tea

I grew up in a house where we had tea and dessert (often, cookies) after dinner every night. Tea with lemon, no sugar. Coffee was for breakfast. Somewhere along the line, I stopped putting lemon in my tea - and I'm not sure why. I actually love it with lemon. Through my marriages, the tea kettle went on after dinner - and even now, I have a cup at my right hand as I type. Much as I love coffee, I am more likely to make a cup of tea in the afternoon. Tea = comfort. Baking also=comfort. Less so the eating than the process of baking. I have had the recipe for Pepper-Cumin Cookies sitting around since the beginning of time: obviously cut from the NY Times magazine. I had not baked in a while - and last night, apparently needing comfort --I baked a half-recipe of these cookies (just in case they were terrible). Love at first bite. Snow day today. Worked at home: did paperwork, made soup, and baked another batch of these cookies, which are as divine as I had hoped they would be. Half of them I will take to the studio to share. Perfect counterpoint to tea. Of course, they might not appeal to everybody - the flavor is a bit quirky --and you might not have a big jar of cumin seeds sitting around in your pantry, as I do, but these cookies are worth a trip to the Indian grocery store. Seeds, not ground cumin. You didn't ask, but here it is. Pepper-Cumin Cookies

2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)

6 T sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp black peppercorns, cracked

1 tsp cumin seeds, cracked

1 cup unsalted butter, softened slightly and cut into pieces

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Put the first 6 ingredients into food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter & vanilla and pulse till mixture just forms a dough.

2. Place dough on work surface and shape into 1" balls. Put on parchment-lined baking sheets and flaten each cookie with palm of hand.

3. Bake till lightly browned, about 15 min. Remove and cool on rack. Makes about 3-4 doz.

remember yesterday's salad bowl?

Me, too. It now has a new owner. My daughter Jessica made the trek from Brooklyn to visit her Nana. Afterwards, she came back to the house and spotted the bowl. It was so whimsical that it made me think she should have it, so I gave it to her. It just suited her, so I'm happy.

Now on to other business. Grace asked how to use a laser printer to cut a Thermofax stencil. Uh- it's not that simple. First, you need a Thermofax Assuming you have one, or access to one, you need special Thermofax screen, available only from Welsh Products in California. I was going to show you how I make my screens, but I left them all in the studio and forgot to take pictures. We are expecting snow tonight into tomorrow, so I guess this will have to wait till later in the week. Oops.

Shall I go onto another topic or just forget it and go watch the Oscars? Maybe. I DID take pictures of my steaming process the other night while I was steaming a bunch of things I had printed with thickened dyes. But I think I'll save that till tomorrow, too. I shall, instead, either go bake cookies, use my new sewing machine, or read a smarmy novel. Come back tomorrow night; I will probably be here.

Salad Days

I never did understand what that expression meant, but it makes me think the reference must be to carefree youth. Remember that? I don't think it exists. Ah - I just googled the expression and I wasn't far off.

At any rate, here's what started the whole thing. Isn't it fun? My studio neighbor, Claire Baker, has the most wonderful inventory of inexpensive goodies in her studio and on her blog - and I had to have this bowl. There's a fruit bowl, too. She's an artist with a wonderful sense of whimsy and is making fabulous dolls from orphaned gloves, among other things.

There were four of us at the studios today and we spent as much time chatting as working.
We are still getting to know one another, so today was special. I had said some time ago that everybody has brought in at least one chair and that I wanted to photograph all the chairs because I think they say something about the owners' personalities. What, I don't know. I'll let you play "analyze this."

Here's mine - which you have seen umpteen times. It now has a partner, but this is really my favorite. (Not that I ever SIT in it, but I will.)

Today, I borrowed Claire's ladder and put up a layer of batting over the felt. It's not as neat looking because batting stretches -- but it does mute the pink a bit more. So, it will do for the time being, till I find something better. I worked most of the day and left it in some disarray, which Claire's studio mate Kathryn says is a good thing because it means we're starting to treat it like a real working studio. Kathryn makes her living painting dog portraits, although she does other art for herself.

She brought her cute little Yorkie in today and for me to say "cute" is a big deal, since I am not an animal person. All in all, a good day.

something old/something new

No big deal to a lot of you out there, but to me, this is major! Pam Morris did me the supreme favor of selling me her beautiful 6500 and it arrived last night. I have been thinking about a new/used machine for many moons and was debating between this one or a Bernina 1230 or 1260. Meanwhile, this beauty fell into my lap, so to speak (the miracles bracelet my daughter gave me for my b.d. is apparently still working). Decision made.

I haven't the vaguest idea how to use a computerized machine -- but if I go to the studio early and come home early, maybe I'll have time to sit with it and read the manual. I am taking my Viking 210 (a BASIC but good machine) to the studio, just in case --- and it is lightweight enough to schlepp up all those stairs. SO - off I go to make breakfast and lunch and load up my car so I can get outa here sometime in the next hour. Later.

Oh, gosh

Working with the new blogger and still feeling my way. I started to post this afternoon but guess I didn't save it. Whatever. Spent another day at home - I think I must be fighting off a bug of some kind because there is no rational explanation for why I am so lethargic and sleepy.

Tried to do some more sorting out of my sewing studio to make room for the new 6500 that should be arriving any day now. A hopeless task. But I did do one other experiment: life is always a learning curve, even if you are teaching. Someone told me that HP inkjet printers have black ink with a high enough carbon content to make Thermofax screens with. So, I printed something out with my HP inkjet. Interestingly, it did cut a Thermofax screen. But the same ink evidently did not have enough carbon to transfer when I used CitraSolv. Dommage.

So -- if you are doing a Citrasolv transfer, you must have something printed out on either a REAL laser printer or copied with a copier that uses old fashioned carbon toner. If in doubt, take Citrasolv and a cotton ball & spoon with you and make ONE copy at the copy shop. Turn it face down on either another piece of paper or a piece of fabric, moisten the cotton ball and rub it on the back of the copy, burnish with spoon and see what happens. If it transfers, great! If not, do not spend another penny - leave and go elsewhere. Like maybe your local library, which still has an old photocopier that charges@ 10 cents. This is akin to going to the fabric store armed with discharge paste or bleach gel or whatever, and squirtiing it on the scrap you bought. Good grief, the machinations we go through!

The other thing I did, while going through my fabrics, was to throw some stuff on my home design wall. While I was doing my discharge experiments yesterday (which turned out lousy) I found a bunch of fabric that I did a while ago. Depends on who the mfg is and what the weather is like, and how the stars are lined up, and what you use, and what mood the discharge gods are in that day. This may turn into something. Or not. It is kinda growing on me. Tomorrow is another day. (who said that/??) Perhaps I will have a chance to organize a few more things here. The problem is PackRAT syndrome. Not sure there is a cure.

Yesterday

I got to the studio early so I could do some work before my visitors came. Rachel and Diane braved the cold and winds to bring their work over for our crit meeting. The others couldn't make it, so it was just the three of us. It was great to have a big (albeit pink-tinted) design wall for everybody to put their pieces up on - but I shall have to follow your suggestions and do something about that pink. Yecch. I think JoAnn's white felt is a bit on the thin side. Another example of you get what you pay for.

In any case, after lunch and our crit, I was doing some screenprinting and Rachel picked up my camera and started shooting. My, my, don't I look busy! No wonder I went home and crashed at 3:00 pm. The top left and right, by the way, are before and after of one of my "can this fabric be saved?"

I stayed home today and worked sorting fabric, filled up a big trash bag with miscellaneous falderol,and did some experimenting with discharge. The results were too boring to even photograph. The rest of the week holds too many appointments and potential unknowns and I probably won't be in the studio till Friday - if I am lucky.

It's addictive

Today, I finally got my design wall up. Big hooray! It took me all day of climbing on a stepstool to get on this table - don't ask. Cheesh - I am too OLD to do all this climbing and stretching. Here is a picture of what it looked like halfway through the job. I didn't bother taking a picture of it all done because after all, who wants to look at a blank wall? The heavy white felt I spoke about yesterday did NOT, in fact, make a white design wall, The pink still shows through (as you can see) - but it is at least, softer. Some day when I get the energy (and 1000 more pins) I will redux and put a layer of batting on top of the felt. Felt doesn't really work all that well, anyway, if you just want to adhere fabric without pinning it. Nevertheless, I am happy. Do you see my grin?

Going to the studio is the addictive part. Not just for me, but for all of us. I was talking to Kathryn in the next door studio and she was so happy to get out of her home studio! Yep. I understand. All seven of us feel the same way - and while we are still getting to know each other, we are kindred spirits. Kathryn is a painter who does dog portraits on commission. But her REAL work is nature-oriented. We all do what we have to do to earn a living, but our hearts are often someplace else. Not mine. My heart is everywhere. I love to teach. I love to print. I love to experiment. I love to work alone, and I love having neighbors I can talk to when I need company.

This morning, I was there by 11 and didn't get home till after 5:30. When I was working at a REAL job,I left the house at 8:20 am and didn't leave the office till 5:30 - was a single parent with 3 children under the age of 11,and actually served dinner every night. Was I nuts? No. I was 39 years old. You can do anything when you are 39 and in your 40's. This went on for many years, during which time my children got older and so did I (surprise!). But never mind all of that.

Remember that really ugly piece of fabric on yesterday's blog? I screened on top of it with thickened dyes and brought it home and steamed it. I'll post the before and after when I can...part of my continuing "Can this Fabric be Saved?" program.

Meantime, busy weekend. My husband's birhday is Sunday and tomorrow, after doing errands and going to visit my mother (who will not remember that I was there yesterday) it is my turn to treat him to dinner. The one time a year I pay and he gets to pick the restaurant. Tonight, he paid and I picked the place. LOL.

P.S.

Thanks to everybody who sent "oops" art and the anecdotes to go with them. I had a few chuckles and one LOL. I have time before I have to give the lecture, so any time - if you have potential disasters that turned into art, send me your stories and pix.

where has time gone?

Coming into Friday already. Well, we lost a day with the sleet and ice yesterday. I stayed in and worked but got too distracted with making onion soup and doing laundry. I was glad I had the foresight to bring home some screens - and I liked what I printed so much that I might just make some Thermofax screens of the images. Could be interesting. This thing on the left is not anything I would want to repeat. Besides, I washed it and while the part on the right held, the left side washed out a lot because it was old dye. Just as well - it is really not my favorite. It goes into the "can this fabric be saved?" pile. I have my work cut out for me: the pile gets higher every day. Tonight I sewed together umpteen billion yards of heavy white felt to put up on my design wall. I am bringing a stepstool and industrial stapler with me tomorrow (probably overkill) and am determined to put it up it so I can mute the pink and start to put things up on the wall. In the meantime, in a moment of weakness, I bought a Janome 6500 today from a friend who has traded up. The decision then becomes whether I bring it to the studio or leave it home. From all the reports, I am making a good decision -- although exactly WHY I need another machine eludes me. This has been the kind of week where I'm not sure which e-mails I have answered and which ones I still need to answer. I sometimes think my dance card is too full and my mind too empty. I'll start again tomorrow with a fresh slate.

OOPS!

Yesterday was all art. Play Day at the Newark Museum. Four of us spent most of the day dye-painting, discharging, batik-ing, and yakking. I also took some pictures of blobs and mistakes so that I will have slides for my "Oops" lecture. THAT might be one of them. I could cut it up - but that's cheating. The challenge is to leave the spots and work with them. OOP Art, as my friend Lisa calls it, is art that incorporates or results from a mistake -- and it usually unique and more interesting than it would have been without the mistake. Sometimes it's a "design opportunity" and sometimes it just IS. Like the time I put wonder under on the FRONT of a piece. Fortunately, it was an image transfer of a woman's face; I ironed a piece of glittery netting to the wonder under and she looked even better behind the veil. But - big groan till I figured out what to do. Coincidentally, there was an article in yesterday's NY Times ARTS section (that I didn't read till this morning) that touched on the subject of accident and chance in art. It was a review of the print show at MOMA which included work by Jasper Johns, Barnett Newman, Le Bontecou, Kiki Smith, and Robert Rauschenberg - among others. While Rauschenberg was making a lithograph, the stone broke. He decided to incorporate the mishap into his work and it appears as a jagged white line running diagonally across the image. The artist's hand was in this work in a way it never could have been if he were making a digital print. The review made a strong case for traditional printmaking and all of its possibilities. I feel very strongly about this subject. Digital is digital but you can't get an OOPS! Help me out here, guys! SEND ME JPGS of your OOP ART. Surely you must have something that came about as a complete accident. I would dearly love jpgs or slides and anecdotes that go with them, so if you would like to be included in my slide show, please e-mail me and let me know. I'd be grateful! As many mistakes as I make, it gets boring just looking at my work.

Well, I was going to upload some of my better experiments from yesterday but Blogger won't let me. So, since I have been up since 4:am, I am taking this as a sign that the day is over.

hot water

Something we take for granted - until it is not available. The studio's hot water heater is in and it has already made a difference. Although I was the prime agitator, we will all benefit (after all, how can we wash out our coffee cups or sanitize our hands without hot water??) and will be sharing the cost of the tank, the copper pipes, and the installation. This afternoon, I decided to mix up some dyes because I am tired of printing on plain muslin. When I left for the day, these containers were sitting - and tomorrow I will actually be able to wash out my fabrics for the first round, at least, before I leave for the weekend and take them with me. I screened some fabric but all the pictures I took were fuzzy. Probably because somewhere along the line today I lost my reading glasses - in the case. I am too lazy to retrace my steps (probably somebody ran them over in the Home Depot parking lot) so tomorrow morning, off to Spare Pair to have a couple more pairs made. Thank god they are not my $500 progressives!

Tomorrow night we are babysitting for the grands -- and I hope to take my laptop with me and catch you up on whatever. I passed a Used Furniture & Antiques place today as I was leaving the dollar store (yes, I finally found one of those places!) and maybe I'll stop by to see if they have anything interesting tomorrow. Or not.