13th Steet Studio

Bird Watching

Hope everyone had a good day yesterday. We celebrated Mother's Day with donuts for breakfast and pizza for supper here. Not fancy, but it works for me!
I finished sewing a blouse that my mother started for herself back when she still had a sewing machine and the space to use it. When she gave up her house, she gave me the half finished project and said maybe I could finish it. It finally made it to the top of the pile last week, so I was able to pass it off as a Mother's Day present. It had been a long time since I have tried to set in sleeves and make buttonholes! Guess it took me too long to get to it....Mom didn't remember giving it to me. (I used to get out of mending my kids' clothes by just waiting until they had outgrown them.) Anyway, she was glad to get the blouse, and I was glad to get an old project out of the sewing room.
I've been doing some bird watching via the internet....
There is a pair of falcons that have successfully raised families for several years running in a box on a tower in Rochester, NY. Some of the offspring have been sighted raising there own families in other areas lately. This year Mariah, the mother falcon, has hatched out five babies-a large group yet again. You can watch them in all their fluffy white glory here. The photo updates every few minutes. Falcons are a good solution to pigeon over-population, but I do hate the bird-eat-bird aspect of it all.
I've also been watching baby barn owls in Texas again this spring here. They are just about to fly out of the box, though, so it will be a sad empty nest soon. This nest has a video camera on duty, so we can watch all of the action. Some nights it is just incredible how many mice and rats the mom and dad owls bring in for their family. What a good way to control the rodents!
Closer to home...yesterday just before sunset, we saw Ruby-throated humming birds enjoying the flowers on our chestnut tree. They seem to pass through here in the spring and the fall...although I have been told that if I'd put out feeders, I'd have them for the whole summer. Here is a photo my husband took of one of them. I guess it would take a pretty speedy shutter setting to get their wings to not look blurred.

Beachcombing

Several years ago, my daughter and I watched a Jim Carrey movie called "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I'm not very good at summarizing plot lines, but two things about the movie made a big impression on me. The first thing was a new invention in the movie that erased memories. When couples broke up, they could pay to have the memories of their time together erased. When parents lost children, they could have the memories of their loss removed. Aspects of this service really appealed to me. Eternal sunshine, indeed! Jim Carrey's character is distressed to learn that his former girlfriend is erasing her memories of him. The one thought that he gets her to remember is "Meet me in Montauk"....a fragment of a trip they took together to Montauk, NY. I think they do reunite in Montauk and start over at the end of the movie...the typical happy ending.
Well, when my daughter decided to attend college on Long Island (Montauk is on the most eastern end of Long Island), we would occasionally kid each other about meeting in Montauk. She is just finishing up her Junior year, and it became obvious that if I was going to meet her in Montauk, time was running out. Plus, this has been a long, sad winter for my family, and I was looking for some Eternal Sunshine. So, last week we met in Montauk....and while I was not expecting it to be warm and sunny, I didn't realize just how bone chilling the wind off of the Atlantic Ocean can be on a gray rainy day. There was precious little sunshine. Not zero, mind you... there was enough so I could see why the rich and famous love the Hamptons, which are back west a bit on the island. The highlight of our weekend in Montauk was probably watching "Baby Momma", which is an enjoyable movie that will probably NOT stick in my brain.

Listing

For some reason, I volunteered to write a monthly article for Ragged Cloth Cafe. Well, I guess I was looking for something to force myself to look at art outside of my little world, and I am enjoying doing that. My article for March looks at the work of three male artists; two that spent a large portion of their lives in mental institutions, and a third that has been diagnosed as autistic. The work ranges from humorous to creepy. My favorite of the three is Gregory L. Blackstock. I just love his careful, detailed visual lists of everyday items. A book of his work has been recently published...check it out! Yes, I suppose a book cover filled with birds did catch my eye quicker than one with, say, cats.

Whatever.

And We're Back....sort of

Trying to snap out of it here. I like cold weather, but this winter has seemed endless. The birds are singing and the pussy willows tell me that spring will come soon. I just finished painting the spare bedroom a bright sunny yellow. It maybe just a bit too sunny, LOL. Once I get some art on the walls and curtains in the window, I'm sure it will be much better.
I have recently agreed to be a contributor for June Underwood's art blog Ragged Cloth Cafe. This blog serves up discussion and ideas on art and textile art twice a week. Check it out!
My first article, which can be seen here  was inspired by the work of Mbuti pygmy women of the Ituri Forest. The barkcloth that the Mbuti women produce really speaks to me, but I certainly wish I had some actual insight into what they are thinking about as they make these marks. All I can do is guess.

For the Love of Supplies Swap

I signed up for a "Love of Supplies Swap" hosted by Artsy Mama a couple of weeks ago. This was such a fun idea. Everyone got a heart shaped candy box (and ate the candy themselves! What a great first step!!), and then replaced the candy with Valentine themed craft supplies. Here is the box of sweets that I received:
I really love all of the art and craft supplies that my swap partner sent me! Stickers, beads, ribbons, fabric, glitter and more. There was even some beautiful crocheted flowers. I feel really lucky with this swap.

And here is the box I sent in return. I covered that paper padding that is in candy boxes with some valentine fabric, and when I realized that the resulting padding wasn't big enough to completely cover the inside of the box's top, I sewed some lace around the edge to make it bigger. Then I took a try at gold leafing the inside of the box bottom. This would have been a big success if I had remembered to paint the surface with a dark red, or black first. There is inevitably missed spots in gold leaf, and it looks a lot better if there isn't white shining through those areas. But it looked pretty good. All in all, this is the most successful swap I have participated in. Thank you swap partner, and thank you Artsy Mama!

A Bird in the Hand

A bird in the hand is rather comforting...a warm fluffy feather ball. Petey is as close to a dove as I can come up with tonight. He and I wish everyone a snug, warm and peaceful holiday season!

At least somebody is creating!

Where the heck did this last week go? Where was I and what did I do? Beats me. There was a birthday, and a couple of doctor visits and a variety of sporting events. I finished a couple of projects that are sorta gifts, so I can't show pictures of them just yet. I cleaned out a closet and painted it a bright boring white that is not photogenic. So, check out Debra's work at HopHopJingleBoo. Her blog is a good one, and I can spend hours jumping around on the sites on her favorites list. Here is a free card from her blog:

Blogging about Blogging

In my last post, I mentioned the vast resource of inspiration out in art and craft blog-world, but today I guess I like to talk a bit about the yang to that yin. The other side of inspiration....the soul crushing feeling that everything has already been done, and probably done much better than I could ever hope to do it. Well, it has been done and it probably was better. But that is not a good enough reason to stop making stuff. Stop making it, if that is what you want to do....but keep on cranking it out if it makes you feel good. There is little good to be gained by comparing yourself to someone else, so try to resist that irresistible urge.
Another great blogger, Bitter Betty  said this much better than I can (Whoops, there goes that comparison thing again!)
Here is an excerpt, just in case the link doesn't take you to the right place.

Bitter Betty writes:
"Everyone else's blog was prettier.
Everyone else was actually worried that some one would bother to steal their ideas... imitate their style.. I wasn't worried about that. I was worried that I averaged 1 or 2 comments per post and one of these was usually from my sister or best friend. I felt like a big faker. My husband confirmed my suspicions. ( "Who do you think is reading this stuff? There are like a million blogs out there already!") I had to quit looking at "stats" and Technoneurati, because it was such fuel for my fire.

Oh, High School Insecurity.. How I hold thee close to my bosom. Now at this ripe old age I have finally found a way to pull you out and hold you up to the light, to see all the chinks in the armor of my vast experience... And here you are, just as fun as I remembered.

In my critical self assessment, I find that what frustrates me most is: I apparently suffer from a serious Crisis of Style. What I love on others blogs I couldn't begin to imitate. I am not that Clear in my Vision most of the time. I don't have a STYLE. I like stuff ornate, I like it simple, I like it cute, I like it weird, modern, retro, vintage, whatever... and I never resist the urge to do something new. Everything that I do that does come off as if I have a style is, in fact, a fluke. Why? because I am a Craft Spazz. A highly dedicated, semi-skilled, Craft Spazz.

Oh well. What am I going to do? Not make whatever I want, whenever I want? Turn my back on my favorite public outlet for all the crazy stuff I make? Or accept it?

Hello, My name is Bethany and I am a dilettante crafter.
With an inferiority complex.

I am just going to be okay with that. Out here performing and witnessing Public Acts of Craft on the Internets, one must have teflon heart with a core of steel. But you can always make a wicked recycled, hand-felted, embroidered cozy for it."

Too Darn Hot

The temperature here hit the triple digits today, and that is just too hot for me. Luckily, I can hide out inside and sew. Some tropical plants like these do well here with enough water, but they don't survive the winter without being dug up and then replanted in the Spring. Such beautiful leaves! Very inspirational. We splurged on cocoa bean shell mulch back in June, and it is doing a fine job of keeping the moisture in, but the fabulous chocolate smell is long gone. Hyacinths in bloom that are mulched with cocoa bean shells can just about give you sugar shock from the smell....

The Big Event

I killed at the Oval!
Seriously, they had another joke telling contest at the final banquet at QSDS and I won the Grand Prize....it may have been a case of quantity over quality, but what the heck. I won this contest last time too. Told a single joke that time. Here is a picture of my big prize sitting on top of my hotel TV. A ball made of glow sticks that is hooked to a ring of glow sticks. Too small for a necklace, too large for a bracelet, too side heavy for a tiara....dazzling in the darkness, don't you think?

Wendy and Me

I'm still talking about Quilt Surface Design Symposium. Wendy Toogood is our excellent teacher for this week. She showed us about a dozen small works that she was inspired to do after she was given a box of shoulder pads. Here are just two of them.
And here is the latest in my continuing series of rarely seen bird varieties.... the Blue-eyed Shore Shadow.

QSDS 2007

I just finished a two day class with Fran Skiles at Quilt Surface Design Symposium. We worked with acrylic paint, gesso, gel medium, watercolor crayons on cotton and silk fabric. We also did some simple stamping and screen printing. It was great fun. I feel that I have added some new tools to my technique list. Here are some of the practice samples I did in this class:
And here is what you do when you run out of space on the design wall... art under foot!

Falconcam

Several summers now I have enjoyed watching the baby falcons via the Kodak Falconcam. This site  has a lot of information about the 10 years that this falcon nest box has been in observation on a tower in Rochester, New York
and also, of course, constantly changing pictures of those adorable flesh-eating baby falcons. Here is a picture of falcon mom and her four daughters taken May 31.
Check out the current view from the Falconcam and see how much they have changed since then.
Believe it or not, I have been doing some gardening lately and I have noticed that along with our usual cardinals, robins, sparrows and blue jays, this year we have catbirds, cowbirds and mockingbirds passing though our trees.
Our neighbors have a family of bobcats in the back of their yard.... As far as I am concerned, the bobcats can help themselves to all of the mice, rabbits, skunks and squirrels they want, but leave the birds alone! (And yes, I am conflicted when I see the falcons eating other birds.)

No Respect

While in Christchurch, New Zealand, I was able to hear a gallery talk given by Jim Barr about the exhibition of some of his art collection at the Christchurch Art Gallery. One of the pictures he showed that evening was of a wall sculpture that hangs in the Christchurch Airport, between the Men's and Women's Restrooms. Cleaning supplies are stored in front of this "50's modern" piece of art, and it seems to be very forgotten. Mr. Barr said that he loved this work. I had a couple of chances to view this piece myself, and I became fond of it too. I guess that it has probably been moved a time or two as the airport has grown and remodeled....it has been damaged a bit and shows its age. (Which is almost exactly the same as my age.)
Here is some of the information from the plaque under it:
To commemorate the London to Christchurch air race which ended at the Christchurch International Airport on Oct. 10, 1953
Winning pilot was R. E. E. Burton time was 23 hrs 51 min 7.2 sec
The seven planes which took part in the race are represented by the dart shapes attached to the steel arcs which indicate the path of the planes; the silver portions of the arcs represent the distances covered or vapor trails; the blue portions represent the remainder of the flight.   The figure symbolizes mans ability to conquer space. The orange sun on the left represents the time of departure, the moon represents the night through which they flew; and the yellow sun represents the dawn in which the leading planes landed.

Covers Blown! Opening

Last Friday night Kansas Art Quilters opened their exhibit "Covers Blown!" at the Sabatini Gallery in Topeka, KS. It was a very enjoyable evening, and the gallery looked super fabulous! The gallery manager, Sherry, said that we had a record breaking crowd. I am going to post the two photos that I took of the event here, but I want anyone reading this to go to Karen Stiehl Osborn's blog and see good photos of the show.
Even better, go to the show!

Skull Beach

I took this picture on a beach in southwestern Australia because I liked the contrasts between the positive and negative spaces where the rocks had been worn away by the wind and waves. The picture was taken in a vertical format, but later, when I looked at the picture with a horizontal orientation, I began to see skulls. Now the picture has a creepy, Phantom of the Opera feel to me. I think I need to revisit this picture next fall for a Halloween project.

Fair Warning

This is the doorway to a bar in Lyttleton, New Zealand. I think I'd like one of this signs for my doorway back home, but I'm afraid that there would be too many days when I wouldn't get in.

When Lorikeets Attack

"They say its the early bird that gets the worm
thats fine with me
I'd rather have toast and coffee"
-unknown comic country & western singer
I don't know who this old dumpy woman is, but she is very fond of these beautiful lorikeets, and they are very fond of her left-over jelly. The rules for "Breakfast with the Birds" say that you can't feed the birds. The birds say that this is very wrong. This woman chugged her Mimosa and then was sad to learn that she could only have one. She and the birds feel that the rules for "Breakfast with the Birds" need to be rewritten!

Lucky Me

Sidney has a "Writers' Walk" around part of the harbor, which is a series of brass plaques set into the walkway telling about the authors. I wasn't paying much attention to it as we wandered along, as it seemed to be the usual gang of guys and stuffy quotes. But this one caught my eye, and then I was surprised to see that it was about a woman writer named Kylie Tennant. I have to admit, I haven't heard of her, but it is a good, thoughtful quote. I'm going to see if I can find her books....
Just in case you can't read the plaque:
Kylie Tennant
1912-1988
"To be born is to be lucky. Later, life may prove a failure or a success, depending on the outlook of whoever is living it; but that life is there should be a matter of congratulation daily renewed. So many find life a slender chance-"Ride On Stranger"(1943)
Kylie Tennant took to the roads with the unemployed in the 1930's, lived in the slums and spent a week in gaol. Her novels include "The Battlers"(1941). She also wrote books for children.

One Footers

Later this month, the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) will hold its conference and celebration of the opening of Quilt National 2007. This year SAQA is auctioning off one foot square art quilts by members to raise funds for the organization. I donated this piece, called Cosmos. To see the rest of the quilts and information on bidding go here
The fabric for this quilt was started in a workshop with Jeanne Williamson . I am excited to hear that Jeanne has a book coming out this fall called "The Uncommon Quilter". Can't wait to see it!