I have been away from the blog and the studio most of May for a number of reasons all of which seem to be attributed to the decision to have my second knee joint replaced
in July. I am now working backwards from that date, taking care of details like working my fiscal year hours at ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, doing some networking professionally and personally, giving a lecture, going to visit my father who has dementia and providing support for my exhausted husband who has served as driver and tour guide for his visiting Swedish cousins.
Meanwhile back at the studio… last week I began an abstract piece of a stone path. Very quickly I got the I hate this vibe! So I backed away (&
no one got hurt) and approached it again a few days later with the idea that if I still got that feeling it would come down off the wall and I would begin anew with something that made my heart sing. I was so surprised when during my second attempt at designing the path I was overcome with joy at the result. It also could have been just stepping out of the chaos of driving 1000 auto miles in two weeks to being back in my sacred space.
As I cut and pinned the entire design to the thrice-washed African batik it never occurred to me that any miniscule amount of wax residue might impede the fusing process! Until today when I stood at the wall, hot iron with long extension cord in hand and attempted to fuse the stones to the wall. No go. So I re-pinned the entire piece and took it to the machine and stitched the edges of every stone to secure before I next attempt to fuse it flat.
It seems now that the stitching pattern for the rocks has been predetermined! It will be a wonky random stitch to camouflage all the base just put down as anchor. I am not sure if this has released any of the cortisol streaming through my body or merely added to it but I am working more and driving less which is always a good thing.
I’ve finished this piece on Lake MacDonald which I started in an abstract landscape class with 
was taken through over-hanging branches. In the end I could see it surely did not need any more layers of fusing or stitching, proving that contrary to popular belief you can mess with mother nature!
and black rayon for this …
When the book was published I was thrilled to see my work in living color on page 90. 
I bought four extra copies of the book and gave them to friends. That’s when the fun began. One friend said that other F word commonly came to mind as she attempted Furoshiki! She noted it is important that the cloth be large enough before proceeding. I had also learned that when I tried unsuccessfully to double fold two paperback books.
The cloth was a vintage damask tablecloth which I had dyed, discharged and painted 3 years ago for an 
and the other the ‘wrong’ side. 
Voila…furoshiki!
there was a video going around that showed a middle-aged British woman whose entire day was taken up with getting sidetracked. She was going to wash her car and when she went for the keys she found the plants needed to be watered. She got out the watering can when she noticed the TV remote was on the table which she took into the living room where she found her glasses under the sofa cushion, and on it went. It may not have even been in that order but this is the kind of day I am having today!
returned from what will likely be our ‘big’ trip for the year. I am between knee replacements strong enough to wander yet preparing psychologically for round two this summer. Then..Katie bar the door I will be ready to fully roam once more.
 I was capturing images on the ground, up the side of the wall, and even peering into glass brick bathroom windows!
…the metal awning at a Luby’s Cafeteria
I was captivated by Lady Bird Johnson’s diary of her time as first lady. I opened the volume in a bookstore and turned immediately to 1966 when LBJ dedicated the Point Reyes National Seashore (about 20 miles from my home) and she had breakfast in bed in a San Francisco hotel overlooking the bay, or harbor as she noted. I have always loved reading biographies which essentially is history with a voice. I decided to both read the book and resume my own writing.
 I’ve spent a fair amount of time considering the stitching, if I should pillowcase and stitch as I normally do or if I should cover with tulle since I recently bought a full bolt. I decided against the tulle as the last thing this piece needs is another layer…of anything!
much to my surprise I had designed nearly 200 pieces in 12 years. This number both comforted and disturbed me as I had been fretting quite a lot with the volume of work I put out into the Universe and what would happen to my inventory when I am no more. Documenting it actually seemed to calm me down a bit. And then I read this from 
A long time ago someone told me that we will die after we have completed all our life lessons. I have always considered myself a content person but was somewhat surprised when I read this wonderful 
Now mind you, this is not complaining…but fact! At the stadium there was one thing I could eat and that was popcorn. However I wanted to eat all the food that makes me sick or fat. At the stadium we were seated in lower box seats underneath the upper deck. It was a chilly April day with a 20 mph wind aka freezing! And at the stadium I could not see the ball when it was hit until I heard the thud of it hitting the stands above or around me. I can tell you the final score was 8-1 but not much else. I was so overstimulated by the sea of orange and black and constant movement of fans in the stands.
Since I finished the massive documentation project I decided it was time to re-immerse in some art making. And so these are two new pieces
whose work all identifies as their own.