heart and mind

This is what happenend last night and this morning when I could not sleep. The polin around here this year is at an all time gross level and sleeping just isn't happening. At least some making is. I have always been obsessed with medical illustrations, especially anatomically correct hearts, the cutsy ones you can keep. With the semester being almost finished I have time to work in the studio again, which lead me straight back to the boxes, anatomical drawings and glue, UHU clear glaze glue- my favorite. These are just small "doodles" but I am thinking of making more, lots more. The heart and the mind are rarely in the same place, no matter how much we wish that they would align. In matters of the heart and mind it would be easier if we could put it in a little box and hide it, so that we are less vulnerable, and exposed to the world. Between the anatomy and the idea of time, I think I feel a series comming along. Maybe incorporate some embroidery and larger boxes.

Teaching at Chandler

This semester I have been working on my practicum in secondary education, my placement for middle school has been at Chandler. This is a school that is in a rough situation, they have had trouble passing their exams for many years in a row. The school board has decided that it will close down the school at the end of this year. I have been teaching a science class, about art and science, in one lesson. It was a bit of a challenge at first, however, I am pleased with the artwork and the response from the students. The main idea was interdependence within Eco-systems and how when one thing fails so does everything else. More specifically we talked about how water effects power, health, and agriculture. The woven, art part of the course tied in because woven structures are interdependent. If a warp or weft breaks or is not strong, the whole piece has the potential to come apart. The students wrote what Power, Health and Knowledge mean to them on the fabric strips and then wove them.





As you can see we also recycled and took the enviornment into consideration when making. The "looms" were made of clinique gift boxes that were being thrown away at a retail store, and the fabric was leftover from projects I have done in the past. The students got very creative and some of them had more than one warp on their loom. Even the way that they choose to display them was intersting.

spring

Time is going by so quickly that I barely have time to catch my breath sometimes. The photos above have been sitting on my desktop collecting virtual dust waiting to be posted for a week now. I decided to make a fabric swatch book, as a way to catalogue what I have so when I go to a fabric store from now on I will stop buying doubles. I found 7 doubles while putting this book together! The book includes all of my calico prints, I did not include all of the other fabrics I have because those are pretty easy to remember without a sample of a pattern. Sometimes when my mind feels cluttered I find it best to sit and organize something, this was the simple solution last week.

craft thoughts.

I know that this image looks like it should have been taken in December or January, but believe it or not, this was just last week. Here in Richmond, where it only snows once every couple of years, we received about 7inches last week. I usually don't enjoy the cold or snow very much. Oddly enough snow makes me feel claustrophobic. However last week when it came down and I woke up to a white world outside, I was reminded by how peaceful and quiet and beautiful the snow is. It seems to make everyone stop for a moment and think. It was lovely, now I just want cheery blossoms and sunshine... and dresses with floral patterns on them.





I started working on another quilt last week. If you ever wondered what a few years worth of remnants looked like, well its about 4 hours of ironing them out and 3 hours of cutting them into tiny rectangles and squares. I am making a structured "crazy quilt". I have always been attracted to the different patterns used in these quilts and the idea of using remnants and scraps. In today's world of "going green" its a useful way to use leftovers instead of throwing them out. I enjoy that a lot!
I have also been doing a lot of thinking about my work and the turn that it has taken in the past year or two. Instead of making pieces that are deep and layered in thought I am making pieces that take thought and organization, and compartmentalize them. I think this is a reflection of how busy, and hectic my life has become over this time. It is my way of dealing with my day to day. There is also the rise of the "craft" coming out in my work. Something that in college would have made me run. I always made well crafted conceptual works. Now the craft is really showing, quilts and other utilitarian objects. Most of these objects will never be used in the ways that they are traditionally meant to be. And the quilts hold more meaning to them than laying on a bed, I doubt they will ever make it to one. All of this makes me think about craft in general. Why is it that it has gotten a bad reputation in the art world? Honestly without craft most other mediums would not live up to their names. Without craft an object or print or painting becomes sloppy... with craft the difference between sloppy and art is made. I will continue making, it is part of who I am and what keeps me sane, and I will stop running from craft. There is nothing wrong with craft, its the scrap booking and kits that have ruined the craft name.

function

Yesterday I made this small woven piece as a "gift" for someone in my class. It was part of a project that we are working on all semester. It was nice to sit and weave something that felt like "me". I am going to use this small piece to stand on my soap box and talk about function for a few minutes. There is this huge mis-understanding about what function means. People seem to think that if something is not ulititarian it is not "functional"... Well first of all "functional" is not really a word, it is best to say "serve a function" or "functions as". Things that are not made to be utilitarian but instead to be looked at, conceptualized and admired are serveing the functions just mentioned. Then there are things like rugs and pot holders that are utilitarian and that is their function. So to say that something is made with no function when it is art, is wrong. It is serving just that purpose. Ok now that I got that out, I will step off my soap box and go make something that functions as art. Have a great week everyone.

i must have these!

These are the new fabrics that Anna Marie Horner has come out with this month. I need them all. While looking at them closely you can see that they almost resemble liberty fabrics and old linens. To learn more about her and her designs check out her blog-
http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/
The past few weeks have been very cold, what a perfect time to gather some new fabrics and make something warm.

Time for change

I will refrain from talking about politics on here to much, that is not the point of this blog. However this being January of 2009, I must say I am EXCITED! for change in the head of the political capital of the world. It does not matter wether you are a democrat or a republican in this moment in time, the next few days at least, we must acknolwedge that this election represents a change in the poeple. A more open heart and mind from the voters. Maybe... possibly... could it be that we are on the brink of one of the largest changes in the majority ever to come.... The wall between, race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion and maybe even politics being broken down. To represent a more open minded world accepting of people of all natures. Respect amonst humanity.