The request came: will you make my wedding gown into a christening outfit? I photographed the gown and then gently deconstructed it. I cleaned part of the lace and fabric to see if it was safe and if it made a difference. The Christening outfit, boxed and ready for delivery, was debuted in late December. … Continue reading Gown of Generations
Author: norma17
A Year of Listening, Week 4
The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself. --Ursala K. LeQuin
Working With the Weather
I like to cooperate with the weather instead of resisting it. It's the farm girl in me. It's the sensible mom in me. It's the "be present" mystic in me. Snow and frigid cold is a gift of time for design and prototype development in the studio this week. Fingerless gloves knit by my daughter … Continue reading Working With the Weather
A Year of Listening, Week 3
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. --Bertrand Russell
Evolve in the Land of Little Bits
Big drama wears me out. Big bites overwhelm me. I often choose a "little bit," a phrase my father often used and now so does my son. Both Studio Three 17 and its division fibergig experienced significant growth spurts in 2013. We grew, we learned, and now we are intentionally building on those experiences. This … Continue reading Evolve in the Land of Little Bits
A Year of Listening, Week 2
A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. --Annie Dillard section of Dancing at Midnight, textile wall hanging by Norma Colman
Hit the refresh button and head to comfort zone!
Mid-week there was a great amount of reverse stitching (also known as ripping) in the studio. Neither design nor construction technique was working. When I rip many stitches one of two things happen: either I repeat the sewing step with more care, a different thread, a new machine setting, or I have an aha moment … Continue reading Hit the refresh button and head to comfort zone!
A Year of Listening, Week 1
We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to transform them in ourselves and others. --Albert Camus Joseph In The Well
2014, A Year of Listening
I like shoveling snow when no one else is stirring, except the snow plow coming up the highway. Everything is muffled, except the scrapping of the shovel against asphalt, worked out in a rhythm that mirrors the movement of arms, feet, lungs. I am hoping not to fuel up the snow blower this year, but … Continue reading 2014, A Year of Listening
Dancing on the Rim of Nothingness
A brain flicker from 2009: I will never know full joy until I learn to dance on the rim of nothingness. A year or so later, as I was completing this piece, I knew it was an illustration of that idea. This month, the piece hangs in the member's show of the Shenandoah Arts … Continue reading Dancing on the Rim of Nothingness