Tag Archives: calendar

Gearing up

Gearing up. Getting ready for December, even though it’s already here. The studio MUST get cleaned up, as well as the adjunct studio (AKA dining room). So, it’s a bit of this and a bit of that around here.

Newspaper

Newspaper

This is what I found when I went out for the newspaper this morning. I frequently find the paper in this position, but not usually floating in water. The water is because I have had 8.77 inches of rain beginning on Thanksgiving and ending on Sunday. Actually it’s surprising that it is still floating since it was so waterlogged. The depth of this ditch is really deceptive. If the newspaper is not visible from my porch, I get the grabber ’cause I know it’s in the ditch and I don’t want to crawl down into it. Too early in the day for that.

Grabber

Grabber

Below is my latest effort at wedge weave. I will learn how to do this, I will learn how to do this,I will learn how to do this….. This was woven on the tiny Lani from Mirrix.  I don’t have the shedding device on this loom, but might consider it later. Right now I’m just using tapestry needles as shuttles. As you can see, there are issues with this bitty weaving, but overall I am pleased. The selvedges are wavy as they are supposed to be. You can see too much warp the the “line” where the weft changes directions, which is not aided by the amount of draw-in–both solvable, I’m sure. Embroidery floss allows for almost infinite colors. For this I used the six strands as they came out of the package. I did blend colors on a couple of the Christmas trees I wove, which gave the color more depth. Once I feel better about weaving wedge weave, I want to try some silk. Gotta think about that draw-in. How do you fix that?

Wedge Weave, embroidery floss, 4 x 3 inches

Wedge Weave, embroidery floss, 4 x 3 inches

I have had these inexpensive boxed bookshelves sitting on the floor for a while, but finally tackled the project. Yes, the instructions say it’s a two-person job, but I am just one person. The boxes are too big for me to move, so I cut one open and moved the parts individually. I am looking forward to organizing my art and weaving books. Maybe I’ll be able to find something more easily now. Have you heard of Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day? Bibliotaph came in the other day. Scary. I’m not going to think about that.

Bookshelves

Bookshelves

This is the time of year that I get a new calendar, I guess like everyone else. Even though I use the calendar on my phone (and love it!), I still like to have a paper calendar. I have decided to try a new one this time. It’s called the Week Dominator from Neu Year. You can see the one I usually get here and here. What I like about the usual calendar is the yellow column on the right, where I can write down goals or whatever for the week. With the calendar I’m trying this year, you can write those goals down below the day but above where the hours begin. I also like the dot format as opposed to lines. We’ll see. I may go back to the tried and true.

New style calendar

New style calendar

My treat for myself this week. A workshop totally unrelated to weaving, except for what’s floating around in my head. We’ll see…. More about that later.

 

Working like mad…mostly

The weaving of four pieces simultaneously is over. It seemed like it continued. And continued. They’re cut off, but as usual with these small pieces, they didn’t quite turn out like planned, but that’s my fault. I wanted them to be square-ish, but they’re not. I will make them that way.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Kimbell for a program called Precious Adornments: Figurines in the Ancient Andes. Since I love the ancient cultures of this region, it was a must do. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this is the description of the program:

This talk will focus on small-scale humanlike figurines from early pre-Inca cultures along the western coast and highland Andes of modern-day Peru. These anthropomorphic figurines—created in clay, wood, stone, bone, or shell—range in size from miniature pendants to doll-like effigies. Some of these precious objects were worn, and some were adorned with textiles, shell inlay, or precious stones, thus reflecting differences in their function, value, and meaning.

Wari magnet

Wari magnet

I wish there were pictures, but there aren’t, so I’ll have to resort to one I’ve posted earlier. this is a picture of a magnet that I bought during the Wari exhibition. Hard to believe he’s only 4 inches high. He’s inlaid with shell and stone. A better picture is here.

I plan to get to Peru within the next year or two. Just as soon as my knee is better. And since I’m on the subject of Peru, did you hear about what Greenpeace did? This was so totally unbelievable to me. They put huge letters along side the Nasca hummingbird. No one, not even presidents, are allowed to walk along the Nasca lines, yet these idiots went in there and laid out these huge letters trying to draw attention to the environment. Yes, the environment needs attention, but this? The Nasca lines are a World Heritage Site. Geez! Okay, rant over.

Actually, not a lot of art is being done at the moment. I always have a hard time balancing all the personal stuff/chores, the weaving, and the art biz stuff. It seems I do one or the other. I always plan out my week on Sundays, but it never works. Even though all my appointments are in my phone and online, I still keep a paper calendar book for my everyday planning. So, I get out my phone, look Calendar to see what’s on the calendar for the week, plug those in on paper, and work around that to get my to-do list in place. Someone mentioned they use a color coded spreadsheet, so I decided to try that on my usual calendar. Using colored pencils, I lightly colored in blocks. It looks good, but will it work? Who knows. And even if it does, how long will that last.

 

 

What to do…continue or not?

Section-1 This is what I’ve been weaving the last few days, off and on. I’m not happy with it, but can’t decide what to do. Cut off? Continue? Unweave and try again? What I may do is weave this half of the first section (up to the top of the lines drawn on the Grasses-section-1 warp) because that will give me another number to develop a formula for MY ikat measuring. The drawing on the right is what this section is supposed to look like. I realize the colors aren’t the same, but obviously, improvement needs to be made, either in the ikat itself or the weaving. So, maybe go back and weave this as tapestry?

Tera Muskrat is a New Mexico artist who paints large pieces inspired by Mexican calendar girls (or New Mexican). I think only certain generations will know about calendar girls, but maybe I’m wrong. For some reason, the name Jane Russell comes to my mind, but maybe I’m wrong about that too. Marilyn Monroe, even not from the 30s, might be another example. They may have also been called pin-up girls.  I have to admit that one of my favorites is is a woman holding a Chihuahua against here bosom.  I also like Channeling Calendar-Muskrat Georgia. Maybe the attraction is the humor in her paintings, I don’t know. I would have bought one, but they are large, and I don’t have a place for a large painting. So, I did the next best thing–I bought her calendar for 2014 on Etsy. I like that it’s in Spanish (I’m really hoping to refurbish my Spanish this year–not using it plays havoc) and has large pictures for each month. Calendar-page Calendar-Octubre The page below is for Octubre. The text along side it is La Viuda, the widow.