another drawing...

got some work scanned...

and ready to list on Etsy.com.  This drawing is one of a series of three that I would like to sell as limited edition prints.  The paper is 8x10 inches and the drawing made with ball point pen.  I think ball point pen is my most favorite drawing tool ever.  It doesn't make the big, majestic charcoal figure drawings of my youth, but it makes the loveliest of lines.  It reminds me of a lithography crayon line, without all the levigating of stones.  Every year for Christmas I get two boxes of Bic black, fine ball point pens in my stocking.  Looks like it is time to start drawing. 

a fork....

It leans a little, but not nearly as much as it did.  I think once it is in place with the figure and cake it won't be noticeable. 

a new cake....

is in the works.  It is a little Dr. Suessian; each tier sort of leaning a different way.  I've been playing with frosting, and I think I have found a method I like without having to use a cake decorating kit.  I am thinking a lemon yellow color for the cake and pink frosting.  There is also a figure and forks.  So much still to figure out. 

more zombie felties....

were made and given as holiday gifts.  A zombie pirate, Michael Jackson and pumpkin head now have a new home.  They will join last years gift of a zombie duckie, skeleton and kitty. 

Again, these are from the fabulous book "Zombie Felties" by Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate.  I made some last minute changes as I didn't have the right kinds of beads for the pirates hook and leg, so I used a paper clip.  I didn't have black leather cord for MJ's curls, so I just stitched down a portion of the embroidery floss and cut it do different lengths.  I wished I had added a tongue to the pumpkin head, or maybe a hat.  It feels like he needs a little something.  I have the pieces ready for a folklore zombie, which may go to the owner of these for her birthday.  What is better than a miniature zombie collection?

ready for the holidays….

And unfortunately there hasn't been very much studio time recently.  It is the end of the semester, so there has been more grading than usual.  Then, there are family packages that get sent with copious amounts of baked goods, which I have been baking every chance I get.  The goodies went out yesterday, so I had time today to work on a project that has been waiting since the last holiday….new pajama bottoms for my son.  He will not wear commercially made pajamas, so he either wears the pairs I made when he was three which have been let out and out again.  They are capri length and skin tight and it is not his most comfortable look.  Or he will wear athletic pants and be good to go in the morning.  So I got both pairs made this afternoon and the pattern was terrifically easy.  I used McCall's M6222.  I skipped the pockets and added extra length to hide in the hem.  I shouldn't have to make him more pajama pants until he is 10 years old, based on the last experience.  Merry Christmas kid!

Littleyellowbirds….

is a blog I have been admiring from afar for some time.  I am not sure how I discovered Joetta Maue, but it may have been from the book "Push Stitchery."  The book is a collection of thirty contemporary embroidery artists and interviews and it will make your heart ache.  In a good way….

Joetta's blog is often about her process as an artist.  What she is making, not making, balancing, living; and I find hope in her own inquiry.  Her blog is also a place to make discoveries.  She features artists that do lovely things, that I might never have found on my own.  Joetta has an exhibition scheduled for January/February of next year and I can't wait to see what she does.  

"On the Couch" by Joetta Maue

"On the Couch" detail

"Window" by Joetta Maue

yesterday….

i was listening to my local NPR station on my way home from school, and there was this really interesting conversation on.  The moderator was talking with two disabled men from the twin cities about their yoga practice.  Which, yes, how does that work when you are in a wheelchair?  And both men were so eloquent about their yoga process; that it is not about moving the body, but the relationship one has with the body.  And that the body always does what it is supposed to do, but not necessarily what we want it to do.  And here, one might think, were broken bodies, but they are not.  Theirs are bodies that are "moving towards living," just like all bodies.  And I was struck by the grace and dignity of that thought.  

I have been thinking a little about some new work.  I've got three pieces going right now and a couple that need fixes, so it is still a ways off.  But I think this work has been there for a while.  I have always made work about bodies, and in many ways these works are my body.  But I am beginning to think about work that explores the relationship I have with my body;  the one that is "moving towards living."  The body that is doing exactly what it is supposed to do, and the moments where I can accept that.  

Here is a link to one of the on-going stories about Bruce Kramer (one of the men being interviewed) and his life with ALS.  I was only able to hear half of the program yesterday and I look forward to reviewing them all.  I think this will be fertile ground for the next new making.