Procrastination in Spades

Finally, my moment of quiet has arrived! I'd say 'daily', but the fact is, solitude doesn't visit Chez Funky on a daily basis.

For most of you today is Halloween. Here it is my Sweetie's birthday. He likes man food on his birthday, so there was roast beef with flavorful gravy, yukon gold mashed potatoes, steamed fresh broccoli. And a pumpkin desert (cheesecake)....he loves all things pumpkin. Now the dishwasher is humming (don't make it too perfect in your head, there's still a full batch of dishes waiting to be washed), and the kids are in bed. I'm whupped!

Fiber content:
Procrastination seems to be biting me in the butt! As previously posted, the shirt fronts are done after some delay. Today I got an email from the director of my local library. Ruh-Roh! This is never good. Not because she's evil, but because it means she's reminding me about the quilt installation I promised to do years ago. That's right....YEARS. Last post, we were at weeks. Now we're up to years. Lordy, is it possible I've put something off for decades? Let's not find out. My husband can probably come up with a decent list of things.....I don't want to know. The really pathetic part is that I have several projects for others that have been delayed for years. Why do I do this? Only drugs and therapy will tell.

So, about the library....my biggest block, the only thing that I can voice....is the location for the art:

It's up toward the ceiling and between two giant light fixtures. The fixtures make me crazy. They're so distracting! And I'll have to work hard to achieve impact from such a distance.

This evening, I put this photo into Photoshop and broke out my beloved pen tablet. Now, over the years, I've contemplated a bazillion different designs: landscapes, stacks of books, a tree branch hanging from the ceiling, etc... Tonight, two design roads came to me immediately:




I'm leaning toward the giant collaged leaves. It has potential for some dimensional quality. Given my color choices, it will have impact and stand up to those light fixtures. And I think it's just cool. The other design enhances the rectilinear quality of the architecture and I don't find it unique. But then, my view is a bit myopic tonight and I could be persuaded to change my mind.

By all means, render an opinion in the comments.

Finally

....these shirt front are done.




Gregory Climer, designer of Godspeed the Well Dressed Man, would have liked them weeks ago. Weeks! But October had a mind of it's own: 3 kids in soccer, three kids homeschooled, 3 guitar classes I'm teaching at a school co-op, 1 wedding trip, 1 big-fat-art retreat of which I'm in charge, 1 husband working full time and spending the rest of his time building an addition at church. Is this whiny excuse making? Yes it is. I barely touched fiber of any kind during September and October. Is that not cause for whining?

But at least they are done. And the retreat is over (for this year). And soccer is done. And there are no trips planned for a while. My spinning wheel, which has been mocking me with it's presence since August, finally got some attention. When there's time to spin, then I know life is slowing down a bit.

Fab '06, Day 3

That's a Wrap!

For me, day three was the busiest of all. Students were still working at a tremendous pace. And last minute details kept me hoppin'. The retreat was so successful, 18 students preregistered for next year and I'm expecting more in today's mail. I was blown away by this!

These posts may seem full of photos, but truly, they only show a fraction of what went on. I intended to get group photos, but there was so much bustle, it never happened. And when everyone was packed, we had a fabulous work crew to clean up. The energy of this event continued full tilt from the reception right up to the last van to be loaded (mine). What a fabulous testament to fiber artists, their strenght and their spirit!

Now for pics.

From Laura's room:
Peg Keeney working at a design wall:


The results of day 2's stuffed tube experiment:


How cool is that?


A piece that progressed all weekend:


Table mates:


A closer view of all the wonderful colored fabrics made by this student:


Jeanne's Room
Jeanne offering advice:


A work in progress:


More work:

I wish I had some better pics of the techniques learned in Jeanne's class. The layers of painted fabrics coupled with encrusted machine embroidery was incredibly beautiful.

Pamela's Room
Pam working with a student, and the student's self portrait in the background:


Design wall covered with a weekend's designs:


A student and one of her self portraits (she made 2):


More design wall:



A student who just couldn't stop working! She whipped out these little compositions at the end of the day:


Another view:


Pamela posted more pics from her class on her website, plus she gives a nice review of Fab '06.

End of Day Pics
Laura wraps up with a class discussion recapping the weekend and driving home a few key points:


Pamela's class with their self portraits:




And they all created happily ever after! The End!

...well not quite... Tomorrow, I'll blog specifically about our Quilting Arts scholarship recipient, Dianna Call.

Fab '06, Day 2

Intense!

Saturday was Day 2 of the retreat. They were busy, I was busy. There was barely time to breathe, let alone blog! But it was all good.

People started filtering into class rooms around 8 am. By 9, the joint was jumpin'!
There was ironing:


And consultations with irons:


There was intense sewing:


And plenty of quality time with one's stash:


Wha?!?!

That's right, boys and girls. This student took a field trip to the hardware store and is ramming fibers into a plastic tube. Turns out, curtain adjusting handles work perfectly for this. Who knew?

And the results:


Laura Cater-Woods demonstrated using water color pencils in one's art:


Some dried fibers...fusible web, I think....from Jeanne Beck's class:


Works in progress from Laura's room:










One of the design walls from Pamela Allen's room:

By this point, they'd done a black & white excercise, a study in line, and a color study. Pamela really pushes students to work spontaneously and they were all amazed at how much they could achieve in 6 hours.

Saturday night, we hosted our 'Show-N-Tell Free-For-All Extravaganza'! It was a place for people to show anything they've made. Could be knitted washcloths or one's mosaic soap dish.
Anything! We saw some dolls:


Yes, it's a paper vest and hat:


And even an invisible quilt that only could be seen by the pure-in-heart:

I could see it! How 'bout you?

What a great day! The creativity was infectious, and the atmosphere friendly. I never fail to feel at home and truly myself amongst this group of fiber artists. It's worth every ounce of preparation.

Fab '06, Day 1

And We're Off!
Yesterday started with a bang! Fabric was flying and brains were buzzing.

Laura's class started with a focused huddle:

They stayed that way all morning. It looked intense! After lunch, things loosened up and everyone was busy-busy:


About 10:00, coffee and tea arrived and everyone burst out of the rooms. That Java is important business:

Part of this event's focus is the atmosphere. We want a beautiful setting to inspire the artist. I think Garland fits the bill:

More work, more learning, then lunch:


This is the girl that brought the lunch, Tracy:

We love her. We treat her nice. She brings us the food. We're aaalll about the food.

Pamela's class was hustle-hustle from the jump. They had time limits to force an spontaneous mode of working:




She did get a break, as seen here with Peg Keeney:


And Jeannie's class made a huge mess and had a great time. They moved paint and got it onto fabric in ways I never new existed:



Dig the messy hands. Now that's art!