A happy, healthy season to all of you, however you celebrate.
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.
Solstice
textile supply woes
I need to “paint” some fabric like this.
Unfortunately, paint itself is not an option at present. The ones i have are too stiff on the chosen fabric to get a needle through, and bleeding fingers are not on my list of Happy Things. They also dry too fast to do the blending i want! I had thought of roughly “piecing” together scraps instead, but that meant too many layers. I could have done this on soluble, but noooooooooooo, Lalage is being a bitch these days and breaking threads left right and centre. (I HATE this model, worst machine i’ve EVER had. Miss my old White that went for 20some years. Kenmore used to be a good value as workhorse machine and i had a different one for 16 years, but alas, with the current workroom one, not so much anymore.) So, dye it is, good ol’ Procion, hand painted on to satisfy the desire to if not duplicate then to simulate the above.
ARGH. I’m disturbed however, that i have to order from the US for my dyes, because not only is it on sale there, but the shipping cost is the same, and even with the currency conversion, it’s still cheaper……………and the jars are bigger! Sorry Maiwa, as much as i love love love you, i have to thank you Dharma (sigh). Even the ACAD shop has an abysmal assortment, though i suppose that’s due to the number of students who get there first!
I also have to order most of my threads from the States—local stores don’t carry enough–indeed some carry NONE, or haven’t the assortment, or the weights, or the prices….Calgary is severely lacking in places to get decent amounts of anything textile related! The only exception to this is Valdani in Edmonton, though unfortunately whenever i want to order, they are out of what i want!
Ya soldier on.
the persistence of memory
Some memories are fixed, unrelenting. Others morph, bend and change inside to outside, nightmare to dream, dream to delusion. There are memories of memories, given, borrowed, stolen from others.
Sometimes we compartmentalize our memories, or lock them away. Sometimes they fade, are forgotten, deliberately or not.
Who doesn’t want to remember, forget, remember and forget? Free but still bound.
translation
Still just peering over the edge of the rabbit hole, but on the way up now. It was a long fall.
Paint on paper above, painted cotton below.
FM on painted cotton above, hand embroidery below.
As i’m writing, i realize this exercise made me think of this:
(Hoodoo Sky, 2009, in progress)
Tests for possible work, i still have 2 other techniques to try with the remaining painted fabric.
There’s nothing more satisfying than bringing a cloth to life. I could easily stretch and frame these beginnings on their own, but that needle and thread thing is so addicting, and really, the translation from flat image to textured story is what turns my crank.
While i “designed” the base cloth for the one above, because it is an abstract, i had no idea when i made it what i would do with it, story wise. Sometimes narratives just happen. Stockpiling cloth like this is like prepping a bunch of canvases, or journal pages, no dreading that blank space!
Admittedly, the deliberate shape and design of a face means the face is the story, but things still can become what they are as they want.
The story will continue.
meanwhile…………………
Wine or coffee? Coffee or wine? Whine, coffee. Wine, at home, after.
New fffFlower Mines haute couture, garland boa. Warm, but a tad buggy and scratchy. Actually needed to wash my hair when i got home–teeny little wormie caterpiggle things!!!!!!!!!!
a slightly naughty Florist’s poem
Christmas is “official” as soon as the glitter comes home from work. 
😉
A slightly naughty Florist’s poem….
“My heart’s all a’twitter
now that there’s glitter.
It’s in my eyes,
hell, between my thighs,
it’s even under my Ta-tas.
When I disrobe at night
what a sparkly sight,
I’m feeling like Lady Gaga.
And OH! I’m getting fitter
because his hands a’flitter,
it makes my man want to Boogie Cha-Cha!”
while i get through
There’s always bread and butter work to get done.
Above, vintage metallics with velvet.
Below, limited edition stars and acorns in indigo and lace.
No deep thinking allowed right now, just pretty things.
buy my art *before* i’m dead, shop update
Above SOLD
Above, SOLD
Above, SOLD
Above, SOLD
Above, SOLD
These small works of art are all hand dyed, whether with Procion or indigo, other natural dyes and dye processes, and all feature lots of hand embroidery, though the juice moons also have some machine work. I will this time INCLUDE the shipping cost, as i really want them to go to Good Homes. And with the Canadian dollar so low, you’re getting a deal there too!
Please visit the shop for more details.
I won’t be here much in the next few weeks, but thank you again for your continued support and kind words.
no sale…………………..
It’s with much regret that i must withdraw my intent to participate in the Contextural Artisan Christmas sale on the 19th.
Personal reasons, which i will not go into here, in public. As much as i appreciate the thoughts or wishes, please do not email privately either. This will pass.
I’m very sorry if this has caused inconvenience, or false pretense for publicity purposes.
albedo too 
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