Love and Art part 1

It started with a love letter. 

Love letter : written on ink spattered paper, cut into strips.  I sketched a red pastel heart on the paper before cutting.

When I think about showing how much something means to me, I think of making art.  I have been weaving on a loom lately so naturally when Valentine's Day approached I was thinking: woven valentine!  Perfect.

Yarn, paper, food?  I could weave a pie lattice... I once wove strips of seaweed on a beach so I'm pretty sure no specialized materials will be needed!  I made a color and technique study of watercolor paints and kept the pages to cut up as components later.  Now is just the time to get out a few of those!

the color palette: red, purple, white

The experience of creating a piece of art is slow, perfect in this case because I spend most of the time while creating dwelling on the meaning of the piece, the circumstances that led me to be interested enough in these thoughts to be able to focus for this long on them.

In this way, the art becomes an expression of the care I take as I examine the feelings I have.  Although I sometimes make large pieces mostly I keep things small and detailed.

I removed a few of the strips of inked paper and replaced them with strips cut from a paper bag from

 the Metropolitan Museum of Art. in NYC.  Watercolor study in red at the top.

I wrote "I love you" over and over in a heart shape on the red water color paper before I cut it into the cross strips.

This word-heart is the same size as the pastel heart on the lengthwise strips.

I love layers of information and repetition of elements in design.  There are words of love on every layer of the materials to be woven.  Some will intersect, some will be stand alone elements but all of them say the same thing: I love you and cherish you.

papers to draw from and cut

(Some glitch in my system or Blogger's won't allow me to upload any more photos, so I'll start a new entry and see if that solves the problem. See you in part 2  This post is part of the Link Party Palooza! 

If you sew on paper:

You need to keep track of those needles. Machine needles are sharp and paper has grit in it- enough to dull your needle (and enough to scratch your glasses if you use a Kleenex to wipe them). 

My solution is to write on one of my pin cushions to indicate where I am keeping each used needle. I added a section for "paper needles" today. This way, I can save the dull needles for that task. 

Domino day.

I took a few of the topical articles I've written on another blog to kick off this blog, but because I'm impatient, the pictures either won't transfer or weren't saved. You might be better off, they were blurry webcam pics. Use the captions to imagine a big stratified pile of desk junk on all surfaces. originally posted 12/3/11. Enjoy.

Craft and journaling central. I'm leaving the picture dark,  as the room is. Lamps are part of the fix

Its messy in here. We have a domino day going on. Domino day is when I tackle one emergent task only to find that to do it well I have to fix something else. To do that well, another thing needs attention. You get it.

To make cookies, I have to clean up this counter. To clean up the counter, I have to put away the food dryer and the dry herbs inside it should be stored in jars on my shelf of healing and cooking herbal supplies. I should put up that shelf. Right now ritual supplies are on a coffee table which once was an altar to creativity has never seen a cup of coffee. Altars honor. This one honors untidyness (that wasn't the original intent).

The shelf belongs in my office at home, which is also my painting and writing studio, craft room and home to my handmade 18th C reenacting clothing. That was a mistake, so I have been transitioning the clothing to another home, which has left them in three places at present. Also a mistake.

All of this makes me want to take a walk in the woods...

Bucket of colored pencils seemed smart, but it doesn't work. big bins for desk supplies also not working.

So to bake cookies for the upcoming holiday party which will be enjoyed by my sister soon to arrive from TX, I will need to put up a shelf, clean up the kitchen, put things from the kitchen into my office and before any of that can happen I need to clean my office and unbury my desk. I should make decisions about what goes where- but I think I will put that off until everything is at least in the right zone of the house.

All of this makes me want to take a walk in the woods most urgently, which reminds me: I have greens in the dining room and on the porch waiting to be made into two Yule wreaths. The wreath assembly will set off another domino circle involving the dining room, living room and possibly my bedroom.

The fact that 60% or more of the people in America are having a similar day is not much comfort.