green line: finished

there's no reason that this took as long as it did to finish. it was just an experiment that i liked the look of but got bored making. it's about 15" long and 2.5" wide. felt like it was 1 million french knots...but it was probably more like 1 thousand . still a substantial amount of knots.

this knot cluster is about 1.5" inches high. i'm completely aware i stopped before it reached it's limit.
but i'm not sure there IS a limit so stopping here was just as good as any place for now.

still one of my favorite process photos...

things I made this Christmas

I like to create a few things for Christmas time to balance out everyone's and my own urge to consume. I didn't have to buy anything for these crafts except cute bags for the cookies and a box of crackers.

First off is baking: I made everyone in my family an individually wrapped, handful of ginger molasses cookies. They are just about the only cookie I can make well. I also tried a vegan version of "Christmas Crack" which is just sugar and butter (toffee) poured over saltine crackers with chocolate chips melted and smeared over the top. You can add whatever topping on the chocolate; I picked chopped pecans. It's pretty good but I'd have 2 layers of crackers or waffle shaped pretzels next time for more crunch.

Then I wanted to make Nick a quick stocking. I traced mine and learned how to put it together with the help of youtube, my sewing machine and material I had on hand. Complete with lining, a cuff and no raw edges! I was pretty pleased with the stocking because I don't have much experience with sewing construction and it worked! The embroidery was just a quick solution but at least Nick has a stocking now.

My Christmas card is not my favorite this year, but here it is anyway. I suppose I did have to purchase the printed cards for everyone but drawing it was free!

It was supposed to be a reboot/continuation of this one i did 2 years ago. The older version is way better!

And finally, I cut, glued and embroidered these tiny pennant banners for ornaments for some people in my family. They're good on the tree or all year round.

What did you create this Christmas?

lesson: beginning embroidery & "monster pillows"

I spent a decent amount of time this fall teaching some kids to sew a bit. On paper and on fabric.
Though the self portrait projects can be simply BEAUTIFUL, many students just weren't into it because it takes some perseverance.

But, they did seem to enjoy creating a stuffed pillow shaped like a cute monster. They custom painted fabric, traced out what shape pillow they wanted, used some Heat N Bond to create iron on patches. They used those for eyes and whatever else they wanted.

Much like any first run project, it had a few problems, but in general I'm really pleased. I'm looking forward to making this even better for my next group with more shape and embellishment choices.

We didn't have a lot of time due to holiday schedules, so most only have the minimum required finshed, but a few kids were able to add a few extra details and new stitches. We're missing a few last minute ones in this photo above but we had 8 total, not including my sample.

teacher sample

This photo causes me lots of "cute aggression"

doyou haiku || Liz Payne

cheerful shapes pop fresh
and forward in space with lines
lovingly sewn through.











Liz Payne is from Australia and has one of the most beautiful Instagram pages I've seen. Sewn block prints on paper?! yes please. Painted fabric with french knots and running stitches? Okay! I feel like we should be friends. She has a store where you can buy prints and original art objects.

doyou haiku|| is a feature series of contemporary artists that I find inspiring. haiku forces me to boil my thoughts down to some essentials and still allow the work to speak for itself.

doyou haiku || Doris Salcedo

delicate and sharp.

prickly but remains unseen

our losses, our hopes.

disremembered. 2014 (made with silk and needles)

disremembered. detail. 2014 (made with silk and needles)

Doris Salcedo is definitely an art-star and has an impressive, varied and prolific body of work. Her work uses common materials and everyday objects to raise questions about loss both on an individual and universal level. Her works are moving, poignant and completely beautiful.

doyou haiku|| is a feature series of contemporary artists that I find inspiring. haiku forces me to boil my thoughts down to some essentials and still allow the work to speak for itself.

doyou haiku || Tim Knowles

drawing with the wind

can seem abstract, but it's not.

trees do it for you.

Dragon Spruce 2012

Dragon Spruce installation 2012

Oak on Easel #1 2005

Oak on Easel #1 2005

Weeping Willow on circular panel 2005

Weeping Willow installation 2014

Kielder Forest Walk - An Attempt to walk in a straight line through the forest for 8hrs

Tim Knowles is obviously an outdoor enthusiast and a versatile artist who makes trees draw, creates videos, photos and goes where the wind takes him to explore his natural environment in clever and intriguing ways. Lots more to see on his website.

doyou haiku|| is a feature series of contemporary artists that I find inspiring. haiku forces me to boil my thoughts down to some essentials and still allow the work to speak for itself.

halloween costume 2015: sloth

all i knew was that for halloween i wanted to create some kind of headpiece art from scratch. from there it was just about setting my priorities straight.

--if i have to work on something for awhile, i need to love it....sloths!
--if i have to wear something on my head, this year it needs to have big flowers on it....hibiscus!
--if i'm going to put a sloth on my head, it has to be reaching out at people...obviously, because that's the dream: a sloth reaching out to hug you while it noms on flowers.

everything was made from cardboard, paper, foil, masking tape and paint. except the leaves. i had planned on making all the leaves, but i'm really glad i didn't.

in total, this costume cost me $15 because i used what i had and what i used was negligible. i only purchased the fake leaves and a thrifted baseball cap that i didn't end up using.

from concept to costume contest winner!:

this was one of those extremely rare projects that sorta came out exactly as planned.

i sized some cardboard strips to my head like a triple headband and started building.

starting to look pretty cute!

40 painted paper hibiscus petals & papier mache

adding color and painted texture w/ hibiscus prototype.

i forgot to take more in progress photos so it magically looks completed.

a sloth mantra.
i also like "live gently, do whatever you want, and don't worry about dying" but it's not as catchy.

nick finally put together his cool but socially awkward costume.

i won a prize! 

until next year, Halloween!

sunset stretch: in progress

it's a little melancholy that i'm making these sunsets as the days are getting shorter, winter is on the way and seasonal affective disorder is likely to set in soon.

anyway, -it's more than 1/3 finished...only about 4 more feet left to do (approximately 5-8 hours of work). and as usual, it's difficult to photograph...it looks much better when you take in the whole thing without a camera--often the case with sunsets.

i'm working on the 4th one down. 

just about to put in the brightest white parts to the left next...