a bundle of randomness

August flew by in a wicked blur and it appears that September is just as moody since its not been polite enough to slow down so I can get a grip on things. Things are a-hoppin' at Chez Fibra Artysta. I've been meaning to blog (which I detest saying, its a dirty phrase) but since I've been scurrying around instead of writing, lots of things have happened. So instead of individual posts, I'm smooshing them all together into a list of random.


(1) On Saturday I attended a meeting of the Michigan chapter of the Surface Design Association. It was the first time I met this group and I had a really nice time. The state rep mentioned that they were looking for people to do demos so since I believe it is my solemn calling on earth to addict everyone to thermofax screen printing, I drug along my screens and paints:

Bear in mind that I did this demo in front of professors from Wayne State University. With my own special way of printing which basically involves flinging paint at the screen and then attacking it like I'm flattening flies. Has little to do with the "proper" way to print. Not sure what they thought of that but I had a blast and plan to go back. No getting rid of me now.

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(2) I've got three of the seven assemblages done for the show I'm in next month:


A fourth is nearly finished and the other three look like this:


Have faith, will ya? I've got skills. I'll make it.

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(3) One of my errands today involved obtaining these little vinyl farm animals for one of the nearly done boxes:


I apologize if you are an herbivore. This box is actually meant to be humorous (and will be when I'm done with it, the little guys are staging a protest encouraging people to eat more bacon). By the time I'm done with it it will be. Now that I have the protesters, it will come together in no time at all.

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(4) I added two new paint colors to the shop. Pond Scum and Blue Lagoon.


They are both rather nice metallics. I'm not a huge metallic fan and I really like these, all the metallics from Simply Screen are subtle. And while I acknowledge that it may be a marketing mistake to call the light olive green one Pond Scum (who looks at their artwork and says, "I think all this needs is a dash of scum! That's the ticket!), don't be deterred. Its a very pretty color.

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(5) I upgraded my ipod touch to the latest one. I always said the only way I would is if they came out with one with a camera in it. The buggers did so now I have. The nice thing about it is that Dooley doesn't realize its a camera so I can take as many pictures of little man as I want without him fleeing:

The picture quality is pretty nice, dont'cha think? Its certainly not going to replace my good camera but its blog worthy quality and that's exactly what I wanted from it.

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(6) Unfortunately the new ipod renewed my interest in the game apps available and I came across a free one called Pocket Frogs:


Its a cross between being a mad scientist and a frog pimp. The objective is to breed as many new species as you can. I'd like to say that I tried it, found it amusing and then set it aside. I'd like to say that. But I made it to level 5. Someone stop me now... (Oh, and Moviecat! is also a very entertaining movie trivia game. Just in case you needed another way to waste time.)

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(7) I read a blog called whatever. Meg, the talented photographer and writer of the blog, went on a missionary trip to Africa not long ago. She took along a suitcase full of children's vitamins and in the time since she's been there, the vitamins have been all used up. She's asking for donations of kid's vitamins to send along with the next person who travels there. (All the info can be found in this blog post.) My vitamins are at the ready - would you consider donating too?

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(8) I'm working on a new monthly newsletter. It will be separate from the blog and include things about classes I'm teaching, nifty thermofax screen printing tips, exhibits I'm in, coupons and announcements about the shop, interviews with artists. The first one will go out in a couple of weeks. If you're interested in receiving it, please send me an email at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net with a subject line of "subscribe to newsletter" and you'll be on the list.


That's all I've got. Well, not really. I've got a lot more and could babble for hours but really, there has to be a limit. I've got to get Breaking Traditions prepped for the American Sewing Expo. It hangs this Thursday so there will be some more info on that coming soon. Catch you later chickens!

printed project sunday

Printed Project Sunday is a new series of blog posts that will appear every third sunday. The purpose of these posts are to feature artists so that you may get to know them better and hopefully inspire you to try some screen printing of your own!

Cercis 9 by B.J. Parady

The first post in this series features artwork from the very talented B.J. Parady. The background fabric of Cercis 9 (shown above) was created using deconstructed screen printing. Other methods used to create the work include stamping, fused scrim, shiva paintsticks and machine quilting.

From B.J.'s website: My art reflects the microcosm in which I live where the tall grass prairie used to be. I am inspired daily by the big skies, the reflection of light on water, the remaining remnants of native plants. Because I have come to embrace the idea of abstraction capturing the essence of a moment rather than a literal depiction of a scene that could just as easily be photographed many of my new pieces are in the style of the abstract expressionists.

If you are new to deconstructed screen printing, here is a brief clip from the deconstructed screen printing queen herself, Kerr Grabowski:




Please visit B.J.'s website and blog to view more of her work.



Printed Project Sunday highlights artwork that features hand printed fabric or paper. The methods vary from traditional screen printing, deconstructed screen printing, thermofax screen printing, monoprinting, gelatin plate printing - anything you can think of! If you would like to have your work featured on the blog, send an image and explanation of your work to FibraArtysta@earthlink.net All work, images and text are copyright of the contributing artists and are posted with permission.

consistency

I've been driving myself mad lately (and a few friends as well) when it comes to the topic of creating a consistent banner for all my sites.

The problem I had is that I don't have a clear cut logo. Because I brand myself under the name Fibra Artysta (which means fiber artist in polish by the way and is no more difficult to pronounce then my last name which seriously lacks in the vowel category), its not so easy to come up with a graphic to represent that.

I can't count how many versions I ran through and how much staring I did at other logos and banners for ideas. It often ended with me giving the computer horrible dirty looks and stomping away with fierce determination to ignore it with all the might I had.

But today I spent time setting up my new newsletter that will deal with all things thermofax. And there it was: the need for a tag line and header.

If you've been to my website or etsy store, you noticed that the blog, website and shop all had different headers. Its been annoying me in a gigantic manner for some time.

Today I sucked it up. I'm pretty happy with the end result. The graphic is based on the most popular screen in the shop. Its simple, abstract (which describes my art and writing style) and will be super easy to screen print. (Mom said it looks like a microwave. She may have a point...)

Now everything looks the same. Which means I've been branded. But to be honest, that sort of sounds like I'm a cow with some crazy ranch hand chasing after me with a burning hot iron so I don't know that I really like that description.

At any rate, the twitch beneath my eye is calming down a little bit. Now I can continue building up the new newsletter. With less twitching. And branding. Branding that looks like a microwave...*sigh*

how to make lousy photos do your bidding

I tried to come up with a snappier title to this post but really, the one up there pretty much sums it up.

A friend of mine mentioned on her blog that she had just taken several photos of her art quilts but there was something off about them, she was going to have to shoot them again.

I actually screamed "Wait!" at my laptop. (I don't think she heard me.) I left a comment saying that minor (and sometimes major) keystoning and distortion can be corrected in photoshop really easily.

I'll be giving her a lesson soon but thought maybe you all would like to see this too. Some of you may already know it but if you don't, it can be the difference between sanity and drooling in the corner when you've got a lot of photos to take.

I use Photoshop Elements 8. Now before you go saying that's a super expensive program you can't afford, I'm here to say not true. Its $80. Works on PC and Mac. Its essentially the little brother version to the full blown suite but it performs well for everything I need to do. So that's what I'll be showing.

First you need a really crappy photo. I was a bit horrified to find this one in my library when I went looking:


I haven't a clue why I shot this at such a weird angle. I ended up re-shooting this because I couldn't correct the lighting to my satisfaction but we're going to pretend for the sake of this exercise that the lighting is text book perfect (work with me here). We're going to focus on making it look like this:


(I left all of the screen shots of working in the program pretty big so click on them to make them blow up.)

So here's what you do if your picture just flat out sucks and you (a) don't have time to re-shoot it or (b) are feeling bitter and refuse to let it rule your life by taking another picture of it (what? you've never felt that way?)

Step 1: Open your crappy picture up in Photoshop

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Step 2: Click on the "Filter" pull-down menu and select "Correct Camera Distortion" (this command is your best friend)

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Step 3: You'll see a new window with a grid across your image and commands on the right hand side.

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Step 4: Here is where you can correct keystoning on your picture. The middle section is labeled "Perspective Control." Our photo obviously has huge issues on the horizontal perspective so we're going to use the slider labeled "Horizontal Perspective."

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Step 5: Simply move the slider to the right or left and watch as your photo flattens out. The grids over the image will help you know when to quit.

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Step 6: Click OK when you are happy with how it looks and it will take you back to the main workspace window. Notice the checkerboard pattern on the left hand side. This shows that the image has been tilted. (Told you it was a lousy photo.) I tend to leave a decent amount of room around my images when I shoot them so that if I need to correct any keystoning, there is enough border for me to do so. Sometimes it gets a little difficult if you have cropped it in real close.

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Step 7: If you're still not happy with how it looks, go back and mess with the horizontal and vertical perspective sliders some more. When you're done, crop it and no one will ever be the wiser.

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Step 8: You can also correct distortion on the image. This time when we say distortion we are referring to an image that looks like its falling in on itself (concave) or bulging (convex). If you go back to the "Correct Camera Distortion" under the "Filter" pull down, you'll notice a slider bar at the very top labeled "Remove Distortion."

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Step 9: Our photo doesn't have any distortion of this kind to correct but look what happens if we move the slider to the right - the image becomes concave:

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Step 10: And if we move the image to the left, it becomes convex:


So if your image has some weird bulginess happening, you can fix that up with "Remove Distortion" and make it look less like something from a Tim Burton movie set.

I try to be pretty careful taking my photos but let's face it, its not possible to make them perfect every single time. Its comforting to know that Photoshop has me covered and that I can tweak things and make them look better.

Now you know too. Happy photos for everyone!

mixing things up - short story sunday

Since I have no ability to shut up when it comes to blogging, I don't regard my weekly sunday post a necessity anymore. I started Where I Stand Sunday because I wanted to train myself into a regular blogging habit. I think its pretty clear from my endless babbling that it worked.

But I love the regular Sunday posting. Seeing as how Where I Stand has gone on for nearly three years now, I think its safe to say that a little bit of variety would be welcome. I don't plan to kill off the essay but I'd like to add it into a rotation. I've been giving it some thought as to what I'd like to trade it off with and I came up with two other things.


Printed Project Sunday

I'm a screen printing junkie. I think the whole world should be covered in it. Its a certain kind of magic that never gets old. And I know I'm not alone on this. Printed Project Sunday will be a showcase kind of posting of any screen printed thing.

But not my stuff. My stuff gets featured all the time on the blog. I want your stuff (keep it clean, please, this is a PG rated blog).

It doesn't need to be something printed with a thermofax screen - although you'll warm my heart if it is. It can be deconstructed screen printing, experimental screen printing, homemade screen printing, gocco screen printing, any kind of screen printing. Email me a picture of your project at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net with its story (what kind of screen printing you used, the story of the project, your blog/website info, etc).

Anyone who is featured on the blog will go into a drawing for a free thermofax screen from my etsy shop. Since this kind of posting will only show up every three weeks, we'll do a drawing every three months. Want to play? Get emailing.


Short Story Sunday

I don't talk a lot about my writing here. But I do a lot of it. Its something I'm still getting comfortable sharing. The closest I've come are the captions on the Where I Stand photos. I consider the mini captions a challenge - just to see how much I can cram into a few short sentences.

I'm going to do a different version. I'll grab one of my photos (not of my feet) and attach a short story to it. I'm not going to set a limit on how many words or sentences but it won't be more then a few of paragraphs.

My writing style is much like my fiber art style - a bit abstract and incomplete around the edges. I'm not going to angst over these, they'll be written off the cuff. While I am planning right now to use my own photos, if you have one that you'd like to share, I'd love to use it.


So there it is. I hope you'll find the new posts interesting. If they don't work out we'll move on to something else.

Without further ado, I give you the first Short Story Sunday post.


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Short Story Sunday



He leaned back in the driver's side, resting his head, letting it tilt slightly to the left. There was a time when he would rush from the car the moment he pulled into the driveway. But these days he took his time, let the day tick off his shoulders with each breath.

The sun seemed like it had lost its hold on the sky, it slipped lower quicker every day. The year was closing up shop. It made him feel weary and relieved all at the same time. The promise of something new was few and far between, something to trap between both hands.

He reached out and laid his hand across the box in the passenger side. The airbag sensor had binged at him the entire drive home, insistent that there was someone in that seat that needed to be secured. It wasn't entirely wrong. The box was important. But it wasn't something that could be bundled into safety with something as simple as a seat belt. He tapped his finger lightly against one corner.

With a reflexive sigh he hoisted it into his lap, balancing it against the steering wheel as he pushed the door open. The sun had slipped even lower in the ten minutes he had been sitting there. He stood for a moment, watching as the tree line blurred into a fuzz against the graying sky.

There was always something ending, something always beginning. He slipped quietly into the house, with the watered down sunlight at his back, holding his own cardboard beginning between his two hands.




Short Story Sunday is a series of mini stories based on random photos. They are quick, spontaneous flashes of abstract fiction.

considering cannibalism

I've been a wee bit stressed the past couple of weeks. There have been various events that have worked hard to produce a twitch beneath my right eye that feels sort of like its grooving to a club techno beat. (No amount of rubbing, tugging, or cursing removes this phenomenon by the way.)

Last night I was out with Leann and Deb. Leann moved the conversation toward the assemblage show that she and I and Joan are putting on this October & November.

Apparently Leann has six completed and Joan is nearly done with five. (We have to make seven each.) If you combine the three that I've started, I've got half of one done. Which means I'm way way way way way way way behind.

I knew this but somehow having her verbalize how many she and Joan have done sent that twitch beneath my eye stomping full force across my face.

After I got home I did what any rationale artist would do: I marched straight up to my studio and had myself a little freak-out.

I examined other assemblages I did and considered breaking them apart and cannibalizing them into new work. I pulled out every drawer from my storage units that have found objects in them. I made a complete and utter mess on every flat surface available.

Then I edited them back to two piles:




After I ran a few errands this morning I set to business. This month is as busy as last and I need to manage my time better. (This could be the mantra of my life.) Prior to going to Fabrications I had put myself on a schedule of X amount of time in the studio to get things done. Saturday is an art day and that's what I did.

By the end of it, I have four that are near complete. I realized that one reason I had stalled was because I was planning to do all seven very similar to each other. That sort of stripped back the biggest part of why I love assemblages - which is the spontaneity of it all.

So I played. I pulled together whatever I thought was fun and just went with it. I stopped because the four in progress are in drying stages right now but tomorrow I should be able to glue together the rest of the main elements. I'm big into detail work on assemblages so getting all the gluing out of the way will be huge.

I have ideas for two more which will put me at the six mark. Here's where I ended with four today (these are just progress pictures, they aren't complete by any means):

(* The four small pieces with the felt pebbles are the only cannibalism committed. They are small wall art pieces I made last year for a holiday bazzaar that didn't sell well so they are getting moved into a new role.)

And here is what my work table currently looks like:


I'm hoping to have a repeat performance tomorrow. Its assemblage central around here. And mess central. And twitchy eye central. Lots of centrals...

35 things

Today is my birthday. Another year is gone. Its come with a lot of changes, which is to be expected.

Every year on my birthday I write a list of things that I've learned or observed over the past year. Some are trivial, some are serious, some are just plain silly. I usually begin about a week before the date turns. I figure that by the time I'm old I'll have a long book of things that make me feel pretty smart. (Or just really old. We'll have to wait and see on that one.)

I thought that this year I would post it here on the blog.

So in honor of turning 35 this year, I give you the 35 things I've learned over the past year:

(1) Imagination is a powerful thing.

(2) Everything is a choice.

(3) The westie makes an excellent heating pad in winter time. (And summer time but its not quite as convenient.)

(4) I'd be nothing if I couldn't make art.

(5) Favorite pass time for year 34: making outlines of where my life could go if there were absolutely no restrictions.

(6) Wondering where those restrictions come from...

(7) Friends with blue hair are just all kinds of crazy.

(8) I need a twelve step program for yarn collecting.

(9) No matter how stressful life is, there is always something good hiding around the edges.

(10) I have an excellent mother.

(11) My brother is an outstanding photographer. I am always in awe.

(12) Its becoming easier to call myself an artist, a writer. I wonder at where that comfort level suddenly came from.

(13) I worry less about what people think of me.

(14) The wesite sits and stares out the window each morning like its something brand new each time. I wonder it would be to look at life that way all the time.

(15) When things aren't working right, its okay to walk away. Its okay to seek a more peaceful existence. Its okay to take care of yourself.

(16) I attract mutant zombie horrific and all means of disgusting species of bugs. I will work on accepting this as part of my natural charm (although secretly I want to squash it as dead as all the buggies).

(17) My friends are cool.

(18) There are limitations to how washable "washable" paint really is when you are trying to remove it from surfaces where it does not belong. I've discovered them all.

(19) I'm working on world domination for one simple reason: to make it autumn all year round.

(20) Favorite quote: "Barn's burnt down, now I can see the moon."

(21) YouTube taught me how to knit. Weird.

(22) I am becoming immune to coffee and require stronger and larger doses to keep the blood pumping. I consider this a cruel joke and expect this effect to reverse itself during year 35. That is all.

(23) My life is held together with a series of lists. Ironic that. Since I just listed that fact in a list.

(24) I've got a good life. And I'm grateful for it.

(25) Its okay to ask for help. People are usually happy to do it if they can. And regardless of my own internal hang ups, they do not think less of me because I can't do everything myself.

(26) Favorite book during year 34: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I've read it three times and plan to read it again.

(27) The years are going by faster. I need to pay closer attention.

(28) Pets are magic. No matter how lousy your day has been, how upset you feel, or if you are overjoyed, they are right there in the trenches with you - celebrating and comforting.

(29) I love words. I love putting them together, making them tell a story, watching them march across the page in purpose.

(30) If I invent one thing in my lifetime, it will be studio minions that will clean up after me as I work, sew hanging sleeves on the back of quilts and ship things out for me. They will also sing upon request and do little dances. I'll let you know when I have that sorted out.

(31) Its a little thrilling to begin all over again.

(32) Everything is simple once you break it down to its simplest elements. I lived by this dogma all of my work life. Now I realize it applies everywhere else to. Which means anything can be done if you have the mind to do it.

(33) I like teaching art classes. I'm going back to it.

(34) My bedroom is painted like a candy corn. I realized this after it was done. Somehow it seems fitting.

(35) I've absolutely no idea what comes next and that's okay.


Here's to a new year. Bring it on number 35.

studying with the master

When Cathy put up the class listings for this year's Fabrications Retreat, I was immediately drawn to Carol Soderlund's Color Mixing for Dyers I class.

I'd heard talk about that class, that you come away with a bible of colors (affectionately referred to as "The Book"), formulas, precision. Any of you who have been reading my blog for any length of time know that I have a love/hate relationship with dyes. I've never been able to force them to do my bidding (even after swearing at them which often works with knitting but not so much with dyes, they are apparently immune to my fits). I figured I'd take her class, walk out with some dye formulas and be a happy little camper.

Oh what a naive little dyer I was.

By the end of the first day of class, it was clear that this was not your typical class. Carol meant business. She was intent on cramming as much knowledge into our brains about dyeing as humanly possible in five short days.

I admit that I was overwhelmed by Tuesday night but by the end of the next day, I was totally in love. She knows everything. I mean it. Everything. There isn't a single thing this woman doesn't know about dyeing and she's happy to throw as much at you as you can take.

We worked in teams of three, mixed, stirred, dyed and otherwise crossed over into slap happy territory more then once - and it was perfect. I plan to track Carol's class schedule closely, there isn't a single thing she teaches that I don't want to take. She is precise and expects hard work and I have nothing but the utmost respect for her. (No, I cannot stop gushing...)

I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do this year. Probably because I was so immersed in the class but I did manage a few. Here are some of the lovely people from class:

Lauren (she, me & Cathy were one team)

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The lovely, sweet, friendly, helpful, funny, talented Judi Hurwitt of Approachable Art

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Jolly Janice, always with a smile on her face!


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The master herself, Carol (I want to be her when I grow up)

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And just because I love how fabric looks when its dyeing, here are a couple shots of the dye buckets:

We did several dye baths and then each team swapped. I only have one third of my book put together. I plan to work on it when I'm less tired (I've been a total t.v. zombie slug the past two days trying to regain some energy). If you want to see a little bit about it and some more shots from class, be sure to visit this post on Judi's blog.

And just to prove that I do exist (I tend to flee from the camera), here is a shot of me yapping and stirring dye buckets:



I've actually been dreaming about dyeing fabric. That's how much this class has gotten me excited about working with dyes and colors. Of course, its usually some bizarre circumstance like pulling dye buckets out from beneath a counter in a bank and just dumping dye and fabric into them while I'm waiting for the teller to complete my transaction.

Grand time. I highly recommend Carol and the Fabrications Retreat, I can't sing their praises enough.

Carol read us this poem on the last day of class. She said it sums up her love of color and I have to say that if I had read it prior to taking her class, I don't know that I would have understood it. But I do now.

The Place Where the Colors are Made
by Stephen Beal

Someday I will see the place where the colors are made,

The place of my joy.
There will be stairs leading up, wide marble stairs,
and there will be a room,
vast and vaulted and inspiring,
and there will be music, one hundred strings under the baton
of Carmen Dragon,
and there will be dancers, one hundred blondes
gowned by Jean Louis,
whooshing between the pillars in pastel chiffon.

The place is it: huge bubbling cauldrons of color
in which innocent cotton is transformed to gaudy hues,
to scarlet and fuchsia, to purple and gold,
to greens that bite your eyes and blues that lead you on until you think
the world will never end.

Oh, this is it, the place where all your dreams come true,
Where nothing is as it was and everything develops the potential
of what it can be.

Here is the stuff of change, the very stuff,
and you can take it home and hold it in your hands.
No paint will do, no paint will ever come close,
When you can stitch your lover a heart of ruby red, and say,
“This is the color – and the texture – of my love for you.”

Yes. This is the place where the colors are made.
This is the place of joy.

where i stand sunday

Her colors jump up off the fabric, saturated and vibrant and prickly. We were separated by a hallway but both of our minds swirled deep into color and hues and shades. Everything clicks over how to conjure up colors, colors, colors - beautiful intense unbelievable c-o-l-o-r-s.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

hello chickens

August 23rd? Seriously? I feel strange having not posted for so long. Maybe the twitch below my eye was blogging withdrawal - bring me blogspot! Stat!

I've been all kinds of crazy busy, mostly getting ready for and then just returning from the fabulous Fabrications Retreat. I took Carol Soderlund's Color Mixing for Dyers class and I feel like I just went through an entire college semester's worth of information in five days.

The pace was insane, the information was plentiful, Carol was incredibly chipper (even first thing in the morning - something I don't comprehend but am always surprised by), and I'd happily do it all over again. Its changed not only the way I see color and dyeing but also in how I take classes. I want the serious heavy duty ones from now on. Bring it on!

Only not just yet...I have to recuperate from this one first.

I have much to share with you. Some photos. Some talking (shocking, right?) but at right this minute I have a westie staring me down in total disgust because not only did I have the nerve to leave him for six days, I'm now choosing to pay attention to the silver box from hell (his description of my laptop) instead of to him.

I'll be posting lots over the next few days. In the meantime, allow me to distract you with the video version of the Modern Quilting Lecture Rossie Hutchinson did a couple of weeks ago. (Follow the link below the one here to see it larger.)

Chat soon chickens...

Modern Quilting, Mutant Quilting from r0ssie Rossie r0ssie on Vimeo.

because i'm a virgo dammit

I am busily preparing for all the wonderful adventures of the Fabrications Retreat (while fighting an ear infection just to keep things interesting) and I decided to use spray paint (you see where this is heading, right?).

The metal hooks that are used to hang Blurred Boundaries are silver. (The metal hooks go over the top rail and then clear line is tied from the hook to the artwork.) The curtain we hang the artwork against is black. What's wrong with this? Absolutely nothing. We used them last year and it looked good. But for some reason this year I decided that they should be black. Why?

Because I'm a Virgo dammit. (It explains a lot about me, honestly...)

Out I went, procured black spray paint and set about my work. I've never used spray paint before but how hard can it really be? I watch HGTV. They give people "brand new" houses with nothing more then fifteen hundred cans of spray paint. I should be able to wield one can and turn silver hooks into black hooks.

Observe my genius set up:



I'm convinced those designers on HGTV aren't actually doing the painting. They probably hold some workers in a little prison cell somewhere and their punishment is to come out every so often and spray paint a whole bunch of old crap. Once the torture is over, they shove them back into that little room until the next round.

I learned a few things. Allow me to share:


1. Even if you have a blacktop driveway, black spray paint can make it even blacker.

2. When you hang items on all four sides of a box and proceed to walk around perimeter of said box to spray paint the items, it is impossible to avoid spraying away from the breeze.

3. The people on HGTV make it look easier then it is. This isn't the first time they've convinced me to do something I shouldn't...

4. Spray paint instantly mummifies flying insects. (Sorry Mr. Fly, maybe you should watch where you're going next time. Oh wait, there is no next time...oops...)

5. White pets + black spray paint = bad Lynn

6. If you don't wear gloves, your fingers will look like unfinished Jackson Pollock paintings.

7. Stinks. And not in a bring-me-the-sharpie-so-I-can-get-a-cheap-thrill kind of way. More in like the gag-I'm-being-smothered-by-toxic-nastiness way. Blech.

8. There is nothing wrong with silver hooks.

Too late now. No turning back. I'll be doing a second coat tomorrow. I'm hoping its not breezy again. Otherwise I'll be heading out to the retreat with black freckles...

where i stand sunday

This is just the start. There is a certain kind of thrill, knowing that the screen that passes through my thermofax machine signals the start of a project, the spark of an imagination not my own, the beginnings of something exciting.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

come take a class with me! basic printing with thermofax screens

I'm very excited to announce that I'm beginning to teach classes again. And since I'm obsessed with thermofax screens (and think that everyone else should be as well, its become my personal quest to cover the entire world in screen printing), its only fitting that that's the topic of the class.

I added a tab at the top of the blog labeled "Class Schedule." I'll add to it as I book more classes. Class descriptions will be added as well over the next couple of weeks. If you're interested in booking a class, feel free to contact me at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net

Hope you'll join me!


Here are the details:

Basic Screen Printing Using Thermofax Screens

When: Sunday October 17
Time: 12 noon - 3pm
Where: Northville Art House
Cost: $50 (includes one screen & one bottle of paint of your choice)

Register for class by contacting Lynn at FibraArtysta@earthlink.net or calling Northville Art House (248.344.0497)

Class size is limited. Class fees are non-refundable but may be transferred to another student.

Class description: Learn four basic screen printing techniques that you can use to apply to your own projects. The class will cover solid printing, scuff printing (produces ghost images), clean repeat printing and multiple color printing. Students will have access to Lynn's extensive stash of screens to experiment with during class, and students will leave with a screen and bottle of paint. (Please visit Lynn's etsy shop PRIOR to class to choose your screen & paint color so she can have what you want. Screens cannot be made on site.)

Supply list: 100% cotton fabric (4-6 yards - inexpensive muslin is fine, this is a technique/practice class), garbage bag to cover the table and 1" or 1.5" wide sponge brushes (4-6 brushes)

m u s t___k n i t___n. o. w.

I knew this month would be hectic. And I knew it would test just how long I can stretch out my tolerance for not making things. This is pretty much what my work table in my studio has looked like for the past couple of weeks as different projects have rotated across it:

(Those are fundraising wool coaster kits. They will be for sale at 212 Arts Center in Saline, MI during the month of September. The 2009 Breaking Traditions exhibit will be hanging there and the wool coaster kits will help raise funds for A Place to Bark.)

I realized that even the time I've been spending working on art has been labeled with "have to". I'm not complaining. I like having things to do. But a girl's gotta have some down time. And bonus points if it involves making something that doesn't have a deadline attached to it.

Fabrications is in exactly one week (yay! hooray! whoopie! bring me the dye!) and I always take along a mindless knitting project for the evenings when we are all sitting around, blissfully brain fried from a long day of classes and with full bellies of beer and sweet potato fries (the pub in the hotel has the best sweet potato fries). We aren't much able to do anything else so we knit.

Last night I started poking around on Ravelry for a simple triangle shawl scarf pattern. I've really taken a liking to those. I found one called Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West. Its pretty basic, I like the ribbing, I like the absence of yarn overs and lacy elements. Its got a masculine feel (duh, its designed by a guy) and I like it for that.

Of course, the yarn I chose for it sort of zaps the manly feel of it:


(The lime green flip flop is courtesy of Dooley. He flipped it up onto the coffee table last night in a fit of playing and I was too lazy to push it out of the way of the picture.)

The yarn came out of my stash, which I've come to regard as my own personal yarn store. I've no idea the brand or yardage. I think it might be Briar Rose (who I worship with an undying affection). It feels very autumn to me, I love it. Its spongy and will knit up real quick.

Do I have enough yardage? No clue. I figure I'll truck along and either stop when it looks like I need to move into the border or do the garter border in another color, maybe something solid.

Today I am spending the day burning thermofax screens for the marketplace at Fabrications. The wool coaster kits took me way longer then I anticipated putting together so I'm a little bit behind. So today is getting things together for marketplace. I've got a couple of new designs that I'm going to release there and then put up in the shop in September.

Just a note that the shop will be going into vacation mode beginning Monday evening and then come back out on September 5. So if you've been thinking about ordering lately and don't want to wait until it reopens, now is the time to order.

And just because he's cute, here's Dooley love:

wabi-sabi

Yesterday was the lecture I organized on Modern Quilting. Rossie gave an hour long lecture on this new category of quilting that keeps creeping up lately.

There were several things that I found fascinating. The one thing I found most interesting was the clear correlation to Amish quilting, Gee's Bend quilts and Nancy Crow. Modern Quilting seems to be defined by the use of negative space in design and a sort of utilitarian style piecing. Lots of use of solids for graphic designs and a general sense of contentment to do your own thing without worrying about being the odd one out.

It seems to me to be a resurgence of the most traditional form of quilting. And I love it. Not a single thing about it that I don't care for and its making me a convert - I want to make functional quilts. What I find most exciting about it is the way brand new quilters are flocking to it, its created a new interest that is grand.

Rossie created a flickr pool for modern quilts a couple of years ago. Tons of inspiration there.

One point that Rossie touched on that really resonated with me is the term wabi-sabi.

Its a japanese term and wiki sums it up best in these two sentences: The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete." Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.

This perfectly describes the reason why I can't warm up to machine quilting in my work. I've tried so many times, knowing that its a skill all of its own, always being in awe of those who have mastered it. But its never felt like me.

My work never looks like mine when I use a machine and so I go back to picking up the needle and thread and hand stitching everything.

secret things

I think it adds a soul, a mark, an element that I can't figure out how to embed in the things that I create any other way. It makes me content, this imperfection that clearly shows my hand.

Wabi-sabi.

Sounds right to me.

where i stand sunday

I can't remember a time when I've walked through this house and not felt him around my feet, reminding me of his presence with a soft nudge, the tap tap tap of his toenails against the floor. Some call him a dog, a pet. I call him comfort, companion, friend, family.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

time to make the donuts

Or more to the point, time to make the assemblages.

I was going over my to do list (the one that has been taking steroids) and realized that I hadn't added in working on my assemblages for the show I'm in in October/November.

About a hundred reasons why ran through my head. I'll do it after Fabrications. I'll work on it when I'm less busy (yeah, go ahead and laugh, I did), I'll start when the moon and stars are aligned just right.

You know the drill.

Excuses. Plain and simple. Truth is, I'm intimidated by having to produce seven pieces. I don't know why, doesn't make much sense. But the scope of it has been picking away at my brain since the day the show was booked.

Mostly I've been debating if I want a theme or if I want to just go with the flow for each one. I'm confident that if I picked the latter they would still be cohesive. After all, they are all made by me so my style will be present and that would be enough to hold them together.

I figured if I did a theme then it would be easier to make them, that I could work quicker. But trying to nail it all down ahead of time was about as enjoyable as a root canal. It mostly kept me away from the project entirely.

Then I thought that if I had to come up with seven entirely different ideas, that that alone would be exhausting.

See? I argue with myself too much.

I decided enough is enough and its time to get down to business. I'm not doing myself any favors by trying to figure this all out in advance. All I'm really doing is procrastinating - just with the fancy label of "preparation" attached to it.

I entered the studio determined. I set the timer for four hours and told myself I was not allowed to leave or quit working until it beeped. The important thing is that I worked and got back to it. Because truth be told, I've been concentrating all of my efforts on my etsy shop and other projects that have zip to do with art making. Its been making me a bit grumpy so this was a self imposed play date. With myself. Which just sounds weird to say. Moving on...

I was faced with this as soon as I stepped through the door:


I began to clean. I stopped cleaning. I took the whole pile and pushed it onto my other work table that I wouldn't be using. Cleaning is another form of procrastination for me. I can do a quick clean tomorrow morning before I leave for the Modern Quilting Lecture.

I have lots of boxes (we've been over this) plus I bought wood to build my own boxes. I've had a layout in my head for a while so I decided to start there. I cut slats to size (sometimes I wonder if I like making assemblages just because I get to use stuff like saws and drills) and then painted.

While the wood was drying, I dug out some branches from my stash and painted them a rust orange:


That was almost meditative, sitting there brushing the paint onto all those little branches. I really enjoyed it.

I tortured the slats a bit more with some light molding paste and a wash, screen printed some trees on the background board, did a dry brush of metallic paint and laid things out in the format I've been daydreaming about and:



...I hated it. Didn't like it. Didn't dig a thing about it. And that smaller box that is unpainted in the shot above? What a beast to try to drill holes through. Those boxes are best left whole and altered in other ways that don't involve trying to separate any part of it from the other. That was a bit of a disappointment.

I wanted to quit after this but I still had an hour and a half left on my timer so I tossed the smaller box aside and grabbed two smaller ones. I honestly have no theme for this box (maybe branches?).

I drilled holes in the smaller boxes (which worked wonderfully), painted them out black and started decoupaging pages from a damaged book on the backs. I liked it, carried it to the outside of box and ended my work session with this:



It still has quite a ways to go but I'm much happier with this direction. I'm regretting the metallic paint on the back board, shiny isn't really my thing so I don't know why I did that. But the smaller boxes aren't attached yet so there is still time for me to pick at the background and downplay the shimmer.

Its hard to capture the depth on it with this crappy photo. I'll be sure to take proper ones before the show.

I plan to repeat this work session a few times a week between now and the show. I don't really have a choice. I'd forgotten how time consuming these pieces are. Especially with all the painting and drying time. I'm hoping it grows into a habit for studio time, that's something I really need to create. I've been talking about developing a body of work for a couple of years now and haven't done it. Mostly I just need to break all the bad habits I have that keep me out of the studio.

Dooley did this all day:


Lovely lazy westie. Can't say that I blame him. Its still nasty humid weather here. Better to nap through it until its over. Clever little man...

i test it so you don't have to

I hate leaving the blog lonely for days on end. Truth be told, I came down with some kind of devil flu on Monday (I think it actually started on Sunday but didn't really knock me over until Monday evening) and I'm just now looking at the computer with more then a half opened nyquil induced glassy eyeball.

My biggest issue when I am sick is that I cannot sit still. Can't do it. My brain keeps on trucking and decides at some point that my body needs to try to keep up. Its been one of those viruses that leave you with about a half hour of feeling good time and then six hours of laying on the sofa feeling flattened time.

In the lucid moments, I truly believed that I could still be productive and continue to putz around with different projects in the studio. Keep in mind that today is the first day I've not been described by other members of the household as "zombie-ish" in appearance.

This is what I discovered:

1) Simply Screen screen printing paint is indeed water soluble and easily cleaned off of various surfaces such as drywall, plastic and pets.

2) Thermofax screens are even more versatile then I believed - and will screen on houseplants fairly clearly.

3) Puff paint is not as easy to clean up. Especially when it is tracked from the studio into the bathroom (which serves as my screen/brush cleaning/studio clean up room as well). I contemplated taking the heat gun to it and making it all puff up so it would be like the walking trails at the zoo but then I realized that there is no cool monkey exhibit at the end so I skipped it.

4) The paint/dye apron only works to protect your clothing when you actually wear it.

5) I'm working on a new series of screen imagery for the shop that revolve around hand drawn doodles and my brain is a frightening place to be when flu is knocking around it. We'll be skipping those sketches...

Yes, I test all these things for you so you don't have to. Its my gift to you.

I'm hoping tomorrow is less fuzzy. I am relieved that Mr. Plague decided to visit me now instead of later this month when I'm at the Fabrications Retreat. I can't imagine how well dyeing 1000 samples in Carol Soderlund's class would go with me drooling at one end of the table aiming for little bitty plastic cups.

I'm heading back over to the sofa to tip over for the night. Dooley love is adoring all the extra cuddles, hard to feel bad with the little fur friend snuggled in close.

where i stand sunday

Her house is nestled in a footprint of history, a city that refuses to let go of its roots. The past stamps itself on the streets, the buildings, the neighborhoods. Mixed with the end of summer, there is a dreamy kind of stillness that barely stirs the air. I stood in her garden, feeling the stillness, soaking in the electric colors of the plants that spend their lives twining around the paths and tracks of humans.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (The project is now in Year Three. Year One and Year Two can be found here.)

point taken

Me and Sunbonnet Sue don't have the best of relationships. In fact, the mere sight of her makes me want to take whatever quilt she is on, toss it on the floor and step all over her.

I'm not sure entirely where my dislike of her came from but there it is. I've heard tell that I am not the only one that feels that way. This point was well demonstrated many years ago when I was at IQF and saw a quilt that a group of women made with many blocks of Sunbonnet Sue - being murdered. (I think it caused a stir the first time it was hung. I searched for a link but came up with nothing. Imagine her tied to a railroad track, being boiled in a cauldron, decapitation via rotary cutter - you get the idea.)

Whatever our differences may be, I did finally find one Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I could appreciate.

Last Sunday I drug Leann off to the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild's semi annual quilt show. Its quite the event. Tons of quilts and local vendors - not to mention that the guild itself is monstrously huge at around five hundred members.

We were greeted with this quilt:



Upon closer inspection it seems the little man on the far left is being a bit harsh:





Until you see the offense that was committed (click to make the pic bigger):




While I laughed out loud (quite loudly) and yanked out my camera, I felt a little bit of nervousness take hold. There were white gloved women all around, I think they started eyeing me. I don't think they trusted me anymore. I felt a little bit like I was being stalked.

I resisted the urge to weave in and out randomly amongst the maze of quilt displays so that I could shake them.

I kept my hands to myself and obeyed the #1 rule of quilt shows of not touching the quilts.

I don't think I'd look all that good in black and white stripes...

hot. bah. make it stop.

I'm hot.

I'm tired of being hot.

I live in Michigan so I don't have to deal with hot.

If I wanted this kind of hot, I'd go live in Louisiana.

Or the surface of the sun.

Dooley is tired of being hot.

Having varnish put all over the hardwood floors in your house when its this kind of hot is cruel and unusual punishment. (I was tempted to step on them and leave a footprint, sort of like when you draw your initials in new concrete.)

I've never understood the purpose of so much hot.

Hot sucks.

Did I mention I hate hot?

Too hot to type whole paragraphs.

Autumn please.

Now.

Thanks.