Carol Larson - textile artist

I wandered into the studio a couple of days ago to do a few quickie small quilts and a special graduation card and birthday cards. So far all accomplished was this wonderful piece, which I titled Integration. I designed this for The Alliance for American Quilts contest/fundraiser, “My Quilts/Our History.” As I read the prospectus, which is always open to interpetation, the quilts are to be based on one’s own history as a quiltmaker.

The first thing that came to mind was to integrate my 25 years as a handweaver into a piece about my passion today for surface design. The background of this work is a lino block cut which I did in my first surface design class at College of Marin. The strips are artcloth I designed for the Tall Girl Series, still a work in progress. This is about as autobiographical as I could be!

One of the things I love about surface design, or quilt design for that matter is the true meaning need not be legible to the viewing audience. What an opportunity to tell (tall) tales without worry of revenge or remorse! And add the benefit of an interesting piece of work. What more could you ask for?

If you think this is something you must own, stay tuned to the website above. The online auction is in November.

Today, I delivered two twin quilts I made for my cousin’s kids, of their baby clothes. Since I normally do not sew straight-line quilts, I thought this might be a nightmare, but it was actually a bit fun and whimsical. Here are the proud owners and yours truly. I love how their respective quilts matched what they are wearing!

Meanwhile, back to my textile art, I am doing my personal best to keep Fedex in business!
This piece just arrived in Houston for shipping to the UK for the opening of SAQA’s Transformations ’08. It will debut in Birmingham, then fly off to South Africa and then back to the west coast to Oregon. Some of my work gets around more than I do. This is called Reverberations and was inspired by an abstract keyboard.

Also shipped to Houston was Summer Of Love 1967, a neon view of the Golden Gate Bridge. This piece was juried into the West Coast Wonders, an exhibition at the debut of the Long Beach Quilt Festival. It was to travel the country as well, but recently sold, so it will be coming home in August to go to it’s permanent installation.

This one just arrived home from a gallery in Chico, where it had a lovely visit. This is Going Green, Red Door while…

this one is currently hanging in the art gallery at Cal State University, San Luis Obispo, where it was juried into the Tear in the Fabric exhibit.This is Naked Truth: Everyone has their Price, about people who sell their stories to the media.

Due back shortly is Harmony which was juried into a Ricky Tims’ traveling exhibit two years ago. My file says she is due home soon. You don’t call, you don’t write…

These two are Oregon bound next month for their stint at the Wiseman Gallery through CFA. They are Early Winter and Inside Out

When I look at this work on my blog, I realize that while I am still attached to the curving line, I still have varying styles. Any time I do a doodle, there is a curvy line in it.

Next time I feel like I am just killing time, I will come back and re-read this post. I’ve been fairly prolific for a slacker!

We popped into the city today for a look-see at the Annie Leibowitz exhibit at the Legion of Honor. It started in February or March and ends this weekend. It was one of those thngs where you think you have lots of time, and before you know it, the end is near.

While paying the admission, I was asked if we were both seniors? I have tri-tone hair of white/grey/brown, but hubby has dead-blond hair, with about 3 greys, old fogey glasses, and a new wrinkle that stretches from his receding hairline to his eyebrow. So how old did we actually look? Instead of just saying yes and saving a couple of bucks, I queried, how old is senior? Sixty five, she said. Not yet, I responded with a dirty look, and crankily paid full fare.

I was still moaning about it a few minutes later until I realized it was that old numbers game again. Had she asked my 60 year old body if it were 55, would my ego have been insulted? No, it is the same five years, only in reverse.

It is the same numbers game as the sign in the drugstore that says, if you are under 40 and buying alcohol, prepare to show your ID. Forty? You mean they cannot tell 40 year olds from 21 year olds? I can understand not being able to distinguish 13 yr old girls from 20 year olds, but forty?

The core reason I am not a traditional quilter is the numbers game. When I was a weaver I made lots of beautiful cloth, but never enough to do anything with it. I hated the math-part. You could almost say I am math-phobic which is a bit ironic as my father was a world-renowned C.P.A. I do like some numbers, 3 and 7, in particular. How does that come about anyway? How do people choose a favorite number? Seven is my birthdate and house number, three is I don’t know, just a favorite… I also like multiples of 3, when it comes to buying a lottery ticket. Now there’s a numbers game!

My daughter used to always tell me I was such a Girl Scout. Having been a Girl Scout, in real time, I took this as a compliment, although I doubt she truly meant it to be one! I have always been prepared for most anything, especially when I travel. That is one reason it takes me so long to unpack when I get home, because I have to put away all the stuff I packed, just in case.

Last night, we returned from a short, hot jaunt up to the Oregon Coast. Because it was a quick trip, only two nights from home, I packed a small bag for the two of us. In reality I could have packed even a smaller bag, as hubby did not wear the extra shirt or pants, and I did not wear one of two extra shirts, nor read the already half-read book, nor even take the two years running knit socks out of the bag!

I am not sure why I think I always have to take stuff to entertain myself, because when I travel, I am either at a conference and overwhelmed with visual stimulation, visiting family or friends, talked out or totally relaxed and could care less about anything other than sitting and listening to my breath. That was the case this time. I just zoned out.

I also packed a hairdryer which I didn’t need, a hairbrush, which I never could find, so I used the pick in my purse. I did not bother with my folding cane, however, which frequently has transversed the globe and not been unfolded in the past three years. The other thing I did not pack that I really could have used were fresh batteries for my camera. Note to self: always change the batteries when leaving on a trip. The profound irony in this is we were in complete civilization until the batteries become weak. By then, of course we were in the midst of the exquisite redwood forest and I was trying to capture macro shots of fabulous textures for my surface design work.

It was beastly hot in the redwood forest and that in itself was stressful. I can’t say I have ever been in the redwoods, when it felt like a sauna. It was well over 90 in the shade and just dreadful. I could have beared up, however, had I a functioning camera to capture the essence of the wilting forest.

I really only got one surface design oriented shot and that was this window covering of a shop in Ashland. It was not particulary creative or inventive, but enlarged several hundred times, it might make an awesome image.

I seemingly am in a holding pattern these days waiting for people to get back to me. It is quite evident that not everyone reads their e-mail everyday, and for those of us who do, the waiting can be forever!

The twin quilts of baby clothes are designed and have gone off to be quilted by someone who loves doing that. So that is a good wait, in that all I have to do afterwards is pay and bind. The chiropractor is later today but that is a good wait because my neck will stop hurting after my crash landing last week, when I took my eyes off the ground for a split second and missed a step.

I am waiting to hear back from my doctor after recent blood tests. Although I got the results last Friday and have had ample opportunity to do my own research and have, I am waiting to hear her perspective. That is a lousy wait. I am waiting to get the green light on a project I am doing for an organization to which I belong. They want my end of the deal ASAP, and yet have not given me ample information to start. That is a frustrating wait.

Basically, as you can tell, I wait poorly. When accompanying a friend to chemo appointments a decade ago, I developed my patience gene, but clearly it was worn thin. Maybe this would be a good time to re-wrap my brain around it. Why I could take some of the stack of periodicals out to the deck and sit and read them, in the sunshine. I could spend time in the studio, banishing baby clothes remnants. I could go to a movie. I could work in the garden, or I could just sit there, and do nothing…the flip side of the age-old don’t just sit there, do something! Or I could ponder the whole thing when I take off with the old boy for a short road trip up the Oregon Coast.

Perhaps the best wait of all, was the one where my daughter matured from a post-adolescent with an attitude to a responsible, hard-working, thoughtful, clear-thinking, empowered young woman. Yesterday was the best Mother’s Day to date. Spending a delightful day with her was well worth the wait!

This morning I decided on another procrastination tactic! I would work on some exhibit entries. What I SHOULD be doing is the twin size second cousins’ quilts. I am making two of them for my cousin’s teenagers, out of their baby clothes. Normally I would not do baby clothes quilts, but I had seen a Freddy Moran quilt design that inspired me, as much as I can be inspired to make a ‘traditional quilt.’ These clothes which fortunately were sent to me, all clean and ready to cut. So my studio is crammed full of clothes, on the design table, in boxes on the floor, on the ironing board and one quilt about 3/4 designed on the wall. My personal goal is to have them finished by the first week in June. And seeing as this is the first week in May, that may be highly possible, if only I would diligently go in there and do the work! But alas, procrastination rules, which in reality is quite stupid, because they would be finished sooner, if I just went in there and worked on them! OK, this afternoon for sure, I promise…myself.

So back to the entries. I just completed three new art quilts which you can see here, in the top row. My inspiration for them was Bandelier National Park and I designed them with a particular exhibit in mind, paying extreme attention (I thought) to the dimensions.

Last year I was the entry coordinator for a SAQA international exhibit. I volunteered to do this task because I felt that I could learn a lot as an artist about entry submissions. And wow, did I! Out of 120+ entries, only three artists followed the submission guidelines to the letter. Three! The most common mistakes were incorrect image sizes, incorrect quilt sizes and artists sending a self-addressed stamped envelope for notification; all of which was done by e-mail. Some also sent foreign postage, foreign postal coupons, cash and stamps. All of that was gifted to SAQA. So size matters, in this case and was dominant on my mind as I made new art and prepared for the exhibit submission.

After I converted all the images to the correct size and prepared the file, and filled out the submission forms, I re-read the guidelines, and there it was, clear as mud, and had tripped me up again. It read: width 30″ plus or minus one inch by 30″-40″ height. I simply could not believe it! I had interpreted this as the work could be within the 30″-40″ range, when in reality it did not say that at all!!!

So, of course, my work, is too wide. All three pieces are within the 30-40″ range but not within the 30″ plus or minus one inch range. So, grrrrrrr into the trash heap goes that entry.

It’s not that I am stupid. It is that I don’t read well. I never have. I was probably dyslexic before dyslexic was cool! It was just another reminder to comprehend as well as read.

I do have a chance to get even, however. As curator of a 2009 exhibit, I get to write the prospectus! Maybe I will word it for the dyslexic artists in the crowd. In the meantime, I need to go stitch some baby clothes quilts.