Weird Wiggly Space

I’m still in a weird wiggly space, although this is more about relearning the routines I forgot on purpose over the summer. Remembering that school controls everything, however much you try to control it back. Ultimately, if you don’t do the work, you’re not ready to teach, and that’s a problem. Your problem. So sure, you can say, oh I’m going to take this weekend off, but if you didn’t do the work Friday for Monday, then you just fucked yourself over. That said, I’m not ready. I did some work but not all of it, because I didn’t have time to do all of it. Hoping to do some of it actually AT work today (what a concept). We’ll see how that goes. Two-hour staff meeting at the end of it. Could do without that. Apparently not an option.

I did do art things this weekend though. I finished two quilts, went to an opening, delivered the two quilts to my photographer, and started another one. Not a bad progress report.

I finished the binding and sleeves on this big one…

And then took a really crappy night photo of it…

Saturday, I ironed it and dehaired it and packed it up for the photographer, who will do a much better job. On Saturday, I did the last little bit of embroidery on this, on the phone…

Had to add the mail app. And then I quilted the background with the machine…

I did most of this embroidery at the residency.

Smaller, but not less time-consuming when you do this to it. So I also ironed it, dehaired it, and packed it up for the photographer. Two in two days sounds impressive, but the other one was almost done before I left. I just didn’t take it with me.

And now on to the next one…which I started as a drawing at the residency, after listening to/watching a bunch of videos about fungi and mycelial networks…

I enlarged what I’d drawn so far…there will be more. So there’s the next one.

I also put this together, Rooted by Sue Spargo…

I’d finished the embroidery a while ago. I also put the borders on, but there is some stitching on the borders, so I’ll need to prep that. Didn’t get to that last night…I was doing other artsy stuff instead.

Saturday night was the FIG Master Glitch opening at the Techne Art Center in Oceanside.

It’s a big space and we have a lot of work in it.

I have 6 pieces in the show, mostly big pieces, and they’re all upstairs.

Some of them are older and haven’t been out for a while. But if you’re one of those weirdos who is always looking for the penis in my quilts, that’s a legit penis in that one. Meant to do it. Not hiding it.

My work is surrounded by the ceramics of Linda Litteral.

There’s lots of reasons to go to this show, even if you didn’t make it to the opening.

There’s a lot of art.

There’s some great burger joints in Vista, which is pretty close.

And I will be there Saturday, August 29, from 1-6 PM. It’ll probably be less crowded then.

The Man did an admirable job of trying to get photos of me with my work…which is hard when it’s spread out along a balcony basically. That guy wouldn’t move. So he’s in my photos.

And you get a good idea of how big some of my work is.

There’s a small one! Anyway, check it out, open Tuesday-Saturday, 1-6 PM, through September 30.

Busy weekend. Busy upcoming week. I’d like to make it to ceramics today after a month of being away. Not sure what I will be looking at. I know the glazes I ordered came in, but I don’t remember what I was doing before I left. Should take better notes. Glazing, yes. Be more specific. I’m hoping I’m not completely knackered by the end of the 2-hour meeting. What are the odds? But otherwise I won’t be able to get there until Friday. And I’ll be tired then too. Gotta get up, despite the tired part. I don’t have to cook tonight, but I suspect I have to empty the dishwasher. I think there should be a rock, paper, scissors thing for that, because I didn’t have a dishwasher where I was…I just had to wash them all myself. So I think there are some assumptions that might need blasting.

Speaking of blasting, is it true that the dumbass government I didn’t vote for is thinking about using nuclear weapons on Iran? Like WTF? Are they idiots? I mean, I guess I know the answer to that.

So much incompetency. So many bad decisions. Not even sure where to start.

Except I need to go to work and (ironically) teach about safety in the lab (don’t set off a bomb, any kind, especially a nuclear one). Then sit through two hours of yammering. Then hopefully go to ceramics. Then come back and discuss the dishwasher. And hopefully get to drawing at some point. That’s the plan anyway.

Hard Reset

I knew it would be a hard return, coming straight back into school from the residency. All of a sudden, life is full of stuff you need to or have to do, and yesterday, I talked for almost 6 hours straight. Today I have no voice. And I was exhausted after Period 1 yesterday. So much interaction, so many moving parts. Kids already testing the boundaries (nothing new there). So many names. So many things on the to-do list. And after school is already full. Although today, I’m just coming home and sewing, because I need to finish two quilts by Sunday afternoon and there are a ton of things already on the calendar. I can go to ceramics on Monday…once these are at the photographer. No pressure.

Kids started at school yesterday. There are a lot of them, more than last year. Some of them are truly a joy and some are already a challenge. The biggest challenge is figuring them all out though…so more of that happens today. I make today easier so I can rest my voice, but also walk around and take every kid’s photo (they love that…or they don’t). This weekend already has work attached to it, depending on how much I can get done during prep. No matter what, there’s always Sunday work. That’s the joy of summer…no Sunday work. No stressing out because you didn’t do all the things you need for Monday. Yesterday afterschool me was exhausted, but I remembered to pull the papers for today, which is good, because I didn’t holepunch one set back in June. Whoops. It’s fine.

Here’s the team photo as of yesterday. We’ll retake it when the missing member returns in two weeks.

Tuesday night, I finished the quilting on the big piece I was working on before I left. Wednesday night, I cleaned the floor, trimmed the edges…

With Scribble’s help…

And got the binding machine-stitched on.

Last night, I put the sleeves on, drove to my stitching meeting, finished eyebrows and fingernails and did most of the phone.

Need at least one more icon, maybe two, then some background quilting (tonight?) and it’s going to the photographer on Sunday. Then I came home and started the handstitching on the binding…

I’m coming home today and finishing that. Hopefully. So it can go to the photographer. I gots deadlines. Sigh. It was nice not having some of those for a while.

I already have a pre-drawing for the next one…which has a deadline. And I dye painted two for the next deadline. So I’ll be doing a final washout on the dye paintings coming up and then I’ll start finishing those into things that may or may not need/want embroidery. All the while continuing to go to work and not letting that take so much time. Wish me luck on that one. Already looking at residencies for next summer.

I brought home some dried plant material that I really liked…but had to put it up high because cats.

But I need that residency because…

It’s harder to do that when you can only make for an hour a day. So many people say it’s a gift to have the hour, but really, the balance should be better. My kids don’t need me like they did when they were little. My job is something I’ve been doing for years…I know what I’m doing. Why can’t I spend more time on art? The demands on a teacher these days are insane. Over the top.

So I bought a new lunchbox this year. I was fighting it because I’m like, I only have three more years…I don’t want to buy a new one now. I’ve only had two lunchboxes the entire time I’ve been teaching…the first one was my son’s old astronaut one, when he went to middle school? And when that finally ripped, I bought one of those freezable ones…and that’s been going for 15 years? It’s no longer going. When you shake it, it sounds like rocks inside. So I bought a new one, the same damn brand. I guess just because I retire from teaching doesn’t mean I won’t need a lunchbox, that I won’t need a job where I have to take my lunch. So I got another astronaut one. Think big. Think far away. Think artist residency in space! Oh yeah.

OK, I have errands after school. I am doing a cover page for Unit 1 today. Calm and coloring hopefully. I need to set up the pencils and find last year’s cover page for an example. I need to watch the two-minute video I’m showing. I need to set up the class for next week, so it’s not so stressful. It’s gonna be stressful no matter what, but it can be less so. Then come home and stitch. That part is good, meditative. I’m actually kind of looking forward to that…some people try to design so they never have to do hand stitching, but it’s a good place to sit for a while.

Jiggety Jig

Well I’m home, as of yesterday at around 2:30 PM. 900 miles of driving in two days. It could have been worse. At least the landscape was gorgeous for most of it. Very little traffic. Some very stupid drivers trying to pass trucks unsafely…I’d like to see the death/crash statistics on that after making the drive. But southbound wasn’t bad.

I have a lot of photos I’ll try to deal with later…but here was our last dinner together…we went out to one of the two restaurants in the area.

We all got burgers; it was good. I think we all got along as a group, which is nice. The last night, we met in the Commons and talked about Playa and things (mice! birds!) and then went out on the Playa for stargazing. The smoke cleared enough to see shooting stars and the Milky Way, but also this weird yellow light that kept moving around that I apparently semi-hallucinated as moving. Sigh. It was moving. Then I stayed up too late packing the car and cleaning up. The mouse beat my trap one more time and met me on the stairs in the dark and then just disappeared (probably between carpet of stairs and wall, so sleep was not my friend. I left second, around 8 AM, and drove 9+ hours to Bishop, CA, through Oregon, California, Nevada, and then back into California.

My studio for the artist tours we did just for ourselves, because there were logistical issues. There’s four more pieces on the left wall and another one on the floor cooking and the last one on the table, just outlined.

We had a lot of smoke in the last few days from a fire in the Klamath Falls area. Honestly, we fought wildfire smoke most days. Coming back here to an air quality index of 43 is just weird.

There was a reservoir about 15 minutes away that was a daily afternoon trip for some. I went every three days or so…it cut into my afternoon painting time. This was Sunday…they’d been there longer than me and were staying…but I had one last painting to finish.

There was a water snake I kept seeing by the dock. The water wasn’t ever really warm, but it was refreshing and a nice break from sweating in the studio. It was just as warm and dry up there as it is down here (actually, it’s humid as hell here right now, at least for us).

I went out and collected some dried plants in the afternoon as well. There were a few that were really interesting and I never got a chance to do cyanotypes, so I brought a few home with me. See the smoky skies?

Yeah.

I finished painting this at about 7 PM or maybe 8. Some of my dyes were having issues; I washed it out in the hotel room and the brown is mostly gone. We’ll see if I feel like repainting it. I might.

I did bring all the dyes still mixed home. I might test the other brown out before I paint the whole thing again. The reds, oranges, etc are all fine.

I loved having a studio attached to my sleeping place. Very compact.

I mean, technically I have that here, I just don’t have that much room and I can’t leave things lying out like I could there. When I’ve dye painted here, it’s been down in the driveway, do it as fast as possible.

I didn’t sleep much the last two nights…some anxiety about leaving, plus mouse drama. Beautiful skies the night before though.

And in the morning as well…

So hard to leave.

I mean, I miss the animals and my people and being here, but getting that time to do what my brain always wants to do…that was a gift. And now that I’ve done it, I want more. And it makes me really irritable about how much time and energy my day job steals from me.

The Lakeview (no lake, no view) Cowboy, driving out of town.

Then lots of driving. My lunch stop was all burnt out…well the rest stop wasn’t…the surrounding landscape was.

No shade. This is the Bug Fire, which started by the side of the 395 and then joined another fire and has now grown immensely.

I saw CalFire and USFS fire crews cleaning up two fires by the side or in the middle of the 395. Thanks to them.

Eventually I got rain even.

Went up to 8000+ elevation. Saw the Sierras…always a pleasure.

Followed them all the way down. That’s definitely rain.

Spent the night in Bishop with a struggling air conditioner. Got up early and left. More Sierras.

It’s a long straight road for a long straight time.

But the views are expansive. This photo is just for the electrical thingies…three different types. They look humanoid.

Yeah, so I got home and the Man met me and helped unload the car and then watered everything as I tried to get everything put away, washed, cleaned, etc. I did not get it all put away. Then he fed me, which is good, because he has dinner plans today and Friday.

I finished the quilting on this.

I petted all the animals (Simba is already waiting for me on the bed)…

And I already had two phone calls about work, plus a ton of emails and texts, and I have the first three hours already booked in meetings this morning. Could do without that. It’ll be fine. Sure it will. I’ll be fighting for my time.

I have an opening this Saturday, 5-8 PM, at Techne Art Center in Oceanside. I have 6 pieces in the show, including some big ones. Here they are hanging two of them.

Come by; I’ll be there. I’ll also be there from 1-6 PM, sitting the gallery, on Saturday, August 29, if that works better for you. There’s over 150 pieces in the show…it is huge.

OK. I have to go to school for the first meeting. Kids start tomorrow. I have lots to get done today, if I’m allowed to. I have pilates for the first time in like a month after school, and then dinner on my own. Then trim the quilt I finished and get the binding on it…I bought that before I left, anticipating not having the time when I got back. Still processing, y’all. Expect some mind lag. But not in a bad way. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Winding Down

Every day, I write in my journal the day, the date, and the number of the day since I’ve been here. I know it’s a 17-day residency, and that doesn’t count the first or last days, and today is Day 15. So that means I have two more days to make stuff and one day to pack and clean before I leave. And I’m not ready. I mean, I don’t want to stay here forever. Cooking is a pain; food acquisition and storage is a pain. And the mouse/lizard team that wormed their way under my front door last night were not my favorite. I miss my animals and my person, but I will also miss all the time I have to just make. I have barely looked at school stuff, and certainly haven’t given it any serious brain power. I don’t have it to give. I’m fully immersed in art brain trying to figure out what she wants to do next…but also realizing that whatever I paint tomorrow I have to finish tomorrow…and although the dyes might keep until I get home (unlikely; I can’t keep them refrigerated, which is what I’ve been doing here every night), I won’t have any time for dye painting once I get home.

School started today. Just the adult meetings, mind you, and I’m not sad about missing those. Or having to wear the required shirt today. Or the rah rah. Or sitting in chairs and listening to the new versions for this year. I’ll read the slides and listen to my team. For now, I’m definitely winding down mentally. Trying to pack up a little (also to keep my fabric supplies out of the mouse’s stash) and eat all the food…it’ll be mushrooms and celery for breakfast at some point. Tomorrow we’re doing studio tours, but just for us. There was supposed to be a public event, but there’s been some logistical management issues that have popped up, so I think it will just be us. I’m looking forward to seeing what others have been doing. And hoping I can keep my mind clear once I go back, leave the school stuff to simmer and not bring as much of it home as I was. Not sure I can pull that off…it’s gonna be a running start.

I tried another glue resist piece, a more complicated one. The thing that’s different is that the glue will leave an inconsistent white line once everything is washed out, so I wanted to play with that. I’ve been consulting Ann Johnston’s Color by Design book, and I had read about the resists, but white glue was the only thing I had access to out here. She suggested corn dextrin to me, and maybe that’s the next playing period.

I also had this skinny piece of fabric from something else I cut, so I drew these.

Control of the line is an issue, but I’m going with the blobs and inconsistencies. I don’t NOT like them.

That night, I needed exercise and the smoke had cleared a bit. It’s been in the unhealthy range most of this week, unfortunately. But the Playa calls…it was a warm day. It’s been in the 90s, so I don’t leave until 6 pm. The sun flops behind the mountains around 7:30, but there is a breeze out there. And I just walked.

The grasses grow up between the cracks closer to the shore. There’s mud underneath the cracked dirt. You wander over all different textures and amounts of movement. The bigger plates of dirt, you would walk across the them, and the vibrations of your footsteps would move the dust and reveal the cracks between them. Some of the cracked dirt wobbles like crazy.

I found this shell, about 3″ long, WAY out on the Playa. My app says it’s a sage grouse, which can live here. But why so far out?

Pretty. But no, I could never find it again unless I retraced my steps on the app.

Walking back…you can see the smoky haze.

I came back and painted for a while, filling in faces.

I didn’t finish that one that night, but I did wash this out.

Love it. Totally will quilt it.

The next day, I painted this one…

And worked on this for a bit.

Just stitching things down. It’s brainless, but I was waiting for my dyes to warm up after being in the fridge all night. It takes them a while. Probably gonna do the same today.

We had a beautiful sunset that night, probably smoke related honestly.

My studio is definitely filling up with painted and printed things. They lie on the floor for a day until I wash them out. It’s bigger than any space I have at home, especially that I could leave set up like this. Cats would be traipsing through dyes.

That night, while making dinner, I saw this deer out on the lawn in front of my cabin…

Great photo, yeah? I went outside, got bitten by 17 large bugs, and got even worse photos, but I saw the baby following him too. I’ve seen a few deer by the edge of the road (not always alive), so it was nice to see them on the property.

The next morning, we were up early to go to the Wildlife Viewing area with a bird expert.

Totally worth it. Muskrat, lots of birds (and now I know their names!), coyotes…

Young and fluffy, totally ignoring us.

And three of these beautiful birds…

There’s nothing like being glared at by a Great Horned Owl. Or three.

I came back and painted the glue resist, which is very different than painting the other ones I’ve been doing.

Not sure I like it as much, but we’ll see.

A new fire popped up…I only knew because I saw…

this sky last night…

It’s miles away, lots of miles. But much bigger this morning and moving toward us. The ridge behind us burned some years back, in 2021, so there are some burnt out trees already. So much fire this year in Oregon and Washington. The wind picked up last night, which is probably why it grew, but it also seemed to clear the smoke out of here a bit. We’re down into the orange instead of the red or purple. No worries, weather apps say it will be back in the purple later today, and it will be 100 degrees. Ugh. So painting now instead of later.

The problem with trying to paint here is that I don’t function well in the morning, so that’s when I do laundry or do the handwork on the fabric applique piece or clean up mouse poops. Or space out. Or write this. Around 11-12, I have the mental capacity to color things in, which is what this is essentially. The drawing is the creative thinking part…and I can do that fairly quickly, for some definition of quickly. I did this last night while on Zoom with friends. It took about an hour. It’s the owl from earlier yesterday! And the fires…

And trying to exist between both.

I washed this out but think I need to wash it some more. They’re all going to get another wash at home, but not in our hard water. I’ll go buy some distilled water for that. I think last years’ paintings got really bleached out by the hard water and I don’t want that to happen again.

I have an upcoming show where everything has to be 12″ or less. This one fits. No border though. I think maybe no binding too. Just face it. I don’t usually do that. But I think it will work. And the owl one, I purposely measured it out (unlike the one above) to make sure it was less than 12″. I also brought drawing paper to do three drawings for upcoming shows. I started one drawing and will just enlarge what I started when I get home and finish it there. The other ones, well, I might just use the two skinnier dye paintings. We’ll see.

I’ve been embroidering every night. Skin is done. I was going to finish the artery last night and that’s when the mouse/lizard team came in and distracted me.

It’s getting closer to done. I’m probably just going to machine quilt the background. Originally I was going to hand stitch it, but I think I like the contrast between the body being hand stitched and the background not. There’s still a bunch of hand stitching to do though. No worries. I’m hoping to be done with it before I leave, but we’ll see. I have two pieces I need to finish within 5 days of getting home…and I can. But it will be a challenge. I’m up for challenges luckily, as long as they are art-related and my personal choice, and not because the education pendulum is swinging wildly.

OK, I have that long skinny owl piece to paint today. And maybe one more outline piece tonight…to paint tomorrow. I made a chart of all the pieces I’d done so far and whether I thought they needed to become a finished product or not. At least 10 want to be finished. TEN. I don’t usually do more than 6 or 7 total pieces a year. This is delightful. And no, they’re not done, but the headspace for them…a blessing. Considering next year…it’s hard to find residencies that fit the summer schedule I still have to follow for a few more years, but I have a few applications to look at. Certainly traveling farther, needing to fly instead of drive, that would be more complicated, but I could be more compact. If I had to be. Giving myself space to be an artist has always been important, but seems to be a fight these days.

Anyway, my laundry is done. I had to wash stuff because I didn’t have enough clean stuff you can wear when it’s 100 degrees out. Shout out to the fleece jacket I never needed and the pants I rarely or never wore. I’m going to fold stuff and pack up everything that I know I won’t need to wear (half of it), and then paint for a while. Probably going swimming today because it’s gonna be hot. And because why not. It’s my vacation from the real stuff. I rarely get those and this one is almost over. I’m going to enjoy the last few days of it.

It’s My Own Time

I do have time here. I mean, it will never be enough time, but it’s time for experimenting and thinking about stuff and sitting uncomfortably in my own head, although it’s really not that uncomfortable…I enjoy letting my brain just explore shit and think about how to do things without the pressure of shows and the day job and all the other stuff. I still have to cook and take care of myself and my trash and my dishes here. And as of last night, I’m now on mouse watch…other residence spaces have been the whole time, but a fast-moving thing with a tail came under my door last night, scared the crap out of me (and itself) and left again, so now all my food is shoved in the ice chest (I don’t have cupboards in my cabin…just open shelving). And we are definitely solidly in the second half of the residency, so it’s a different mindset. Also facing some yucky heat and air quality over the end of our time here…the fires north of us are going to send smoke down here starting today I think. I’ve never spent so much time watching air quality online (and in person).

So I washed this out and I love it. I think I can just quilt it and bind it as is.

I was in experimentation mode again on some day…I swear, it’s a good thing I write down what I did every day, because I can’t remember. Part of it is painting one day and washing out the next day, and these I think sat for two days before I washed them. I painted her Friday, trying to be less line-based.

And then I printed on this with a roller, put some plants underneath (probably completely invisible in the final piece), then masked with tape (which didn’t really stick due to wet fabric, but I didn’t have all the tools in the world available to me here), then printed again and painted a bit. Then drew.

I also finished pinning everything down here.

And finished the day as I have the entire time with embroidery on this piece…which I thought I could finish here and now know there is no way in hell I will be done with this before I get home.

Which is fine.

I washed this out on Friday night…also love this.

Could quilt it and bind it and it would be finished. Awesome.

On Saturday, I drove an hour each way to the closest grocery store. It was a lovely clear day, unlike the day before, when air quality was in the purple stage, over 400 here. I needed some food and took lists for four other people. Despite the sign, everyone was quite nice.

I took random photos out my (very dirty) windows as I drove back. It was lovely.

I also had a great burger in town, so that was also nice. I came back and was a little out of it. I had bought some washable glue in the store, so I did a quick glue drawing.

That night, we ventured out to the local saloon (oldest in Oregon). It was super quiet. Slow night. On a Saturday.

Came back and washed out the two pieces on the left. I think the bottom one needs some hand applique and maybe embroidery. Not sure the top left will be anything, but it was fun messing around with it.

Sunday, we went to the local hot springs…it was finally cool enough to sit in hot water (but only barely). The barn houses a cooler pool (it’s bathtub warm) and there are a few hotter pools outside.

This part was delightful.

The best part is that all my bites (and I had a million by then) no longer itched. At all. I need this at home. I’ve been mostly bite/itch free since then. Seriously. How can I install one of these at home. Or convert my existing pool. It would be worth it.

The ‘cold-water’ plunge in the bathtubs included a spider. Nah.

It was lovely. I am always a fan of a good hot spring experience.

I came back and painted and rolled over the glue resist.

Then rolled over some folded fabric, which was cool in its own right, but I kept seeing figures in it, so I went for it.

Keep it loosey goosey. Gotta do that somewhere. Don’t have time when I’m home. My art time is so limited, I never get to play around. I’m always on a schedule.

One of the artists here works with fungi and mycelium in her art practice and she had talked about some things; there’s a fungus show coming up for SAQA that I have on my list of ‘hey that would be cool to make something for’, but I hadn’t got my head around it. I watched some videos about fungi and the mycelium network and the artist gave me some other names to watch, so I did that and then came out to the porch (again, lovely day) and drew in the evening.

Binoculars for bird watching. Drawing is not done, and I have a few other ideas for it, but I think I can totally work this into the next piece.

Then I thought about trying to roll a print on fabric from the texture of the Playa…it was sort of a last-minute adventure thing, like how could I transport stuff out there. I’d seen someone earlier with the carts we have, which was an awesome idea, but I managed to just shove a bunch of things in a bag and wander out there. Picked up four rocks for the corners and printed on the surface (plastic layer, then fabric).

Coming back, I saw these crazy prints…the guess is pelican, because yes, there are pelicans here.

Y’all, I have big feet. Here’s the print experiment…and after hearing of the In ‘N Out shooting, I had to draw more bullets. This country and its guns.

Then back to the embroidery.

Monday morning, we got up early (for me) and went to Paisley Caves, which is an early human settlement. There are no artifacts there now, but it’s still amazing to imagine humans living here and thinking about all the little alcoves and the lake water lapping up against the base of these, with giant camels and American lions prowling…well camels probably don’t prowl. But CAMELS.

So we hiked a bit up, a little bouldering, not much, from the car. All that used to be under water. You can also see the smoke haze yesterday. It cleared up a bit in the evening, but today it’s back.

We found lots of little bones at the caves, but this juvenile deer on the way out.

And then I had an idea from the day before and I painted it for the next four hours. I think this is actually upside down. Or sideways. We’ll see when I wash it out.

It won’t be that dark. We had a potluck dinner last night, which was great. Everybody brought or made stuff and we were able to sit outside for a bit without getting eaten alive.

It’s been really nice here. Despite the bug bites and the air quality and the mice. One of the residents said that smoky skies during the Oregon summer had been a thing for some years now. I guess we’ve been lucky in San Diego. Definitely watching the Spokane fire coverage is terrifying…remembering that down in SD some years back. It’s not surprising that fires keep showing up in my work up here.

I washed out the glue resist piece, although I think it needs to soak in hotter water for a bit. It’s fun. I might try a more complicated version today.

Reminiscent of batik.

I did more embroidery…the face is close to done, but now there are all the details: irises, eyebrows, heart, veins…So yeah, not gonna be done in a week.

I’ve put 17 hours into the embroidery so far. Crazy, huh? Yeah. It is. Good crazy, what I want crazy, but crazy nonetheless.

I washed out the bullet piece…like it, but not sure what I’m going to do with it.

This too. Interesting experiment.

Oh yeah, so this was my midnight solution to the mouse under the door last night. So I could sleep. If I’d thought more about it, I would have put a towel or a blanket there.

I didn’t think more about it until this morning. I’ve got a trap. I’m getting peanut butter. I’ll block the access each evening when I shut up for the night.

OK, so I’m still tired from the late-night mouse shenanigans. I might go draw something with glue or embroider on the other piece for a while; let my brain get an idea for dye painting later. I feel like it’s OK to have a slow day after a busy, long day. The brain needs rest even when you’re doing the stuff you love. Read a bit, draw a bit. Then paint another big one. I think. Can’t hold me to it. My boss said something about wanting to hear about my ‘learning’ while I was here (I am missing the first three days of school, all adult-only stuff). Learning. Huh. It’s my own time. It’s not that I’m not learning, but that’s not the purpose of being here. I love this time, but not for the learning.

Every Night

When I was in college, I took art classes (duh, it was one of my two degrees), including a couple of painting classes. I don’t remember much about the one class except that the professor was really nice and I liked his work. The other professor (are they professors if they’re hired as working artists who taught us AND took time off to make their own work? Not sure of their official titles) was traumatic for me and I came away from it knowing I wasn’t a painter, never would be. I had a friend at the time who was an amazing painter as well, and it’s hard to compare yourself.

That said, I found my art way, it’s good, but also realized with ceramics, that here I was doing all this painting, but more to denote shapes. Dye painting though… it’s painting, and I’m still trying to find my place in it. Originally I thought I would be all loose and freeform, and I did a few of those last year, but maybe drawing, which is much more controlled, and then filling in the drawing is just how my art brain processes the world. Because that’s what I’m doing so far here. But now that I’m realizing that, maybe I can flail out of that mold in the next week and do some things that are looser, less about line.

So I washed this one out.

And painted this one Wednesday…

I also flipped one tray of colors onto the floor…whoops…in case you thought I’d outgrown my klutzy stage.

And yesterday, I painted this one after some unfortunate experiences with men in the big wide world.

Reminiscent of a smaller piece I made a while back that is part of a larger group piece.

Today, I mixed three more colors (was waiting on additional supplies being shipped here) and made more mixers. I’d like to try some looser stuff this afternoon.

We had some beautiful clouds the last two days, plus a full moon, where we went out on the Playa, drank some wine, hung out, cut a lock of hair, and threw it to the wind. Like you do. Seriously, it’s not the first time.

Wait, those are last night’s clouds. Still beautiful though.

The smoke from one of the fires (not sure which one) is really bad here today, so I have everything closed up. Tomorrow I’m actually going to drive an hour to the local grocery store, mostly for veggies, but we also have some potlucks coming up. Today, I’m still eating a weird mishmash of leftovers. Kinda over it. I also met with my school team on Zoom for a couple of hours…wondering how this year is gonna go…sliding start of some kind. Not ready, but never am.

Still embroidering too…

Every night.

Make a List…Another One…

Yup. Totally writing late today. Just woke up running and didn’t stop until right now. Tomorrow’s to-do list is equally nuts. I made it to ceramics Monday? I did one layer of skin color…

I ran out of the two brown colors (and forgot to do one hand obviously). I went to the clay supply place Tuesday and they only had one of the two browns…so I had to order them. I’m not going to finish the underglazing before I leave unfortunately.

The skin needs two more layers and then I can do all the bones and flowers and everything. So that will all happen when I come back. I’m going to go in tomorrow and pull the neck (which is a separate thing) and put it in my damp box so it doesn’t dry out too much. Also leave a note about the stuff that needs to be fired.

Quiltwise, I started quilting on Monday…

And I did more yesterday during the day…

I’ve only got a little more than 3 hours in. Last night, I spent over 2 hours cleaning, ironing, and packing 6 quilts for the Master Glitch show opening in Oceanside on August 15. I delivered those today, hallelujah, finally got into a show (OK, it was kind of guaranteed, but I’ll take it)…in case you think I always get it…uh uh, I don’t. I go through dry periods and the rejections pile up and I take deep breaths and enter more shows. That’s where I’m at right now.

ANYWAY, I want to get this quilted before we leave, or at least mostly quilted. I might need to buy the binding fabric tomorrow, because when I get back in August, I can’t go to the quilt store until Saturday, and it’s already pretty booked up. Tight deadlines. So I’ll be quilting tonight and tomorrow for a while at least. I might be halfway through the outlining…and there isn’t honestly a lot of solid background, so I don’t expect it to take forever, but tomorrow is kind of crazy.

Here’s the Open Studio announcement for my residency!

Excited about that. Although I guess I will have to have something to put on the walls then. Ha! I drove back from acupuncture today with all the things in my head that I needed to remember to pack. Clothing is in a pile on my bag. Not sure it will fit and I’m missing a few things. Last-minute laundry tomorrow night.

It’s been super warm here…and Simba was feeling it last night.

Poor crazy dude. Honestly, I think they won’t miss me when I’m gone…where am I supposed to sleep anyway?

Foot of the bed, obviously. Bowie eventually moved, but put his claws in my foot at some point during the night.

Little psycho.

I got this ad from somewhere…

They’re wool. Seriously? I’m allergic. I would die. Obviously they’re in my head though. I am packing light. Maybe. Maybe not.

By the way, the World Cup semifinal today between England and Argentina was all decided between my getting in the car and arriving at school (I had to copy some stuff for August). And Hegseth doing testosterone testing? I’m so confused by this guy. So confused. But if he’s overdosing on the stuff, it would explain a lot. Here’s where we are right now…

I am appreciating the lack of work thought in my head (OK, yes, I did copy something today, but it’s because I didn’t have time the day I left and it’s been bugging me, and I’ve learned that when things bug my mind like that, the best thing to do is find a way to make it go away. Now it’s gone. Poof!). But I have lettuce anxiety and voting anxiety and ICE anxiety. And anxiety about reproductive rights. And women and children and LGTBQIA in general…and POC. All of those. But you know what? I no longer have daylight savings’ anxiety?

Oh wait, I do. I don’t know if we are falling back in fall or not, and if we’re not, it’s apparently going to be dark until 9 in the morning. Or something. I’m not sure. I’ll let you know in November what that really looks like.

OK. Gotta go quilt or pack something or IDK what. Make a list for tomorrow. I’ve charged everything that needs charging. I’ve figured out what cord goes with each thing that charges, but I still have extra cords. Always. I think the Man just bought us something else that needs charging too. I’ll let you know. Next time I post, I should be in a car somewhere. The boychild will be here dealing with animals and watering for a bit, and then the ex. Then I’ll be making art. Hopefully lots of it.

How to Do Stuff…

The summer heat is here, although not as bad as it will be in September. It’s muggy and the air moves slowly, though, and I just sweat no matter what. My head is full of chaos…making decisions is difficult at the moment. My head is doing all the trip planning, making sure I have everything I need. The bathing suit top came in today and fits perfectly (thanks to the goddess of boobage), we ordered a new ice chest last night that will stay cold longer, and this morning, I started packing things up into stuff coming in the car vs stuff being shipped in a box. Weight is a lot of that or if it can spill or if I can live without it if it doesn’t show up. All stressful. I bought a new ironing pad that can survive the heat of the car…no matter what, our trip is going to be overly warm. Crater Lake looks like it will be in the high 90s (ugh). The wonder of traveling in the summer…this is why we like spring instead.

Quiltwise, I finished stitchdown yesterday afternoon…after doing some on Friday night, almost done.

We were gone for about 24 hours Saturday/Sunday, so here was Sunday afternoon…

Then I found a backing, washed the batting, cleaned the entryway floor and tried to clear it out enough to spread this thing out…

It’s not very wide, about 40″, but it’s 80″ tall, so not small. And complicated as hell, of course.

Last night, before I started quilting, I fixed two pairs of pants that had been waiting about a month. One pair is going with me, and the other is ready for the start of school. SCHOOL. Yeah, I know, but I’m coming back right into it. I’ll be quilting today. After I decide which dyes to take with me and whether to take anything else to color things with and whether to take another slow stitching project, because I don’t have enough? Crazy really, considering what I’ve packed up. I don’t think I need more stuff. Really. I do hate being bored or not inspired. But I don’t think that will be the case. So pick the dyes I’m taking (I’m not taking all of them), then figure out how to pack the dye stuff containers that are too tall for the boxes I have OR go through the garage for a bigger box OR ask the boychild if I can borrow one of his, because it’s not clear and will protect things from light? IDK. I’m in waffle mode. I can’t make decisions. I did well so far this morning; went through my dye info from last year’s self-directed residency and made some decisions about what materials I needed.

I finished the squirrel block, so I can leave it behind.

I’m bringing a few more for the first part of the trip, plus brainless sitting around, which does happen.

The Man and I went to Julian for his birthday…went to two cideries (England v Norway).

The second cidery…

We then checked in and headed to a winery for the end of the game (sound only) and to get some food elsewhere (beginning of Argentina v Switzerland)…

Crows were active. Back to the room where the Man took a well-deserved nap and I tried to finish a book that was returning to the library today (don’t worry; I finished it a few hours ago, which is why this is late).

Then onto the last place for the finish of the Argentina game.

We’ll be in Lassen National Park for the final. Not sure we’ll be able to watch it; might be hiking, and that’s OK.

Julian was pretty dead. It was hot and warm and cloudy and muggy, but it was a good break from being here, I think. We’ll be repeating the experience but a long way away starting Friday. The Man is going to help me drive up to Bend, with lots of nature on the way, and then he’ll fly home to work and deal with animals. I wish him luck. He’ll probably appreciate the peace and quiet and the bed to himself (plus four cats and a dog). He’ll live on hot dogs, burritos, and beer (nothing new there). All is good. I’m revising my food list based on the Cyclospora outbreaks…that’s the last thing I need. If I can find a farmers’ market for a few veggies, I will, but I’m shifting toward the stuff I can cook. My brain keeps a never ending cycle of how to do stuff going on inside, so I don’t forget silly stuff like tape or Saran wrap. I think I’d live without them, but it’s easier to have them. The notes I took at the last residency were useful–reminded me of things I would need for this one. Smart former self helping today’s self.

Meanwhile, one of my quilts finishes up in an exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum on July 20, and then ships to this exhibit…

That’s a detail of Dale Stuart’s quilt in the show. Amazing work. I’ll hopefully be starting drawings for the next Soul Stories piece for 2027, plus another piece hopefully for a show here in San Diego. If I get in. All I’m getting are rejections at the moment. I take a deep breath and power on. I go through phases where nothing gets and then it all gets in. It’s not a reflection on myself or my work…it just is what it is. So in response to that last rejection, I entered another show for a group I’m in that I’ve never shown with…so hopefully that will happen. If not, enter again. Make more work. Enter that. Repeat.

Ooooh…here’s another possible topic for the next Soul Stories quilt.

I’ve got some work to do in the yard to help with this. For when I get back.

From the book I just finished…

This might be a good summary of how I work. I do these painstaking drawings, number each piece, trace them, etc. And then pick all the colors out without a color master, just to drive all the perfectionists bonkers. Yup. That’s me. Hell, I drive part of my brain bonkers every time I do it. And yet, it works.

OK. It’s the middle of the day and I need to consider eating lunch. I have physical therapy today for my knee/heel today (she took on my heel, which I appreciate) plus book club. Don’t remember which book, but I know I read it. I need to pick a smaller number of dyes to take with me, decide if I’m shipping one box or two, decide what I will store things in during the trip, cut some paper for large-scale quilt drawings, start quilting, and breathe. I really should also sand the fascia and do a second round of Bondo in there. Go through my written supply lists and make sure I’m getting those things packed. That’s just today. Tomorrow is a whole ‘nother list of lists. And notice I didn’t even mention ceramics…yikes, I think I’ll stop by today after PT. And see how things are going. And I’ll try again the next three days, see if I can get the torso ready to bisque fire. If not, it can sit, and I’ll bring the neck home and put it in the damp box for the next month? I guess? Ugh. So many things to consider.

Not in the Car…

Well sleeping in is not a thing I’m doing this summer. I try. Sleep is just an absolute mess, honestly. I try. I put my pillow over my head, I deep breathe, I meditate. I’m taking a sleep tincture; just added some Chinese herbs that should calm my whole system down (ha! as if that’s a thing…OK, sure it is for some people, but I seem to roll in overdrive). I’d just like to make it to 8:30 AM without waking up 47 times…and that’s not happening. I was sure I’d sleep last night because I hadn’t the night before, and usually, exhaustion sets in, but no. No such luck. Ah well. When I am retired, I will sleep badly at night and take a nap in the afternoon, when I am lagging. Stay up late, like my brain prefers…make up for it later. For now? I will just be tired. I still get the things done; I just yawn a lot.

Some part of it is probably planning anxiety. I always get like this with a trip, and this one is complicated by the art stuff. The residency is so far away from everything that I have to be sure I have what I need with me, whether in the car or shipped. So that’s a lot. And my brain obsesses over the lists of stuff and making sure I’m getting stuff done every day. Because I don’t have much time before we leave and I go back to school right when I get back. It’ll be fine, honestly, once I get in the car.

I’m not in the car yet.

So I’m trying to get the current quilt to the pinbasted stage before I leave. I finished ironing it to the background on Wednesday night…

It’s kind of a crazy piece…I started with a drawing I did in a very long staff meeting last year of just the center head and the arm and the birds, and then I added to the top and the bottom. I was just going to do the head and shoulders, back in January, when I got another assignment that needed to be done quickly, so I put this aside, and by the time I was ready to make it, there were political issues pressing on my mind (again), and I had to add to it. Kind of a living in this world, but unable to ignore the crap thing. Which is real, of course. I’m lucky to not have all of it in my face every day (as long as I don’t interact with the world in any way). Especially in summer, when I often hermit through huge chunks of it. This year, I’m gonna hermit in (what did my daughter call it?) Buttfuck, Oregon. Don’t be offended, Oregon; she just means in the middle of nowhere. And it’s not nowhere to those who live there. It’s just isolated. I’m ready for isolated.

It took almost 18 hours to iron it together; I’m guessing at least 5 total to stitch it down. I’m 2 1/2 hours in…

I did some in the afternoon…and some at night.

I’m up in her upper torso. One arm is mostly done. So am I halfway? Not quite, but close. Like I said, another 2 1/2 hours ish. Hopefully done today? We’ll see. I had plans for clay, but I don’t think the timing is going to work, since I have to cook dinner and I have pilates at a weird time plus a breast MRI. And I need to ship some stuff.

I also put the binding on this dye painting from last year.

I quilted it the other day; it still needs the hand stitching, but I can do that later. What I really wanted was something I could slow stitch on and maybe finish in August for all the shows I need to have work for when I get back.

I did my back-to-school shopping yesterday. It had to get done before I left. It was simple, but let’s see if I remember where I put everything when I get back. I’m trying to be logical, but August brain may not agree with July’s logic. Hard to say.

I have two more art exhibits I need to enter before I leave. I still need to organize and pack; I organize a little every day. I think and worry about it way more than I do it. But I will get there. I want to finish this squirrel before I go…

These Spargo blocks are perfect for the car or for sitting around in the evening, but this one is almost done, so it’s silly not to just finish it before I go and start the next one on the way north. I need to finish the background stitching around that leaf and then add five ladybugs. That’s what will take the most time. I’m not sure I’ll finish painting the fascia before I go. I need to sand and put another layer of Bondo in the bad wood, then prime a couple of times, then paint three times, I think. So probably not done before I go. The yard will never be done, so there’s that.

I will get done what I can. That’s all I can ever do. I’ve never been gone this long before.

This little cockatiel was hanging out by the pool yesterday.

It talked to me. I talked to it. It had a friend flying around. It was warm? Maybe it needed a break? By the time I found it some water and food, it had left, but it was here for a long while. Not a native bird, for sure.

One thing I need to do before I leave is deliver my work for this exhibit. I’ll be at the opening.

That’s the plan anyway. It’s a big space; should be a good show. Speaking of making cool things…

Let’s hope…because this is the alternative.

Watching the government go after people with differing opinions…well, that’s not a democracy. That’s not patriotism. That’s another form of government that we fought against on multiple occasions.

Yeah. That isn’t going to improve in the next month. OK. Today. Shower, then boob thing. It’ll be a week or more (last year it was 10 days) until I know it’s all clear. I still haven’t heard back on the brain; same deal. It’s summer and info trickles. Not really worried about either of them; low level health anxiety always rides in the back. But I’ll have a new brain picture to use in a quilt, right? Then pilates at a weird time. Plus stitchdown. And shipping. And crossing things off the to-do list. Love that part. It’s the best.

All for Good…

Yo. So crazy right now. Need a secretary to prioritize things. I had a friend in town for the last two days and she helped with some of the errands I needed to run (I made her go to REI), but every time I would cross one thing off my list, I would need to write two more down. It’s freaking me out! Hoping to cross a bunch off today…gonna pack some stuff up to get it out of here, then go get some stuff. Not sure when I’m making it to ceramics. And I want to finish ironing the quilt top together today…sometime. Somehow. There’s only about 150 pieces left and then it needs to go on the background. Stitchdown, then pinbaste. I really need it pinbasted before I leave. Even then, I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it done for the deadline. Oh well. It’ll go somewhere…although at the moment, I don’t seem to get into any shows. That said, my Unsustainable quilt will apparently be at Houston with the Soul Stories show…there was a moment when it might not, but now it is. Woo hoo! I’m hoping to go, but money is always the issue. And time. As always.

So I haven’t been ironing as much as usual due to said friend in town, but here’s Monday night…

I didn’t get much done…the sun, one of the birds, some overlapping arm stuff, and the one smaller figure.

Last night, I did almost two hours (much better!)…yes, if I am ironing, it means I am not doing other things, like getting ready to go to Oregon. Or finishing painting the outside of the house. Or even watering, which is a bad thing. Plants need water, but I can only do it in the evening, and I have not been home in the evening for four days? Five? Not sure.

I got the rest of that arm done, plus the other smaller figure and most of the larger top figure. She needs an eye and then there’s three hands coming down and all the detritus that goes with them. Not a lot…at this point, the entire rest of the quilt is ironed together and rolled up at the bottom of this picture. Insanely. It’s a logistical nightmare, needs to be weighted so it doesn’t fall off the ironing board, and I’m constantly ironing around all those things that help it stay on the board. I’m close.

So who was I hanging out with? I’ve known this woman since middle school…

We see each other at least once a year, because she is very good about coming down, and now that the girlchild lives near her, I sometimes see her up in San Francisco as well. I made her walk three miles on the beach, fed her sporadically (OK, honestly, she fed me), made her watch half the Belgian/US game (ugh…it’s ok that we lost, really), and dragged her on a tour of malls and plazas of San Diego. I had an original plan of all museums, but then they were almost all closed, except for the Mingei yesterday…molas for the win!

Also indigenous glass…there were two pieces by Angela Babby that were just amazing…

Yup. Glass. Kiksuyapi 1890 (Remember, Don’t Forget) about the Wounded Knee Massacre. Her work is glasswork that is fired in a kiln. Check it out…it’s amazing.

The exhibit also had a bunch of more traditional glass art by indigenous peoples; beautiful work. I don’t remember why I thought going to the Mingei was a good idea, but it might have been this…

An entire bathroom, refrigerator, microwave, and fire extinguisher made out of wicker. Weird yes, but interesting and thought-provoking…and amusing. This is by India Thompson, an exhibit called Looks Like Home…does it though? Fun to see. I’m sorry we didn’t get to the other museums/exhibits, but they weren’t open, so that kind of sucks, because I don’t think I’ll have time to go before I leave. Ah well. Life happens.

See, we did eat food, just at weird times and trying to mollify my blood sugar, which was all over the place.

And last night, we went to dinner with our requisite male attachments…mine is celebrating his 60th birthday this week, so the poor waiter tried to light the candle about 6 times and it was there for seconds, we yelled “Happy B!” and it went out.

I didn’t even catch it. But we had a good time and good food. I enjoy hanging out with her and she made things a little easier by helping me shop…for a bathing suit, of all things. She also got some stuff…it was all good. But now, I am on the quest of getting everything ready to leave next week, plus making sure everything here is done. EVERYTHING. OK, not happening, but I do need to buy a few things for school (anathema!!) and the trip still, plus send out some packages, and enter some art shows, and finish some ceramics and I don’t know what else, because every time I turn around, there’s something else. It’s going to be fine, and it’s my fault for deciding I was taking the Man somewhere this weekend for his birthday…it’s too hard to come up with appropriate gifts (although I did think of one AFTER I booked this weekend…sigh). So I’ll be gone for like 24 hours, plus I had to fit all 8 July pilates classes into 2 1/2 weeks, so I have pilates like every other day, plus another 5 medical appointments. Hopefully no more than that. It’s summer, so getting test results takes forever…trying not to think about all those things. Occasionally I forget about being a teacher too, until I see this stuff.

Damn socialists…trying to take care of the people. I bet the Islamic Republic of Japan doesn’t do that (oh my, when will someone admit the Prez is losing it).

Lovely mural on the way back from downtown on one of my many trips to and from there to pick up my friend.

By DABSMYLA, a husband/wife team of muralists.

Gonna need to get gas this week. Need to pull all the camping gear out and start organizing what we’re actually taking, since we’re not really camping. Just camp cooking really. Definitely getting more excited…I mean, I’ve been excited about this trip since last October…so yeah. I’ve been taking notes on all the middle-of-the-night drawing ideas that pop up when I can’t sleep. Ready for those too. How many pairs of scissors will I need? All of them, I think. No, not really.

OK. Today. I have acupuncture for my foot…I have pilates. I need dog food and school supplies. I need to iron. I don’t need gas yet, but I will soon. I need to bondo the fascia wood. I need to paint and water. I need to fill at least one greenery trash can. So two of those things could be done before I shower, because it’s gonna be hot today and tomorrow. I say bondo first and then see how much time is left. If I bondo now, I can sand this evening and get this damn thing primed and painted. So no ceramics today…maybe tomorrow? We’ll see. So much to do. All for good though…getting the house taken care of and getting me ready to leave.