Author: arlee

I am a Canadian textile artist in Calgary, Alberta. As textile artists, we connect and are connected to communities larger than our Selves, or our immediate environs. We encapsulate culture, technique, history and innovation every time we touch cloth.
Posted in Deliberation--do something you don't do--or haven't in awhile, journal: lessons to learn

new flavours from old hats, and an Instagram learning curve

Posted on by arlee
arlee barr, embroidered feathers
Feathers from “Strange Soul Take Flight” 2013

I don’t like “copying” myself, figuring work should show evolution, not stagnation, but the more i look at this old photo, the more entranced i am.

Origin: noun
1.something from which anything arises or is derived; source; fountainhead: to follow a stream to its origin.
2.rise or derivation from a particular source: the origin of a word.
3.the first stage of existence; beginning
4.ancestry; parentage; extraction
5.Anatomy a.the point of derivation. b.the more fixed portion of a muscle.

Pick one, pick a couple, but i’m going back. Origin was the “word of the year” for me in 2012, not that it’s something i believe will change anything, but it’s good to remember where your roots as an artist are, and is going to be the Mantra for a good while. I got lost for whatever reason.

I think it was 2 weeks ago that i finally figured out how to get into the Instagram account i opened 5 months ago……. I can only add photos from my phone if i’m home on the household Wi-fi, as my “plan” is a pay as you talk” experience. (I rarely use it except for pictures, texting to work or the Greyman, and for possible emergencies. The alarm feature is well used too, for reminders 🙂 ) (And yes, we still have a landline.) I have learned how to add photos from my computer to the phone camera file, and have successfully posted a couple of photos, and now the ubiquitous hashtag, but am still having problems with sizing, resulting in uploads that have features cut off. WHY can’t Instagram just tell me what the optimum SIZE is in pixels (dpi) instead of the damned “ratio aspect”???????

I did manage also to download a photo edit program to my phone, but really have no clue how i did this:

This is what i *wanted* to have posted:

Same feather, double sided. A bit of fun while i was horridatiously sick this past week. All naturally dyed cotton and wool threads on rusted cotton.

I like Instagram: it’s pretty, it’s bright, it’s got kitties and flowers, embroidery and stylishly styled style ( 😉 ) shots of everything from cushions to jewellry, natural dyes and yarns, lovely illustrations and positive affirmation in the comments. I don’t –or haven’t yet–seen any trolling, politics or nasty agendas, almost like FB was in the beginning of its incarnation. I’m still on FB, though i defriended quite a few as there’s no interaction from them, left a bunch of groups as either repetitive, uninformed or face it, just plain Stupid With a Capital 9, put some on “snooze” as i really have no interest in their dinners or their politics, and am generally keeping my mouth (hoofies) away from the keyboard on certain posts. (“BRILLIANT” in my life/family has always been a SARCASTIC comment, that many don’t get….)

So, i’m just picking my way through the days right now, unsure what will/could/might happen in the studio, and not terribly concerned about it right now. As they say in Calgary “It is what it is.”

 

Posted in journal: lessons to learn, Probably talking to just myself, Sketchwork

Al Dente

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Throw it and see if it sticks!

Not much happening by hand, but a lot of “research” has been on the table. I ordered a copy of a very old illustrated anatomy book “De Humani Corporis Fabrica/The Fabric of the Human Body” (much abridged and less annotated, as the actual book reprinted costs $1650US………..) Vesalius didn’t get it all right (dog parts anyone?), but my own copy fits the bill for inspiration. I do still love body parts in my own work 🙂

I found out about this book from an episode of either “Criminal Minds”, or  “Cardinal” or something similar! Some serial killer had it on his coffee table…and that’s where i keep most of mine while perusing them 🙂

I also signed a great WHACK of textiles design books out of the library, not how to’s, but histories and pattern bases focusing on yardage. Intriguing how design in this field changes, re-occurs, cycles and reflects.

Since i am now dealing with heart issues (mild to moderate damage, so FIXABLE), i have returned to that part of the ol’ bag of bones, squidgy bits and blood we all wear. Inspired by the “electrical current” of the heart, i’ve also been painting and drawing and note making about this:

A very liberal depiction, but adequate for the task. More accurate below, though of course with science and art, there’s never a way to actually capture electricity naturally moving through a body!

Different treatments:

It may be that none of these specifically will make it to cloth, but that black and red combo is really speaking to me again. (I keep remembering Raggedy Black Heart, and red used to feature quite often in my work, pre hand stitch obsession.) I have huge yardages of both in cotton, and have to venture into the back room to dig them out. I have 11tybajillion ideas, but know i am going to be sidetracked, (have in mind some functional objects as well) and that’s okay. I need to be doing something, and that’s all that counts. Maybe the art is there.

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I had my Thalium heart test yesterday, and am keeping my hoofies crossed that the “mild to moderate damage” is more to the MILD side. I’m also giving a round of gold stars and hero biscuits to the tech who could actually find my vein for the IV without butchering my arm ( my veins really really hide but we discovered Left Arm is more co-operative..), the one who cheered me on at the treadmill and took graciously my blurted “well, fuck you” when she said she’d had *her* morning coffee (i’d had none since 630AM the day before, woe is me), the nuke crew member who got the thalium into the IV without me even noticing (!), and the one running the MRI who chortled when i screeched “WHAT?” when the machine told me to stop breathing. I don’t feel quite “normal” this morning, but given that up to a month after, you have to show paperwork that says what was done to you if you are travelling–don’t want to set off those security checks with radioactivity!—-i don’t feel too bad. The only visible sign of anything happening is the bruises on both arms from the blood pressure bands–kept telling them THAT hurt more than the IV! (Apparently Right Arm is the one that can have the dystolic heard!)

Obviously there are going to be some major life style changes made because of all this. I’m not a sloth, but neither have i been a cheetah!

Posted in Deliberation--do something you don't do--or haven't in awhile, in progress

radioactive

Posted on by arlee

In several respects…….

                                                                                                                                    source

I have to have a Thalium test for heart issues. An IV is hooked up and a radioactive isotope is shot into your veins (COLD!!!), and then a Gamma camma camera is used to take pictures of your heart as you exercise, showing where the isotope goes (and *doesn’t* go if there is damage to the heart). The worst part of it all is going to be NO coffee the day before and the day of, and the 6 hours the test takes! In fact, for the last almost 3 months, i have been poked, prodded, had things glued on me, pressed on me, wrapped around me, and still more to come in the next 2 months. (I had another suspected angina attack in December, the 6th in 10 years or so.) As with MOST of us, i took my health for granted for so many years, and now i’m paying a price. (Seriously, get thee hied to a doctor, Darlings: you just never know what’s really going on inside that bag of bones and blood you wear every day.) My mind knows i  won’t be glowing, but it also wonders about other effects after! Or maybe i’ll have Secret Super Powers just waiting to be revealed in times of whatever sets off Super Powers. Dinner choices? Cat puke in the middle of the kitchen floor? Violet or cherry for the hair? Puddle jumping because the boots leak? Is that cottage cheese or snot on my shirt?  The Gawdz know i don’t have an exciting life.

Above, stuffed heart from “the Artist’s Body” series, 2007.

I’m also “radio active” as in i am maybe going to my old self and my more (from-the-past) intuitive stitching results/projects. In one way that’s been unproductive, as i have still had no serious inclinations to make big work, and in another it’s been great for  pieces that are “ideas” in solid form. These might be added to the “component box” and maybe someday they will Become/Be the big work. They could be looked upon as samples and tests, but since i like combining seemingly disparate elements in my work, they could might fit together somehow for a story someday.

Above, “Distancing Herself” 2007.

It’s EXTREMELY hard to get away from “muscle memory” and do/try new things. Most of the little bits i’ve attempted are worked on for a couple of hours, until i realize i’m doing the same thing over and over again, sigh………   As evidenced by the photos above, i’m going way back into my files to see what i can stir up.

Things are taking form during my “self directed workshops”, something i haven’t done in a while, things that may not become Actual Things. Just doing, filling in space and time because my hands can’t stay idle. It keeps my brain busy as well, instead of second guessing or worrying about my future. If it were summer, i’d be out getting dirty in the garden as a break, but not so much in this weather.

I don’t really have work in progress: *i* am the work in progress…..

Posted in Probably talking to just myself

stuck in the middle (with me)

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Okay, i have to come clean with myself, at the very least, if not with my (few, faithful) readers. This is not a whine. This is not a pity party. This is not a rant or a snivel. I have my Big Girl Pants on. This is not a depressive cycle (something i have fought all my life, and am thoroughly familiar with, thank you very much), but it IS something cycling.

I AM STUCK. I am STUCK as an ARTIST. I can still craft/make/create/do/stitch, but the Big Important Stuff i am ready to give up on. It’s pretty empty in that department. Shuffling paper, paints and fabrics around has a wad of maybe’s, but not for now. If i could actually DO what i wanted to without all the current self doubt, there would be an explosion of work–but i have no actual flame to blow things up. There is no now right now……………… It’s humiliating, frustrating, loathsome and a horrible terrible no good very bad way to be, but it is what it is.

Hell, it’s not even “stuck”–it’s dead in the water. Maybe it’s just not for me to keep on with the so-called Big Important Stuff. That “Epiphany” was mean —-and truthful. Maybe i need to go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back, to when things were still a joy, and i didn’t care about what it all meant in the grand scheme of things. I don’t know if even that is the answer. Don’t care either.

So………you may –or may not–see pretty things, useless things, dumb things in the next who knows how long while. I’m hoping that as a VERY valued friend said to me this very morning, that i “will fly when i catch the next creative jet stream”.

 

 

 

 

Then again, it might lead back to where i want to be.

 

 

 

 

 

Please burn this after reading.

 

 

 

Posted in Collision: the work begins, Ecoprints and Natural Dyes, journal: lessons to learn, Sketchwork

you just start somewhere

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In the annual purge that takes place in January, i found an old “mark making” journal. A period of mixed media and a lot of colour, it was my antidote to living and working in my MIL’s basement, a horrible place and situation in many ways. “Notes from Mother Nature”  was made in October of 2008.

My “epiphany” is gelling, if indeed epiphanies do gel. Reflective searching thought, and research has led back to some ideas, but unless i actually start somewhere, nothing will take form. Simple, right? There are many many parts i wish to use again: the studio worktable is a jumble of sketches, fabrics, notes and paper scraps.

So, start small, because small can become big when the sum of the parts become the whole dance.

Posted in Ecoprints and Natural Dyes, Jam Day, Natural Dyes

Jam Day Ecoprintingpalooza

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Friends and i have been planning and hoping to get together for literally months to have a play day! All of us of course have busy lives, but finally on the 27th, we were able to commit all at the same time, to the 29th of January.

Lyn has a wonderful second story studio set up, waaaaaaaaaaay out by the mountains!

With oodles of materials to work with from rose to cherry, sumac and grevillea, onion and maple, marigold flowers, rose petals, turmeric, something like sliced betel nut, privet berries and oak, eucalyptus, osage curlings, well, you name it–if it was scavenged locally, buyable or shared, we had a plethora of materials to choose from. Almost overwhelmingly so! We also shared pre-mordanted fabrics, and lots of discussion and tips about various methods and techniques.

We had a pot of onion skins going for one bath, and a pot of superstrong Lac as well.

I had a difficult time choosing, so  i stuck to the “tried and true’s” of maple, oak, grevillea, euc and osage, with experimental hints of privet berry, rose petal, the almost betel nut, amaryllis and rowan. (Note, the privet berries give a nice green dye, but do NOT print at all….) Lyn generously shared a long strip of viscose (?) scarf (commercially dyed, and un-mordanted) that we first soaked in vinegar (NOT A MORDANT, but a modifier/Ph adjuster), and then layered with plant materials, with me adding a strip of previously logwood dyed silk in between. I had gone out for a bit of fresh air at one point and picked some fresh fir, tearing it into little pieces and putting that between the layers, with a bit of euc also.

!!!! When this was wet, we couldn’t decide if there was a definite imprint, thinking perhaps it was just an “embossing” effect as the viscose was thicker than most cottons and silks, but yup, fir and euc did the job and discharged just enough to make it interesting. First photo below, un-pressed, second pressed:

(To see more details, all photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.) Part of the effect i think is that some of the logwood “transferred” to the viscose, as evidenced by the darker colour. Even so, i think i’m going to discharge this whole piece, and try again. I might even add a crocheted or needlelace edging after so i can wear it as a scarf.

And look what it did to the logwood silk!!!

 

We tried some of the haremcloth as well. Lyn got crisp results, mine not so much, but i think mine was too loose a bundle.

I love this green from the onion bath, very atmospheric and reminding me of an old Arthur Rackham illustration.

Great colour on this one from the lac, but the maple, euc and osage is barely visible, except as a contrasting yellow:

 

Blah, but i like the string patterning, always my favourite part, and usually strong even on failed pieces:

 

 

I wish i had a shot of one of Susan’s pieces–she has used alum acetate with a chalking after (mordanting procedure for cellulose fibres) , something i have pooh-poohed as a step i didn’t “need” to do 🙂  However, it definitely made the colours from the leaves and dyes bond better, with maple leaves showing such incredible detail and colour range that you would believe it had been painted by a VERY skilled artist.

These two pieces are the ones though that really made me SQUEAL.

Above, euc, oak and osage on cotton, with lac. Below, euc, oak and osage on previously logwood dyed cotton, in lac.

Obvious to me is that pre-mordanting properly can make a major difference. Click on the photos to see the full glory 🙂

I still have one bundle cooking right now, as it missed getting into either pot, so maybe another surprise or two.

(And alas i don’t have a lot of in situ shots, or pics of Susan and Lyn’s results–oh some were to die for!!– as i forgot to put the chip in the big camera, and had to use my phone. And most of those were blurry ’cause i was so excited 🙂 )

I do believe i could get excited about ecoprinting again. I’m still in “Epiphany” mode though, so taking more time for reflection and doing, rather than showing and sharing here.

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You may, or may not(!),  notice that i have disabled the “like” button on posts, starting with Jan 21st of this year. It’s starting to feel like FB where people “react”, but never actually say anything. Blogging is about interaction, and as guilty as i myself am sometimes for doing that, i’m feeling if i *do* “like” something, it might be is helpful, encouraging or validating to someone to actually SAY what i mean. Trying to change that habit myself!
Posted in Collusion: sampling, Natural Dyes, Sketchwork, Work 2018

fool me once…….

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HA! It took me TWELVE YEARS to figure out here was something wrong with this sketch. At the time, i was quite concerned that i get the valves and tubes all facing the right way, (there was an actual, real life cardiac surgeon on the QuiltArt list in those days, who helped a lot), but what about the hands???? Who holds a heart like that (pre-supposing one could, and not as part of some nasty ritual 🙂 ) ?

It’s not the intended Next Big Thing, but a smaller part of the whole, perhaps a new “series”. Either that or a very intense sampling 🙂 The hands are done on a potassium permanganate/rust/brazilwood cotton from a residency, with naturally dyed threads used for the embroidery.

I’ve done some dyeing now for this particular design, both “potperm’ and cochineal with iron (I want deep purple, not fuschia), and have some logwood dyed cotton as well for bits. I’m torn between using an indigo with potperm background, or just potperm–or something else entirely different!— and have to decide reasonably soon so i can commence the rest of the work.

Posted in IDoS, Redux projects, Sketchwork, Work 2018

paging inspiration, inspiration please come to the front desk

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My sketchbooks would never be considered “art journals”, but that’s okay–they’re WORK books, not cheesed up multi media shows of virtuousity. (Yes, some of those are lovely, and for those who work primarily in painting/sketching/printmaking, perfect. Not so much however for those of us who “translate” to another medium!) And honestly,  most of my notes, sketches etc, are actually loose sheets in an expandable folder from the dollar store. When i finish a project, i file them immediately. I have only once participated in a show where the “documentation” was intentionally part of the show. It’s interesting for some to see the process this way, but a lot of artists i’m sure would have a heck of a time “explaining” the linear progression of sketch to sample to work–because usually it’s all decidedly NOT linear 🙂

I have no desire to re-create precisely what is on the page. Work books are just that: lab samples, experiments, epiphanies and eurekas, cryptic notes and puzzled fumblings, shared only, and rarely, as part of the process, documentation that indeed, i did invent this. I have no need to pretty up the performance so i can wow somebody. Workbooks are gardens, the ideas are seeds in mysterious packets, and no one really knows what will pop up under the right–or wrong- conditions. My “back 40” is wild, unkempt, full of what others consider weeds, piles of branchy debris and bits i’m “saving”. (Much like the actual Back40 at The Stately Barr Manor……)

I think the planning for the “vision” for this one is going to take more work than normal. These are only snippets of ideas,  like creating a mood board from scratch! Sometimes i do that, sometimes i don’t.

An old sketch that was used for two different pieces of work, has surfaced. (One and two.) This one has me quite fascinated again, not only that it helped create two totally different from each other works before, but that i can use it again, and it will be again completely unique to itself.

The river and sky colours keep attracting me, though i’m thinking of earth and a dusky sky now, rather than the clear blue of indigo. I have some logwood dyed fabrics that are astonishingly purple, but think i’m going to fire up some of the cochineal and iron again also, for the haremcloth.

I’m quite excited by the idea of this particular “hope it works, and hope it gets done” piece. I’m a bit scattered now, with Real Life issues that are Very Important to Deal with, but am planning some dedicated time with the whole process. I have no clear vision yet of the size, the whole, the techniques or the end result (!!!), but i know i AM on the right track.

(I have only ever ONCE taken sketch to textile interpretation “faithfully”, exactly as shown, pure luck that i had the fabrics to do it, and the stamp and stencil that started it. Heart stamp and crow stencil, my designs.)