Geometric Half-Bound Fore-edge

I’ve been talking a whole lot about my new website lately, I know. My web-gal has done some good ones, and so far I am pleased with her ideas. It’s in the process of being tweaked around before going on line so I am anxiously awaiting the final edition of it. The whole purpose is to look more professional than my old one that I did by hit or miss (LOTS of miss) html. And since my brain is now made of Swiss cheese instead of nice hard parmesan I have opted to no longer do battle with the deadly html. besides, everybody else has moved to CSS and points beyond, certainly more information than my head can take before exploding. ANYway, that was a long intro to show you my updated Bio that I wrote for it the other day:

Sandy's Bio Du Jour

My purpose in life is to make the stuff, someone else can get rid of it when the time comes. I've never been content with leaving well-enough alone, which my mother constantly brought to my attention and my husband picked up from there. Now I hear the same song from my adult kids so know by now it must be true. I like things on top of things, I like four colors instead of three, I like sparkly and glittery and metallic surfaces. I like hot chiles and dark chocolates. Candied ginger and kosher dills. And I like long-haired dogs. More is indeed more!

This brings me to what I do with these preferences: I make quilts and I make collages. They are usually indistinguishable from each other except that the quilts sometimes contain batting or stitches and the collages usually are shiny. Both are multiple layers, both have added embellishments, and both deal with 'found' fabrics or elements. Sometimes I use the same elements and make other things that strike my fancy like odd jewelry and painted shoes.

I was an art teacher for years, then retired to a new life teaching art to adults under the guise of learning how to make quilts. This ruse enabled me to travel all over the country insisting that everyone is an artist but some folks need a bit more confidence to follow intuition and experiment without fear of mistakes. Sometimes people 'got it' and my life was enriched as much as theirs. Sometimes people didn't, but there was always a chance they would get hit by that lightening bolt further down the path. Everyone proceeds at their own pace and minds open up when they are ready to receive the information. It can't be hurried.

Back when I was in college I overheard a girly conversation discussing names for future children. I liked one of the names thrown about and used it 10 years later for my own daughter. In graduate school I was eves-dropping on another conversation where a young woman was talking about how she tries to do everything in an original and beautiful way from making oatmeal to her grad school assignments. Over time I have figured out she meant that she did things with 'intent'. I adopted that too and let it be a guide for both my life and art. I also learned all those years ago that the only way to learn is to listen!

I don’t think too many people care who I studied with (like I can remember!), how many kids I have, or what my favorite breakfast might be, so I tried to be informative without giving facts. Huh? Does it make any sense? I take criticism well, mainly because I don’t pay much attention so fire away.

I have also been forced by recent conversations on the SAQA list to evaluate for myself why I want the website anyway. Some people are using them as a marketing tool, some as on-line shops, and others as portfolios to refer folks to. There is a big brouhaha about printing prices on websites, and it was getting a tad heated over those who think it’s ‘professional’ to have the prices listed like on a Bed and Bath website, and those who think it’s ‘professional’ to NOT have prices listed and let the work stand alone.

Since mainly quilters visit other quilt websites, (don’t kid yourselves- it’s mainly quilters who haunt quilt shows and go to quilt shops too. Que surprise.) it seems to me the major reason for anyone being interested is for comparison purposes. The other thing I think is odd is how many people are claiming to sell so much off their sites- SOOOOO I go hunting around to the biggest braggarts about the number of sales generated and wouldn’t ya know, it’s generally the worst work! IMHO, highly UNprofessional stuff so their ‘sales’ are probably to their sisters-in-law. Bad me. But since you’ve got the SAQA blog-ring at your disposal right over there to the right, go check some of the work and tell me if I’m wrong. I’ll be here when you get back.

dum id dum


This just in from Robert Genn: You can access his newsletter here. It strikes me as synchronistic that this is what I was talking about in my so-called bio, just never knew it was CI. So I went googling around and came up with several ad agencies named Creative Intelligence, a woman who runs workshops on it, a few authors of books, and a maharishi or two- seems TM is related according to them. Whatever, it makes for an interesting hunt so now you can go do that! Start here: an interesting link on the subject: Creative Intelligence

Here’s Genn’s letter:

After stumbling around in this inbox for half a day, I realize
there are two main kinds of artists. Those who think it's all
about technique, methodology and process, and those who think
all you have to do is "wing it." The latter, sort of like
skydivers without benefit of parachutes, are all over the place
these days. Attitudes of "anything goes," "anybody can do it,"
and "I can do what I want as long as it has 'heart'" prevail.
While I'm a first-line advocate for intuition, just to make
things difficult I have to tell you there's something else we
need to think about. It's called "Creative Intelligence."

In our game, this brand of intelligence is as valuable as IQ is
to Ph.D. "CI" represents another kind of "knowing." Not
surprisingly, artists with a high CI know when to use their
intuition. Knowing when to jump may be the highest calling.

But folks in the high CI category also know when to go for the
nuts and bolts. It's been my observation that CI comes easily
to some--they seem to be born with it. Others have to work hard
to get it. Creative intelligence knows:

When to pause and rethink
When to dream different dreams
When to learn more about a subject
When to reject and restart
When to take a rest or shut down

The high CI artist also knows:
How to prime the pump
How to search and find
How to control the medium
How to let the medium control the art
How to accomplish specialized manoeuvres
How to coax ideas into crossbreeding

CI actually requires a long list that is custom made and held
close to the chest of the individual artist. Furthermore,
there's no known method of administering a CI test--except
perhaps realizing the outcome of self-anointed
"professionalism." But even that's too narrow. Peer approval
might be a more reasonable test. Or peer admiration. If there
ever was a test, covert peer admiration might just do the
trick.

Best regards, Robert

PS: "It's all those years of cognitive learning and study that
lead to what many refer to as 'intuitive' painting, but they
forget the intellectual process that got them to the point
where painting became a fluid, natural act." (Coulter Watt)

Esoterica: Creative intelligence also involves the simultaneous
use of mind and spirit. Whether mind before spirit or spirit
before mind, retrofitting and deconstructing spirit is the
habit of our age. Perhaps the evolved CI guy is best at
thinking it out first, then making the leap of faith, then
covering tracks. "I throw a spear into the darkness. That is
intuition. Then I must send an army into the darkness to find
the spear. That is intellect." (Ingmar Bergman)

And now for something completely different:

Imagine my surprise to find about 40 ladybugs on the outside screens yesterday. I was talking to a friend at Wellesley College and she said they have invaded there too and she sent me a link to a story about them a bit later. I only have a few inside, but apparently they are inside many homes around here. I don't much care because they are cute and don't eat much. But the trick is 'vacuum and release'.

"You vacuum them up, and then you release them. They are beneficial insects," Boston University's James Traniello said." This seems extreme- I can't imagine going through the vacuum trauma will make for a herd of healthy ladybugs being released. Traniello says that it should only last a few more days and since it's pouring out now, that's probably it. My personal ladybugs won't be vacuumed.