Fabrics of the Week

These are the 2 successes thus far...

this one is 2 sides of the same cloth

The Art of Dating

Whew!!! so relieved that my mojo just took a short vacation!  Good actions breed good actions!  This mornring Peter and I headed to the Y (first time we're doing this together, say "ahhhhh"), then we left there and went to see the art work of G.C. Coxe at the Kentucky African American Heritage Museum.  There are only a dozen or so pieces from private collections but I'll be going back several times to study the work before it comes down in August.  It is such an honor to see his work hung together and I believe a first since his death in 1999.  This is my favorite piece, Totem Pole with Little People, (oil on canvas, 49"x64 5/8") because of the transparency and that the geometric figures in black represented "people" for Coxe in the same way the shape in the following photo represents people for me.  It made me feel in excellent company.

 

 

Below is the state of the dye session as I left it today...a screen with dried thickened dye and fabrics in reds and greens dye juice in plastic containers.

 

 

The other delightful treat was to go see Form Not Function exhibit!  I love every single piece in this year's show, but my vote for Best of Show would have gone to Units 27: Sunburst by Benedicte Caneill and my personal favorites were Letters to Myself-Page 2 by Denise Linet and Soliloquy I by Peggy Brown.  The exhibit doesn't allow photography but there is a catalog that accompanies this exhibit.  Will be making more trips to see this exhibit as well.

Still Here

Today was my first day in the studio this week.  Since I couldn't recall from last week what my train of thought or intent I had for this dye session...I pulled out screens and printed. Me thinks today was my contribution to the slush pile.  I did learn that my thermofax screens need replacing.  Overall, I just could not gain control over the process today.

Fabrics from last week are in the washing machine as I type...hopefully when I dry and iron them, I'll recall what my intent for this round of fabric dyeing and hopefully will regain some sense of direction for tomorrow and Saturday.  I'll leave you with a poem by Langston Hughes...it speaks to how I'm feeling at this moment...

Still Here

been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,

Looks like between 'em they done
Tried to make me

Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here!

 

Marbled fabrics

The one on the left was taken with a camera phone, the image on the right is truer to colour....same with the 2nd image.  In the 2nd image is how it appeared on the right before I added another layer of marbling as seen on the left.

 

Colours are more intense then they appear...taken with phone camera.  These might possibly receive additional layers next time I marble.

High Steppin'

The last group of marbled fabrics are in the washing machine and today was devoted to cleaning up the marbling table and preparing to make it a dye table.  Dye concentrates were mixed and before I left today I sat out 2 quarts of print paste so when I return tomorrow I can roll right into it.  I did forget to wash my screens so I'll wait until next week to use them and will primarily stamp and make direct hand marks with the dyes.  I might even put my foot in it (African American colloquialism which translates to doing one's best, topping it off with one's best, taking the extra step, etc)

Mo will have 2 surgeries on her knee Wednesday...she inherited my father's knees, poor thing.  I don't think she has given thought to having/needing to give up her stiletto stomps...or at least the wisdom of doing so....my Mama always said you can wear cheap clothes but you can 't wear cheap shoes.  There is no substitute for a good shoe that supports your entire body and not just look good on you while you're standing still.  But mind you, when I was 23, I too loved my heels but I equally loved my earth shoes and Bass sandals.  At 52 I've totally given up the heels...yet, there is nothing like a solid, new and well worn earth shoe or "earthy" type shoe.  At 18 I was guilty of walking across campus in my my pointy toe stilettos but the more I studied feminism, the more self assured I became in walking (pun intended) away from anything designed to exploit my body in the name of pain.  Mo tries to convince me that today's mile high shoes do not hurt the feet when walking....yeah, if its to the mail box and back.

studio shoes

 



For the next few weeks, I'm going to suspend the weekly accountability and just "flow" with it.  We'll be pitching in to help Mo and the grand babies anyway we can after her surgery.  My time in the studio will be catch where catch can.