Seven Weeks of Whitman

I'm doing a round of "The 42s" from my Head, Heart and Hands: Developing Your Creative Voice workbook. I'll blog bits and pieces and this and that and random thoughts here now and then. (I wrote more about the workbook here.)

A bit of background about "The 42s" and my current inspiration.


"The 42" is a framework for a daily practice to focus, refine or develop a skill or an idea. The framework is seven weeks — long enough to discover potential and possibility, but not so long that it feels monotonous. I suggest taking one day off each week. Seven weeks minus one day each week will result in 42 completed tasks — and new insight into your creative voice!

In the workbook, there are separate suggestions for head, heart and hands. 

I'm embarking on the "head" version which is basically a research project. I'm studying Walt Whitman's Song of Myself... and other related stuff as it arises.

Last year a line from the poem kept creeping into my consciousness.

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.

I made a quilt with the quote. 

And another quilt inspired by the first quilt. 

I keep hearing it. It's even the title of a hot new non-fiction book.

Just today Lin Manuel Miranda mentioned the quote in the context of a new rap album.

So, I'll spend the next seven weeks reading Song of Myself, making a few notes, learning more about Whitman and discovering other bits of art and pop culture that are inspired by "multitudes."

I started with a trip to the library where I picked up this stack.

That fat anthology has the unabridged version of Song of Myself. It's 47 pages long. I decided I wanted to be able to make notes, so I ordered this version from Amazon. Only $2.50! It will arrive on Wednesday, so I'll read from the book until then.

I read the first two sections this morning and wrote this line down to remember.

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I also read a biography written for children. I got to this page and wondered who the illustrator was.

It's the brilliant Brian Selznick who I've written about before. See!?!? These are the kind of weird, wonderful and unexpected connections that I just love.

I'm not sure how this research will find its way into my work. Maybe it won't. That's fine. But I was really eager to wrap my head around something new. I needed to escape a bit from social media and words read only on a screen, and everything about 2016. Song of Myself was written in 1855. I am sure I will find it relevant to my life today. 

Open Studio

Before we pack up our home, I decided to host an "open studio." It's tomorrow June 12 from 4 to 7 pm! In my time here in Dallas, so many people have been supportive, enthusiastic and interested in my art work and I am honored that they are eager to see more.

I am really eager to see welcome everyone, chat about art and celebrate our friendship!

I even hung all the pieces from my Lent 2009 project. I've titled the collection "Spacious Place."
I'm working on a compilation of images and meditations about this project. Look for that in the next several months.

If you're in the area, please stop by. Email me if you need more info.

Moving On

I got two rejections last week. I entered this piece in the World of Beauty show at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.

Refuge Radiant
size

It was based on this piece that I created as part of my Lent series. See the resemblance?

Radiant
size

By the way, the smaller version is currently in the VAST 125 Mile show. We had a blast at the opening last week. Here is the piece hanging... and Benjamin peeking.

I am pleased with Refuge Radiant. It was a really enjoyable and enlightening process to go from small to large. I'll enter it in some other shows, I suppose. I really enjoy going to the Houston show, and I'm just not sure it's going to happen this year. Especially, since I won't have any art on display.


You can enter two pieces in the Houston show, so I also entered The Fourth Day from the 12x12 Art Quilt Collaborative. I still love this piece. It was thrilling to have it published in Quilting Arts for my Illuminated Art Quilts article.

I also received a rejection for the Texas Federation of Fiber Artists show which will also be in Houston. I had planned to enter another largish piece based on one of my Lent pieces, but I just couldn't finish it in time. Then, I thought I wouldn't enter anything. I just didn't feel I had any fresh work that seemed significant, particularly in size. (I couldn't enter Refuge Radiant because the deadlines conflicted.)

My art friends insisted I enter some of my Lent pieces... even though they are small, they represent a development of style and a simplicity of form. One of my friends even suggested I enter all forty small pieces as one entry. Maybe I should have. That could make an impact.

I did enter this.

Here He Stayed
14x8

And this...

Any One Of You
10x8

And also Radiant, the smaller piece from above.

So, what does this all mean? Well, everyone gets rejections. I'll be moving on...

But, I am wishing I had spent my time differently. I really want to put my Lent pieces together into a self-published book with meditations and thoughts on creating art. That project was put aside to work on entering these shows. Also, I much prefer to make small art. So why did I work so hard on Refuge Radiant? And why is the other large piece folded up in the closet unfinished?

So, I must get to work on the 12x12 passion quilt. And then I need to continue to further clarify what success means to me and put my energy there. (Duh.)

Art Opening

Tomorrow night is the VAST-125 Art Exhibit Opening!

My small fiber collage, Radiant, will be in the show.

Visual Arts Society of Texas - 125 Mile Show
Friday, July 10 from 5:30 to 7:30
Meadows Gallery in the Center for Visual Arts
400 East Hickory St, Denton, TX

(Regular Gallery Hours - Tuesday through Saturday 1 to 5 pm)

I am thrilled to have a piece in this show for the third year in a row. It's a lovely local show. I'll be bringing my famous peanut butter cup cookies. Please come!

Catch Up

I processed entries to two art shows yesterday. It was boring and tedious, but I did it. I hope my work is accepted, but honestly... I know it could easily be rejected. That's ok. Since I was photographing a new quilt anyway, I decided to reshoot every single one of my Lent pieces. I am not absolutely confident that the pictures are much better, but I'm moving forward.

Gosh that first paragraph was full of negative energy, wasn't it? Enough of that.

As I was filling out paperwork, I realized I never posted this finished quilt from the Lent series. You saw it in progress, but never completed.

Here He Stayed
14x8 (#33)

A brief thought about LOST: Jacob is a fiber artist!

Alleluia

Here is my last piece. It's the fortieth day of Lent, but it's actually quilt number 39. I had that one day where I just came up empty. But I'm ok with that. I think I will make one more. It will be an Easter piece and then the collection will be a full 40.

Move On
9.5 x 6.5" (#40)

This piece was a delight. It came together very smoothly, but with the appropriate amount of creative spontaneity. I was a bit anxious earlier in the day. I had a meeting all morning and spent the rest of the day with the family at the Dallas Museum of Art and going out for dinner. So I didn't get into the studio until after 9 pm. But, grace arrived. Thankfully.

The hand print is somewhat subtle. I used a freezer paper mask and painted over the surface. Here is the thumb and pointer finger. To emphasize it a bit, I outlined it with some long stitches.

And now...

How will I be moving on?

Ending

I'll be making my last piece today. Exhale.

Here are the pieces I made yesterday and Thursday.

Servant
11 x 10" (38)

Oppression
9 x 9" (#39)

Here is a detail shot at an angle.
Another detail. I used a polyester felt as a foundation and then I singed the edges with a heat gun after I'd finished. You probably can't really see that since it's mounted on my black design board. (Duh.)
It's very loose, layered, dark, chaotic...

Today

Just a few pieces of fabric and a few design elements... and yet it was a struggle.

Willing
9 x 7" (#37)

This is an example of a piece on which I would love to add more surface design or embellishment. But, since the stated goal is to finish a piece each day, sometimes as I am in the studio working I feel the minutes ticking away and the hovering reality of other things that have to be done that day. So I have to compromise and edit. Again, these are probably good life skills.

Comfort Zone

I knew this week would be better.

Measure
10 x 8" (#36)

Today's scripture was a bit about refuge. I took that cue to return to some of my familiar shapes and colors. I really like how this turned out. It's a bit busy, but that's ok. I think it benefits from viewing close up. (Seriously... I am planning to re-do all the photos soon.) I really like the quilting. I put that same leaf fabric on the back and then did the free motion quilting from the backside following the pattern.

Losing Track

Lent is nearly over. I hits some bumps over the last few days. I had a good recovery today, but ... sigh, I was frustrated. Of course, that means there were many "teachable moments." I could go on and on with metaphors about creating art and life and the journey of faith. But, I'll just let the art speak for itself for now.

Oh, and the photography is bad, too.

Breath
10 x 8" (#35)

We had a long busy somewhat disappointing weekend, so it felt good to start fresh today with this calm piece.

On Saturday, I was completely lost. I wasted away much of the day and tried to squeeze something out at the end of the day. It was a disaster.

(#34)

I didn't really throw it away. I just set this photo up to make a point. I'm not sure if I'll go back and re-do it. There are times in life when it's better to just move on and acknowledge that an opportunity was missed or mistakes were made.

Actually, I didn't even finish Friday's piece. But I am pleased with the progress...

in progress...
14 x 8" (#33)

Back to Thursday... I don't love this piece either, but I certainly explored some different fabrics and color combos.

Glad
11 x 8.5 (#32)

This week will be better. I am also eager to embrace new ideas and possibilities after Easter.

Catching Up

It's Wednesday. I am supposed to feel like the week is half over? Or is is just beginning? I can't tell. Here are three more Lent pieces. I also finished my 12x12 piece and completed two pieces for collage mania, so I think I'm having a bit of creative overload. Tomorrow: one simple Lent piece and yoga.

Any One of You
10 x 8" (#29)

All Along
16 x 8 (#30)

I just love this piece. I am so pleased with its spareness. It's just three fabrics, four if you count that brown piece I added to the binding at the bottom. And I love the free motion quilting. I loved doing it and I love the results. It's my Klimt-inspired coffee-bean motif. I haven't timed myself on all the pieces, but just for reference... this one took about an hour and a half.

Here's a detail.

And since they can't all be as successful, I followed up with this today.

No Room For My Word
11.5 x 8.5 (#31)

I won't go into all the reasons why I don't like this piece because that is totally not what this project is about, but ... blah.

Layers

I just love having a break on Sundays. I am enjoying a new appreciation for the sabbath. On Saturday, I stacked up this piece.

Look Into It
3.5 x 7" (#28)

I really wanted to create a sense of confusion and discord with this piece. I think the color combination in addition to the surface design really work.

Weekend

Well, it's cold and windy as it has been for at least four of the last six weekends. Not so great for soccer game viewing. Sigh.

It would be a good day to stay home in the studio.

I had lots of good productive time over the past two days.

Not One of Them
4.5 x 6" (#27)

And my largest piece of the Lenten project thus far...

Come To Me
35 x 6.5" (#26)

Here is a detail shot. I pieced again! And did some more "let the fabric tell you where it wants to be."

I also finally started on my "windows" quilt for 12x12. I took some pictures of the windows of our house for inspiration.But then I went in an entirely different direction.

Smallish

Continuing. It's feeling good. I'm really enjoying this process so much. Two small works from Tuesday and Wednesday.

When the Water is Stirred
6.5 x 5" (#24)

This one I'm very pleased with. I had originally planned for a horizontal configuration, but I think it's good vertical.

Voice
8.75 x 4.75" (#25)

And the best news of the day: I finally started my 12x12 piece. Yikes! I'm pushing the deadline. We will reveal our "Windows" art quilts on April 1.

Still Here

I'm still making my daily art, though it seems I've fallen behind in the blogging. Here is Monday's piece.

You May Go
11.5 x 8.5" (#23)

That red stripe is actually pieced. Can you believe I didn't fuse it? Tulle binding... crazy!

Tuesday's is also complete and I've not yet started on today's.

An aside: I had cereal for breakfast, bagel for lunch and I'm planning omelets for dinner. Is that wrong?

Inspired

On Saturday, I went to hear Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi talk about her quilts at the South Dallas Cultural Center. She was inspiring and her quilts were fantastic! I am so glad I went. She signed my Textural Rhythms book and gushed a bit about our genius mutual friend.

When I came home, I still had my daily art/meditation/study to do. This piece came together rather quickly and was certainly inspired by some of the compositions and techniques from Mazloomi's quilts. Of course, it was also inspired by the scripture reading for the day.

Humbled
13 x 9" (#22)

Dr. Mazloomi said she really lets the fabric speak to her and tell her where it belongs. I knew I wanted to use a traditional binding technique on this piece, but I was having a lot of trouble choosing the right fabric. I decided to follow Dr. Mazloomi's lead and just pull out some pieces I would have never initially considered. This crazy floral with gold accents fought her way right to the top. She told me she belonged! She also added just the right zingy contrast to the rather spare design of the rest of the small art quilt.

Green and Purple

As the day draws to a close, I'm posting my work from Friday.

Flourish
7 x 14" (#21)

This piece came together with complete delight. I really enjoyed the process and I'm very pleased with the results. I like that long orientation and the swirly vine growing from the side rather than from the bottom. The leaves are cut from a map of Israel from an old Biblical atlas.

Of course, I also like it because I returned to my favorite color combo. Behold the green and the purple.

The photography is particularly bad on this quilt (and on the next one). I am planning to rephotograph ALL the pieces some day this week. I need a sunny, but not too bright, day without too much wind. And lots of patience.

I'll post Saturday's work in the morning.

Halfway

You didn't think I was going to do this indefinitely, did you? It's hard work and takes a lot of time. I am loving the process and some of the pieces I have completed, but I am missing taking more careful time to go through the creative process.

Someone commented that I could change the "rules" as needed and she is correct, but I really want to stick with it as I've loosely defined it for myself. The process has certainly given me more appreciation for artists who do these *every day* projects. It takes dedication.

I finished #19 on Wednesday.

Wisdom and Understanding
11 x 9" (#19)

I'll be making 40 pieces. I decided to embark on this project as a Lenten discipline. There are many reasons that I didn't share the details of my process in the beginning. First, I consider my faith to be quite private and personal. But at this halfway point, I thought I'd write a few thoughts about my process.

Here is the halfway piece.

Invited 2
9 x 9" (#20)

I begin each day by reading the scripture assigned for the day from the Daily Lectionary, trying to read only for content. It's just 10 to 20 verses, so very short. Sometimes I have instant ideas for the art, but I try to set those aside and let the words just soak in. I don't read the Bible regularly. I hear Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament and Gospels in church every Sunday, but I wanted part of this process to be about becoming more familiar with what the Bible has to say to me. It certainly has. Some days more than others.

Then I read the passage again for further understanding and initial inspiration for the art. Usually, I read it one more time.

I don't listen to any music or podcasts during the whole process. I try to be open to further insights from the symbols, stories and mood of the scripture. This is hard. Especially when I am doing hand embroidery which is such a slow somewhat mindless process, I want to fill the time with something other than daydreaming, I mean... being open to the spirit.

I strive to portray the themes and mood of the scripture in the art, but avoid obviously representational images. A few of the pieces have images straight out of the scripture and they were very fun to create, but that was because the scripture really lent itself to my style.

Here is Spacious Place from day #13. The reading for the day was Psalm 31 which includes the line, "I have become like broken pottery." Ding! Lightbulb! I've got broken pottery in my button stash.

It also includes the line,"My times are in your hands." Aha! My watch face collection!
So that piece was really a great combination of symbolism, spiritual growth and understanding and a nice piece of art as a result. I think it's my favorite thus far. I also love the title, "Spacious Place." I just love the sound of those words together in addition their meaning.

The process continues as I finish the entire piece including, backing and edge finishing. Honestly, I was better at finishing in the early part of Lent. Sometimes I add final touches on the following day. But I am going to try to get back to finishing each day. It feels more complete -- not just literally.

I choose a title from the words in the scripture. With my regular work, I usually have a tough time coming up with titles, so I really like this process. I try not to choose obvious titles because I don't want the scripture to hit the viewer over the head. I know what it means and I would probably be happy to share my ideas with others, but I also want the art to stand on its own without the accompanying scripture.

You can see all my blog posts including the daily works by clicking on "daily" at the very bottom of any of the posts. I've uploaded some of them to my Flickr which is a nice option to see all the thumbnails in one group.

Thanks so much for your comments and enthusiasm. Sharing them via the blog has been a wonderful motivator for me to continue.