Tested & Rated

So. 

The class went well last night; the flower felting class. I had 4 students, and all made three flowers, except for one flower that ended up being a bowl. I had them make one with a stem and then they used a resist to make a double layer flower. Or a bowl, in one case.   

   

They all seemed happy as they left, but I, of course, was thinking that it could have been better. What could I have done to make their flowers better? Sturdier? Prettier? Which is a stupid question. But still, it’s there circling my brain and the voice is still quietly saying, You should have said this, done this, explained that, and corrected more. Here, Let me just do it for you! What I need to do is look at some of the first flowers I made. Ha! (Some real stinkers in that basket, and I remember being so proud of them at the time.)

This morning I am tired. Two things on my calendar: get an allergy shot and Art Council board meeting tonight. I have already decided that the shot can wait until tomorrow, or even until Monday next when I have another appointment in Columbia. I can get Chinese for Sweetie’s lunch. I can spend the day recuperating from a busy week and hide and recharge my batteries, which are dangerously low. Maybe felt a little something this afternoon. Or not.

The Art Council tonight is not something I can blow off, as I am president and need to chair. I am hoping for brisk and business-like. I have been toiling over by-law amendments for a couple of months now and that meticulous sort of shit almost hurts me physically. Especially when I think I have it the way I think it should be and then someone gleefully finds a stupid mistake or a paragraph which is unclear and my brain is too fried to even contemplate fixing it. And then, I emailed it to the board members in a format that some couldn’t open. Just when I think it’s over - and it isn’t and there is One More Thing to fix. I want to table it, shelve it, put it in a box and mail it to Timbuktu.
(Okay, not gleefully. But oh how I love that word.)

Is Boris really Gudonov?

My life is so busy any more. For me and my life, that is. Crazy busy. I mean, actually going places with other people, going places and doing things. Taking an art(y) class or two, even.

Last night was the season premier of our town’s Music in the Park series. One older woman came up to the booker and said, “Thank you for bringing some good music to town!”  The art council that I am president of was in charge of it for the first time, so that was good to hear. Not that there was or is anything wrong with the oompa-pa-pa bands that have played there in the past. 

So, oh yeah, the art council, the one I am president of (who knew?) is going through some fits and starts. I think a third, and maybe a fourth, member is quitting. Not that anyone is throwing them overboard intentionally, but the ship would be better off if they jumped. We’ve been able to finally move forward with some of the good things we had hope to accomplish, and I am in the position of being the calm(!) center. Again, who knew? 

And the classes. Today I travel to St. Louis to take a silk painting class, a one-off. I wouldn’t go but a friend asked and she is driving. Next Sunday, other members of the board plan to take a caricature drawing class in Fulton, Mo. I think it will be a nice bonding kind of thing - girls’ (ladies’) (women’s) day out. 

Monday, I have my first paid gig teaching how to make felt flowers. Members of the spinners’ group have expressed interest in taking a class from me, and the owner of a B and B asked if I could teach her friends how to make vessels. 

And now, I am contemplating actually getting a booth together and selling my merchandise at a couple of art fairs. And getting a Square. But first getting an iPad. 

Just way more shit and socialization and commerce than I am used to. Fuzzarelly Fibers rises from the ashes. Who knew?

If you’ve read this far, let me say that part of all this comes from me getting better, mentally and physically. I have been able to stop taking most of my ‘happy’ medication and so have lost some weight. I quit drinking two and a half years ago, (again,) and that has freed up a lot of spare time. And money. It takes time and money to be a drunk. I was able to stop seeing my therapist because I felt well enough to do so. More money saved. 

So, here I am and there I go. A person that others rely on; that is scary. A person that other people want to be around. Egad. I am being more creative than I have been for 10 years. Seriously. I am teaching, without fear and anxiety. No shit Sherlock. And if I keep writing here, I will become interesting again.

No wonder I’m exhausted. That, and the Allergies from Hell. 

Handle on the purse. A learning experience.
This one won't be for sale.

Felt flowers for class.

                                     

Join the discussion.

I received the Mystery Wool roving from Dharma, and it dyes nicely. I felted a little flower, (flower class coming up on June 8,) and it was well-suited for that. Last night, I made this little mini-iPad cover/messenger bag and the felting went less well, but it went. I need to remember to weigh out the fiber beforehand so I know I will be using enough.

The resist design is thievery from the innerwebs.

All in all, a good learning experience, and I think I will add a carry strap today.

9" x 7",  sans flap

Purple is the New Green.

I am fairly well-pleased with the latest iteration of the Tree Man/Green Man/Wood Spirit face, as well as a successful attempt at the 3D bark effect. I used all merino this time, and the felting was much better.

I am thinking seriously about sending my jury fee to the Artist Boutique in Greater St. Louis this November.

A Life of Lemonade

So. 

I don’t like to fail, and who does? Sweetie poked gentle fun at my dismay last night, when the new technique for 3D scales/tree bark didn’t turn our right. He said, “Things come so easily for you and when they don’t turn out right your first time, you get upset. I have had to work hard all my life, and I never seem to get it right on my first try. It’s so easy for you.”

I told him that I only do things I’m good at. I mean, I still don’t and won’t drive a stick shift. But I am good at fiber, and I feel comfortable with wool and cotton and yarn and fabric. I don’t feel comfortable with clay or metal or glass. 

But I also try to think the steps through, and I study each step and if there is something I get stuck on, I do research. By the time I am ready to actually do the thing, yeah, it should work. My default is to expect success or near success on my first try, every time, because of the dry runs I've taken in my imagination, or mind's eye, or whatever one wants to call it. 

I have been seeing the 3D scales effect on different items on Pinterest, and I read a tutorial, (translated from Russian but with lots of pictures,) and I said, “Ok, got it.” And I did, pretty much. I felt confident that I could construct the face of a Green Man, or Tree Spirit. What went wrong were the eyes and then the type of wool may have played in, along with not enough felting, and maybe too much silk fabric. I will study on it today, and try again tonight.

And all is not lost, as I salvaged some good bits. 

Righty Tighty

Not much to report today. I helped hang a little quilt show at the Art Center and I dyed more roving. One day, that box will be empty.

These are the current pins.

Tomorrow, CWSG's spinning study group that I sort of organize meets in Columbia. I call myself their 'Fearful Leader.'

Oh, and the new dishwasher and refrigerator arrived and were installed yesterday. They are both the sorts of thing that didn't need to get bought right this minute, but I am getting too old to wait to have enough cash in hand for every purchase. I'll be able to pay this off, along with a major car repair, plus Snoopy's vet visit for a slipped disc, in a couple of months.

Gator Got Your Grannie

I have never made poke sallet before, but I ate it once when my Aunt (pronounced ain't) Bobbie cooked up some when I was young. She made sure to tell us how poisonous it was, but she had prepared it correctly and then fried it with egg so it was safe to eat.

I did my due diligence, and studied several Youtube videos then whacked off the top 8" of my several poke berry plants stripped off the leaves then stripped the veins from the leaves. Two soaks in salt water, then boiled down on the stove top. Last step is to fry with butter in a hot skillet. I've done all but the last step, but will do so tonight, and if I survive, I will post again.

The liquid that the boiling produced was very yellow, and so I thought, let's just see. Will it produce dye? I drained off 4 cups and put in some wool roving.

The addition of alum made the dye bath opaque. I let it cook for an hour and then let it cool.

This morning, the wool was pale yellow and wash fast.