new work...

So here is the piece that I finished embroidering on recently. But it is not finished yet as it is going to become a thin pillow laying on a shelf. I like it when the fabric objects become more sculptural.
One of the best parts of using re-purposed linens are the details that already exist in the linen.


I also got another small piece done this week, and got most of one done yesterday on my long train ride to here.
Its funny I like having long car trips and train rides now 'cause I can get work done.

I'm excited about the cooling weather as it will allow me to pick up some work that I was doing with knitting. It was just too hot to work on that this summer. So hopefully my needles will be clicking soon.

farmers flowers...

Oh how lovely the flowers are that I bought at the farmers market this weekend.
and they helped me during all the work I did at the table Sunday.
Grant applications.
Show applications.
Figuring out what work I need to ship and when and why.
If only I made it into the studio!!!

But I do have images to share soon of some work that has been moving along... just in my living room instead of my studio.
And I decided I was unhappy with the one work I did for my commission so I am starting a simpler one...simple words are so much more profound.

if only all these things could fit into one day.

Making work, and making money, and making a life is hard to fit into one day and one lifetime.

we are all a little tired...

this was my family this Sunday...




and I think that deep down we all still feel this way. EXHAUSTED!!!

Recently seen...

the work of photographer Dan Boardman...
a trigger finger after my heart.

Banality.


Beauty.


Simplicity.

Light.


All the things that make my heart feel more human and my life seem lighter.

He also takes some really compelling portraits.
and has a very lovely blog...

mornings should last longer...

looking for...

looking for new inspiration.
I feel a shift in my work coming.
When you work so autobiographically you work changes as your life changes.
I am desiring something.
But am not sure what it is yet...
More simplicity in making but less simplicity in display, perhaps?
My language needs to evolve but to what direction?
My stitches need to layer, but how?

My story has changed and so must my work...but where do we go.
Where do I go?
Where are you?

p.s. after writing this I shot 3 rolls of film yesterday of a new potential series.
Piled. Above image is a sneak peek...but the film will be much better.

wisdom in image and word..

I recently was just exposed to the work of artists Marlene Dumas. Dumas is a well established and successful artist but someone that 2 years ago I would have had no interest in...
But as my work turns more toward a form of drawing through my fabric work...
And more toward simplicity in my photographs...I have become aware and open to an entirely new community of artists.

Dumas' work exudes a quiet, raw, emotion and I love the simplicity of shapes and lines that she uses to tell so much. The piece that opened me up to her is at the exhibition at work and I have to be honest none of the work online lives up to the beauty of that work. I will have to try to get an image to share with all of you.

But what I did love was the words I found on Dumas' website. Half painter/ half poet/ all artist.

My best works are
erotic displays of
mental confusions
(with intrusions of
irrelevant information).

I paint because I am a woman.
(It's a logical necessity.)
If painting is female and insanity is a female malady, then all women painters are mad and all male painters are women.
I paint because I am an artificial blonde woman...

(I believe in eternity.)
Painting doesn't freeze time. It circulates and recycles time like a wheel that turns. Those who were first might well be last. Painting is a very slow art. It doesn't travel with the speed of light. That's why dead painters shine so bright.
It's okay to be the second sex.
It's okay to be second best.
Painting is not a progressive activity. (…)

receding out of view...

our house guests leave this morning, and though I always love having guests, especially family...
I equally love getting my normal life, apartment, and routine back.
So hopefully this weekend will be filled wit quiet days, open windows, no quests, and sleeping in.

'Cause I am exhausted!

my favorite tourist trap...

One of my favorite things to do when we have guests to NY is to take the Staten Island Ferry...Especially at sunset.
There is nothing like floating on the water as it turns pink with light...watching the power of the Manhattan skyline recede, the barges pass, the cranes silhouetted against the sky and then as the cool darkness of night descends watching the glisten and twinkle of the lights of the city and bridges coming toward us as we return.

This is the moment where I am convinced that NY looks just like the emerald city from the wizard of oz...
our own little emerald of a place....

last one, but still inspiring...

The last post on artist Donna Ruff but she just makes such lovely work I wanted to take time on her...and I have had house-guests and very little time to find other artists.
But these burnt pages and books are so lovely.

They are like lace, our bodies insides, snowflakes, trees, and nerves...So much lies in such a simple process and simple shapes.

I promise to have new inspiration tomorrow.