Textile Art & Fine Craft
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. --Bertrand Russell One of the original self portraits of the artist as as egg My husband enjoys looking at what is happening in our garden, while I tend to invest more energy in the making and keeping of a garden. His example reminds me that an … Continue reading Call / Respond Week 16
Let every heart prepare him room. Some years, preparing room is as simple as changing the sheets in the guest room. Other years, the room has been renovated. But this is a year that requires an empty space. The tree is decorated. Presents are wrapped. Packages are shipped. I need this empty little stable with its one … Continue reading Advent Interlude 3
Explore shibori in 2014. I wrote that in my goals last January. This week five silk scarves became a series, as part of that exploration. I stitched in designs. I pulled up the stitches and tied them tight. Black dye and then the big reveal. Now for input from viewers and readers: is this the … Continue reading Shibori Scarves: Working in a Series
Summer conversations with pastors presented me with a design challenge: create hand crafted art stoles for $75. The stoles will conform to the studio's standard craftsmanship. Techniques will be simplified and limited, but the art will still have my signature look. Emily, my daughter and partner, wants six ready for October 15. I found fabric for all five liturgical … Continue reading Searching for the Way to Create Clerical Stoles for Smaller Budgets
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. --Bertrand Russell
Providence. Not Rhode Island. Divine Providence. I had not intellectually encountered the concept until my friend Susan shared ideas from her seminary training about 15 years ago. And I periodically ruminate on them. This week I heard them in my pastor's sermon. I am preparing food for a church council supper this evening. I could … Continue reading A Bowl of Providence
Recently I had three craftsmen in my home installing a new heating / air conditioning unit. Their comments on the amount of visible fabric generated conversation about craftsmanship, the joy of problem solving with mind and hands working in concert. In a few moments we affirmed each others' vocations. Many years ago, an employer told … Continue reading Affirmation: A little Salt
My walking partner asked me today if I use all the rooms in my small house for studio work. Here is the bathroom three hours later. This is not an unusual scene.
Monday was my personal Game Day. I didn't know that was what I was having until I was 2 hours into it. It started out as the day to sort and rearrange the four file drawers in my work space. I planned to transform the drawer space from storage into work enhancement. As I emptied drawers, … Continue reading Game Day
My first-born son and I have had pleasant conversations about "enough" for quite a few months. But yesterday I shot all the verbal ammo a farm girl raised in the fifties could muster against the idea of home canning. I have distinct sensory memories of hot summer days in a kitchen made hotter by processing tomatoes: arms … Continue reading Enough: canned tomatoes and darned sweaters