I Can’t Be Your Superwoman

I am not in San Diego right now. I’m at Lake Arrowhead. The girlchild is only here for 2 weeks total, so when she wanted to do a quick trip to the mountains, which is a tradition for her dad and the two kids and grandpa, I tagged along for part of it. Hence the crazy posting (or not) the last few days.

I had to finish all my Nida Powers jobs before I left, which included an amazing opening (thanks to all those who came by) and an artist talk. You can see my portion of the talk here:

The show is open until October 8, so check it out. I know I will go over there again, just to see it without all the people.

This is I Can’t Be Your Superwoman, which I finished in January and was made specifically for this show. She’s bigger than I am.

She was based on that 80s mentality of the SuperMom: the job, the family, cooks up the bacon in the pan, wears the suit to work, etc. I’ve spent a lot of years railing against and yet trying to be (or maybe having to be) that SuperMom, and the reality is that we can’t just crack open the button-down shirt and burst out all superpowery like that. I also drew this post-election, so there’s a bit of woman angst in there about trying to shove us back in the kitchen, take our rights away, all that crap.

The short version of the official statement for this quilt is:

Being a woman now…I swear, I thought it was supposed to be getting better, but no, we are still trying to break out of the story, out of the kitchen, to be everything we should be without having to be the superwoman of the 80s. We want to write our own stories, not have them written for us.

I’ll post more of the quilts in here over the next few weeks, but this one is currently one of my favorites.

These drawings are out of order, but I did do two of them the night of my opening. After dinner, I headed over to watch that band I’m always stalking, and I started this drawing. It’s not done.

Before the show, I was a little stressed out and nervous, so I drew this near the museum. While having a quick drink in a space with a lot of people I didn’t know. It was good. Focus for the introverted brain.

So when we were trying to come up with a name, at some point the peeps at Visions suggested The Kathy Nida Story or something like that. I wasn’t real comfortable with a title that had my name in it, but I was thinking about those superpowers again and decided I could deal with Nida Powers. Of course, Nida Powers include the ability to spill a glass of water in someone’s lap from across the table, so they’re not all powers for GOOD. After I turned 50 in March, though, this whole concept of the powers that I DO have and can use to get myself off the couch and to the light table or to draw in bars or whatever weird-ass thing I do…I kind of feel that Nida cape on my shoulders.

I should hold onto that feeling for a while, because my dad says turning 70 makes it harder. But for now, I’ve got some stuff in my life to work on (the garage as metaphor for everything else?) and I’m perfectly capable of either handling it or asking for help in handling it or just damn well saying no, I’m not going to handle that. Whatever it takes.

Back to reality here…I did some combo cross stitches and lazy daisies in green on the right, and then lazy daisies in two colors on the buttonhole stitches down in the bottom right. So that was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The cabin has included a game of Clue while I cut out Wonder Under…

I suck at Clue by the way. Can’t keep track of all the permutations in my head.

I finished the Long Skinny cutting out in about 7 1/2 hours. I did spend some time cleaning the studio out on Saturday and Sunday, so all the fabric from the last few quilts is put away. I also started cleaning the desk area just for fun. But as soon as I get home, I can sort the Wonder Under and start ironing this one down to fabric. That’ll probably take about 15 hours, so hopefully I’ll be able to get that done by Friday and start trimming pieces. My goal is to be done with the whole quilt by the time I have to go back to school, but I’m not sure I can pull that off.

Last night: I’m sharing a bed with the girlchild AND a large Pomeranian. Luckily the Golden Retriever preferred the floor.

No. I did not get much sleep. Oh well.

Then today we were taken out on a speedboat by a good family friend and got to try paddle boards…easier for some than others…

I did manage to stand up and paddle for about 5 minutes before I fell in. Yup. Balance. Always an issue.

After lunch, we spent time at the other dock, trying to keep Calli from diving in.

Simba is not a fan of water. Calli is a water dog.

I’m pretty sure I’m fried a significant shade of red right now, despite multiple applications of sunscreen. Girlchild looks much better…

But it’s been mostly quiet and semi-relaxing up here. I’m not staying long. Art is screaming at me to get done, as is the house reorganization, so I can’t be particularly relaxed here. But I’m trying. Twenty-five days until I have to go back to school. I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s not. This summer is flying by crazy fast and I’m not getting enough done. As always. Nothing new there.

There She Goes Again*

Solo show opens tomorrow. Nida Powers. Feeling like I need some Nida Powers today (and this weekend). Looking forward to seeing the show again. And maybe some of you too. Visions Art Museum, 5-7 pm. Then we can talk about introverts and how we have to prepare for openings where you have to be ON all the time (hey, just like school, but with adults! It’s so much easier with 12-year-olds.).

In other news, I got some art shit done yesterday finally, mostly because I blew off the garage stuff. We’re back on garage duty today, trying to get rid of some of the extra stuff and organize the art stuff. Not as easy as it sounds. We gots some e-waste, some haz waste, some furniture, a lot of thriftable stuff, and a ton of nobody wants this shit. Oh, and recyclables. But not enough bins for the last two, so we’ve been cycling it through the trash the last two weeks and will keep doing so until it’s gone. We will NOT be dumping it at the bottom of some street or next to a locked dumpster, because we try to be responsible members of society. Sometimes we suck at it. But not for this.

I forgot! I sold two quilts, even though one is traveling at least through the end of 2018 and the other might be in some shows as well…but Absolutely Nothing (yes, standing on a pile of men)…

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and Holding It All In will be hanging (out) in Palo Alto sometime in 2018 or 2019. I’m looking forward to the photos…and incredibly thankful for the support.

It always feels weird to talk about selling my own art, but I am thankful to those who have supported me over the years. It’s really impossible to be an artist without that support sometimes, especially as I’m weathering the college years. We just went through all the money stuff for the upcoming school year, and for once I won’t be stretching the June paycheck over the whole two months of summer with a giant rock deep in my belly as I get to August and all the college stuff is due. The kids’ college funds did fairly well and their scholarships were incredibly helpful. Plus they both worked hard (and will keep working hard, because they’re not done). It has been (and still is) scary every year when I do the math, but I think we might just survive all this. A miracle maybe.

Last night was mostly about the panel discussion for Don’t Shut Up, though (yes, I stitched through it). And one woman (older than me) said we shouldn’t be bitches (in response to some of the other comments that we SHOULD be) and we shouldn’t alienate those whose minds we were trying to change. It was late, so I didn’t respond there, but I am here. Two problems there: first of all, if I don’t just shut up, smile, and make a sandwich, I get called a bitch. So being a bitch just means taking back my power and being who I really am (I can BE a bitch, but I’m NOT a bitch in general. If I’m being a bitch to you, then step back and figure out where your behavior is at. Because you’re probably being a dickhead.). Second of all, I don’t really care if I alienate the people whose minds we’re changing. Because I don’t actually believe I can change most of their minds unless they’re listening, and odds are they aren’t. So I have this view of me smiling and nodding my head as they spew misogyny and I say nothing. (wow. 17 drawings. Right there. Popped into my head. You wanna know how I get ideas? That’s how.) And there’s no commentary on how they’ve already alienated me with their assumption that I have no rights and don’t know what to do with my own body. Or that I hate men. Or that I don’t want equality…apparently being a feminist means I am all Women First (well, you know, it might be nice for a while). Sigh. I’m all about teamwork and fixing shit together…just go look at the statement for Work in Progress.

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So yeah. I guess that makes me a bitch. I’m OK with that. I know not all males are like that. Most of the ones I know aren’t. I guess my bitchiness kind of self-selects those around me. Whatever.

Well, this bitch got a bunch of stuff done around the panel discussion. I had my quilt meeting (no longer a class…just a hangout really)…and I started cutting out the Wonder Under for the newest quilt. I do have another one that I started cutting back in June, when I just needed something to work on. I have to try to keep them labeled and separate so I don’t get them mixed up. That would not be funny. OK. It might be a little funny, but mostly frustrating.

I’m impressed by Kitten’s attitude.

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Although she looks somewhat psychotic.

Girlchild saved a lizard yesterday, although she screamed when his little feet touched her. He was floating in the pool on the chlorine container. Poor guy. I really need a water solution so living creatures can drink water without my getting more mosquitoes. Seriously.

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So I went to the panel discussion and did two nights’ worth on here, all chain stitch on the right, which is almost done.

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Then I worked on this guy, finishing the hippo and almost finishing the crocodile. I’ll try to finish the croc today maybe. If I feel like it.

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Then I finished the tracing on Long Skinny…without Kitten’s help. She refused to move, even when I draped Wonder Under over her. The tail just thumps instead.

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I needed another couple of hours to finish, apparently. So 1320 pieces traced in just under 12 hours. Not bad. It’s only three yards or so of Wonder Under, because most of the pieces are small. Sigh. My fault. Always my fault.

Kitten is adorable.

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I had started tracing at my quilt meeting, putting in about two hours…and then I kept cutting last night.

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I got about halfway in 2 1/2 hours yesterday.

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Not bad. I don’t remember what I originally said about being done, but I’m hoping sometime tonight. Then sort them. Tomorrow is kind of busy. Pretty sure I can’t start ironing to fabric before I go to the mountains. Damn. So that foils my plan of cutting out pieces while I’m gone. In fact, I’m not sure what I can take with me. I have two drawings that are at the Draw Full Size on a Giant Piece of Paper stage. Hard to do at the cabin. There’s a big table, but not as big as my light table. Sigh. I’ll have to think that through. I can cut out the other climate piece, but it won’t take long. I could just relax and read a book. Yeah, I know. That’s crazy. I could draw other stuff. I seriously don’t know how to just sit there and do nothing. It’s not in my makeup.

OK. Well today is full of clean up and garage and maybe I dunno other stuff besides finishing the cutting. I’ll figure it out. Kids. They’ll be here too. So hangout time. First I need to enter an art show or two. If I can get my head around that.

*The La’s, There She Goes

Wave Your Hands in the Air Like You Just Don’t Care*

(I use that phrase in my classroom all the time…most of my kids know the reference.) Today’s photos look the same as yesterday’s. But today the girlchild is home for a few weeks, so that’s cool. Although getting her here was a little chaotic. Her car died in a Boston tunnel (and then reanimated) and the ex’s car blew a tire on the way to pick her up. I was impressed by the speed and competence of her dad and brother in re-tiring the car in the dark by the side of the freeway. I provided flashlight support. I’m good at that. OK. I could change a tire if I had to…seriously.

But the artmaking is the same as yesterday and the day before and the whenever I started this. Someone called this process labor-intensive, and that’s true. If I had nothing else going on, I could do it faster, but that’s never the case. One of the reasons I keep a blog is to remind myself of how and what I was thinking in past years. Nope. Summer’s are always like this, where I’m trying to get major house projects done while I have time and help, because I can’t handle it during the school year, and then I feel like I’m not getting enough art done and I never really do the relaxation thing well or right. Whatever right means.

Accept what I can do. Yesterday sucked for that. Except the girlchild’s room got clean. I ended up making 4 rolls of quilts from what was once 3 rolls. Scarily, about 20 quilts are out traveling right now and will need homes at some point in those rolls. I tried to make the rolls small enough for me to manhandle them where they belong too. And put all the old quilts together in the same roll and on the top shelf, because odds are, they aren’t coming out for shows as often.

I had all of them on the girlchild’s bed most of the last 5 months, because I couldn’t deal with the rolls any more. Anyway. They’re all managed now. For now.

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This one. She eats books. Gotta be careful.

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A photo from the Don’t Shut Up exhibit with one of my pieces, We Won’t Go Back.

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That’s my look of utter relief that I had finished the community quilts on time. I got a lot of interest in this piece…which is cool. One guy even recognized it as the same artist as the stuff in the Allied Craftsman show, which came down this week. I had three shows close within a week, so 7 quilts home (or at someone else’s home, because they were nice enough to pick up mine as well as theirs).

So after getting the girlchild to her dad’s house and leaving her there, I did more chain stitch on this…

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And then went back to fighting cats for space on the glass…

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With 1300+ pieces, this is just not a fast process. I figure it’s about an hour per 100 pieces to trace. Cutting stuff out is faster usually. But ironing takes longer…so I figure with 1300 pieces, that’s about 15-16 hours of ironing to fabric. Then cutting again.

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But when someone asked about prices on the piece at Don’t Shut Up, she was so good…admitted it was probably out of her price range because of the detail. Which was true. It’s not the size of the piece that makes it more or less expensive…it’s more about the number of pieces. So small with a lot of pieces is still not cheap. I won’t work for $1 an hour. I do actually keep track of my time on these, so I know exactly how much they’re worth.

So I only got a couple hours in last night (still stayed up too late)…

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I’m still in the main torso area, but both arms are done.

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I quit just before all those buildings with windows. I’ve done just over 1000 pieces, with about 300 to go. That’s it! And I’m just under 10 hours…so a good guess. But I do need to work on the garage and go to the chiropractor today, and it’s our annual trip to Shakespeare. You don’t get choices when the girlchild is only home for two weeks. So Richard II it is. I think.

The panel discussion for Don’t Shut Up is tomorrow evening, from 6-8. You can stop by the gallery and see the show before at 5 pm. I should be there for the discussion…can’t make it earlier. And then next week is the artist walk and talk. I will be there. And this Saturday is my own show opening and Sunday is the artist talk. No stress! I’m trying to come up with a 5-minute discussion of all my work in that show. Yeah! Yikes. Like trying to explain my whole life in 5 minutes. Born, schooled, art the whole time, married, babies, divorced, art art art, teaching, art. Did I say art? Yeah. Lots of soccer. Not enough air conditioning or vacationing. Hiking. Mosquito bites. I guess summer is affecting my summary.

Hopefully tomorrow will have me cutting out Wonder Under instead of tracing it.

*Cameo, Word Up

Please Tell Me Why*

Hey. You. Are you the one who gave my neighbor’s kid that whistle? The one they blow all the time? Come Here. Closer. No. RIGHT HERE.

It’s weird how I don’t notice the whistle most of the time, but when I do, I can’t make it stop reverberating in my head.

Girlchild comes home tonight. The flight is already delayed. Her room is kind of a mess. My fault. All my quilts. So that’s my job today. And the 27 things I just put on my Momentum to-do list. I haven’t been checking many off, because a lot of them are something like “Trace WU for Long Skinny”…well I’ve been WORKING on that, but only hit the halfway mark last night. I am only tracing after we’ve put in 4 or 5 hours on the garage and whatever else needs doing…so mostly at like 9 PM and later. And then I stay up way too late because art brain is like a little kid on summer vacation who begs to stay up late, and then at 6:30 AM when the dog wants to pee, my real brain swears profusely at art brain.

But art brain deserves some time. She’s waited for it. So yeah. I’m a little ugh sleepy this morning. And full of that high-pitched kid whistle. With a to-do list that is 10 miles long. It’s all good. She’s trying to be patient. To know that hanging out with the kids and banging out some major work on the house while I have help (oh my lord, having help is a joy) is a priority for the next few weeks. Boychild goes back in about a month. Girlchild is only here for 2 weeks. Sigh. Time. Is a bitch. I go back to school about the same time boychild leaves. Fucking sucks.

I can do this. I’ve traced for over 3 hours the last two nights. I hit the halfway point…and more.

This…more chain stitch and filling in spots. On the right. I’m also using up all these weird tiny pieces of Wildflowers thread from the crazy quilt package shares I used to do a million years ago. I get like a yard of thread…and I use it. Oh. I just looked…I didn’t do chain stitch…I did the spiky buttonhole around the one wave. Duh. I was tired. I still am tired.

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Then back to the tracing. I’m not sure why the cats are obsessed with the light table. It’s glass, so that’s probably cooler. Plus maybe they just like being lit from below.

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There were a lot of small pieces in this tracing session. Sometimes the boy comes in with the dogs. When he goes to bed, he brings them all to me. Yes, a 21-year-old goes to bed before me.

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If I sit on the couch, Simba wants to sit with me, but he’s not happy when I’m tracing. Then I got the second cat. Because it’s not annoying enough trying to maneuver around one cat.

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Yeah. And the white one kept trying to knock the wine glass off. This is restrictive guys. Y’all need to stop.

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I’m in the high 700s…with 1300 total…so about 500 to go. Ugh. That’s a lot. What you can’t tell in that photo is that the fan is in the bottom center and it’s pointed right at me. I wonder if they can feel it and that’s why they’re there. It’s possible.

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I’m in the middle of tracing that handful of flowers. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea. Trying to figure out the overlaps and what is numbered what…what a pain. Upside down. Ugh.

What was my original goal on this piece? I think I can finish tracing in the next couple of days. I hope. Then start cutting Wonder Under…this weekend is kinda booked. And I’m going to Lake Arrowhead next week. So that’s complicated. I can finish cutting these out, but I can’t start ironing until I get home. Iron to fabric all next week. Then trim the following week and start ironing down. Yikes. This isn’t going to be done before I go back to school (it might be done. It could be. If you weren’t cleaning stuff out. Which you need to do.). It’s so early this year. I need to check my calendar stuff again. Overwhelmed.

But today, today is easy. Clean girlchild’s room and the kitchen table. Check off some of the stuff on the to-do list. Maybe do a little on the garage without the boychild’s help. I have an idea. I don’t know if it’s doable. Huh. Art brain is on it. Will let you know. Certainly the messing around with art stuff that I wanted to do this summer is apparently off the table at the moment. Oh well. Shit’s gotta get done.

*Lit, My Own Worst Enemy

I’ve Never Hurt This*

OK. This is kicking my butt, this whole life thing. I know I’m supposed to be on vacation, and I guess it’s a good thing I am, because I wouldn’t have time to sleep or pee otherwise.

The opening on Saturday night went well. There was food and a dance thing and a spoken-word thing and it was all very cool but I hit exhaustion level but the show looks good. Still working on posting about that for the group. I’m posting on Facebook and the blog for the group, so it’s been busy. We still have a panel discussion this week and an artist talk next week.

Then things are ramping up for the solo show, opening this Saturday, and the girlchild shows up tomorrow night (which means I have less than 24 hours to get her room clean). Meanwhile, in crazy town, boychild and I are in like Hour 9 of cleaning out the garage after years of NOT cleaning it out. It’s getting there. I think. Many more hours left, though…might kill the both of us.

I did a few nights on here, mostly chain stitch on the right still…with some filler stitches around the flowers…

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I’ve been tracing the next climate quilt. When one cat is on the light table, the other lurks nearby…

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All the other lights are off because it’s too damn hot. I’ve got LEDs in the light table at least. As soon as Midnight left, Kitten came back with a vengeance…

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I push and shove until she finds the appropriate butt-cleaning spot.

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Garrrrr. I have about 4 1/2 hours into the tracing, less than halfway.

I found this while cleaning out the garage. It’s old…you can see I’ve been stacking women for years…

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Although they all have clothes on. This is from the printmaking years I think.

Anyway, I’m chugging along…not a lot of rest and relaxation, that’s for sure. Maybe I’ll get there. After I clean the girlchild’s room, finish the garage, whatever. Get some focus? Well that’s the problem…way too many foci. Back to tracing stuff…

*Ratatat, Loud Pipes

When I’m Down You Breathe Life over Me*

I didn’t manage to get a post up yesterday. Way too busy this week. Not sleeping well either. Between the heat and the Too-Many-Things mental space, sleep is just not happening. Hopefully that’s going to get better. When I realized yesterday that everything had been finished and delivered and hung, I actually cried. Like holy crap, you did it. It’s all out there in the world and now you can just hang back a bit and watch. I’ve been looking for that space for 6 months or more. Not that it’s sunk in yet. I’m still eye-twitchy and teeth-grindy. Really need that to stop. More exercise? More sleep? It’s gotta cool down for that. And the exercise, I’m running on exhausted at the moment.

Wish I were Kitten. She is my sleep role model.

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So Thursday, I loaded the car with quilts for my Visions show, Nida Powers, which opens next Saturday, July 15…

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I have the whole back gallery, the VALYA gallery. Which is cool. I’ve eyed that space for a good long time. And I really like the other two exhibits that will be in the space too…

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I stopped by on Friday and saw it all hung. It’s overwhelming for me to see so much of my work in one space. The bathtubs…it’s just cool.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, boychild and I are working on the garage from hell…

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I don’t think we’ve done more than a few quick run-throughs in the past, trying to get rid of stuff, since before the divorce. Fifteen years. There’s baby stuff in there. It’s kind of boggling and definitely overwhelming. I hit about two hours in and lose it. We have a huge pile of recycling, another huge pile of trash, then a smaller thrift shop pile, a school pile, a fabric pile (needs to be gone through), and a Craigs List pile (ugh). We’ve spent probably 4-5 hours so far and only really conquered the center section. We are also going through the shelves and trying to rehome stuff logically as we go. It’s crazy. But needs to be done.

So after a couple hours on that, I loaded up the car with the community quilts and headed to City College for the next installation…Don’t Shut Up opens tonight, 5-8 pm.

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It took a while to hang the quilts…I’ll post the whole show some time in the next few days. There is a panel discussion next week and then an artist walk and talk on July 20.

I didn’t get home until almost 10 PM. Exhausted. Again. That was Thursday. Then yesterday, I got up early (couldn’t sleep) and made sure my small cat and bird quilts had labels and dowels, and then delivered them to Visions for their store.

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If you want a small and appropriate (no penises or uteri) Nida quilt, they’ll be there. Support me and the museum that was willing to give me a solo show. It’s nice to have their support…

As a gift for my work on Don’t Shut Up, I was the happy recipient of a Linda Litteral original…I love her work.

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Her work will be in the Don’t Shut Up exhibit as well.

More garage cleanout yesterday afternoon revealed this Nida original (from some kit teaching you how to draw)…

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Elementary or middle school?

I had my stitching meeting last night, where I didn’t work on this…although I did when I got home. Two nights’ worth…apparently I was too tired Thursday to touch it. Just more chain stitch and filling in around the orange flowers with fly and straight stitches.

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I worked on this at the stitching meeting, finishing Palestrina knots around the hippo and starting the backstitching.

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Slow but calming work. Doesn’t require much brain power. Which is a good thing at the moment.

When I got home, I started tracing what I’m currently calling Long Skinny, for lack of a better name. Kitten is intently watching an ant who is crawling across the table.

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And doing more important sleep work.

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Perhaps she is stealing sleep from me…is that a thing?

I traced about 130 pieces…it was late.

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Only 12 more hours to go.

So more garage this afternoon, an opening tonight, plus birthday celebration (not mine), family gathering tomorrow, car needs work, another gallery pickup Monday, and girlchild is home Tuesday night. So yes. I will be desperately trying to clean up her room at some point (maybe when the temperature gets below 100 degrees). And tracing stuff. Or cutting it out. And hopefully drawing. And sleeping, for gods’ sake. Really.

*Zero 7, Destiny

A Cool Breeze Flows but Mind the Wasp*

I spent 4 hours ironing and dehairing quilts yesterday. No problem. It was a lot of standing. I cut some slats too, and also put on 3 or 4 labels on the backs of quilts. Everything is going in today…for this…

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I had a hard time coming up with a title for this show in the beginning. I really wanted Super V, but that was an issue. Then they suggested just my name or something about my story. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with my name being part of the show, but now I’m owning it. Maybe it’s turning 50. Maybe it’s something else. I don’t know, but hell, I must have some super powers to do what I keep doing. So I might as well adjust that cape and wear it as well as I can. I’ll share it too…any time you wanna borrow it, just let me know.

Kitten was very helpful during the ironing stage.

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I’m actually surprised she’s still talking to me. I took three animals to the vet yesterday to try to get a handle on the flea issues here, and she was one of them. She’s not a fan, but she did OK.

After the ironing was done, boychild and I hiked Hollenbeck Canyon…I have been testing the hiking out after the evac a few weeks ago. This hike just confirms that was medication-related…because I had no problems yesterday…still in the heat…climbed a few hills, much worse than the other hike…plus twice as far.

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I think I haven’t been here for a year…can’t remember. It was very dry looking, with remnants of a fire that was set out here a month or so back…

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From almost the top of the hill…

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On the back side is all oak trees and meadows…and bunnies and jackrabbits and squirrels and one coyote we saw.

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These trees always make me think of witches, for some reason…that and all the crows everywhere…

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We did do the late afternoon/evening, to try to beat some of the heat. It’s supposed to be in the high 90s by Saturday, so yesterday was supposed to be the coolest day of the week. Hiking in the summer is kind of difficult because of the weather, but it’s when the kids (or at least one of them) are home.

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This is where we saw the coyote…and where the burn was, on the left…plus some further back. Most of it was on the hills across from the park entrance. I don’t understand people who start fires.

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I’ve always loved this view, as you’re climbing out of the river valley, looking back…

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So yeah, over 6 miles, no issues, except a slow climb for me. Boychild is patient. Lets me stop and breathe. Girlchild is back next week, but the weather is also supposed to be awful. Plus I have a ton of art-related stuff happening next week.

I did something on here…more chain stitch, I think. On the right…

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And then I spaced out for a while before deciding to cut out Wonder Under for the first climate quilt…the one I didn’t really mean to make right now. And will probably have to just put aside for a while. We’ll see.

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So I have quilt delivery and installation set for today for two different shows. I don’t actually know what that entails for one delivery, but the other one, I know I’m up on a ladder.

But then I’m done. Well. You know how that goes. Done worrying about getting stuff finished for these two shows. Ready to make my own stuff…this has not been a great year so far for that I think. Well. When I look back at last year, I had 5 quilts done by the end of May, and then nothing was finished until August, because I was working on a huge one. This year, I have 3 new quilts completed, but 1 from last year that got finished differently, so most of the work was done last year; that’s number 4. And then another one that’s in the community quilt that is almost finished, but won’t be until it comes out of the quilt. Not sure if and when that will happen. It’s small too. So I’d like to have the long skinny one done in August…I almost typed BY August, but when I look at the calendar for the next two weeks, I’m not sure that will happen. It can be a goal, I guess. Then two more big ones in the Fall. That could be a challenge. But I’ve done it before…I think I’m actually much better at scheduling art time when I’m teaching…because I have to make time for it, so then I just do it. These days, these chaotic days of summer? It’s harder to do that for some reason.

I’m always looking far ahead, deciding what I need or want to get done. What I really want? A bunch of days when I can just lose myself in the making. Yup. That’s a vacation for me.

*Morcheeba, The Sea

Just Be Glad to Be Here*

Fireworks always make it better. Even if you’re sitting next to someone who thinks blasting Nirvana during fireworks makes sense (and I love me some Nirvana)…the fireworks themselves are worth it…now if we could just make them quiet so the dogs and babies and veterans were all OK with them…because the lights. I wonder what it is about lights. I have a thing for lights. Christmas lights and white lights all over trees and fireworks…

I finished the community quilts. And all the hangers for them as well. I need to figure out these little things that fell off, how to reattach them. But I don’t have all of them. Oh well. Some things maybe don’t belong on quilts. There’s a hole in one finger (yes, even with a thimbly thing) and two fingers are very sore, and another one was a little beat up by a piece of wood. Ouch. Hanging it all tomorrow. Hallelujah. Now no one can ask me to do anything for a good long time. Ha. Like that’s gonna happen. I might scream NO inappropriately if they do.

Today I need to iron and dehair and label all the quilts for the solo show…also getting delivered tomorrow.

But I did finally get some art time in last night…not much, and not on task, but whatever. Sometimes the brain just does.

The door replacement seems to be coming on…which is good, because Kitten is obsessed with the plywood that’s covering the doorway. She was attacking it this morning.

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I did an orange firework burst in the lower right. I should do some more.

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Then I taped what was copied for the two next drawings…I think both were enlarged at 250%.

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Then I made this one as big as it’s supposed to be…much bigger than I started with.

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I’m actually putting it away for a while, because it’s third on the list, I think. I am going to start tracing the skinny climate one and cutting out the other climate one that’s already traced. But probably not until later tonight. I need to take everyone to the vet for flea stuff today and then the boychild and I are hiking tonight…one I’ve done before multiple times again. I’m testing myself, but easily and slowly.

This is not last night’s lizard…check out its tail. Kitten doesn’t care though.

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I think I’m almost officially on vacation. I don’t know why I need all the have-tos done before I can feel that way, but…certainly the ability to hike during the week and to get up late should be a hint. Not having to lesson plan on a Sunday. Not having to pack lunches. Not having to worry about school (although it’s hard to turn that shit off…). I’m currently considering teaching mindfulness practice in my homeroom class. I think they need it. I think I need it. So I’m trying to find the best options for that without spending $200 on books.

Art. Need to make art. More. Like all day long.

*FC Kahuna, Hayling

I Want Time to Slip Away*

Happy 4th American peoples…all the shop people who were asking me if I was ready for the 4th can now stop, right? Which reminds me, I totally got manshamed yesterday at Home Depot because some kid employee was asking me how I was and saying hi and I half-smiled as an answer, but I was looking for something and didn’t want to be sociable and then he totally verbally gave me shit for not saying something back to him. I think I gave him an incredulous look…like dude, just because you have to greet people for your job doesn’t mean I have to do ANYTHING back. I acknowledged you with a facial expression. Be a dick again and I’ll complain to management asshole. Old enough to be your grammy you fucktard and way way more feminazi.

Back to the 4th. Fireworks and dogs…bad. Ours started last night and continued until after 1 AM, as did the Calli freakout. But y’all should relax and hang out with friends and family and do all the stuff people are supposed to do on the 4th. I always feel weird about it because I’m not uber-patriotic and I already have the summer off, so it’s not a vacation day, and I think people go a bit overboard with expectations of whatever it should be. I do like fireworks though, so I’ll go see those. It’s not the first year without the girlchild…and she screamed through her first fireworks.

I’m feeling a bit crankballs this morning. Not good sleep between dog reacting to M-80s and something out there at 4 AM and then a grandpa delivering shit this morning to the driveway. I slept in between all the dog barking. I’ll be OK later. I need to get some shit done, and then it will feel better.

That’s all I did yesterday really…run errands and try to finish community quilts. I think I’ve got another 2 hours of sewing and then some cutting wood for hangers and weights and then I’m done. But I need to prep the quilts for my solo show too and I’m kind of sick of all this stuff that’s not art.

So first of all, I have this weird door that opens into my entryway…it used to be a fire door, but then they put a new door in my bedroom, which works for that too. The door is failing…a combination of age and moisture in that corner. It gets no sun. So lizards regularly just go under and there was a lot of cold air this last winter through that space. I asked my dad about fixing it or whether I should just call someone, and he said he’d do it, but he’s been putting it off and putting it off…until yesterday.

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He pulled the door off and replaced it temporarily…

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And now he’s down in the driveway with the boychild doing sawing things. Loud sawing things. I’m sure I will be very thankful once I have a new door.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I had two more quilts to bind yesterday? Or four? Can’t remember. This fringe almost made me lose it…but otherwise, it all got done.

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The boychild managed dogs and computers…

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All the while, the neighbor kids had invited more loud kids over, one of whom is definitely named Ronin (unclear on spelling…they didn’t yell THAT out, although they yelled everything else). I really appreciate moms sitting around yelling “That’s ENOUGH!” without follow-through. Sigh. Trying to teach myself to ignore it. Trying to remember my own kids running around like crazy monkeys. Trying to become ZEN with it. I can do this. I do it at school. Meanwhile, boychild is positing how to set up all our speakers, point them at their yard, and play inappropriate songs, and then randomly yelling swear words. Better to not seem too crazy. They’re not up and at ’em this morning, so that’s a plus. It’s probably better if I start creating a plant wall on the deck that blocks the noise…that’s what I’m gonna think about. A positive plan for more quiet.

Then I had decided I wanted to recreate a recipe for dinner that I’d eaten somewhere. I had the description but no recipe…and it involved crepes…which I had never made before. My SIL said they were easy and the girlchild sent me a recipe, so I made a bunch of things, including crepes (which were easy)…

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I also made up the filling from the description…didn’t get the sauce quite right (way too rich), but these were good. Rosemary chicken and zucchini with mozzarella and garlic aioli crepes. Presentation could be better, but eating was fine…

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Although it took like 2 hours (I made some other stuff in between)…it might have been easier to drive to the restaurant and pay them to make them.

Then I started sewing sleeve edges down…the fast way…just a running stitch.

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I was despairing of how long it was taking me and calculating out how much more time on the rest of them when I realized that I did the two LONG ones last night, and the others are all way shorter, so less time. That’s where I’m getting the two-hour estimate.

This lizard’s tail…looks wonky.

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This is Calli about an hour after fireworks and before the M-80s started going off. Still nervous…

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Still breathing hard…I eventually sat down with her and rubbed her belly until she laid down…

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Poor baby. Tonight is gonna be rough (she’s staying with the boychild).

I did some blue stuff on here, on the right, in the orange flowers down in the corner area.

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Just filling in space.

I did enlarge the two drawings I want to work on next, but I was too tired from bending over and standing to do the sleeves to do the same for cut and tape, so I just tried that whole going-to-bed-early thang? Yeah. Then M-80s. For the next 2 hours. Dog tried to dig a hole under my bed. Ugh. Tired and headachy this morning. Gonna try more tea and some breakfast and a shower. Then finish the damn sleeves and maybe cut some wood (I don’t know when the install is exactly…want to be prepared). Then ironing and dehairing quilts for my show. Hoping for some drawing or something in the late hours. We’ll see.

No. I really should say YES. I will be doing art-related activities tonight at some point, because I think the lack of that is what’s making me crankballs. Own it. Change it.

*Whispertown 2000, Atlantis

It’s Everything Beautiful*

It’s funny that I can’t even sleep right during vacation. Up way too late. Morning is painful. Trash trucks make way too much noise. And the new neighbors have 4 kids under the age of maybe 6. THAT noise. Haven’t had to deal with the screamy crying shit for a while. But I’m up! And I have a plan…on a post-it note. That note gets plastered to the dashboard today until I finish all the errands. I need to know if the car is longer than 90″ (I’m pretty sure it is). I need to take deodorant with me because today is the annual boob-squeezing. Whoo! Love that crap. Not.

I have an opening coming up this Saturday for the Don’t Shut Up exhibit at City College. The opening is from 5-7 PM. I have one smaller piece in the show and another piece in the 6 community quilts I’ve been working on for the last few weeks. Which aren’t done yet (shhh…don’t say anything)…

But here is a typical day in the Nida household…because you wish you lived here. There’s a whole line of people who wish they lived here (this is so NOT true).

First we started with a paprika taste test. Plain old boring in the top left, smoked on the right (bleck), and sweet from Hungary (no really, the parents brought it back) on the bottom.

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They all taste better cooked.

Then FaceTime with the girlchild, who is coming home in 8 days…she’s folding laundry and I’m doing the grocery list.

Exciting stuff. She just saw my brother and the rest of his family; they’re on vacation back east.

Her calling reminded me of this…her bed covered in my quilts, because the three rolls I had were getting too heavy and unwieldy to maneuver into the closet. So I gave up and put them all on her bed.

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Not a good long-term solution, for sure. So I pulled the ones that will be in my solo show, opening July 15 at Visions Art Museum…you can come see them in person.

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These are the smaller ones; this is a roll I can actually lift.

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The yellow post-its are for pieces that are traveling. I can’t roll it up until the pieces that were in the Poway show get back, hopefully before she gets home.

At that point, I gave up and we went out to eat with the parentals. (I did grocery shopping in there somewhere, plus I made and ate an omelet.)

Then I came back and sewed bindings on one of the community quilts, and then I made sure I had bindings and sleeves sewn for the last two of those, which hopefully I will finish today.

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There’s four of them piled up on a chair, where no one can sit on them or throw up on them (ahhh…cats…you are so annoying).

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It was 11 by then. I did two nights’ worth on here, both in the bottom right…in green, more lazy daisies to fill in that bush, and then blue chain stitches around the wave shape.

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When the boychild goes to bed, he dumps all the available animals on me. Puppy was happy to curl up with me. What does it mean that my 21-year-old son goes to bed before I do? Yeah. I’m broken.

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Calli prefers to flail on her own. She’s destroying that cone. The last wound on her foot has a scab that keeps falling off, so she can’t have it off yet. Soon.

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And then I grabbed the drawing that I started back in mid-June and did some more…I would have worked on the gun one, but it needs to be enlarged and added to, and the copy place closed early. It’s OK, because this one is ready for enlarging too now, so I’m gonna do both today after the boob-squeezing. This one is gonna have to percolate a little…which is fine, because I got shit to do before I’m allowed to really start this one anyway.

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Getting close to the vacation part…well, except for all the quilts that have to be finished and/or ironed and dehaired (lots of installation going on this week)…and then cleaning is paramount on my mind. Aack. Plus a hike this week…yes, another one. Not done hiking yet. There’s some chaos coming on this month…girlchild home for two weeks and all the events that go along with that, two big shows opening with artist talks and panel discussions and people visiting.

Plus I really need to be making my art. The stuff that keeps my brain in the right place. I need to get my house, yard, and garage into a better place. I need to organize all the shit. I need to decide (very quickly) if I’m actually going to make a coloring book of my work in time for the opening (or at all). Because I’d need to do that this week. Sigh. OK. Decisions! Action! And relaxation where I can fit it in, right? Yeah.

*The Revivalists, Wish I Knew You