The Fourth…

Is today about friends and family? Or is it about patriotism (that word leaves a bad taste in my mouth…too many people use it as an excuse to call people out for something they think is wrong, or as a reason not to question what’s going on around us, or as an excuse for acting like assholes toward those who are not the same)? Is it about the flag? I hope not, because we do horrible things with our flag. If respect for the flag is so important, why is it on everything we wear? Sorry, wandered off for a minute to see if you could get a flag emblazoned on a condom. I think the answer is yes. It’s also possible that I’m being hacked right now by an indie condom company. It’s probably not the first time.

I certainly think today should be about friends and family, but also about all those families that our government has seen fit to separate, those who asked for asylum and didn’t really get it. I’m pretty sure 99.9999% of those fat white guys in charge come from immigrant families to get here, and we need to remember that today. This country exists because we were escaping for our religious freedom (and even then, we were mostly assholes who took over and kicked someone else’s ass to live here…not a positive note). We need to remember that patriotism includes the part where we question the stupid shit our government is doing…think Hitler, think Handmaid’s Tale, think every damn dystopian novel you’ve ever read or seen in a movie. The American Way is to question that shit and rebel when necessary. Yell more. Fight more. It’s sad that my National Park admission dollars are currently being used to allow a president to jack off inappropriate messages of division and hate to a country that shouldn’t be built on that. It’s true that we’ve made massive mistakes in the past toward people of color, toward women, toward cultures or individuals that were different than the rest of us (and yet NOT) and somehow posed a threat toward our “way of life” (I don’t even know what that means)…so own it, do what we can about it, call people out, yes even today, at those family/friend gatherings. Support those who don’t have the resources to support themselves.

Because she said so…

So much for patriotism today. Enjoy yourselves. I’ve got plans…they aren’t perfect, but they’ll do. I will not be wearing a flag, though. Or even red, white, and blue.

Yesterday I did a lot of work. The plus is the driveway is ready to be sealed (mostly…needs sweeping closer to the real time) and the rugs are clean. I’m happy about that. I didn’t do a bunch of other things. Some of it was time spent on this big dummy…

Who does not like fireworks and requires consoling for hours afterwards. So I hugged her and combed her tangled fluffy butt fur and played her 80s music so she couldn’t hear the fireworks banging as much as when the music was off. Eventually she calmed down enough to lie down and I could do things.

Before all that, I did manage some of this…

Slow progress. Getting closer to done with the blues in the ocean though. I will probably take this to the celebration tonight. There’s a lot of down time for me. The man is playing at Campland tonight…not my favorite place. But I like being outside to watch them play and then being able to see all the fireworks. That’s cool. So I’ll stitch until they start playing…

I finally got in to the office to work on this…

And then the machine and the thread were not playing nicely together…

It was an incredibly frustrating and annoying thing…I’m staring at it this morning and hoping it behaves, because I wanted to be done with stitching last night, and I’ve barely started. I’ve ripped stitches four times now, rethreading and resetting everything and trying every possible setup, and finally walked away from it. So I’ll get some stuff done this morning and then try again.

This was last night, after I gave up…a blurry picture in the dark of two coned dogs and a cat.

May the fourth be a pleasant time, but may it also be a day of freedom for those who really need it. I’m suspecting it’s not those who are celebrating it.

For me, may it be a day to finish stitching and cross some other things off the to-do list. It was ugly this week. I’d like some space in my calendar, please.

Everything Looks Perfect from Far Away*

In summer, I lose routine. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, with school routines being so much a part of daily life. It’s good to have some freeform days where you don’t know exactly what minute it is and how many more minutes until you’re allowed to pee. It’s OK to let time just sort of wander…well, unless you have appointments, in which case, you should have some idea of time. I’m not in that freeform place yet. I had a quilt to be picked up in a 2-hour time frame. I had an eye doctor appointment at a specific time. My rug shampoo machine needs to be back by a certain time or I’ll get charged more. So time is a little fucked at the moment. It’s better than when I’m in school, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I am efficient. In fact, I’m really not. My calendar is chock full of things I’m supposed to be doing, and I keep stopping to finish reading my book. Or resize pictures. Or pee a dog. Or heat up a cup of tea…lots of that.

Late at night, I finally get some space in my head and I just sit and read or think about what I’m drawing next or how to finish something. Or how to be more efficient. I’m using my free time, my brain space, to think about how to be more efficient. And then I go to bed too late and get up too early and feel tired all day. Not ideal. Working on that.

It’s OK. This is where I am right now. I have about 17 school things clamoring to be done as well, as a result of our two days of planning, and I’m afraid I’ll forget about them if I don’t do them soon. School brain…SHHHHH.

The dogs are both recovering well…

Although he got a donut (instead of a cone) because he was chewing on the leg that had the IV. I took it off last night…we’re watching the leg for now. The other one hasn’t tried to lick anything, but she’s definitely got a cone on. Because stitches. So there’s that.

Yesterday was crazy chaos of working, shopping, then renting a rug shampoo thing and cleaning carpets that might never have been cleaned. The plus is the big black spot in the hallway is now gone. That makes me happy. My carpet is still from the 1980s and falling apart, but it’s clean, dammit. I kept putting it off because I thought I’d be replacing it, but I can’t deal with that right now…so clean is better.

I did do some of this after dinner…

It’s not fast. I worry that I will run out of thread on these…the more complicated ones. So I’m watching that pretty closely. If someone buys a kit, I don’t want them to run out of a color if they want it to look like my sample.

Then I ironed eventually…all I had left was the face, and then to iron it to the background…

Tonight I will start the stitchdown, which shouldn’t take long…and then I can sandwich and pinbaste tomorrow, hopefully. I do have other stuff going on tomorrow, like half the country (maybe more). I will have no tanks and nothing I do will take away money from the National Parks, though, so you don’t have to hate me for it.

This Desert Daughter is part of a series…Earth Daughter was the first one. I want to draw a bunch for different ecosystems. We’ll see how long that takes me…

These works below were up in the In Between Gallery space that exists in Bread & Salt between the Athenaeum Art Center gallery space and the Print Studio that is also there. I didn’t see anyone’s name attached to them…and I just spent ten minutes on both websites and Facebook trying to find any information. If you figure out who the artist is, please tell me. I’m going to keep trying to figure it out.

They look like paper collages or prints that then have stitching over them…

They’re not straight, which I also like…

I really want to be doing some different stuff this summer. Maybe this is a place to start? Draw on fabric, add fabric or paper, then just stitch? I could maybe do that.

Anyway…I love seeing new things and thinking about how they affect my work. Or how I look at my work.

OK, on to today, which is more than half over, and I need to get going on the next set of tasks…outta here!

*The Postal Service, Such Great Heights

There’s an Army on the Dance Floor*

Ah, the morning started out with everyone doing their thing and taking their meds and all was good until I checked email. Sigh. Some people. Frustrate the crap out of me. And I need to not get angry at or irritated with them, and just think, hey, do I ever pull that negative crap? So knock it off. To me. I can’t control them. I can just thank them over and over again for something that should have been relatively simple to manage. In fact, I’ve managed most of it. I’ve done the thing I’m asking them to do, and it’s not as big of a deal as they’re making it out to be. But that’s them. (I think I’m going to have to go meditate this one out.).

Speaking of meditation, I’m always trying to get back to the daily practice. Hell, I’m trying to get back to the daily practice of a lot of things, and failing miserably this summer…but I got this the other night…

Totally why I meditate, sure, but look at the minutes I’ve meditated…and that’s just with this app. That doesn’t count the shit I do in my head on a regular basis. That’s almost 106 hours…that doesn’t sound as impressive. Neither does 4 1/2 days. I’ve spent 4 1/2 days of my life meditating. Well. Anyway. ‘Tis the summer of meditation apparently. When I remember.

In good news, this quilt, Not Less Than, is going to Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, IL, for the 22nd International Open, from August 9-31.

And I finally washed and photographed this piece, the last of the first 6 Earth Mothers…

You can find a pattern or kit for her on the Global Artisans page. I’m currently working on Earth Mother number 7. I need to draw 5 more.

See the hawk? He was loud.

That’s actually my neighbors tree. But he was loud. Did I mention loud?

So I started ironing the current quilt together on Sunday night. Night time seems made for ironing when it’s warm out.

I am recording some of this for my Patreon in July. If you think you’d like to watch me work, then sign up for the Patreon. For only $2 a month, you could see me twice a month.

I actually drew this a few years ago, so even though I recently traveled to all these rock monuments, this had already been done. And I made up those rocks in the drawing. I didn’t make up the plants. That’s a Joshua tree on her arm.

And those cacti on her breast are gonna need some embroidered spikes. Lots of them.

Kitten is continuing in the tradition of all cats in here by depositing her fur in this, the most hairy of all the drawers, the big green drawer. It’s not the only green drawer, but it is the biggest.

I’m constantly having to dehair fabric.

This is how far I got Sunday night, staying up way too late. There’s a rattlesnake and more cactus. Some of it will look much better with outlining.

I have Wonder Under release paper tucked under the body in three different locations because stuff needs to go behind the body. It only took me 25 years to realize that was an effective option. Duh.

Yesterday morning…this is not really love. It is a pushy cat and a fairly tolerant dog.

He looks nervous.

He should be. We took both dogs to the vet yesterday. The little one needed a tooth cleaning, and apparently two extractions. No one told me the little asshole’s breed was prone to teeth issues. And the big one is lumpy. She had two lumps removed.

And another biopsied last week. It’s benign. She’s just lumpy. All of us old folks get lumpy. With her cone on, she can’t reach her food bowl. So we improvised…

After dropping the dogs at the vet, my co-teacher and I covered this table with crap and worked for 6 1/2 hours on curriculum planning…

Six of them were paid. We’re going back for three more today, unpaid. Because it needs to be done. Welcome to the world of a teacher. After picking up the dogs, I ironed some more…this is pretty…

It will look better with outlining…

That cactus doesn’t really belong on her face…I just needed to iron it separately before putting it on the piece. There’s also a scorpion. All better with outlining.

I kind of like the cactus in her face actually.

Ah no, it belongs on her shoulder. I also did the clouds, rain, and lightning, although the clouds are hard to see without the dark background. All that’s left is the face.

I stayed up too late again, and I need to leave in 6 minutes. I think. I should brush my teeth and find my copy of The Martian. And City of Ember. Plus find my computer. And get out of here.

Hopefully I’ll finish ironing tonight, then stitch down tomorrow, pinbaste? Quilting? Almost done. Shit. I haven’t drawn the next one yet. Aargh. Don’t even ask me about my to-do list.

*The Psychedelic Furs, Love My Way