J-E-L-L-O

Some more gelatin printed cloth from class last night. Right now I plan on keeping this as a whole cloth piece and to add hand stitching with some beading and other embellishments.
On another note I rusted some silk organza yesterday and like how it turned out (husband did have to call me at work to inquire what was in that old rusted tin sitting out in the sun). Right now I'm not sure how I'm going to use this but the thought of revisiting my fascination with cairn and standing stones has resurfaced. This organza might make some great ethereal appearing stone images....we shall see.....

FAMA

A cairns motif that morphed into a Garden of Eden image.....FAMA....Folk Art Modern Abstract. These pieces I'm doing may not have the sophistication of altered cloth art that features paints, foils, printing and inks but - darn - I like doing these. There's something about them that reaches deep down inside me....getting to the roots of something.

Progress

Happily working away here in Shawangunk Ridge land. The top piece is a closeup showing the bit of foiling I added to the whole cloth I've been altering. Right now the cloth has been painted, dyed, printed and foiled enough - the next step will be to quilt it. Probably free motion machine stitching but maybe with some added hand stitched details - we'll see. The bottom photo is of a larger cairns inspired piece that seems to have morphed into a bit of the Garden of Eden. This one will definitely get hand emboidery added - and maybe a snake image or two...we'll see.

Time to get back to work!

Letting Go

"Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong." Lao-Tzu (600 B.C.)

The last day or two I’ve been thinking about controlling. Controlling as in trying to fix things, coerce other people into making the decisions I think they should make, trying to anticipate every ‘what if’…etc, etc, etc…ad naseum….

I always feel the most centered and in control (now there’s a paradox) when I keep out of situations that need to run their own course and keep out of lives that need to be lived by the people they belong to (for sure their lives don’t belong to me). A gentle touch, a soft smile or an encouraging nod is really all that’s needed in many situations where our loved ones are trying to find their way.

The first piece above is some free form stitching and embroidery I started doing one night. The second piece is the third in my cairns series that morphed into a symbolic image of an adult letting go of a child.

Second Cairns - Inukshuk

My first cairns inspired 4x6 art quilt was sold yesterday. This photo shows the second in this series of hand appliqued pieces using my own hand dyed fabrics and was inspired by the Inuksuks of the Canadian Arctic.

These markers vary in shape and size, and were (are) created to perform different functions. They are symbols with deep roots in the Inuit culture of the far north. Obviously they serve as directional markers but are also considered beacons and portals that signify safety, hope and friendship.

Disintegration

These pieces with foiling, beads and shimmer paint are really difficult to photograph....of course, the fact that the batteries in my camera need recharging doesn't help any either! Anyway, this is another in that series inspired by cairns, standing stones and now old stone building elements. Another 4x6'er....but I do think I'm going to start on a larger one today...might even reach for those double digits.

Beautiful Sunday Morning

Clear, sunny and cool seems to be on tap for the weather today....absolutely gorgeous! Sept and Oct are my favorite months of the year. I am not a beach person - more a wood fire, homemade soup person. No doubt this blog will have at least one posting showing a bonfire that we will have out at our pond sometime in the next few weeks. You are all invited as long as you bring the marshmallows!

I made this 4x6er last night from hand dyed & painted fabric that was further embellished with foils. The other elements are rolled cloth that was secured together with gel medium and wrapped with beads and wires. I call it Ancient Ruins and is further exploration of this cairns, portal, standing stones series I've been busy with.

Oh...and....the class Thurs night went great (at least that was my take on it). I believe I realized some success in my mission to only provide inspiration and encouragement to design creatively rather than instruction on specific construction methods. Part 2 will be this Thursday. I hope the participants are all as enthusiastic as they were last week.

Craft Fair

This wonderful, funkdified necklace was made by my friend, Deb. She makes these great necklaces that sell like hotcakes to women of all ages. They are colorful, fun and vibrant. We are going out to dinner tonight to discuss a date for our next open house. She sells her necklaces and earrings and I sell my art quilts. This year I think I'm also going to dye some silk scarves and offer them too. Experience tells me that us ladies love to adorn ourselves as much as we do our walls!

The bottom piece is a work in progress in my cairns series.

Cairns, Standing Stones & Inunguaks

A piece of Wikipedia information on the section Cairns As People....

"The practice is common in English, cairns are sometimes referred to by their anthropomorphic qualities. In German and Dutch, a cairn is known as Steinmann and Stenenman respectively, meaning literally "stone man". A form of the Inuit inukshuk is also meant to represent a human figure, and is called an inunguak ("imitation of a person"). In Italy, especially the Italian Alps, a cairn is an "Ometto" a small man."

I am fascinated by these rock art structures.

Large man-made formations are also know as standing stones, megaliths and orthostats. These huge stones standing upright are believed to be as old as 2800 B.C.E. (how politically correct am I?), maybe older.

Amazing....

Working in a Series

Rayna Gillman http://www.studio78notes.blogspot.com/ (hope you don't mind, Rayna) has some interesting postings with comments about exploring work within a related series. Serendipitously it happens that I've begun to explore work with 2 different types of series. The first is painting and stitching on sheer fabric. I suppose that could be called a series based on technique although these abstracts I'm painting all have a very organic feeling about them. The other is the series I've begun with representational cairns using my hand dyed fabrics. This cairn series certainly is an exploration of my attraction to these stone structures. As I create these carins I keep looking at them and feeling energized. They actually bring a smile to my face. Obviously something about the idea and the imagery is reaching deep down inside and calling me.

Finding our Paths

As my just-out-of-college, working-in-the-big-city daughter walked up the stairs from the PATH train in lower Manhattan 6 yrs ago she lost her innocence. There are many stories more horrific than hers (she was taken under the wing by an older person and guided through the turmoil of that day) but her experiences from that day were life altering.

We all need & seek guidance throughout our lives. There are as many sources that can help us travel through this life as there are people. Cairns are directional markers that have existed since man began walking this earth and started bonding into family/communtiy units. I like the spiritual aspect of cairns – rock solid, expressive art that aids people in navigating difficult or confusing terrain.

We can all use some good karma cairns in our life.