Finding It Easier To Get On With It

Posted on by Sandy Webster

I made it to the dam the other afternoon. Still no birds on the water. Perhaps because it is so windy.

For two days I worked on the squirrel in an apron roasting nuts. When finished I decided that four of these drawings with stitchery might just be enough…so decided to cut and cover mats for them. The island in the kitchen makes a perfect work place because the height is just right.

I have to cut my own mats because everything is a different size. But making them all 8″ x 10″ on the outside measurements are easier to find frames for. I still have boxes of wooden frames out in the garage, and the charcoal spray paint I like for graphite drawings.  And I still have loads of Lokta papers to cover the mats with……so….

I put a small mouse in the squirrel’s apron pocket. The framing will be done when it warms up in the garage and I locate all the framing materials.

The work table here in the studio now has projects to finish on my left and finished on the right. Sort of like doing dishes. At least it prevents me from getting started on too many new ideas.  But first Burke and Wills would like to see themselves bound into a book.  And there is a bit more hand-stitching to do on the patchwork of print and cloth piece.  After that I hope to get back to carving some wood blocks.

There is still another book to finish reading and more entries for the basket gathering book, but I am determined to get control here with unfinished work.

Too cold and rainy for walks so it was more baking….Pioneer Woman’s Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies.

Delicious with the addition of finely chopped pecans.

And the cats just prefer to nap.

Tomorrow is President’s Day so the gym will not be open. I might try the Riverwalk in Murphy followed by a coffee at the Rare Bird.

I look at all the workshops being offered online and wonder if I need to enroll in one. Then I ask myself, “Why?”.

I don’t have a good answer but do know why I don’t.  So many seem to stress experimenting with materials and techniques until you find your own voice.  Well, maybe, if I wanted to spend time (and money) to find a way to express myself. But I think it is pretty obvious that I am already listening to my own voice and working accordingly.

Am I bored? No.

Do I need inspiration? No.

Do I need to amass more tools and materials to “play” with when there is plenty to work with here in my studio?  No.

And at seventy-eight do I really want someone suggesting I “try this” or “try that”? No.

Do I really want the residue of “finding my voice” (which I suspect is code for not copying someone else’s) to pile up in my already tidied and organized studio? Heavens no.

I think not.

Perhaps these workshops being offered are more about having a play time….or the popular expression now is “giving yourself permission” to play. (I never did get that “permission” thing.) Am I supposed to ask myself if it would be okay to draw a squirrel in an apron? What if I said, “NO, no squirrels for you, in or out of aprons.” Really!

I am likely missing something here about these classes being offered. And perhaps it is simply that my own voice is nagging me to get on with it. Reminding me that time is passing and if there is something that I need to do, then get on with it.

So, I am off…getting on with whatever.

Til later….

ReArranging/Finding Things to Get Back To

Posted on by Sandy Webster

I am not walking today….the rain is refusing to stop. But I did get to the river a couple of days ago. Looking for Spring but you can see very little of it wants to come out.

Today I decided (since I finished my book) to sort out where I should keep the hand sewing. And what I still need to work on has found a place here in the studio.

I decided to add more stitching to these put-together scraps of print and cloth.

I am thinking that when I finish with the stitching, I will put it on a larger piece of mulberry paper and maybe get it framed.  There is still some wall space here in the studio.

Then I drew more in the book for basket gatherings. I thought it needed some basic drawings on the spun paper page.

I used a graphite pen that sits on the shelf…and within easy reach. I bought it from a man selling turned pens. It came with three large graphite leads and several more of different colors. I loved that he used a corn cob to turn this on his lathe. And the velvet bag and wooden box it came in made it irresistible.

It is fun to hold in the hand because it is quite heavy and feels very sure of itself.

I also found the three graphite drawings of animals with textiles.

Not sure what to do with them. But I did enjoy making them, so will likely do some more. No grandchildren and when I think of it, I don’t even know any little ones I could frame these for. But who knows…I might find one. I think a squirrel in an apron roasting nuts in a pan might be the next one. And once I think of something it seems only fair to make it up. She is sure to have a pocket in her apron. Something or someone peeking over the edge.

And while sorting the drawers designated for sewing things in my work table I found these. Handwoven sachets I did over thirty years ago. A glittery copper thread used with the copper colored mercerized cotton. And a green to make the overshot pattern. Not sure what the green was supposed to be but if it was trees, they are likely upside down. Anyway the price tags are still attached….$6.

I see it now…they are trees with overlapping bottom branches and a small tree stand below. I must have been quite pleased with them to still have these two.

And then these…postcards from two old exhibitions.

The one on the left is from my graduate exhibition of men in community. And on the right was a postcard from a local exhibition in 2005 I think. The piece at the top hangs in my bedroom with others that are similar. The crow on the bottom was the first to sell out of the exhibit. It was fun to find these tucked in with papers from my designated “Sandy” dining room drawer in the old house.

I think if I get the few projects mentioned here wrapped up and write the words for Burke and Wills, then I might start something new. Probably some carved wood blocks. Small ones that would run continuously through a concertina book. Nothing too big….

Just thinking here….

Til later

Back to Drawing

Posted on by Sandy Webster

This morning walking back from the corner. My day started with the gym, grocery store and coffee on the corner with some fresh bran muffins.

Last Friday I had a delightful six hours with an old friend from the basket making world. I rescued a bunch of broccoli to make a nice creamy/cheesy soup to serve with my latest spinach scones for lunch before picking her up and bringing her home. Judy comes into the area once a year to teach and this was the first time she has seen my new home. Lots of chatting, finishing with a couple of scotches before I took her back. This Wednesday another visitor from the before is coming to visit. A student in several classes over the years is back in town taking another workshop and wanted to visit. I am excited to catch up with her.

In the studio the past few days I have been working on the latest book with basket samples inside. I finished up the double page drawings of a way to start a base.

A bit more writing with the sample…

Turn the page and start again…with some favorite materials of shifu threads and a tiny hammer I bought at a market in St. Andrews, Victoria while staying at Baldessin Press Studio.

I took all the spoke pieces and made an overhand knot in the center, then hammered it down to flatten. Next selected earth pigment colored shifu threads to weave the base. These threads were found in the bottom of Anna’s basket that I drew on the first page of this book. Again using a favorite tool from Wafu Works in Hobart, Tasmania. I used it for packing rows of weaving.

More writing and a window..

I was recalling that this group of basket makers in Tasmania used to mark off sections where the Native Hen had made deposits so I could rub papers to spin into colored threads later in the day.

So naturally I had to draw a Tasmanian Native Hen and put a couple scraps of the paper dyed with their beautiful green.

I never spun this sheet into thread…probably because dampening it brought back the smell.  So now it is folded back up and stuffed with other threads made using Tasmanian soils for color back into Anna’s basket.

Speaking of earth pigments, Thursday evening a friend took me to the opening of another art exhibit at the nearby small liberal arts college. It made my heart soar to see such massive canvases encrusted with local pigments. It was appropriately titled, “Place”. The artist is a woman who seemed to share the same passion for marking place in this way. I was glad I took one of my Earth Pigments books to pass on to her. She was surprised and happy to have it. We will hopefully get together and talk more about the thrill of working with gathered color.

Friday we go back to visit classrooms and see what students are doing. I did meet a few of them at the opening and it made me feel good to see such energy and passion in another generation making art. Two of the men in my former art group have affiliations with this college and I hope to run into them again. Oh, to share a bottle with those two and hear what they have been up to these past few years….

A glass of Madeira I treated myself to remembering these favorites from art group.

Then yesterday I decided I needed to get back to Burke and Wills. Judy encouraged me to read some of my stories and show her what I was working on. After reading The Stoat Story, Down the Rabbit Hole, and others, it caused me to bring out the Burke and Wills drawings. This morning I did another that needs to be painted, and started another… hopefully the words will come to put it all together.

Here Wills is getting too big to fit in the house Boris and Belinda, the river rats, left them when they moved south. Not sure where they go next before ending up in the elderly care home.

I must say that it feels good to just lose myself in the lives of an owl and rabbit.

Til later….

 

Busy Few Days

Posted on by Sandy Webster

The weather has been cold and the other morning I saw several mourning doves clustered around the stone pieces in the garden. Few birds come here because I do not have feeders.

This past week saw the passing of Judy Wilford, a master embroiderer in Australia. I was lucky to get this small piece of her work several years ago. It hangs near the front door with other artworks from down under.

She was a master of landscape and birds in small forms. Her third book was released last week. I don’t know fine hand embroiderers here in the states but Australia has several. Jane Nicholas also comes to mind as another Australian who has many books to her credit on fine embroidery techniques. I loved having both these women in my classes over the years. Just watching how they approached their projects was an education in itself. Their work reflects the consummate craftsperson and attention to the tiniest detail that seems lost in much of the needlework I see today. But at least we are still threading needles and feeling cloth between our fingers.

Tonight I am going to another art opening at the small college near me. I believe it has something with the use of earth pigments. It feels good to be back among the art makers. I will let you know how it was.

Two walks this week. The dam…..

And the river near my house.

My basket making friends down under finished with their gathering and are all back home. I told them I would keep my book going and when some of them gather again in April, I would maybe have a small lesson to share with them in my book.

Lots of work to do yet to make it more comprehensible, but I have time.

I missed writing and realized it had been some time since I added to my list of short stories. The past few days with pen in hand, I got something down on paper and will post it on my website sandywebster.com  –  short stories from the menu.

Thinking about enrolling in another writing class this spring but need a little more encouragement before making that phone call.

Now there are no lots left across the street. Houses on every one that was available. Now the builder will turn the corner and start up the other end. I don’t see any from my house…only when I walk past to get to the river or drive out of my garage. It is a very quiet neighborhood.

Tomorrow I pick up an old basket making friend who is from the Seattle area and in town teaching. We will spend the afternoon having lunch and a bit of scotch before I take her back to start her weekend class. We only see each other once a year so it will be fun to show her how all the things from my old place found a place here.

Til later…..