Mod Squad

Yesterday I was able to grab an hour or so and go to a nearby gallery. It's on the campus of a local Art and Design school. A friend of mine got her degree and teacher's license there, so I knew where it was, but had never looked into it. It's a curious labyrinth of brick buildings, vaguely Spanish Colonial but with a certain Art Deco edge. Is there a name for this period? This -ism? I assume it was built in phases starting in about the 30s.

They were exhibiting about 20 pieces from Lucienne Day, who is apparently known as the tipping point in postwar furnishing design. I was really drawn in by her abbreviated suggestions of organic forms, the rhythm and color so evocative of the textiles that I remember as shabby leftovers in my 60s childhood. Of course, I dismissed that aesthetic witheringly, in favor of, what, psychedelic flowers? I don't know. I guess at the time, I probably wasn't paying much attention.

(As an aside, in the Mousetrap, a tiny mountain cabin where we lived when my parents were SO young and poor, the cupboards were stocked with Fiestaware dishes. These had been cast off from my grandmother's house, and provided for the summer renters for whom its knotty pine, uninsulated walls were originally intended. I didn't appreciate any of THAT then, either.)

So, Lucienne Day was a textile designer, and her husband, Robin Day designed furniture. You can see some of her work here, and some more of it here. It is inspiring.

Parenting and Artistic Ambitions

Yesterday during a workshop, I kept my hands busy with my "fake" (a.k.a. spool) knitting. I used flat, narrow tape. It comes on a spool where the yarn is- chubby kind of cardboard spool like craft cotton or crochet thread. Very pretty, rich, jewel tones, multi-colored and kind of gleaming. I just kept at it, and passed out a few lanyards for peoples' name tags.

I also used it to "knit" some thin copper wire, with blue glass beads and silver balls appearing to float throughout. This made a beautiful necklace for a dear friend of mine, although there were no findings on it. She said she would take care of it, and left it on for the afternoon. There were twanging wire ends sticking out on the back of her neck. It looked terribly uncomfortable; I hope she didn't leave it on for my sake. The FRONT of it looked so pretty on her!

So. I guess at this point my artistic ambitions are, well, humble, but productive. It feels good.

Miss Rose was up most of the night last night with an earache so profound that she simply didn't know what to do. She would get up and go kneel on the floor, resting the side of her head against the cool wall. Then she would whimper and stretch out on the floor. Finally, the ultimate concession: she announced that she needed a shot. My god. I can hardly stand it. We are going to the doctor at 10:00.

Meanwhile, I have delivered instruction to my own students 4 times out of the last 8 days. My plan is to just pop out to school after the doctor, Rosie in tow, teach for two hours, and come home at the bell. This is the reality of the supermom myth.

WIPAD

Work in Progress All Done. And no, it's not the ruts.

It's a little tunic for Rose to wear over pants and a turtleneck. Rose doesn't like stuff swishing on her legs very much. She loves to wear dresses, though, so she just puts on pants or leggings under them. I feel like every morning is a scramble to fine something that matches and that she will consent to wear.

My mom, having been asked NOT to get her any toys for Christmas, got her a delightful Peruvian sweater, alpaca, pullover, with little girls appliqued on the front, and little black yarn braids. Rose LOVES it, and strokes the little girls. However, I have never gotten it on her. She knows that the neckline will be tight, and the applique stitches will be "poke-y" on the inside. She knows it will itch. I have tried bribery and subterfuge. I think I'll just stuff it and let her have it for a pillow.

Oh- and socks? They can't be the athletic type with terry loops inside. Too poke-y. They have to be smooth, colorful and MISMATCHED. Yes. That's her fashion statement.

Anyway.

For this little tunic, I took a length of the fabric, cut it to fit across her shoulders and drape to a V, and cut an asymmetrical neckline. It is edged with knitted "reins" made out of that crawly kind of yarn. The reins just loop out where the side closures are. Then I cut out a rose and some leaves from the scraps, finished them and popped them on with a button. (I see from the detail shot that the blanket stitching is careless. Squirm, squirm!)

I hope she will wear it!

In other Rose-related news, she has a hellish cold, and keeps trying to wash her face because she thinks she has food on it. No, it's her poor, scaley skin, rubbed raw by the softest tissues we can find. She was a little squeaky on Thursday, and a little sniffly on Friday. On Friday afternoon, her school called and asked me to pick her up, because she wasn't "having a good day." Huh? I had visions of her smacking other children, running away... by the time I got there, everybody was sweetness and light. She HAD been horrible, but they figured out she was feeling rotten, and got her settled down.

I know they really love her there. I know she's learning. I know she can make it there. I just need THEM to acknowledge it. I'm already worrying about next year. (Although last year, I started visiting kindergartens in November, so I guess this is a little better.) She is delayed in her motor skills, seriously delayed in speech and language, and her willpower is titanic. But, she is a sweet, joyful child about 90% of the time, and fortunately she charms everyone before they see her dark side.

Sigh. We love her very much.

Heavy Metal

I have found the camera. It was inside the glove compartment of my car. I brought it in triumphantly! and the battery is dead. I really need to learn more about the camera. Like, how to charge it, for example. So I don't have pix of the WIP. BUT!!!

Here are some boxes I made for my parents' Christmas presents.

They are just the raw wood boxes from the hobby store that I finished with stain, sandpaper and varnish. The tops are embossed copper. I used copper flashing from the hardware store. It's really easy to work with. You can cut it with kitchen shears, and use scrapbooking corner rounders on it. The end result sure makes it look more technically challenging than it is.

This one has the copper completely covering the lid. I ran it through the pasta machine with a texture plate. I filled in the back of the emboss with spackling so that the relief won't get dented. Then I used copper tacks and a little glue to secure it.

The smaller panel is oak leaves and acorns that I did freehand. I drew a design on paper and taped it to the back of the copper. Then I used a metal stylus to trace the design from the back, flipped it over and pressed down OUTSIDE the outline to really punch out the relief, and a paper stump to smooth and finish. I used permanent markers to lightly shade the designs, and then wiped it with alcohol to even it out. The depth is much greater on this one. I filled in the back to protect it from denting, and tacked it with the copper tacks onto the front.

I am very proud of them! (I need to work more on the freehand embossing, though.)

Danelle, I WILL get the WIP up this weekend!

All The Supplies I Need

What I want to know is, how do you overcome the intimidation of the:

blank page
yards of fabric
knitting gadget
polymer clay blocks
pasta machine
raw wood
stacks of fabulous paper
copper embossing kit
shreds of moss and mushroom birds
embroidery floss
balls of yarn
antique frame
paint, markers, watercolor pencils
rubber stamps
serger
sewing machine

ET CETERA, ET CETERA, ET CETERA

Because, I've got all of this. I've got all of it, and more. And I've got about 35 "fave blogs" to inspire me.
Oh, ok, maybe that's the problem. They aren't inspiring me. They're intimidating me.