Weft and Warp

When you weave fabric on a loom, there are two distinct sets of yarns or threads that intersect at right angles to form the fabric or cloth. The longitudinal threads are call the warp and the lateral threads, the one's that fill in are called the weft.  
 
Most cloth that is used to make garments today is made on large industrial weaving machines, but if you ever have the opportunity to watch someone make fabric on a wooden loom you will find that there is something mesmerizing and calming about it. It is almost magical the way the colorful thread come together to create beautiful cloth.

A few years ago, when I was in Hanoi I stumbled upon a master silk weaver's workroom in a forgotten alley. The space he worked in seemed ancient and a mysterious. His deft hands at work on the looms, created not only beautiful cloth, but a rhythmic song as the shuttle moved across the threads and the frames opened and closed.  I was reminded today this stunning dance of colors when I sat down to write my weekly blog post.








We are 8 days into the new year and I already have so much on the calendar for 2012. I started to freak out a little on how I am going to keep it all together. Those of you who know me, know that life pours my glass pretty full. This year is no exception. First there is the combination of working full time and pursuing an art career part time. Sometimes the demands of my day job don't end at 5 pm or I find myself working on the other side of the world for weeks on end. Sometimes there are art deadlines that come up so fast that I end up working into the wee hours of the night or waking up before the dawn just to get things in on time. There is a balance, a dance that has to happen between the two parts of my occupational existence. Up until this point, I feel like I have been very successful at achieving a certain harmony there. 

The success comes not just from balancing the two aspects of the "working me." It is deeply rooted in the fact that in the fundamental fabric of my life, I am a wife and a mother. My family life is like the warp threads on the loom. They keep me together and are my foundation. The work is the weft threads, the fillers that add color and texture to my life. Woven together the two are stronger and create something far greater than a single thread. But each thread, each aspect of my life is important.

So, here I am on this gorgeous day in Vermont, lining up all the threads that will come together for this next year. My calendar is chock full of outing and new adventures, moments of contemplation and discovery, art, work, family and love. New threads that have been added to my already rich tapestry are: Graduate school, at Vermont College of Fine Arts, which starts on January 27th, A new website to be kicked off in February, Artfest12 in Port Townsend, WA in March. A trip with Jackson to NYC in April.... That's just the beginning.... 

To help keep this all in order, I have started the necessary January cleaning of my work space. Primarily, because I could not see the top of the work table or find the rusty bits I had been looking for. Secondarily, I just took down a show and I need space to store all the artwork not currently on display. And then lastly, I have received some requests for people to do "studio visits." The endeavor to make it a viable space to receive patrons, gallery curators and fellow artists in has commenced.  I joke with my husband about making the space "good enough" to be in "Where Women Create" magazine. His response is. It's were you create, so it's beautiful enough. 

The fabric of my (not-so) lazy Sunday afternoon  will be this: Jack and I will finish eating breakfast, take the dog on a long walk in the crisp clear light of this amazing January day and probably haul some wood. I will get to work back down in the basement, stoking the fire of the wood stove, painting backgrounds for new pieces and organizing my heart out.  Occasionally, coming up stairs to make some pizza dough, start Sunday dinner and maybe a soup to eat later in the week. 


 



Speaking of fabric... this is what's on my work table now. A new assemblage that's born out of barn board, old embroidery and a well worn quilt.

 

What threads are you weaving together today?

Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year!
Looking forward to what wonders 2010 will unfold and extremely delighted to announce the winner of my inspiration giveaway....

Stacey Merrill
Art Snark!

Stacey will be receiving a very special handmade heart as the winner of the drawing.

Thanks Stacey and everyone else who responded and left me tips and links for a designed filled new year. I've spent the last few days reading blogs and getting inspired. Time to start putting it all into work.

Here's hoping you have a creative day.

re-entry and discovery

i have been home for about two weeks now. the jet lag has worn off, and every day i feel like i have a little more energy. the re-entry, from being away from my home and family for 2 1/2 weeks was a little more difficult this time.

maybe it is partly the weather; i left balmy Hong Kong at 65 degrees for VT at -2 degrees. or it could be the food or culture or the architecture.

it could be that i spent the majority of my time when i was not working alone in a small, sterile, hotel room, that overlooked that vastness of the city. i think it is independence that is the most difficult to over come. the time that i had to myself, was priceless. even when i was in cities where the population is unfathomable, i was still alone, with myself. not having to share myself or the space around me with anyone. it may sound selfish, but it was restorative and insulating. i feel like i needed a little of that. coming back to my life the way i left after thanksgiving was a challenge. taking care of everyone, making meals, doing laundry, etc, etc.... i felt bogged down my the mundane. held back by all the stuff that has to get done.

so now, the cleansing and the de-clutter has begun. i've taken the week off from work. day by day, i pick away at the accumulations of belongings, sweeping out dust bunnies, creating bags of donations for goodwill, posting on free-cycle. i am moving out all the things in my life that don't work, don't fit, and taking up space. so perhaps i have started my new year already. i was done with 2009, anyway....

Here comes 2009

I spent most of the day, not being very festive, sorry to say. I guess I won't ever be one of those huge New Years Revelers. Not one of those people who goes out to downtown Burlington to celebrate First Night (and freeze.)  There are probably a gazillion reasons why I don't get all hyped up and I could starting naming them, if I stopped to analyze the thing, but I won't. 

I have started to right down my HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS. More about that when I get them all worked out. These are my personal and professional goals. Ones that push the limit. Have you ever set a H.A.G for yourself and it actually come to fruition? If so, that's fantastic! If not, don't stop trying to get there.  Anything is possible.  You just have to  imagine it. There's the Vermont Coaching Center showing it's brainwashing techniques on me again....

Ok- so it may not have been a festive day- but it was a productive one.

1-I did a little damage at the Christmas Tree Shoppe. I don't shop there often, but some things they sell are super cheap! I picked up a lamp shade for $2! That's a bargain.  

2-Did the food shopping, New Year's Days is our traditional Mexican feast.  I'm making flan! YUM! 

3-Got Henry his season pass for Bolton Mountain. ( we love Bolton! )

4-Took care of some other mundane paperwork

5-Cleaned the kitchen 

6- Unpacked more of the studio (it has been in boxes since we moved) I've created quite the purge pile- I will have to have a BIG destash sale on etsy!  Maybe a few giveaways too.

7-Played ball with the dog

8-Read to my children

9-finished a bunch of ACEOs.... and here they are. They all have a little heart. Something I am trying to work into my life for 2009- Trying to open my heart a little more, let it grow wings and soar. 

I also treated myself to a wonderful trade with a great Etsy artist friend Kim Geiser aka Persimmon Gal. She created this beautiful 10"x10"mixed media painting that I just fell in love with. 

She traded me for the Gypsy Heart Shoe Assemblage.  It's my latest piece of inspiration.

So I will leave you tonight with that:

Follow your heart, you'll love where it takes you!!!! 

Happy New Year! May blessings be with you.