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 Dill Dance at Midnight is an early work, completed long before I found this quote. I chose it as an illustration … Continue reading Call / Respond Week 6
Tag: practice
Wes and Will: More Good Questions
On good weather school days, my father Wes often managed to be in the farmyard when the school bus pulled in to drop off the three of us kids. We enjoyed seeing him there. But as we made our way off the bus, we prepared for the certainty of him asking, “What did you learn … Continue reading Wes and Will: More Good Questions
A Good Barn
As I child, I observed that barns were used for storage and for work. Every farm had one. As a child, I was confused by the Bible story about the wealthy person who tore down good barns to make bigger ones. That seemed foolish to me. I am guessing that most of my adults at … Continue reading A Good Barn
Time for Amendment of Life
3 layered lectern frontal. Fabric screen printed and stenciled. Work engages and excites me when I explore new techniques but also when I use established process and pattern in a fresh way. A recent commission created a deep satisfaction through stewardship of materials, time, and relationship. My fingers repeated decades old take apart skills I … Continue reading Time for Amendment of Life
Joy of Making: Knots
Custom work filled many summer days at the studio this year. Completed projects are now delivered. Before I completely shift into next season's work, my hands and mind are revisiting techniques and tools: a bit like a family reunion. Grandma Alice showed me how to tie quilts when I was a teenager. My fingers readily … Continue reading Joy of Making: Knots
Hone: Knowing And Maintaining A Tool
I use different scissors for different tasks in the studio just as I use a variety of knives in the kitchen. Practice informs me which tool works best for a particular task. Experimentation increases the scope of usefulness for each tool I own. Recently, I have begun to regard my screen images as tools. This set … Continue reading Hone: Knowing And Maintaining A Tool
Origins Of A Crisp Finish
The conversion of garage to art studio began this week. I tiptoed upstairs to see the progress during lunch. The framing confirms that I like my plans; it assures me that the end results will work. The craftsmanship also informs me about my own work. I have been complimented over my years of custom sewing, … Continue reading Origins Of A Crisp Finish
3 Patterns, 7 Colors, and 10 Women
I led my first dyeing workshop this month. 10 good women braved a cold night to gather in a pottery studio to put their hands and minds to dyeing silk scarves. After I demonstrated three fold and tie patterns, each participant received a scarf to manipulate and then color. Here are their results. I discovered … Continue reading 3 Patterns, 7 Colors, and 10 Women
The Beginning is Not The Starting Point
In the beginning.......God created.......In the beginning........was the Word...... In the beginning of 2016, I stalled out. In the midst of stacks of fabrics, committed projects, commissioned work, beckoning ideas, and pots of paint, I struggled to create a plan and to write a schedule that would contain and direct all these good things. The elements … Continue reading The Beginning is Not The Starting Point
A Chasuble Returns to the Studio
Occasionally my work returns to me for an adjustment or repair. The chasubles made for the chapel at The Village at Orchard Ridge were lined in slippery fabric, so that they hang away from the pastor's alb. The Chaplin reported that they slipped backward during worship, becoming uncomfortable. We devised a solution of cotton … Continue reading A Chasuble Returns to the Studio