Not to be too boring -- here's my studio yesterday How can I work like this?

My floor has become my design wall for the moment; seems I'm regressing. This piece ended up slightly different, but here's the preview. Now that I look at it, the 2nd block down looks like it's got a couple of cigarettes attached. What else do you see?

good grief --almost March

And it's snowing like crazy outside my Northern NJ window. Boo. Hiss. We HATE this weather. Meantime, I'm inside and cozy, having finished not only the piece in my last post, but two smaller pieces in the same vein. Also have another Snippet in the works. I promised myself I wouldn't post without putting in a picture, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I'll see what I can do.

Oh joy, oh happiness!

Therapy sewing and it felt great! This piece made itself and is very happy today -- as am I. I never realized how much orange fabric I had. Well, some is paper and some is plastic, but you know what I mean. Here is the unfinished piece, along with a couple of details.

piecing??? what? ME???

Good grief -- it's been yonks since I have actually sewn. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I sat down at this machine and pieced something together. Seams!! Eeeek! Regression! Something traumatic has happened! The saffron afterglow? Insanity? or worse? And do I always sew with all that junk on the counter? Yep. The kleenex box holds up my sewing surface, which would fall out of the sewing machine without it because the little doodads that stick into the holes in the machine have broken. I need the kleenex anyway -- all that fabric dust. And the CD's? Well, I guess I could move the boxes. You don't even want to know what else is NOT in the picture. But unaccustomed as I am to using the machine, it tends to be overrun with other necessities... This piece is rather making itself -- something that has not happened to me in a long time, either. It will, however, morph a bit before it is done telling me what it wants to be when it grows up. Enough sewing for tonight. Back to reading mysteries and eating bonbons while I listen to classical music.

you saw it here first

This hard-to-come by fabric sample from Saturday's foray into the park has started me on a new project, which may or may not get finished. Working on my studio floor (which has no room for anything -- believe me) -- I am not even at the work-in-progress stage. But I had to shoot a digital to see how it looked, so you might as well take a look, too. My toe will not be in the finished project.

magical mystery tour

Today -- the GATES!! If you haven't already OD'd on photos, here are a few more from our joyful expedition. It wasn't so much the Gates themselves that were wonderful -- although they were very nice. It was the atmosphere of playfulness they created in NY. If you know NY, you know that people don't look at anybody else, let alone start chatting with random strangers who aren't even talking to them. Not here! Total strangers talked to each other; some woman walking by told my husband to stop whining when he complained that it was cold! Some man commented on my silly statue of liberty hat (see picture below) -- it was wonderful! Thank you Jeanne-Claude & Christo for creating the spirit of spontenaeity and fun we encountered today in the City. xxx Rayna Not brilliant photos, but you get the idea. Here am, silly ear-warmer and I don't care. It was COLD!!!!

two days in a row!

My husband looked at yesterday's fabric and said the middle one looked like bison grazing. Thanks, dear. Today I was trying to decide how to mount the piece so it shows up; still playing with ideas. In the meantime, I had a gel printing marathon yesterday, as I was printing samples for a workshop I'm giving. Some cool results and some decidely uncool ones that will become something else. When in doubt, add another layer! Here is a gelatin print I particularly like. It's one long piece of fabric and I just kept printing and overprinting, using stencils. I wasn't striving for that face at the top, but there it is. Me, after too little sleep.

Now, where was I...?

I was in my studio, adding a layer or two to last week's rusted fabrics. Here's what they look like after the've been monoprinted with a gelatine plate and doodled on a bit. I know what they remind me of -- what do they look like to YOU ? The layers on this fabric have been added with a different process.

Now, the question is -- "what am I going to DO with them? I'm sure the answer will present itself eventually. For now, I am hearing the clocks below tick and they are striking midnight. Good night.

speaking of rust...

I've been rusting cloth and paper for the past couple of days; coincidentally, because there has been a discussion today about it on QuiltArt. Using a secret old world recipe, here are the results. The thing about secret old world recipes is that they are not written down and they are never the same twice. But that's what makes them interesting. The fabric above and the papers below were all boring white before their beauty treatments. Which one do you like the best??

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worth a thousand words

eeeeek!

A few days later...

Ok. Here she is after a busy weekend. By last night, she was ready to have her debut, but I was too tired to put her picture up. Actually, she finally got around to telling me that she was not happy surrounded by that dull blue background, irrespective of all the sage handwritten advice it contained. She needed a lift and although she may look like an old fuddy duddy, it's just a disguise. With that dress and that hairdo, it's easy to feel depressed. Today, although you might not be able to tell by looking, she's much happier and so am I.

Diary of a Snippet

Why did I think this would be easy? As anybody who works small knows, it is often more difficult to make a piece this size work well than a larger piece. Like writing a short story where every word has to count, it's the same way with a small piece. As I worked for a few hours last night and this morning on what might (or not) be my next Snippet, I snapped digital photos as I went along so I could remember what I had done. It's so much easier to gain perspective and see what works and doesn't when you're looking through a lens. So -- here's what I've got. Let me know what you think. I'm not finished yet.

Here is where I started still experimenting

Etc.

nannyx4 Originally uploaded by raynag.

Ok, I promise. This is the last photo I will post on this subject -- this week.

Tagged?

I've been tagged? Not sure what it means, except that this is supposed to be interesting. I don't think so. The other people in my web ring will yawn when they read my answers -- and so will you. I will answer the following questions and this should take care of my tagging for the rest of my blogging days. I'm no fun. 1. What is the total number of files currently on your computer? No clue 2. What was the last CD you bought? The Claremont Trio playing Mendelssohn trios #1 in d minor, op 49 and #2 in c minor op.66. 3. What was the last song/cd you listened to before receiving this message? I don't listen to songs. 4. List the five songs you listen to most, or the ones that have the most meaning to you. see answer to #3 1. How many programs do you currently have programmed to automaticallyrecord each week? ZERO 2. What was the last DVD you watched? It was so long ago, I don't remember. 3. What did you watch on tv last night? Nothing. I don't watch tv. 4. What are 5 of the most memorable tv moments? See answer to above. 5. Who are the three people you will "tag"? Dijanne Cevaal because I love her work. Cathy Stewart because I know how hard it is to work small. and Liz because her studio is almost as messy as mine.