self portrait?

work by Delaney Allen. see more.

to blend in.

very lovely works by Cecilia Paredes. See more here.

making still

I have been making some stuff. A window piece that I actually think will turn out totally lovely...

and a text piece "wash, dry. fold, love, repeat. wash, dry, fold, wipe, repeat etc.

quick sand

Sorry I have been knee deep or perhaps thigh deep in life stuff. I have been not having time or much desire to be in my studio which has been oh so hard. But I am starting to feel things move and this quicksand loosen up enough that I will be able to climb out.

small steps are being made.
small thoughts are churning.

mamahood

an interesting and sweet little article on the struggle of making and being a mama here.

future heirlooms-renovation in process.

Did you see this post where I asked other artists what they do when they feel stuck.  check it out.

this place I am staying is odd but wonderful. it is in a Cuban neighborhood. for all intense purposes a suburb near a busy road....but when you enter the property you enter another world. one of Palm trees, strange animals, lizards scurrying and a flowing river. I love it....

but as I was on the phone last night all c heard was a siren in the background and maybe the couple in the bungalow next to me is annoyed the neighbor across the river is weed whacking his yard. but when I wake up I hear the weird ducks, when I go to bed I hear the wind in the coconut trees. sure the weed wacker is loud but so is the train that goes by every hour at home.

do I have a point? I guess it is just that perspective is everything. I have been having this discussion  a lot lately with someone who thinks that it may be lying to yourself. but I am not lying to myself about the siren I am just not letting it rupture my world. it is there, I hear it, I just allow it then let it go.

sort of like what is happening in my studio right now... I could be depressed that I have no f*ing clue what I am doing anymore.  but I am really trying to just let it be - embrace what comes - let go of what doesn't .

FYI. I have taken 7 photos , read a lot of the ny times and not once thought about a stitch.

sloughed

I feel as if 1 million layers have been sloughed off me. as soon as I got out of the airport and felt the humidity in the air I felt so much better. this winter has been so cold and so long and that of course takes a psychological toll on you. Just being able to drive with the windows down, sleep with the windows open and have one simple layer of clothing on makes me feel like I've escaped prison.
I know that may sound dramatic but all of you in the New England and New York area know exactly what I mean. Some winters you can handle with more stride... but when your own life is carrying a little bit of darkness you really need the sun.

I don't know if this will help my work but I do know this is already helping my soul. I have taken a few shots I'm excited about with my camera but forgot the piece I was most excited about working on here. maybe I forgot it on purpose, unconsciously. really letting me be free of any burden here even the wonderful glorious burden of making art.

sticthing and exposure

Combining my 2 loves, photography and stitch Brooklyn based artist Melissa Zexter.

I tend to like the works where the stitching either feels as if it is a little disjointed or creating a visual energy the best... but she has a number of experimentation in adding stitch to images at her website.

Go visit.

floating.

photograph by Hiroshi Sugimoto

It has been so strange to give myself this space in my studio. I rarely allow it and it has been and is a strange and scary thing. I really have stripped away the pressure to make anything. Much like my first year of graduate school I am just spending a lot of time sitting in my studio, looking at stuff, reading stuff, fingering through books.

I feel a little scared as I don't have that pressure in the back of my head to perform, to make, to BE productive but I also don't feel stuck. I feel a bit more like I am floating. Not treading water, not swimming, not drowning. Just floating.

It is an unfamiliar place to be with my work. My "self" as an artist as a person. But perhaps the unfamiliar is what makes it so interesting.