Conceivable Smoke

I know, I've been MIA again.  Happens every time I go away for a few days, it takes me forever to catch up with 'life' before I can get back into my personal un-reality here.

Art's purpose is to sober and quiet the mind so that it is in accord with what happens. - John Cage

I did my time with Anthropologie-  turned out to be only a short time and I don't think I'll go back.  The middle table in the store was all set up for us when we arrived, maybe 8 of us.  We had little goody bags with felt snowflakes tied on with bells- very cute, and the cookies inside came in handy.  Basically the store designer had everything set up for us to make silver chain type things out of heavy paper covered with silver duct tape and tinfoil.  She had ordered a special cutting die that punched out the elements after we got the paper ready, and then we assembled long ropes of the stuff that will go in the window in huge swoops. I don't think the time we spent made much of a dent in the project butI look forward to seeing it developing as I wander by.

Here is a former paper-chain window done at Anthro, ours will be silver with a one-sided swoop.

Actually their last project would have been more to my liking and talents-  they had windows full of gourds hanging from ropes that were twined and tied an great clumps and curtains-  very cool.  Love the Anthro windows, always have, but the crafty-part of the silver stains wasn't compelling enough to go volunteer again.  Maybe hired monkeys could do it.  Or middle school kids provided with enough candy to keep 'em there.  I'm back to my own work but have a couple of stories now about 'when I worked the Anthro windows'.  The Good Part was that I sat there with other women from college art students on up to women of a certain age who were all artists.  There was a good amount of (female) gorilla behavior and chest thumping and resume-dropping, but we eventually all settled down to the silver chains.  Afterward, Laurie and I tried Figs for lunch.

And I started a bit of Christmas shopping- you know how that goes, one for the cousin, one for me.  One for my daughter, one for me, Something for the babies, a little something for me.  I ran out of energy and money at the same time, thankfully before I hit any jewelry displays.  The rest of the family might be getting paper chains made from my accumulation of boarding passes.

Spent Wednesday racing around looking for somebody to recharge the studio fire extinguisher-  who knew that had to be done!  But I found a place that actually has a business doing this which I find amazing.  How does a person decide that filling fire extinguishers will be their life work?  The dingy little office was full of axes and small ladders (sized for chipmunk firefighters I guess) and faded photographs of St. Louis.  And many fire extinguishers in different states.  They did it while I waited and then I scurried back to the studio to await the fire inspector-  for the first year without a feeling of apprehension that he would close me down!  I hid the encaustic torches  and the heat guns and associated hot stuff, and the electrical  cord rats nests:

(cleaner than my mess)

And he arrived to tell me I need to move my bookcases so a firefighter in full gear can walk up to my electric box front-on.  Hell no.  I made myself a sort-of closet  where I pull out one bookcase on wheels and can shimmy in to the electric box-  the other two walls of the 'closet' are bookcases completely full of heavy stuff.  I can hip check one of them to inch open a bit but why would ?  That's where the ***spiders*** live.

eeeeeek.

And I always say Live and Let Live, unless of course the vacuum can reach them.  Oh well, I have a year before he comes back to figure out a new studio arrangement.

Yesterday I spent driving all over Hell's Half Acre to mail out a package.  I think FedEx is my favorite shipper now-  they make it so easy and I find them so much cheaper than others.  So far I've had great luck with shipping quilts, arranging for return easily, and no hassles like UPS manages, or screw-ups like USPS.  The only drawback is that the FedEx place is miles away. Fortunately there is a retail store near there for a citrus orchard so I can also buy juice and Meyer lemons and Honey Belle oranges when I go.  Yesterday I bought a huge box of red grapefruit sections, then stopped to get some avocados to go with them.  Lunch for the week, done!  Also cleaned the refrigerator finally, so there is room for the grapefruit!

So, with my housekeeping for the season done I can now settle back in and finally start the second Twins quilt.  I have another image from the mid-50's of an adult set of twins and lots of old blue quilts so that's the plan.  It's another big one so will keep me busy at least until the end of the year assuming I don't get sidetracked into more encaustic fun. Or something else shiny...  And that, dear pals, is my Process Report after a long time of no process!  (See the box to the left where I promise but rarely deliver these updates!)

 I can find a place of repose in a sheet of cloth. Fujimoto

So today I am outta here, going to set up the slow-cooker with a pile of short ribs so dinner is done and I won't be missed until feeding time.