I’m Somewhere…

Ah the blur of midweek. Feels significant, but really, there are three full days of kids and seemingly coercing them to continue to work even though Spring has infected their brains. Or something has. Insects maybe. Not sure. Certainly the last two academic assignments I’ve graded seem to be affected by something. Not sure the excessive rain helps. Excessive for us, anyway. Over an inch yesterday. Ah well. Moving on.

I had an opening last night…exhausting day/time for those, but it’s at Grossmont College and the college receptions are always during the week for obvious reasons. I have a really hard time with the Thursday night ones, but Tuesday seemed doable. I made it an hour! Impressive, eh? OK, just under an hour. It’s a good show! You should go see it. It’s at the Hyde Art Gallery on the Grossmont College campus. Walk-ins from 10-4 Mon-Thur. I know! Hours I can’t actually go see the show, so there we are. Sigh.

This is all work by Feminist Image Group artists. It’s very colorful and varied in style and material.

I have two pieces in the show, ironically the same two that were at Liberty Station last year. I had dropped off 5 quilts (he wanted to choose) and had even made a new one for the show. Here’s Beyond the Concrete…

Which was made for a show it didn’t get into, and then went to Quilt National.

And You Pollute Me, which has been all over.

It’s OK; I have a show for the other piece. Well, I’ll enter it anyway. It probably won’t get in because it has a dead (Earth) baby and that’s a library show. Sigh. Ah well. And that’s the show I’m currently making a piece for anyway. Probably neither will get in, but they will eventually get in somewhere.

I do have pieces that never get in anywhere. This is one of them…

Connected at the Hips. No one ever accepts it. Ah well. And it has aged out of most entries, I think. I finished it right before COVID hit. That shit happens (the never getting into shows part; not the pandemic part…although that DID happen).

I’ve been good about grading at night AND getting art done. Brain is back to tired but functional instead of tired and NOT functional.

Sunday night, while not sleeping, I decided the main figure should not be flesh-colored because she was like a protective Earth Mother and the people she’s holding need to stand out, so if they’re all flesh-colored and she’s NOT, then that will happen. So I made her light blue. Like you do. I picked out all the fabrics and then spent most of the hour plus on Monday night trying to find all the pieces that were her flesh. Started at 37 and went up into the 300s, I think.

I ironed the first set and then went to bed…and then last night, I ironed the rest of them…plus a bit more.

So I’m somewhere…well, IDK how far I am, because I’m still in the under 100s on some things. All the little figures and then all the stuff on the main figure that wasn’t flesh: heart, lungs, hair, arteries, etc. So more of that tonight. I’m honestly hoping to be done by the weekend. I have goals in my head: finish this one as quickly as possible during Spring Break, finish quilting the Sue Spargo bird quilt that’s been under my machine since January (is that for real?), then start ironing the cyber/bio punk piece together. It’s waiting patiently. Then I have one more big one to finish by mid-July. Insane much? Yeah well. Fuck work. It’s hard. I need the art to keep me sane. Plus I know I’ll be gone for about 6 days in April (camping and hiking, if my body can handle that) and then about 10 days in June/July (Seattle, baby!). So I need to be efficient or something. Back to my old healthyish self. Being sick like that sucks. I feel like I lost three-plus weeks.

In other news, I’m way ahead in my Goodreads reading challenge for the year. I planned for 60 books this year and I’ve already read 20. I’m not sure how I’m being so efficient in reading, but I’m powering through books like a crazy woman. Sign of the year. Need the fantasy worlds to get me through. I stayed home a little later yesterday to finish another one. Also I’m now in TWO book clubs (crazy, right?), so that is motivating me. Also I love to read. So there’s that. My goal for next week? Add the gym back into the mix. I’ve been doing pilates and not a lot else. Body needs more. But the blood sugar issues from the meds they gave me for the scarlet fever have been part of the problem, and the numbers are finally getting better. Which is why I’m feeling better. All good.

I started a new cross stitch from June Bug and Darlin during book club…

Nice and easy. Appreciate that.

Also, here’s a drowned ~~rat~~ er dog.

Not sure why the boychild took him out during the worst of the rain. Certainly Simba also probably wonders that. It was raining so hard yesterday that at the end of one of the classes, they came on the intercom at school and told us to hold kids for a few minutes until it calmed the fuck down. OK, not the words they used, but certainly the sentiment.

OK. Parent meeting today that I think will not go well (not the parent’s fault…the kid…who knows, he might step up). Then forcing one group to write and the other group to think and then write. Labs and simulations tomorrow. Then field trip on Friday (ugh…this one is not my favorite and I have to come back and teach the other group). Looking forward to the weekend, even though the number one thing on my to-do list is my taxes. Hoping to tip the numbers the other way or panic greatly. I could use a check from a piece that sold two years ago any day now. That would be nice (it’s not happening for a while, unfortunately). Ah well. Maybe something else will sell soon. Or my taxes will miraculously figure their shit out. I guess that’s my job. Sigh. Hurts my brain.

Pilates after school, then cook an easy dinner (Wednesday self thanks Sunday self for that plan…although I have nothing for lunch tomorrow and tomorrow night’s dinner is a challenge…a tasty one, but still…). Then maybe grade more stuff and definitely iron more stuff. Get through the pile of little peoples. That’s the plan.

“The Only Thing Soft about Your Work Is the Fabric…”

Best quote of the night, I think. The opening of my 2-person show at Grossmont College was last night. I was being introduced around as the artist who did the stuff on the walls and James Watts as the sculptor, and I pointed to him and said “hard” and to me and said “soft” and the college president, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, said something along those lines…found it amusing, but probably true. One of the art history teachers mentioned that she’d brought her students in and they were talking about the bright colors and how nice everything looked, and then she made them read the titles. Oh. Wait. That’s about a tsunami.

Anyway. The opening happened. I really truly appreciate all the friends and family who showed up to support me (like a bra, one friend said)…making art is such a solitary thing most of the time. And even though I send a lot of my work out there, I’m not at most of the openings, so I often miss the kudos and commentary, so that was appreciated as well. It’s open through March 3, Mon-Thurs, 10-6PM, so stop by if you didn’t make it last night. I’m probably going to need to go back and photograph again…maybe.

Here’s me and James Watts, surrounded by his very cool sculptures, my quilts behind.

And part of my stitching group…we’ve been meeting once a month since I was pregnant with the girlchild, who is now 18.

I do have some installation shots…

Our work blends well together…lots of color and tiny pieces…

That’s going in my living room finally once it gets out of here.

My number 1 fans. They fight for that position…who’s more number 1? But they have always been there for me…and Susan, on the right, is the woman who taught me to quilt, so you can blame her for everything.

Another installation shot.

And again…

Anyway. Awesome opening, great show. It feels good to have a chunk of work out there from a pretty wide range of years and have it all hold together. It’s not my life’s work, because I’ve got a good 40 years to go, hopefully, but it is representative of 25 years of working in fabric. Not a small achievement.

With that, I’ll have to go back to the current quilt…it’s almost cut out. Maybe tonight? Hope so. Ready to be ironing.

I Am Installed…

OK. Deep breaths because the installation is done. It wasn’t even too painful. The pieces I really wanted to be in there are up…I had way too many quilts, but it was good, because it gave us choices. The boychild assisted in hanging stuff and was generally very helpful, even editing artist statements, which takes special skill.

And there’s Brandon, the gallery guy, helping as well. I’m not posting pictures of the full exhibit yet because I want you to come to the opening! My work plays well with James Watts’ sculptures…similar bright colors and even noses…

I brought an iron just in case…didn’t need it. You can see it in this artsy photo of a ladder.

We had hung most of the quilts by the time sculptures started arriving.

It was a little chaotic for a while until heads started being placed where they belonged.

We finished up the last wall. It’s a wide range of years for my work. A lot of the most recent stuff is traveling or can’t be shown because of rules for other shows or has to be shipped before this show closes, but I think it works well. The earliest piece is from 2003…the latest from 2014? I think?

What I notice is that I used to make much simpler quilts, but they still have presence in the room.

I was pretty emotional about this yesterday…I’m 48 years old and having my first 2-person show that I didn’t put together. I’ve been quilting for 25 years, making art quilts seriously for about 17 years. When I think about my students giving up on stuff after just 10 minutes or so, I guess I’m a little more persistent than that. I appreciate Prudence, the curator, for thinking of my work with James’…but it’s those weird little opportunities that make things happen. I don’t think I’m going to get a solo show somewhere standard, because so much of my work is challenging. Which is too bad. And no, I’m not giving up on that…I’m just waiting for the right opportunity I guess. My work’s out there. Someone needs to offer me the space.

Anyway, make me happy (if you can) and come to the opening. It’s Tuesday, February 2, from 5-7 PM at the Hyde Art Gallery, Grossmont College, San Diego, CA. It’s a college campus, so there’s no alcohol, but there are cookies! And lemonade! Or whatever they serve.

It is a relief to have that off my shoulders though. And then I came home and collapsed a little before I started putting the baby quilt together. She’s due in less than two weeks now. Had to put the dogs out to lay out the blocks and mess with them.

But I got them all together and borders on them.

Hopefully I can get it sandwiched this week when the dogs are gone and start quilting.

I also wanted to finish cutting these out.

This batch of Wonder Under is cranky…it’s separating from the backing. I thought they had solved that problem, but apparently not.

And the half page that was left took two hours. I guess the other page I did was all bigger pieces and these were tiny. I have a little more than half a page left…maybe an hour or two. Tonight? Perhaps. If I feel up to it.

I’m still fighting off this cold. It hasn’t quite taken hold, but it’s enough to slow me down a bit. Plus I’m tired from all the physical work and stress this weekend. Not very relaxing. I did finally get pictures of the newest quilt, but I’m going to hold off on posting them until the quilt names itself. Better be soon…it needs to be entered into a show.

If I Feel Like It…

Rain makes it all slow down, the crazy. It’s too wet to go out, to brave the crowds, the traffic. Although I am going to the gym. And the grocery store. But my Christmas shopping appears to be done…just waiting on things to be delivered (yes, Amazon, I heard your truck banging around out there at 7:22 AM…yes, many people are awake at that hour, but I am on my 4th day of vacation and have yet to experience a full night’s rest where I wake up…well…rested. The animals are needy, the kids are semi-noisy or just late and I’m a light sleeper. Seems funny to look forward to Christmas Eve for the sleep potential…no one in the house but me and the two cats…if I put tuna out, maybe they will fall into sleep comas and I will have peace until I have to be at the ex’s house for present exchange. Of course, it’s probably going to be pretty hard to exchange gifts if I don’t start wrapping some of them, eh? It’s on my list for today, along with make more cookies (or dough, as it were), finish cutting stuff out, do some ironing. Might want to finish decorating the tree even. Or call it a day. It has ornaments on it. My rule of “you can’t leave the house until you hang 10 ornaments” is not working. They just ignore me.

I was cutting stuff out for a couple of hours last night…the empty space on the couch is mine. Calli kept shifting one way and another…

On the other side of me is a cat, sometimes two (one above, one below) and the other box of stuff to be cut out.

I’m almost done…

Maybe another hour? My hand definitely is sore today. But there’s progress. The box on the right is what’s left.

I have two other things I’m working on…this tiny thing…

And then a baby quilt that is just a pile of recently washed fabrics in my dryer. Maybe you’ll see those tomorrow. The raccoon fabric did not make it in the quilt. The color choices on that were challenging for me, but the nice lady in the quilt shop said I did well. I need a traditional quilter to look sometimes and make sure I didn’t wander too far out of the realm of normalcy.

Have I drawn yet? Nope. Still not mentally there. Drawings screaming at the enclosure of my brain, begging to be let out, to be started, finished, made into quilts. Demanding little buggers. Instead I read and clean and cook and run errands. Most schools don’t give three weeks for Winter Break, but I’ve found two weeks (like I have at Spring Break) is never enough. The first week is always recovery from the last weeks of school, and in the case of Winter Break, it’s the Christmas stuff kicking your butt as well, because you didn’t get enough done over the last three weeks. Then the week in between Christmas and New Year’s, that’s recovery as well, and the last week is when I actually get refreshed and caught up on errands and grading and house-cleaning for the next round of school.

But that week for me will be spent prepping quilts for the Grossmont exhibit coming up. It’s called Contemporary Crafts and it’s just me and James E. Watts, a very cool sculptor and painter.

Put the opening on your calendar…come by. Should be cool. No, I haven’t decided (besides the two that are on the card) what to show yet. That’s for the week after New Year’s! I need to plan out my overwhelming stressful activities. Let’s not think about when the quilt I’m working on needs to be done either, OK? Or everything else that’s going on in January? It’s still December…for another 10 days. I can do this. No, I didn’t grade very much yesterday. Shut up.

Starting with the gym today (I can actually grade on the bike and the elliptical if I feel like it). Maybe that should be my mantra for Winter Break…If I feel like it.

Surviving Openings…

Art openings are strange beasts. On the one hand, hey, your art is getting out there and people are seeing it, because it got into a show. And it’s lit well and hung on a nice wall, usually white, and there’s space around it that you never get when you hang it in your house, and you can stand back from it and actually SEE it. And there’s often free food and drink (although if it’s on a college campus, then there will be no alcohol). But there’s also the nervousness you get from putting your work out there, wondering if anyone will understand it or if, like what often happens to my work at quilt shows, they’ll just walk away, muttering something about that not being a real quilt. There’s photo opportunities, which mostly drive me nuts. I know I need to take them, but I’d really rather not…

(Thanks, Julie, for taking that one…really it’s best to make me laugh.)

If you’re in the show, you really are expected to stay for the whole opening, even though most of us would rather be sitting in our studios staring at the next piece than standing uncomfortably in a gallery situation, wondering what to look at next. I am the photographer for two groups I’m in, so that makes it a little easier. I walk around and take photos (although I am often lame about it…missing an entire artist at times). I need to go write that blogpost for the group as well…I’ll probably link to it here in a later post, because there’s no way I’m writing two separate posts.

I spend most of the day before the opening trying to distract myself, grinding my teeth, girding my loins for social niceties about my art and their art and all the art. I did get interviewed last night and photographed by two different official types. The interviewer was very nice, although it was a bit strange to “talk into his pen.” But he liked the piece and got it, and talked about his grandmother and mother being quilters, and how his sister would like this quilt. So that was sweet.

It’s also nice to see people looking at your work and reading your blurb and then some of them come up to you afterwards and tell you how much they like it or ask about how it was made (usually people that have never seen an art quilt before)…

Many people have an idea of what a quilt is, and this just blows their minds.

Overall, though, it was a good opening. I was tired at the end. Friends and family showed up and were supportive (always a good thing). The show itself is interesting and varied. I got good vibes off my piece. All good things.

The show continues at Grossmont College’s Hyde Gallery through April 23…I’ve posted this before, but it shows that it’s only open Mon-Thurs, which kinda sucks, I know, but it does stay open until 6 PM.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do any of the student talks, because I’ll be back in school. But I survived the opening. And the piece is out there. Enjoy.

That Crazed Look in My Eyes…

I’m currently walking my son through filing his taxes 3000 miles away. Actually, I wonder how many miles away he really is. Only 2680 miles. It would cost about $315 in gas to drive there. Girlchild, if she ends up in Boston (a distinct possibility at the moment), will be 3001 miles away. ANYWAY. Taxes suck. Even suck more when they are more complicated than they need to be. Presumably, the government would like to punish you for being smart enough to put money away for your kids’ college futures. Whatever. It’s done. Well…it’s not done, because he’s still texting me and the damn state, which is the only part that wants money from the kid for going to college, has questions. Or TurboTax has questions. Sigh. I have taxes (not mine), the FAFSA, and multiple financial aid forms and all their usernames and passwords glaring at me at the moment, hanging over my head, giving me ulcers.

It’s no wonder I hide in my office/studio, quilting like a maniac, eh? Seriously, everything else is hurting my head. Is it too early to hang out at a wine bar with my sketchbook (yes. it is.).

I quilted yesterday. Which is something I’m not really getting done today. Dear taxman. You suck. College financial aid departments too. You also suck. Go the fuck away.

I quilted for almost four hours yesterday, which is pretty good, considering I had to go buy thread and pick up cat meds, plus I hiked a mountain…

You know, just for fun. It wasn’t a big one. I’m still outlining. I honestly thought I would finish the outlining last night, and I would have, if I hadn’t hiked. The hiking made it impossible for me to get off the couch for about two hours. Seriously bad. Ugh. But eventually I did and came in here…

I’m over 7 hours in. I have just a bit of the head area left to quilt and then I can start on the background…

I’m never really sure which is more time-consuming, the outlining or the background quilting. I guess it depends on how much background is showing. There’s a big chunk of it on the right side. I should start over there. But I had hoped to be quilting all day today, and I think I have lost that…for a good reason, though. My Belgian exchange sister (AFS) from high school is visiting for part of this week with two of her kids, so that will take up some of my free time, which is why I’m pushing to get the tax and financial aid crap done this morning so I don’t have to think about it. I’m also trying not to think about yardwork, housework, or schoolwork. It’s not really working. I’m a giant ball of stress. Plus there’s an opening tonight, so I’m already nervous about that. Although I’m sure it will be fine. That whole standing in public with my art thang. I like to send in stand-ins. Like my kids. Neither of whom are available. Whoops!

I’m still spacing out a bit while I quilt…sewed the cord to the extra light on my machine right into the quilt…

I’m sure it will come in useful that way. Huh. No, I fixed it. Ugh.

That’s where I quit. I think I just have the left side of her hair and the big cloud over there to outline.

Not much. Then background stuff. It’s hard, because the hike was totally worth it, felt great to get out there and see that I could still climb a mountain and I didn’t feel too bad (breathing was an issue for a bit), but I kicked butt and I’m sore today, but not overly sore. So yeah. Can’t stop doing that stuff in between all the other stuff and maybe the yardwork isn’t really that important, even when my ex and my dad come over and cluck about how little I’ve gotten done. I remind myself that they do not have two jobs and I do. And obviously yardwork is not that important to me. The boychild is home in 5 weeks…maybe he will do some of that until he gets a real job. Maybe that will motivate him to get a real job. It sure would motivate me.

OK, I seriously need a lot more caffeine and to start quilting, even if it’s just for a few hours today. I’d like to quilt the whole afternoon until the opening. It would put me in the right frame of mind. I’m always a little spacey after quilting all day…but calm, incredibly calm. As long as I can stay in that quilting mental space, it will all be good.

The opening tonight, by the way, is at Grossmont College here in San Diego from 5-7 PM. Late notice…sorry. The exhibit is Women at War…

And my piece in the show is Absolutely Nothing…

I’ll be there tonight…come say hi. You should be able to tell how much quilting I got done by the crazed look in my eyes.