Going at half speed

Last fall during a conversation with a friend I complained that frequently I just could not tick off all the items on my to-do-lists and thus had this constant feeling of lagging behind. She coolly said: “Ever thought about that you might have too many items on your list?” That one hit home! At least in theory.

I’ve been out of bed after my cold for a week now, but most of the time it still felt like I could only go at less than half pace. That’s not helpful when you have too many items on a list... So I have been taking it as slowly as possible. There is an opening coming up day after tomorrow – but even without this bout of cold that struck me down I had already decided that I am only hanging finished pieces. Never had the urge to make a single new one for this one! It’s in a small gallery in Bad Griesbach, an hour’s drive to the east. I’m looking forward to it, but I have to admit that I have only vaguely thought about which quilts I am actually going to hang. Which will happen tomorrow, I am leaving right after breakfast. 

The minor problem with the gallery is that part of it is in an old part of the building, which has arches of a vault that limit the possibilities of hanging. I did receive a floor plan of the whole gallery, but this does not include an indication of how wide the arches actually are. 

So I figured I will just pack a whole lot of quilts and put up what fits into those arches. I have assembled a whole stack of quilts from my stock. They will go into the car tomorrow morning.

And then I will hand whatever is possible, and print out signs and a price list when I return from hanging. And for Friday morning, the day after, I have just secured myself an appointment for an hour-long massage. Now how is that for going at half speed. The perfect way to slow down. 

Inspirational Pictures

On a cold and nasty and dull and gray day without a single ray of sunshine the best thing one can do is to go out and take a few nice photos...

Taking up the challenge(s)

Well, I think I am back amongst the living. Actually, I have been out of bed since early Wednesday morning, simply because it felt like I couldn't lie down any longer, not because I felt like I was on the upswing yet.
But the snows were melting, and already I had missed two days after returning from the workshop, without having set up a bit more of snow dyeing. And who knows whether there is going to be more snow this year? So as unfit as I was I dragged myself out to the nearby parking lot with a wheelbarrow and lugged some snow in to add a few more pieces to the stash. I had to make sure to do this after my son had already left for school, in order not to let him see this act of stupidity that his mother would have told him off for had he done it. And my husband wasn't really pleased with this kind of activity either...
Actually, after I finish this, I will go down to the basement and check on these pieces, as I haven't been down there again yet.

I thought this early part of the year would be quiet. How come I always manage to convince myself that there will be phases like that? The workshop with Lisa Call is keeping me busy, I am finishing pieces for the International Threads exhibition in Prague - and I have decided to get serious about those Journal Quilts of the contemporary group of QGBI. For the entire time that I have been a member I have been considering joining in, but never actually done it. This year they announced the new format of 6 x 12 inches, and you have to decide whether you want to do it in portrait or landscape orientation. At first I signed up for portrait, but virtually in the last minute (closing date is tomorrow) changed my mind and altered my registration  to landscape. I don't do a whole lot of quilts in landscape orientation, so I thought this might be more of a learning experience. Now all I have to do is figure out how to upload the images. Once I get started on actually producing something.
I am also part of a group "ArtFrauen" which has regular challenges as well, and I hope that I can double up on some of all these. Not because I am lazy, but  there are only 24 hours in the day, and when you can't even go at half speed, like I was forced to this week, you just need to figure out how to make things work twice if possible.
For example, I finished the little quilt I was hinting at here, and it served twice for the challenge "Blue" in the ArtFrauen group, and the Extra-Challenge for International Threads in Prague.

Shapes 26

I used reflector fabric in this one,
here is a picture taken with a flash.

It also served once in homework for Lisa Call's class as example of abstraction, so I guess it has really done duty by now! And it will be the newest piece on display in my upcoming exhibition, opening in eleven days. (For which I have to send out invitations - oh, I am sooo behind with things!)

I am also working on a slighter larger interpretation of this for the Australian challenge "True Blue". I've been meaning to enter in that show since I first heard about it at Ste. Marie-aux-Mines last September. But only a couple of weeks ago did I start - deadline is end of the month - who knows whether I will make it...? Challenges indeed. I did not manage to make one for SAQA's "Balancing Act", though. Although I had told myself I would enter at least two or three SAQA shows this year. Well, I hope there will be at least two others that are appealing.

not forgotten...

Spent the weekend teaching, and wanted to post tonight, but am sick in bed. Haven't forgotten the blog, but it will have to wait a little bit until I can think more freely again!

High Noon Abstract - January 2015

When I first started looking at the January pictures I thought it would be impossible to come up with a selection of the ten best, because I - of course - like them all. But in the end it wasn't that difficult. I confess that I have been a bit laxer about the time frame in which 'High Noon' may be taken, but will get stricter again. Unless I have too many abstract shots from my work table in my studio, or onion peels when making lunch...

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