I Beat the Deadline!

Wending Onward
(c)2009 Cindi Huss

I made this 18" x 18" piece for the Surface Design Association's member exhibit, Surface Matters. This and a plethora of other surface design/fiber exhibits will hang at galleries in the Crossroads Art District in downtown KC, MO and will open in conjunction with the SDA's biennial conference (at Kansas City Art Institute and the Marriott Country Club Plaza) and run through the summer.

I finished it yesterday. Had a couple of very late nights (the latest was 4 a.m.), but it's done and sent! Woo-hoo! Here's a detail:

This hand-dyed bas relief includes needle felting and extreme quilting.

How did I pull this off? Through the understanding and accomodating attitudes of my wonderful family, especially my husband Bob. Jeg er så glad i deg, elskede.

Unauthorized Substance Tax--Hmmmmm

So since I'm new to Tennessee I was researching the various means of filing the various taxes I have to pay here and among the list of taxes I could read about was:

Unauthorized Substance Tax

You can imagine how that might pique one's curiosity, so I clicked on the link and found out that taxable items in this category include:

• Marijuana
• Cocaine
• Crack
• Methamphetamine
• Untaxed liquors and spirits (AKA moonshine)

Seriously!

So you can order tax stamps anonymously to put them on your packages of illicit drugs and alcohol so that when you're arrested they can only charge you with possession and sale, not tax evasion.

The information says that paying the tax does NOT make it legal to possess these goods. Duh!

Who owes the tax? Dealers, specifically defined as "any person who possesses one or more marijuana plants or more than 42.5 (not 42 or 43) grams of marijuana, seven or more grams of any other unauthorized substance that is sold by weight, or any illicit alcoholic beverage."

If I think about it, now the songs about revenue or excise men make more sense, but really? Anyhow, found it interesting, ridiculous, and, due to my fairly prudish past, unusual, so thought I'd share. Really has nothing to do with dancing or threads, but this is my News of the Weird of the day.

I Heard It on the BBC (So it must be true!)

Today (12:55 p.m.) the BBC ran an article re: the auction of Yves St. Laurent's art collection, which went for twice what was expected. The "expert" interviewed said that over the past decade art has proven to be a better investment than stock.

Food for thought (and a big nose thumbing at the detractors who said art does not stimulate the economy!).

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Well, my poor oldest was home for a week with walking (well, perhaps "crawling" is more accurate) pneumonia, and now my youngest is working on a week home sick, too, with an as-yet-unidentified malady. Back to the doctor's in the morning, poor thing!

I've also been working on an inventory of all my business property so the county can tax me on stuff I already paid tax on. Oi! That's what I get for dotting my "i"s and crossing my "t"s.

I think these necessary time constraints have lit a fire under me in a way having expansive days with loads of time sometimes fails to do. I really appreciate the time I do have this month and I've been putting it to good use. I also really appreciate that I am in a position to be home with the kids when they need me to be without getting in trouble with my boss.

I've been working on the color study for Sharon's commission:

At this point I've ripped out nearly as much thread as is still in it, but I'm nearly done and pretty happy with the results. This is simply an attractive way to audition the various fabrics and threads I'll be using in her larger work. She'll get to keep this study, which is why I haven't simply done a running stitch and a chain stitch with each color. I've also been practicing my bullion stitch (see all those leaves around the pink flowers?) and a variety of fillers and accents so I'll be ready when I start the larger piece.

Just so you know where I'm going, here's the original conceptual study, more representative of the style of the final piece:

I finally sketched, chose fabric, and am experimenting on muslin for an 18" x 18" piece for the Surface Design Assoc. members' exhibit called Surface Matters. It is due, at its destination, by Mar. 1, so I'm cutting things a little close (pun definitely intended :-) ) but my heart is pounding, my thoughts racing, and my fingers itching to work on it every moment I can steal.

Quilting sketch and felting study

Muslin mock-up

Started quilting the mock-up today. If it works as I hope it will, perhaps I'll have a quilt to play with. I've been wanting to give painting/dyeing after I quilt a try, so I could be killing two birds with one stone!

Also, just found out the article I wrote last year on two ways to audition quilting designs on paper will be in the July 2009 issue of American Quilter--woo-hoo! There's been a little confusion about the photographs and I've committed to making a small quilt for the article in less than a month, but it's all for the best in the end. I chose the fabrics for it yesterday.

These actually are some of the first fabrics I ever bought as a quilter but I've so seldom worked with true solids that I had plenty in my stash. For every fabric there is a season.

And again my friend Timna of Q Tailored Quilts will quilt it up at high speed since I'm on deadline, have a visit from my Mom coming up, and she quilted the undyed muslim version of the same quilt last year. Oh, what a relief it is!

In short, life is a tad hectic and the unexpected happens with mildly alarming frequency. In short, it's business as usual.

Earth from Space

The Kingsport Public Library currently is showing the Smithsonian's Earth from Space exhibit. The exhibit is divided into several sections and several satellites provided the source imagery. I was a chaperone on my daughter's class trip to see the exhibit last week and my good deed was rewarded 10-fold by the oh-so-inspiring images. I was at a loss re: what to create for my 18" x 18" Surface Matters exhibit piece (opening in conjunction with the Surface Design Association's biennial conference). Now, not so much.

Anyhow, the on-line exhibit is great, but if you have a chance to see the exhibit in person please do. The images are quite large and vivid, the information provided about what you're seeing is interesting, and, unlike with the on-line exhibit, you can get right up close and personal. In addition, some of the images were dual images but you can see only one of them on-line. You can zoom in the on-line exhibit, but you can't see the entire enlarged image at once. So cool!

Anyhow, I promise pictures in my next post--all these text posts are a little dull, no?

I made cheese!

I'm on my way to bed, but I'm so excited I had to post. Made goat's milk cheese today and flavored it with Penzey's garlic salt. It's soooooo good! Had it on a salad of baby romaine with mixed raisins, a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper. It was wonderful.

That's all. Nighty, night.

Thank you Rosemary, for the knowledge, the courage, and the milk!

I love what I do!

It's alchemy.

Magically some barbed needles and inspiration turn this:


Into this:

A painting in fiber.

But then the fun really begins--the quilting brings the whole thing to life:


Until a two dimensional picture becomes a sculpture for the wall:

Labyrinth II (c) 2009 Cindi Huss.

This is the 8" square (approx.) of the quilt that will show through
the matte. It will travel with Meet SAQA's Artists
for a year, then the International Quilt Study Center
will acquire selected work from the exhibit
for its permanent collection.

Life is good!

My Plan Derailed

Isn't it wonderful?

Sometimes the things we trip over are just what we've been looking for, an opportunity we've been invited to recognize.

I've been dyeing my own fabric for several years now and I love it. Even fairly simple mottled patterns are just yummy:

See?!

There are only a few problems:
1. Sometimes I want a piece with a larger or smaller repeat than I got with the original.
2. Sometimes I want yardage, but more fabric/layers seriously affects the way the dye works on the fabric, so some patterns just aren't possible as yardage.
3. I'd love to sell the same piece over and over again--the most wonderful pieces are gobbled up--either by me or by a customer--pretty quickly . . . and then what?

I may have found the answer and have spent an hour this morning learning how to do this:

(Manipulated photo, a doubled, merged version of
the medium-resolution image of my hand-dye. )

Rather than taking care of this:


That's O.K., though, because this:


Will still be there this afternoon.

Anyhow, this little bump in my schedule was prompted by my finding a link to Spoonflower.com when I was peeking at Quiltblogs.com. They're in the beta phase of development right now so you can't sell your designs from their site yet, but hopefully that will come in the future.

I've asked some other fiber art folks about Spoonflower and have only heard good things, so . . .

My hope is that once they are out of their beta-testing mode I will be able to upload images for yardage that anyone could buy. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy using them myself--this is just the beginning of some good, clean fun!

Great Friends Do Great Things

I am constantly inspired by my friends: some are writing novels, one is becoming a mover and shaker in the DE classical music scene, several are homeschooling with wild success and abandon, and quite a few are making entrepreneurial and artistic successes of themselves. And so many friends have overcome illness, difficulty, or tragedy in their lives with grace, courage, and hope that I profoundly respect and aspire to.

Well, most of those great things are personal and special and I feel honored to be allowed into that intimate space. However, here's something I've been asked to share, so I will with a glad heart and busy hands.

My friend Lynda recently began the blog Knitting for Change. She welcomes all who are interested to participate in this project. Check it out to see what she has to say.

Some of us change the world in big ways, but all of us can change the world with quiet acts of kindness and small gifts of time.

So the next time you're sitting around wondering what to do or looking for a way NOT to feel guilty for spending the evening in front of the T.V., knit (or in my case, crochet) a hat, mittens, scarf, or even a sweater to pass on, and let Lynda know. Then we will see how powerful one small act can be--Together we can knit (and crochet) some serious change.

Repost of Mmmm, Mmmmm Good

So. We traveled to Des Moines, IA, to spend Christmas with my 93-year-old Grandma and it was fabulous. We ran into weather driving both ways, but what do you expect when you arrogantly decide that driving 14 hours across the Midwest in winter would be a good idea?

Anyhow, the visit was lovely even if the drive was not, but the thing (besides my own bed) that I most enjoyed upon returning home was . . . my morning smoothie.

So ifyou think you might like drinking liquid sunshine, check out this post that has the recipe with photos. It's a great way to jump right on that healthy eating resolution I know you've all made--you won't even mind it!

Mmmm, Mmmmm Good

The Speed of Life

I have frequently said that I chose the wrong medium for instant gratification. I said it when watching my friend Pascale weave a blanket in an hour and a half (not counting the dressing of the loom, of course). I said it when watching my mother whip out a painting during a watercolor class she was teaching. I said it when doing my own work in paint, and especially I said it after reading about an artist that does the hermit thing in a cabin every winter and emerges with 75-100 new paintings a couple of months later.

However, I love my medium.

So, after years of trying to make it work faster, I finally came to the conclusion that quilting, at least as I do it, is a sculptural medium and that I can compare it to the guy in the Berkshires who carves large wooden characters over the course of a few months, or the bronze artist who first makes the model, then the mold, then the bronze.

My medium requires a process. First I begin designing, which sometimes includes one or more studies, then I dye fabric and piece, nuno, wet felt, and/or applique, perhaps dyeing again if needed. Then I'm about a third of the way done, for the design and execution of the quilting scheme follow, as does the binding and mounting.

So if I can't crank out 25 meaningful works in a month that's O.K.

However, I could definitely learn to make design decisions a little faster--sometimes I'm a little too precious. So that's one of my resolutions for 2009: More quality work. More work = more opportunity.

I love a museum that has it all pulled together. Just got an e-mail from the Coos Art Museum where three concurrent contemporary quilt exhibits are taking place. They've put up virtual exhibits of each one. If you go to the New Focus tour, my "After the Storm I" is the middle quilt in the third photo.

After the Storm I (c)2008 Cindi Huss.
“Treetops toss joyfully, lit by the sun, defying the passing storm.
Live joyfully, lit by love, defying ignorance, hate, and apathy.”

Procion MX fiber-reactive dye on hand-manipulated cotton and silk fabric.
Nuno felting on silk with a variety of commercially dyed wool and
designer roving and extreme quilting.

All the work in New Focus is 12" x 12" or smaller and mounted on unbleached canvas on a stretcher frame.

Beyond the wonder of being able to see the exhibits when I can't be there in person is the satisfaction that given a body of quality work, museums are happy to accept quilted art as fine art. Good incentive to keep raising our personal bars as well as the professional bar by which we all measure our work.

What a great way to finish off this Christmas Day. Wishing you and yours a most joyous and peaceful year filled with hope and love. Good night.