How Long Did It Take You To Make That?

People often ask how long it takes me to create a piece of work. In this case I have a pretty good idea -- about 10 to 12 hours. I know because I made it in about a day and a half.

Planted Perception, 20x20 inches

It was a learning experience. A few thoughts about how it came together.

My friend Brenda Gael Smith is an amazing artist and excellent curator. I was honored to be included in two of her previous traveling exhibitions. The organization, marketing, professionalism, exposure and good spirit in her exhibitions is unmatched. 

This piece, Rising Resting, was a part of Brenda's Matter of Time Textile Exhibition.

When she announced her Vision 2020 Textile Exhibition, I considered entering, but I wasn't excited by the theme and wasn't motivated to set aside time to make something to enter.

As the deadline neared,  I began to wish I had made something to enter. The feeling kept nagging. But I was busy with lots of other things -- some important things, some things probably less important than the attention I'd given them.

Coincidentally, a friend was visiting while she went through coaching training. I told her about my nagging feelings and she practiced her new coaching skills by asking just a few very specific questions that helped clarify what I should do. I should make a quilt to enter.

After a discussion with her on Tuesday night, I decided I'd give it a go. Wednesday was entirely free. I was busy from from 9 to 4 on Thursday. The deadline was Friday morning at 7 am. Very tight to create a 20x20 inch quilt from scratch.

I made some notes about the theme and the potential design. Leaning into a composition that I've explored regularly would give me a jump in the creative process. I decided to continue with my constructed cruciform series. It's a collection of fabrics in mostly rectangular shapes in a loose cruciform composition.

This piece, Shifting Shelter, uses this "constructed cruciform" composition.

This one too. It's Green Bowl (and features the same red stripe that shows up in this new quilt).

I planned to include an embroidered outline of a set of eye glasses. Part of me felt that was too easy and obvious, but another part of me thought it was an interesting shape and would lend itself to a variety of symbolic interpretations. 

I spent an hour or so on Wednesday morning painting a piece of cloth that would (maybe) become an interesting focus. I thought I had a plan. Then I began to pull together additional fabrics palette to go with the painted piece. 

Then this old fabric with vegetables jumped out at me. But but but... what doesn't it have to do with Vision? I kept trying to set it aside and it kept returning.

The majority of the day on Wednesday was spent fussing with the composition. The painted fabric was entirely rejected. I swapped out various fabrics. I kept slashing, slicing and cutting shapes that felt unique and said interesting things to each other. Eventually, I had to settle on a design and fuse. 

I felt rushed, but also satisfied that it was coming together. I didn't feel the design was fully refined, but I liked it. 

Then I added hand embroidery. Again -- leaning into my favorite stitches and not exploring anything new. Just the outlined eyeglasses, a few lines of Ys and a scattering of stars. 

Before the end of the day on Wednesday the design was fused and the embroidery was finished. I fused on a backing and would leave Thursday evening for all the quilting, photography and entry. Still tight, but I was too far along not to finish.

Quilting came together quickly. Thankfully, it's a small piece so I didn't even have to move my machine out into the dining room which I have to do with larger pieces. I outlined the vegetables and did simple stacked lines in most of the other areas. Not exciting at all -- it hardly adds any interest to the quilt. Some interesting motifs in a contrasting color in the background might have been a better choice. 

Lastly, I squared it up and zigged the edges. (That's actually one of my favorite edge treatments -- especially for small pieces. So, I didn't have to compromise on time with that choice.) I used my iPhone to take a picture. Not ideal, but generally adequate for entries (though not for print publication).

I wanted to come up with a title that would point toward the idea of different kinds of vision. But I also wanted to try to connect those ridiculous vegetables in some way. 

Some ideas...

I settled on Planted Perception. Plant... you know, like vegetables are plants?! But also you might plant a seed of an idea? A perception? 

For the brief artist statement, I came up this: The things and ideas we see, notice and perceive help tell the story of how we relate to the world and to each other.

It's a little esoteric and may or may not give a viewer any insight into the quilt, but it does express a concept I really believe.

It was not accepted into the exhibition. Sigh. I was sort of disappointed, but not entirely surprised. This piece of work is fine. I think it's odd and interesting. It would have been better if I'd given myself more time. That doesn't mean it would have been selected. Brenda has written about the selection process. If you're interested in that kind of thing, it's very insightful.

I learned a lot through this specific creative process. 

• It's ok to be obvious. (The glasses are fine.)
• It's ok to return to proven designs, motifs, palettes and techniques.
• Plain background is boring. (Using just the tan fabric for the background flattens everything.)
• I must make time for making art. I'm an artist first -- teacher and businesswoman after that. The art drives everything else.
• Figure out what questions I need to answer to move forward. Or hire a coach.
• I get to decide what's important. Try not to let too many outside influences impact my own priorities.
• Too many hours of just creating with no time for managing stuff around the house and taking time to relax makes me irritable.
• Planning and executing the free motion quilting in a way that compliments the design and adds something to the overall visual impact is an area I need to work on.
• Deadlines are excellent motivators.
• I can squeeze out more productive time during the day than I usually do.
• Radishes are cool looking.

Iceland Highlights and Recommendations

We had a fabulous trip to Iceland. I really could go on and on, but several people have asked for recommendations, so I'll share the highlights in this brief post. Maybe I'll share more inspirations and details in another post later.

Recommendations!

Read the many recommendations and blog posts on I Heart Reykjavik. I got lots of great info there including restaurant recommendations.

Take the I Heart Reykjavik Walking Tour. Our tour guide was charming and offered us a great mix of history, art, architecture, pop culture, recommendations and personal stories. Pricey, but worth it. This blog post about why you should book her tours sold me. Here we are with our guide.

Get a cinnamon roll at Braud and Co. They have lots of other pastries too. Try those if you want but don't miss the cinnamon roll.


See the three highlights on the Golden Circle: Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir. Decide whether you're going to rent a car and drive it yourself or take a tour. Pros and cons for both. We drove ourselves. Here we are overlooking Gullfoss.


If you drive yourself, plan to have lunch at Fridheimar Tomato Farm. This was super unique, delicious and fun. If you decide to take a tour consider one that has a stop here.


If you want an additional stop on your Golden Circle tour, Kerid Crater is really cool.


Splurge and go to the Blue Lagoon. Everyone seems to love it. We did this last time we were in Iceland (17 years ago) and the price has risen dramatically.

Or get the geo-thermal spa and water experience at Fontana instead. (Or another pool or spa, there's several.) That's what we did. It was cheaper, already on the way to something else we were going to see and less crowded than the Blue Lagoon. But there is no silica mud mask. I'd say both are in stunning locations. Blue Lagoon in the middle of a lava field and Fontana on the shore of a lake. See the lake behind us here? You could soak in the naturally-heated pools, then walk right out into the naturally-COLD lake. (I didn't, but Jeff and Claire did.)


Walk along the shore from Harpa to Sun Voyager.


We didn't have time for many museum stops, but Tales from Iceland was pretty fun. It exceeded our expectations.


We really enjoyed the live theater production of Icelandic Sagas.


Walk around the old harbor area near the Maritime Museum -- I believe the area is called Grandi. It's trendy and nice. We ate at Lamb, Flatey and Valdi's. I wish we could have taken the tour at Omnom chocolate.

Obviously, there's lots more to do. Of the things we enjoyed, these were the highlights. Let me know if you use any of our tips.

Water Chestnuts?!

You may know that I'm a avid podcast listener. One of the podcast I really enjoy is Every Little Thing which is a "show about small stuff." Episodes are usually about 20 minutes long and tell stories about things that are unexpectedly interesting. Subjects have included plastic chairs, the Dewey decimal system, flamingos and office plants. Recently they asked for listener questions and I called in and recorded my question... what are water chestnuts?

It's an odd question I suppose and probably one I could easily find the answer to -- I mean, I'm familiar with google. It's not a question that is at the front of my mind, until I'm eating Chinese food and I'm perplexed by the water chestnut.

Apparently, the producers of Every Little Thing were also intrigued. They called me and we set up a time for me to talk with producer Kathrine.

Kathrine and I talked for 40 minutes. She'd been researching water chestnuts for two weeks! It was a great chat. She is smart, engaging, witty, insightful and as curious about stuff as I am.

They edited our talk down to about 8 minutes and it's one of three listener questions in the newest episode. (The other two questions involved feet and the Take Me Out to the Ball Game.)

We talked about so much more than ended up in the podcast! That's fine, of course. I totally get that they need to tell a tight story. But, it reminded me that creative people in all kinds of businesses and industries are creating way more content than ever sees the light of day. And it takes way more time, effort, creative energy, focus --- and money -- than we often think about. (That's a subtle plug for giving financial support to the creators you enjoy.)

Other things we talked about that didn't make it into the podcast

• translucent water chestnut cake
• water chestnuts are called horses hoof in China
• the popularity of Chinese food after Nixon's visit to China
• bacon wrapped water chestnuts and their appearance on Mad Men
• water chestnuts vs broccoli
• Americans like water chestnuts because they are bland
• food memories from childhood
• canned vs fresh

I promised Kathrine that I would seek out some fresh water chestnuts, so I went to H Mart which is a giant Asian supermarket just down the street from my home and I found them!

In our conversation, Kathrine played me a clip from her interview with famous Chinese chef Eileen Yin-Fei Lo who compared water chestnuts to jicama. Of course! Why had I not made that connection? Coincidently, jicama had been on my shopping list earlier in the week and they didn't have it at my regular grocery story. But, they had it at H Mart! A reminder to get out of my box and visit the many Asian and Mexican markets near by.

I'll have to do a side by side comparison. (Check my Facebook and IG for that.)

Last night I posted this image to IG asking if anyone knew what it was. There were several good guesses, but no one was right! Apparently, I'm not the only one who didn't really know what a water chestnut was.



When I posted this picture, Sujata Shaw and Anna Martinez answered correctly! (Someone else did guess jicama!)



I did peel and slice up one of the water chestnuts yesterday afternoon. Yes! Better than canned! Tasty, even raw. Starchy and chewy, but interesting. I'll make stir fry later this week.



I hope you'll listen to the episode and let me know what you think. You can stream here or find it on your favorite podcast app. It's Every Little Thing, ELT Help Line.

This and That?

In my now twelve years of blogging, I've included personal news, thoughts about art, my own professional development and other items along the way. It feels sort of hodge podge... which is not the way blogs are anymore, really. Or are they?

With that in mind, a few personal updates...

We celebrated Benjamin's birthday.


A baby bunny appeared on our back porch and Lincoln really wanted to play.


I took a trip to North Park Center where they had a wonderful exhibition of portraits of artists taken by photographer Bruce Weber.


I especially liked this one of Andrew Wyeth... with my reflection.


There is so much wonderful art at NorthPark, but I found this collection of mannequins interesting too.


We tried out a new Thai ice cream place where the pour the base liquid on a super cold plate, spread it out, then roll it up and slide the rolls into a cup. Then add toppings. Can you see the rolls in this picture?



We haven't had a family portrait taken in several years... so we did that!


Here is an outtake I snapped with my camera.


Claire is racing to the end of her time in high school. We had two special events last week.

Her Academic Decathlon team was recognized at the school board meeting.


And she received a scholarship from the Daughters of the American Revolution.


My life is pretty full and I feel lucky. More art stuff soon.

Armadillo Bazaar

Just before Christmas, Jeff and I zipped down to Austin to go to the Armadillo Bazaar. (I'm just getting around to blogging about it.)

We love using our Southwest Airlines flying privileges, even if we don't get to sit together.


There is an interesting massive outdoor public sculpture in the space between the terminal and the parking garage and rental car places. I'm not sure I love it, but I love that it's there.


I think I liked it more at night.


The Armadillo Bazaar runs from 10 am to 10 pm for almost two full weeks before Christmas. It was full of tons of really great booths of art plus live music playing throughout the day. I didn't take too many picture while we were there.

But, I did snap this one of a bunch of funny faces.


We hadn't neccessarily intended to buy anything. It was just fun to get-away and browse. But several things caught out eyes and we were in the holiday spirit. Neither of us had really purchased gifts for each other, so it was super fun to buy some art to enjoy in our home together.

We started with this face made from a copper measuring cup and bottle caps.


Here it is in our kitchen. It's fun to see art in context, don't you think? I hope so, that's pretty much this whole post.


We also purchased this mosaic by artist Aly Winningham.


Years ago I purchased a solar system mobile from her. I follow her on FB and really love her style. In fact, I think I heard about the Armadillo Bazaar from her. Jeff collects tiny buddhas. They are all lined up on the ledge of the shower in our bathroom. So the new buddah mosaic joins the collection.



We also bought this piece of eco-art by Hannah and Nemo. It's made from circles cut from aluminum cans.


We chose this piece because of the little owl, turtle and polar bear faces. And the foot! It's right by the back door and the circles flutter when we open the door.


Jeff picked out the beautiful glass tray with layers of tiny bits of glass creating the tree pattern.


And here it is on our mantle.


There was a booth of artisan chocolates! These are long gone.


Near the end of the day, I said I really would like to go back to Clifton Henri's booth to buy a small print of Door Number Three. When we were in his booth earlier in the day, he introduced himself and was so engaging. I loved his door series and he told me a little about the ideas behind them.

As we looked through his work again, we decided three doors was better than one. And larger prints would be better than small. So, we've added this series to our home. We really love them so much!

This picture gives you a sense how how they look in our kitchen, but go see the images on his site. They are really incredible.


After our fill of art, we walked across the street for BBQ. I have no words for how delicious this was.


As we walked back to our car, some one told us about the Austin Trail of Lights near by. So, we just followed the crowd. There were tons of people walking. It was a beautiful night. We didn't really know what the expect and it turns out we didn't have time to enter the park before our flight home. But it was still so fun to enjoy the festive spirit ... and walk off some of that bbq.

I snapped this picture just outside the park.


As much as I enjoy all the art we bought, I enjoy it even more with the memory of all the fun we had that day.