malcontent gerry imputation

Painting is easy. All you have to do is put the right color in the right place.  Unknown

I was able to put in a couple of hours of studio time yesterday and since it was Friday I wanted to stay as long as possible before the creepy scary murderers show up for the weekend.  I spent most of the time getting some big stitch quilting done on the Twins and made some headway.  I have maybe three or four more days on that before I can bind it and declare it finished, and boy am I ever ready to do that.  I sure lose interest once I get the things designed and figured out and pinned up-  the rest verges on pure torture sometimes.  In between sewing lines I would work on a box I am making for TY's remote controls.  His birthday is coming up so I might as well aim for that.  I've picked out the papers and cut the bottom and side boards, but I am still wondering if I need a top or not. If yes, I will need to cut new sides-  I know it will be off the box most of the time so it sure would save a lot of trouble to keep it an open box-  we'll see.

Work has halted on the small quilt, I really have to work on that this weekend- Ive got a chair all set up next to a glass door so I have enough light to sew black thread on black fabric, but still I can only do a bit at a time without eye fatigue.  The dogs are thrilled because even getting up to take them for a romp outside is a break, and we do that lots!  

Yesterday on the SAQA list I was informed that I am doing everything wrong with blogging-  I am supposed to be teaching you or learning from you or providing information for you to move on or whatever.  Something about being a hero?  Or maybe you are the hero... The hell with it-  I do what I want, it's my everyday journal where I show you people's work I am inspired by, or love, or am disgusted over.  (I've been at it almost 10 years now, must be up for some kind of big hang-in-there award, eh?)  Or sometimes my own work, warts and all.  These today are a couple of my early warts-  errr, I mean quilts- going back to the early 80's.  And coincidentally as I was doing a search for something else, my original Geocities website showed up and most everything was still intact, and that's where I found these old images!  

The DARK, BAD-PHOTO side of me~  hope you cut me some slack because these were done way long ago, back in my raven phase.  I still love them but have moved on a bit to other things, whatever that may be.  Looks like I was particularly enamoured with black, doesn't it?  Guess that's a theme that still runs rampant.  OK, here goes:

'Fireflies', lamenting the lack of fireflies in my yard, I rendered my grape arbor and added a raven 'sentry' with 'danger' snakes.  The blocks are made of kimono and the whole thing is covered with tiny fireflies I made from plastic ants that I glued rhinestones to and tied on little wings.  It came back from a show once and all the rhinestones across the bottom were picked off.  Keep your kids under control, please!

'Rabbit Morphs Into Raven', all shiny vintage fabrics and pieces of other quilts.  Started in a Susan Shie workshop where the idea of making complete 'units' and then connecting them was explored- here I've used 6 different quiltlets.  Around this time I was doing a lot of writing on quilts in different forms-  here the letters are appliquéd.

'Cuervo Grande'~  This was the Massachusetts winner of the Great American Quilt Festival in New York, I still don't know why, but questioning that would be somewhat stupid, no?  Again, ravens and lots of 3D leaves around the bottom to simulate ivy growing up the bricks.  The ivy was attached by a metallic woven 1/8" ribbon that I copied up and sewed from old ties to form the border.  Because of this I was commissioned to do a piece for the next Great American Quilt Festival show which I'll show you another time.

'Eight is For Grief'  The background is all goddess images  and superimposed on that are 8 ravens around the female figure.  This is a very personal quilt from a particularly difficult time and helped me get through.  I am a tee-shir wearing proponent of "QUILTING SAVES LIVES".  Another story, another time.  After I got it completed I found this book, an English shildren's counting primer-

completely by accident and leafed through to find that the eight crows signify grief.  

(To invoke Raven as bird of prophecy, you can use the old English rhyme used to interpret omens by the number of ravens, crows, or rooks seen in a flock:

One for bad news, 

Two for mirth.

Three is a wedding,

Four is a birth.

Five is for riches,

Six is a thief.

Seven, a journey,

Eight is for grief.

Nine is a secret,

Ten is for sorrow.

Eleven is for love,

Twelve - joy for tomorrow. 

How perfect, so that became the title.  Wish I had a better picture of the quilt for you but this was when I was dealing with a brand new 4 pixel Kodak digital and I didn't have a clue...

So, my bunnies, how about a little taxidermy to start the weekend?  Seen many taxidermies farm animals lately?  How about ones made into furniture?  Hold on for the ICK factor with these-

Designer Armin Blasbichler‘s work is often jarring.  His series ORSON, I’m Home strikes a special chord, though.  The series is composed of three “dining sculptures” created primarily from the bodies of various farm animals.  While we may be more accustomed to farm animals adorning plates on the furniture, seeing them as taxidermy furniture makes for a surreal juxtaposition.  The furniture confronts its users with the consumption it usually facilitates.  Instead, another solution-

And a kinder-gentler solution-  "Bicycle Taxidermy" was a side project born out of too many sleepless nights at the Royal College of Art and a homesickness for the rugged Highlands, founder Regan Appleton says. "It began when I created a memento mori out of my father's prized but long discarded mountain and road bikes." Appleton provides what he calls a "taxidermy service," mounting client's steeds on a scorched or bleached European oak plaque "made by Mick, a local joiner. The plaque is engraved with the horned beast's model, pet name, dates ridden, and commemorative years." Alternatively, you can order a pre-made mount in a variety of handlebar styles; visit Bicycle Taxidermy to see the current offerings.

A word of caution:  

Livestock, usually, is a poor choice for a wedding gift.         

Yesterday I showed you some photographs by Emmy Lincoln who goes by the name Itchysoul. 

(oh dear, another pig in distress!)

 She is a popsurrealist lowbrow painter influenced by sci-fi, fairytales, animé, toys and all things kitsch. To set the mood of a painting Emmy likes to reuse flee market art and old weathered books as canvases.  Today I have some of her reworked  paintings

So today I started with crows so I'll end the same way-  I think there are eight, hope this doesn't mean I  get any more grief.  

Today's Goal, get self off of Faebook.  It is stooped and I am sick reading about people's breakfasts and seeing large groups of people I don't know and watching planes take off and land from the windows.  Of course I COULD just goof on it for awhile.  Yeah, that's what I'll do.  Heh heh.