All great art is a form of complaint. - John Cage


Most anarchists are gentle people.
-Anna Zilboorg

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

#70


21c recently turned over it's galleries.  Though I miss the Loretta Lux photographs, I did a little flip inside when I saw the new sitting area in the lobby, a Scandinavian teenage hunting lodge.

The new mittens look Scandinavian.  They are giant.  To be felted.  They were not originally designed to be felted. 
Alas, I know no giants.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Jail Break!



A few of the other pups stuck at metro:


I will wash and bring your dream dog to you!
Just say the word.

"I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels."

Tunisian Crochet pt. 3


Neil kindly laid out the tunisian crochet sample after it came out of the wash.  I will re-wet it to see how well it dries flat.  It looks blurry and very wabi-sabi.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Tash

The Kentucky State Fair wraps up this weekend.  Tash is an Angus, 1,600lbs.,  3 mos. pregnant.

She was in one of the galleries at 21c.


Puddle 9

 

A quiet Friday morning.  No classes today.  The air in Louisville is crisp and clean.  NPR on in the kitchen.  Husband and son reading separately upstairs on the big bed.  No one needs me.  Demand is low.

The above clip is of a video piece (Puddle 9, 2002, Peter Sarkisian) installed at 21c Museum Hotel .

I have some work in the shop:  21c Museum Shop .

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Sheep Dogs


Suzy looks dead, but she is just worn out from doing ALL the work.  Sid, on the other hand, sports a lovely new haircut.

Crime Beat

Crusading



Perp Walk



Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Sweetgrass at Sweet Home Spun


 
A viewing of the film Sweetgrass at the Meetinghouse the other day.  It felt like a rainy afternoon at sleep away camp.  


Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sheep


On an early visit to JoAnn's (Sweet Home Spun), Stephanie took this photo of me with some of my faves: Finn, giant dog, bunch of sheep.  Stephanie got me back into running this month - look at those lean legs!  I'm gonna get 'em back! And the little guy is not so little anymore.  I think that's Suzy sniffing Finn's boot.  This image was taken in the fall, 2008.  I would like to pitch a tent and sleep out in the field, to hear the sheep move about at night.  (JoAnn is going to laaaaaugh at this new dream.)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Monday, August 16, 2010

quilting, someday & a home away from home


"Quilt in the Headlights" is especially cool:
Quilts with Attitude

Also, we've been searching for an alternative carriage house to set up as a studio at the far end of the garden.  Portable housing might be it:
Portable Housing


Friday, August 13, 2010

becoming something


Almost finished knitting up the handspun from earlier this week - just a simple scarf.  The yarn was a bit sticky with lanolin.  

A multiple of 4 stitches + 1: knit 2. purl 2, knit 1.  The fabric lays flat with this pattern (no need to block the edges).  


Thursday, August 12, 2010

á la rustica: an aesthetic philosophy


 

(from Wabi-Sabi by Leonard Koren)

wabi refers to
  • a way of life, a spiritual path
  • the inward, the subjective
  • a philosophical construct
  • spatial events
 sabi refers to
  • material objects
  • the outward. the objective
  • an aesthetic ideal
  • temporal events
characteristics of wabi-sabi:
primarily expressed in the private domain
implies an intuitive worldview
relative
looks for personal, idiosyncratic solutions
one-of-a-kind / variable
there is no progress
present-oriented
believes in the fundamental uncontrollability of nature
romanticizes nature
people adapting to nature
organic organization of form (soft, vague shapes and edges)
the bowl as metaphor (free shape, open at top)
natural materials
ostensibly crude
accommodates to degradation and attrition
corrosion and contamination make its expression richer
solicits the expansion of sensory information
is comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction
warm
generally dark and dim
function and utility are not so important
perfect immateriality is an ideal
to every thing there is a season


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Another bit of Handspinning


This tiny batch is for my mom.  
 Her mother taught her to knit when she was a child.  
She has not touched needles and yarn since - 
can't stand the idea of sitting there, knitting.  
My aunt Didi is the same.  
She has an enormous horrible thing in her attic 
that she crocheted when my cousin David was a baby.  
Ooooh, she hates it!  

Still, everyone should have a bowl of hand spun yarns.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Back to School


There are still a few days left to summer.  Soon, the light will change and the leaves will begin to pull back and my bear cub will bounce to school.  It has been lovely having him in tow.


Sunday, August 8, 2010

Handspun

Angie was over early this morning and supervised me a bit on the spinning wheel. Color feeds the eye.

Tunisian Crochet pt.2


Here is a sample piece of Tunisian handiwork - complete with flaw (I think I hooked into the row below by mistake). Next step: felt it.  It might end up in front of the sink on our bathroom floor.  But first, felting and blocking.  Blocking is like locking the door on the way out to play - it totally interrupts the moment.  On the other hand, you don't want anyone stealing the electronics. 

Friday, August 6, 2010

Wheeee!


Tomorrow morning I'll be up early to help transport a new mama and her week-old pups to a rescue up north.  Wheeee!  They're a special breed of flying puppies - I musn't open any windows along the way.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Tunisian Crochet

Recently I learned Tunisian crochet and plan to forge ahead into small rugs, runners and placemats.  Wool and linen - linen! Oh, linen.  Linen is the fabric that compels me to sew.  Someday, I will wear wool in winter and linen in summer and I will walk a northern seashore in the morning and stoke a fire at night.  For today, I will hide from the heat index (109) and rely on the unsustainable use of air conditioning.  If the city of Louisville blacks out, you can find me in the car, air blasting.  Why do I wilt so easily?  I'm a northerner.  Why do I live in the near south?  I married a Kentucky man.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Menagerie


Tchotchkes are utilitarian.  HAPPINESS is USEFUL! 

from "Marji" on etsy.com:


also on etsy.com: seller/maker is "Lambert":



to get closer to the maker of this little pig, 
visit with Angela Mobley:


this is one of Angie's designs, too.  
have you see Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep
Angie's sailboat reminds me of the props by:
lauri faggioni
(click it!)