Tomorrow I'm going to Stitches South!

polish film and potato pot

Saw such a cool film tonight. And this afternoon, found a piece of pottery in the shape of a potato.

See his face?

I like emailing pics to blogger.
They all show up as separate posts.
Less curated, more B-roll.
And that's good.

i love looking over my mum's vignettes and collections, but i usually only take time late at night when everyone is sleeping.

Obsessing over Charlotte Gainsbourg

kind of discombobulated today. my dad's been in the hospital. he's home now but it's always scary.

being a city mouse

for a week or so.

a chore day

getting ready to leave town for a bit!

welcome to my world

On possibly revealing too much, too soon

This little guy keeps escaping from the dogloo where he hatched. Then he can't get back in over the lip. I've been putting him back in and his moms (there are two hens in there, I don't know which one is his ma) fly at me in a very scary way. Of course, he might be a she, but he seemed like a he to me. I'd like to take more pics of the chicks, but the moms are not having it. Some farmers don't get attached to little ones or name them yet because the world is pretty precarious for someone so tiny.

I've been thinking about actually submitting some needlework to be considered for a show. I saw this call for work over at Joetta Maue's blog. Even though I'm often intimidated by the skill and vision of the fiber artists she features, why not try, right? Especially because I had this idea that fits in with the theme that I'm excited about and am going to do anyway.

And I was thinking, rather than sit here and wonder what to blog about while I'm thinking about all this stuff, why not blog about it? I love when other bloggers reveal their process, but there is this temptation to just unveil new work once it's done, as if by magic. There is this surprise of "Woah, where did that come from? S/he has been *busy*." Or at least that's how I feel. And if I include readers in this process, maybe I can get some useful feedback, or insight too. I'm in my own head way too much!

Then there's the fact that I've been criticized before for not revealing my thoughts or intent behind something I've posted online. And this project I have in mind *might* be destined to cause a little controversy, at least among people who are looking for controversy. Sometimes, it's fair to give some context, especially for a more conceptual work or when you really want your own intention to be part of the viewer's frame of reference.

Then again, maybe it's better not to reveal too much early on. Criticism of delicate, new ideas is always a buzzkill and can even be damaging. And then, if I don't get accepted into that exhibit (which is fairly likely, these types of shows seem to be very particular), then I'll wish I'd never mentioned it here. But I love Alexandra Hedberg's Art as Business series, partly because she shares her disappointments along with her successes. Then again, there are lots of other reasons artists and crafters wait until they have finished pieces to share. What if they never get done? And perhaps a strong piece should be able to piece speak for itself, without the extra baggage, and that draws the viewer into a meaning-making process yada yada.

Back and forth much? I am so often full of indecision. But in this case, I like what I'm working on so I'll definitely share the process in upcoming posts. I wanted to think about all this though because I want to know why artists share or don't share and when. Would love to know what you think.

that pastoral paradise i've always dreamed of

I felt like I'd found it today. I finally tried to sort through and skirt the wool from my sheeps. It was such a beautiful day to be outside lazily picking hay out of wool.

This is Gabbie's brown and black fleece. Part of my homework for the master spinner's certificate is to spin fleece from each part of the sheep, so I tried to lay it all out in one piece.


I love her primitive sort of wool.


This is Georgie's grey "katmoget" fleece. It is stunning.


LOVE the tipped locks and they have a good crimp, too.


The dogs got into Greta's fleece while it was still in the barn (horrors). They rolled around in it and got hay all up in it. My friend Sue said I could bring it over and run it through her picker.


It's totally worth the effort, with its color (called "mioget") and its length!


Henry kept me company. He hopped and sniffed and chilled. Isn't he a handsome boy?

i'm still in shock

that i actually won something! some really gorgeous pieces by laurent also known as lambert.





the fish has so many beautiful stitched details, and the fabric on the folk pillow is just fantastic! it figures he would make such lovely things - have you seen his crafting room?!?!

thank you so much laurent!!!

freaky field trip

The only thing in our town that makes it into the tourist guides is a place out in the woods. The legend goes that there's a bare circle in the woods where no vegetation will grow, and that it must be where the devil walks at night. I had never been there since we haven't lived here very long, and I've never seen a sign for it or anything, so we set out yesterday with Lucy and Lilly for a little back woods field trip.

After driving down the road where I thought it should be, and then driving to the location where Google maps said it should be, we were all getting restless. Surely there must be a sign for this place if it's the town's only claim to fame? I was determined, and after hub suggested we go back home before he fell asleep, I stopped at the only roadside gas station for miles, and where I couldn't use the bathroom but I could buy bait. There was only one light on, but the woman behind the counter smiled knowingly as she directed me to go right in about a mile, then veer left, then count to the fifteenth mailbox, then there would be a gravel clearing on the left.

I lost track of the mailboxes after a few miles and pulled over in various clearings, and then I stopped here...



Could the silly string be a glow-in-the-dark marker for this place? We walked back in the woods a bit before unloading the dogs and saw this scene..



Hmm... surely this couldn't be the famed spot? So we got back in the jeep and drove further down a ways and didn't find anything more promising, so we came back and decided we might as well go for a walk.

Lucy wanted to check out the weird stuff on the fire pit...



I almost wouldn't look since I was starting to get creeped out, but it turned out to be vinyl hair. Then we started noticing the trees..



They were painted with pentagrams, upside-down crosses, and all manner of unreadable oddities. Then the trail of trash revealed a path that led further back into the woods. Someone had kindly marked the way with their recyclables.



And leftovers..



The dogs looked like little ghosts, or angels, leading the way.



When the trails got thick, we pulled up a stump and chilled for a few. Silly rabbits, I thought, coming out into the woods without some tunes or brews. Or spray paint. I hate to be snobby, but I felt sad and fascinated in equal parts. Although I guess that's usually the case with tourist attractions. Maybe this would be more fun in the Fall. Not a springy place. Not a daffodil or dogwood in sight.



The dogs had fun, but I think Lilly was saying, "Hey ma, let's blow this sad local Blair witchy redneck teen hangout."

Then when we got home, I noticed this strange apparition in one of my photographs..

Bright & happy Easter