Don't Touch The Art

Had a little fun in the last few weeks. I was in a show for Bear Necessities, finished a sweater, started a knitted lace project (my first with actual lace yarn), made a felted Teddy Bear/Mouse (haven’t decided what it will be yet), and had a museum and dinner date with Michael and Steven (the highlight of the last two weeks!). But all in all, not a lot has happened. I didn’t sell anything at the show but it was nice to be out showing. I chatted it up with my very old friends Lindsay and Ashley Cox. Lindsay’s a Miller now but I will always remember her as a Cox. I showed two paintings and two embroideries. I stayed up late into the night to put the finishing touches on my embroidery only to wake up realizing that it is not even close to being finished. But it was presentable so I showed it anyway. It was a very casual show, with a fashion show aspect that had static models on pedestals. True to my fear and original apprehension about puting my fragile embroideries in the show, people, all the while keeping a respectful distance from all paintings, would pick up, turn, rub, and touch the silk embroideries. There is such a misunderstanding about textile art. I don’t know if it’s a familiarity or a lack of respect or just curiosity, but the general populace assumes its all right to physically handle textile art. It is not all right to handle textile art for the record. Fabric is delicate and can become easily soiled, torn, rent or warped just from someones fingers. Lindsay walked past my table when I was off talking to someone and saw a woman boldly holding my embroidery up to the light, turning it and stretching it. She told the woman sternly, “You need to put that down.” Thank god for her timing but what about all the unseen moments of possible destruction? There is an ongoing argument in the arts world of fine art vs. craft. Frankly, I find that argument tiresome, cliche and worn out. Obviously both sides are right in their own ways. But for me at least, the kicker is textile art is still considered craft by the general populace and therefore disregarded by the general populace. There have been incredibly amazing pieces of textile art that has been hailed by critics, collectors and lovers of fine art. Some notables include Sheila Hicks, Anni Albers, Magdelena Abakanovicz, Mark Newport, and Buzz Spector. I was fortunate enough to have teacherly contact with artists Pauline Verbeek-Cowart, Jason Pollen, Marcie Miller Gross, Maria Elena Buszek, Judi Ross, Michelle Fricke and Tim Towner. But these artists are largely unknown to the general public. So, because everyones grandma crocheted, knitted or sewed, it must not be very special and can obviously be picked up for comparison to Gram’s doilies. I wish that we artists could send a memo out to the rest of the world saying, “Please Refrain From Touching the Fabric/Paper/Fiber Art On Display No Matter Where It’s On Display”. So, next time you are at an exhibit, a fair, a museum, gallery, your friends living room, assume you can’t touch the fiber art and if you really want to, ask first.

Preston's Snake Scarf

Felted Teddy/Mouse

Bird Painting

Alleyway painting

Moving to the big city

Living room for Rats

Living room for Rats

Wicked Sweater

I’ve also decided, with relief, that I’m no painter. I gave it a healthy stab and I’m just not good at it. Same with photography. It’s a relief because I can focus on my fiber pieces knowing that I’m working in the right medium for me.

Not so busy anymore...

Haven't written in a while. Things slowed right down after that busy week. Luckily I worked all weekend at the bar, but didn't make as much money total what I would normally make on a Friday. It was a bummer. I'm trying to keep a calm head about my money issues. In fact, it would seem on the outside that I might not be giving it a thought at all but trust me, I'm just bottling it up inside. I had a great interview on Friday for a great job at a great restaurant. This place is right up my alley: 150 bottle wine list, rotating menu, vegetarian friendly, recycling program, and best of all, using foods and goods from local farmers. I'm crossing my fingers so hard my hands are cramping. I have a second interview on Wednesday. I really want this job. Even if I had to leave Subterranean, which I love. I hope I'm not jinxing it because I'm talking about it.

Baloo Bear will do anything for attention.

I broke down and bought my first pattern the other day. It was $5.50 and I used my savings to stymie the guilt. It is the Wicked sweater pattern from Zephyr Style. It's really cute, short sleeves and a kangaroo pocket. I have a bright teal Patons merino wool that I'm using. I started to make my swatch today and I think my gauge is too loose. Which means I need to go down a needle size, which means I have to go out and purchase the right size needle. Ugh! It never ends! So, instead I started to work on Adrienne's Snake Scarf. I made one for Mickey (which the dogs are modeling) and my Mom (his grandma) showed it around. Adrienne is due this week for her fourth child and wants a snake scarf for her 4 year old. She's a really cool girl so I have no problem making her one but I told my mom in no uncertain terms not to take orders. I'm not fiddling away my time making her clients snake scarfs! No matter how cute their own grand babies may be!

I also made a round dishcloth to teach myself short rows. I learned the wrap-and-turn method. It's embarrassingly easy. I was worried that they'd be hard. I now want to learn the Japanese method. It might be a cleaner look. The dishcloth turned out huge. Again, my loose knitting gauge. I swear, it just haunts me.

So really, that's all I have this week. Pretty boring.

JamPackedBusyWeek!

It is going to be and already has been a busy week! I finally finished the mittens for my Mom that match the hat I made her for Solstice. I made her the Sugar on Snow hat/neck-warmer. I made the mittens out of the same yarn, using the same baby cable rib on the wrists and then mitered the tops. This being my first pair of mittens, I used the Bernhard Ullman pattern and then adapted it for aesthetic reasons. The yarn knitted up into a very nice dense fabric and should really keep her hands warm. As I was finishing the second mitten, Gabe and I were on the couch and he was napping on my shoulder. It was very sweet so I didn't want to disturb him. But because of that, the second mitten is one or two rows longer than the first since it wasn't near enough so I could count the rows. Oh well, you can't really tell. All in all I really like how the turned out.

Yesterday, though, I decided to take a break from knitting mittens and knit something for myself! I haven't done that for awhile, so I grabbed some really cool yarn that my sister had sent me and quickly knit up Insaknitty's Wham Bam Thank You Lamb neck-warmer! I used size 13 needles and some bright green Thick & Quick with a strand of some bright pink Caron acrylic. The effect is pretty cool. Talk about immediate gratification! And of course, today it was a bea-uutiful 60 degree day! I'm out riding around on my bike (shopping for Gabes B-day!) and I totally didn't need the neck-warmer!

But here's the best news! At work on Friday, I was talking to Roger the cigarette guy. You know, the guy that goes around giving out free packs of cigarettes? He told me that he quit the smoke job to start working full time at his store.

"Like, a brick and mortar?" I asked him. He said yes, that it was downtown. (Downtown! What?!) And that he and his friends owned it. It's called Jugrnaut and it's 'lifestyle' store, full of clothes and accessories and shoes. It is a cute place! Roger noticed I was knitting (I always knit behind the bar) and we started to talk about cool knitwear. And we decided that I should knit up some wristbands and things with their logo on them. It's a relatively straightforward logo so knitting it into a wristband or a glove would be easy. So I'm making up prototypes this week! I have some tricks and ideas up my sleeve so hopefully this goes somewhere! In the meantime, check out their Myspace page - myspace.com/jugrnautchicago

And as I mentioned earlier, its Gabe's birthday coming up. It's two days after valentines day! Luckily we don't get giddy about that Hallmark holiday so it's nothing to worry about. But! What to get, what to get! I think he wants a wristband which is easy peasy but what else! I have very little time and even less money! Can't afford the big wowza and don't have time for hand-knit socks! I have 5 days to figure it out!