Post Art and Pre Surgery

I always have a period of time after completing one of my larger pieces of bumping around, feeling distracted and being at odds with myself.  Indecision and self doubt abound as I critique the piece just finished and ponder my next move.

About the same time I finished "Nutmeg", I got the news that I need a hysterectomy and other minor repairs.  Now, I thought this kind of thing only happened to stock animals, not young and lovely creatures like myself.  Recovery is long and as my studio is upstairs so I will not be going up there for a least a couple of weeks.  That set me into High Distraction and Discombobulation Mode.  What on earth to do NOW?!!!

Aside from the usual taking care of business stuff like making sure you are pre-authorized by your insurance company and all your bills are paid, there is the mental peace and spiritual angst to seek and address.  For me, this is best done in my studio.  So I got to work on some small pieces that (theoretically) can be done in a day.  A lot of what I have done in the last couple of weeks is now in the trash, but I did get some good and fun experimentation in  and made the above spritely paper collage card for a dear friend. 

Talking to another good friend gave me the idea of  turning my living room into my recovery hotel suite.  The weekend was spent completing "getting ready for winter" chores with my husband (which is always on your mind when you live at elevation 5,200) and filling baskets with the basic necessities of life, which includes a basket of glue sticks, pencils, erasers, mark-makers of all kinds...  you get the idea.  AND a big box of magazines and pictures I love that can be collaged to my hearts content as soon as I can focus and feel like having a bit of fun.

Thanks to good friends and family, I know I will be fine and well taken care of.  Looking forward to blogging again soon and feeling so very good!

This is what my yard looks like right now - a glorious fall indeed!

Our Crabapple Tree

Secret Life Revealed

The Secret Life of Nutmeg (Full View 36" x 37")

The Secret Life of Nutmeg is now complete and available for sale through Acorn Gallery in Idyllwild, California.  I love this charming gallery nestled in a quaint little town similar to my own home of McCall, Idaho.  Take a look at their website and see what's going on there!

Nutmeg is a really special piece for me.  I have spent years collecting the little shaved disks from my grinder and studying the squiggly lines and dots.  I imagined a different life going on within those little spheres - rather like in "Horton hears a Who".  I visualized a bright day with a midnight garden of wheeling galaxies and bright flowers magically happening just below the surface reality of daylight.  While I've had a thumbnail sketch of this piece for quite some time, I could not quite visualize how I was going to make it happen.  My skill level was not up to the sketch.  Through self study, conversations with art buddies, and cruising the internet, I learned a few things that made this piece finally happen.

Nutmeg Detail

Surface of Nutmeg

Each nutmeg head was hand painted with gold, bronze,and copper fabric paint. I tried some really fun pens in those colors, but could not control the line well enough to achieve the look I wanted.  I then fused a layer of white silk organza over the surface to create luminosity.  The final dimension is composed of  hand-stitched copper disks in assorted sizes topped with iridescent bronze beads.  Also visible in this detail shot are the star fields created by heat-setting iridescent metallic foil on to navy Bali batik fabric.  I created depth by fusing circles of sparkly black netting over the star fields and stitching them down with metallic thread in a satin stitch.   Too much information?  It's always hard for me to decide.  I guess you decide by either reading this post or not - or part of it!

From what I've read, one should post at least weekly to keep things fresh and updated.  Perhaps if I did that, I could keep my posts shorter while maintaining detail.  During our brief alpine summers, it is difficult for me to maintain the discipline of more computer time.  For any artist it is a difficult balance of spending the needed time to promote your work online, or actually BE in your studio creating your work! Both are necessary and whole volumes have been written on this topic.

I leave you with two photographs I took last weekend in the back country east of here.  Scott, Ethyl and I traveled roughly 160 miles over dirt roads to visit the old mining town of Stibnite and it's sister village of Yellow Pine.  Stibnite was a thriving gold and silver town at one time and is being brought back to life right now by the mining company of Midas Gold Corporation.  Visit their site for interesting photos and information.  The streams are currently running clear and sparkling near there - but still have toxic levels of "bad stuff" in them, which I found out after I'd been wading in them.  Same for soil and dust contaminants.  What changes will happen when the mines are operational again?

Stibnite Site and Dredge Pond

Mine Shaft on Sugar Creek with Stream

Stepping off to the side to take the "Mine Shaft" photo, my foot sank in a red, gooey ooze.  Moving back, my other foot sank to the ankle in loose dirt.  Made me realize there could be shafts in places I couldn't see....