Lisa Call

To Houston!

As I mentioned in my studio newsletter a few months ago, I’m rewarding myself for the hard work I put into Dwelling: An exhibit of textile paintings by Lisa Call, by taking a vacation to see some art.

I’m headed to Houston for the weekend to see art, most specifically the Rothko Chapel but I’ll be viewing a lot of other art also. And getting a massage and indulging in room service. It’s going to be a fabulous break from life.

To that end I’m not bringing technology with me, no cell phone, no lap top, no nothing. No interruptions – my intention is to devote this time to relaxing and exhaling.

(okay – I admit – I’m bringing a DVD of Bones as its a rare treat to have a TV about – I intend to spend more time reading than watching but a bit of brainless relaxation is also nice).

Letting go any residual stress from the show preparation because when I get back on monday it’ll be time to ramp up on the next project and get moving.

I’ll also post the photos from my opening.

Happy weekend everyone!

Small Art

There are currently only 3 small textile paintings remaining with the house theme – they are listed on my artist card page.

A while back I wrote some articles about how to display these small works of art – you can see them here and here. And check out this cool idea also.

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.

Why Carpet

The decision on flooring was very easy for me. I knew I wanted carpet.

I baste my textile paintings (aka quilts) on the floor and the carpet is a key element in getting that to turn out correctly for me. I wrote a long how-to article on how I baste that you can read here: Basting a Quilt (that post also explains what basting is for those that aren’t quilters and are curious).

I also do a lot of sitting on the floor. Not just in the studio but in my entire house. Having concrete and chip board floors covered in drywall muck during the construction was one of the biggest challenge for me – who wants to sit on that!

I do have hardwood in the kitchen/living room but bedrooms have to be carpet in my house. My real estate agent says for resell carpet is the best for offices because anything else tends to echo too much (at least that is what she told me when I recarpeted my old house to sell it). I end up sitting on the floor to sort papers often so it’s definitely my choice also.

I have a thought in the future I’ll do more painting and the carpet is definitely not the ideal floor surface for such work, but I’m sure I’ll find a solution. Like a drop cloth.

I considered doing a section of the studio floor in something more paint friendly but decided it wasn’t worth the effort to figure out. I think those thoughts were near the end of the 6 months of construction.

Which Carpet

I knew exactly what kind of carpet I needed in my studio because of how I baste the quilts on it. Low cut pile carpet that is dense and very flat and smooth.

I also wanted it to be soft so I bought a stainmaster carpet with tactesse. Amazing stuff – really soft. The style was called Boston Bay at my store but I can’t find a link to it online.

The color is call pasta and is on the warmer/yellowish side of white since the walls were so pure white white. It is a nice contrast and balance.

The carpet in the rest of my house is also a stainmaster carpet with tactesse but it is darker and shaggier and has flecks. I had builders grade carpet throughout my last house so this stuff is a treat – really dense and thick and very nice.

The only draw back with this great carpet is my cat thinks I have put a scratching post on the floor for her. She wasn’t a fan of builders grade but this tactese – she’s all in favor of soft.

Collectible Small Art

Lines #22
Lisa Call
Textile Painting – Mounted on stretched canvas
©2009
3" x 3"
$75
Purchase Here

 
I emailed my studio newsletter out yesterday morning as planned (you can read it here if you aren’t a subscriber – this is probably the last issue that will be available online for non-subscribers as I’m changing the format of my newsletters a bit – subscribe here) and asked people what they thought about using the term Collectible Small Art.

I’ve gotten some really great answers back:

- Calling Card (I love this for my ACEOs – definitely going to use it – or a variation of some sort maybe written Call-ing Card)
- Petite Art
- Intimate Art

The article in the newsletter is about Chamber music and how it relates to small artwork. I’d love to call the small pieces Chamber Art but that really just sounds like Chamber Pot to me so, well, no. Ha.

I’d love to hear your thoughts also.