Summer Solstice: Three Simple Stools

Three handcrafted wooden stools work in our home. Today they tell me to choose a summer that is a mix of work and rest. I struggle to overcome pandemic inertia; canceled events cleared the calendar of interaction but I have commissions to complete. The white stool was made by my grandfather when I was a … Continue reading Summer Solstice: Three Simple Stools

Create A Space For Creating

My fabric career spans decades, serving clients from Hawaii to Puerto Rico.  I have worked on the dining table, in a spacious bedroom, down in the basement, and from the kitchen counter. Soon I will practice in a studio made just for me!  Originally a two-part wooden door opened to the work bench / potting shed of … Continue reading Create A Space For Creating

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

Bring On The Heat

The sewing machine or a pair of scissors are often the tools first associated with my art practice.  But it is the iron that is used most frequently and consistently. When I am working well, focused on what is before me and its purpose, it is the iron that guides me into good evaluation. Fabric … Continue reading Bring On The Heat

Practice And Collaboration

Today marks the 2/3 point of CreativeSprint.  I agreed to try this practice because my assertive younger sister told me I needed to loosen up about sharing work that is either incomplete or just nor very good.  Ouch.  It does take the magic out of the practice of art.  It also makes me more aware … Continue reading Practice And Collaboration