Thursday, November 06, 2014

metcalf whish limpkin

Learn this, you won't be sorry.


 There is no difference between science and art when it comes to creativeness, productiveness, to come to conclusions and to formulations. (Josef Albers)


FIVE TRUCKS and a whole bunch of guys crawling over the lot today.  I normally jump out on my drive-bys and snap a picture or two but there was no place to park today and trucks were coming t me from both directions.  I'll go back tonight and grab a picture when nobody's there.  We had out first builder kerfuffle yesterday when he called to get the exact measurements of a front door.  Nobody had mentioned to us we needed to pick out a door but we did have one in mind that got discussed to death, and now we are again doorless.  I had found one I loved where the wood looked like it was woven and the single door came in under budget.  But it seems that everybody has planned for a double door so when you double the price, it's out of reach.  You're going to be reading a lot of this.  We have to go Saturday to find one that we can afford and is also cool.  Who knew front doors go happily into five figures?  Geesh.  Ain't gonna happen.

Today I spent a few hours in the studio wagon for my over-anxious dog to be groomed.  The other one just goes along for the ride and seems to like being clean smelling.  But Pepper is anxiety riddled and even on a whole Benadryl is beyond comforting.  Weird little guy.  Anyway, in the studio I fixed one of my FOUR broken mirror frames, still have to get a glass for it, but I'll do a total count when time gets close, to get them all at once.  Also worked on all the ATCs and got them all pillowcased and turned inside out.  I just had time to make the labels for the backs before I had to go, but they are ironed on and now ready for hand work and some buttons or something to jazz them up.  I'm ahead of the game, probably because it's easy to deal with small things I don't care about instead of working on something brain-stretching.  These little things are tough though, because already I am liking a few of them and wondering how I can keep 'em...  But I WILL take them all.

I also had a bit of time to remove all my linen fabric, all my toilet, and all my upholstery stuff from one 4' shelf.  It's ridiculous to have stuff piled so high, and I really must order some additional shelves-  I just keep hating to spend any more money on the studio at this point.  The good thing about this attitude is I am dumping smaller scraps as I use them so eventually I might see the piles receded .  Like that will happen.

Today we have some embroidery to look at, all of it tells stories:





Amazing small slices of life from Michelle Kingdom whose workexplores psychological landscapes, illuminating thoughts left unspoken. I create tiny worlds in thread to capture elusive yet persistent inner voices. Literary snippets, memories, personal mythologies, and art historical references inform the imagery; fused together, these influences explore relationships, domesticity and self-perception. Symbolism and allegory lay bare dynamics of aspiration and limitation, expectation and loss, belonging and alienation, truth and illusion. Decidedly miniature in scale, the scenes are densely embroidered into compressed compositions. While the work acknowledges the luster and lineage inherent in needlework, I use thread as a sketching tool in order to simultaneously honor and undermine this tradition. Beauty parallels melancholy, as conventional stitches acquiesce to the fragile and expressive.



Jim Benton, one of the world’s greatest cartoonists, has created a series of public service announcements (PSAs) that ‘give back’ (if giving back means being snarky and hilarious).







Embroidery artist and jeweler Sam P. Gibson creates a wide variety of hand-stitched illustrations from brains and skulls to lips and typography. Her most detailed works are these awesome stitched eyes, many more of which you can see over in this Flickr collection and in her online shop.



An Icey Lick, hope his tongue doesn't stick!

1 comment :

Mary Beth Frezon said...

"Learn this. You won't be sorry."

Now that I'm a week into November's writing frenzy, I seem to day-dream, dream and yearn in color. Geesh. Talk about always looking better on the other side of the fence.

Thanks for letting me keep a foot in.