New Directions

Ron's been in and out of the hospital the past two weeks, and I'm not going to be moving in with him after all. :( All my stuff is going into storage and FUZZ and I are going to bounce between my parents' and sisters' houses until I find a job somewhere. WHERE is the $64 question; probably the outlet mall where my sister Megan works.

Artwise, I'll have: a notebook, a set of watercolor pencils and water brush pen, the hexagon project (I'm up to 22; I'm sure I'll need 80 or so more for a bed quilt), and maybe some plain white fabric and fabric paints (if I didn't already pack away the brushes...uh-oh). I can store threads and beads at my parents' house.

I'm not sure which is going to drive me more insane--the uncertainty, or not being able to act if I have a good idea. OTOH, if I'm back to the very basics of quilt art--color and thread--and all the extraneous paper, found objects, books, ephemera, etc is unavailable, maybe it will be easier for me to get back to making quilt art.

When I originally got into quilts and then art quilts, my main talent and the thing that I loved most was color. I think I got away from that with all the embellishment and experimentation. So I think the break will be good for me artistically, even as it sucks in other ways.


Mostly I'm worried about Ron; I promised to help take care of him, and now I don't know if I'll be able to do that if I'm working in western Iowa. :( He needs me; I'm the best friend he has in Iowa and his family is pretty flaky.

Everybody's a critic.

OK, so the fussy-cut cat head is cheesy...

Iowa's commercially viable wearable art scene?

Tomorrow I'm going to my parents' house to work on my dress (because I don't want black fur in the seams...), and then the next day I'm going down to Des Moines to check out some of these shops in the local T-shirt scene.

I can't wait to get moved. I'll have less time to work on art (there's that huge vegetable garden...), but I'll have more support.

Life Notes for March

• I quit school.
• FUZZ and I are moving in with Ron.
• We're spending two weeks in April driving to Florida for my friend Kenny's wedding in Destin, then visiting some of Ron's friends in South Beach, then wandering back north at whim. I hate Florida, but it's been 8-9 years since I've been south of Indianapolis, so I look forward to being in Paducah, Nashville, Alabama, etc. again.
• I really hope we don't kill each other.
  
• Travel makes me think I can/should make clothes; tonight I bought a dress pattern and some really nice (expensive) embroidered fabric.
  
  

Hexagonamania

I've finally gotten into a rhythm with temporary spray adhesives and repositionable glue stick; the first hexagon took a whole day but now I can whip one out--from fabric selection to complete flower--in about four hours. Sewing the flowers together is a little more tricky and time-consuming, but at least the cardstock is staying in place until I want to remove it!!

The colors of State Center High School were Red and Black. The colors of West Marshall High School (State Center) are Black and Gold. I wonder if my color choices were unconsciously affected by recent explorations into how growing up in a small crappy town and being subjected to a small shitty high school adversely affected my expectations of life as an adult. But on the conscious side, I've been collecting Red and Gold (Iowa State) fabrics for many years, and Black makes a better accent to that pairing than blue or white (ISU's current and previous third color in athletic uniform design).

I still don't understand my recent fascination with hand-piecing a very traditional pattern.

From the Department of Why Didn't I Think Of That First?!?!

Subversive cross-stitch samplers.

They're a little pedestrian. I think greater irony could have been achieved with more elaborate traditional elements.

LEGO!!!

I've been trying to avoid knitting because I already spend enough money on supplies that I don't actually use, but if I can buy Legos AND yarn, maybe I'll give this a try:

Lego Knitting Machine!

Further proof I'm a geek first and an artist second, I'm more impressed by the Difference Engine.

Purple Postcard

I broke down and made a fabric postcard, after resisting the bandwagon for over a year. My very good friend Jason is getting married in California on Saturday, and sadly I cannot afford to attend (I feel AWFUL; he's come back to the Midwest to help me more than once, I should be able to do this simple thing when I had a years' notice...*sigh*). So I made a purple postcard for him and his bride, so they know I'm thinking about them even though I'm stuck in Iowa. :( I mailed it yesterday, I hope they get it Saturday.

This is the best picture. *frown* I need more light in the living room if I'm going to be photographing small works.



El Gato Diablo "helping" fuse the hearts to the postcard:



What would I do without him? :)