Zen and Cats

 "I have lived with several Zen masters-all of them cats."

Eckhart Tolle

I have been rereading Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart, an advisable book in the middle of a pandemic that seems never ending. It is tempting to keep thinking that things "will get better when fill in the blank". I keep doing that to myself over and over. Not long after the year began I was reading an article on the Black Plague in Europe. It started in 1346 and faded out by 1351, or about 5 years give or take depending on who you ask. This may seem somewhat depressing, as it did to a friend who said something to the effect of-"But that was before modern medicine and electricity!!" But, really, I found it to be helpful. Especially with all the talk about lack of enough vaccine doses (for the first time in a very long time I am "too young" for something) and now teenage mutant ninja virus variants and all the rest. This isn't going away anytime soon, so it seems to me that it is better to have that expectation than to be constantly disappointed that things don't go "as planned".  There are just some things that are out of our control, and the pandemic has pointed that out in spades.

I especially started to put this altogether when I read the chapter in Ms. Chodron's book called "Nonaggression and the Four Maras". As to what is a Mara, the story goes that on the night when Buddha was to attain enlightenment, he sat under a tree. While there he was attacked by the forces of Mara (basically demons) but when they shot swords and arrows at him, their weapons turned into flowers. The Four Maras are described as Devaputra mara, seeking pleasure or partaking in activities that kill pain in a detrimental way, such as addictive or compulsive behaviors for instance; Skandha mara is our reaction to having the rug pulled out from under us; Klesha mara is reacting emotionally to a situation in a way that makes whatever bad thing happen even worse; and Yama mara is basically thinking that if you just do enough, you will be in control of your life, and when totally uncontrollable things do come along, like the death of a loved one or plans change due to a pandemic, you basically bring the other maras crashing down on your head. Read her book, she says it a lot better than I can.

So, while I was pondering all this I decided to work on some small collage pieces to be placed into Pottery Place Plus. I have some small stretched canvases (9" x 12") that were calling to me. I started with enough eco printed fabric to "slip cover" the stretched canvas, and let it go from there. There was a lot of digging around in the studio, not to find anything specific, but to see what looked like it wanted to be together. So these were a meditation of sorts.

I am also trying to take a page from this little sentient being. When I feed her in the morning I sometimes ask her what her plan for the day is. She tends to blink slowly at me as if to ask "Plan? Who needs a plan?" If the weather is good it might be a day to go have a walk about in the yard, if the weather is bad it is a day for sleeping on the bathroom rug in front of the heat register. This day she saw that I was changing the sheets, one of her favorite activities! Never miss an opportunity to chase the sheets around! 

I guess the takeaway here is that I am not sure when we will have art fairs again so focusing on my online stores is the way to go. I do have work in several galleries, which are hanging in there, so I have to keep them stocked. Soon it will be time to order silk to have things ready to go when the fairs start back up again, albeit fall or beyond. One day at a time.

Speaking of, you can see my eco printing HERE and my handmade supplies HERE. My work is showing at Pottery Place Plus in Spokane and Essential Art in Moscow Idaho and hopefully this summer at Entree Gallery in Nordman Idaho. 

New Year, New Day

 "Living in the past is depression, living in the future is anxiety."

Unknown

We have hit the gray and sometimes bleak part of winter here, so I decided to spend the week making a little sunshine. In the summer I pick Tansy flowers from along the river and hang them to dry for just such an occasion.

I put the dried flower heads in a pot of water to soak overnight, then simmered them for about 45 minutes to make the dye. The scent is lovely, like yarrow, sharp and calming at the same time.

This is right at the beginning, such a beautiful soft color! I simmered them for about an hour and then let them sit until evening before removing them from the dye bath.

The fabric in the background silk crepe de chine, the one swooshing across the middle is silk dupioni. These were scrappy type pieces of fabric that I had treated with alum last summer (I have no idea what I intended to do with them then) and they did have a bit of iron contamination as there are some spots here and there. No worries, I will either find something to do with them, or maybe, give them a bath in the iron pot and turn them olive green at a later date. Right now they are hanging in my studio so I can enjoy the color, which is about the color of the winter sun here when we get to see it.

At the moment, I am doing my best to live in the moment. Having too many expectations for the coming year could make it seem worse than it actually is. Looking back on the debacle of 2020, I can see where I did that to myself at times. I was just reading an article about people who are starting up whole new businesses during the pandemic, and I know several personally that started up businesses during the Great Recession that are still in business. While I have no interest in reinventing the wheel at this point, I am looking deeply (as I was right before the pandemic started) into the business side of my art, while still practicing art, no matter what type it is. I bought myself a little Christmas present, Shelley Rhodes book Sketchbook Explorations, and although I have never really kept sketchbooks decided it would be an interesting idea to mess around with while waiting for the snow to melt and spring to return. Only two days into it and I have had a bunch of thoughts about the art, that may or may not lead to other business ideas. But without the art, there is no business, so the thing to do is keep making more art and when the time is right (whenever in the world that might end up being) the business ideas tend to synthesize themselves.

If you can't seem to get into the "Happy New Year" mood, that may actually be a good thing for now. It may be your soul protecting you from either overthinking the past or the future; and thus causing you pain of one sort or another. About the only thing you have control over is today, so the things to do today are those that make tomorrow a better place, no matter what happens. 

Cheers, take care of yourself and stay safe.

Decision Made! Well...Maybe, I Don't Know, Let's See What Happens

"This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it."

Dorothy Parker

and/or

"What fresh hell is this?"

Also credited to Dorothy Parker

There is not much eco printing going on since it is still pretty cold and the plants are keeping their heads down, as are we all at this point. I have been spending so much stressful time on the computer, that by the time I get around to this blog I am worn out and haven't been keeping up with it. Here is an update of life in semi-isolation.

Adding things to my Etsy site, next week's task is to explore other selling options. If nothing else, by the time this is over I will have a much better online presence. With everyone at home, and finances uncertain, I don't expect tons of sales, but at least I will get a lot of things done I should have been doing all along. Thanks to all who have been buying, even small purchases help a lot.

These two images are of a series of works regarding the effect of textile production. The series is called "Unraveling: The Effect of Fabric on our Environment, our Culture, and our Health". Or some such thing. It is scheduled to show in September. I will be writing more about it over the spring and summer. The top image is for a piece called Worry Dolls, regarding child labor (yes, this is still, unfortunately, "a thing") and the bottom is about what happens to first world clothes when they are dumped on the third world. If you donated clothing labels, this is where the lion's share of them went. Still trying to decide on that screaming pink thing dead center in the middle-may have to de-emphasize that.

 Life around the house goes on as normal.

Lots of wandering around, both in the yard and over to the river and back. 

Mr. Man is getting ready for gardening season. His health is good, we are trying to keep it that way by staying home. I am learning all kinds of new digital web skills because of this! (imagine frowny face here)

Buddha excels at self isolation.

Anyway, needless to say, I don't know what will happen with the show season or my intended class schedule. With no crystal ball it is hard to tell. Galleries, like the Pottery Place Plus and Essential Art will eventually open again and classes can be put together at the last minute, while not ideal, it is possible. The art fairs are another matter. Are they being held, is it worth the expenditure during a year like this, are all questions with no answers at the moment. 

I want to thank my friends and local art community for all the help thus far, you guys are the best!

Back to Work!

"I thought art was a verb, rather than a noun."

Yoko Ono

New Greeting Cards for Pottery Place Plus.

Not sure how all this will end up.

More zen bracelets for Pottery Place Plus.

Fodder for next year's day planner. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Creativity

"One gets into a state of creativity by conscious work."

Henri Matisse 1869-1954

Hope, 2018 collage: paper, felt

New Listings on Etsy

I got some stuff crossed off my list today and it feels good! Jet tub-cleaned! Floor-swept! Etsy listings-pictures taken and listed! Yeah! I put up some of my infinity scarves done in natural vat dyes. Tea, black beans, tansy (in both its yellow and green versions, thank you very much) and eucalyptus (in brown AND peach!) all went up for adoption today. I also added in some more of my ceramics work, chunky big raku beads suspended from distressed silk dupioni. AND I put it on Facebook AND I am now mentioning it here! Next I am going to Pin it as well.

Who is this strange marketer sitting at my desk and what did she do with the real me?

If you actually end up going to Etsy through the mini at the right hand side of this blog, please forgive any typos you may find there, after all this activity (or lack there of) my brain and my butt are both numb. I will go double check it tomorrow, right now it is time for a walk. When I get back maybe it will acceptably late enough in the day for a glass of wine!

Sea Glass

When I decided months ago to tumble my own glass shards I had no idea it would  turn into  such a project. First the saved bottles  need to be stored. This morning  I realized  just exactly  how many there were so I had better get at it before I end up on Hoarders.  Or an AA meeting. Of course  the  first one I smashed had all the really good chunks stuck to the label. Since I didn't  really want to slice up my fingers trying  to  get those pieces off, I have resorted  to soaking the labels off the bottles  first. Now to begin the peeling process. I feel the same way I do when faced with making potato  salad. I want the salad, but wish the elves were here to make it!

Fern with Copper

I went to the Washington  coast last week. I think this is the first time I ever tried fern with copper pipe as the mordant. I had wrapped  the silk around  a pipe with some vinegar  water for a few weeks  before, so it was good and green. I was surprised  it printed so well and that it was, well, copper colored!

Tube Beads

I had TV to catch up on last night so I caught  up  on  some ceramics  ideas too. These tubes will end up on skinny scarves.

Acorn Dye Part 2

I bundled my acorn dyed silk with maple and nails. I steamed it for about a half hour and let it set for several days.

Acorn Dye

I fermented the acorns I had for about three weeks. I scraped off the mold and threw the liquid and the acorns in a stainless steel pot then boiled it for about 20 minutes. Now I am going to let it set overnight. This is silk with no pre-mordant. I want to use this as a basis for an eco print, I hope the pink lasts through the whole process.

Goodbye to Green for this Year!

Summer is finally coming to a close here in Eastern Washington. I used almost dead sunflower leaves on silk that had been wrapped around a copper pipe to get the greens pictured here. I have time to make some more, just waiting for the copper pipe to work it's magic on the silk.

Finally! An Eco Print Sample Book.

Since I have been gathering fall leaves I have had a lot of questions as to why I am "raking" public parks and the yards of total strangers with my bare hands. I came up with this little binder to show them. I didn't have a lot of prints I was willing to part with for this purpose so I will throw in some process shots and maybe even some paper for me to jot notes on. The front cover is an eco print on paper - lace leaf maple with alum as the mordant.

Coreopsis Verticillata, Part Two

This is what happens when you use alum as the mordant! Cha-cha-Cha!

Eco Printing on Paper

These are my four favorites from yesterday's experiments on paper. I soaked the paper in alum laced water for an hour before steaming them for an hour. I used lupine, rose leaves, blackberry leaves, tickseed, plum and lace leaf maple for the prints. I was really happy with this process for a first attempt anyway. I can't wait to experiment some more!

Coreopsis Verticillata

I love the way this plant prints, not just the flowers but stems too. It ends up looking like a watercolor.

Shirt

To open or not to open, that is the question. On the one hand the longer it sits the better it will be-on the hand I am bored and I really want to see what's in it!

New Work

If there is anybody out there looking at this blog you have probably been wondering what the vacation snaps are about. I am trying to get back into gear as far as the internet is concerned. So I figured if I posted something-ANYTHING- it would get me into a routine. My Etsy shop is as schizophrenic as ever, now the banner, avatar and about page reflect natural printing and dyeing, while what is offered for sale is still the sun printing. One step at a time I guess. Here is a detail shot of a recent scarf, it contains eucalyptus, onion skins and plum leaves among other things. Now has to cure for a bit before it is washed and ready to sell.

Off to Lake Oswego!

I am starting out very early in the morning to head to the festival in Lake Oswego. The great thing about eco-printing is that you can take it along. Over Memorial Day weekend I did a show in Port Angeles Washington. Some good friends put me up while I was there. Dan was kind enough to take me over to the Discovery Trail to pick up some goodies to work with and when we got back Kim lept into action taking pictures-now I finally have some with me in them!

Sorting through all the pickings:

Starting to roll it up:

No peeking!

Voila! Rusted nails and iris petals, among other treats!

Bundles

These will need to sit a bit. Hopefully ready for Art Fest.