Monthly Archives: April 2013

Paris!

What an amazing city! I spent 8 days in Paris with my family over our Spring Break. I took over 800 photos so it’s taking me some time to edit them down. Here are just a few shots of the city, the museums, and the glorious food. Much more to come!

at the Louvre

 

door detail at the Louvre

 

in the Islamic Wing at the Louvre

 

door detail in the Islamic Wing at the Louvre

 

the back of the door

 

an installation being prepared at the Louvre--looks like fiber art to me!

 

 

 

at Pere La Chaise Cemetary

 

at Pere La Chaise Cemetary

 

Pere La Chaise

 

Pere La Chaise

 

detail of the steps at the Eiffel Tower

 

 

detail of the steps at the Eiffel Tower

 

detail of the steps at the Eiffel Tower

 

the Tour d'Eiffel!

 

the window at Deyrolle, a famous taxidermy shop

 

a well deserved break after all that walking

 

inside the D'Orsay Museum

 

the D'Orsay

 

Sacre Couer on the top of Montmart

 

street art

 

cassis and pistachio marshmallows at Pain du Sucre

 

a beautiful tart at Pain du Sucre

 

the Carnavelet Museum

 

the Carnavelet

 

booksellers

 

booksellers

 

a ribbon shop on the Place des Vosges

 

a ribbon shop on the Place des Vosges

 

 

One Small Piece

I’m working on a piece for the SDA Member Show at the San Antonio conference. I put together panels for three pieces and was going to finish all three and then pick the best one. Great idea but, with the cold I’m still recovering from and the fact that I’m leaving for a trip to Paris on Saturday (!!!), I decided one is just fine.

So I sat down at my sewing machine for the first time in over a month yesterday to do the stitching on the piece. Wow, was it a rough reentry! Some combination of the silk crepe fabric and the slippery rayon thread made for very uneven tension. That and the fact that the thread kept breaking made it a very frustrating experience. Once I moved on to the other panel of the piece it was smooth sailing which was reassuring. I haven’t lost my touch, after all.

the offending uneven tension

 

Working with the rayon threads can be so frustrating. I have some polyester thread made by Mettler which is great stuff but none of my local shops carry it anymore. It’s hard for me to pay the extra money to shop online. JoAnn’s carries all the Sulky rayon threads and I get them at 40% off when they’re on sale. They drive me crazy because they break so much but I love the luster they add.

The piece is just about done. Just the final stitching together and gluing it up to a canvas. I’m trying not to obsess about the uneven tension in my thread. I told my husband about it and he scoffed, “No one’s going to notice but you.” Hah! I’m entering it in a show of surface designers! If anyone’s going to notice, it will be this crowd.

One of these days I really should learn how to fine-tune the tension on my machine. I have a book but I’m such a visual learner that it doesn’t make sense. I really just need someone to show me. Anybody local want to spend 15 minutes showing me? I’ll buy you a cup of coffee!

ready to finish up!

the inside of the piece that won't be seen once it's finished

Negative and Positive

I was supposed to be teaching a workshop this weekend call Positive/Negative: Improvisational Mark Making with Silk Screens this weekend. Unfortunately, I had to cancel because I’ve been blindsided by a particularly nasty cold virus. I’ve never had to do that before and I really struggled with the decision. Boy of boy, was it the right decision. I’ve been miserable and in bed for two days. I’m starting to feel a little better now, thank goodness.

On the positive side, it looks like we’re going to be able to reschedule my workshop at Pratt for April 27-28! Perhaps a few more students will have a chance to sign up.

I’m glad the workshop will still happen. I’m excited to share the new techniques and ideas I’ve been developing over the last year. I’ll be teaching ways of making related imagery with “positive” and “negative” prints. I did all my prep before the cold kicked my ass so now I’m ready to go.

Which is good because I’m heading off to Paris (!!!) with my family this next weekend.