arlee

deliberation

Posted on February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 by arlee

I’ve been immersed in lessons and trying things out from Jane Dunnewold’s “Creative Strength Training” classes. I can’t share what i’m doing really, except in the vaguest of terms, but looking at shape and colour has been quite invigorating. The exercises have me looking again at old work, refiguring how i did things, how i illustrated and interpreted concepts, developed ideas. That’s a good boot in the bazotski.

I have also re-realized (!) that my biggest obstacle to getting in there and DOING something is my ever present mess. No matter how many times i tidy, i can’t find what i’m looking for. It’s time to get mean and clean out the debris. There are things in that chaos that are never going to get used. It takes up work space, storage space and head space. There’s a BIG BIG BIG purge coming. EDIT: when this was written, i hadn’t gone through the bins and drawers yet–now you can reap 😉 But i did dredge out fabrics i had forgotten about and the colour is juicy, so why not?

Cleaning out also means cleaning out thoughts that say “you can’t do that, because it’s too pretty, too common, a compromise.” I’m not talking about following trends, making the same things others are, toeing the line with fitting in (forget THAT) –let’s just do those things that seem counter-intuitive to what i have been doing, and see what happens. A test if you will, to see what i can do that is still me. It’s NOT going to kill me after all. This might be a year of just, well, just “screwing around”. As much as i want to be taken seriously, make serious work, maybe it’s not going to happen for me. Am i trying too hard? Maybe that is the problem.

Then again, maybe there can be TWO of me. I think of a certain friend who is known for her gorgeous hand stitched, very colourful nature/floral work–who secretly used to make the most amazing quirky monstery looking rude dolls, with few realizing the two very different approaches were from the same person. As she posted: “With these creatures, i explore the darker side of my creativity.” Maybe i need to do the brighter side!

Colour. Colour. Colour. We all react different ways to certain hues. I’m afraid i’m afraid of it lately. Deliberately then, i have thrown this together.

It’s an “abstract”, something else i’m not terribly fond of, but it may become story-ish. BUT it doesn’t have to be “story-ish” either, BUT i don’t want to just do 11tybajillion pieces of running stitch attached boro ripped frayed edge cloth….. but let’s see where it will go. 😦 😉 🙂

Tacked:

I made an oopsie with the flannelette i always use for depth and stability, but most of it is not visible anyways! (Usually when there’s a print, i put the white side against the fabric.)

And the thread choices. I tried not to be too matchy-matchy, but i don’t want to be contrasting harshly either. The purple bothers me but i’ll just have to work with it. I don’t want splotches that draw the eye, but i think i have figured out a way to prevent that, or at least make it integrate. I LIKE the purple in the fabric, but the thread choice is a bit problematic, as i’m not sure which shade will work. Will probably do that last then so i have time to think about it and see what happens with everything else.

Since this is an exercise in colour for me, rather than just shape, its working title is “Meet Me In the Middle”. Part of the goal is to add “layers”, not in the sense of applying more fabrics to the top, but to build them with different thread treatments and pattern. Complex cloth, slow cloth, whatever it is, it will be as it is.

I can always cut it up or incorporate it later in something else! Nothing is set in stone right now, just “Screwing Around With Intent”. 🙂

Home Cookin' the Cloth

my purge pack :)

Posted on February 2, 2016February 2, 2016 by arlee

Well, hell, i can’t get rid of ALL of it 🙂 Most of it i DO want gone, but there were some treasures i had totally forgotten about. Some will become cushion covers, pillow cases, and summer wear, and some will get into the art business.

Shades of Porcella! Yvonne was famous for adding black and white geometrics to her work, but i think i like it better below.

Maybe bits of these too:

A friend recently posted a photo on FB of her gorgeous Tibetan Folkwear vest, and that has inspired me also to make another one for myself. Seeing the photos again of my old blue one that was lost in the flood, it looked rather ungainly: lumpy and mishapen (but then so am i now…), so i’ll pay more attention to marrying weights of fabric. I was an excited neophyte then, and the thrill of it was in making it fast (despite all the handwork) with whatever i had. That poor thing incorporated everything from cotton velveteen, to rayon muumuu material, sleazy lining fabric and thin cheap cotton, but i loved it to death, layering it over a big fat sweater and many scarves because i couldn’t afford a real winter coat. I actually found a piece of the blue flowered cloth from the first one, so i’ll have to incorporate it! I doubt however that a new one will be finished as fast as the first one!

I also found the red velvet appliqued coat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ll re-photograph it, but i think it may end up being cannabalized, quite honestly. It doesn’t fit me, and i doubt anyone else would want it.

Cleaning out these bins has been a rejuvenation of sorts for colour. Mixing and matching for Purge Packs was fun (lots more to come!), and i pulled a few pieces to use in current ***JamDay efforts.

I have NO idea why i bought the flower fairy fabric, but the gerbs are useful for adding to, or as applique. The top fabric will become summer pants–if i can fit into the expanse available when the time comes….

*** JamDay: “Jam yesterday, and jam tomorrow, but never jam today”–a lament from Alice in Wonderland. HAVE a Jamday then!!!!!!!!!!

FybreSpace the shop

Stoodio purge, a “fill up yours” sale :)

Posted on February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 by arlee

Part of my new discipline is to get rid of things i am not going to use. After carrying some of this stuff around for 32 years, it is way past time to let go!

If you are a “precious scrap” collector, you may be intrigued 🙂 Many of these pieces were culled from clothing in the very early 80’s, things i would guess were the result of someone cleaning Mom or Gramma’s closet, so some are definitely vintage/classic, and then taking it to the nearest “donation” box, whether charity or “neighbourhood commmunity house”. (Do those even exist anymore???) At that point i had discovered Yvonne Porcella’s “Pieced Clothing” chapbooks and was totally enthralled with patchwork that was neither a quilt, nor main stream “fashion”. I didn’t have any money to buy full yardage, so these fabrics ended up in some rather wild and spontaneous pairings.

Machine pieced above. Made during pregancy’s long sleepless nights!

Hand stitched below, hand embroidery, hand quilting, hand beading…i had time then when the boychild was asleep…..

And OMG, i actually found a chunk of that blue floral in one of the bins!!!!!!

I see a riot now in this coat below, hand dyed velvet, applique and things all adanglish.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — “Love Lies, Bleeding” coat detail, 1996

Many hours of cutting and sewing this cloak, but i was SO warm–and it doubled a blanket on cold nights camping!

cloak 2000 — Velvet cloak for SCA wear, 2000

Alas, i have none of these anymore, all lost in the 2013 Calgary flood……………………………

Digging through the rubbermaid bins that survived that flood was both a trip down memory lane and a few moments of “dear GAWDZ why did i save this????” (and yes, i admit to saving a few pieces for myself after all…) The fabrics run the gamut from glitz and glamour to “ethnic print”, and a few trends in between, in everything from cotton, velvet, unknowns and metallic blends and i-don’t-know-what’s. I tried to group in colour, but there are a few Wild Cards as well. Are you a “Crazy Quilter”? Someone who loves to incorporate little bits and tell stories with them? Make big cloth out of small cloth? Does a scrap fire up your Mojo?

Cheap, now in the shop, under “supplies: fabric”. Buy three, i’ll give you a discount of 10% (refunded after purchase), buy 4 or more and i’ll take 10% off and 10% off the shipping also (also refunded after purchase). Spread the word—there’s lots to go to good homes!

Body of Water

moving a river

Posted on January 26, 2016January 26, 2016 by arlee

Only a couple of floating sections left to do along the river strip.

The next challenge is to do the main component, the figure. Several of the smaller “cut outs” will have to be removed as they are just too small to correctly turn and stitch. Less is more, right? 🙂 I’m also thinking some colour might work under this section as well.

The blue lines above at her sides will stay “open” as those delineate her arms, but the insides are asking for some contrast or show.

Browns might work, but i want a bit more colour–my primitive photo edit program shows that brown as blah, too solid, not very exciting–guess i’ll have to audition something under–don’t want in your face guts, but something from my hoard of Deb Lacativa’s luscious dyeways may fit the bill.

a collusion of ideas, Creative Strength Training with Jane Dunnewold, journal: lessons to learn

resistance to the machine

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by arlee

I talked about Stubborn in a previous post. She’s the stoodio visitor that puts the blocks to the flow. Whether it’s the thought that you’re not going to try anything new or daring, or the one that says i’m already good at what i do, so why try anything else, Stubborn refuses to admit that the tools can be used in concert. Stubborn is sister also to Complacency–and the rest of the siblings: Boredom, Stagnation, and Predictability.

Look at that piece above–what joy, colour, expression!!! It’s got hand AND machine embroidery, done at a time when i was realizing that they could be used together, and that there was a strange pleasure in doing more hand work. I had decried that in previous years–too used to silly little florals and heavy ecclesiastical work samples, it bored me.

Serendipitously this morning my computer was acting very very strange. Even after changing the battery in the keyboard, i was having problems, so decided to let it have a rest 🙂 (Still acting weird, but at least it’s working now.) Instead i fired up the sewing machine and pulled out threads and memories of just noodling around. No purpose, no grand idea, no use for it, but hey, i had FUN.

I might add a bit of hand stitching to it, but it’s not an under pressure piece, so i might not too!

Body of Water

the river flows

Posted on January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 by arlee

Almost done this section, a few more roots, a few more floating sections, and voila. The actual orientation will be vertical, with the right of this as the top.

So glad FrankenStitch is coming back.

There’s so much dimension and crunch in this that i am going to have to rethink how to attach it to the main fabric. It would be a shame to lose all the height and fold.

journal: lessons to learn

love continues

Posted on January 21, 2016January 21, 2016 by arlee

Happy 12th Anniversary to my dear Greyman! 12 years of “sheer hell” has had its ups and downs, but at the end of every day, i love you and want you to be safe and happy. Kisses!!!!!

Creative Strength Training with Jane Dunnewold, journal: lessons to learn

vein efforts

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by arlee

(Thank you, i am well aware of the difference between “vein” and “vain”.)

Digging through myself, unearthing the quarry (ha, two meanings there as well), finding the truth in the bones, mining the veins (in vain? one hopes not), exploring, re-finding again: what’s in my bloodstream, thought stream? Mixed metaphors and analogies, as complicated and as simple as i can be.

I started doing this ahead of the Creative Strength Training class (Jane Dunnewold Studios) without knowing what i was looking for. I’m looking though because i need to–the knowledge of the class and signing up for it came after my search started, so i might be ahead of the game. Or predictably for Self, i am assuming, second guessing, wandering off in the wrong direction, jumping on my horse and riding off in all directions. Today is day one of the first class. I’m not going to be sharing a lot of what i am doing, because i respect the teacher’s intellectual property and copyrights, etc, but some stuff i can, if i want to.

First lesson learned indirectly: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. I admit my feet were dragging and i could feel my heels digging DEEP into the stoodio floor, as i sat at my worktable and Began. So i follow along and do what i’m suggested to do to pull things out–what’s so hard about that? It WAS hard, that start. Then it got easier–and led off to other thoughts, questions, possibilities because i let them happen. Stream of consciousness, opening up, blurring my own borders. You know that “wise” saying “Never assume, because it makes an ass out of you and me“? True, so true. The prompt given was something i never would have thought of on my own, would never have stuck to to dig deeper, would have felt put upon, phony for my purposes and pointless in MY grand scheme of things. Stubborn. Stubborn can mean holding your own ground, but it can also make you rather lonely. For it’s own sake and boundaries, it’s a one sided relationship. Courage of conviction is one thing, unrelenting stubborn is entirely a different animal, a growly, snarly, blindered, solitary herd of one.

But that prompt funnily enough did work–oh yeah, it took 2 and a half hours to get where i thought there was some truth and possibility, but that was the point too. There are no easy answers, but oh, the search and the journey will surprise. There was a LOT of writing, a LOT written that was more question than answer or revelation, some paint and colouring, and several cups of coffee.

A glimmer of an idea for one of these. Wandering with purpose.

Body of Water, Collision: the work begins

same same, but not

Posted on January 19, 2016January 19, 2016 by arlee

Dense, thick, very heavy, tactile–but not done yet. The way the fabric is distorting and moving makes me very happy. I have plans for this particular piece, but now i have other plans for the technique too. A good day for test and expansion.

This is the strip down the side of the original layout:

I might be doing another for the right side, though haven’t decided yet. One? Two? I like an accidental symmetry in my work, so two bars may be too “squared off”.

“Body of Water” will be a companion piece for my own enjoyment in the making to the Leighton work–it doesn’t successfully relate to the original inspiration except in my head. I like that this exhibit is having me try different ideas, but somehow i must bring it back to at least a modicum of “inspired by”.

Though i’m not sure it looks it, i’m feeling a bit free-er in interpretation right now–still not quite where i want to go, but baby steps, baby steps. Part of the problem is that i want to be a bit more abstract, but keep getting pulled back to the pictorial. While there is nothing “wrong” with this–because truthfully i have no interest in slapping some torn squares on and make a concept heavy statement to explain it—-i still feel there is something more to be said in my practice.

Collision: the work begins, journal: lessons to learn

borgle, borgle, borgling

Posted on January 18, 2016January 18, 2016 by arlee

The Stately Barr Manor Stoodio is a mess. There are a few organized plateaus in it, but for the most part, it’s adrift and rudderless. (I’ll spare you the photos: you’ve seen them before: “look at how creative a spot i have with all the mess–*****gimme a gold star, a medal for my joie de vivre, lackadaisical attitude.”) I could spend the whole day, and more, straightening up, but have decided as long as most of the piles are hidden ie put away, and i can grab fastly what i actually need, it’s alright to not have one of those pristine magazine perfect pretty places with the comfy chair, the flowers and sunlight hitting hung prisms (the ones that blind you when you are actually working, not just admiring with the reporter/photographer….). And of course, there’s the rest of the house–put this away, find a spot for the crockpot, walk the dog, interact meaningfully (or not) with Significant Other (because it’s not always about undying soulful love), what’s for supper? Delay, delay, delay. Avoidance.

Habit.

Something simple to begin with. Work/stitch/research/notate one hour a day. Even if it’s 15 minutes here, 5 there and 29 there, it will add up. One of my embroidery heroes spends 6 hours a day stitching—it’s rare i have an uninterrupted period like that, unless there’s a deadline 🙂 Do the basic layout. Lay out the tools i need. Get the notes handy. Load the camera. Thread a couple of needles. Use the threaded needles until they’re needing reloading. Get off the &*^%ing computer. ONE HOUR. Otherwise, i dither around so much, fretting about starting, that i never start. Well, why don’t i have something to work on in front of the evening tubage?? Who’s fault is that? Certainly can’t blame the crockpot or Significant Other. Acceptance.

Habit.

So, first i made a pile. Threaded needles. Loaded the camera. ETC.

Then i started.

Two hours to do the five lines of Borgle. Strip was 39′ long by 5.5″ wide, now 4.5″ wide. (Good to know the draw-in/shrinkage.)

Admiring the blues together.

Next step, start the browns stitching.

Admittedly today was a day off from the fffFlower Mines, so i had more time than an hour. Lookit! Lookit! Lookit!! (Remember being 6 and showing Mom you could “swim”?) “WOW. That is SO exciting, lumpy and all borgly”, i heard you say under your breath. (Yes i did too.) Lookit!: i’m swimming! Yeah, my feet are still on the bottom of the lake, but i’m in the water, hey?

I also heard “WTF is a borgle??????” When the blankets get all twangled and stuck under your hip and you can’t straighten them out in the dark with your eyes still closed to cover yourself in the middle of a freezing cold night, as in damn it, the blankets are all borgled, so that you have to actually get up, turn on the light and remake the bed, thereby thoroughly waking yourself up so you can’t get back to sleep even though now warmly covered and comfy, that’s a borgle. It can also apply to the state of the stoodio. Also, known for my purposes, as one of my “semi-patented” FrankenStitch techniques.

*****Now i can have a semi-soggy Hero Biscuit with my coffee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have had a few puzzled enquiries WHY i would take a “motivational” course. Because i *know* HOW to do things, because i’m tired of classes where you “make marks” with sticks, feathers, charcoal, watered down ink and possibly dirt and blood. Because i want to know WHY i do –or do not–do what i do, and because i want things back in me that fell out. I want to know HOW i work, because it’s forest for the trees right now, and i want back under the skin down to the bones that propped up all of this. Because i don’t care about deconstructed screen prints, new ways to use a chain stitch, evolving methods to ecoprint or how to colour in zentangles. I want WHY i need, want, have to do— any of these things should i choose to are only tools, they’re not the muscle memory and firing synapse, the JOY and pleasure i’ve lost. I wouldn’t call this a “motivational” course, but HELL, if it gets my motivation back, call it whatever *you* want. (You’re probably in the midst of a “Soul journalling” class, and ain’t that “motivational”? (A chacun son gout, with appropriate accents agui and circonflexe.)

If a bone is set wrong, sometimes it has to be re-broken to set properly.