monday

jenny lewis says:

if i run up hill, i'm out of breath.

if i spend all my money, then i've got no money left.

if i put all my chips on only one bet, then i'm all in....

[I've been running up the hill ourside my parent's house with Riva lately and keep thinking about that!]

we've made it thru our first weekend of shows. both were a big success-- many friends and much art passed along!

I've finally realized that I have indeed made a lot of work, enough for this coming weekend too. I'm also realizing that this new one-class-a-quarter plan means TRUE slowing down, TRUE leaving the rat race, TRUE living + feeling + being. I feel absolutely renewed, in the sense of "give me a clean heart. give me a clean heart. give me a clean heart, may i be born a new"

i have a million letters to send, emails to write up and bills to pay, but today is one of those fabulous specimins of a day when I know in my heart that everything will be okay.

there is another jenny lewis song that says : if you want better things, than i want you to have them.

I think that at a certain point we must say this to ourselves, and then commit to figuring out how to have those better things.... you do, in the end, have to look for your life.

my good friend Betsy played my her favorite jump little children song, a few years back now. the most stunning part of it goes: in the cathedrals of new york and rome, there is a feeling that you should just go home + spend a lifetime figuring out just where that is.

so here we go, n'est-ce pas?

new card! + progress notes

this is the new card!!! it just arrived today along with some postcards which will be FOR SALE!!!!! at the shows! everything is going well. I've spent this week

1) in a relaxed sort of production mode. I figured out that it helps me to stay calm, organized, on track + happy if I make some sort of a production plan. this time, it has been editions of ten .... I've been making 10 of everything--- for the most part----- sometimes you know, 9! it's made the whole process feel a lot more managable. and way more fun.

2) visiting with old friends. at williston, at fort hill, at the campus school. also at woodstar + essentials. this town is a great place to be.

here is the list of goodies for the show:
- note cards (digital printed cards/postcards, quilt notes, little love notes + NEW: gift tags!! little bit of india cards!! )
- knit hats, scarves
-needle books (know a sewer? need a place for your pins and needles?)
- table runners
-placemats
- coasters
- knit birds!
- magnets
- fine art!!!! [original embellished surfaces + digital prints!]
-earrings [some by MIM!!!]
-BAUTIFUL books by Janelle!!

weeeeeee haw. back to it. I hope to see you all this weekend!

Story Scarves

Hey Darlings---
here is my artist statement from Images on Fabric....specifically about the story scarves. I'm trying to attach some pictures!!!! Blogger is having issues, but hopefully I'll get them up by the end of the day. big love + wild dreams of a new beginning.


ARTIST STATEMENT MARCH 2008
Of the late, I have been thinking about a line from the 1980s film Moonstruck. Nicholas Cage says this to Cher, “we weren’t put here to be immaculate. We were put here to take risks and mess up and love the wrong people.” I love this idea; I think that there is such a lot of pressure in the world to do “the right thing” and there is a very narrow window of that which is regarded as the right thing. When I really think it over, I begin to believe a couple of things. The first is that there is not a single way to live a life, there are many paths to Nirvana, to inner peace, to achieving what is good. Another is that good and doing a good job are relative and personal terms. If one wants to do a good job they need only to listen to their deepest, truest, innermost voice and they will be on the right track.
As I create more work and become further involved and connected to it, and that work becomes more and more of the vocabulary that I live my life thru it becomes easier for me to listen to that voice and know that it is right and good for me to follow what it says.
When starting out on this project, I tried to give myself a lot of space to figure out what I really wanted to create. It quickly occurred to me that it my work I hope to encourage people to listen to their innermost voice and to act according to it. I think that often times people are afraid to do that because they feel like whatever that voice leads them to do will not be accepted. I want to create pieces that totally support and nurture that aspect of the people that I know. I want to love people for the right reasons and make them feel bolstered up and admired for the pieces of them that they are most truly connected to.
These story scarves are meant to sing a little song to you about the messy thrilling lives of the people that they are about. Like a song, I hope that although each scarf has a specific story that it tells and person that it refers to, you will feel some connection and find ways to apply the imagery and the story to your own garden of dreams, wonderings, thoughts and ideas.
The scarves are made of a variety of fabrics; depending on the person they’re about. Each one is hand dyed and embellished in honor of these souls that I feel so connected to. Each scarf has a Milagro sewn to it someplace. Milagro means Miracle in Spanish and refers to small metal charms that the people of Central America nail up on doors, walls, windows and chairs. The different shapes and figures mean different thoughts and prayers. I added them to the scarves because they add an element of magic and we could all use a little of that.