Sherri Woodard Coffey

A cave painting of pair of spotted horses, found in the Pech Merle Cave in Cabrerets, southern France. Scientists estimate the drawing, measuring about 4 meters wide by 1.5 meters high, is about 25,000 years old. An ancient DNA study found that Ice Age artists drew horses based on their observations rather than imagination. AP Photo/Center for Prehistory of Pech Merle, P. Cabrol.

This is a wonderful drawing. I love the spots and the way they are also around the the outline of the horse. And look at that proud stance, the angle of their heads. You can see and read the article here.

I wrote the above text several days ago, then amazingly, heard a story from Weekend Edition about these very same horses! The question is, do the drawings reflect what they were seeing or do they reflect imaginary animals. Through DNA testing, scientists have discovered that there really were horses with polka dots! So the drawings of wool mammoths and other extinct animals were based on reality. Gotta love it!

Admittedly, I’m not a shopper and really don’t get out much. Last weekend I decided to drive to Kerrville before going on to Boerne, and Austin. Kerrville and Boerne (pronounced Burn-y) are in what we in Texas call the Hill Country. This is a really pretty part of Texas and is always a pleasure for me to travel there.

I had been to Kerrville once before and went to a fabric/quilting store there called Creations. Actually, I didn’t remember the name of the store, just a general idea of where it was located. What made it so memorable to me was the fact that it actually had “real” fabrics of wool, cotton, and silk. The store is located in an old house, and each of the rooms holds a different variety of items.

I bought a pattern for a purse which used something called Texture Magic. When I asked about this stuff, I was shown several items in the store that incorporated Texture Magic. Above is a pillow that has this magical material. I know you can’t see the texture in the picture, but it’s there. The pillow is made from a panel like the one below

The way this stuff works is to put it on the back of a piece of a fabric then stitch on a sewing machine in a design of your choosing. After stitching, hold a steam iron over the Texture Magic. It shrinks up, giving the puffy texture seen in the After picture below. Here’s the website with an explanation. So, back to my not getting out much—who knew there was such a thing as this out there? And take it from me, the flower pillow has really nifty texture. The stitching follows the lines of color with a special stitching effect in the center.

All over the store are attractive items made from the patterns and fabrics in the store. A few pictures below.

You gotta slide

Sliding is important when weaving wider widths of 48 inches or more. I haven’t woven 48 inches since I wove Peruvian Mask, below.

Peruvian Mask, Private Collection

Inspiration again

It is soooo nice to have moved past my inspiration-free zone. I am happily weaving away on a piece based on my obsession with the fires that consumed thousands of acres here in Texas this summer. The weaving is interesting, so no chance of getting bored. In fact, I have to stay on my toes to keep up with the colors and where I am in the design. The design is being woven sideways, something I’ve only done once before. I’m a little concerned about the selvedges being the top and bottom of the piece, but felt this was the best way to weave this design. Fingers crossed!

Loom bench

It’s all about the bench

The other issue I have had is my sliding loom bench. I think I bought the bench from Fireside Looms back when Convergence was in Cincinnati–a lot of years ago! The owner at the time, built me the bench above. It has a storage shelf under the seat.

Slider upside downI 

I love my bench, but after so many years, the outside covering of the wheels has broken, and it’s not sliding so well. You can see the parts that have come off in the picture below. Below is a picture showing what they should look like.

Here is a picture of the new kind of wheels on the bench. Michelle was very helpful and my new wheels should be here in a few days. I’m really hoping they work on my bench because it’s different than the one pictured above.

Monday I was thinking of simple ideas and repetition, which to me is variation on a theme. Not sure if this really counts, but for me, these pieces were a variation on a theme of zigzags. First, I gave the illusion of zigzags by using rectangles. Then I practiced with “real” zigzags.

Then I stretched out the zigzags. I remember that while weaving the piece below, I had to change the design during the weaving process because I didn’t want stair-steppy angles. That meant lots of going back to the drawing board, but I was happy with the finished result. And then I thought I was done with zigzags, but they still creep back into my design thoughts, so maybe not.

Source

A visitor stands at an installation entitled “Forever Bicycles” by the Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei at the “Ai Weiwei is Absent” exhibition in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. The exhibition opens Oct. 29 and will run for three months. AP Photo/Wally Santana

As this picture loaded on my computer, it loaded from the top down. I could only see the circle shapes and their repetition, which was intriguing. It was only as the bottom of the picture neared that I could tell these were bicycles. I am reminded that simple everyday objects can be turned into art. I also thought about variations on a theme, which I have done, but then forgotten. Maybe I need to concentrate on that for a while, since I have also been thinking about series in art, which is just another way of saying variations of a theme. Lots to ponder. What series or variations on themes have you done?

Last week I wrote about subscribing to the new Fiber Art Now magazine. Well, it arrived today. How great is that! I can’t believe how fast that was. There are many articles about fiber in different uses, with a special emphasis on rug hooking (and believe me, it’s not your grandmother’s rug hooking). But one of my favorite is the Artist Profile of Joetta Maue. Both of the images below accompany the article.

I am continually impressed with the creativity of human beings. When I first saw the mother and baby, I immediately felt emotion and connection that one might feel when standing before a painting. Both pieces are embroidered, appliqued, and painted.

In the On View section, thee is a “gallery” of Korean Textiles, which were on view at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco. Darn! Missed that one too!

All in all, I enjoyed looking and reading this issue of the new fiber art magazine and look forward to the next issue. And, I am very impressed with the quick service!

I was reading American Style magazine and saw this on the last page, Parting Shot page. Trompe l’oeil. And, if you’re like me, you’ve probably heard it pronounced bunches of different ways. Internet to the rescue! Pronunciation here—at least one version. The picture above does not do the mural justice so go here to see it ad many more. The artist is John Pugh. American Style has more pics and the article for the “Parting Shot” are here.

Georgia O’Keeffe, My Autumn, 1929. Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. Estimate: $2,000,000 – 3,000,000. Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd 2011

I love the colors in this painting. Funny how one day one thing is very appealing and another day, it’s not. So, who knows whether this will appeal tomorrow, but for today, love it! And, of course, it could be mine. Christie’s is offering it at auction.

The last time I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum in Santa Fe, the exhibit Georgia O’Keeffe: Abstraction was showing. Many of the paintings were monochrome, but still fascinating because of what she did with those subtle colors.

I seem to be obsessed with clouds lately. Hmm, well, not lately, but since summer of 2010. The storm clouds across the New Mexico desert, plateau in the background—this started it. At first I was thinking I could do something with it in my weaving, but soon realized that I really don’t want to dye and weave with various shades of gray.

Along with this obsession about clouds came the realization that I really don’t remember much about the vocabulary of clouds. The picture above seems to be pretty clear about the different kinds of clouds. It came from here.

The picture above is one that I may attempt to work with, or maybe I’ll go back to that NM picture—if I can find it, that is. The tall building is the Will Rogers tower, which is close to Will Rogers Coliseum, the domed building to the right of the tower. This whole complex is located in the arts district in Fort Worth. It’s nice to have so many art venues grouped together, although parking can sometimes become an issue.

Anyone else out there who used to read Fiberarts magazine? I did. Even though some of the art covered was really “out there” to me, I still enjoyed reading/seeing everything and have missed it since it stopped publishing. There’s another magazine that’s stepping up: Fiber Art Now. I bit the bullet and subscribed today. When the link is followed, you can click on the Premier Issue and see the table of contents.

I have also been thinking about joining Surface Design Association. Done! And it only took about three years to finally get it done. I have always enjoyed their journal, which I could sometimes find on the newsstand at Borders (Gosh, I miss them!). Even though I don’t “do” surface design, the journal pages were nearly always inspirational.