You know that thing when you're driving through an area and your radio gets good and bad reception? Or when you are in a building and the only place your cell phone works is the northeast corner? I always wonder what fourth dimension traffic is really affecting those waves.
hmmmm..... I wonder what would happen if I stitched a line at each seam of a composition. Would the composition show hot spots or areas of greater traffic? better reception?
Holidays break the momentum of projects. I hate to stop working on something while I have a clear focus of the direction it is going in. It just takes so long to get back on the road. This poor abused cactus in the studio reminded me of that. Sometimes you go strong in one direction only to drop and weaken as the piece grows. Then you have to put your thoughts in order, reach into a new support system and try again. Check out those little feet this guy has created to forge ahead!
Last week, while spending time with the family, I found new textures to imitate…
I had some time to practice hand stitching…
and found inspiring things to think about…
The road back to the studio is filled with new energy.
Happy end of year everyone.
This beautiful poem warms my heart.
Winter Solstice
by Rebecca Parker
Perhaps for a moment the typewriters will stop clicking,
the wheels stop rolling,
the computers desist computing,
and a hush will fall over the city.
For an instant in the stillness,
the chiming of the celestial spheres will be heard
as earth hangs poised in the crystalline darkness, and then gracefully tilts.
Let this be a season when holiness is heard and the splendor of living is revealed.
Stunned to stillness by beauty
we remember who we are and why we are here.
There are inexplicable mysteries.
We are not alone.
In the universe there moves a Wild One whose gestures alter earth's axis toward love.
In the immense darkness everything spins with joy.
The cosmos enfolds us.
We are caught in a web of stars, cradled in a swaying embrace, rocked by the holy night, babes of the universe.
Let this be the time we wake to life, like spring wakes,
in the moment of winter solstice.
I have four active pieces in process right now in addition to an idea for a long-term collaboration with children, a full year's collection of weather maps for a piece on climate change and ideas brewing for others. All of them will probably end up on fabric using thread.
I was recently chosen as one of 30 artists being profiled in a new book by Martha Sielman entitled Art Quilt Inspirations: Abstracts. Part of that process required me to answer some probing questions about how and why I do my work. I'll save that discussion for Martha's expertise but the exercise brought me to this: Am I using the right medium?
The Robert & Sara Genn Twice-Weekly Letter said this today: "When asked about painting's future purpose, abstract and photorealistic painter of landscapes Gerhard Richter replied that contemporary painters have both a connection to the tradition of painting and the need to depart from it. 'Questioning the medium,' says Richter, 'is part of the job.'" (to follow this insightful and inspiring missive: sign up here)
Whew! I thought I was having a crisis of medium detachment....Good to know I am in great company.
So why do I use fabric and thread? texture, line quality, and the meditative space it requires. But also because it references time, tradition and craftsmanship. All mediums are valid, some feel nubbier, take more time and challenge the viewer to explore the surface of meaning. Quilting does that for me, it takes ideas and breathes a new level of meaning into them.
Normally I don't pay attention to the back of my pieces except to tie off loose threads, iron new seams and finish rough edges. But the other day, while talking to a friend about the mind map piece I have been working on, I turned it over on the design board to focus on the construction lines.
and I like it. In fact I like it so much it might end up being a two sided piece.
Mind map, Paula Kovarik, back, work-in-progress
So for now, I will turn this piece over and work from behind. It may change the front, it may add new depth. We'll see. Working from the back allows for more stream of consciousness line making. Mysterious, complicated and perhaps, in the long run, revealing.
