Lisa Call

Structures #6    ©2001    20" x 26"

Getting Back to Normal Life

Yesterday afternoon we arrived back home from the trip to Montana and had 24 hours to get the kids packed for camp and off again for 2 weeks. I’m now back home and faced with the rather large chore of unpacking and settling in. I also have a todo list a mile long of things that I let drop the last couple months, many of them art related requests that need attention.

When I start the think about all that needs to be done I get a bit overwhelmed. So I’m doing my best to not think about it all. I got a lot done the last 3 months by just working on my goals every day. So I’m sure that in no time I can get caught up again if I just stay focused.

A rough outline of what I would like to accomplish in the next 2 weeks while the kids are at camp (no reason to think about the zillion of other things cause this is enough for now):

• Unpack entire house
• Set up studio
• Make small art for studio newsletter
• Write and send my second studio newsletter
• Catch up with the very many outstanding requests for photos, info, etc of my art
• Find all my dye supplies and dye fabric with my childhood friend, Kelly, over the weekend
• Process the 400+ pictures taken while in Montana (my kids went a bit nuts with the camera - I think well over half are to be deleted)
• Figure out timeline and budget for getting house repaired and possible addition added, talk to 3 builders and select one to do the work

Tomorrow I return back to work. After 2 weeks off it’s going to be difficult but it pays the bills right now so off I go. My todo list would be a snap if I didn’t have to give up 40 hours a week. Although now that I live in Denver my commute will be 10 minutes instead of 30+ so I’m looking forward to having an extra hour in my life (not to mention the gas savings).

Artful Home Studio Sale

The Artful Home (formerly known as guild.com) is holding a studio sale. Lots of amazing art at good discounts. I have several pieces available for sale that can be viewed from my Artful Home Artist webpage. The items marked as Studio Sale are discounted from 30-40%. The sale ends on July 15th.

The above piece, Structures #6, is one of the items I included in the items for sale and can be seen here: Structures #6.

Markings #1    ©2006    44"x62"

Cross Hatching

The idea for the Markings series began in September 2005 when I read an article on Danny Gregory’s blog, Everyday Matters, about cross hatching. His comments and images captured my imagination:

Cross hatching is quite miraculous. How is it that black ink lines on white paper have the ability to create an infinite number of shades of grey, to evoke all the colors of the rainbow and to suggest textures and materials and varied as silk and stone, glass and schnauzer hair?

I was hooked. I started drawing squares filled with lines in my sketch book.

• What if I could do that in fabric?
• Would parallel lines in fabric have the same power and beauty as that of a hand drawn line?
• Would it be interesting?
• Would it be technically possible?

Time to Play

Six weeks later I went to Sandpoint, Idaho, for a workshop with Nancy Crow where I spent 2 weeks essentially doing independent study. Although my focus was mostly on my Structures Series I took the time to do a small fabric sketch of my cross hatching idea:

After looking at this for a few days I decided to go for it and see what the idea would yield.

Markings #1

Having just driven across Wyoming and eastern Montana, with a stop at Little Big Horn, the grasses of the prairie were on my mind and I pulled out some soft golds and greens and dry grass colors and worked out my first composition. This is what it looked like before I started constructing the sections (I always cut all my lines and rough out my design on the wall before sewing):

 
The completed work, Markings #1 is at the top of this post and the detail image is below. This is still one of my favorites in this series as it brings back memories of the beautiful drive across Montana. This piece is included in the show Markings: Repetition and Pattern, currently in Boulder, CO.