Monthly Archives: October 2012

In a Fog

For the past few weeks after my workshop, I came home and have felt like I am in a fog. Dragging around trying to kick myself into gear. I finally gave up on the “in gear” part, got more sleep and read a few fiction books.

Then I took a few long walks.

And then I went to see some art.

Finally feel like I am ready to sew again. I started with learning how to put a zipper in. I had never done that before. 🙂 It was really effortless to play. When did I start to make it work?

It is work though if you want to make progress. Made a list after I read this post by Robert Genn and now back to the studio. But I added the return to play to my list, too.

A Whirlwind Catch Up

I have all these grandiose plans to write a separate blog post for all the fun things I have been doing. But it just seems like old news. So I will give you the abbreviated whirlwind catch up:

1. Attended a day long workshop by Susan Brubaker Knapp at the WMQG on Thread Sketching. I didn’t take the class but was just a classroom volunteer. She is a very good teacher and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her for a workshop.

2.After two weeks of Artprize, I loaded up the car and went to the Barn for Sets and Variables #3. Really intense assignments given by Nancy but I loved it. I , of course, came home with lots of pieces and parts not sewn together but I understood the concepts and am loving fine lines. Lots of ideas swirling around in my head from this class. I need no reminder to know what a privilege it is to study with Nancy Crow each and every time I take another workshop from her.

3. More press: Jennifer’s nice article about me

4. The Saturday I drove home from the Barn I squeezed in a quick 90 minute trip to our West Michigan Quilt Guild which was held at the Deltaplex Oct 3-5th. I was surprised to have won three ribbons for some of my work.

I was proud of our guild and the quality of the work shown.

4. I over-dyed about 40 yards of medium valued fabrics as I used up lots of my darks at the Barn. I used an electric blanket under my plastic containers to maintain some warmth overnight. More blotchy than usual but not bad! The dye studio has been packed up and placed down the basement ready for next summer.

5. Yardwork, housework, more yardwork and more housework in a major catchup mode. ( I did very little around here in the month of September).

6. A week of jury duty where they chose me to sit on the jury. At least it was an interesting case=bad boys in big bad trucks being very bad. A business case.

7. And Lucy , my Bernese Mountain Dog, who had an anterior cruciate ligament repair at MSU vet school. Looks like a 3 month rehab process.

Oh geez….life just goes round and round, doesn’t it? I always have hopes of life slowing down but that is not the case. I am just going to embrace it.

I hope to regain a studio schedule on Monday and am looking forward to it.

Artprize Recap # 2/ Fiber Related

I was lucky enough to sneak in to some of the very busy venues in the first few days of Artprize. I was anxious to see this piece by the lovely Lynn Krawczyk. Lynn had a prime spot at the BOB and I am sure many, many people were able to see it. It fit this spot between two windows on this brick wall perfectly.

“Remnants Collage #17, Lynn Krawczyk

Details on “Remnants 17”, Lynn Krawcyzk

Nice piece Lynn and I loved being able to see your work up close and personal. The texture is really superb! Next to her piece on the other side of the window was a nice compliment of acrylic on wood.

“Tidal Waves “, Steve Pleva

Back to fiber….

Circles 4 12, Ellen Stuckey

I took a class with Ellen a few years ago. Nice to see her piece here again.

The next exhibit was at the GRAM. I could have looked for a long time at all the embroidery. It is titled – Along the Lekksenne by Eames Demetrios.

So much to see in so little time. One more post left to wrap things up.

Artprize Recap #1

I thought I would share with you some interesting pieces from Artprize 2012.( I credited the artists by placing their name cards following the piece. )

I watched the artist one afternoon on this installation. I was fascinated by how the light hit this variegateted string/thread.

This next installation “The Land Up North” by Jared Cherewski was at the new Kendall College building which had been restored. Over 4000 pieces of clothing had been borrowed from Goodwill. I loved the rainbow of colors against the floor and white walls.

Recovery Mode

I looked at the date on my last post and it was September 20th. I can believe how quickly the time has gone this fall. I have done two weeks of Artprize, a week at the Barn for a class last week and now I have a week of jury duty. And I was, of course, chosen for the trial.

I have unpacked my stuff from the Barn (kind of) , cleaned off my desk from the busyness of Artprize (kind of) and felt my whole body just relax. I am in no way caught up. But I feel this huge sigh of relief that I made it through both things and had a great time. Pictures processed next and I will share!