Lisa Call

Artful Home

The Artful Home Studio Sale started today or maybe it was yesterday.

Either case you can peruse some of my older artwork that I don’t think I’ve ever shown online before. When I moved I came across some older work from my embellishing days. Lots of beads and buttons on these. I’ve also added in a few of the older pieced artworks also.

It’s a fun trip down memory lane for me to look at this work so I’ve decided to show them on the blog as a group as it’s fun to see our history.

Space Donuts

My preschool aged son wanted help with this quilt, so I let him name it. I love what he came up with.

This quilt is collage appliqued, machine quilted with rayon and metallic threads and hand beaded.

Space Donuts
© 1998 Lisa Call
25.5" x 21.5"
Quilt (fabric, beads, trim, threads, batting)
$1590 $795 – on artfulhome

 
Detail Image:

Chicken Quartet #1

A singing chicken! A group of 4 embroidered cocktail napkins found at a garage sale were the inspiration for this fun wall art.

The quilt is composed of commercial cotton fabric over dyed fabric by the artist and a selection of vintage fabrics to compliment the chickens. The piece is heavily embellished with beads and buttons for an updated folk art look.
 

Chicken Quartet #1
© 2004 Lisa Call
12.5" x 13.5"
Quilt (fabric, buttons, beads, batting, thread)
$700 $350 – on artfulhome

 
Detail Image:

El Niño

In 1997 they predicted would be a wet year for the western part of the United States due to the warming El Nino currents in the Pacific Ocean. In October my home in Colorado was buried beneath 3 feet of snow overnight. This quilt is the result of being snowed in that weekend.

Collage appliqued, heavily embellished with machine quilted with rayon and metallic threads and hand beaded.

El Niño
© 1997 Lisa Call
34" x 31"
Quilt (fabric, buttons, paint, batting, thread)
$990 $495 – on artfulhome

 
Detail Image:

Chairs #6

Chairs No. 6 is part of a series of work that was inspired by the shape of my kids’ highchair. They spent a lot of time there and I spent a lot of time washing it. So it was bound to inspire my artwork. Bright colors combined with black and white result in a very graphic and cheerful composition

Free hand cut, pieced and quilted with swirling quilting patterns in multiple complimenting colors on a home sewing machine.
 

Chairs #6
©2000 Lisa Call
18" x 18"
Quilt (fabric, batting, thread)
$390 $195 – on artfulhome

 
Detail Image:

Blossoms II

Japanese style cherry blossoms embellished with button centers. The irregular shape was fun to work with.

Raw edge applique, machine quilted, painted, embellished.
 

Blossoms II
©1997 Lisa Call
34" x 31"
Quilt (fabric, buttons, paint, batting, thread)
Sold

 
Detail Image:

Insalada Caprese

Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Salad – a summer garden inspired artwork. A simple recipe that requires little effort (cut up cheese and tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil) and it sounds so yummy in Italian. The green is for a bit of fresh basil to make the dish (and art) more interesting. And of course I don’t grow just red tomatoes in my garden but also orange and yellow ones also.

Hand dyed fabric by the artist, cotton batting, cotton thread. Free hand cut. Pieced and Quilted on a home sewing machine.
 

Insalada Caprese
©2002 Lisa Call
34" x 31"
Quilt (fabric, buttons, paint, batting, thread)
$1190 $595 – on artfulhome

 
Detail Image:

Resting

I’ve put in a huge number of hours in the studio and on the art business the last few weeks. I’m nearing 1/2 way done on the big deadline coming up in July so my brain took a vacation.

Last night I watched a movie with my daughter that on a scale of 1-10 was maybe a 1. Tonight I watched Mall Cop, which maybe doesn’t even make it to 1 on that scale. This is serious “lisa needs a break” time.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to making art and dyeing fabric cause this deadline isn’t going to go away.

Living with Art

In the meantime here are some images of more ways to display small art and a small sampling of the art in my house:

My bulletin board – the aceo in the lower left hand corner was made by Jessica Torrant. Around it are my journey blessings from Journey Juju. The card to the right is from Sandy Woock (a brilliant textile artist who has a new blog). The postcard is of art by Charles Waller. The dream catcher was made by my mom (who is very talented but has no website).

There are also fortunes from fortune cookies on there, some photos of rocks (one sent to me by my sister), a card from a hospital with 101 ways to praise a child, and a few quotes I like: “You can be right or you can be free” and “I won’t let anything into my life I don’t absolutely love”.

I have a bulletin board above this one that ends up with the more practical things that people put on bulletin boards – like the recycling pick up schedule. Although it seems to have more art than life management stuff on it also.
 

This is Lines #28, a small 3″x3″ textile painting stitched to canvas, posing in front of some old glass insulators, which came from Kansas from my grandparents – they are way cool. These little artworks on stretched canvas are great cause they can stand up on their own or be hung on a wall.

Lines #28 is available here: Lines #28.
 

This is Lines #23, another piece mounted on stretched canvas. The plant in this photo is a favorite meal for my cats so adding a bit of color to the scene maybe hides the bit marks.

These glass bottles are from my sister and the lava rocks (which probably have a more technical name) are from New Zealand. I brought a lot of rocks home from New Zealand – they’ve got really good ones.

Lines #23 is available for purchase here: Lines #23.

Two small pieces by Tina Mammoser, a purple aceo and an orange 5″ horizons. I love them both and see them daily as they sit next to my clock in my bedroom.
 

This is a larger context for where they live. That is Structures #44 on the wall. To the right is a howling coyote my mom’s husband made for me many years ago (Fred was also very talented) sitting next to a pinecone I long since forgot where it came from but I’ve had it forever so it must mean something.

And here is Lines #31 hanging out with some plants on top of my piano. I love having little spots of color about my house. (these aloe plants are babies from my big aloe that seems to generate more new plants than I know what to do with – like zucchini it seems – want some?).Lines #31 is available here: Lines #31.

ACEO #38
Textile Painting
©2009
3.5" x 2.5"
$40
Purchase Here

ACEO #36
Textile Painting
©2009
3.5" x 2.5"
$40
Purchase Here

New Artwork

These 2 new aceos are a bit of a departure for me. To date all of my aceos (except I think #2) have been inspired by existing artworks by use the same fabrics as I used in a larger textile painting. These 2 I just went with some hot summer colors and had fun with them. Same with ACEO #37, which I posted the other day, loved that bright bright yellow to play with.

It feels really good to have new work coming out of my studio again. It seems everything has been on hold for about 5 months so this is way cool.

Because I sold all my small work in January it’s also been a chunk of time with not much income coming in. Between the art sales and fabric sales (sold half of them the first night), I’ve got a bit of cash flow again. Woohoo. So tomorrow I’ll be ordering more fabric for dyeing.

Thanks everyone for the support.

Really Super Productive Week

In addition to getting in 18 hours in my studio (3 over my goal of 15 per week) I also worked on my art business 28 hours this week (along with the 40 hours at the day job).

At the beginning of the week I worked out a method on how to record and track art business time and after I refine it over the next few weeks I’ll post details on what I’m doing.

My inbox is down to 29 emails again and this time I’ve figure out a way to process emails that seems to be working. Again – after I get it refined a bit (as in figure out what the heck I’m actually doing that seems to work) I’ll write about that also.

Now I need to focus on getting caught up on blog comments. I think there is about a month outstanding. And the last 2 posts about my studio need to come to closure.

Completion – it’s good thing to feel, things are really clicking for me and I’m loving working on my art.

Weekly Planning

Now I’m off to do my weekly planning. My super high productivity will slow down a bit. My planning needs to reflect the expected time with kids.

As it’s summer, the kids’ schedule is a bit wonky. I’ll have another 5 days with them at their dads, then they return on friday and be with me until July 5th. So the number of hours getting things done will decrease as they still like spending time with me (sometimes – being teenagers it becomes less and less each month so I try to maximize the time I can with them.)

Photography and Weeds

I’m very happy with how much better my photography is turning out these days. I still have a bunch to learn but I’m not nearly as frustrated as I was before.

My second private photo class is sunday. Time to talk printing, then I can get on some old todos that require a printed portfolio.

I’m also meeting with my builder this weekend to talk about a covered patio. I can’t afford to build it at the moment but I need to put in some landscaping so I’m going to get a design so I can plan the rest of the yard accordingly.

I had hoped to do landscaping earlier but the universe had other plans for that money, so now I’m working on plan B, which is do the minimal to keep from getting a big fine for not having any landscaping. Got my first nasty-gram from the city last week. Oops! Apparently 2 foot high weeds are frowned upon.

This is what happens when you work 86 hours a week. Something has to give:

ACEO #37
Textile Painting
©2009
2.3" x 3.5"
Sold

Busy

I think I have not yet written a blog post about a big change that occurred in my life recently. I am now a scrum master at work. I know – I can hear the collective “what? huh?” Basically I’m a project manager with a cool title.

This means my days at work are a lot busier. There is something every minute that needs to be taken care of and I have to actually keep a todo list instead of having just one or two things I’m working on.

It’s pretty fun so far.

I plan on writing a big post about this at some point, about how it fits in with my year of expansion and integrity, but for now this is what I have time for. And it’s my way of saying…

Sorry I am still behind on blog comments. I will catch up over the next few days. One post at a time if I need to. There are some good questions in there that I want to answer.

New Art

I’m very happy to report I have 3 new ACEOs completed this week and the first one I posted above. I love love this little house – love the chopped off roof.

Reminds me of moving into my first house with the husband. He was backing the uhaul up the driveway and came within a few inches of ripping the overhang off the garage. He didn’t do it but for some reason that image never has left my mind.

I’ll rephotograph the other 2 and post them soon.

Lines #30
Textile Painting – Mounted on stretched canvas
©2009
3" x 3"
$75
Purchase Here

A Slight Change in Prices

In January I raised prices on my artwork as part of my year of Expansion and Integrity.

Not long after that I stopped making new work due to the remodel of my house and building of my new studio. Now that things have settled down I’ve been reflecting on my pricing changes.

For the most part I’m happy with them and know this is the right direction to go although am making a few adjustments, which feels right. I was a bit jumpy about the new prices before, now it’s good.

Quick Recap on Price Increase

First, a quick review of why I increased my prices. Last fall I defined what being a successful artist meant to me and it included this point:

My work is valued by buyers and collectors, who are willing to pay a good price for my artwork.

The new prices put me more into alignment with this idea. Although not stated in that line, I think the idea that I value the artwork to price it reasonably is also important.

In addition to having prices that reflect the value of my artwork, the increases brought them in alignment with a sustainable art practice.

This part of my definition of success:

I quit my day job and live comfortably from the proceeds of my creative talents.

was not going to happen making $10 an hour or less selling my art.

The original article about raising my prices is here for those that missed it.

Gallery Commissions

The majority of my income from my artwork comes through sales of artwork through art consultants or galleries, who take a pretty healthy commission, with 50% being the most common. My previous prices were okayish if I assumed no commission.

I would cringe every time a piece was sold through these avenues. Not good.

Not good to cringe. Galleries work hard to market the artwork, art consultants need to be paid. I don’t resent paying them for their work and it is my responsibility to make sure my art is priced so that the commission is built in.

So my pricing now reflects the expected 50% commission to be paid to the gallery. It should have always included this, and it used to, somewhere along the way the value of my art outpaced my prices (looking at my records I hadn’t done a price increase in many many years – oops!)

Consistency

It’s important for prices to be consistent across all venues. Undercutting the gallery pricing isn’t a good business practice. But ignoring that, creating the artwork is half the value of art marketing it and finding a buyer is the other half.

Anyone out there selling art knows this, marketing is a big job. Doesn’t matter if it’s a gallery, art consultant or me doing that marketing piece, we need to be compensated for that effort.

This means that artwork sold via my website, where no commission is paid, is the same price as artwork sold in a gallery (artfulhome is the gallery that sells most of my art to date). So what does the commission pay for when I get to keep it? Here’s a partial list:

• Paypal fees (I’ll be adding a shopping cart soon also – that has fees).
• Shipping supplies (these are usually not covered in the shipping expenses) and time to ship. A trip to the post office is at least 1/2 an hour of time. Packing up the art to sell is non-negligible also.
• The time it takes me to list the artwork for sale on my website, again a fairly big chunk of time.
• My marketing time. I write a ton of informative articles on my blog that build my readership, which in turn builds my fans, which eventually results in art sales. At least that is what I consider to be my marketing effort – to just be me – to write about being an artist. To help people out that ask questions (although I’m behind on blog comments – oops!)

Affordable Art

All of this is what I was thinking when I raised my prices and I kinda ignored this line from my definition of being a successful artist:

I create an affordable line of work for those that can not afford my larger pieces.

This is important to me. I buy a lot of these lower priced artworks from other artists and really appreciate them offering smaller works I can afford. With my lowest prices at $120 for my 3"x3" pieces technically I did have lower priced art but it was a stretch for many.

So I’ve rethought some of my pricing on my smallest work and have decided I will not sell my ACEOs or 3"x3" textile paintings through galleries.

They will only be available on my website so I’ve lowered the prices on these. Not back down to where they were, because that isn’t sustainable, but a compromise between working for $10 and covering a full marketing commission.

The new prices for ACEOs will be $40 and the 3"x3" will be $75.

Lines #31
Textile Painting – Mounted on stretched canvas
©2009
3" x 3"
$75
Purchase Here

Smaller Work Pricing

I adjusted the prices of the work under 12" square to make more sense – what the heck was $490. That’s just weird. So I’m a little OCD - I like round numbers.

For total transparency (and because I find it really helpful when other artists share their pricing policies) here are my prices for 2009:

ACEO (2.5"x3.5") – $40
Calling Cards (2.5"x3.5" mounted on canvas) – $60
3"x3" (mounted on canvas) – $75
4"x4" (mounted on canvas) – $125
6"x6" (mounted on canvas) – $275
8"x8" (mounted on canvas) – $450
6"x12" (mounted on canvas) – $500
8"x10" (mounted on canvas) – $600
12"x12" (mounted on canvas) – $750

Going forward I will only be creating artwork in these sizes (other than the ACEOs) mounted on stretched canvas. I have a few older quilts in this range that are hung directly on the wall, these pieces are all priced $50 less than above.

Larger Work Pricing

The pricing of work larger than 12"x12" hasn’t changed much since my increase but since I’m writing about pricing I thought I’d include the info on how I do this pricing also.

I first do a calculation of the price of the work based on size using the following values (this is all done automagically in excel when I enter the size of the artwork into my spreadsheet):

$750 per sq ft for work < 10 sq ft
$700 per sq ft for work < 15 sq ft
$650 per sq ft for work < 20 sq ft
$625 per sq ft for work < 30 sq ft
$600 per sq ft for work > 30 sq ft

I look at the number and then round it up or down to a nice happy even number. The rounding up or down is based on how good I think the piece is, the age of the piece and any other factor I think influences the value of the work.

Because my work is all such irregular sizes (the advantage of not using premade canvases but creating art to any size I please) this helps to group pieces roughly the same size to roughly the same price.

Never Lower Your Prices

The rule in the artworld is that you can never lower your prices, you can only raise them. I guess I’m ignore that and lowering the price on a few sizes.

Sometimes one must just ignore all the rules and do what is right.

Lines #33
Textile Painting – Mounted on stretched canvas
©2009
3" x 3"
$75
Purchase Here

 
 
PS After all of that, check out all 12 of the new 3"x3" textile painting on my affordable art for sale page.

I took all the sold work off there so you can just see what’s available.

It was a big house cleaning day – of prices and webpages.

Structures #38
Textile Painting
©2005
43" x 42"

How It Began

Four years ago on February 22 I made my first blog post. I had been thinking about blogging for a while but without a digital camera it didn’t seem like an art blog was going to get very far.

I think we got bonuses at work or some other money fairy visited in mid-February 2005 so I walked into a camera store and bought a Nikon D-70 without doing any research on digital cameras, 15 minutes tops and I was out of the store with my new toy. I had a N-70 and knew the lens were interchangeable and that seemed like a good reason to buy another Nikon.

With my new studio I’m going to have to buy another lens. I can’t take photographs of my largest pieces with my 50mm lens (room isn’t big enough) and my zoom lens has crappy color (in comparison to my very nice 50mm, which I use for all my art photography). So I’m thinking positive thoughts for the money fairy to come visit again.

We All Love Stats

According to wordpress I’ve made 600 posts (the first few months were on blogger – once I got serious about blogging I quickly moved to my own install of wordpress.org).

There are currently 3,940 comments and akismet has blocked 19,741 spam comments from appearing. The spammers have the real people seriously out numbered. Ya’ll need to get busy.

According to my website stat counter I had 104,821 page views and 26,713 unique visitors in January and my traffic seems to grow fairly steadily over the year. I had a pretty big drop last may-july during my move as I had nothing to say.

Construction

With my construction I suspect I’ve increased traffic by doing a daily photo log of the action even though the art content has slowed a bit over the last 4 months. The next three weeks I’m not likely to have much access to my studio as they are doing drywall/texturing/painting in the existing part of the house, meaning my kids bedrooms will be my studio for a week.

Then the hardwood floor will be refinished and I’ll install carpet – all of which requires a large amount of furniture shuffling.

The timing is interesting because the deadline for submitting photos for the large pieces I’ve been working on the last few months is March 1. I have about 2-3 more hours of sewing and then it’s photography time. My goal is to do that on tuesday – so guess I need to buy that new lens tomorrow.

Hm… Anyone want to buy some art?

Not much still for sale on that page, I think near top priority once the studio is done is to make some more small art.

Lines #17
©2008
3" x 3" – Mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

What is a Painting?

I’ve been using the term Textile Painting for quite a while now and have gotten several questions about what it exactly means and why I’m using it.

After reading a post on Jeanne Williamson’s blog the other day I thought maybe I’d tackle the subject. From her post Definition of a Painter :

Andrea Myers considers herself a painter. You might not know it wandering through her show at Steven Zevitas Gallery. You’ll see ripped stacks of paper and fabric collages on the wall, piles of fabric on the floor and on a pedestal, but nothing you might immediately think of as a painting. That’s Myers’s point. The Chicago artist intends to push at the edges of painting’s definition.

A lot of Andrea Myers’s work is very dimensional (see here for photos). My intention is not to push the word painting as is Myers. Instead I believe I’m just using textiles instead of paint to provide my color and am indeed making a painting as most people think of a painting – an art object to hang on the wall.

Looking at wikipedia’s page on painting it defines painting as:

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface (support base). In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting.

Citing Merriam-Webster Online as the source of the definition.

Why Textile Painting?

That definition pretty much covers what I’m doing – applying color to a surface. I’m using textiles to provide the color and the surface are the back 2 layers of the quilt (batting & backing – see my definition of basting for what these layers look like).

With the smaller paintings I then attach the 3 layers to a canvas. Very much a painting – just a different medium provides the palette that is applied to the surface.

Why don’t I just call them quilts? Because that word is a loaded term and generally includes conjuring up images of grandma. I love traditional quilts but that is not what I make so if I say quilt I have to start qualifying it and it’s pretty hard to move off the bed with those that aren’t familiar with fiber art.

When I describe what I do I prefer to start with the word painting and expand that image as I find it much easier to describe what the artform is from this angle.

Both "quilt" and "painting" need a modifier to more accurately describe what I do – might as well pick the one that I think is closest to the intention of my artwork – a means of expressing myself resulting in a non functional 2 dimensional object that is hung on the wall.

Morning Aspens
by Stacey Peterson
Oil on Panel
9×12″
2008
reprinted with permission by the artist

Being Decisive

I think one reason I get so much done is I’m good at making decisions, meaning that when presented with choices I don’t spend days or weeks or months deciding what to do. I just decide. Then I do it.

When I decluttered my house at the beginning of the year I had no intention of moving at that time. But once the idea that I really could move came to me, I didn’t ponder it forever. I simply decided to move based on how that decision felt to me and within a week I had a Realtor lined up and got to work making it happen. I went from thinking "Hm, maybe I could move" to living in my new house in only 3 months.

One of my strengths is my intuition. I rarely sit down and make lists of advantages and disadvantages of doing something. I just listen to my feelings and pick the choice that feels right and move forward. I do journal and find writing (not list making) helps me listen my desires.

I don’t believe that every decision has a wrong and a right choice. I think there are pros and cons to all choices. So I focus on the positives of my direction and don’t let the negative aspects stop me.

This isn’t to say I don’t sometimes decide my choice wasn’t the best for me. So then I just change my mind and do something else. And once that decision is made then I just move forward in the new direction.

It’s hard to make forward progress and put energy anywhere if I don’t make a decision as to which direction to go. So step one is to decide. When I’m feeling low on energy I often find that I haven’t gotten clear about a decision that needs to be made. Making that decision releases all sorts of energy and starts propelling me towards my future.

If you are feeling like you don’t have the energy to devote to a project are you fully committed and have you truly decided that is the direction you should go? Maybe making a solid decision is the first step in boosting your energy.

Construction Zone

Tomorrow’s the big day – construction on my new studio begins. I spent a large portion of the weekend preparing my house for the event.

First up will be removal of the asbestos siding. Originally I thought I’d do this work myself. Then I decided that was a bit insane so I’ve hired asbestos removal people to do it. Once the siding is gone the builder can start and will begin by ripping the moldy shed off the back of the garage, which will create a pathway, through the garage, for the big digging thing to get to my backyard to dig a basement.

Pictures of the progress will start tomorrow and if things go as intended the artwork will also continue.

Morning Aspens

I love Stacey Peterson’s paintings of the Colorado landscape and have been saving up to purchase one for about a year. When she posted the photo of the above painting on her blog I knew instantly (there’s that intuitive decision making thing) it was the one I wanted and am happy to report it arrived at my house this week.

Stacey’s blog is one of my favorites. She’s my role model: she quit her technical job to support herself with her art and she lives in the Colorado mountains. Plus she’s really organized and hates clutter – my kind of person!

Depending on how messy it gets around here during construction the painting might have to live somewhere else for few months but right now it’s on the wall in my living room and I’m definitely enjoying it.

Now time to start saving up for the next artist’s work I covet.

Structures #10    ©2004    35" x 52"

Depth and Breadth: Six Quiltmakers in the 21st Century

The preview party for this invitational museum show, curated by Mary Lou Alexander, is Saturday, October 11 from 5-7pm at the Butler Institute of American Art/Trumbull. I will be in attendance so if you can make it to the opening please come introduce yourself. We won’t be doing artist talks but all artists except Jen will be in attendance and happy to talk about their work.

About the show, from the invitation (which I failed to send in mailing labels for – big oops cause they are nice invites):

This exhibit explores a variety of approaches to fine art quiltmaking today. The show features six accomplished, well established artists:

Bob Adams, Lafayette, Indiana
Lisa Call, Denver, Colorado
Jan Myers-Newbury, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
June O’Neil, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Jen Swearington, Asheville, North Carolina
Kathleen Loomis, Louisville, Kentucky

Each artist will display works that illustrate the depth and variety of her/his work. Each artist approaches quiltmaking in a singular way, and each brings superb craftsmanship and distinctive imagery to her/his work. This exhibition was organized by the Butler and curated by Mary Lou Alexander.

Museum Contact Information:
9350 East Market Street
Howland Township, Ohio
330-609-9900

The show runs from October 12, 2008 – January 4, 2009.

My Artwork

I’m beside myself with excitement for having this first chance to exhibit a nice selection of my work in a museum setting. One of my big dream visions for my career is to have my work in permanent museum collections and this feels like a first good step in that direction.

I’ll have 6 large textile paintings in the show, including the 2 shown in this post, with work from both the Structures series and the Markings series.

I’ve rarely shown Structures #10 in public and until this year it hasn’t really been for sale. I’ve now decided it’s time for it to find a new home. This is probably one my best pieces and certainly a personal favorite. The quilt is about personal growth and my divorce and was started only a few months after my ex-husband moved out of the house and not completed for a couple of years. Much healing went into this piece of artwork. My hope is for the textile painting to find a home with someone that will love it.

Structures #33 was made during my days as a runner, training for a half marathon. These are the colors I would see each morning – gray sidewalks, blue sky and mountains, green trees and bushes and the pink sky of dawn. I no longer run but every time I look at this piece I think of my favorite spot on my running path through some willows.

Structures #33    ©2006    53" x 67"

 
Time to get packing and then to the studio

Structures #97 (In Progress)    ©2008

Structures #97

I made some progress on my latest textile painting over the week. Above is my first pass at roughing in all of the lines. After moving things around I came up with the version below. I’m liking the right hand side but the left still needs more work. Because my studio is now in my bedroom I can see the piece when I wake up in the morning and today I think I came up with a plan for improving it.

Structures #97 (In Progress)    ©2008

Weekend Plans

We’re still in our streak of record high temps here in Denver with yesterday hitting 104. Today is looking to be least 100 and Sunday a cool 97. Not exactly the kind of weather for doing much without air conditioning. I’m tempted to spend the entire weekend sleeping (or attempting to sleep in the heat) but that seems a bit out of character for me. The kids left for vacation with their dad this morning so I have 2 weeks to get some stuff done, so that’s of course what I will do.

In addition to working on Structures #97, I plan on dyeing fabric today, with the heat I should get rich vibrant colors. Tomorrow I’m headed to the mountains to cool off a bit after washing out all my fabric in the morning so the weekend’s not all work.

I also need to work on my house remodel plan. I’ve had my head stuck in a place where I think I have to design a house that will have good resale value and the result isn’t working for me. So I’m going to toss those ideas and just build the perfect house for me. A friend sent me a link to a really interesting book, The Not So Big House. Great ideas about building a house that is aligned with how I live my life instead of designed to impress others.