Memorial Day rain

Oh yeah....another rainy Memorial Day weekend. That's how you know it's summer in Florida. The monsoon begins exactly at May 20, plus or minus a day, and goes on for a week or two. Then come the mosquitoes. Have to work today which sucks. No three day weekend for me. But can't complain. I'm taking 4 days off at the end of the week.

Finished this piece this morning before work. I am so happy with the way the colors came out. This will be a bag by tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll be able to stop at JoAnn's on the way home for thread and a nice braid for the handle.

Got a very cool book from the library on freeform weaving. So I'm all set for rainy old Memorial Day. Of course sunny with perfect 3-4' glass would have been cool too....

Italian yarn

I bought this yarn at my little yarn store in the Everglades. That's where I work...the Everglades. Third alligator on the right. Anyway, I saw this yarn and the first thing that attracted me was the color. It's a beautiful green (though that might not be evident in the picture). Then the funkyness of it with the various textures, blew me away. It's an Italian yarn and pretty much, the Italians make yarn as well as they cook because this stuff is gorgeous.

I immediately thought "decorative scarf" and started to crochet. I tried 3 or 4 different types of stitches and found that straight single crochet was the way to go. I wasn't getting the full "funk" effect with fancy lace like stitches. And yes, I realize I've started another project again.

Sunshine Nebula

This was a total experiment. I started crocheting some crazy little thing, not really thinking much about what it was going to be. I like the yarn so much I didn't care. It's a silk yarn really beautiful colors. Anywho, I got the idea to put it in glue and water and stiffen it and mount it on a canvas. The frame was bought at a thrift store and I painted it black and then gold on top of that. I wish I had just put one coat of gold though and let the black show through a little. I tried to sand it and that didn't work well. So next time. This piece is 10x14. The canvas was originally 11x14, but I had to trim an inch off to fit it in the frame. This is an acrylic and oil on canvas board.

Hooked rugs

Reading "American Hooked and Sewn Rugs: Folk Art Underfoot". In 18th cen. America, people couldn't afford rugs unless they were rich, and even then rugs were reserved for only the best rooms. People would spread sand on their floors to absorb and hold the grease and dirt. They would sweep the sand into different designs, sort of like a Zen garden, but for decoration not spiritual purposes. Textiles were a very expensive commodity in the 18th and early 19th century. The book also says that rugs were used to cover beds and furniture and not to put on the floor prior to 1820.

The picture of the bed rug is from the Met's website www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/need/ho_33.122.htm

Gourd Seed

Finally finished. Gourd Seed, 11x14x1.5, tapestry mounted on canvas, acrylic and oil.

Coming of Age exhibit

Went to see the Coming of Age exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. American art from 1850-1950. It was very cool. The paintings that stood out for me were Eakins and Homer in the nineteenth century. Then O'Keefe, and Man Ray in the 20th. My favorite painting was Stuart Davis' Red Cart. It was so awesome to see it in person. We also saw a Jackson Pollock and an Alexander Calder mobile. That is the first one of his works that I've seen in person and it was so impressive. If I were rich, I'd buy it and put it in my living room. Yeah, but you know, we'd probably start hanging our robes on it and stuff...just kidding. There was a sculpture there by Elie Nadelman that I totally fell in love with. I tried to find a picture of it on the web and couldn't. I think it was called Woman Seated and it was carved out of cherry wood. It was so beautiful.

On the second floor was the Pablo Picasso ceramic exhibit. These were so incredible! Never saw his ceramics in person and they were just great. If you live in S. FL or are in the Fort Lauderdale area, you should catch this show.

new tap

This is the latest tap I've been working on. I hope to have it done by this weekend. They always take longer than you think.

Was reading from Self Taught, Outsider and Folk Art, by Sellen and saw that NAEMI hopes to one day build a museum for the art of the mentally ill here in S Florida. This would be the only museum of it's kind in the US, I believe. They don't have the money to build it however, which is a shame. Check out their website. This is a really good cause, if you're looking for one. http://www.naemi.org/