Carol Larson - textile artist

A couple of posts ago I mentioned bringing new life to some older work. The original piece titled “Whole Nine Yards” was designed with three pieces of my early surface design work.

While the hues were spectacular and complementary to each other, the imagery had no connection at all. In the early days I figured contrast was more important than correlation in choosing imagery. In reality, the images in a piece should have some relation to each other.

Essentially I loved the cloth in this piece, so tossing it was not an option. Instead I cut out interesting sections and brought new life through paint.

I renamed them Fragments #6, #7 and #8 although they are shown in reverse order here . All are mounted to stretcher bars.

Today I finally bit the bullet and began to prep the Tall Girl Series for shipping. The debut exhibit for this series opens next month in Oregon. It has been at the top of my January to-do list since last June. And I managed to avoid doing it for the first eleven days of January. Finally I decided if I just tackled it, it would be done!

So I cued some great music, and began the laborious task of unwrapping each piece(stored in its own cloth bag), pressing edges and stitching my signature. That took all morning. The Wiseman Gallery is exhibiting 15 of the 23 in the series. Then I had to figure out which should go into which tube, having 3 PVC pipes to ship in. As it turned out I need a 4th which gives my husband something to do this week!

As I began to see the work laid out all over the studio and guest room, such a sense of excitement swept over me. I have given the Tall Girl PowerPoint presentation four times so far, and always taken 3-4 pieces with me to illustrate it. But I have never seen the work all together at one time, except as illustration for the book. Real time is different though. Along with the excitement came such a feeling of accomplishment that I completed this major healing process.

I got this gnarly story out of my cells, and into a visual format. I pressed on when it was not easy, when I just as soon do anything but this, through tears, pain, doubt, fear, judgment, procrastination and all. I finished it! And now it is going out into the world for the first time, 15 of my children traveling to Oregon to show off. I could not be any more proud.

I too will go, later on, and take lots of pictures which I will share. I will also deliver my PowerPoint this time to a group of complete strangers. I look forward to the experience…it might even be easier!

This afternoon, for a brief moment, I bundled up against the dank chill of January and stumbled down to the basement to paint cloth. I was not there three minutes and I was overcome, not with fumes but with delight in being there. Why on Earth would I choose to sit at the computer for hours on end when I could be there in that space doing what I love to do?!!!

So what am I painting? Remember the post several back when I was full of anxiety about what to do with my older artwork that no longer speaks to me? I was later encouraged by a friend to paint it! Now I recall I was going to do that sometime last year or the year before, but never did.

I cut out sections and painted those. It was a bit of a challenge too as this piece (above) was comprised of 3 pieces of early art cloth. This is Whole Nine Yards, which was designed around the concept of yardage rolling off the bolt.

I had not yet mastered the concept of using imagery that has some correlation to each other. One section had 4 different images, all unrelated. So in screen-printing over, I chose one of the four images. Hopefully this will make an impact and if not what do I have to lose? It does remind me slightly of my daughter’s comment about not dating old boyfriends. Why go backwards?!

Stay tuned for the end result…

I just came in from a quick lap around the neighborhood brought on by the anxiety of too many last minute exhibit submissions. After I came back into the house, Barry White came through the iPod directly into my soul. I hereby nominate Barry White for the patron saint of anxiety. Wow…my whole body just relaxed… of course dancing around the kitchen probably helped too!

In addition to the submissions, I bit the bullet and joined Linked In. Not being a huge fan of any social media, this is my maiden voyage, after being encouraged by artists of various media. My greatest fear of spending more time on the PC as opposed to less (what a concept!) is becoming a reality. As I collect connections, it all reminds me a bit of collecting signatures in the annual yearbook, way back when! There are distinct advantages, though. I have reconnected with a former neighbor long-gone who now lives in the UK. Who knew?

This image of serenity was taken along one of the most scenic highways in the country. As you will note there is a rear view mirror at the bottom of the image, so you can also imagine my husband’s horror when he learned I took this with my cellphone while driving down the road! When will the auto companies install a camera in the windshield for artists like me? See how easily I passed the anxiety baton to my husband?!

For some time I have carried a small notebook in my small purse for those really important things to jot down, at a moment’s notice. Perhaps for 2010, I will instead send myself a text message or email from my phone.

Here for your reading pleasure, or not, is a synopsis of those really important things I just had to write down and carry around! None of these changed my life.

some wonderful quotes…
“By letting go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go.”-Lao Tzu

“I believe the big things in life are best understood by way of the small things.”-Youn Soonran, Korean artist

“…never ever look in the rear view mirror. It doesn’t matter what is behind you…”-anonymous

…overheard while walking the track at the high school… “she keeps living on pills and air”

…great dim sum place on Armory Dr; she didn’t know the name

…wild rice salad, cranberry, nuts, raisins, mango vinegrette

…anigozanthus, bush nugget, tall & yellow flowers, full sun

…TURP, 100cc

…results of a tarot reading showing 5 archetypal cards

…slate $570 ton, 120 sf; lodi gold 3/8 or 3/4 $89/yd

…sven designs, 2301 fourth st, berkeley

…active care folding scooter $800 scooterville.com

…three pages of specs on low flow toilets. we ended up buying off the shelf never referring to the list.

…emmaluna, corner Arnold, ceramic towels

Clearly you can see my year would not have been complete without any of this vital information.

Note to self….STOP taking notes!

Happy New Year!