Blog - Page 30 of 100 - Sherri Woodard Coffey

Goals and the to-do list

Struggling with goals and being accountable has been a problem the last couple of years, so I have decided to take a Master class with Lisa Call. I have some goals that I want to accomplish, but feel frustrated with breaking those down into small bites. Overwhelming! One of those goals is a certain number of finished pieces by April 30. I can get in the studio hours to finish, but everything else falls to the wayside.

One of the things that I knew needed work on, in addition to the everyday stuff, is being able to critique art—my own mostly, but it applies to all art. Well, only the art that I like! I need to know what is in the art that makes me like it. Turns out that critiquing art is a component of this class.

Just throwing the shuttle until it’s finished. Cut it off Tuesday.

From the goals that I have, I make a weekly to do list. This is where things start falling apart for me. They include studio time, yard work/summer exercise program, designing, dyeing, and socializing. Each week those vary, according to what’s going on. For the studio, it’s mainly logging in the hours weaving, and being the nerd that I am, I made a spreadsheet with increments of 15 minutes. Writing it down in a notebook just wasn’t working. I am fairly liberal with what I call studio time, though—finishing work, dyeing, designing. This other stuff like writing falls under another category, although I don’t know what to call it. Here’s what my lists have looked like for the last couple of weeks.

This week—July 12-18

—Finish piece on loom

–Clean studio

–Do finish work on two pieces (not my favorite thing to do)

—Clean off table, sort and put away stuff currently on table—required for the above

–Begin dyeing yarns for next piece

Plan colors
Weigh yarns
Print spreadsheet with formulas for each batch
Set alarm
3 hours yard work
Extras: –Design

Last week—July 5-11

~~25 hours in the studio~~ Yep, did it!
Get ready for guild sale on Saturday—Done
Go to docent tour of Wari exhibit (this is my socializing “chore.”)—Going next Tuesday. Will have to work really hard to not back out.
1 hour of doing yard work 3 times—Only did one hour. I have to get up really early because it’s so hot right now, so setting alarm is on my to do list for next week.

I did get more socializing in this week—visited with friends.

Two things on my list are causing angst: yard work and socializing. The yard part I understand, but the socializing? Frankly, I am pretty content to stay at home and do what I do. When it comes to getting out the door, which involves dressing appropriately, well, I’d just rather not. But I’m working on it! And besides, it rained this week. Obviously too wet now.

Yesterrday I planned to new set of yarns that I’m going to start dyeing–grouping the skeins by weight and assigning colors to each group. This afternoon will be spent on finish work, not one of my favorites, but I’m grateful to have some pieces that need finishing! Studio time to log in. Yeah!

Next week? Finally get out in the yard? Cut brush? Haul it away? Stay tuned…

The tools we use

A few weeks ago I got a new printer, even though the old one does a good job with color. The new printer is a Canon, which I’ve never had before. It’s one of those all-in-one printers, and yes I know, people complain about how one of those things always goes out. I still haven’t set up the fax, but I love the other tasks that it will take care of. It’s wireless so I can print from my iPad in the other room. It prints double sided, which I love. I have it set to do that automatically, but I can change it when I want. It prints photos. My HP supposedly prints photos, but I could never get it to work. I haven’t looked at the resolution of the scans it produces, but mostly for my part, it’s sufficient. And I love having a copier. When I draw out a design and color it, it is so nice to be able to copy it first. That way the design doesn’t have to be drawn all over again. I don’t work for Canon, and if you’re interested knowing, it’s a Canon MX922. I got mine from Best Buy, and I learned that they will match prices, even from Amazon. And if you’re wondering why this Ode to Printer, it makes things easier. Before copying became so easy to do at home, I would sometimes redraw a design bunches of times because I didn’t like the colors I used on it. What’s an important tool that you use?

Hot, hot, hot! And rain!

So what else is new? It’s hot here, but there’s nothing new about that. But…yesterday we got a little rain. The wind came up, thunder rolled in, pea-size hail beat against the window, and it rained. And my electricity went off. For 13 hours! It was a kind of warm sleep last night. But around 5:30 this morning everything that was on yesterday afternoon came on. I was so tired that I just got up and turned off the lights, turned on the ceiling fan, and went back to bed.

I have a goal of weaving six pieces by April. That may or may not be doable. On the piece I’m weaving now, the only part that remains is throwing a shuttle for 15 more inches. I’m glad I’ve got a good book to listen to since shuttle-throwing can get boring. Those 15 inches are all one color, so no color play to watch even. Oh, and that goal of having six new pieces includes the finishing. I’ve got a few that are off the loom, but unfinished.

If you’re in the area, the area, our guild sale is tomorrow. For the first time, we have separated our sale from the biennial show. I always like to get towels at the sale–they are so absorbent and beautiful.The potters guild is also having a sale and show in the same location. Plus, lots of openings tonight for the various galleries at the Community Arts Center.

A constant surprise

You know those scratch-off thingies your sometimes get for earning prizes? That’s what my weaving is like, except in reverse. As I watch this black and white sections grow, it’s like a little surprise with every pass. Keeps my attention! However, getting to this spot was very frustrating. I think I took out, redid, and cut off about a dozen times. Not really, but it seemed like it. The problem is getting the ikat section to fit the warp, and since the ikat is already dyed, it’s the warp that has to change. Finally, today, it worked. I had to start at the other end of the ikat yarn, though. Now we’re cooking!

And speaking of cooking, I went to the farmers market on Saturday and picked up a few things–cantaloupe, blackeyed peas, and blackberries. As I was shelling the peas, I wondered about their nutrition, so I looked it up. Even though there are recipes for fresh blackeyes, there is not nutritional information available. Only for the dried peas, which I really don’t like. Interesting. Anyone else like fresh blackeyes?

Photos

In my effort to take pictures for the next who-knows-how-long, here is one I took at the grocery store. And, no, I don’t know the name of this fruit, something that I should have documented. Below are some possible colors from this photo, if one should want to weave using this as inspiration. In other trips around town, I came upon this mural. My picture really doesn’t do it justice, but the colors are still beautiful. Click to enlarge. Here is my 365 Project.

These color charts were made in Color Schemer, which I have mentioned before, but there are lots of web-based color programs. Color Schemer allows one to randomize the color selections over and over, plus a mosaic of the photo. Below is another color possibility for the mural. By the way, the mural is on the wall of Uncle Julio’s.

Silly me

In the misguided hope that I might be more creative and look for inspiration all around me, I signed up for the 365 Project. You know, where you submit one picture per day for a year? I’m already three days behind. In my defense, it is very hot, and who wants to go exploring for inspiration in the heat? I’ve submitted exactly one picture, and it wasn’t taken on the day I submitted it. Maybe today will be the day.

The picture on above is in “inside” picture of the ikat yarns balled up. I hope I’ve done them in the correct direction for a center pull ball with the starting point in the center. One of the balls I did last night has a huge loop of yarn that doesn’t seem to belong anywhere, so obviously I went walk-about in the measuring process. Guess it will be straightened out in the weaving.

Steps and inspiratiion

I have gone from this

to this

to this.

Today I plan to finish the last few inches of the piece on the loom. I’m going to ball up the first section (hope I know which end to start with). Then comes the part of getting the width of the warp correct for the ikat weft. Once all of that is taken care of, the weaving goes fairly quickly.

Inspiration–does anyone take pictures for inspiration? I’m wondering if I can make myself take a least one picture daily with colors, shapes, or textures that are inspiring in some way. And when I say “make myself” that doesn’t mean not wanting to; it means remembering and making the effort. Thinking….

June

Gosh, it seems like a long time and not long enough. The boys went home yesterday. It was really hard to send them off, but now it’s time to get back into some kind of routine. It seems that everything we did was hot and sweaty!

One of the things we did while they were here is ride the train to the Dallas World Aquarium. The creature left is one of the many pictures I took. The boys wanted one last trip to Benito’s before heading to the airport. They waited for me outside as I paid the bill. Waiting for me with newspapers in hand was a joke for me.

On the way home from the airport yesterday, I took a detour to buy an olla, which I’ve been trying to find for a couple of years.

I dyed part of the ikat yarns while they were here, and my night hours are spent cutting the wraps off of those yarns. I put them on a towel because they’re still damp. This ikat tape makes a mess, even though I try to be careful. You can see just a couple of the bits that get scattered (marked by the arrows). Multiply that by about a thousand. There’s still one more section to dye. I decided to dye them in sections because of probable dye lot variations. My evenings in the near future will be spent cutting off ikat tape–a mindless activity to be done while watching a movie.

Question–does anyone know of a way to convert treadles on a loom to treadles for a standing loom? Maybe there’s an engineering type out there that can think of a way. I really wish there was some way to stand and weave on my Cranbrook. I get really tired of sitting!

A search for the perfect setup

I’ve been trying to come up with a new way to set up my ikat boards. This latest project really made me tired of sitting, so some way to stand and wrap might be good. I started looking at drafting tables/desks. When I tried out one at World Market, I remembered that when I first set this ikat station, I had tried to think of a way to slant the board. Right now, I have two Elfa drawer units from the Container Store. I remembered that when I first set this ikat station, I had tried to think of a way to slant the board. Right now, I have two Elfa drawer units from the Container Store. A piece of plywood is on top. Since the boards are held down by c-clamps, damage to the underlying surface is likely–hence the plywood. You can see from the picture that all kinds of manipulation are necessary to get the needed space between the boards. Many pieces of various sizes of lumber are on the right side as spacers–no lumber gets thrown away! Oh, and my feet can be seen at the bottom of the picture, a very important detail, vital to good ikat wrapping!

Whew!

Wrapped ikat yarn

Whew! Finally all the ikat has been wrapped and tied for the next project. My hands are telling me that I should do a simpler design next time–and if this one turns out horrible, that will probably be the case. Dyeing comes next. Every time I finish one of these projects, I realize that I need to have a better idea of the weight of the yarn that’s going to be dyed. What I’ve decided for this yarn is to just dye according to the square foot amount on my drawing. I usually dye about 1/3 pound for every square foot of woven territory. And since this pile of yarn is going to get dyed black, if I over estimate, that’s good because I usually dye blacks at least a 2% solution.

: Ritzi Jacobi

And I have no other news. Nothing! I am going to have houseguests for two weeks beginning Saturday. Yes, it’s time for the annual visit from the grandsons. I love doing this and realize that in a few years, they will be done with me. So, I can only build memories now, but, boy, will I be tired afterwards!

: Atsuko Sasaki

Are you familiar with Fiber Art Now magazine? They post so many wonderful and interesting fiber pics on their Facebook page, like these two. More great fiber works here and here.