starting over

The inside is what I'm concerned with.
The inner self. I started over. I thought more about what is inside. I gathered winter branches. Balsam fir. Cedar. And wrapped them. They yielded. They seemed to like being wrapped into themselves. Springy. Light as birds.
Stitched shut. Bursting with life.
They smell like outside. They are female.
They are full of promises. They are full of memories. They are protection and nurturance.

Too many photos, too little time

collage of digital photos of a single drawing done in August 2008

This photo is from my "july 2008 and onwards" file in "judy's pictures". I have just spent half an hour looking (for a different photo). Could not find it, but felt I had to post something. Yes, digital cameras are wonderful and it's great to be able to take so many photos so cheaply and have them at one's fingertips in the computer, but who has time to sort them?

I did this collage after researching Muybridge two years ago.

empty circle

Yesterday, I had too many people in my life. Today, I need solitude.

rhubarb pie deep thought

When I make a rhubarb pie, I follow a recipe. If it doesn't turn out either it's a bad recipe or I didn't follow the instructions.

With my art making there is no recipe. When my art doesn't turn out - then I have to either find a way to fix it or abandon it. It's no one else's fault. It's no one else's idea. Somehow, it's not even my own idea - it's more like my insides turned out.

Maybe this is the answer to that age-old riddle about art and craft.
With craft, you have a good idea how the finished product will look and do whatever it takes to achieve that. With art, you have no idea how it will look when you're done. It's a discovery.
Through art one touches the inner self. If we're lucky, we glimpse our inner soul.

"You find the shape you already are" Margaret Atwood

Let's claim the Wise Woman Archetype

"This time of life, often the most feared and disregarded in our culture, is paradoxically the richest in feminist potential. We need to explore the upstairs of our lives. We have an unprecedented opportunity as the baby boomer generation suddenly gives us unprecedented numbers - maybe even the critical mass to make a difference." Helen Redman

Why is it that artists are drawn to work in the quilt medium?

One of the subjects that our youngest daughter is studying at university is craft history. When she was home last month, she chose this quilt of mine to study and has since interviewed me by email and by phone. It was nice for me that it was my own daughter asking questions with critical intent. The essay was due today and I'd like to quote just a few of its 2500 words in this post. The front of the quilt has been made from a single ten meter piece of lightweight cotton fabric hand-dyed by the artist into a rainbow of colours. The design is of two verticals, roughly divided into warm and cool colours. The left panel signifies the husband, while the right panel signifies the wife. While working on the piece the artist discovered that it might be a feminist project. She wrote in her journal at the time that she felt “a rage against being ignored, silenced because I work in craft media. I am a woman, and my work is silenced by my gender. The feminine heart shape, so feminine beautiful and vibrant, is trying to fit into the man's column like shape." Art can change the viewer, and it can change the maker, but it doesn’t always have to be about change. Rather what is really important is that there be communication between the maker and her audience. Textiles are an ideal medium for dealing with inner issues because they have a complex ability to communicate on so many different levels. For Martin, this is achieved through the hand stitching in her quilts. “If you can glimpse a little bit of the maker, than their spirit or soul has come through and it touches you. That’s the 'inner' thing and is one reason why I use so much handwork. People can feel me breathing, and then they realize that they themselves are breathing and that there is a connection here to their own lives. Their inner self connects with my inner self because of this visual language for which there are no words. They are touched by my touching. It is a direct communication. ”

wrapped form

What can become of fiber guided by the artist's hand and by his intuition?
What is fabric? We weave it, sew it, we shape it into forms.
When the biology of our body breaks down the skin has to be cut so as to give access to the inside. Later it has to be sewn, like fabric.
Fabric is our covering and our attire. Made with our hands, it is a record of our souls. Handling fiber, we handle mystery.

Magdalena Abakanowicz

we are alive

I used to be able to focus on my children - the ones coming forward. I made sure I had contact with them once a week now that they've left home. I had not paid as much attention to the generation I am part of - or the one above me. I thought WE were OK.
But now I know we're not OK. We're lonely. We need to be told over and over that we are alive, and that life is good.
We need to be able to reminisce about our loved ones. Sometimes we just need to hear the news and not be left out.

The running stitch

This stitch, being the simplest of all, is the first stitch taught to children. It is made by passing the needle through the material from two to four threads ahead of the stitch just made, and bringing it out again the same number of threads farther on.

Therese de Dillmont from Encyclopedia of Needlework

husband and wife

Because I am still away from my home computer I am illustrating my journal right now with previously published images. I'm trying to choose those artworks that seem to describe what I'm experiencing at the present time. For example, I have chosen this image because I just had a great phone call with my husband, and I am living a daily life here with my parents, who have an inspiring marriage.