Remnants and Asthma

Asthma has prevented much progress on ANYTHING! Gad! I hate this stuff. However, a new idea is percolating.

I still have this fascination with suits as symbols of power. I have collected, at 40% off thrift store prices a variety of suit coats that I am now deconstructing. The linear elements of their interior secrets are anatomical, structural and gestural...like a good drawing. I am going to let this construction hang pinned together for a few days while I consider whether to make it more permanent. I am considering a series of "hangings", rather like art quilts...but tacked together and pinned with as much frayed edge showing as humanly possible.

I've had "help" in the studio

I've had "help" in the studio the last couple of weeks: Gideon! He came to live with me just before Christmas.As usual, I need to draw as I work on sculpture.s. The drawing s are huge( 7 feet?) and lively. They have a bit of unbleached muslin cheesecloth completing them. They may have yarn in the end as well. We shall see.

Sea dress continues

I am more or less diligently spinning more anemones...more or less. I am experimenting with lifting the skirt, revealing the interior.

I am struggling with how long and what shape to make the panels of the dress. Do they simply need to be longer so they can wrap more fully and easily around the anemones? Do they need to be longer and shaped , turning them into trains like on a wedding dress?

More thoughts

So I straightened the bodice and turned off the studio lights. The bodice w ill be stuffed somehow. But the question is, can this piece operate as the center piece for a show I am calling Burnt Memories? I would need to distress the materials to make them "match."

A little bit of light shed on the subject

So, as I have been awaiting time to go to the Amtrak station to pick up my son for Christmas, I have been playing with lights and props. I up ended a clear tub in the middle, placed a glass block on top. over that I draped a net of lights. Covered that w/ silk organza and then stacked in the anemones. A single rope light dangles. No decisions yet...but I am thinking that extensions of the muslin tails and lots more anemones to nearly fill the room. Probably more lights...not enough glow through the anemones. Perhaps they will need to be infiltrated. Hmmm.

What do you think?

Sea Dress/ Anemones

The gallery is empty and the space is MINE. Well, it was always mine, but now it is studio space and I have begun to work again, even though Christmas is close upon us and I have a new rescue dog to claim my time! That is Gideon sneaking into the picture;-) It pleases me to see that the proportions of the crocheted bodice and the skirt are right, in this space.There is still much to do, many decisions to make. I had imagined the hem of the skirt rolling like waves breaking on the beach. To do that I will need to build a structure underneath or stack layers of gathered crinoline or, maybe I change things a bit and have the anemones bursting out from under the dress...today I will see what happens when I pin the HEAVY anemones UP. The dress armature is sturdy, but the fabric is thin muslin. WHat will it look like with the weight of the sea creatures dragging it down?

Jacob's Doublecross, Joseph's journey in Egypt

November 12, 2011...the story at the center of the sabbath service at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church was the completing saga of Genesis: Joseph. Jacob had double crossed his elder brother Esau, to gain the birthright, the inheritance, the lands of of his father. Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, the younger son, the immature son, angered his older brothers and was sold into slavery where he ultimately, after many dips into despond, prospered and saved Israel. In the end, the double crossing Jacob, crossed his arms and blessed Joseph's sons out of order and blessed all the brothers, thus securing all their futures.

This 42" x96" drawing was created during the service, in response to the story as it was being told. The well that Joseph was thrown into, the sheaves of wheat of his offending dream, the 7 years of surplus, the 7 years of famine, the prison, the robe, the cupbearer and ultimately the reconciliation of the family...and over all, the hands of God. You can see the stripes that represent the Joseph Coat of Many Colors, the Sheaves of wheat bowing down and ultimately referring back to the rainbow covenant at the end of the Noah story. Reconciliation prevails.