Violette’s book has been in my to read stack for awhile. I was finally able to read this book when I took it with me on a trip. I found that it was a quick read. It might have been a quick read, but it was a powerful read as well. Violette, in this book, is a cheerleader, life coach, therapist and art teacher. She mixes in the right amount of words with pictures, the right amount of encouragement and support.
She dives in with a discussion about the reader’s inner critic. I was a little surprised that she would start out with this, but it was the right way to organize the book and she didn’t go on and on in that chapter.
She clearly describes a lot of techniques and a lot of different ways to do small but effective bits of embellishment. Her writing style makes the reader think that s/he can create borders, backgrounds and any of the techniques described. The one part that really intrigued me was the part about faces. Reading this section and looking at the pictures gave me confidence She makes drawing faces seem simple. I don’t mean simple as in stupid looking, but simple as in with a little practice everyone can do faces as well as she can.
Violette provides lots of examples of her artwork. The book is mostly drawings and examples of her written creativity. The majority of the book is not typeset, but embellished, drawn and colored. This style provides lots of examples of her. She shows it is simple. The drawings are not simple, but if the reader breaks them down and looks carefully at the lines, there is nothing tricky going on and the style is quite do-able.
One great suggestion Violette gives is to do a Gratitude journal page using a list rather than prose. I think that is a great idea for any kind of journal page, not only a gratitude page.
I really liked this book and think that it is one that will be a great reference book. I would like to try the various drawing techniques to spice up my journal pages, especially the border ideas. I also want to try making the faces.
“One of the great pleasures of doing anything repetitive by hand, whether it’s knitting, making bread, chopping onions or sowing seeds, is that the rhythm of the action allows your mind to wander.”
I bought this book. The US edition has come out, but I decided to buy the UK edition. I don’t mind those extra ‘u’ added her and there. There is nothing wrong with the US edition. I was pleased to see that the US edition came out relatively quickly after the UK edition debuted.
I bought the UK edition of the Gentle Art of Domesticity and was pleased with the service I received from the Book Depository, so I made my purchase from them again. The cover of the UK edition looks so much better. One fascinating thing about the Book Depository (which LoveAnna turned me on to) is that they have something like a live webcam where you see what books people are buying and where those buyers are from. It is mesmerizing to see people ordering so many books so quickly. I actually saw someone’s purchase of Cello: Grades 1-3 from China!
Embellishments
Anyway, back to ribbon. Somewhere I saw a link to ribbon. I looked at it, which led me to Jane Brocket’s blog, the new book – see above. The ribbon, though was gorgeous. So wonderful for embellishing bags and making markers for journals. LFN Textiles is the purveyor and the website has gorgeous photos. And they have dotted ribbons. What’s not to like?
Pam Rubert of PamDora blog fame recently tweeted a link to Sharon B’s Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework. She has an index on the first page. If you click on one of the links, you see a picture of the finished stitch and where this stitch can be found. She shows step outs of the stitch and gives the reader tips and tricks. If you are browsing, there is a previous/next link at the top of the stitch screen, so that you can just click to another stitch without returning to the index. There are lots of great features of this site and it is great inspiration if you are using handstitching to embellish a quilt.
Journals
If you remember my fit of excitement over the 1000 Journals Project, this information will come as no surprise to you. I found the Artbook Coop via Julie and they are doing a sketchbook project. You can order (and pay for) a sketchbook, which will then be housed in a museum. I am not sure I could finish something like this, but my mind is swirling around it.
Blocks
Brenda Papadakis of Dear Jane fame has a series of block of the month blocks posted on her website for free. It looks like there is an applique’/embroidery block and a pieced block every month.
Media
Last week I had a virus that hit me hard. One day while I was thinking about going back to bed, I stumbled on a blog called Waking Up in Bavaria. It has a really nice clean look and beautiful photography. One of her recent posts is a review of Kaffe Fassett’s Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts. It is hard to read a blog from the beginning when you are years behind. Still I read a bit of her posts from last year and my mind spun into imagination land. I spent a formidable time in my life in that area of the world, though in Austria, not Bavaria, so the landscape is familiar. I also like the clean, spare look of her blog. My mind started to wander around the question of what if I woke up in Bavaria tomorrow?
If you need to organize your studio/workroom, the Quilted Cupcake has a podcast and a long blog post with a lot of resources and pictures of her space. QNN TV also has a segment on organization. The January episodes, segments 1&2, 3&4 take on the topic of organizing your studio from different angles. You have to be a member to watch the videos.
I signed up for QNN TV last year and hadn’t really watched the videos. Last week, while I was sick, I was clearing out my email. Some of the messages in there were notices about new QNN TV episodes being posted. Being fit only to lay in bed, I started watching them. I thought they were very entertaining. They have some cooking segments, which I skipped over, but I enjoyed the episode on specialty threads (January episode, Segments 5&6). They have two kinds of links to the shows. Each episode is broken into about 6 segments and two segments are posted each week. This means that you can watch the different segments or watch the whole episode. I have been watching them in segments.
The January episode takes place in Winterset, Iowa, partially at the Fons & Porter store. They also show the Bridges of Madison County, the county in which Winterset is located. I didn’t know that Fons & Porter had a store, so this was interesting to me. I wish they would have done a tour of the store, but they didn’t.
I really enjoyed the November episode. Jodie Davis hosts with Patrick Lose and they report from Houston Quilt Market. They talk about new products and interview people at the show. I was entertained. I think this was shot while Mark was working out the details of his contract with QNN TV. I thought it would be weird, but Jodie Davis handled his not being there with grace. She made it seem like he would be back soon.
I also enjoyed the February Door Knock episode where Mark interviews Liz Porter. It is great to see that she is real and has a real life. I went away from that interview with a lot more respect for her and what she has achieved.
I wasn’t planning to renew my membership, but I may do it. I will definitely watch the episodes as they come out rather than waiting until my inbox is too full before I get to them.
The Alliance for American Quilts had a contest recently called New From Old. They have posted a series of YouTube videos documenting the quilt entries as they arrive. I thought that was very clever! One of them was by Marie Johansen who sometimes reads this blog. I was pleased to see that Yvonne Porcella entered a quilt, which must mean that she is feeling better. There were a number of Dresden Plate entries and two that could be considered Baltimore Album style. Sunbonnet Sue, Grandmother’s Flower Garden and Grandmother’s Fan also made debuts. Some people put a lot of work into their entries and it occurred to me that throwing something together just to enter wouldn’t work for this contest. Then again, it doesn’t usually work for any contest.
If you ever feel like the quilts or ATCs or blocks or paintings you are making are not fit for the fireplace, take a look at the Bad Postcards site. Looking at the works on this site should a) give you a laugh; b) make you feel better about your own work; and c) make you wonder who ever thought it was a good idea to make matching apron, tablecloth and curtains (you’ll have to scroll down the site to get that one). As a bonus for you fabric lovers, there are some interesting fabrics shown in various postcards. It makes me wonder whether people will be laughing about the photos on this blog in 50 years?
Do artists go under Media or Out and About? I don’t know, so here is Michael Cutlip. Mostly I love his website and the way the gallery is laid out. He is the artist who did the picture in the Decor House, which I wrote about in a post a few weeks ago. The picture I took is crappy, but his work is not, so don’t judge him on my photo.
Out and About
You might have heard (or maybe read it here) that the V&A in London has a quilt exhibit up. They have also just announced the release of a second set of patterns, V&A Pattern Series II. “Like the first box set—which included four books arranged by theme and titled William Morris, Indian Florals, Digital Pioneers, and The Fifties—the second series features four books available individually or as a group: Owen Jones, Novelty Patterns, Kimonos, and Garden Florals. In addition to page after page of color images of the textile designs, each hardcover book includes a CD of hi-res images of the featured patterns.”
Being here in the US, it is hard to get to the exhibit, though I am hoping for some kind of miracle (you know free first class tickets, or something), but until then I have been looking at the videos. My favorite so far is the one with Caren Garfen, which I looked at with TFQ. Her quilt is given a bit of short shrift int he book, but this video makes up for it. I wish it were downloadable to iTunes, so I could look at it again without being tethered to my computer.
My sister gets various creative “notions” in her head and her latest is organza flowers. She saw some she loved at Nordstrom. She said that you sew strips of fabric in a circle to a base down the middle of the strip. Have you ever done this? I may try it.
Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy are having a blog tour. There are a lot of new and interesting blogs to look at.
My friend, Kathy, from Everyday Bliss, has a new blog called Everyday Mommy. It is new so I can’t tell you exactly how it turns out, but Kathy writes “Do you want to be a marvelous parent or just like watching others try? Join Everyday Mommy for a wacky and fun experiment! Each week we will delve into one of the parenting virtues, have some fun and hopefully become better parents in the process!” It is fun to watch my friend delve into cyberspace. I know that sounds strange since the web is not new. Before blogs I couldn’t tell how many emails people were sending or what websites they were going to. With all of the cross linking and comments, as well as FB, it is much easier.
Deirdre sent me a link to Woody Campbell’s Photo a Day blog. His photos are a bit large. Still, I like the photo of the refrigerator. I like the idea of documenting normal every day things. I don’t always do it, but I think about it. I read about a guy who took a photo of the same building across the street from his shop every day at the same time for something like 30 years. Do you ever do anything like that? I thought about it when I took a picture out the window of my workroom, but then I never followed up. I suppose it isn’t too late!
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Art journaling is a technique (tool??) that I have struggled with for a while. Part of the problem for me is the mess. I thought I didn’t like to make messes. What I found was that I don’t like to make messes that I have to clean up! The Purpose Journal showed me that under the right circumstances, I can really use this technique in a creative and satisfying way.
Journal Spilling by Diana Trout is a really encouraging and pleasant book to read. I read it, and thought about what was in it, but didn’t try any of the projects that are integrated into the various chapters.
The first thing that I liked was in the Welcome message.”Welcome” is much friendlier than “preface” or “introduction.” In her Welcome, Diana states that you don’t need to be an artist to be an artmaker. I have long refused to label myself an artist – for better or for worse. Like Wayne Thiebaud, I have decided to let history decide my artistic fate and concentrate on making. If history ignores me, so be it. Thus, Trout’s comment really hit home and make me feel like my decision was fine.
The author also has a sense of humor, which is infused throughout the book. On page 9, she says “…I once did a ‘highly scientific’ experiment to check the lightfastness of Portfolios alongside Caran d’Ache. They both held up remarkably well when exposed to sunlight for six months!” I love the idea of this ‘experiment’. It really made me smile.
Ms. Trout writes about things I have never heard described this way and find very useful. In her section, Stretch & Spill, she discusses ‘micromovements.’ About them she says “micromovements refers to a system of breaking down a large job into tiny parts. This is a great concept that addresses the biggest obstacle between you and your journal: Fear. It also helped me greatly with time issues. If you break down a job (or hope or dream), step by step it seems less scary and overwhelming.” I didn’t realize until I read this that I had been doing this with the Purpose Journal. Since I been, yet, able to face making a mess, I have been breaking down the steps, before I have to make the mess, into manageable bites that fit into my schedule and my comfort zone.
The book’s title, Journal Spilling, seemed a little confusing to me until I read the section on the generosity and hospitality of pouring sake. By creating that analogy, Diana gave me a picture in my mind with which to understand as I read the book.
Throughout the book, the author talks about continuously moving. At one point she refers to it as aerobics for creativity. Isn’t that a great mind image? The idea is to not think too much and keep moving creatively; to keep your hand moving. Some examples Ms. Trout gives are to draw boxes (good for writing in later!), circles, little houses and flowers. She also gives some advice on what to say to your mind if it starts to interrupt (which mine does all the time!!) : “…quietly tell it you are busy right now.” (pg.76). This was another thing that really made me smile.
I think that most people who make interesting objects have an inner critic. A very revealing and interesting section was about her inner critic. She names him, tells us how he looks and sounds. I thought this was a great technique, because things that you name are much less scary than the things which are unknown. In this section, Diana reminds the reader “My art does not have to be BIG ART.” This is wonderful. In a way I feel like I have been doing this with all of the sewn accessories I have been making: journal covers, pencil rolls, tote bags. They are mind sorbet, in a way, but they are also, for ME, small art. For me, small art is valuable as well. She follows that up by saying “I pick up my brushes and pens in the odd spaces of time that occur in the life, gently coaxing the art out into the light.” I think this could be used as an excuse to move on to a different project, creating another UFO, but for me it means sometimes things have to simmer a bit and by working often, the simmering happens a bit faster.
Ms. Trout uses the various sections to convey techniques through her various projects. At the same time, she drops little pearls of wisdom in various text of each section. The Secrets & Wishes section is, somewhat, about getting things out without revealing too much. In the introduction, she writes “Respect the power of the words you write and believe that writing them will fix them into your mind and, maybe, with some attention, some of your dreams will become a reality.” This makes me think that I should write down some of the things that I dream about. Perhaps the power of the word, which is so important to me, can help me identify my goals and make them a reality.
Lately, in general, creativity books are more interesting to look at. The days of plain white pages with text and a few photos seem to be gone. I have seen a lot of well designed, well laid out and visually appealing books of late. This book is not an exception. Not only are the photos appealing, the step outs clear, but the page layouts fit the theme of the book. It looks like we are looking at Trouts journal. There are watercolor strokes, bits of masking tape, scribbles, and doodles interspersed with the regular book information.
As I said above, the messes stop me from working in this technique. When Diana says (pg. 55) “write into the wet gesso” I stop cold. I have to say that working at a Work of Heart helped with this feeling. I just have not, yet, been able to translate to working at home.
I found this work to be really inspirational. As I read, I found myself inspired to create a quilt design or add something to my Purpose Journal. In the Personal Landscape section, the author suggests the reader go for a walk and think about the area in which s/he lives. She follows this suggestion up with an exercise to create a collage about your thoughts and feelings. I read this section and immediately thought of the Women’s Work quilt. Reading the words made me imagine the next in the series, more of cityscape buildings, still using Gwen Marston‘s style.
In the same section, but also mentioned throughout the book, Trout talks about writing – spill writing – in her journal and then covering some of it up with her collage style. This appears to be something that she does frequently. I am not sure I want my words covered up. I may not want people to read them, but I feel like I might want to read them later. I can’t read them if I cover them up. This was also confusing, because of the power of words section she discusses in the Secrets & Wishes section.
The Drawing Games Section has perfect exercises for the CPP! She suggests exercise really clearly that would work for quick drawings of the words I suggest each week. For regular contributors, it might be a way to vary what you are doing or to break out of a rut. One exercise is to draw a “curved line from one of the paper to the other, three times. She, then, asks you to observe the shapes and take some further steps, which she outlines in the book.
Who Am I? Is the question that slammed into my head when I was partway through the Lifeline section. This section has discussions of writing your autobiography in a way that she found, she was able to handle. This feeling blew me away and I’ll have to consider a bit.
There are lots of things to try in this book: paper dolls, using book covers to make a journal, making glitter glue, using white out as an art supply, cutting rubber stamps, using regular household items to make marks, book making, and many other exercises and techniques. She also tells you how to make a traveling kit. In the end of the book are sections with various resources, such as quotes, supplies and materials inspiration and techniques.
I am planning on putting this book on my wish list.
I went to A Work of Heart for a half an hour last week. I know it sounds crazy to drive an hour for a half and creativity session, but I had to go to the neighborhood anyway. Half an hour was about all I could spend, but it was enough. Andrea, the owner, was there by herself working, so she set me up and I embellished the front of the journal.
I worked on the journal that I originally made (and wrote about) at A Work of Heart with CQFA back in October. I never do this kind of work at home so it really felt like play time to me. I didn’t feel pressure and I worked as though I couldn’t screw up.
Many in the blogosphere have talked about their own personal Word of the Year projects. I think I first heard about it through the Creative Mom Podcast. I have watched these discussions for the past couple of years with interest.
I have seen mention that Christine Kane started it, but I am sure someone was picking a word of the year before she promoted it. I have friends who have been choosing a Word of the Year for the past few years. Julie puts all the words into a vessel and picks one.
Julie’s process didn’t seem right for me. I never picked a word until this year.
Purpose Journal
Then, recently, the word Purpose came to mind and that seemed right to me. All the pieces started to fall into place. Now I have a list of questions to explore and this journal in which to write.
In a way it is an exploration via non-quilt media as well as via writing. I don’t know yet what I want to accomplish, but I have a great journal in which to accomplish it!
Yesterday, I clipped some pictures from the A Work of Heart blog just to wet your whistle. I went to their studio on a CQFA outing Sunday. Because I got lost, I arrived there late, but was able to catch up quickly. I had a great time. Great doesn’t even being to describe it; I had such a fantastic time that I can’t wait to go back. In fact, I’d like to go today.
Studio Outside
This unassuming strip mall storefront does not even begin to give a hint as to the creativity oozing throughout the inside. The little touches (pink door, geraniums, glimpses of the magic inside) trying to escape underneath the doors to the outside.
Inside Possibilities
The above picture represents the supplies from which I could choose. Andrea, the owner, teacher, and calm goddess of creativity was so generous about allows us to use anything we wanted. How many times have you heard “Use whatever you want” ? Not often enough. While I didn’t partake of her generosity to excess, I liked having the possibility. A lot of my creativity swirls around, and intersects with possibility.
Workspace, End of the Day
As you may have read, I have been struggling with the concept of art journaling on and off for awhile. My past idesa surrounding art journaling/visual journaling was to explore a different technique that might bring new life and additional inspiration to my quiltmaking. No amount of self motivation could help me overcome the mess and move forward with my desire to make some art journals on my own. CQFA did one field trip and when Terri proposed this one, I thought it sounded great. The great thing about going somewhere to do something new is:
Someone else provides all the supplies
Someone else teaches you to use the supplies and helps you to be successful
You can leave when you are finished
You don’t have to learn the tips and tricks the hard way.
For me, this was a great opportunity. I decided to try to make some backgrounds in a journal (70lb+ watercolor paper or above, please) rather than making painted pieces of ‘art’. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to explore the layering that has been rumbling around in my head for awhile. There was a lot of paint involved in this activity as well as ink, water, glue, gesso and lots of other supplies that I don’t normally use.
Messy Hands
I am not afraid to get messy in someone else’s space as my hands show. I still have some bits of purple paint in my cuticles. TMI???
One thing I learned is that there is a certain synergy between wet and dry with which I needed to experiment.
Pink Sparkly Pages
Not all of my pages came out well – or my definition of well prior to the class – however, I am trying to learn that there is a certain beauty in the imperfect. I like my points to match and my fabrics to go together, so there is a learning curve.
Blue Pages Stuck and Ripped
Andrea gave us about 5 or 6 techniques to try and those seemed like a good way to get my feet wet. I did them over and over, trying to learn the boundaries. It has been a long time since I painted, and paint has very different qualities than fabric!
Credit Card Plaid
The above page came out really well. I put drops of Golden (brand) paint on the page and then swiped a credit card over it. Not all of my credit card pages were that successful. This was a very wet technique and a number of them stuck together and were “ruined,” or need more layers added.
Stencil Page
As the day wore on, I found my sea legs and began pushing the boundaries a little bit. The above photo shows a page I created using a stencil on a gessoed page. Later I put more paint (or ink, maybe) lightly over it. I didn’t realize that the stencil would make such a nice effect. the inks I used had a bit of sparkle to them, an effect I liked. It was a pleasant surprise.
Stamped Page
The Os on this page are one of the stamps that I made with some foam that was part of our kit. Below is the cover I made for my journal, which I did by gessoing the cover, letting it dry and then rubbing my painted paper towel over a stencil.
Journal Cover
There were so many possibilities that I didn’t try, which is why I need to go back. One of my thoughts now that the journal pages are dry and I can leaf through them is “what next?” for this journal. Do I write in it, using the decorated pages as wonderful backgrounds for my regular journal work? Should I designate it as a creativity journal where I just paste or draw my ideas in it? I don’t know yet. Whatever I decide to do, it will be a pleasant journal to use.
Deirdre sent me the link to this entry in Susan Shie’s blog. The post is all about the process of making one of her pieces. I was riveted reading the detail which she includes in her post.
Process is something that has been on my mind as I have worked on the Tarts. I used to be only focused on the end product. I found it to be very unsatisfying, because the end product had a short-lived shelf life. What do you do with a finished product? Put in the bed, hang it on the wall and …. There is nothing after that. I would be finished with the piece. There isn’t much more interaction with a finished piece.
It occurred to me at some point that the process was what was important. I have, since then, tried to focus on the process. I wrote about it in blog post on March 14, 2009 and also mentioned process on January 1, 2009 in the 2008 UFO Report.
In focusing on the process, I try to work on what I am working on right at that moment fully and completely. I try not to think ahead to the next step or the next project. This was brought home to me in a big way as I worked on the Tarts. That project required my absolute full and undivided attention. Any time I thought “oh this will be fine” meant trouble and I would end up ripping something out. The lesson was, however, that Lorraine Torrence’s advice about making visual decisions visually was correct. I knew it was, but the Tarts hammered the mantra into my mind.
One of the other things I realized about process is that while I work on something, I am completely engaged with it. I feel the fabric in my hand. I feed the thread into the machine or hand sewing needle, feeling it with my fingers. I am close to the fabric and the project supplies.
Susan Shie’s post goes through her process in minute detail. It would bore me if I had heard it before, but I haven’t. I find everyone’s process to be different and, often, fascinating.
The other thing about process is that a process does not necessarily stay within the bounds of a specific project. A process can continue to another project once I have finished with a piece. Susan talks about making her Kitchen Tarot deck, which is a multi piece project. She is making a quilt for each of the many Tarot cards in a deck. I really admire someone who can commit to such a large project. Her pieces aren’t small either. She has committed to the process.
The Word of the Day for Labor Day, September 7, 2009 was Reverence. My immediate reaction was a sinking heart and steeling myself for a lecture. The reverence that the author talked about was multi-faceted and had nothing to do with a harangue about organized religion. The passage talked about reverence for a process and reverence for materials.
“Everything that we do should be imbued with reverence and so one would think that we should begin with this concept. But no. Reverence only comes with experience and care.”
and
“In our own small way, we must create and bring order to our lives each day. We must be responsible, and at the same time express the wonder of all we know as human.”
and
“The stately determination to make something worthy of the materials and the moment is reverence.”
I think that by engaging in a process, we gain experience. The more time I spend working on pieces the more experience I gain. I also think that being appreciative of the materials and what they are contributing to the process helps me work better.
It seems to me that reverence is part of a process.
In the process of writing this post, I became much more interested in Susan’s work, classes, blog etc. Perhaps there is a class with her in my future?
I am in awe of the number of sketchbooks that Pam RuBert has. I think this is a great picture and it makes me wonder if I would have that many sketchbooks and journals if I dug out all of them. Take a look at her blog to see the entire post and her questions about organizing sketchbooks.
If you didn’t see the Cost Plus ad in the Sunday newspaper yesterday, go take a look. They are getting ready for spring and it is a very cheerful ad. They even have a grouping of Adirondack chairs that looks like my banner. Guess they’ve been trawling the web for ideas.
Journal from Annie Smith
Recently, I received an email from Annie Smith, yes, podcasting Annie Smith. In better times, I left a few comments on her website and also gave a donation. She contacted me, because she felt bad for not responding to my comments. I try to respond to comments on my blog, but it isn’t always possible and I certainly don’t expect any other blog authors to respond to my prattling. Still, she contacted me and wanted to send me something, because she hadn’t responded. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but she sent me the journal above anyway. As I have mentioned, I write in a journal nearly every day. While this is not the style of journal I normally use, it might be nice to try something different. Regardless it was very thoughtful.
Failure!
I wanted a sturdier tote bag to carry around. I decided to try to make a bag out of the clear tablecloth covering type fabric (is it really fabric??). I thought it would also be cool to have a clear plastic bag even though I would have to be careful what I put in it! I felt justified on this thought during the past week when I was carrying about my soaked flower bag. As you can see from above, I haven’t, yet, been very successful completing the clear plastic tote. The problem is that I cannot sew this tablecloth fabric on my machine . I tried it normally, but the feed dogs wouldn’t feed. I tried backing it with some slightly heavy tissue paper, figuring I could rip it off later and he machine still wouldn’t feed. I even asked at the store where I bought the fabric and they said it should be no problem. Above is a picture of me failing at sewing the clear plastic bag. Unless any of you have any brilliant ideas, I am going to buy some colorful staples and staple it together. Not sure how sturdy it will be, though, and I am concerned that the backs of staples catching on things.
I realized that I hadn’t posted or written about the Flower tote. At least I couldn’t find any reference to it.
Flower Tote
I finished this tote at the beginning of January. It is the first tote that I have made using one different fabric for the side so the pocket fabric stands out. I am pleased with that way of highlighting the ‘main’ fabric. It is a pretty easy way to do so. Basically, I cut the same numbers of fabrics out of two different fabrics as normal. Then I used one side piece in the flower print for an inside piece and one blue side piece for the outside side piece that gets the pocket attached to it.
Flower Tote detail
From the City Quilter Newsletter: “If you or any friends will be in New York City the weekend of March 21/22, I thought you’d like to know of a wonderful quilt show put on by the major Manhattan guild, Empire Quilters. It is entitled Urban Inspirations, and takes place at the the Fashion Institute of Technology, a major teaching institution, which is just around the corner from us.” If you would like to subscribe to the City Quilter newsletter, email them at: info@cityquilter.com I can’t attend this year, but would love to see photos you take from the show.
Despite the fact that this is supposed to be visual, I find myself wanting to tell a story with the pictures I am drawing. Actually, I am telling a story; I just don’t know where the story is going right now.
I am now following an artist called Michael Nobbs on Twitter (he followed me first!). On his site, he has an ad for journals called Myndology. I liked hte colors so I clicked on the ad and then watched the video. These journals are so cool, because you can rearrange the pages and add pages from different sized journals. Not only that, but the colors are tempting I have the feeling that I have to try one! Just call me magpie!
Chronicling the journeys of 1,000 wayward journals
It all started with bathroom graffiti. When the artist who calls himself Someguy read what people wrote on bathroom walls, he was intrigued by the uncensored thoughts and messages. Under the cloak of anonymity, he saw, people will say anything.
“And then I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if people could write in a book and make their own comments.’ “
Last year, Chronicle Books of San Francisco published “The 1000 Journals Project” ($22.95), a compendium of outstanding images from several journals. Someguy and the journals will also be part of “The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now,” an exhibition of participatory art practice that opens Nov. 8 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
1000 Journals: The documentary opens Friday at the Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., San Francisco, (415) 863-1087, roxie.com.
For more information about the 1000 Journals project, go to 1000journals.com.
This artist, to whom I was directed by Deirdre, has done some gorgeous visual journaling (at least that is what it looks like to me). She seems to have sewn a design and then placed it in a journal. This is a fantastic idea!
Adda Dada has posted some photos to his Flickr account of the screening in SF (the one I attended). It is interesting to see people making their art in one of the journals.
No news on the journal I may be getting. Stay tuned.
I have never been to a film festival that I can remember (my parents took us to a lot of strange and culturally significant places), but I went to the San Francisco Film Festival last night to see the 1000 Journals film. It made me really excited to go and to see an indie film.
I am so lame about celebrities, never knowing who they are and who is sleeping with whom, but at the film festival I felt how other people must feel about TV and movie stars. The director, Andrea Kreuzhage and Someguy were both there. After the movie, there was a Q&A and people asked thoughtful and good questions. Of course, everyone wanted to know where the journals are, but people also asked about whether they kept journals (both do to some extent), the exhibit that Someguy is working on getting together.
Today I went out and bought the book. I haven’t read it yet, of course, but I glanced through it and am already more excited than I was.
There is something about this project that is so great. First of all journals are close to my heart. It isn’t just that I have been stumbling along trying make visual journals for the past little while, but I have kept a journal since high school. They can be really powerful and helpful. It means a lot to me have somewhere that I can just blather on about the stupidities and irritations as well as the triumphs of daily life without worrying about my handwriting, grammar or vocabulary and spelling.
I was excited to be at the movie and see the celebs, because it is a collaborative project that Someguy started in his living room. Someguy works. He is just a regular guy. He looked the same *at* the movie as he did *in* the movie. No tux or entourage. It shows that one person can REALLY touch other people’s lives. It is inspiring. It also showed that people are really creative and can take a project and help. It also showed that people cared about the journals and the project. You can see a lot of other footage about the project on YouTube, including interviews with Someguy (above with Andrea Kreuzhage) and Andrea Kreuzhage.
I think people just want to be part of something greater than themselves.
Towards the end of the Q&A, a woman stood up and said she had one of the journals! She said she had had it, I think, since 2003. She had been giving it to people, but it had continually returned to her. As soon as people started leaving I jumped up and asked Someguy if I could have it. Sadly, someone had beat me to it! She, kindly, offered to send it to me when she was done, so I gave her my address. Life happens so we will see if I ever get one.
Here are some photos from the event. This is Erin with journal #270 right after she told Someguy that she had the journal to give back to him.
Andrea and Erin with journal #270.Someguy, Erin and Andrea.
Someone was there with a Flat Stanley and wanted to take a picture of Stanley with Someguy and a journal.
Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric by Violette
. I tried it normally, but the feed dogs wouldn’t feed. I tried backing it with some slightly heavy tissue paper, figuring I could rip it off later and he machine still wouldn’t feed. I even asked at the store where I bought the fabric and they said it should be no problem. Above is a picture of me failing at sewing the clear plastic bag. Unless any of you have any brilliant ideas, I am going to buy some colorful staples and staple it together. Not sure how sturdy it will be, though, and I am concerned that the backs of staples catching on things.
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