my local library is now (finally, dark ages that we inhabit here in Cary IL) offering books to download directly WITHOUT HAVING TO LEAVE MY COZY HOME. 1200 titles!!! I am supremely delighted. I downloaded a 6 hour audio book for free in less than 5 minutes. How great is that?

Well. I am beaming. Ready to break my speed limit on today's crossword.

Wonder Under Press Release


October 2006

Dear Valued Customer,

As the industry standard for performance and ease of application, Wonder Under® has been used by home sewers and craft makers because of its dependability. We have identified a quality problem with a production lot which may have affected the separation of the web from the paper carrier. This may result in the web failing to release as expected, and may have caused frustration during recent months. As Freudenberg Nonwovens and Pellon® Consumer Products, we are concerned that you may have encountered such difficulties and want to assure you that the problem has been identified and corrected.

If you experience a performance difficulty, please contact a Pellon customer service Hotline via phone at
800-223-5275
678-680-2980
770-491-8001

or via e-mail at customerservice@pellonideas.com. They will be happy to assist you with any questions you have concerning the performance of your Wonder Under® and arrange replacement goods as needed.

As Freudenberg-Pellon®, our goal is to meet your product expectations and performance satisfaction. We appreciate your product loyalty, past and present, and look forward to bringing you innovative and quality products for your future home sewing and craft needs.

Sincerely,


Your Pellon Team.

4720-A Stone Drive
Tucker, GA 30084
Tel: 770-491-8001
Fax: 770-491-8015
PCP GROUP LLC
Corporate Headquarters:
3440 Industrial Drive
Durham, NC 27704
Tel: 919-620-3916 Fax: 919-620-3945
Pellon® Consumer Products

Unfashion
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Ever watch that show What Not to Wear? The premise is that several friends nominate another friend for a fashion makeover. The hosts make the fashion victim bring all her clothes to New York where the make her toss them out on camera.

One miserable thing at a time. Most of the gals state that they like a certain piece (or their entire wardrobe) because it is comfortable. Apparently that is not a good enough reason to own the garment. I have been scouring my closet in this manner, and removing the offending garments, as I don't have a free ticket to NY and I can do this task without the camera.

My alltime favorite ugly comfort garment is a black sweatshirt jacket unlike any sweatshirt jacket that you know. It is long, like a blazer, has no ribbing but has a nice hem. It buttons down the front, does not grabbass, and has two large pockets for the inevitable pen, kleenex and car keys. It doubles as a robe, studio smock and a car coat. It is ancient, has a million pilly spots and is no long truly black. It has to go. Finding a replacement is difficult to impossible, but I was determined and went to my fave TJMAXX with this in mind.

I spent two hours in the store and came up with nothing even remotely worthy. Mostly everything fits like it is made for apes with 20" hips. Sleeves are four inches longer than my arms and there were no styles that buttoned at all, and if there were pockets, they weren't usuable. I left feeling like I would never be able to replace my pal. I was downcast.

I had dressed for success, but neglected to note that rain was predicted. When I ran to my car, it was pouring and my shoes and socks took the brunt. The list of errands loomed large and there would be many more mad dashes to the car and back. I hate to grocery shop in a downpour, but there I was about to run through the puddles once more. In the next strip mall I glimpsed the resale shop sign. Aha! Maybe I can find a something dry to wear to keep me on task, errandwise.

In ten minutes I found a brand new lined Totes raincoat, in my size for $8, a brand new turquoise panne velvet shirt for $1.50 and a replacement jacket, also $1.50. I love the rumdum!

This is it! Form fitting (think fashion) two good pockets and a breast pocket, and black double knit cotton. All the buttons match. Amazing. I can retire the old one now.


Finished the second sock. Found several new socks that fit Dave. Started a matching the socks hat. We wear hats to bed around here when it is really cold. Some of us don't have hair to keep us warm. Not mentioning any names.

Just in time for Halloween.

The Itinerant Blogger

The delightful atmosphere of Panera

We lost our internet connection yesterday, due to switching from MCI which is dropping its dsl service (grrrrr) to ATT/SBC, which hasn't followed through yet on our new dsl service. Our new phone lines shut off the service from MCI and we hoped to have this all fixed momentarily. Hours later, I left our cozy home to get my internet fix here at Panera.

Dave and Popeye were otherwise occupied.

I am using this excuse to add a few errands to my to-do list today.

1. A trip to TJMAXX to celebrate my weight loss. 6 pounds already! What is my secret? Besides no wine? Nothing else that I habitually consume. Including dinner. I am not suffering, believe me. I would complain otherwise. The amazing thing is that I can stay awake in the evening, making my days fuller and my mornings fresher. Who knew? I knit until ten and then crawl in bed with Dave to watch late night stuff. Nothing really great is on, but it is all a novelty to us.

2. A visit with the Cingular people, in person to figure out what service we have signed up for and how to get out of our old plan and into our new one. They sent a letter telling us we couldn't use our old phone, like we ever did... and that we need a new one. What kind of genius runs this company? With our new dsl line I signed up for a package that included our land line in order to get the dsl and that meant that I got a cell phone too. Cheaper than our old plan. I think. I am so confused... Now we have two cell phones and never really use either. I am way outta the cell phone loop. Now I have 5000 weekend and night minutes. What's your number? I'll call you.

3. Post office, grocery, Borders...I have a gift card burning a hole in my pocket.

I guarantee when I return, this cat will be in exactly the same spot...

Pops

Aiming at Normal

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Four finished pairs of pj's

Do you remember when you were a kid and you actually complained,

"Mom, I'm bored."

Ha! Hard to imagine these days when all we can do is try to accomplish one creative thing a day, or a week or whatever. When I started my career I focused so completely on it that everyday tasks kept being put off, indefinitely, like putting away my laundry.

But then the idea of retiring came into view and I did just that, almost, in 2002. That is, I retired from one third of my career. Well, one third is a lot. I kept the teaching and the art part and retired from the dyeing business with all its travel, booth sitting and website order filling. I thought that would give me more time to have a more normal life.

So here I am, four years later still aiming at that normal life.

For example. I like to sew clothes for myself. Especially things that I want that I really cannot stand to buy, like pajama bottoms. Nowadays pj's are all hip huggers! How dumb is that? The last thing I want is a gaping drafty emptiness at my middle. I found some interlock from the early 90's still in my stash, and a pattern that I have used for pjs that I loved.

Vintage!

The nice thing about Stretch and Sew patterns is never having to admit what size you are making. So I cleared off my work table and cut out the four pairs of bottoms, sewed them up and now I am ready for winter. I like this pattern because the leg tapers so nicely that I can pull my sox over the hems and seal myself in for maximum warmth.

Toasty!

Isn't this a fun picture? I am learning all these tricks in Photoshop...more time for normal life stuff.

Now, do I really need to fix these sox? The cuff was knitted from wool that felted upon washing.

This makes them difficult to pull on and reminds me of my first sweater (made at 15) which felted when I washed it. A nightmare, since it was an Aran fisherman's sweater. This is why I am not a fan of felted items, which are all the rage these days. I am unpicking the stitches from the cuff and will reknit from superwash wool.

It is great to have a day where I accomplish something unrelated to my career. I still have laundry to put away though...

Sock Knitting Directions

My sock knitting directions are here. They were pasted into a previous post and have really strange comments attached which have nothing to do with the knitting directions. I was just too lazy to delete them all.

Perfectionism

My friend Emily wrote a blog mentioning perfectionism and instead of commenting on her blog I thought I would spew here.

It's a conceit to think that we could make perfect objects. It may be our aim, but if we did make the thing perfect, how much more satisfying would it be than the thing we made that was nearly perfect, yet beautiful, useful, functional or whatever?

If we made something we considered to be perfect, does it follow that we the makers ARE perfect? You know dat ain't right.

Our human frailities are mirrored in the pieces we create, and that is their character as well as ours. For example: I am looking at the sox I knitted and the glaring errors are staring back at me. I know there are perfect socks here, but then they are machine knitted and have less soul because of their mass production. ( no puns on sole/soul please).

Perfectly matched colors. Fluke!

The same goes for the rest of the art I make. Now that does not mean I will stop striving, but it isn't necessarily for perfection as my goal. I learned early on that getting close also means letting go of the freshness and quirkiness of the early attempts. It is more interesting to see the struggle.

There are things I would prefer to remain as nearly perfect as possible. Elevator mechanics as I descend from the 25th floor, comes to mind. My bank statement. The FDA. oops.

I'd like perfectionism to be glimpsed in nature, in music, in relationships, in the concept of holiness,

and in a perfect cup of tea.

Sock Stories Part Deux

I turned out that I had a pair of hand knit, hand dyed sox in my drawer, awaiting a recipient with bigger feet than mine. These were never offered to Dave because of their bright colors. I knew he wouldn't consider wearing them out of the house. So when we talked about bed socks, I figured these would work. Wow! Did they! I am off the hook.


So I decided to try another idea that has been simmering on the brain for a while. This is more of my leftover Koigu yarn which I have unknit from a failed coat project. Many of the lengths were too small for anything other than one inch mitered squares, so they were knit into a 12 patch for the foot and a set of 8 for the leg, with four 2 inch squares for the top cuff.

The close-up

The profile

and the art shot.

BedSocks

I never got dressed today, so involved was I in knitting up this sock. Each section made me happier and more engaged. I made this sock for Dave to keep his tootsies warm in bed. I say sock because that is as far as I have gotten today. It turns out they are too small for him and I will have another sock for myself...after his pair gets made, that is.

I unknitted the first attempt because I didn't like the way the yarns gapped when I changed colors. Then I decided to knit the leg part flat, as in not in the round. I would be able to control the ends better that way, I figured. When it was long enough I used the mattress stitch to sew it up and then placed the stitches on double pointed needles and knit the heel as usual. But I still wanted to change colors often, and decided to switch to smaller needles to make the fabric tighter and less gaping at the color changes. I went from #2 to #0's and never considered that this would also make the foot narrower, too narrow for a man's foot. Just perfect for mine.

I was concerned that the moss stitch would bulge like it does here:

But it turned out just fine when I pulled the sock on. This is my leg, which I disappeared with Photoshop, as a public service.

I wonder why it never occured to me to make socks like this before? I love the mix of yarns and colors and stitches. So many possibilities. When I finally figure out what I am doing, I will make the pattern available.

Knee Deep in Projects

I started this bolero jacket on my trip to Yellowknife, knowing full well that I didn't have enough of this fabu wool/silk yarn to finish it. I spent several days visiting yarn shops (woe is me) searching for an coordinating yarn to complete the sleeves and collar. Finally I purchased this ribbon, which is perfect.

It knits up much larger than the smooth body yarn, but I can deal with that issue, should I ever return to this project. At the moment I am subsumed with a few other distractions.

I am reknitting the button band on a finished sweater, it never felt right, and putting leftover diamond miters together to start the bottom of another cardigan. They sit there awaiting my attention.

And then I got my latest issue of American Style Magazine and there was a tiny picture of these great sox...Not a match in any way. My kinda stuff! I have never made Dave a pair of sox and he has ICICLE TOES so I started this pair for him last night.

Of course he will never wear these anywhere but to bed, but I am having a wonderful time designing them on the fly.

In my studio I have two paintings in the works, collecting dust actually. One is a new acrylic which I collaged things like paper towel squares and strips of rice paper onto. So far I am way intimidated by the result.

And I have an oil that I am painting over so that the canvas is not wasted. Is this desperate art? You bet. It has been drying for over a week and still I can't be enticed to work on it.

These are mere details, the whole thing is revolting and I couldn't bring myself to shoot a full shot of either painting.

I also have three sets of wonderful print fabric scraps sent in by wonderful quilters in order to help me start that pieced bedquilt I was going to make... I still will. It is on the list.

Along with making some new pajamas. I am willing to bet that I will make that little jacket before the pjs get made. Not that I need another jacket.

But today I have washing and ironing of dyed fabric.

To those of you holding your breath for the Tulip Party kit, I know I will finish this and put them in the mail today. Thanks for your patience.

And now for something completely different:

Gabrielle Swain wrote a wonderful blog post and mentioned my name and my art. This is in relation to our fiber art being relevant, politically, socially etc. in the context of the other art that is more blatantly political.

I love this topic, now that I have figured out what my art is about. It has taken me years and I did have to wade through the stuff in grad school about meaning and content. It drove me nuts. I have come to my senses and have taken a stand not to take a stand.

Just you try to make art that is content free. It cannot be done. Even a blank canvas says something about the artist's intent.

My work is my journey, which sounds so hokey doesn't it? It reflects my attempt to get the essential Melody-Johnson-ness into the finished product. Every time I publish a new work I take a risk of having it rejected. And that builds character. Since I have opted out of the competition side of our quilt world, I am stating my desire to make the art that pleases me and not the judges. So in fact, making my art/my way is in defiance of what is expected from a professional quilt artist. Ha!

On the other hand, I am showing my newest Stack pieces at the new Greater Chicago Quilt Expo this November, along with the other faculty from the Chicago School of Fusing. Even within the small band of that elite group I have really shifted to my own corner, doing non-representational pieces. I hope you will have the opportunity to see our exhibit in person.