Monthly Archives: June 2022

Childhood Memories, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Dancing, FAD (Fiber Art Dames), Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Pixies Group

Summer is Here

Hello,

  Summer solstice was Tue and now we are officially into the  summer season.   That also seems to mean more and more out side activates.    I found I did not have much time in the studio this week and next week looks the same.  The yard gets more attention for one thing and I love it.  I have lots of flowers blooming and the world is full  of greens.    I have also been to lots of picknicks lately.  We had a big Birthday party on Sat and we will have a second family event in two weeks to celebrate the July birthdays.

I did attend a FAD meeting this week and got some help with a few works that I had questions about as well as enjoying the socialization.   The Pixies had a video meeting on Wed and we had a good time sharing our works.  The project for the Textile Artist Stich club is coming along.   I am starting to really fill in the spaces now.

I also put in some time on the second hand piece.   I tried to create a totally different feel for the hand surround.

 

 

My other activity this week was to start summer dyeing with Liz.   We spent one day checking and cleaning out old dyes  and one day dyeing.   I am in the wash out step now.

Progress Report:  Dancing This work is  31.5″ w X 39.5″ h.    I started this work at my friend Sharron’s a few weeks ago.   All the figures are hand drawn from photos of ballet dancers.

 

 

This close up is of the big figures hands on the  right side of the quilt.

I enjoyed the process, but at this time I do not  have any ideas of new directions to follow.

Against the Wind   I am now in the process of building a  free piecing background for the birds of this project.   It takes a lot of looking and thinking to do  this, almost more then doing the birds.

New Work   I got a new book last week  that  is  authored  by  an  artist  I have  long  admired.   Irene Roderick has had many works in Quilts =Art=Quilts so I have had the opportunity to study her work, but the book sure makes it easier to follow her thinking.    I  now  in the process of doing some of  the exercises she suggests.    They are techniques I am familiar with, but my goal is different this time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College Memories Spring 1969

March was the beginning of spring term and Eric and I decided to get married at the end of the quarter. So it was a whirl wind of activity for both of us. He would be graduating at the end of summer school, and I would take classes and then only have my student teaching to complete my degree. My most rigorous class that term was Comparative Religions. I did not know a thing about Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam, so I learned a lot. The class I enjoyed the most was Sound and Light, a class designed especially for Art and Music majors. There were lots of experiments and the teacher explained things well. I got an A in that one. My three art classes were Sculpture II and two night classes. Tuesday was Nude Drawing. We started out each evening with short two- and three-minute drawings. The posing time expanded gradually ending with and hour and a half at the end of the evening. I filled several big news print pads and they are still in my portfolio. My other night class was Ceramics III, on Thursday. That class was lots of exploring of mixing glazes, so I did lots of throwing that term to have work to experiment on. It was fun. With Eric around it was back to lots of movies. I remember seeing Flower Drum Song and really liking it as I had listened to Mom’s record for years. Among the other movies we watched on campus were Chalk Garden , Gypsy, East of Eden and Friendly Persuasion. We went downtown to see the big his of that spring, Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. Bill Cosby also entertained us that spring in Emens Auditorium. We had seats in the second row and enjoyed ourselves very much.

I spent a lot of time at home that term sewing. First I made my wedding dress. It was white full length silk with woven diamond pattern in organza on top. I then made two bride’s maid’s dresses, a blue and white stripe with little flowers woven into the blue. They were for Ellie and Margaret. Last I made a little white dress in the same weave pattern for Kelly, who was to be my flower girl. Eric’s youngest brother, Scott, was the ring barer and he wore a suit like Eric. Dean would be the best man accompanied by Gene. Larry spent the spring transcribing “What is a Youth” from the Romeo and Juliet record album, as there was no sheet music available yet. Later, Larry would it at the ceremony while a fellow music major accompanied him on the piano. There were so many preparations and details to attend to I felt like I was always moving. We tried to keep the costs down and I do remember thinking that $70.00 for flowers see like a huge sum. I did have a wedding portrait taken and it appeared in the paper. We wanted to have the wedding ceremony in the Unitarian-Universalist Church–it had such a glorious setting with a glass wall that looked out into a green wood behind the front of the sanctuary. Eric and I had to attend several marriage counseling sessions with Dr. Kelly, too. It must have taken, as we celebrated anniversary number 53 on June 7 this year (2022). Finals arrived and were taken, the last being June 4–three days before the wedding. All the family was there, of course. Dad had set up for all of my extended family to stay at one of the conference centers that Ball State owned near by. Eric’s father opted for the local Holiday Inn for his half of the family. Eric and I had decided to rent the upstairs apartment from Mom and Pappa Mayor for the summer and I moved in after the final exam. We had our rehearsal and it went well. Afterward, Bob, Eric’s dad took us all to dinner.

Keep Creating ,

Carol

Bacteria Dreaming, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Hand work, Textile Artist Stitch Club

June 2022

Hello,

We are really feeling the warmth of summer this week.   I am working away in my studio as usual. Creative Strength Training offered a nice little challenge this week.  Kathy G asked for folks to contribute 6″ squares of empty bowls for her Cry of the Poor project.   I did two little pieces for her.

I am feeling much better about my project for Textile Artist Stitch Club now that I have done some real building up of the surface.   This project really reinforced my feelings of building work based on how it is looking as apposed to drawing it all out before hand.

 

 

Progress Report: Bacteria Dreaming   This project is 21″w X 30″h.   I actually had a dream about the colors for this work.    The base is linen that I was given to me by my friend Susan.

 

 

I hand dyed and printed the lighter fabric and then did hand stitching for the rest of the project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Against the Wind   I continue to build this work.  I love the process, but it is very slow.  All the birds are built now and I am only building the background.

College Life :Winter 1968-1969

On December 1, Eric proposed by asking me,“ When do you want to get married?” I was thrilled and we talked of several dates. He asked me to keep it a secret, since he could not afford a ring. He did have a plan, however. Grandmother Butter had made a deal with him that she would give him $1,000 if he did not smoke or drink until after he graduated from college. So he and Larry went to Indianapolis and persuaded her to give him the money early and then he went out and got a diamond for me. (The ring probably cost a tenth of that.) That was December 5, and I was so surprised and thrilled! We went directly to show off my “ Star of David,” as I called it, to my parents. Eric told me I floated to the front door. Mom and Dad were both pleased, too. Mom quickly went off to her desk where she pulled out a sealed envelope labeled “Prediction Letter.” It was dated August 25, 1967, and inside was a note in which she predicted that I would marry Eric in two years. My girl friends threw me a bridal shower with a white umbrella and pink flowers before the end of the month.

Eric was around for the first week of the winter term. Then he was off to South Bend and his student teaching. I worked hard on losing weight and was fairly successful that quarter. I did most of my social life with the gals in the house and put a lot of time in on my classes. One class was Ceramics II, in which learned to “throw” pots. To make a satisfactory pot and be able to fire any thing one had to throw a perfect ten-inch cylinder. When I thought I had achieved even walls and the ten inches, Dr. Reichel would test it by using a wire to cut the pot in half. If you passed, then you could throw pots to finish. I was not successful until the last week of the term. But I can still throw a perfect pot today. Art History III was my academic class, and I did the best that term as the art was more contemporary and I found that more to my liking. My physical education class was Judo. It was great fun. I still remember the teacher telling us to avoid physical action if possible and if one was attacked unexpectedly, that kicking your attacker in the shins always allowed one a chance to run away. Metal Sculpture was my last class. I enjoyed that class too. I got to be good friends with our model for the stretched lead project. Her boy friend purchased my work of her and that was my first art sale.

At the end of the term Eric and I went to our one and only live concert, a Glenn Yarbrough concert at Butler University in Indianapolis. I had most of his records and several of the poetry books that he read from, so I really enjoyed the evening.

Enjoy Summer and keep Creating

Carol

Bacteria Dreaming, Blue on Blue, College Life, Creative Strength Training, Dancers, Drawing, Fiber Artist Stitch Club, Hand work, Machine Drawing, People, Quilt Exploration Group (QuEGs), Total Loss

New Ideas

Hello,

My good friend Robert sent me mushrooms to grow  and I am delighted with them.  They are editable and ready now to harvest.   Great fun.

 

 

 

 

It’s the beginning on the month and I had lots of meetings this week.  QuEG’s and Diva’s meant on Tuesday.  Noel did a great demo on how to take better photos  and I learned a few new tricks.

 

 

 

There was also a new approach presented for Textile Artist Stitch Club by artist Sabine Kamer.   I am enjoying her unique approach  so I have started two.

 

 

 

My friend Ginny also gave me an old textile of wool that is in such bad shape that it can not all be saved.   After applying fusible interfacing  to the back so the fabric would not fray any more I cut the  hands  from  it.   They both need lots more stitch work.

 

 

There was also work to do for Creative Strength Training.     One of our assignment was to make a color wheel and then right around it our responses to each color.

 

A second assignment was to do an abstract from a free thought line work.

 

 

Progress Report: Total Loss   This work is done now and it is 34.25″ w X 41.5″ t.    I enjoyed doing the work although the subject is a little grim.

I used  silk papers and the organza I had painted in this work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue on Blue  This work also got completed this week.  It is 19″ w X 25″ t.    The circles are the liner caps from  peanuts and medicine bottles.

 

 

 

 

The background was preprinted fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

Bacteria Dreaming  This has become my daily practice piece for the time being.  I can’t seem to find a new thing at the moment.  The little circles are rubber washers that I collected at some point in the past.

 

 

 

Dancers   All the blocks are assembled and quilted now.  I need to think about what images I want to add on top and from what material they will be made.

 

 

 

College Life- Fall 1968

I am not sure how I came to the decision, but for the fall of 1968 I moved out of my family home into off campus student housing. The house was just a block away from campus and I loved it. It was a single family house that had been altered with an addition on the back. Two art friends, Ann and Susan, lived up stairs, along with Jeannie Priebe. Down stairs were a house parents’ section, a living room, and a shared kitchen. I was in the new wing on the back of the house, which had two baths and four rooms. My room had white walls and a red carpet. The other three rooms in my section changed occupants every quarter that year, so I did not get close to anyone, but it was still a good experience. The lesson I learned there was that I don’t like to eat alone, except for breakfast. Eric and Larry along with Eric Gerrard and Bill Bollinger lived across town in a house next door to the landlords, Mamma and Pappa Mayor. (That’s what we called them: he really was the mayor of Muncie!) While they lived there, Eric and I built two sets of pine bookshelves she–the first of our shared furniture. I still have one set in my studio today.

The quarter flew by. Eric and I continued our love of the movies and went to see Juliet of Spirits, The Fox and Henry the V, among other things. We cheered at lots of football games that fall as well. I did well with my grades that term and got A’s in Art Education and Educational Psychology. I got B’s in Sculpture, Art History 2 and Art in America class.

At the end of the quarter Eric went with the family to Iowa to meet the extended family. He was a big hit. Grandmother Esther like him and the Bright girls were all crazy about him. He did well with Mom’s family, too. I did suggest to him that Grandmother Rugh would likely ask him to choose the morning Bible reading. Forewarned, he had pre-selected a section from Ecclesiastes– “To every thing there is a season.” (Pete Seeger had turned that into a folk song, and currently a rock version was a big hit for the Byrds.) We think Grandmother was suspicious. He joined right in with the skeet shooting we did in Grandmother Ruth’s back yard that afternoon (though he couldn’t hit anything). That evening, he teased Tracy and me about our sore shoulders from the gun’s kickback, but the next day he was more sympathetic as he was a bit sore, too. Kelly started out thinking he was “weird,” but fell in love with him by the end of the visit.    I was glad that my family loved Eric as much as I did.

Keep Creating

Carol

 

 

 

Bacteria Dreaming, Blue on Blue, Daily Practice, Total Loss

Home Again

Hello,

 I am  back from a great week of work with my friend Sharron.    She opened her home to me and we shared her studio space for the week and got a lot done.  She also has a wonderful garden and we did spend time among the flowers.

 

 

 

This is a shot of her studio from the turn in the stairs above the space.   There was also a second room , her storage space and were we could cut fabric on a huge table.

We both worked on two different pieces.   Her first one was a wall hanging and the second was a set of three Dr Seuss quilts.   This is one of four panels that make up the quilt.     They are so cheerful I think.

 

I had  a pleasant  Memorial Day week end and I hope all of you did as well.  Then this week there was a FAB meeting and we had a good time talking and sharing our work.  We will switch into summer mode now and only meet once a month.

Progress Report:   Lift Time Line

I think I am done with most of the drawing of this work.  I am sure I will think of more to add with time.     I will live with it a while and then decide if I want to add color. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Burring Loss  I worked away on this piece sense I came home as it was pinned to the wall and took up  most of the space.  It was mostly in the pin up stage and I really did not feel I could  move it much with out stitching things down.   I like how it is going.

 

 

Dancers   I stared this work at the retreat.   I may make a square or two more .  The units are done for the most part.  It is not as abstract as the first two and I am not sure I like it much.  It is not so dramatic I guess.  I will finish it and move on.

 

 

Up Against the Wind  This is the second project I worked on at the retreat.  It is what is called free piecing.   It requires lots of pressing and changes as one goes along.   I like it, but it is quiet slow and there are lots of redo’s and parts that just do not make the final .  I will keep at it however and see it as a great way to stretch.

 

Bacteria Dream   This work actually started as a dream, hence the title.   It has morphed a bit however.   I am enjoying the stitch work here.

 

 

 

 

Blue on Blue  This work is nearly done at this point.   I will do a few more days of study before I add  the binding and finish the work.

 

 

 

 

Daily Practice  This is the last square that I built for this project.  I will put it together with all the others and make a quilt from it now.    I need to develop a new  project to work on every day.

 

 

 

 

There is no College Memories section this week due to a technique  problem.   I am sure there will be one next time.

Keep Creating

Carol