quarter imprint
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Working on homework for my online shibori class last night, I started experimenting with all kinds of tiny things for resists. The ones that made me laugh are the magnets. Since Christmas we have been all magnetic, all the time around here, with three sets of Bucky Balls, a set of tiny powerful rare earth magnets and two new magnet building toys. Then when I discovered that Canadian quarters are magnetic, as well as the washers I was using, there was no stopping me. Except when the magnets attached themselves in ways I didn’t want, tangling the fabric.

So – magnets for resists. Also quarters, washers, pennies and bottlecaps (which have a pleasing scalloped edge)

bronze horse, progress
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

I have the horse shape, ready to attach to the background, and I need to think.

There is not enough difference between the horse and the background, and I am working on ways to make the horse important. I had thought to add black sheer silk over the horse, but that decreases its visibility even as it unifies the shape of the horse. I tried the black sheer over the background, and it darkened nicely, to exactly the same intensity as the horse. Finally I have a piece of sheer silk that is white – before I painted it black – and that decreases the intensity of the background, and makes it more subtle. If the horse gets darkened with thread during the stitching process, I might have something.

The following pieces are on display at the Hosmer Gallery at Forbes Library for the month of February. They are for sale.

Rhinoceros with Gold Bars, 2009

silk background, printed and stitched rhino, gold foil, matted and framed size 10×12″

$85 plus packaging and shipping

Three January Leaves, 2008

printed felt background, printed satin and organza stitched, matted and framed size 11×13″

$125 plus packaging and shipping

The next pieces I want to work on are horses or dyeing projects. I signed up for Glennis' shibori exploration workshop which looks AmaZing! and that should feed some of the dyeing fever I have at the moment. I have three horse pieces in the works, in various techniques and stages. If the shibori workshop isn't enough I will find the pre-reduced (pre-chewed, pre-digested, pre-mixed… pre-SOMEthing!) indigo kit and work with that for a while.

And once I have those done, I have a handful of the weed pieces I have been thinking about that need finishing. I have Queen Anne's Lace and Dandelions and Brown Eyed Susans all in different stages of completion lying about. They are easier to work on in summer, when the inspirations are right out the door.

one maple leaf up close
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

This is the one that didn't make it into the show – it was done in time, but there was a mix-up with the different matte sizes, and this one wasn't mounted in time to avoid a rush charge for framing.

Which is mostly OK, because there are a lot of great pieces in the show, but I am sorry it missed this chance to shine. Plus the Ten Ginkgo Leaves is missing it.

St. Brigid's Day, or Candlemas, is also Poetry on the Net Day, so I bring you this:

THE VOICE YOU HEAR WHEN YOU READ SILENTLY

is not silent, it is a speaking-

out loud voice in your head: it is
spoken,

a voice is saying it as you
read.

It's the writer's words,

of course, in a literary sense

his or her "voice" but the
sound

of that voice is the sound of your
voice.

Not the sound your friends know

or the sound of a tape played back

but your voice

caught in the dark cathedral

of your skull, your voice heard

by an internal ear informed by internal
abstracts

and what you know by feeling,

have felt. It is your voice

saying, for example, the word “barn”

that the writer wrote

but the “barn” that you say

is a barn you know or knew. The voice

in your head, speaking as you read,

never says anything neutrally – some
people

hated the barn they knew,

some people love the barn they know

so you hear the word loaded

and a sensory constellation

is lit: horse-gnawed stalls,

hayloft, black heating tape wrapping

a water pipe, a slippery

spilled chirr of oats from a
split sack,

the bony, filthy haunches of cows…

And “barn” is only a noun – no
verb

or subject has entered the sentence
yet!

The voice you hear when you read to
yourself

is the clearest voice: you speak it

speaking to you.

                            — Thomas Lux

crayon robots
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

I love looking at the Spoonflower site – it is for small scale fabric designers; those of us who want to design a half yard or a yard of Our Own Stuff to use in something. Or just to have.

They have a challenge a week. I misunderstood the challenge, and conflated two weeks into “make a design for kid’s fabric using crayons” when in fact “use crayons” was this week (deadline: before noon today) and “children’s design” is next week (deadline: Monday before noon). Anyhow, I sat down with a box of crayons and made these guys, and they make me happy.

If you want, you can check out Spoonflower and vote for fabrics. There are always a lot (a LOT) of really nice ones.

We live in tobacco country. In fact, I remember a piece on All Things Considered several years ago (probably several decades ago) where someone was saying that Cuba was not actually prime tobacco growing land, the tobacco companies had modified it with chemicals and fertilizer until it most resembled the Connecticut Valley. Tobacco is mostly gone as a crop around here; anti-smoking laws and general opinion have turned against it. Instead we have a mad proliferation of organic farms, working to make healthier use of the amazing fertility of the valley to feed the locals. Which is all to the good. I like seeing rows of potatoes and squash and corn around the feet of these old barns.

It seems churlish to complain about no snow when I know areas all around us have been pasted over the last week or so. We seem to be getting our snow inch by inch, one per storm, if that. I am looking forward to a pile of snow sometime soon, so long as it doesn’t come while I am driving to or from Brattleboro.

Alice is also looking forward to a lot of snow because she she just talked me into a set of cross country skis that fit her properly. They are completely adorable, and she loves them. She was out on them twice (twice!!) yesterday, and again this morning. We also splurged for climbing harnesses for us both, so we could have things that fit and were comfy for climbing. We tried them out before supper, and they are a huge improvement over the rental gear at the gym. Now for shoes, and climbing will be a completely spur of the moment activity. Which will be cool.

I feel like I should rush to say that I don’t climb much. My purpose seems to be to belay offspring and their friends and attempt to avoid a crick in my neck. I would like to climb, and once I get Al and Aerin belay-certified I might have a chance, but Alice lacks mass and age to keep me from plummeting if I fall off the wall.

I am still mourning Bully, I imagine I will be for a while yet. I think I will just let things go for a week, and then maybe think about looking for another horse. I need to take a break and regroup.

IMG_5564_2
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

The gallant and talented Thoroughbred I had the care of died in his pasture yesterday afternoon. It was quick – we suspect a heart attack or aneurysm. I am distressed, and extremely sad. Things will be better in a while, but right now everything feels pretty grim.

what we did this week in family circus
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

long evening, very brave kids, dong amazing things