Glashaus – Kathy Nida

My brain appears to be blank this morning. Or at least the part that’s available for writing is blank. There’s another huge part that’s trying to make a Saturday to-do list. I already know the boychild and I will be making a dumpster run, but he’s hiking right now. I didn’t have the energy to get up early to do that. I’m very protective of the right to sleep in…because I spent years getting up early for soccer games and driving to the middle of nowhere to sit on a wet field and wait for games to start. Plus sleep is this thing I’m always chasing…trying to do it right. Such a joke! Because one night of doing it right is never enough. So people tell me to go to bed earlier. OK. So then I can lie there for even longer, trying to fall asleep. This is not a new thing for me. My whole life has been about bad sleep.

So I had a number of hours in sleep mode last night, but I also had all 4 animals in the room. They were fussy after the boychild left to hike. And the neighbor’s workers showed up. Then Kitten had to boisterously clean all her parts and Calli started to whine about going out. Then Simba started with the snorts he does when he wants to get out of the crate. Sigh. Midnight was the only quiet one. So I’m sitting here, a little drugged on not-sleep, and Kitten is next to the computer, sound asleep. I guess I make her sleep through typing and The Cure, but it does not seem fair. Cat naps. Smart beasts.

So back to today. The last Saturday before school starts. (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!) Got some art stuff tonight. Just heard about another one of the art buildings we’ve visited multiple times…they’re kicking the artists out (Glashaus in Barrio Logan, for those who are local and maybe have gone there). Ripples from the horrendous Ghost Ship fire in Oakland. Artists kicked out before fixing problems? Hard to say what’s happening there, but I know it’s frustrating for the artists in 21 art studios there. The downtown studio I used to have is now all living spaces. They could make more money that way. I couldn’t afford a studio any more…gave mine up when I was pregnant with the boychild. But I loved those spaces, free from the house to-do list. No distractions. Just a pure workspace. I’m lucky to have space in my home and to make art that is safe to do in a house (although we set up the garage space so I can screenprint again if I choose to do so). People working in glass and metal or needing space for kilns or whatever, living in rentals…they absolutely need reasonably priced space to work and store materials. This town doesn’t support that…never has. Art is so important to our existence…I wish the money people would see that and make space for it.

I had a conversation with an artist friend the other day about how we create alone so much of the time. She’s older than I am and the going out and interacting with others gets harder, for sure. I’ve gone through times when I really don’t interact with other artists at all. I’m socially not the best in the world (hello introvert), so that doesn’t help. I can see as mobility and energy lessen that it would be more important to save what you had for making art. Hard to explain that to non artists. But these studio buildings help with that. Plus the exhibition space. I’m going to miss the openings there.

Yesterday, I did manage some stitch down at my last summer daytime quilt meeting…Susan is knitting something that is apparently very brain damaging…

I got more than halfway done, which is good, although I’m still behind. And I’m not sure how much I’m gonna get done today. Gotta go move some trash.

I worked on this at gaming last night, mostly on the top…but I’m a little concerned about the vast difference in sizes. Hmmm.

I’m pretty sure they should be the same size. Yikes.

Here’s the back of the stitchdown. I got above the midpoint…

So that was about 2 1/2 hours. Bodes well for a quick finish, but first I need to load a bunch of crap in my car and try to dump it in my parents’ dumpster (I have permission…just trying to beat the neighbor). And pick up my Earth Stories quilt, which is home after a long trip around the United States without any protests, despite the fuss when I originally suggested a quilt that was about birth control and Planned Parenthood. Which is good…I have a show to enter where that would work.

OK, no matter what, I need to just get my act together. It helps that I’ve had a cup of tea while writing this. My brain responds to caffeine well. Luckily.

*Rocky Votolato, White Daisy Passing

Busy weekend. Lots to do and see. Managed to finish stitching down the quilt on Saturday…not early, because apparently I needed sleep and lots of it. But it only took about 5 hours to stitch her down total.

Midnight was not at all helpful. She never really is. Mostly just tries to sleep on things and vomit up hairballs. This is why when I leave my machine for more than 5 minutes, I wrap the quilt around the machine. She can’t sit on it, she can’t eat the thread, and she’d be hard-pressed to vomit on it.

I only had about an hour left to do on Saturday. Yes, I spent all weekend trying to recharge, so I have not gotten as much done as I’d like.

It was necessary. Here’s what the back looks like. I look at the back to see if I missed anything major.

The batting was washed and dried, there was enough of the fabric I’d picked for the front to do the back as well AND have a little leftover for other quilts, so that was good.

This isn’t actually a huge quilt. There was a size restriction for this show.

Pinbasted in under 30 minutes.

No cats were involved in the pinbasting, unlike normally, when Kitten goes barreling through and skids through the backing.

Then I interrupted artmaking with art, food, more food, work, errands, more food, and work. In that order. Wait. I think sleep was in there. Not sure.

Then last night, I started quilting.

Late. I started late. Shocking really. But I got the legs and the lower torso done in about an hour and a half. Just have 10 arms, 3 heads, and the background left. No biggie…

That’s for later today I think. And tomorrow. And I don’t know how many days. I don’t think it will take me 20 hours, but what do I know? This is smaller than the quilt I’m comparing it to, which has a similar number of pieces. This one also has less background, but it’s the fussy outlining that takes a long time. So it’s really hard for me to say how long. I do know my plan is to get the binding on next weekend. Because I’m emailing the photographer. Yup. There’s a deadline for you. Anyway. It’s a plan.

Meanwhile, let’s go back to the art. There were a few openings I wanted to go to on Saturday…all in Barrio Logan, the new arts center of San Diego. One was at the Glashaus, but really I liked these pieces marked MANU…

I don’t think this gallery/office space had been open before when I’ve been here…

But it had a few of his pieces…

I love the blue line through the face…looked everywhere for his card. Not to be found.

Also revisited my favorite wire artist…Spenser Little…

His work is fascinating.

I have video of one of his lamps too, but haven’t pulled it off the phone yet.

No artist info on this cool metal sculpture…

Then we walked over to Gallery D, which is where my art group will have a show later this year. And guess who we found…

Yup. That’s Manu again…

But this time, we have artists’ names. I was there for Anna, who’s a member of the art group I’m in. But here’s the website for Manu…still unclear on whether it’s one person or a few…

Here’s Anna Zappoli, who I came to see…

And her original small drawing for her mural…

A view down one wall…

And another…

I liked this piece by Esther Gamez Rubio…

And the other wall from the other side…

Then we wandered around the back and finally found the Low Gallery (we’ve looked for it before…it’s in a dark alley). They were showing prints done by K-2nd graders at St. Therese’s School in Wilcannia, NSW, 98% aboriginal students. I’m a fan of kid art…how they view the world intrigues me…

These are from about 10 years ago, which I didn’t know when I was at the show…

So these kids are all now teens. Figure the one below out…they’re cutting trees down, it’s raining, and then there’s a rocket in the sky? I think?

Anyway, it was a good night for art and food and the like. Sometimes you just have to walk away from real life so you can go back to it later and not flip out. Try to remember why it is that you work…it’s not just to pay the bills. It’s to do the stuff you like to do. Make art, see art, occasionally buy art. Hang out and eat good food and talk. All good stuff. Certainly, when you’re having a conversation with a muralist who spent hours making a painting that will be covered up by the next show, never to be seen again…the making is very important. But you’re not going to be able to sell that painting. Hard to understand sometimes…but the doing is where the joy is…

Tag: Glashaus

There’s a Secret Magic Past World*

The Doing Is Where the Joy Is…