Lisa Call

Structures #97 (In Progress)    ©2008

Making Art

The mornings are cool enough to turn on my iron and work on my latest textile painting. This week I finalized on the basic structure of this piece as can be seen in the photo above.

Next step is to select colors and approximate placement of my lines. It takes quite a while to do this. I cut the 7/8" wide strips freehand, using my rotary cutter (like a pizza cutter for fabric), without any rulers or guildlines. Years of practice results in pretty straight cuts, but not too perfect. They still have that hand cut feel to them.

I then pin the strips to the background shapes. Below is the current state of the piece on my design wall. It’s cool this morning so I hope to make more progress before heading to work.

Summer Reading List

In the afternoons it’s not so cool in the house. It’s been sunny and still hot so even with the swamp cooler we are moving slow. As a result we’ve been playing a lot of boardgames and doing a lot of reading. My daughter read all 5 books needed for the library’s summer reading program in a week and last night got her prize - a free pass to Elitches (a six flags amusement park here in Denver).

A couple noteworthy books I’ve read this summer (there is also long list of light summer reads that I can’t remember at the moment):

Savvy by Ingrid Law. This is a children’s book (along the lines of Harry Potter) by a friend of mine. Ingrid used to belong to one of my artist support groups many years back. She’s now a published first time author with a big contract for her second book and getting rave reviews. I think they’ve optioned a movie from this first book also. The success couldn’t have come to a better person. My 12 year old daughter loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I definitely recommend it.

Happy For No Reason by Marci Shimoff. I haven’t actually finished this book. I had to return it to my old library and am waiting to get to the top of the hold list at the Denver Public Library. What I did read, I found quite interesting . There has been a lot of research into happiness lately and Marci has interviewed people she identified as truly happy and reports her findings in this book. Definitely worth finishing.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I listened to this as a book on tape last summer and it changed my life. It’s what lead me to attend the retreat by Christine Kane last December and really think about where I wanted my life to go and the person I want to be and the people I want to spend time with. My move to Denver is part of this chain of events and I know I’m on the right path. I decided to read it in print this summer and very much enjoyed it again.

The Appeal by John Grisham, about a fictional town with contaminated underground water and all the big business and political craziness that might surround such an event. Typical Grisham, always a fun light read.

A Bit of Fiction Reflects Life

Turns out the house I bought is in an area with contaminated underground water, so reading the Grisham book was quite intriguing. Fortunately we drink Denver city water from pipes and not the stuff under us.

They are in the process of cleaning up the mess left by a rifle scope manufacturer that dumped all their solvents into the ground. The affected houses have mitigation systems for the fumes from the solvents, pretty much like radon mitigation systems. From everything I read there is little to no threat the my health over this and even without mitigation I’d never be able to smell the fumes, it’s just annoying.

Before I moved in, home owners tried to sue, they lost. Supposedly the bad water does not effect real estate prices (I saw no signs of it) and when I build my addition the company responsible will pay to modify/extend my mitigation system if needed and I hear they are fairly easy to work with.

The Whole House

Add to this asbestos siding, lead paint, more electrical problems than I mentioned yesterday (the main line to the house is woven through the gorgeous crab apple in the back yard and the fuse box is faulty and built by a company that was successfully sued and now out of business), a cracked clay sewer pipe and also a nasty mold problem in the back of garage that has to be torn out. It’s fun!

It’s definitely in the fixer-upper category. It was a rental for 10 years and the owners lived in texas and ignored it. The grass looks like it hasn’t been watered in years and it’s mostly weeds and dirt. My house is definitely the ugly step child of the street at the present moment but I still love it and know when the remodel is done it’s going to be gorgeous. Plus I got it at a good price and have a big chunk of money in escrow from the sellers to pay for most of the stuff listed above.

Structures #97 (In Progress)    ©2008

 
Some updates:

Art

I started a new textile painting (see above). Not very far along yet but I’m loving the funky greens. I’m just blocking in the background shapes and much will change before I start adding some thin lines that define my fence motif.

I find myself wanting to make much smaller pieces in my much smaller studio. Or maybe it’s the heat of summer. The thought of dealing with a really large quilt right now sounds too hot.

Studio Newsletter

I completed my studio newsletter and emailed it on saturday. If you think you are on the mailing list and didn’t receive it please let me know.

It took longer than I planned but I got it done. For a week I would say each morning "finish newsletter" and then evening would come and I’d find better ways to spend my time. I finally pushed myself to finish it by telling my accountability partners that I would donate $100 to a political candidate I didn’t support if I failed to email it by the end of day.

The ironic thing is the last article I finished for the newsletter was the one on motivation. Hm. If you aren’t a subscriber you can read the newsletter here: Lisa Call’s Studio Newsletter.

If you’d like to subscribe to receive my quarterly newsletter via email when it is first completed go here: Sign up for studio newsletter.

Heat

We have now had 16 days over 90 degrees here in Denver. Three more and we’ll have a new record, which I don’t think will be a challenge as the forecast is showing only 90+ as far into the future as I can count. Not the best summer to not have air conditioning.

Thanks to all of you for the concerned comments on my last post. Unfortunately my house isn’t equipped with electricity that will power an air conditioner. Only 4 circuits, nothing is grounded and if the refrigerator is on the microwave won’t work. All of this will be remedied in the remodel but for now we are jut pretending it’s 1955 (the year my house was built).

Although a few days ago I purchased a portable evaporative cooler (ie a swamp cooler) and if I load it up with lots of ice I can get my bedroom cooled down enough to sleep. I’m starting to feel human again but need a few weeks of 8 hours of sleep to starting thinking straight.

Remodel

The builder and I are working on the design for the new house. Not sure how long it will take, that will probably be determined on how many times I change my mind, but after that we have a month to wait for permits then the building can begin. Probably just in time for the cooler fall weather to arrive.

Dyeing Fabric

Yay, finally some art content for my blog. This weekend I dyed fabric with my best friend from childhood. It was a trick in my new house but we managed to get it to work. I had ordered 200 yards of fabric to dye but it didn’t arrive in time so we only dyed about 60 yards. So I’ll be doing more soon with 200 yards on it’s way.

The PFD (prepared for dye) fabric torn into 1 yard pieces ready for the dye bath:

There is no where in the house and no basement so dyeing is done outdoors at the new home (isn’t my big crab appletree awesome?):

The dyes are mixed (powder added to urea and water in the water bottles) and we’re ready to begin:

Kelly adding color to her fabric:

The dyes are on the fabrics and the table isn’t quite as clean as when we started:

Another cool tree picture - couldn’t resist:

The final results - washed, ironed and ready to make a new textile painting:

Dyeing Details

A few years back I was on the TV Show Uncommon Threads demonstrating how I dye fabric. In conjunction I did a series of posts with all the details. If you have any questions they are likely answered in the Dyeing Fabric series of posts.

Comments

Thanks to everyone that left comments over the last few months as I sold my old house and moved. I tried to keep up but many times was too busy. I appreciate all of them. Today I feel I’m an artist again and can get back to my "normal" life. At least until the remodel to add on a studio begins.

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.

We’re home! Yesterday was a long day with movers and packing and cleaning but I’ve turned over the keys to the old house and said goodbye. It feels great to be in our new place. The yard isn’t much as the house has been a rental for the past 10 years but the place has huge potential.

Many have asked me how I can fit 4000 sq ft of stuff into 900 sq ft. So far the answer is "not so well" but give me a few weeks and I’ll have it whipped into shape.

This is my bedroom and computer room.

 
Yes - it’s also my studio. All 3 crammed into 10′x12′. Not quite the same as the dedicated 600 sq ft studio I just left. Still, I intend to make amazing art in this space and I have plans in the future for a larger studio, just not exactly sure how that will play out yet.

There is currently no where to sit or walk in the living room/office but we’ll figure out something. I have storage space in my studio/bedroom for all of my artwork (rolled up on the couch) but in the meantime my cat is taking care of them. [those are older traditional quilts on top - not my artwork - cats stay off the artwork]

 
A view of the dining room/music room. An upright player piano takes up a lot of space (as does my rolltop desk which can’t decide if it’s in the living room or the dining room).

 
Standing on the piano bench affords us a view of the kitchen/laundry room. Yes indeed the washing machine sits right next to my stove. I can do some serious multitasking with this set up.

 
The true state of that dining room/music room. There won’t be much eating in there for a while.

 
There is no basement but fortunately there is a largish 1 car garage so it’s the house annex and part of the laundry room as the dryer lives out here.

 
And then there is the stuff that didn’t fit in either place. Hm… Garage sale anyone?

 
I’m too exhausted to unpack today so I’m just relaxing. Almost. Tomorrow I’m leaving town for a week long visit to Montana with my family. We will be burying my father’s ashes (he passed away last fall). I’m really looking forward to seeing the family and more of Montana. My sister and I will be spending the first 3 nights of our trip visiting hot springs with our kids. My only plans - sleep, relax, eat, relax, read, relax, get massage, relax, etc.

I’ll deal with the organization when I return. I will also send out my June newsletter when I return, in early July. Didn’t quite make that goal. Moving is a LOT of work!

 
The last post on the design principles from my kids’ Expeditionary Learning school and how they relate to being an artist. You can view all of the design principles posts here.

Design Principle #10: Service and Compassion

We are crew, not passengers, and are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others. One of a school’s primary functions is to prepare its students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service to others.

My kids don’t have classes. They have crews and are crew members and have crew leaders instead of teachers. Using that wording really puts them in the mindset that they are participating and are a vital part of their education and not just there for the ride. The kids truly are responsible for their own learning and are expected to be an active part of the educational experience.

In addition to being a valuable contributing member of the school, the kids are required to do 30-50 hours of community service each year, depending on their grade level. I love that they are being taught that helping others is an integral part of being a member of society, not just something we might want to do once we retire.

Personal Responsibility

I love the line "we are crew, not passengers"and think it speaks to the difference between success and wondering why things never quite work out. Our lives are what we make of them. If we just sit back and think we are owed a great art career (or wonderful family or whatever it is we want) and then do nothing to take responsibility for making that happen, I think it’s pretty rare for things to just magically turn out okay.

When we realize that we have the power to create our own dreams by taking action, then I think we get what we desire.

Taking personal responsibility for all of our life, both the successes and the failures, is a huge step forward in building the life we want. Realizing that if we put off making art every day and at the end of the week we come up with nothing, we only have ourselves to blame for it. We decided that surfing the internet was more important, noone made us read that one last blog post and then, oops, time to cook dinner. Oh well, I’ll make art tomorrow.

We pick our priorities, we chose our actions, we chose out thoughts. Best to pick actions and thoughts that support our dreams, and prioritize our lives to fit our goals. It certainly is more likely to bring what we want than blaming our failures on someone else. (says the person who did a lot of goofing off today, which was really really nice, but I’m not seeing any new art on the walls in the studio - oops!) Tomorrow…

The House

Above is a photo of the back side of the house I will purchase on wednesday. I don’t have any good pictures of the front because there was a big heating repair van in the driveway today while I was taking pictures, so that will have to wait. The house was build in 1955. It’s only 900 sq ft with no basement. Three bedrooms, 1 bathroom, living room, kitchen and 1 car garage. Very simple, plain and very functional. I’m really excited.

I’m leaving behind 4000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a study, a studio, kitchen, family room, living room, dining room, huge entry way, laundry room, and large unfinished basement. Oh yes and a 3 car garage.

I’ve done some serious decluttering to get my life to fit into less than 1/4th of the space I’m in now and it feels great. It all sounds rather noble I suppose, and people think I’m crazy but the plan is to put an addition on the back of the house and build my dream studio and dream kitchen. So the work I did fixing up my current house will go to good use as I work with contractors to turn this cute little house into a home I plan on staying in for a long long time.

The only condition is the tree out back has to stay so it’s going to be interesting.

The tree is a crabapple tree. I joked with my real estate agent that she had to find me a big pink tree at my new house, as the neighborhood where I am buying is filled with huge gorgeous crabapple trees and it’s just stunning in the spring. She exceeded expectations and the house has 2, this one in back that spans the entire width of the 50 foot lot (I’ll have to cut a few of the lower branches) and a huge one in front also.

I can’t wait to see it next spring.

Back to packing!