paperdollpost

True Confessions Tuesday

2012-02-01T18:52:00.001-08:00

I did not read one single book in the whole year of 2011.

Oh sure, I read stuff. Magazines, poached bits and pieces of books at B&N, textbooks, odds and ends...but no entire fiction or nonfiction book.

I couldn't. I read FOUR whole books in 2010.

It's not that I don't like to read. I love a well-written piece of literature, but reading just seems so unproductive and indulgent.

Hello December

2011-12-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.melanietesta.com/mtype/archives/2011/11/rockstar-boro.html

I'm doing this stitch-along on a thifted black blazer.

What Rockstar Means to Me:
black
sequins
glitter
skulls
hearts
wings
excess
animal print
crosses
roses
ruffles
refusing to take "no" for an answer

http://www.flickr.com/photos/debbicrane/6430509683/

Sugar Skulls Coloring Sheet

2011-10-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.MSO\WordWebPagePreview\ACF278EC.mht

Thirty-six

2011-08-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

The granny square count now stands at thirty-six. If this were going to be a baby afghan, I could stop right now and start putting them together, but it's not for a baby; it's for me, so onward.
I must finish it it. The importance of finishing what I begin became very clear to me a few weeks ago. It occurred to me that if I don't finish a project, it's totally disrespectful to the money I spent on the materials, the hours invested up to the stopping point ( time I could have spent doing something for somebody else) and the materials themselves. A big pile of unfinished work seems very selfish to me.

Tomorrow, we move Whitley to school. I feel fine about it. Really. I'm not worried or freaking out at all. People keep asking me if I'm okay. And I say yes. Because I keep thinking of all the parents who have lost kids from illness or accident or Some Other Bad Thing and think those moms would give anything under the sun to be taking their kids to college, but they were robbed. It would be totally selfish of me to not embrace this experience. Whit is smart and talented and college is where she belongs. I'm not going to wreck it for her by being upset.

With a pin stuck in her heart

2011-08-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is not a voo-doo doll, unless you want it to be. It's a little embroidered ragdoll I made right after I got home from the aforementioned embroidery class. I HAD to ( for reasons that shall remain a mystery) make a doll as soon as I could. This only took minutes here and there over a couple of days and gave me the idea for a bigger doll, perhaps a series of dolls, that I'm working on now. After I finished her, I stuck my needle in her head. Later, I was cutting out some pattern pieces and I stuck my pins in her just because she was handy. Maybe it's Good Stitching Voo-doo. Her name is Flossie Junior.

Today the oldest baby bird turns nineteen. She asked for a carrot cake. Here it is. She officially leaves the nest Sunday.

Here are my thirty-two grannies, not in afghan order, just laid down together, out in the sun for a preview. I think eight squares by ten squares will make a good sized throw. As I work, my squares are getting so much better. I can't believe I lived so long without knowing how to crochet.

More on Stitching

2011-07-27T04:59:00.000-07:00

This sampler, 12" x 12", was made in my class at Arrowmont week before last. It folds into a little book. It was my big project for the week. The assignment had to do with memory and prophecy. All the numbers and symbols in this piece have particular significance to me; funny because I never make things with much personal meaning. I've always thought that I purposely avoid telling much about myself in my work because everybody has their own issues - many much worse than mine - and my stories really aren't that interesting or tragic or important. I am beginning to think, however, that I haven't told my stories because I want to avoid them. I want to avoid what I think and believe to be true about myself. It's too painful.
Perhaps it's time to be truthful, even if it sounds silly to you. Good work, transcendent work is always that - truthful. I have not been producing good work lately because I haven't told the whole truth. I do want to make good work, above all. Struggling at the moment with making Art and making stuff, like crochet and clothes. I can't seem to marry the two. They aren't even dating at this point.
This little sampler is not a sampler in the traditional sense of learning and mastering stitches. It's a sampler of my beliefs and stories I tell myself about me and my life. It looks whimsical, doesn't it? A person-who-was-not-in-my-class remarked to me that she could make a book like that for her grandson. It's not a toy. It's more like a charm, like physical representations of superstitions or something like that. I used 6 strands of DMC on most things, so it's very tactile, especially the 6 and 7. Anyway, I've been home from Arrowmont two weeks and remain utterly vexed by the stitch.

I have begun a doll, aptly named Flossie, covered entirely in embroidery. The granny sqaure count is at 27. I would like it to be 30 by days end. We shall see. I also MUST make a new calender/planner book for myself for the coming school year.

On film...

2011-07-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

"Write it all down. Just the truth. No rhymes, no embellishments, no adjectives. "

This line, in a nutshell, is why Atonement is a good film.

The first time we hear it, it is spoken by Robbie, in the apartment with Cecelia, where Nursegirl Briony has found them. Briony has realized the extreme error of her ways and wishes to correct the wrong as best she can.

The last time we hear it, it is spoken by Elderly Briony...by the time you realize you have heard those exact words earlier in the film and who spoke them...you begin to reel toward the conclusion that Briony too soon divulges. And you know what she is going to say before she says it.

What a letdown...

2011-07-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

About 48 hours ago I got a jolt. I returned home from a week at Arrowmont. I have felt this jolt before... eight times, I think. What's so jarring about home? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong; I love the people here. But I know all their stories. Nobody here will say anything that will send me into fits of laughter for days. Nobody here will make something that inspires me. Nobody here will gush over my work. Nobody here will read a poem about a color.

They will, however, ask me why I am so tired after sitting around and sewing for a week. It wasn't just sitting and stitching; it was changing. Sitting there and changing. Moving around the furniture in my brain. That's hard work.

When I show people what I made, they say, "That's all?" because they are accustomed to me bringing home a big stack of books I make at Arrowmont. Embroidery is different. Yes, that's all. I can't show them what I thought about. I can't convince them that there is a revolution going on at the tip of the needle.

Irritating.

Progress...

2011-07-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

I remain utterly vexed by granny squares. The Afghan has begun and I'm plotting more square-based projects. I feel as though I'm cheating on my Real Art - you know, the books and dolls and whatknots - with the Time Eating Yarn. The top photo was taken Wednesday. The second photo moments ago. They're not stitched together. I was just seeing how they looked together.

Pretty good, I think.

Ooooooh, Look!

2011-07-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

I CAN SWITCH COLORS!

Well, it's obvious. I'm going to have to make an afghan.

The Learning Curve of Squares

2011-07-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

For months - since I taught myself to crochet in January - I've wanted to learn how to make granny squares. I've looked at patterns in books, but it's a secret language. I saw this today and it sealed the deal - I was learning today. Period. So I went to Youtube and watched some videos and tried and tried and:

Here are the squares I have so far. The first two are a little wonky. These are the only two yarn colors I had at home.

I worked on the little brown book yesterday evening and this morning. No words yet, but I know what it's going to say. Something that I think about all the time...and you probably do, too, if you make things and read magazines.

The striped paper was in a Victorias Secret sack at Christmas time a couple of years ago and I saved it. The color theme is making me think of Water for Elephants - the book, NOT the movie. I don't think Edward had the right profile. Literally, his side view gives me the creeps.

Working on this...

2011-06-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is the way I like to work:

Get an idea...from a book or magazine or movie or wherever
Go shopping through my stuff and pull out everything that speaks to the color theme in my head
Start making..

This is less than 24 hrs into the process of making this book. Oh, I've done lots of other things in that 24 hour period, but this is what I have been making. The color pallette came to me fully formed, but the content is still unclear.

I gave myself the challenge of making this entire book from stuff I already own - I can't buy anything new.

I haven't worked in this pallette for a long time. I used to, and it feels very familiar, like a language I already know.

Freeform Stitchin'

2011-06-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

No plan, no pattern...just toughening up my fingers for Nick DeFord's embroidery class at Arrowmont, which begins one month from today.

Crochet Madness

2011-01-24T18:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday I decided I needed to learn to crochet. Sunday I watched two videos on youtube. Monday :

Snow Day Craft

2011-01-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

Velvet hearts, handmade and ready to hang. For sale.

College...

2011-01-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

Among the Big Stuff that will happen in 2011 is that Whitley will start college. The recruiting process was gutwrenching for all of us. I can't tell you how many nights I woke up with my hands in fists, numb and asleep. We just didn't know how it was going to work out.

Whit's number one thing was playing soccer for four more years. There were lost of schools interested, but it really shook out to four schools: Manchester, Franklin, Earlham and Marian. All of them are private liberal arts colleges. And quite pricey.

Marian entered the sweepstakes late, but they won.

http://www.muknights.com/article/1838.php

SO exciting to see my kid's name on a college website. I'll keep you posted.

Sketchbook Challenge

2011-01-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

The January theme for the Sketchbook Challenge is "Highly Prized". Here's my first page. Zig Pen and Prismacolor on cardstock, 8 1/2" x 11". So I decided to do loose pages and bind them flag style at the end of the month.

What do Sunflowers have to do with Highly Prized? Here's how it came about: I saw a bit of an episode of the Andy Griffith Show wherein Aunt Bea enters her prize rose in some kind of contest against that snooty lady. I like sunflowers, so that's what I drew. Somehow to me, having a theme means I need to make finished pieces and sketchbook means drawing. Art journaling means All The Other Stuff. To me. Just me. That's not like a law or a rule or anything.

It looks unfinished. I planned to write something in the ribbons on the sides, but I don't want to wreck the whole thing, so I'm holding off on that. For now.

Has it really been six months?

2010-12-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Well, yes, it has been. I tried to start a different blog, but it fell flat. It was a stupid idea, really, wasn't it? I mean, if I wasn't writing here, why in the world would I think I could magically write under another title, on a different background?

Since we last talked, I have read the first two Twilights, had knee surgery and gone on more college visits than I care to recount here.

I realize I have a full 5 days before I need to commit to this, but there is no time like the present. I think I need to get more organized about this blog thing. It was easy when I first started the Paperdoll Post. It was to show my year-long project of making a paperdoll every day for a year. After that, I lost my way. What did I really have to say, anyway? I'm not doing year-long projects anymore. Seems like a lot of people are now. When I first did it in 2004, some people thought I was crazy. Some people didn't believe I had actually done it. I am. I did.
Oh - the commitment - I bought a notebook and divided it into months and started planning my 2011 posts. I am shooting for 4 posts a week. One about the Sketchbook Challenge, one about an ongoing project I'm working on, one about a finished project and maybe one about home dec - we're on the interior redo at the moment.

Lofty goal, I know, but I must do this. No...I want to do this. So I guess you'll just have to read it.

The 25th of every month will be a Christmas project. Start early. Avoid the last minute rush.

Happy New Year.

Love,
Debbi

ps - I am team Jacob.

2010-06-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

This is a meaningless sample post to show my f-i-l how easy this is.

http://www.yahoo.com/

Summer...

2010-06-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

My summer break finally started on Tuesday. I think this is the latest we have ever been in school around here. We always get out in May, but we have a new Supt. of Public Instruction who says 180 days means 180 days, so we had to make up Every. Single. Snow. Day. In years past we have been able to do a one-for-two deal. So this was the closest I have ever been to having my birthday during school. I turned 43 on Wednesday. It's okay, 43. Here are the journal pages I did on my birthday:

Yep...I'm back journaling. I go on and off with it. I was doing really well for January and most of February, but then I got derailed. I was writing so many worries in my journal that it was no fun! It became a total downer and a way to test my life. I would write down everything I was freaking out about and then keep going over the list until everything was resolved (or not). But I wanted to make cool art books, not monuments to my neuroses, so I quit. Then I had a great idea for a new book structure. I made one and started working in it June 1. It is a worry-free zone.

The book is pictured with a newly planted hosta. Remember last fall when we did the big reno at the house? It didn't get finished until November, so we left the landscaping for this summer. The hosta is in a new shade bed JR and I put in on Memorial Day. The wheels turn around here...they just turn slowly. I limited my summer to do list to only 25 items. I have a good start on it, but there are some things that have to be done before I can do other things on the list - like a yard sale - hate 'em, but it's time...we have so much excess stuff.

Court goes to Speed Camp for 3 days this week. She is so pumped for it. Doesn't sprinting around an asphalt oval in 90 degree heat for hours on end sound like fun? To her, yes; it's heaven on earth. Truthfully, I'm thrilled she has a passion. Passion seems lacking in too many people, not just kids, these days. More passion for one's talent - that's what the world needs.

Two Projects

2010-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Logan Barrett, Whitley, Courtney and Andrew Solliday. In our new orange foyer. Looking precious. This was taken at around 2:45 on Saturday, April 17. Prom. The end product of two months of asking, thinking, planning, shopping and doing. Worth it. It was like a very long and complicated mixed media project.

If you know me, you know that worrying is my part-time job...my low-paying part-time job with sucky hours, like 2:00 - 4:00am. So if you know me, you would think that me sending my little girls out the door in separate cars with separate boys at three o'clock in the afternoon for essentially an all-night date would be a Worrypalooza. But you would be wrong. This is the truth: I did not worry one bit about any of them. I know both of the boys a little - they've both spent a few hours holding down the couch in the family room and I have never seen their names in the police log for speeding. And I know my girls a lot and I trust them. So there, Worry, take that.

And thanks to the Barretts and Sollidays for raising nice young men. I keep thinking I'm lucky to have daughters who are lovely inside and out and that these boys asked, but then I realize I'm not lucky at all. I am blessed.

I was actually inspired to make a little picture book. For the first time in I think months, I actually FELT like making something. What a relief. I started it Monday and finished it last night. I love a finished book, don't you? Here are some of the pages in progress.

Where I've been...

2010-03-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

where I am ...where I am going. I have kind of abandoned this blog, haven't I? I really didn't mean to. I have spent 2010 so far on a roller coaster of emotion. No, nothing big has happened in my life. No real crisis of any kind.

I have this habit - a lifelong habit - that I must kick. It's sucking all the color and flavor out of me. I fixate on things - not literal objects, but situations. I spend hours and hours trying to read the tea leaves and then more hours brewing pots and pots of tea until the leaves say what I want them to.

I guess it boils down to a couple of core issues:
1. I fear that I will drop the ball...that all the sign I should do something are right there in front of me and I will, from sheer stupidity, miss them and wreck my Whole Life.

2. A lack of faith.

I am spinning my wheels creatively because I cannot focus on art when I am mentally writing a script for a Lifetime movie based on an inconsequential exchange with a stranger at WalMart.

This is just a season I must endure. I know it will pass. I must be patient with myself and ride this out.

Until then...

Spring Break Art Classes

2010-03-11T03:42:00.000-08:00

More Info to Come...stay tuned...

From my January Journal

2010-01-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

New Year, New Project

2010-01-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's 2010 and I don't want to believe it. Too many big things will happen this year; things I am not ready for...Courtney will get her drivers license, Whitley will turn 18, have her senior pictures taken, start her senior year of high school, and, gasp, play her final high school soccer season. Mommy's not ready.

As some of you know, I did year-long art challenges for five years, beginning in 2004 with the Purse Book Project. I took last year off for a variety of reasons, the main one being that the projects had lost a certain amount of their soul. I was doing it for the sake of saying I had, for the sake of the challenge, not for the art.

I have to tell you, it was strange not to have that thing I had to do every day. I often felt I had forgotten something or had one one black shoe and one brown shoe...like something wasn't right. So for 2010, I hope to find a balance of sorts; a gentler year-long project that will benefit me in some way other than having created another monument to my stubbornness in the form of a stack of 365 useless objects.

Art Journals, right? Everybody does it. I see so many incredible pages online from Teesha Moore, Judy Wise, Kelly Kilmer and so many others and it makes me want to art journal. So I make a book - that's the easy part - and start to fill it, but then I don't like it for any number of reasons, so I abandon the journal and give up on the idea of art journaling for a few months. I mean, maybe it just isn't for me, right? I can't do everything; nobody can. So maybe I file Art Journaling in the same mental folder as wearing a size 0 skinny jean, the one labeled "It Ain't Happenin', Sister".

It seems just plain wrong that I can make all kinds of books from the old ways Gothic to a single-sheet and not be able to fill them. So this is the year that I conquer Art Journaling. I know I need help. I need an expert. I signed up for Kelly Kilmer's online class "A Life Made by Hand" to get started. I made this little book - a simple hardback pamphlet for my first book. Not too many pages and lots of space built into the spine to accommodate collages on the pages. The image on the cover came from philosophy packaging. I decided to number my books, with the modest goal of filling one per month this year.

I love the way this little book went together, so I made a few more. We had two snow days and I couldn't waste them cleaning. They don't have cover embellishment yet. Not sure which one I'll use next. Those are pictured at the top of this post. These books were all made from materials I had on hand at home. The pages are white cardstock of a Very Pedestrian Variety. Two of the books are made from full 8'5 x 11 sheets and the smaller ones are half-sheets. One is folded the tall way, the other width wise. Very economical. That has always been a peeve of mine in bookbinding - all those off cuts! Strange sizes of paper that I save, but never use. NO SCRAPS, I say, in 2010!

I'm working in my book every day and using the prompts from Kelly's class. It's January 9th and my journal isn't in the landfill yet. Maybe there's hope.

It's Felting Cats and Dogs!

2009-12-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Get this book:

Sweater Chop Shop by Crispina Ffrench. She'll tell you all about what sweaters to buy and how to felt them and cut them and sew them.

These are NOT in the book. They are my own simple creations. The gray kitten is cashmere. Just for fun. It was the only cashmere sweater I have ever owned...4.95 at the goodwill.

Lately I find myself easily distracted from Real Work, Art and Otherwise by the comfort of making simple, little meaningless things while standing at the kitchen table listening to the radio.

We have a new-this-year table that is the perfect height for standing and working.

Advent Madness

2009-11-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

The advent calendar... I had never really considered the advent calendar until my pal Cathy sent me this link last Tuesday. http://whipup.net/2009/11/23/30-of-the-best-advent-calendars/

Then it was all over. I HAD to make one. Just finished it. Hot off the Singer. It's on canvas with 25 little collages for the numbers. I sewed strips of clear vinyl over the rows to fit those little chocolate squares. I want a more complicated one...

Here it is empty, full and a little detail...

Moore-naments?

2009-11-23T16:54:00.001-08:00

I don't know what else to call these little things I whipped up last night. A few weeks back I ordered some of Teesha Moore's collage sheets with every intention of making some collages on canvas to hang above the coat hooks in the New Foyer. I don't have the long row of repurposed doorknobs mounted on a weathered white board on the east wall with a white bench underneath, so I have no current need of the six 12 x12 collages I planned to hang above the whole mess. Yet. I do, however, need Christmas ornam

ents for my Doll Tree.

On the tree, there are currently 4 blackapples that I mentioned in the last post and my mixed media action figures which are in the 2009 edition of Quilting Arts Gifts. There are also six or seven Katie Kendrick style dolls that were featured in Cloth Paper Scissors Issue 9 ( my cover). And these - the Moore-naments! Three of them are mounted on paper-covered chipboard and glittered up. I put a piece of blank cardstock on the back so that I could use them for gift tags if I felt so inclined. The other two are layered on fabric and felt, then backed with brown grocery sack. I machine stitched around the layers and added some sparkle. Since the back is paper, these could also be gift tags. I spent about an hour to make all 5 and I am trying to resist making all of the collage I bought into ornaments. Eventually that foyer will need some artwork!

I think I shall call her Kit

2009-10-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

New doll from this pattern:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/black-apple-doll?lnc=38f9cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD

Pattern created by this artist:

http://theblackapple.typepad.com/

This is the third one I have made. It's a good thing to make when I don't feel like thinking of anything, but feel like making something. Kit will be on the Doll Tree for sure. She is sitting in my unfinished window in my unfinished foyer. J.R. calls it The Orange Room.

Christmastime

2009-10-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

Already? YES! I have kind of phoned it in on my decorating the last two or three years and all the renovating around here has inspired me to get my A game back on. I saw this mantle and fell in love! I have the fireplace and the animal head. It belonged to my grand-dad and nobody wanted it when the family auctioned off his worldly possessions. As usual, my house was the last stop before the dumpster and I became the proud owner of a trophy head. In case you are wondering, yes, all the hunters in my family eat what they kill. It's all very Grizzly Adams. Anyway, the other bit about decorating and renovation is the budgetary aspect. I have new all around me, so I must do my decorating on the cheap. Hmmm...sounds like a challenge.

Okay, so here it is: I will recreate the lush mantle and garland around the deer using only items I already have and items purchased at - drumroll, please -

THE DOLLAR TREE

Can it be done? So far, I have picked up some silver grapes, some shiny white stems and some silver glitter balls. I also got 3 packages of pine garland, 15' each, which will need some work to build the base for the pinecones, lights, dooddads, ribbons and baubles.

My main tree is sliver, red and light blue and it's in the same room as the fireplace. I want to do a tree in my new foyer with a bunch of pink and gold stuff I got on clearance at Kmart last January. I want it to be a doll tree, covered in Good Girls, dolls from the black apple Martha pattern and other figural fabric follies.

Sometimes...

2009-10-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

things just don't make sense. Sometimes I don't have an answer for one of my girls. Yesterday was one of those times. Yesterday our high school boys and girls cross country teams ran in the semi-state meet for a chance to compete in the state finals next week. There were 23 other teams there, too. The top 6 teams and the top 15 individuals move on to the finals. Our girls team was ranked 5th coming in and, to be honest, everybody expected them to make it out. Everybody has been racing well and staying healthy through the tournament series. Almost everybody. Courtney had a great regular season, but the last couple of races, she struggled a bit. I think the effects of playing two varsity sports simultaneously have taken a bit of a toll on her body. And...hate to say it...but a little "team drama" got into her head and a seed of doubt grew into a fully bloomed case of insecurity.

But yesterday. Yesterday, she felt good! No back pain after a week to heal up and get her head on straight. Yesterday was shaping up to be a great race for her. Until about the One Mile mark. A runner behind her stepped on the back of her shoe. And it came off. So Miss Courtney had to run over 2 miles in ankle deep mud and even deeper standing water with one sock foot. She finished. Over 2 minutes slower than she would have, but she finished. She probably asked me 10 times why this had to happen. I had to tell her I didn't know.

The girls team finished 6th and advances to the state finals on Saturday. I guess the guy who projected us to finish 5th didn't account for Courtney's missing shoe.

The boys team didn't advance, but Whitley's boyfriend Logan finished 11th and will be running in the finals.

By the way, her socks were white.

And Now for Something Entirely Different

2009-10-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO MY STUDIO...One of my studios, I should say...the one I share with about 225 other artists.

I have been an elementary art teacher for 15 years. This is the third year I have been in this art room and it still looks new. I keep it pretty simple. One of my professors at IU told us once that too much stuff on the walls of the art room can overstimulate kids and actually hamper their creative process. Seemed counter intuitive to me at the time, but now I agree. My students notice the tiniest little thing new in the room and are very curious. Sometimes, I bring in something I have made or a piece in progress and sit it on my desk. Let's just say it's well-fingerprinted by the end of the day.

I have only 3 rules:

1. Create with intention. Think before you mark or cut.

2. Share materials kindly.

3. Clean up your own mess.

I teach grades one thru five in a rural area. Fifth grade has been working on creating value with hatching and crosshatching. This is black water-based marker on construction paper. I keep my materials to a minimum and always try to present lesson that the students could recreate easily at home with inexpensive materials.

I do a few seasonal crafts every year, just for fun, so we have made pumpkins and scarecrows. We might do some kind of ornament or decoration around Christmas.
King Tut is at the Indianapolis Children's Museum and although our school system can no longer afford to send kids on field trips, our fourth grade teachers applied for grants to take their students to see the exhibit.

Wanting to seize on their enthusiasm, I moved the lesson on symmetrical balance up a few weeks and we made these masks. Metallic paint, jewels and glitter, glitter, glitter. I think they look great and the kids are so proud of them. Fourth grade is now shifting gears radically and studying Hokusai. We had a long talk about how different aesthetics all have value, comparing the ornate Egyptian artifacts and the simple woodblock prints.

In an effort to support literacy, my fourth and fifth graders are keeping art journals this year. They do some writing every art class...mostly writing vocabulary and making sketches of artwork we study. It feels all very scholarly.

The drying rack is bursting with second grade paintings of active lines. Thank you Kandinsky.

My desk is always a bit cluttered, but I don't really mind. My art journal is on the far right edge of my desk. I try to fit in a little doodling or writing during my lunchtime.

Clean up can be a challenging time since my sinks are adult height, but we manage. Usually I give the yung 'uns a wet paper towel to scrub their table while I wash out brushes myself. I want them to be clean!!

Third grade made these robots - LOVE the way they turned out. The skill here is freehand cutting geometric shapes.

This room is huge and very well equipped. Here is one of closets. Some of those bins are empty.

The last photo is the scene outside my classroom door.

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip around my art room!

Two Snaps for You

2009-09-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Out of about 400 I've taken so far this cross and soccer season. I can't help it. W & C are my favorite subject!

Here are the photos I wanted to post yesterday. Top - Whit and Court on the pitch. Stars won the match. Whit had 2 goals and 5 assists and Court had 1 goal. Bottom - Just after the gun at the Mater Dei Invite in Evansville last Saturday. Court is the one in the middle with the French braids. Court was 14th and the Stars finished 2nd overall on a very hilly course.

Where have you been?

2009-09-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

I've been at the soccer field and the cross country course. I would love to show you some pictures of Whit and Court in action, but Blogger won't let me. Sorry.

Oh, and Taylor, if you're reading this, honey, hang up on him next time.

Productivity

2009-08-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

I made this today!!! I envisioned it last Tuesday, bought the fabric for the body (AMH) on Thursday and drafted the pattern and made muslins on Sunday. It's a clutch made on something called a Facile Frame. Facile is French for easy. It's kind of an old-fashioned, mid-century kind of a thing. As you may remember, my husband and his dad own and operate a shoe store of sorts, with a full-scale shoe, boot and leather repair operation in addition to the retail. There are drawers and drawers full of rivets, snaps, handles, fasteners, closures, buckles and other interesting and useful bits. So when I asked J.R. for a Facile Frame, he asked, "What size?" I went with a 12" long frame. The frame comes in two pieces which are fed through a channel in the top of the purse. The ends are fastened together with pins. It works on tension. Here is the clutch open:

The lining fabric is leftover from the soon-to-be Owl Embellished Tunic. This bag went together really well. I graduated the seam allowances of the lining, batting and outer fabric so the pieces all fit together. For the final version of the pattern, I need to very slightly rework how the channels are finished on the inside. This is fine, but it could be better. Sew and learn, I always say. I love imagining something, working out the dance of making it on paper and then realizing the thing in three-dimensions. The hardest part for me is being honest with myself about when I need to rip parts out and resew them. It's a matter of whether I want it done NOW and WRONG or LATER and RIGHT.

Here's another bit of productivity. This is where our garage used to be. We're getting a new one, along with 22 new windows, 5 new doors and new siding on the house to match the new garage. Our house is kind of free-style Tudor, built in 1980 by a contractor for his own home. Slightly idiosyncratic to say the least. The lower part of the exterior is field stone and the upper part of the house and the whole of our former garage are the stucco-and-board-frame business. I have never loved this house. We bought the land - 3 acres in town - and the location - the right school district for where we wanted the girls to go. We have lived with the house. We've been here 11 years and it's just flat time to redo things. The siding I picked (J.R. let me do whatever I wanted) is a sage green called Cypress. We're getting white windows and dark brown doors. We're also knocking the foyer off the house and rebuilding twice the size. The entire entry of the house is getting a redesign. We have a contractor who does excellent work and is very committed to doing the job right. Hoping for dry weather! Projected finish date - September 30.

Whooo, whooo?

2009-08-08T05:23:00.001-07:00

Or is it Why? I have been thinking about retro owls lately. Not sure when it started. I have another week of summer vacation and I'm working on some shall we say, wearable creations. Yes, clothes. I'm making myself some clothes. How nerdy is that? I made a skirt a couple of weeks ago and bought the fabric to make another one from my favorite fabric store, Shiisa Quilts in Bloomington. When I bought the skirt fabric - I think it's Amy Butler - I bought 3 yards of a funky orange and brown floral from the clearance rack. I only wanted 2 yards, but you get a yard free when you buy 2. I used Simplicity pattern 3535, one of the Project Runway patterns, and made a top from the orange and brown. It was harder than beginner, but not too difficult. I did a bit of unsewing here and there to make sure it looked nice. The sleeves have a tie that was a little tricky, but it was fun to see it turn out right. I picked out a bit of the sleeves last night; need to resew. Some of the gathers at the shoulder didn't look clean and straight. The owl? Oh yeah...I was thinking that an owl applique on the lower left of the top would look cute and interesting for school. The print is kinda 70s and so is the owl. I don't want it to be too fussy or too weird.

But does that really matter anymore? Looking weird? I'm old enough to be a little eccentric AND I'm an art maker and art teacher. I think that's license to look a little different.

I was home alone yesterday afternoon. That's been happening a lot lately and I don't like it. I did something I haven't done all summer - I watched Oprah. Hated it. When she raises something besides a cocker spaniel, I'll take her parenting advice. Anywhoo - while she droned on and on, I worked on some owls in my art book, trying to figure out a simple pattern for my applique. Why didn't I change the channel?

I like the one in the upper right corner best. I think I'll make the owl then try it on the top before I applique it on there. About 6" tall? All prints, no solids? The little V feathers will be embroidered I think.

Should I bother to read The Time Traveler's Wife? I already read my one book for this summer - My Sisters Keeper - Painful. Jody Picoult is the female Nicholas Sparks. Somebody please tell her that Nicholas Sparks has got it covered. I HATED that book. I read it because the girls wanted to see the movie and I told them they had to read the book first. It was sitting there, so I picked it up. I skipped ahead to the end after about 6 chapters and was STUNNED at the lengths to which this so-called writer would go to tie up all the loose ends in a neat little bow around a great big shiny package of Are You Kidding Me. I am not unpleasable, but I do like books that show the messiness, the conflictedness of it all without the aforementioned bow-tying.

Some books I have read and liked:

Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton

What Maisie Knew by Henry James

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan - ANYTHING by Amy Tan

March by Geraldine Brooks - Go read this today

Valley of the Dolls by Jaqueline Suzann

Water for Elephants was ok, but Wally Lamb does opposite gender better than anybody. Whenever I read an author writing in the voice of the opposite gender, I always compare it to She's Come Undone. Picoult fails miserably in speaking in the attorney's voice in MSK. No man describes his own apartment as "sleek and modern". How did that even get past and editor?

So I am wary of movie books. I looked on Wikipedia to see the plot of the Time Traveler's Wife and it seemed a little Sparksy. Any thoughts?

So I guess I took a little break...

2009-07-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

about a month, from posting. It's not that nothing is happening; au contraire, much has happened. This July has been the coolest on record in Indiana, so it doesn't feel like summer. We're not suffering. Weird.

Whitley got her drivers license and now she drives herself and Courtney to cross country in the mornings and soccer in the evenings. I feel kind of lost, not watching the clock for when to take them and when to go get them. That's been like my job since forever. Weird.

Whit went to soccer camps at Ball State and DePauw. She got MVP at Ball State. Court did a couple of Jr Olympic meets and did well. I've had Court to see a couple of docs about the sleepy foot she is still battling when she runs distance. We have a real diagnosis from no less than the Colts team doctor - she has exertional compartment syndrome and will surgery to fix it.

JR rescued a tiny abandoned kitten from the Jaws of Death ( the dog catcher - and the animal shelter here is a kill shelter) and let me bring it home. He's a guy and it's a kitten. It was quite a surprise. I named him Santino and he's asleep on the couch.

I have a article in the upcoming Sept/Oct ish of Cloth Paper Scissors. Look for it early next month.

Monotypes from Arrowmont

2009-06-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

Okay. So the class I took last week was called something like "Printmaking for Book Artists", the primary focus being on ways to create images for books and multiple copies of books or images. We did carved stamps - I've done this before but still enjoy it. I made a set of interchangeable leaves, petals and centers and started a doll set with hair, faces and hats. Some of the flower parts work with the doll parts, too. We did the linoleum prints, like the sunflower reduction print in the last post and we did monotypes. To me honest, monotypes have never been too exciting to me. I hate "mono" anything - it means you go to a whole bunch of trouble and get ONE thing. But, surprise, I found a monotype that I liked: the traced "Gaugin" style monotype. I used photocopies from a book of flowers in the library. I varied the process slightly from the way Matt taught it, but it worked out. In the pages above (from a journal I have challenged myself to fill before school starts) the images are some of the photocopies I used.

I made a little book of my monotypes. The monotype is on the left and the ghost is on the right. We used etching ink (oil-based) so I watercolored over the dry prints to give them a little flavor.

Victories, Small and Otherwise

2009-06-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

I found my way to Hendersonville, NC without getting lost a single time.
Cheryl and I taught at Random Arts and I think everybody enjoyed it.
I made it to Gatlinburg for my class at Arrowmont.
I conquered the reduction print. See above.

More details later.

Random Arts - June 13

2009-06-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

As you've read on Cheryl's blog, we're teaching at Random Arts In Saluda, NC on Saturday, June 13. In my class, we'll be making a Supersized Good Girl. The ones I sell are about 7" tall, but the one we'll make in my class is about 12" tall. I'll have all the bodies presewn, so no worries about sewing for my lovely students. This sample doll is holding a small, properly bound blank journal and a pencil.

Did I mention...

2009-05-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

this little fact about my Good Girls? Every Good Girl that I make personally with my own little hands has a secret. If you lift her skirt, you will read a small truth about Good Girls. This is Miss Bonnie.

I did it...finally...

2009-05-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Good Girls Art Dolls for sale on Etsy. This is Juniper.

Have you ever been obsessed?

2009-05-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

I get that way about certain makers of certain objects from time to time...people like

I have studied with Dan, Keith and Mr. Mann. I met Teesha once in 2003. Yet, I remain my dorky, unchanged self. It appears as though what they have isn't contagious. Would I want it to be?

My latest obsession: The Black Apple - Emily Martin! I have listened to her CraftSanity interview a "few" times and she talks about being on Martha. I followed the Martha link on Miss Emily's blog and found the template she used on the show - for personal use only, of course - and I made a doll:

She's no real Black Apple, but she'll have to do until I can get one of Emily's originals. I love owning things made by people who have It. I never leave the house without at least one piece of Thomas Mann on - yes, I know he's the designer of my pieces, not necessarily the maker - but still...it's his brain and breath. I own one small thing made by Dan. Something from Keith? Well, only the memories of his class "Precious Little". I fear I shall never be of the means to buy anything substantial from Dan or Keith. I bought a rubber stamp directly from Teesha at Art Continuum in 2003. A set of wings I used all the time for a while.

Why has Emily been added to my Little Group of Modern Masters? She's really doing it - making a living (and a life) making art. Her voice and vision are strong and I wish her continued success.

A Very Rare Species

2009-05-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

Something I made for myself. Something I didn't invent on my own. Something I followed to instructions for. Something that is done. Something I like.

This has been the thing missing from my art life ever since we wrote The Book. I haven't been able to just make things without thinking about them in terms of originality and how I could write about them and how to recreate them and if other people could make them or want to make them.

I got Anna Maria Horner's book in maybe December...it was the day of the Martinsville game and it rained and rained. I took it to the game to read during Varsity. My kids were both playing JV that night. It's such a great book and I wanted to make so many of the projects in it. I finally got around to making the "I'll Take One of Everything" bag. I started it last night and finished it this evening. I left off the tassel-y bits on the corners for now. I might add them later. This one is in the brown and warms color family. It really went together pretty easily. The top seams - if you have the book I think they are steps 21 and 22 - were a tad tricky. The pattern contains 2 of of my Sewing Danger Words - Bias and Interfacing - but I gutted it out and did it. When you visit Anna Maria's blog, check out the Flickr groups for all kinds of things made from her patterns and fabrics.

I think I'll carry it to my sister's graduation tomorrow.

Me @ Mile 12

2009-05-03T18:59:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I did the One America Mini Marathon in Indianapolis, along with about 30, 000 of my closest friends. It was my third Mini.

I've mentioned this before, but let me reiterate: I AM NOT A RUNNER, or any kind of athlete by any definition of the word. My basic race strategy can be summed up in one word (Finish), but this year, I set a goal and calculated what my mile splits needed to be to finish in under 3 hours of running-walking-running-walking. I ran the first part - maybe two or three miles - straight thru to get out of the packs of pure walkers and carve out a little space for myself, then I would pick out a slow walker way in front of me and walk until I caught her. After that walking break, I ran until I passed 50 people. It's hard to count accurately in a crowd that big, but it gave me something to think about and a concrete goal. Everything went pretty well. I knew I had to be at the 9 mile marker at the 2 hour mark to make sure I could make my self-imposed deadline. Surprise - I made 9 miles in 1:58.

If you're a runner, you're laughing by now. I started out doing 15 minute miles a couple of years ago...my average mile yesterday was 13:38... a little progress is better than no progress.

Like I said, everything went great. Then there was the Mile 12 marker. The mile markers are huge electric beacons of hope. I scanned the horizon constantly for the next one throughout the race. The red 12, shimmering in the heat, came into view as we rounded the last right hand turn of the course. I challenged myself to be there by the 2:43 mark, which would give me 17 minutes to cover the last 1.1 miles. I could do that on my slowest of days. My mind scrambled to do all the math problems - What if I couldn't get there until the 2:45 mark? Could I still do it? What if I didn't make 12 until 2:47? Could I run the last whole mile? What if I finish in 3 hours and ONE minute? Then there I was at Mile 12. My watch read 2:43. Then it happened. It started just above my right heel and slowly crept up the entire back of my leg - A CRAMP! BUT I DRANK THE GATORADE! I'm not a real runner! How in the world did I get a cramp? Thank the Good Lord it stayed at a bearable level of crampiness and did not reach full on charlie horse status. It did slow me down quite a bit. It took me 15 minutes to cover that last, dreadful mile and finish in 2:58. Nine whole minutes better than last year. Sixteen whole minutes better than 2007. My goal for 2010? 2:45

I made this doll today. It's me at Mile 12. Sorta. My hair isn't that long and colorful and if it was, it would have been too sweaty to blow in the breeze behind me.

Maybe I'll Wear This

2009-04-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'll make myself a t-shirt to wear for the Mini on Saturday.

Coming Soon...

2009-04-23T17:51:00.001-07:00

To an Etsy shop near you. Stay tuned for the grand opening.

THE MOSAIC

2009-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

Located in the main hall outside the gym, beside the cafeteria, adjacent to the restrooms and sharing a wall with the door to the faculty lunch room.....TA-DA.....

The Maintenance Dept. is building a nice oak frame for it. This is only the temporary frame. Every kid in the school put in a few of the pieces with my help; otherwise, it was just me and my trowel.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Remember the "Festivus" episode of Seinfeld? What were two of the main Festivus events? Feats of Strength and The Airing of Grievances. ..right?

Sometime around New Year's, my darling Courtney aired her grievances. She felt that she had been cheated out of certain childhood rites of passage. Namely:

1. She had never dyed real Easter Eggs

2. She has never carved her own jack-o-lantern

3. She has never made a real gingerbread house with real gingerbread not graham crackers

Let me defend myself. On the eggs - too messy and who wants to eat egg salad for a week? On the jack-o-lantern..are you kidding? A knife? If my kid gets a blister from a new pair of shoes I convince myself she has MRSA and go to the emergency room, so a knife probably isn't going to happen. I already have plenty to worry about. On the gingerbread - everybody uses graham crackers these days, Court, join us here in the 21st century. You'll like it.

As you can see from the photos, Courtney got her wish. Three dozen eggs and twelve colors of dye.

Come over for lunch tomorrow. Stop by the store and grab a loaf of bread on the way, will ya?

IQF Chicago

2009-04-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's springtime in the LC - you can tell from the roar of the Harlies and abundace of buzzards in the Salt Creek bottoms - which means I'm getting ready for my trip to the quilt show in Chicago. If you love fabric arts and crafts, the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center is the THE place to be April 17, 18, 19. I will be in CPS Open Studios and teaching at class at
Make It U on Saturday and Sunday. Some of my class samples are pictured above. We'll be making an art doll, but with a special twist in the class.

From One Thing to the Next

2009-03-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

I took the day off Friday to help my mom get everything set up for the wedding and reception. That took the best part of the day, then I dashed home to make an emergency painting for a blank wall at the venue. Rehearsal and dinner - don't know exactly how it happened, but the waiter and I collided as he was serving the salad and I wound up with a lap full of sherry vinaigrette. I was madly hoping we did not encounter any stray dogs on the 2-block walk back to the truck.

Saturday - wedding. So far, so good with the marriage. I'll let you know. Above, the bridesmaids - my two girls and my four nieces. Not an ugly one in the bunch. So the bride and groom went on their way and we were left to pick up the pieces and cram them into every car, truck and bike we could find. There are still some candles in the back seat of my car.

Sunday - HEADACHE and soooo tired!!

Monday - all day set up for the annual corp-wide art show - pics later in the week - I promise! So much incredible work. 5 mile workout and back to meet and greet students and parents at the show.

Spring Break next week. Staying home. I'm glad.

Weekly World News

2009-03-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really "world", but Lawrence County, Indiana. Did you hear about the tornados? Three of my students lost their entire homes - gone, gone, gone! Here is a link to video where two more of my students tell about being caught outside feeding cattle when the tornado hit. http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/weather/Possible_tornado_strikes_Fayetteville_20090308

It was confirmed on Monday that 2 tornados hit the LC. Thank the Good Lord there were no injuries or deaths.

Saturday, my little sister is getting married. She is 19 years younger than me. Same parents and everything, just one of those things. There is another sister between us, two years younger than me. I have had a devil of a time finding something to wear. Something I like, that is. I may have found a decent - as in, I don't throw up in my mouth when I look in the mirror - dress. This is my normal pattern:

1. Big Event coming up
2. I need to look nice. I want to look nice.
3. I browse catalogs, stores, magazines and the internet months and weeks in advance
4. I do not buy anything
5. The last minute arrives
6. I settle for something "okay" that I DO NOT love
7. I am crabby the day of the event because I KNOW I could look better
8. I tell myself it doesn't really matter and get on with the next thing in my life
9. Repeat at next Big Event

Anyway, big corp wide art show next week, which means over 100 pieces of artwork I need to mount, tag and transport to the venue. We hang the show Monday and it opens Monday at 6:00pm. I really don't have time for both things, but I can't get out of either.

Vote Now

2009-03-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

Which one should I wear to my sister's wedding? Daytime wedding, with a black dress, not too dressy. I am not officially in the wedding. The colors are red, turquoise, black and white.

Time Out for Tie Dye

2009-02-26T18:21:00.000-08:00

One of my lovely talented art teaching colleagues hosted a shibori workshop for us after school Monday. Here are the fabrics I made.

Third Grade Art

2009-02-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

We're studying warm colors this week. They're my favorites. Last week was the scourge of the cool colors - blue bores me, purple scares me and green? That's for beans. I will use certain flavors of redviolet and yellowgreen. I'm not rigid.

So the point was to identify and use only warm colors in a drawing. Draw with heavy crayon marks first, then paint with watercolor. The crayon is a resist. You can paint right over it and the line emerges. We use the good German watercolors, none of those Prang 8 pan oval sets for my students.

After mine was dry, later in the day, I added some deeper watercolor hues, waited for that to dry and then added the black marker lines. the 12" x 18" size is something I never use in real life. It's for school only.

What's the difference?

2009-02-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

What's the difference between good and great?

Fire, passion and soul.

But what about talent? Isn't that important?

The happiest people are the ones with a passion for their talent.

The people who irritate me the most are the ones with loads of talent and no passion.

Color!

2009-02-15T16:56:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of pages from that brown paper sack book I showed you a while back. I really like these colors together. Springtime!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

2009-02-14T15:08:00.001-08:00

Back to normal?

2009-02-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

It was sunny and fifty-three degrees here today, so most of the Big Snow & Ice from 2 weeks ago is finally gone. Tomorrow will be the first Monday we have gone to school on time since January 12. Our school corp has a 2-hr delayed start on extremely cold or slightly slick mornings so we can avoid as many outright cancellations as possible. We have not a full 5-day 8 to 3 everyday week since the week of December 8 -12, with bad weather and Christmas break in there. We have had 7 snow days and I hope no more. We have to make them up and I really don't want to be in school in June!

Both Destiny and Jessica are out of the hospital and Destiny is back in school. Jessica will start back sometime this week. It is such a relief to everybody to see them back home.

Art? Do I still do that? yes - here and there. I am nearing completion of my first book of this year's challenge and finding myself asking a lot of questions about what I REALLY think a livre d'artist should be. I talk to myself about the best way to put text into a book ALL THE TIME and I keep coming back to this idea:

What is the benefit of the process? I am trying to get rid of the extraneous, fluffy, show-offy bits and get right to the heart of what the words SAY, not how they are put onto the pages. The way I get the words on the page should only support the message...? What about the overall aesthetic of the piece? See what I mean? never ending

I heart a finished project!

2009-01-26T19:11:00.001-08:00

This is not a "real" project. It's a little Valentine made from scraps of paper fabric. The scraps are from a real project. The one I had to start FOUR times before it would cooperate. I don't like to think that my work has a mind and a will of its own, but it seems that sometimes things won't be done until they are good and ready.

JR made these hearts when he left for work this morning. It wasn't a project. It was an accident.

True Colors, OPB and Band Aids

2009-01-20T18:49:00.000-08:00

All this, everything that I do and think about doing and am not doing right now because I am writing this, really started in 2002. It started then, but it exploded in 2003 when I had that big fat Lilly grant to study book arts. In early fall of that year, I bought a book called True Colors. Are you familiar with it? It was and remains the definitive book on mixed media art journaling. True Colors introduced me to the work of Teesha Moore, Lynne Perella, Michelle Ward and a small army of other artists. I have continued to follow these ladies over the last 5 years by reading their blogs (OPB - Other People's Blogs)

I was reading Teesha's blog the other day and saw these cool little journals:

http://teeshascircus.blogspot.com/2009/01/having-fun.html

Teesha is the Queen of art journaling. I cannot art journal AT ALL. I try. I determine to do it. I might do a few pages, but then I get caught up in that dreaded J word - JOURNAL - private thoughts and prying eyes - and then I quit. The

little journals on Teesha's blog were too tempting. I made one:

I used an assortment of old boxes, machine stitched together for the cover and a brown paper sack for the pages. I gessoed them before binding to speed up the process. I bound the journal with a simple pamphlet stitch. I started by painting the pages with a coat of acrylic.

It only has 16 pages and it's made out of trash. No pressure. I WILL fill this book.

Maybe.

While I was making the book, I sliced my left index finger with my xacto. My finger slid off the ruler while I was cutting down the pages. I bled on my book.

Ick.

Happy New Year - a little late

2009-01-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

This is my first official blog post of 2009. The first bit of this year has been a bit rocky and I am having a hard time shaking off the gloom. I can't seem to get in any kind of art-making groove. I wonder if I am avoiding being still and quiet.

Perhaps.

My thoughts are in a continual whirl. I cannot settle down. I have started the same stinkin' project three times. It's so bad, I did the unthinkable. I asked my husband for advice. He said not to force anything. Just to let it come naturally.

Gotta get the girls from basketball and then take Courtney to run indoor track at IU. I will finish this nailbiter when I get home.

It's now 9:53 - Home from track club. That's the best hunnerd bucks I've spent in a while. Court gets to run on the University's indoor track, get some good preseason coaching and knock off the rust before outdoor season starts in April AND I can walk or jog for an hour and a half four times a week. Pretty good when it's four whole degrees outside without wind chill. It's about 15 below with the wind right now. Hate it.

That's the little nugget at the heart of my art troubles. Whenever I think a negative thought like:
I hate the cold
or
I'm too tired
or
(when assessing my artwork) That looks awful
I get completely hung up on all the people we've lost in the last few months and I think that I'm lucky to even feel the cold or be around to chase my kids to and from all kinds of sports or to make art and then I feel completely guilty
and stuck.

sigh

Goodbye 2008

2008-12-31T16:52:00.000-08:00

I would love to end this year with a happy, forward-looking post or a review of all the good things that happened for the Crane family - we have been greatly blessed with health and success - but I can't. Above is my last 6" quilt of the year. The central image is a photo of a drawing I did in my sketchbook Monday while I was waiting to pick up the girls from basketball.

They didn't have a regular practice Monday; they had a team meeting. With counselors.

Saturday night, two of their teammates, Jessica and Destiny, were involved in a car accident. Both girls are in the hospital in critical condition with extremely serious injuries. This accident took the lives of Destiny's sister Alex and the driver, Cameron. My girls know all four of these kids. My husband was Jessica's first softball coach. Destiny and Alex were one of 5 sets of back-to-back siblings from Parkview School:
Whitley and Courtney
Ian and Evan
JR and Charnelle
Logan and Nick
Destiny and Alex
All Sophomores and Freshman this year

If you would like to read the local paper's coverage of this horrible accident:
http://www.tmnews.com/stories/2008/12/29/news.nw-568520.tms

Please pray for Destiny and Jessica. Cameron was laid to rest today. We will say goodbye to Alex on Saturday.

We will remember you:
Devon Hensley - Whitley's classmate who passed suddenly in April, age 15
Elena Veach - Courtney's soccer coach - left a husband and two very small children
Larry Salmon - JR's uncle - we missed you at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner
Henry Wong - Sarah's husband, Ashley and Alex's dad, our dear friend - I think of you every day
Bruce Hewetson - friend, customer at the store, all around nice guy
Charlie Boone - friend, customer, always wanted to shoot the breeze when he came in the store
Cameron Wright - too young
Alex Chastain - rest in peace, little sister

More Red Shoes

2008-12-20T19:07:00.001-08:00

All from Anthropologie.

BOOK SIGNING!!!

2008-12-17T18:06:00.001-08:00

At Borders in Bloomington from 7:00 - 9:00pm this Friday, December 19. Sorry, it's just me, no Cheryl. Please come. I want my mom to have somebody to talk to. I will be giving away a little handmade gift with every copy of Mixed Mania purchased that evening.

We had a weather-related school cancellation today, so I spent some time shoe-shopping on the computer. I found a couple of pairs I liked, but didn't buy anything. After spending my whole life avoiding any kind of heel, I have the sudden urge to wear them. I have a couple of pairs of tall wedges that send my 5'8"+ frame perilously close to gianthood and I LOVE these:

Christmas Time Is Here

2008-12-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

That's my favorite Christmas music - Vince Guaraldi Trio's version, please. I think it captures the brightness and touch of melancholy this season brings perfectly. Here is a clay ornament my first graders are painting this week. We carved the little houses into clay about a month ago. They have been fired and all of them survived. Thank goodness. But don't worry... I always make extras in case one breaks. I do lots of demos in art class, with my students gathered around my work table. The first graders carry on whole conversations about me during the demo, like I can't hear them. They say things like:

How does she paint so good?

She's so good cause she's been doin this for like 10 years.

Do you think she's a real artist?

Miss Crane is lucky cause she gets to do art all day.

They're so cute and sincere!

Courtney Made This; I Made That

2008-11-28T16:32:00.001-08:00

Courtney was bound and determined to make a pumpkin pie, crust and all, from scratch. I was equally determined to make a book I've been planning and sketching. The pie was more successful.

Back to the drawing board on the book. The prototype needs some tweaking.

I finally got my hands on Anna Maria's book today. A two-word review is all that is necessary: BUY IT!

Should I or Shouldn't I?

2008-11-24T18:29:00.000-08:00

Continue with Daily Art in 2009? Can't decide. Over the summer I had pretty much made up my mind that2008 was my last year fooling with it, but now I am waffling. This year's project has been a stinker. What in the world was I thinking? Here are my two latest.

IF IF IF I decide to do another year-long project, it WILL be book-based. Whatever I do in 2009, I'm getting back to books. I want to become a one trick pony...but a really pretty one that does one perfectly executed, amazing trick. I am sure that books are my True Art Thing, but I got a little talked out of them. I have compromised here and there. Now, when I read OPB and look at the books they are making, it kills me. I should be making books, too. I have new book all sketched out. I was planning on making one Saturday, but I had throbbing headache and the girls had basketball about 2hrs away and Courtney needed to go shopping for some dress-up clothes, so the book got back-burnered. Maybe tomorrow evening...?

In the bad news department - the only place to buy any fabric in Bedford is the Dreaded Supercenter and THEY ARE CLOSING THE FABRIC DEPARTMENT AS OF JANUARY 18. To buy fabric after that, I will have to go south of the river or cross county lines. Good grief.

Put this on your I-pod - "Cath" by Death Cab for Cutie. Slick, slick, slick bass line.

I have a new hobby: checking amazon to see where we rank in our category. In addition to Mixed Media, we seem to be doing well in Decorating.

And I leave you with something read on a sign outside a furniture in Seymour, Indiana-

Corduroy pillows: They're making headlines.

I Must Have a Blythe Doll

2008-11-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.thisisblythe.com/

I had never heard of them until yesterday. I was listening to an episode of Diva Craft Lounge with Lauri Mika on it and the other guests were talking about Blythe dolls.

They make me think of Dare Wright and The Lonely Doll.

Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Can you believe 2008 only has two months left in it? Wow! Update on Cross Country - the team finished 8th! Only the top 6 teams advanced to State. I took it pretty hard, but Cookie was okay. She is already looking forward to next year.

So soccer and cross are over for this year. Whit broke her own single-season scoring record of 11 goals last year with 13 this year. Basketball started right away. Whit is JV and Varsity; Court is on the freshman team and will probably play some JV, too.

This week has been extremely quiet for us. I think I've cooked dinner five nights this week. I've had time to make stuff -to craft, I guess. I made these 4 little dolls Sunday. The one with the orange skirt is my favorite. I started these in August with the order for the stamps I used for the faces from Invoke Arts. The stamps were Lost In The Mail, so it took a long time to get them. Then I couldn't find an ink pad I liked to stamp with and then I was at the soccer field or cross country course. But I finally made them. After I finished these I decided to make more. Fifity more to be exact. I love doing mindless production type work. Stamp 50 faces. Colored pencil 50 faces. Cut out 50 bodies. Glue stick 50 faces. Sew 10 faces. Sew 10 bodies. Turn 10 bodies. Stuff 10 bodies. Close 10 bodies. Stitch 10 sets of legs. Make 10 skirts. Do 10 hairdos. Decorate 10 bodices. Make 10 sets of wire arms. Glue feet and dip in glitter for shoes. Repeat. What am I going to do with them? I don't know yet. I have a thirst to make A LOT of things...like makeup work for all the weeks this fall when I didn't so much as run the vacuum, much less make stuff.

The face stamp is from www.invokearts.com

Is it proper?

2008-10-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

To give you a link to a favorable review of a Certain Book?

http://www.craftypod.com/?p=593

Would two links be pushing it?

http://craftlit.blogspot.com/2008/10/episode-one-hundred-eleven-jo-jo.html

Great Big Thanks to Diane and Heather!

A bad photo of a cute witchy paper doll. My scanner is not working and I cannot figure out why, being a nontechnology person. It's not that I don't understand machines or that I fear they are taking over or that I worry about my carbon footprint - I just don't like the darn things. I much prefer Real Human People...and dolls.

I'm going to need your help.

2008-10-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Normally, I do not ask for help in the task of Worry; that's part of my thing -all worry, all the time, all by myself - but THIS is different.
Courtney's cross country team has advanced to the semi-state meet this Saturday, October 25 at 10:30 am. Only the top 6 teams from each semi will advance to the State Finals. Cookie is the first member of our families to advance to a semi-state in any sport. She is only a freshman and full of self-doubt. Her foot is bothering her, too. It gets numb during races. Sometimes after a mile, sometimes after two or three. It's a problem, running with a concrete block for a foot.
All the girls are nervous, but the coach - who is AWESOME - is optimistic. So, dear readers, I would be more than appreciative of any prayer or positive thought you could send our way:
- for courage and confidence
- for speed
- for Mr. Foot to stay awake
- for a safe, pain free race for all the girls
- no regrets, leaving it all on the course
- for STATE
I know some of you are moms and can relate to worrying about our kids and wanting SO BADLY for them to do well, so I thank you in advance.

The thing about the Companion is on the ME website. The publisher has fallen on hard times and is discontinuing the magazine. There goes one of my life goals. Oh well, there's still MARTHA.

just found out...

2008-10-19T03:40:00.000-07:00

The Companion is going away! The Nov/Dec ish will be the last MEHC.

Lose Give Bitter Sweet

2008-10-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Daily art seems a silly thing to me this week. Who cares? Not me. Not really.

Last Saturday we lost a very dear friend, Henry Wong. He was only 46. Henry was born in Hong Kong, came here when he was eleven and became American. Henry was a patriot; more so than many who are born here. He and his family embraced the freedoms and opportunities of this country. Henry was a chemical engineer for the Navy.

Kam Hung "Henry" Wong and Sai Hui "Sarah" Wong would have celebrated their 20th anniversary in February. Sarah spoke beautifully at the service. She told us how Henry had taught her English, taught her the restaurant business, bought her first car, brought her entire family here from China... she said they had spent nineteen years learning each other.

Henry and Sarah have two kids - Ashley who is Courtney's age and Alexander who is 11. That's how we met Henry - through our kids playing soccer. Years back, JR and Henry coached against each other, but lately, Henry has been JR's assistant. JR is the offensive specialist; Henry was the mastermind of the defense. We also know them from their restaurant - Empress Court.

It doesn't make any sense to me. Making little things seems futile.

At Henry's funeral, his brother Howard got up at the end and explained a couple of things to us about a Chinese funeral. As we passed by the casket, we were to each bow three times to show respect. On the way out, we were to take an envelope from a basket. Inside the envelope was a dime and a piece of candy. The family had suffered a terrible loss; to balance it, they had to give away money. The bitterness of the loss would be balanced by the sweet candy.

Lose Give Bitter Sweet

The RZ Book

2008-10-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

I had to go to the optometrist Wedesday so I had a bit of time to myself. Nevermind that my eyes were dilated for most of it. That's no excuse not to make art. I watched the Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo Tuesday night and I could not get all those outrageous things that girl says out of my head, so I gave myself a one-day challenge to make a Rachel Zoe book. One day. Not all 24 hours, of course. I started by making a white accordion book form watercolor paper - cheap watercolor paper. The content began with the numbers - she said at one point in the show that she had purchased 3 leopard coats in one day - WHO does that? She talked about her love for the 60s and 70s. She wears those giant sunglasses. Why the pink and purple color theme? In about 1973, my favorite colors were pink and purple. I remember coloring whole sheets of paper in pink and purple stripes.

This is not an important piece of art. It was only a little exercise. Harmless, but did I get anything out of it? I don't know. I think the tiny clothes in it are kinda cool.

Our New Arrival

2008-09-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Announcing the World Premier of Our Baby

MIXED MANIA: RECIPES FOR DELICIOUS MIXED MEDIA CREATIONS

Weighing in at 2 lbs

Measuring 10" long

Delivered via Fed Ex

With no epidural

Proud Mothers - Debbi Crane and Cheryl Prater

New season, new post

2008-09-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

The pictures never seem to end up where I want them when I publish a post, but they look okay for now, so here we go.

It's been, what, four weeks since I posted here? I have meant to get in here and update many times, but by the time I have time, I am too tired to form complete sentences. The girls are more-than-busy with soccer, (cross country, too, for Court) and homework. Courtney often puts in 10 hour days at school, with cross country after a two-hour soccer practice. But she has handled the transition into high school like a Chinese diver - smoothly and with very little splash. It's like she's always been there. Whit leads the varsity soccer in goals; Court leads JV and is second to Whit on varsity. Court is running pretty solid in the #3 varsity spot on the cross team.

What about art? The big book I showed you last time is a Dreaded Art Journal. No time limit or theme. Notes, sketches and lots of words. I guess I'm over worrying about whether somebody reads it or not. I've missed writing since my class was over in the spring. It also seems like I run out of listening ears before I run out of words to say and pages are very patient. Some of the pages here are done; some are in the process. The pink and purple ones are a chronicle of my design process for something I have in progress right now. People ask me how I come up with stuff. I don't know what to tell them - sometimes it's a long and circuitous route from the germ of the idea to finished product. It ain't magic.

Why "Dreaded"? The word journal makes me squirm a bit. A journal is where emo kids write about their angst or something dark like that. No big secrets or plots in my book. . . I can't deny my craving for the book form - whether or not it's commercially viable in the mixed media world or not - it's my thing. I have strayed from it in pursuit of Other Things and it feels good to be home.

How Much Is It Worth?

2008-08-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

I really hate generalizations about people. Generalizing is lazy and disrespectful. Remember the "gun rack" comments of a few months back? That's what I 'm talking about. I am often the subject of broad generalizations. Let me give you a few examples:

1. Teachers are overpaid and lazy.

2. The only people who teach art are painters who could not make a living painting.

3. Teachers get three months paid vacation.

4. Christians are stupid.

5. Conservatives are greedy, ignorant and selfish.

6. Conservative, white Christians only cling to religion, guns and pick up trucks out of fear.

None of these are remotely true about me - or anyone I know. I am angered at the notion that people who do not even know me believe that if I am ___________then I must be _______________. I shall proceed with this in mind as I tell you about an awful thing happening right now. It will very difficult for me not to pass unfair judgement on people I do not know.

Early last week an art-teacher colleague of mine (not overpaid or lazy) informed me that Pi Beta Phi Fraternity is selling the land in Gatlinburg that is currently leased to my beloved Arrowmont. I have searched the Internet high and low and emailed a well-connected artist or two to try and figure out what is going on. What I can glean - and it ain't much, sister - is that Pi Phi believes more good can be done in The World with the money Pi Phi would make from selling the land than by LETTING ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CRAFT SCHOOL ON THE PLANET SIT PEACEFULLY ON UNDISTURBED NATURE!

Looks like the undisclosed party who approached Pi Phi wants to build an indoor water park and all-inclusive resort where the Red Barn is. Pi Phi has a "shut up" deal with the undisclosed party so nobody knows how much they are getting for the land. I have read the figure 9 million dollars as the amount Pi Phi will give Arrowmont to get themselves back together someplace else. Someplace way else, I guess. Nine million MIGHT buy a fudge shop on Parkway. It could not begin to replace what Arrowmont has now.

Some poor slobs go through their entire lives without clarity. Not me. Arrowmont gave me clarity. On June 17, 2002 right there in the book studio, I heard the voice of the Almight Himself - "Go forth and make books." No Arrowmont = no more moments of clarity for the searching masses.

I'm no tree hugger. I like money. I believe in capitalism. But I also believe that worth cannot be measured in strict dollars and cents. I am sure a lot of good can be done with 47 kazillion dollars. I am also sure that a sacred place - to me and others, Arrowmont is a sacred place - can't be replaced for twice that. If Arrowmont ceases to exist, the possibilities of what could be learned or discovered or created there cease to exist, too. What's that worth?

Go to www.savearrowmont.wordpress.com. Go to the older posts section and read the one called Pi Phi Support for the words right from Pi Phi.

You can also link to a petition from savearrowmont.

I made the big book at the top with a 4 needle Ethiopian Coptic. I leaned that at Arrowmont. I finished it today. I'll tell what I'm doin' with it later.

Got Perspective?

2008-08-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

By the spring of 2004, JR and I were sure that Whitley and Courtney had outgrown soccer in Bedford. They needed more technical coaching and stiffer competition if they were to continue to improve. That June, we took them to tryouts for the nearest travel club team, Bloomington Cutters. Whit was up for a spot on the U12s. The club's Director of Coaching back then was a guy named Sean Phillips. Sean knew our girls from soccer camps and rec league. The U12 roster was full from the previous season, but he made the cuts and gave Whitley a spot. Courtney's U11s were another story. In 2004, U11 was the youngest age group for travel. They play 8v8 and I'm not sure 8 girls even showed up for tryouts. People made phone calls and sent emails and scrounged up enough girls to put a team together. Courtney did not know a soul on that team.

Training started in August. Courtney's team was coached by Elena Veach, an high school English teacher and assistant coach of a very successful high school team. The girls on that team came from a wide range of soccer backgrounds - some had played since they were four years old; others were only at the beginning of their careers. What they lacked in skill and experience, they made up for in sweetness and fun. Emma, Lilly, Anna,Sarah, Mia, Hannah, Alex, Zoe, Willa, Asia, Olivia. And their parents - the fruit did not fall far from the tree - in a totally good way. The parents were so nice. Sometimes, people from Bloomingon make a big deal about people from Bedford - in a totally bad way.

The fall season for Elena's team was kind of ugly, but she was committed to getting them better, to making them a team and to getting the best out of everyone. She coached them like she meant it. No matter how bad they got slaughtered on Saturday, she worked them out like champs on Monday. Elena never lowered her expectations.

The spring season came, and the team started training and playing matches again. But this season was different. Elena's team was winning. Elena got it out of them. The team she created transcended their own limitations.

Elena Veach reinvented Courtney Crane. Elena made Coutney believe in herself. She instilled a will and desire to find the net into the little girl with braids. Tonight, Courtney Crane played her first high school varsity soccer match. Thank you, Elena.

Elena Veach died Saturday. I don't think she was thirty years old. She leaves behind a husband, a toddler and a newborn son.

So long, Summer Vacation

2008-08-08T05:08:00.000-07:00

Today is really the last day of summer vacation for me. I don't count Saturday and Sunday because we get those days off year round. This has to be one of the biggest perks of my job - 11 weeks off! The other big one - to me, anyway - is that we have clear, concrete beginnings and ends; built-in times to reflect, evaluate and set goals. I woke up today thinking about whether or not I had spent my summer wisely, whether or not I had accomplished anything.

I am not sure I got enough done. I am not sure I should worry about what I got done. When I go back on Monday, everybody will say, "Did you have a good summer?" and I will say yes and ask the same. I cleaned out my closet and got rid of a ton, so did the girls. I went to Arrowmont. Whitley did driver's ed. We got a new heating and cooling thing. I saw a proof of The Book. I wrote an article for Cloth Paper Scissors. I taught at Hummingbird Art Camp. The girls trained and went to a couple of camps. Whitley turned 16 and we enrolled both girls in high school. That's about it.

The girls had their Red and White scrimmage match last night. They were on opposing teams. The score was 3-3. Let me break that down for you: Whitley scored all 3 for White; Courtney scored one and had the assist on another for Red. That means that the Crane sisters were responsible for 5 of the 6 goals scored. Yes, that's bragging.

I have been painting on and off all summer. It started when I was making my hummingbird sample. This is the back of canvas that I am using for the front. More to come. Other things on the art stove: A dos-a-dos interpretation, a long and complicated accordion pop-up, little quilts and my Christmas cards.

I'm Back and It's August!

2008-08-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been back from New Mexico for a week, but I haven't felt like posting. Just been hanging out with the girls, back-to-school shopping and important stuff like that. Whit turned 16 on Friday. We went to Holiday World - not really for her birthday, but because it fit into our schedule. We had a little get-together for her last night, nothing too fancy, family and friends, lots of laughs. This is my Big Project:

It's my first foray into fondant. This is the second soccer ball cake I've made. I did one when Whit was 10, I think. Those hexagons! Yesterday when I was working on the ball was the only time I ever wished basketball was her #1 sport! Courtney wants either a running-themed cake or a guitar cake. Not for a few months, though.

Tomorrow is the first IHSAA official practice for cross country and soccer. Whit is playing soccer again. She is the returning varsity player with the most experience, so she should have a big year. Court is playing soccer and running cross country. There doesn't look to be too many conflicts. Both will be in high school!

I go back on the 11th; kids on the 12th. I think it's going to be a great year for all of us.

Embellishing

2008-07-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

A book I made for a colleague's retirement gift is featured in the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors e-newsletter, Embellishments. If you aren't a subscriber - it's free, so do it - here's the link:

http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/qallc/newsletter-archive/cps92.html

Janice is a Master Gardener. She and her husband, Mike, operate a Christmans tree farm in rural Lawrence County.

News and Reviews

2008-07-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

News:
1. Cheryl and I each received a proof of The Book to fine-tooth comb for things like the renegade e. It looks great and I truly hope you like it! There were some parts that made me laugh out loud.

2. After much deliberation, we have chosen an HVAC company to replace our old unit. We will have air conditioning by week's end. It hasn't been too too bad here, but the humidity is beginning to increase, as it does this time of year here. Funny side effect - the girls and I freeze when we go anyplace with AC. I need a sweater for Barnes and Noble.

3. Driver's Ed - 5 classes left - I am not in a panic anymore.

4. Gas prices are out of hand. A guy in line in front of me at Kroger was talking to the checker outer and made the Comment That I Hate - "Well, gas is $10 a gallon in Europe." Hey, dude, look at your driver's license. Look at your address. It don't say Europe. It says IN-DI-ANA.

5. If you are in a long line at Target or the Supercenter and a new check out is opened, the person who has been waiting the longest has the right to be first in the new line. That means the person who is closest to checking out, but still has all of her or his stuff in the cart. This is a friendly reminder for someone who probably doesn't read my blog. It is summer, people, and I'm only trying to save some toes in flip flops from being run over by that lady with all the Popsicles and clearance beach towels in her cart.

6. Next Sunday at this time, I will be in Jemez Springs, NM at the lovely Hummingbird Art Camp. Here is the project I am doing in my classes this year, whole thing and a detail:

Reviews:

Two more new books for you:

100 Artist Journal Pages
by Dawn Devries Sokol
and
True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling
by L.K. Ludwig

These two books about art journaling came out at pretty much the same time and cover the same topic, but, boy, are they different!

1000 Pages is like Pokey Bolton's 1000 ATC book - no commentary or explanation - just 1000 pages from actual peoples actual journals. In the ATC book, there are 10 or 12 pages of techniques, but in this book there are only two pages of prompts for how to get started. I did not see anything about materials or technique. There are more than a few monolithic girls with wings. I think it was a virus that went around a few years ago. I am curious to see what emerges next in our little community.

True Vision includes something less than 1000 journal pages, but Ludwig gives us information on kinds of books to use, how to use our materials to create art within the confines of a journal and words from the makers of the journals she features. This is my favorite part - reading the maker's own words about her journal. My favorite one is
Bee Shay's Rothko journal. She has taken a book of Rothko paintings and worked over and around them to create a journal. LOVE IT.

That being said, I am slightly uncomfortable looking at other peoples journals. I think it's none of my business. They offered them for publication, so I suppose it's okay with them if I look, huh? I wonder how the idea of maybe getting published changes the way we work? Writing the book changed me for sure. I don't make anything without thinking about how I could write instructions and choosing materials that I know are readily available for everybody.

Just Trying to Be of Service

2008-07-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

As you know from our last visit, I have more than a few hours on my hands while my darling firstborn is further ripped from my arms. I really want to use my time wisely and, possibly, help others. My blog readers came to mind. How could I use my waiting hours to benefit all four of us? I have time to browse and sip a Starbucks at Barnes and Noble, so I have time to do

BOOK REVIEWS!

I am not really a writer, much less a real book reviewer, but I can read. I will give you the unsugarcoated truth about new mixed media books. Let's start with Diane Maurer Mathison's new book, pictured at left: Collage, Assemblage and Altered Art: Creating Unique Images and Objects.

1. The Cover - I like it - it has that matte finish that looks a little upscale and the primary color scheme is always appealing to me.
2. The first image, even before any words or anything, is one of Dan Essig's Bridge Books. That says "Quality", right there.
3. In the first section of the book, devoted to collage, Mathison uses a lot of French words, which I also love. Words like - papier colle, grattage, brulage and fumage. It sounds classy.
4. There is a good recipe for paste flour to make paste papers. I have done it before and it's a lot messy fun, but I did not have a recipe.
5. The Assemblage section features work by people you might know - Michael Demeng and Carol Owens and by people you might not know, but should, like Greg and BJ Jordan. I have some earrings they made - love them.
6. The Altered Art section held a pleasant surprise - the mind-blowing genius of Julie Leonard and Dan Essig - two artists I seldom see in the ocean of mixed media. They swim in the deep end, baby. You haven't seen altered book like this anywhere else.

This book contains projects, techniques and lots of images I hadn't seen before - refreshing. It would be a nice addition to your art library.

Driver's Ed.

2008-07-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

As I told you last time, Whit is taking driver's ed for the next couple of weeks. We are driving to Bloomington for her classes, about 35 minutes away from home. We're in Bloomington a lot for shopping and sports stuff so it's not like a foreign country or anything. Her classroom bit is for 2 and a half hours every day and the driving part adds on two more hours every other day. Tuesday was classroom only, so I had to amuse myself for a couple of hours. Not much is open at 8:00am, other than Starbucks, so I sat in there and sketched for an hour, then I went to Hobby Lobby and then the bookstore - my 3 favorite places - but I did not enjoy myself at all..I was overcome by thoughts of my impending obsolescence. This model of time killing would not work eleven more times. Yesterday was her first driving day, so Mommy had FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to fill.

I graduated from Indiana University in 1989 and have since taken a few classes there. This summer Courtney is doing IU Track Club. It's for kids from 4 to 18 and they work out at the IU track - super nice just like I would expect from a Big Ten school - and get coaching on their events from IU athletes and area high school coaches. That's 4 nights a week for an hour and a half. I have been parking at the track and taking walks down Fee Lane and through the arboretum. Yesterday, after dropping Whit off, I decided to walk off some of my anxiety and take a full walking tour of my Alma mater. I put in about 5 miles on the landscaped paths shaded by hundred year old trees. That place is beautiful and quiet this time of year. I saw few people - the summer school students, high school kids on campus for some kind of camp, tiny shriveled professors carrying briefcases equal to their own weight. I crossed Indiana ave - going officially off campus to check out the store hours for Pygmalion's Art Supply - the only real art store in town. They don't open until 9:00. I 'll go back another day. It's a mom and pop joint with a cat or two sleeping on the counter and every kind of art thing you could ever want. Back on campus, I passed the Sample gates, the law school, geology, biology, music - all those places I knew in a former life. They still looked the same. The speed at which time moves is relative - very slowly for limestone buildings with Gothic arches and very quickly for daughters who can't possibly be old enough to drive a car.

I had to take Court back up for Track Club last night and put in a few more miles - about 10 total for the day. It's my new way to cope - exhaust myself.

I guess this is about the middle...

2008-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

of summer vacation and the middle of my 6" quilt challenge. I think this is number 26 in my petunias by the front door. It's been a while since I blogged because I haven't anything artwise to really talk about. I'm planning and making, but I don't have anything else I can show you today. This little Q has the reverse applique circles like the purse I showed you last time. I have been playing in the dirt just about every day. Some years I don't do any flowers, others I do tons; this year is an in-between year. It's manageable.

I am finding it very difficult to focus on the positive lately. This started a couple of weeks ago when a particular thing I had been looking forward to for a long time turned out to be somewhat disappointing. I don't think it was anybody's fault. So there's that, plus the overwhelming feeling that my girls are leaving me, and soon; Whitley Taylor starts Driver's Ed Tuesday. She has her permit and everything. Courtney is growing like a weed - she passed her big sister - and she got Heidi Klum Season 4 Finale Bangs cut this week. Between them, they put in 60 hours on the soccer field in a week's time. They ran a 5k yesterday. Court won the women's race with a fast 21:57 and Whit was second with a 22:33. That's Whit in the green. Okay - so that's positive. Court has on the brite yellow. Her Heidis are pulled back. The girls are always a positive.

The big thing that has me distracted is that the Crane Household is in need of a total Heating and Air Conditioning System replacement. I have had a parade of estimates, ranging from 48 to 68 hunnerd bucks. It's so stressful trying to make the right choice and pick a reputable company who will service the thing and not cheat us. I go back and forth from panic attacks to nightmares. YES, you're right, I should be thankful that we can afford to do this.

I had a minor Bad Thing happen on Friday. If the disappointment scale is:

1 - A shoulder shrug and an "oh well"

10 - Complete heartbreak and tears for a week -

this thing was about a 2. I got my contributors copies of the 50 Nifty Beaded Cards pictured above and MY NAME IS MISSPELLED EVERY SINGLE TIME - 4 - IT APPEARS IN THE BOOK. I DON'T HAVE AN E ON THE END. EVERY BIT OF COMMUNICATION I HAD WITH LARK WAS SPELLED D E B B I ! EVERY SET OF INSTRUCTIONS I SENT THEM SAID: DESIGNED BY DEBBI CRANE.

How did this happen? Yes, I know, shut up Debbi. Lots of people would be happy to be published at all.

Nonstop Begonias

2008-06-18T07:06:00.001-07:00

These flowers have always been some of my favorites to look at, but I have never had much luck keeping them alive. They seem very finicky about water - easily drowned, easily parched. They require too much babysitting for my taste; I need a sturdy, self-sufficient petunia or Gerber daisy. J.R., however, bought me two hanging basket of the Dreaded Begonias for Mothers Day. Why in the world would you buy THOSE for ME? I asked him. His answer: They're pretty. I was pretty sure they wouldn't be alive when I got home from my week at Arrowmont, but here is proof. They look great. I had a weird dream in which they turned from red to orange.

Here are four more of my daily art quilts. I recently had a "discussion" with a person who works in another medium about these quilts. He was sure they were too small to be real quilts. He thinks it won't be a quilt unless I sew them altogether. Is there a size requirement that nobody told me? My definition is three layers, stitched or fastened together in some fashion. The one that says 19 was made the week of our 19th anniversary. The lower right hand corner features a Sublimely Stitched poodle.

About Arrowmont:
This was my sixth visit as a student to this heavenly place. Cheryl and I took another printmaking class, this time with Diane Fine.
For some reason, I did not take a single photo this time around, but Cheryl did, so scoot on over there to check out some images. One of the best thing about Arrowmont is getting to meet incredible artists from all over the place who are making amazing work with conviction and passion, but are not well-known in the mainstream of everyday culture. How is it that I know who Jessica Simpson is dating - BTW , what has Ashlee done to Pete Wentz? He used to be such a cute little punk. Now he looks like a housecat -and have never heard of Michael Mocho or Jennifer Angus?

Want to see a preview of a supergood book coming out this fall? Check this out and use the arrow at the top to flip thru a few pages. http://interweave.richfx.com/catalog_interweave/MixedMania/index.aspx

I made this purse yesterday. I saw some reverse applique on Rice's blog from the Alabama Stitch Book - I took a peek at the book on B&N on Sunday and it looks good, I may have to buy it - anyhoo, I wanted to give myself a little tutorial on reverse applique, so I made this. Why would I make something this big and involved with my beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabrics for a stinkin' self-imposed tutorial? I seem to have lost the concept of a rough draft. I want to use my precious studio to make real things, not to make practice things. Using fabric I love and don't have much of is also a great motivator to produce quality. I made a pattern, cut out the pieces, made the reverse applique panels, laundered them to get them deconstructing and them assembled the bag. It is quilted and fully lined. It has a magnetic closure.

Fabric keeps calling to me. I really love the design piece of making - having an idea, drafting a pattern, working thru all the steps in my head and on paper and then making turn out right, well-made, neat and strong. I needed to learn reverse applique for an upcoming project that my break a little ground for me. I am still in the thinking and drawing part of it, but I'll keep you posted.

The problem with having a successful day of making yesterday, is that I want to make something else today instead of clean my house. I was sweeping the patio this morning and discovered a dead bird.

Surprise

2008-05-27T16:52:00.001-07:00

The new Quilting Arts was in my mailbox today! Look on page 74 for my True Colors challenge quilt.

I saw David Cook on Regis this morning. He went on a date with Kimberly Caldwell. Remember her from season two about a million years ago? Sorry, Cheryl, I think she's the president of Cougars for Cook.

I just read that Jessica Simpson is dating Jared Leto. ick.

Summer Has Begun

2008-05-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Here is Courtney from her 8th grade honor night last Wednesday. She got 6 academic medals, 4.0 all three years and the scholar athlete award. Whit got the same awards last year. Courtney and McKenzie Isom were the only 2 eighth graders with perfect attendance all three years. What else do they have in common? They are both the children of art teachers. Please God, Anywhere. Anywhere but home with an art teacher.

We are very proud of her. And she looked cute.

Thursday was the last kid day. I don't think anything else happened. Friday, on the other hand, was busy and sad. We had a retirement lunch for my dear friend and colleague, Janice Cain. I hate thinking of our art teacher meetings without her next year. She is always a voice of calm and sanity. I had to close down two art rooms and organize all my materials for next year. I brought home an empty plan book. It would be so cool to start the school year will all my lessons planned.

Saturday and Sunday - regular days. No win for Danica. I did think there might be a throw down after that guy hit her. We'll make a redneck outta her yet! I don't like the other girls for some reason - Sarah and Milka.

Monday - today - I spent the morning disturbing earthworms and rearranging rocks to get the right amount of fung in my schway. I dug up a perrennial bed, got rid of some things, added some new, transplanted some stuff from other places in the yard. In my containers, I went color wild this year - hot pink, red, lavendar, orange, yellow - all together. Then we went to Bloomington. Michaels first - I FINALLY HAVE SOME FLOSS AND HOOPS SO I CAN STITCH SUBLIMELY!!! I bought a bunch of hoops so the girls can get in on the fun, too. I want to start one tonight. Then TJMaxx, Old Navy and Kohls - the girls wated new swimsuits. Both found one that looks really cute. It's easy to look good in a bikini when you are 15 and have a six pack.

We finished up at Sams and Kmart and bought a darling flatscreen for the family room - only 26" - but a good size for the room - with a dvd player. Kind of a present for the girls for doing so well in school this year.

Arrowmont is only two weeks away!

Good Book

2008-05-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

I had read about this book a couple of times, but did not intend to buy it. It sounded silly and I do not need another diet book to join Jorge Cruise, Dr. Phil, Dr. Ian and Bob Green on the shelf. THEN I found the Craftsanity podcast on Itunes. I listened to lots of episodes before listening to Janice. I didn't want to listen to a diet show. Boring.

And what if she was right?

I finally listened to her. Janice Taylor is funny, bright, kinda irreverent and right on the money. I got the book. Our Lady will never see Dr. Phil's book shelf. Every diet book I've ever read makes sense, but they never resonate with me. That's because I've never read a diet book written by an artist.

Visit www.ourladyofweightloss.com for more info.

Me & Allison

2008-05-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

I did it. Yesterday I made an Alison Willoughby skirt. I didn't started until about 2:30 yesterday afternoon, but once I got into it, I was on a mission. Friday was Courtney's 8th grade trip. She had to be at school by 5:15 on Friday morning. They went to Cincinnati to the Aquarium, a museum and a Reds game. She did not get home until a little after 1:00am Saturday. I was pooped. Slept in until 8:00 Saturday morning then had to run a school-related but boring errand. Court got up just before noon and we all went to the shop about 1:00. By the time we get there and I talk to JR and get things organized, it was 2:30 when I went upstairs to the studio.

In the book, which I have studied at length since my mom got it for me in Chicago, Allison does not do a great job of explaining the closures she uses. All of her skirts are wrap-arounds. From the instructions in the book, it looks and reads as though she ties a lot of them closed, with long ties attached to the ends of the wrap. No mention of making a button hole in the waistband and running one tie through it and then tying to the other - this is my idea of a wrap skirt. In some photos, you can see a sort of hook and eye closure hold the overlap into place and she has a section on closures, but I can't see what she means. I sent her an email with some specific questions about my skirt. One thing - one some of her skirts the embellishment is thick all over. Do you account for the overlap somehow? Seems like two layers of the "stuff" would be bulky and me booty doesn't need to look any bigger. I sent the email weeks ago and never got an answer. I get it. I know she's an international textile arts superstar and really busy. So I had to improvise.

I took my black and white polka dots and hacked out a simple a-line shape. I did not measure. I hacked away. I check it for length ( the skirts in the book are mid-calf. Mine is about knee-length) and sewed one side seam together. Then. I drew the biggest circle my compass would allow. I sketched a couple of concentric rings larger. I wanted the Explosion to be running off the skirt. I took a strip and started sewing, making the pleats as I went - no measuring or pinning - just pinch and hit the accelerator. It was helpful to draw a sewing line for myself for each row. I had started the button thing with about 100 buttons. I stitched it into the middle before the next to last row. The last row - a kiss of Kaffe - couldn't resist was stitched over the raw edge of the button fabric. I filled in with a ton more buttons to hide the seam.

This one has the lowest common denominator waistband - elastic. It's easy and adjustable. I am still trying to get it just right. It needs to be tight to support the weight of the Explosion. I want my skirt to stand up when I do. I wore it to church this morning with a black tee and a plain denim jacket. And my red patent peep-toes. It makes a noise when I walk.

This project would be rated N, as in Not for Beginners. The pleats are a challenge to make and this is complicated by dragging, pulling and muscling all that fabric under the needle. I will make more Allison-style skirts. I want to have that "art teacher" wardrobe for next year. You will never see me in a polo and dockers or a jumper and platter collared blouse. I heard Rice Freeman Zachary say once that when she got into her 40s she started wearing whatever she wanted. I think I'm there.

Nineteen - I think.

2008-05-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

I think this the nineteenth weekly six-inch quilt of 2008, which is my fifth (and last?) year of doing Art Every Day. It's no secret that I have stru ggled with this year's daily assignment. I am not proud of what I am producing in this venture. Everything else,my real art, is fine; I am making stuff that I dig. There's the problem, right there. I view my daily art as different than my other art. The daily art is a dare to myself to look a daily challenge in the eye and refuse to blink. I ain't blinked in over 4 years and my mind is beginning to wander.

I liked both the ANTM finalists this time. Glad Whitney won, though. My girls are hooked on that show. MTV runs a marathon of some season every Saturday and they manage to watch at least a few epis. Our David Cook is looking into the abyss and I fear he will win. I thought David A was picked from the gate to win, but now there's all that stuff with his dad. Hmm. Did you see that Survivor last Thursday when those girls chewed Erik up and spit him out and he never saw it coming? It was a beautiful thing.

I still haven't stitched submlimely. Maybe this weekend? IDK - One of my most favorite art teacher colleagues is retiring this year and I am making her a paper doll set with a bunch of crazy costumes of things she might like to do now that she is free - like ballet and riding a Harley. I need to get that done and make a cute case of some sort. AND THEN I want to finally finish my Allison Willoughby skirt in time to wear to the honor program on the last day of school. FIve more kid days, six more teacher days.

New high school soccer coach for the girls. Conditioning starts June 9. That is a good thing. I have a major project planned for myself for summer break, too. I might keep it to myself; I might tell you. We'll see how it goes.

Gas is 3.95 here. HATE that.

Thank You

2008-05-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Thank you You-Tube for making it so much easier for me to waste time.

Check out "Charlie Bit My Finger-Again" and "Star Wars According to a Three-year Old"

Courtney also found a darling Korean toddler singing "Hey Jude" that we have watched about 47 times.

Good Press

2008-05-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.tmnews.com/stories/2008/05/09/news.nw-389276.tms

Courtney is quoted in today's Bedford paper. Yesterday her middle school did a 5k - the whole school, about 700 kids, plus teachers, aides, cooks and the principal. JR and I volunteered to be course pointers.

When Court got to me on the course, about a mile in, she was all torn up, bloody and muddy. Her arms and knee were drippy and she was in pain. She told me she fell down.

After the race, I got a closer look. I guess things got hectic at the gun and some kids who did not belong at the front of the pack gummed up the works and Courtney wound up on the ashphalt. There is a foot print on her shirt and it ain't hers. Her left forearm and hand are chewed up and so is her knee. She has other little hunks taken out here and there. It probably cost her the race, but she got up and kept going, so I count that as a victory. She doesn't want to wash the shirt she had on - she is too proud of the skid marks and blood stains.

Oh yeah - Whit's high school had the end-of-year academic convocation yesterday. She is in the Top Ten of her freshman class.

I guess we ain't ruined 'em yet.

Thinking of Penland

2008-05-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a terribly rainy day. Mid-afternoon, I opened my classroom door to the outside and looked towards the hills to the west. The trees are a juicy green now and a little bit of a misty fog hung over them. It looked like June 2004, Penland School of Craft. I haven't set foot in North Carolina since then.

I was 37 when I went to Penland. I went to take a class called "Spinning, Carving, Paring" taught by Dan Essig, Jim Croft and Shanna Leino. I have not seen any of the three of them since then either. I got there on a scholarship, with a recommendation from the mack daddy, Dan, himself. I did not belong there. I was not 22. I was not trying to decide between RISD and SCAD. I was married and, therefore, not interested in the cute guy teaching iron. I am not a vegetarian. I don't have my BFA. I have kids. I spent most of the two weeks I was there asking myself what I was doing there.

I had the full support of my husband. He and the girls were fine. I felt stupid and old. There were four students in the class older than me, but they were old enought not to care, like 50 or 60-something.

Dan, Jim and Shanna - geniuses, all three. Convicted of their work, passionate, brilliant. They are my book icons, idols, heroes. I know I will never be there. They see clearly and communicate. I am working thru smugded glasses with one eye shut and I haven't learned my whole language yet. I am 40.

This is one of the forty-two books I made during the two weeks at Penland.

From the other side of the Finish Line

2008-05-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Okay - I did it - all 13.1 miles of it. In 8 less minutes than last year. I had hoped to take off more time, but I had a couple of problems that slowed me down (I mean other than that I am a slow runner). JR got me a pair of fancy Thorlo running socks and the toe seam kept grinding on the end of my left big toe. I had to stop twice to take off my shoe and fix the sock - grr. The other thing was a cramp in my left calf that kinda crept in and out. Oh well - I live to run another race, I guess. Saturday I felt pretty bad. My plantar facsitis was completely riled up and my head was pounding. Sunday was still bad on my heel. Today, I feel fine, only a little bite in my hamstrings.

Last week sometime I ordered those embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching as a present for myself, a reward for doing the Mini. If I hadn't finished it, I would have had to give them to somebody else. I got them today! So cute! Can't wait to start! I went to the supercenter after school and art lessons to get some bleached muslin and an embroidery hoop. I told you they stopped carrying floss. Well, they didn't have a hoop either. What in the world? So now I can't stitch sublimely until I make a trip to Bloomington. You better belive I am going to stock up on floss and hoops! I wanted to do one on my next 6" quilt that I start tomorrow. Should I jump in without the hoop?

This is the quilt I finished today. It is made properly. The stamped images (Teesha Moore) were appliqued and then embroidered onto the brown and black check fabric. Then I made the sandwich with the backing fabric - a purple and orange tie dye - and batting and then I quilted it by hand. The binding is just a buttonhole stitch. I like it. Pretty much.

I want to talk about meaningful things here, but I seem incapable at the moment, and have for many moments.

It smells so good in my yard right now. All sorts of things are budding and blooming. The trees are full enough that I don't have to look at my neighbors' houses and it really feels like we are out in the country. We have less than three weeks left in school. And then it's official - I am the mother of two high-school students.

Why did that cute boy marry Mariah Carey?

Gut Check

2008-05-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

The One America Mini Marathon is less than twelve hours away and I am having serious doubts. I am on the verge of a panic attack - the one where the bones in my arms dissolve. What if I forget and leave my timing chip at home? What if we have car trouble or a wreck on the way? What if we can't find a parking place? What if I don't beat my time from last year?

I am reminded of last year's race. I called my mom afterward and told her I was done. She asked me if I was in the hospital.

David Cook For Third Place

2008-04-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, Amurica, it's time to vote. David Cook MUST go out third. Third is the AI Sweet Spot. You're not Clay Bacon, I mean Aiken, AND you don't have to give all that cheddar to the Simons. Archuletta - I don't care if it's spelled right - can win. Rat's Nest Boy (Jason) can have second.
The Indy Mini Marathon is THIS Saturday. Last year I had no idea what to expect, so I was nervous. This year I know exactly what to expect, so I am nervous. Wha? Now, you gotta know, I am a slow runner, but I have taken two minutes off my mile since I started running in January '07. That's progress. A little bit, anyway. I have a certain pace in mind as a goal. When I get there, I am training for a marathon. I am thinking it will take me two years from now to get there. How's that for a longterm goal?

I had a couple of disappointments last week - nothing major, just a crack in my

heart, not a full-fledged break. I haven't really talked about them to anybody much. For a couple of reasons. I don't want anybody to tell me I deserved them and I don't really like to share this kind of thing with people. I'd rather be the Happy Art Teacher.

In case you were wondering, I got an A in creative writing. Here are a couple of my latest quilts. The green one is my favorite so far. I am in love with Kaffe Fassett - his fabric anyway.

Have you seen www.sublimestitching.com? THE best, most unlamest embroidery patterns EVUH. I'll give you the skinny when I get my patterns next week. The only downer for me is that my local craft store - the Supercenter - does not carry embroidery floss. I will have to go to Bloomington or Mitchell. Can I afford to embroider if driving is involved?

My Reading-for-Fun Brain has recovered. I read all of Paula Deen's memoir Sunday and Monday. It was good. I liked the part where she talked about writing her first book and how nutty it was working with editors and having to really measure things and write it just so. I could relate. Mixed media art is a lot like cooking.

You'll soon see just how similar they can be.

Creative Writing

2008-04-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

My creative writing class is over - HALLELUJAH! One of my classmates shared this poem with me and it is too good not to pass along:

Introduction to Poetry

Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Earthquake!

2008-04-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

And a happy Friday to you, too! What a rude awakening we had this morning at a little after 5:30. My husband said, "What was THAT?" And I'm like, "It's an earthquake." Totally calm. Nothing damaged.

I am in complete disbelief that Chicago was an entire week ago. The Series of Fourteen and Accompanying Display Piece is almost done! I keep coming up with more and better ideas for it. Need to quit and call it done. Maybe begin on the 2.0 version. Nope. I have a few other projects to chew thru first. Speaking of projects, I haven't been showing you my dreaded 6" quilts. Not into it. Still doing it, but not into it.

The Series of Fourteen has really challenged me to create content in the books. I used to think that my books had to be transcendent on purpose...that I had to come up with some Grand Truth and share it. I have recently decided that it's not the case. I have decided to say whatever I need to say without worrying over it's importance. It will resonate with some, not with others. Some people like Nicholas Sparks; some people like Henry James.

My hills and hollers have started to wake up green this week. I took a few snaps for one of the books. The next photo is a limestone bench. I love the swag and tassle detail. The last picture is the "logo" for a retirement party. I made it for the centerpieces, t-shirts and buttons for the guests. They are two ladies I teach with. They plan to do a lot of shopping in their newfound free time.