attention span of a gnat

Posted on July 11, 2016July 11, 2016 by arlee

I’m very unsettled right now. Can’t make up my mind what i want to do, where to start, wondering about burgeoning piles of “supplies” that excited me in the making, but not in the using of.

Had a deep deep look at old work, going back to the original photo files and remembering the intent, the feeling–

Ah yes, the feeling. That passion, excitement, joy, playfulness combined with serious effort has been missing. I’ve stuck myself in a rut, have been following along on my own status quo, staying inside a box (of my own devising admittedly) for the most part. I haven’t felt compelled or obsessed really since the making of A Birth of Silence, even the Leighton work kind of leaving me cold–competent, and interesting work, but not for my soul really.

I haven’t truly been spending much time in the stoodio. Oh, the stitch corner on the couch gets used, but too often lately, the work each evening has been tossed on a pile, an ever enlargening pile, one that frustrates and maddens me because the work isn’t coming out of my heart, just out from my fingers, fingers that need to Do, but aren’t really getting anything Done……..I’ve even subconsciously blocked the path TO the studio–there are boxes, bags, tool chests and suitcases literally in the way, necessitating a small delicate two step to get through–now what does THAT say about the import of being in there?????

So i’m going to go back to screwing around with whatever, with everything, flitting here, flapping there, nothing serious, nothing profound. Perhaps some “self directed workshops” again will open the sluices, summer tasking a million things because they *all* need doing: distraction and deflection.

Like my garden, i don’t know whether to fold up

or fold down

go to seed

buzz around

or just hang in there….

I may not make the end of summer residency exhibit because of this, but that may be a cost i have to absorb. Then again, maybe lightning will strike and new vision will appear.

I’m tired myself of the analyzing and overthinking. Screw it and the horse it rode in on.

in progress, Milkweed Studies

slash and burn

Posted on July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 by arlee

Well, no *actual* burning yet…but who knows?

I like the lace but am not sure yet where it will go, as i have other “cracks” planned as well. Perhaps it will leak out somewhere else.

a collusion of ideas, journal: lessons to learn, Milkweed Studies

riding off in all directions at once, total recall

Posted on July 5, 2016July 5, 2016 by arlee

Too many possibilities! But not enough thought, texture, design in the start……………….

I’ve stuck myself in a rut, as much fun as it was to design “whole cloth” fabrics to work with. I need to go back to piecing in, layering and shaping. I also want to go back to myself in a sense, maybe with the GIRL series from 2012.

I can “see” this better now:

Maybe i’m just rambling, but i knew last night when i started stitching on the whole cloth piece, it didn’t feel right, didn’t satisfy, so much so that i burst into blubbering howls at a stupid, manipulative Sad Overly Dramatic Moment on the tubage because head and heart was so unhappy with what my hands were doing. Triggers are funny/strange/unrelated things.

Seriously? Yup, on “Containment” believe it or not……..

I still have some of that beautiful lace i used in that 2012 piece, i have bits of soft silk in the lavender and pink colours, i need more dimension and tactile whoopteedo’s–because it’s that texture that gets my heart racing, therwise it’ll languish in that damned pile of Maybe Someday I’ll Finish It. I post sometimes maybe too fast, too enthusiastically, and then Reality sets in, and the race is ended before it even began. Start at the beginning again. At least there isn’t any ripping out to do, and the start can still be incorporated.

Milkweed Studies

you have to start somewhere

Posted on July 5, 2016July 5, 2016 by arlee

Tiny stitches in hesitation.

And stitching seeds.

Mining the stashlode for green velvet also, it’s in here somewhere……………….

a collusion of ideas, Milkweed Studies

after the blues have gone away

Posted on July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 by arlee

With a very healthy stack of new fabrics to work with, i turned my attention to sketchbooks from the past few years, and pulled some ideas that leaped out at me. Some date back to 2011, and gave a recurring theme. Browns, soft vintage violets and lavenders, machine work (!!!!yes) and “stacked” techniques, these are jump off points, and may or may not be incorporated in some form.

I’m calling this period/amalgamation the “Milkweed Studies”, though some of the resulting work won’t be recognizable as milkweeds! I started thinking about milkweeds back in 2013 when i was in FAN but never completed the piece and had to drop out of the exhibit, something that embarrassed and horrified me, as it was a collaborative effort with someone else. Being a gardener and protector of bees, butterflies and other pollinators, also means these plants are vital in my world view, despite the invasive label they have in some areas.

A few pieces get dropped right away, though filed for other work in the “series” maybe, and i am left with these:

The small black and purple page is a line study of sorts; though it’s a pattern in a sense, it will be merely a guideline with the fabric above it. The small milkweed paint sketches are my real focus, but they won’t be translated as purely in the final work.

As excited as i am by the face and figure pieces of fabric that i did during the residency, and though i have started on one face already, this is where my focus will be for the next while. I have a deadline again with the residency show, and will work this into the theme of “SelfEdge”, as the interpretation is rather loose. (It’s all in the artist statement when and how you write it 🙂 )

I’m going to incorporate hand and machine work again, something i haven’t done in awhile. My purist, obsessive side disagrees, but my pragmatic, it’s-just-a-tool side is thrilled. Let the ~~fight~~ games begin!

Contextural Fibre Arts Co-operative, Indigo Dreams, Leighton work

Blue Moon, Leighton Suite Blue done

Posted on July 3, 2016July 3, 2016 by arlee

Done. Round and round i went, round and round it goes and glows.

Except for the last bits of stretching the smaller moons to canvases, and signing the big moon, i can now say that my Leighton Suite Blue work is DONE.

This is the first time i have done a deliberate series, with work based on each previous piece, and the first (and probably only) based on responses to another artist’s work, and i’m pleased with the cohesiveness of the pieces. I don’t know that the original Marion Nicholl work will be visible during the exhibit, but hopefully, there will be some reference to it, so that the audience can see the antiphon i intended. The whole process, in photos, sketches and ramblings can be found here.

With the deadline of July 30th, i’m well ahead of the game, and ready to move on to new work!

Residency 2016

day 11, all done!

Posted on June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 by arlee

Glad i crammed in those last 3 hours yesterday!

My back and neck are killing me from leanhanging over tables and deep sinks, mopping up the mess, and wringing out rags, but it was worth it 🙂

Residency 2016

res day 10, coming to the end

Posted on June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 by arlee

This piece below is actually one of the dropsheets–though it’s plastic, i may just have to stitch it with those lovely strata markings!

A small line dance this time, some subtle, some strong, another “filler” piece, a nice deposit to the library though 🙂

I made the decision yesterday to do ONE more batch–it will be small as well, but i figured i best cram in as much as i could. I pick them up this afternoon, and then i am done for this year. (But with plans for a backyard expedition as well!) And then time to make decisions about stitching, and what goes to the shop.

Residency 2016

a moan’s as good as a sigh

Posted on June 28, 2016June 28, 2016 by arlee

Oh DEAR GAWDZ

I’m in LOVE, love LOVE

LOVE

Above, abstracts.

Above, deliberately made as “fillers” ie they will be cut up strictly for patterning in pieces.

Hexes:

PURE joy, a fiery moon and unbelievable arches:

Big plans for the two winged figures, each will be treated differently:

Another wonderful Line Dance this summer:

Dry now, they will be “cured” for at least a week, probably two–or until i get to use them 🙂

Residency 2016, Samara

res day 9, deep enough

Posted on June 28, 2016July 12, 2021 by arlee

Day 9 (yesterday), today and tomorrow are the last days i am able to work in the studios at ACAD, so i figured i best get big, and buckle down. (And though i will miss her, Anne who was using the other “half” of the big tables, will be gone home, which means i get ALL of the space in the wet studio.) Since part of the work i do here is for future use in my own studio, i tried to think ahead with what i’d like to do.

I had planned on spending a major part of the day there, with a decent lunch and lots of juice to fuel me, something to work on while waiting, but ran out of room! I completely covered the area i had plastic for, and had to call it quits after 3 and a half hours, dang it! The results are worth it, but i sure wish i’d had more room! Next time i do this (2018, as it seems to be every two years???), i plan on taking more plastic and using the floor as well.

EDIT: July 12/21—-since she has featured in several years of what-ifs and some work, the above piece is the base for “Samara“.

I haven’t photographed most yet, and these above are also still in their wet stage, so another round of Mr DeMilles will happen once they are dry. (Some will end up in the shop, but most are for me, whether as “whole cloth”, or to cut up, for future work–which starts this week!)

I went as deep as i could again today, and tomorrow, my last day, will be rushed with only a few hours too as the afternoon is Day Job time. Everything has to come home on Friday, so the desk in home studio can be used by someone else. (The “official” last day of a one month residency would be Sunday the 3rd, but i just can’t get there on the weekend, with it being a Holiday weekend–YEAH CANADA DAY—-and household duties to attend to. Reality is so rudely intrusive 🙂 , as are the weeds in the garden i have to pay attention to in the next few days.

Can’t wait to get stitching on some of these!!!!!!!!!!!!