Monday, July 20, 2009

So long, Frank McCourt

I know there are millions of people who love this guy, so this little post doesn't say anything new or profound. Just that I like this writer because his beautiful book Angela's Ashes put him in the spotlight at age 66, after he retired, and then we got to discover his other gift of teaching, and his humor, and his gentle nature, and the edgy side of a man who bloomed late in life.

Good literature validates the smallest corner of the reader's soul, and McCourt's writing found many of those corners and hung a little lamp there. He seemed brave and kind, and somehow comforting like a stormy summer afternoon. His writing on poverty/alcoholism when he was a child felt like a big quilt being pulled over the terrible resilience, fierceness, and open-ness of childhood. Readers felt safe in his hands, even when he was describing horrible things. At least that's the way I see it.

I have a book in which I write out in longhand favorite passages from books I read. I assure you there are several passages of Frank McCourt's.


I'm going back and re-reading some of his work today, I think. Rest his soul.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Family Trip to Nebraska (Please indulge me.)

The corn was 10 feet tall, due to record rainfall this summer. I've never seen anything like it.

NE by car. I have a thing about taking pictures from car windows. It's even easier to do this when I'm not driving, which means I usually only get to do it on family vacations.

Me and brother Rob had lunch in Lincoln. I love my sibs. (Ryan wasn't in NE at the time.)

The kids and me, a rare photo of my usual gang.

Sister Liz, Mom Ginger, and moi.

Jo Lynne and Dad

My family...Katie, Me, Willie, Henry, Bill.

A departure from the art; I just have to introduce my family now and then.
As much as I use my camera, I don't get family photos very often (too bad). So this summer I made a point of it. So happy to share...

A New Fabric Store!


Oh, happy day! My life changed today; FINALLY!... a place to pick up a spool of Mettler thread without driving 25 miles into Austin!

Boy, have we needed (well, okay, I needed) a fabric store out here in west Austin area... and now it's here -- The Cotton Cupboard just opened in Lakeway right near my gym. I'm delighted with the place already! Gorgeous fabrics (that you can't get at Joannes and Hancock), lots of natural light, and a huge work/classroom in the back.

I checked their website and they will be selling long arm machines and holding quilt classes for kids and adults. The owner Jessica gave me two free fat quarters with the purchase of seven today. I don't know if that's the regular deal or just a grand opening sale, but if you're anywhere nearby -- and passionate about yummy fabrics -- you gotta stop.

The pics don't do my new little stack of fat quarters justice, but Flickr toys helped me create my picture quilt. I'm going to make a new doll. Maybe I'll make one for the owner of my new favorite shop...just to show my gratitude! And I know I'm not the only one!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Woof.


Red Rover in my weedy garden


The first day of Art Fiber Fest I taught some other artists how to make a quilted creature. Everyone brought in a picture of their favorite animal and I showed them how to soft sculpt muslin and poly-fil with string into a form. Then the long task of quilting began.

Four of the six women finished the patchwork (after hours), but they all seemed to have fun. In any case, their animals were amazing and like nothing I expected!
I made "Red Rover" with the intention of a German Shepherd. But instead it looks like a mutt of some sort. He's a good dog.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

The topsy turvy doll is all mine.

Katie's making her own doll!




My doll.

Sorry Katie, I know you wanted this one. But "Little Wink/OMG" ended up belonging only to me.

Daughter Katie was miffed when I told her she couldn't have this doll, which I love. So she made her own! I need to emial Roxanne Padgett the pictures of Katie making one of her own topsy turvy dolls from the instructor packet Roxanne gave us. Katie had fun making hers too (top pic.)

See, the old adage is true: "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime."
Same with topsy turvy dolls.

My own enchanted cottage...

Pained dolls at Gallery 9...Not thrilled with these...I've moved on.
Mom and cool Corgi dog at Gallery 9, Lincoln, NE
(a painting I covet in the background.)

Ceramic dolls at Gallery 9. These rock. She also made a Leda and the Swan, which my Aunt Sharon and I both liked a lot. Think I'll make a Leda doll someday.


This is where I'd live if I felt pretty all the time:
my own enchanted cottage.

I made this cottage at Art Fiber Fest. The next few posts are going to be about my trip to Portland, and what I made there. Also about our family vacation to NE last week.
Here's a story about "art camp." I met a wonderful girl at ArtFiberFest, Leslie, whom I really enjoyed. I related to her immediately because she said two things that often occur to me when I'm making art:

The first was something about the act of creating being a God-given act, as in "the creator creates...et voila! so do we!"
I used to feel humbled when I made something because I thought making (can I even claim it?) "art" was just an over-the-top, too-big-for-my-britches kind of pasttime. At the end of the day, I possessed a fully satisfied, but humbled disposition, as well as a small nagging voice in my head saying, "Who do you think you are, making that thing?" (Probably a common sentiment among young mothers who have plenty of other chores they could be doing.) And oddly, in spite of everything, I truly wasn't sure who I was. Call it hormones.

Now, thankfully, I'm beginning to know who is this person making (sure, say it!) art, and also -- this is big -- I know God approves, or at least I don't seem to need His/Her approval...for in making art/music/dance/whatever, we honor the Creator. BIG TIME. At least I think so. Making stuff is NO collossal waste of time!
The second thing Leslie said was something along these lines: "Whenever I try to make something "pretty" it just never turns out pretty. I'm not there yet."

Oy, do I know that; I know I do not have a pretty girl inside me! I went to Gallery9 in Lincoln, NE last week with my mom and my Aunt who invited me. I got to see a couple of dolls I sent as a guest exhibitor, as well as some really wonderful art like the ceramic dolls above. (And darn it; I didn't write down the artist's name!) I really did cringe a little bit, because having just returned from art camp in Portland, those dolls I made last year (to my eyes) seemed so pained and contrived. Ironically, just days before, I had felt so free. What I saw in those dolls I sent: Pretty -- with cramps. Ok, so what do I expect with a doll that has torn out her heart and extends it in front of her? And another dressed in a super-hero costume? I do realize there is something a little tart in all that. But still, I did try for "pretty" in a way...and failed.

But the cottage; ah, now there's something pretty! And yet, the broken woman's torso is stitched on as a chimney...after all, every woman has to let off a little steam now and then!