Friday, August 23, 2013

You Do What You Can

This week I've been blooming where I was planted.  That included taking a dear friend for her second cataract surgery, and the follow-up doctor's appointment for check-up.  What that means for those of us living in "The Boonies" is the better part of two days away from the stewdio...and then...I worked yesterday per usual.  :-)

Today has been spent catching up at home: a stack of dirty dishes (no dish-washing machine); travelling to the pharmacy in Alix for a prescription -- and stopping in at the library to score 2 good books; garbage pick-up; correspondence, etc.  At last, late afternoon, I am out at my table under the largest of my ornamental fruit trees (Nancy C. - you have photos from me of the produce of this tree!) typing away to report my humble progress...

In my last post, I solicited advice about "Waiting for the Train" -- and I thank all of you who responded!  Here's what the piece looks like now:


See that bare spot -- including the water?  Soon to be re-covered with yarn and freshly-dyed silk ribbon.

Yes, I spent most of Monday with the acid dye pot:


I used one (of 2) spool of silk ribbon (which I buy at Dharma Trading, if you're curious)  and came up with 3 shades of "gold" for the rushes:

Light, lighter, lightest

Next up: re-create the rushes using irregular lengths of ribbon in various shades, combined with yarns and floss for texture.  Space it out; alter the angles so not everything is straight up-and-down like little soldiers...

And that may -- or may not -- begin tomorrow morning!

This is "what I know for sure" (to quote Ms. Winfrey):

  • tomorrow afternoon I have an Artist's Date with my friend C.  We are participating in the Heritage House Tour 2013 in /Lacombe, which begins at 1 p.m. at the Michener House (birthplace of Roland Michener, one of Canada's Governors General) and ends with tea at Morrison House -- yum!!);
  • Sunday means Sabbath here at the 3F Creations Stewdio, so there's church (a.m.) and rest (p.m.); and
  • MONDAY means Back to Work in the Stewdio --  and miniatures (to show off to a gallery in Olds, Alberta) are on the top of the list.
I end this post with the note that the SAQA 2013 Benefit Auction is just over 2 weeks away!!  You can see wonderful work by clicking the previous link.  If you are particularly interested in the Aussies (i.e. Oceania Region), check out their "Blog Hop" HERE.   I had the privilege of hanging this exhibit for a short run at the SAQA Conference in Santa Fe.  It's wonderful -- and I encourage you to take a good, long look at these pieces.  I have to give a BIG Shout Out to the two -- count 'em -- women who are the co-reps for the entire region -- Ali George and Lisa Walton.  Their territory makes SAQA Western Canada's look small...

And on that note... SAQA WC's next Parlour Meeting is in Red Deer at the home of out-going Rep, Patti Morris, on Monday, September 16th...By which time the Burgess Shale Project will have begun its TREX into Alberta elementary schools...

"Rock" on!

And...maybe it's till okay to link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...

5 comments:

Linda said...

The gold silk ribbons will be amazing in your train piece.

Linda A. Miller said...

Even in the big city it seems appointments and errands can take up much of the day...enjoy your stewdio time. I look forward to seeing more of what blooms there.

Anonymous said...

Looked at the SAQA benefit quilts - I find it interesting that because the common factor of these artists is that they work with some form of fabric - it allows a coming together of a huge range of styles, techniques and vision - under normal circumstance, I suspect the artists working in paper and multi media would have a tendency to naturally group themselves by technique or focus thus missing the chance to be touched by a much broader range of possibilities - funny how that works but also exciting - Shalaya

Norma Schlager said...

It's amazing how errands can eat up a day. Today I am having what I call a "slob day". I walk early in the morning, keep on my walking clothes (no shower) and stay home all day and work in the studio. Today I am dyeing! I love your gold dyed ribbons. Have fun!

Judy Warner said...

Love your dyed ribbon, Margaret. Look forward to seeing next week's work!