Christmas 2014

Winter past, winter present

Lazy Jane's Cafe

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Winter's Day

A walk on a winter's day, what would not be noticed any other time becomes a stunner with snow decorating it.  Pink berries hanging on branches of a Eastern Wahoo bush.  This was a show-stopper snow or no.  The  mysterious old brick house with the turret.  I see one light on in the upstairs all the times I've walked past in the dark. Bird feet, probably pigeon or rock doves,making designs in the snow.

Snowballs Chance.  For sale in my etsy shop.  

Tracks

Tracking where I was, what I did, what I saw.

If I could I would start my day every day with designed coffee.

Janice Arnold Felting workshop at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum on the banks of the Mississippi River in Winona, MN.  This workshop was part of the Farm and Fiber Studio Tour in Southeast Minnesota.

beginning

 layering wild wool,  wool batt, wool roving 

My piece after much exertion - felting is hard work,  impressive results when finished.

Love the backside.

A line-up of other felting workshop participant pieces.

One of Janice Arnold's felted pieces, there were many more but my phone was not taking good pictures.  Exquisite work.  More to look at, go to JAFelt.

A Studio Tour.  This fairy tale house where in Audrey Christie lives making her fanciful woodcut art.

What a treat, she lets lookers go through her house - a work of art in itself.

Go here to see more of her work.

Always weaving - threading the heddles.

End the day this way - mmmmm Woodland Empire IPA, made in Boise, ID

          Have your beer,  then go outside.

Slow Fashion

Slow food, slow living, slow down, slow clothes, slow fashion.  What could be slower than weaving the fabric that goes into the garment that you make on your sewing machine?  I'm there.  Why do I do this - so many reasons but to name the top ones.  I love color, I love texture - when I weave the fabric I am in control of both.  I think in colors, sometimes I even smell colors or taste them.

Weaving takes time, I have time to give to it and it's important to me to do this work.  I am not carrying on any tradition in my family that I know of, altho, there were some Canadian tailors my sister found out about.  I do it because I love it and I can.  I also believe that we need to consider what we buy, it should have value and be valued.  Classic design, artful living and dressing.  Weavers, knitters, spinners, sewers, all those who put time into design and the crafting of clothing to wear for themselves and others - hats off!

Good thoughts and ideas in this link about slow fashion and clothing.

..."It's about reconnecting with our clothes, rather than viewing them as quick trends or throwaway items." "It's about tapping into the pleasure of buying a well-made garment with a timeless design, being able to recognize quality, repairing and properly caring for your wardrobe."  read more

Finishing up for the weekend art fair, the Driftless Area Art Festival in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.   I'll be there with my designs, handwoven and sewn slow fashions.

Handwoven remnants transformed into headbands.

Textu - real

OK, I know I talk about texture a lot but I have to share these photos from the Allen Centennial Gardens in Madison.  Since textu-real is not a recognized word - I hyphenate because that was the first word that popped into my head looking at photos I took.

This pot is especially sublime.  Go visit this garden if you can.  It's located on a small plot of land on the campus of UW-Madison.  The most has been made of that space.  Inspiring and beautiful.

This is an indulgence post.  When dead-winter is upon us, coming back to this post. I will probably get the mental and emotional boost that will be needed along about January, February and March.

That lake boathouse and the chairs in the last post - came out here.

                          

Love sunflowers!

Summertime

Millions of frogs at the lake this year and water seeping into the cracks, especially the boat house.  We visited the little pond down the road every day to see how many frogs we could count.  Toads and dragonflies too.  Couldn't help but think of the Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher and his slippy, sloppy larder.

I love this place.  We have shared many memories here and though some things have changed, a lot remains the same.  Smart management by the owner family keep it that way.  We know what to expect when we come back every year.  The last picture is sunrise on the lake, imagine the loon calls and the cacophony of the Martin birds waking up.  Northern Minnesota, near a place called Pelican Rapids.

Summer time weaving.  Recently it's been gold and a taupe-y color with a green tint - can't come up with a name for this color, the supplier gives it only a number.  And then it's been blues, reds and greens mixed up.  Always mix it up.

Finished gold and that taupe-y color with some light blue mixed in.   Threads perspective looking down through the loom and the last, a look over the lamms at high tension.  This piece is off the loom now, can't wait to see what it looks like after a wash.

Sunny Sunday

New work and some fringes.

A sunny Sunday, a full bookcase and paper hearts catching the sun.

I have admired Kelly Marshall's (www.kellymarshall.com) work for a long time.  This weekend I found her at the Madison Art Fair.  Now I have this beautiful rug in my house.  The photo doesn't do it justice!