Go Outside!

Today was such a gorgeous day outside that we had to go for a little drive, and then (after the sad Spurs game) a hike.

Here’s Paul on the trail. Of course I picked the super easy one since I have basically been hibernating all winter, and I was panting nonetheless. It’s the elevation….yes…. I’m still adjusting after nine months, that’s it.  Everything is still all dead around here, but in a few weeks hopefully it will turn spring-like. Of course, they are predicting snow later this week, but I’ll take my 68 degree days when they come.

I wore one of the shirts I made a few months ago that I’ve yet to show off, another Built By Wendy 3964 (first version, which I loooove and wear all of the time, is here). See how I am standing outside in this picture? Very exciting. Anyway, I think i could make a hundred of these shirts and still want to make more. I wear them over long sleeves or under a sweater in the winter, and they are nice and breezy for summer without leaving my arms feeling totally bare (plus they don’t creep up like t-shirts, thank goodness). The pattern is kind of difficult but it gets easier every time, and if you do simple things like leave off the bias-cut ties (and put a seam at the neckline with a button/loop closure instead) you can save yourself some yardage. It’s also a great use for the fabrics that I only have a yard of (just about all of them), when I can find two that go together. These two are from Reprodepot– Alexander Henry’s Chickadee and Moda dots.

I also had a  baking urge this morning– I’ll share the results later this week. Hope it’s lovely where you are.

On the Plane

Edit: Oops, I thought I pressed publish on this when I wrote it Monday, but I guess not! Here you go.

I set myself up with an embroidery project for the plane (I must have been inspired by Floresita), and in case I got bored in New York (yeah right) and wanted to stay home. I almost n-e-v-e-r make time for embroidery, it is truly time consuming, but I’ve had these patterns for a couple of years now and I thought it would be a good change of pace. I used a bird transfer I ordered from Colonial Pattern about and referred to their suggested colors and made it up as I went. I haven’t done a lot of embroidery, but I think it came out pretty well.

The guy next to me on the plane asked me what I did with the things I was making. I said “I’ll use it to dry dishes.” And he was incredulous, “No, really, do you make pillows or what?” At which point I said that I could do that, but I just like to add a little bit of color and art in my life even for mundane uses. I don’t think he followed. I guess I might turn this into something other than a tea towel, but if it remains a tea towel, that would be fine with me, too.

In other news, I posted some photos from Wave HIll Gardens. I had never heard of Wave Hill but I read about it on someone’s blog while in New York and thought “Hey, that’s here!” so my brother and I made the trek. And it was a trek- make sure you get your directions straight before you go– although wandering around the pretty houses in Riverdale is not a bad way to spend time. I love that my brother lives in NYC, because I don’t think I could have convinced anyone else to go there with me, even though in reality it is not that far away.  One thing that was good about living in Queens was that I could never be the lazy one (it was bad too, trust me), and I went all over in terms of exploring the city. My theory: yes, it may take an hour to get there, but what else am I doing, really? Once my more adventurous friends moved away, it really started to piss me off that no one would ever come to Queens, and that everyone who lived in Astoria was always flocking to Manhattan. Sigh.

(Photos from a paper flower menagerie exhibit by Jun Eun Park in the Sun Room)

So during my 6-day vacation, I hit 4 boroughs (Brooklyn: flea, Queens: Egyptian food, Bronx: Wave Hill, Manhattan: everything else). More photos on Flickr, of course, because I think that’s all I have to say about the trip. See also Kayte’s post about our visit to the Crochet Coral Reef. 

New York

It is good to be back in New York. I never lived in Manhattan (although I worked in Soho), and I forgot how very crowded it is. I don’t miss that aspect. I have been doing a lot of looking, eating, shopping and being. I never took the time to make small talk with anyone when I lived here, but I have been talking to strangers lately and actually, it’s kind of nice. I will try to do more of that in my “real” life– because I have met some interesting people, and plus, you never know. I was always in such a hurry here, it’s so nice not to be in a hurry anymore.

@ the Museum of Modern Art

Wall Cushions at MoMA

Flowers in Fort Greene (on the way to the Brooklyn Flea)

Pretty houses in Fort Greene

I’m here for a few more days, and will hopefully post some more inspiration when I get home. I actually do miss Montana. I saw a few herds of pronghorn and some strange desert winter landscapes on the way to the Billings airport (I turned to Paul and asked if he felt like we were on Mars), and I’m excited about the onset of Spring. I hope.

All the Pretty Horses plus a sale

Today I took another little walk to see the horses while Paul was in the studio. It was a lovely 40-something degrees today but some of the horses were still wearing blankets (which cracks me up, because I am mean).  They came running over to see if I had apples for them, but I did not.

A few stray ducks from the pond were around, too. I love seeing their little duck tracks in the snow.

 

Here’s what it looks like behind the studios (I love that shed for it’s X shaped doors).

And here’s what was going on inside.

You can see some of Paul’s recent work right here on his very own website.

p.s. I’ve placed my remaining hats in my etsy shop on sale for $20 and $25 — a steal! If you mention that you read my blog, I’ll throw in free domestic shipping too. (Send me a conversation/email first so I can adjust the price).

Richard Notkin Studio Visit

This afternoon I was, yet again, lucky enough to tag along with the art grads to another artist’s studio. This was actually a joint visit, as Richard Notkin and Phoebe Toland are married and share studio space in Helena, Montana; we got to meet them both. I’ve been excited to (hopefully) meet Richard ever since I moved here. I saw the PBS Craft In America documentary just before moving and thought, ”Alright,  there are interesting thinkers in Montana!” Notkin’s work has always been about the state of the world and how we need to save ourselves from…ourselves (nuclear weapons, war, etc). He works with traditional forms like teapots and tiles, and you might also know about his ears.

The pile of ears has a few influences. One is the pile of shoes from Holocaust victims- he was raised with Holocaust survivors who taught him to pay attention to what was going on and change what he could. The ears vary in size from an inch to over a foot and are made of clay that’s rendered to look like stone. Their stony appearance is meant to represent deaf ears. In his studio among the many post it notes, he has listed  the old proverb “We were given only one mouth to speak, but two ears to listen.” His work is political (this collage speaks to his thoughts on the current administration) but in a sweeping way–even without the current administration, he’ll be pissed off about something.  He noted that he thinks all art is a political statement: artists are exercising their creative minds instead of the also human take-over-the-world urges.

 

All in all, he’s a really interesting guy and I love that he speaks his mind. That was what was so great about seeing him in the documentary. Parts of it were very hippie-esque but I remember him saying in the doc that he was angry and pissed off about the state of things– and he told me today that they fought hard to keep that in the film. 

 I’ll end with a quote from Notkin, posted in his studio: “I continue to make ceramic sculptures which reflect on the social and political dilemmas of our world. As André Malraux observed, “Art is a revolt against man’s fate”. Need I say more?”

You can see more of his and Phoebe’s studios in my flickr, along with some pics of the Archie Bray foundation in Helena (which perhaps I’ll write more about later).

Winter Fest

Yesterday I convinced Paul to take me to Winter Fest, which had a kind of stock show/county fair vibe.  I was most interested in the quilts and the petting zoo (yay!).  The quilts were largely traditional, but there was one with some amazing feedsack fabrics. I didn’t take any pictures though, so you’ll have to imagine them.

The best part of the fest was seeing all of the animals. Check out these alpaca! They’re standing in a herd like that because apparently some dogs had just come by and scared them all. They made a collective low humming sound,  kind of like a creaking door.

There were more alpaca in the petting zoo, and in the Alpacas of Montana group (above), a 3 1/2 week old alpaca! You can read all about the alpaca here. Gee, at $12k an alpaca, I guess I might never own one!

We also saw these very wooly sheep. They are a very old breed, but the name escapes me.

And here are some piggly wigglies.

Lots more pics in my flickr, if you need a dose of cute.

Brrrrrrr. RRRrrrrrr.

 

It’s cold outside. According to weather.com it’s -1 with a windchill of -14. Last night it was actually -22 (not sure I even want to know about the wind chill). There is lots and lots of snow on the ground and part of yesterday was spent attempting to push Paul’s truck out of the snow. Then I got smart and let him do the pushing- because really, I wasn’t getting anywhere. And oh boy do I feel it today! We did get unstuck, but the amount of snow is a little problematic when it comes to getting around.

Yesterday I (foolishly) thought it’d be nice to go for a little walk out by the studios to see the horses. And little it was- we ran back inside after I could no longer feel my thumbs. Paul’s beard had little icicles (I kid you not) and my glasses were super fogged up from my breathing. Oh, so THIS is the winter everyone was telling me about. Poor horsies- they wanted me to feed them, I wanted to give them blankets. Neither was accomplished.

But I’m happy to report that with long johns, knee high socks plus regular socks, boots, 2 shirts and a sweater, plus  my crazy undersea balaclava, mittens and a parka, I survived the walk to work. Heh. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!

It was a slow and crafty weekend…. I did a little sewing, a little flower-loom flower making, a little thinking. I started to tackle the sewing machine bag (because I’m nutty) and I even got around to making enchiladas.  But the most exciting thing that happened was that my sister had her baby boy on Friday night. Everything went smoothly– she delivered in 6 hours with no drugs. Totally amazing. I can’t wait to meet him!

Christmas Stroll

A couple weekends ago (dang, I am behind!) we went to the annual Bozeman Christmas Stroll. The city closes main street to traffic so that everyone can walk around and delight in the holiday spirit, all the while wondering if they’ll be able to revive their toes upon frozen boot removal.

Paul and I headed downtown with a bunch of friends and we came upon a little Ugandan Craft sale. There were tons and tons of paper beads. TONS! And so inexpensive, for what you were getting, with all proceeds going to charity. Despite the fact that we’re not really putting up a tree this year (so sad, but I left my tree at the curb when I moved here, andI’m leaving on Sunday anyhow), I had to buy a “garland”– which was really ten or eleven necklaces strung together. Of course I detached one necklace to wear myself. I think it wil also look great on the tree. The some day tree.

I also got this super cool blue necklace. I wasn’t sure about it in the basket, but it looks GREAT on. This is definitely something that you can make from old magazines (or specialty papers, if you feel fancy), and if you choose a monochromatic color scheme, you can achieve a really nice look. There’s a tutorial on some very similar beads in the winter issue of Craft. Just taper your strips of paper and wrap them around a toothpick instead of the safety pin they recommend so that they can get chunky. You can slip them off the toothpick when they dry and string them however you want. I think the seed beads are a nice touch.

Other activities at the stroll included listening to the local high school’s Jazz Choir, sipping hot chocolate, and petting an alpaca!

I was seriously excited to pet the alpaca, and I made everyone come with me. Luckily most of the kids were lined up for Santa by this point. The alpacas were already full from being fed by kids all afternoon, but I lured one over with my teleke-knit-ic powers. I had an 8-year old’s smile on, according to my boss. I wish we had gotten some better pics of the alpaca, but it was dark. Some of them had these cute white faces and their fleece was trimmed so stylishly. Oh, those alpacas. One day I’d like to have a pair of my own.

And here we are, in a rare blog photo appearance. Coming to a Texas near you! Hi Mom(s)!

p.s. Tomorrow is the last day to order from my etsy shop in time for the holidays. After that, I’ll be out of town, so no orders will ship till 2008. Thanks to everyone who ordered from me this year- it really helps encourage me to keep on making stuff.

Decompressing

Alexa has left and I’m getting back into the swing of work. I had one very involved crochet project that I wanted to finish by this week, and I’m happy to say that the seams are sewn, pattern written, etc. Not without a lot of complaining on my part, but it turned out beautifully so now I just need to send it off.

Paul and I spent this morning building a little hat tree for my upcoming craft fair. It came out pretty well for me not really knowing exactly what I wanted or how it would work. I’ll have to snap a picture of it in action this weekend.

I’m still catching up and haven’t even downloaded my photos from the week, so for now enjoy these two from Paul’s flickr. We took Alexa to Yellowstone on Friday despite the icy roads and freezing cold (and we survived!). It’s a totally different park in the winter– only one road is open, leaving you more time to observe, and you see tons of animals and few people, instead of the other way around. Below, I was watching a coyote along the frozen Yellowstone river. He was watching me too.

And here was the lovely sunset view on the way home, through Paradise Valley. The sunsets here are simply gorgeous, and this one was accompanied by the moon, which seems to appear earlier with each passing day.

Gary Bates’ Studio Visit

Okay, here’s one more post for the week, before too many things escape from my memory. I’ll be back after Turkey day to show you my holiday cards and maybe even some craft fair setup. Enjoy your holiday!

Last Friday I got to tag along with the grad students on a field trip to Amsterdam, Montana (!) to see Gary Bates’ studio. Gary is a local artist who makes large-scale metal sculptures out of things like bars from old jail cells and boiler parts. A lot of his pieces are kinetic and he says he intends for them to be a pulse on the environment. For example, this spinning piece (for which I don’t remember the name) weighs some ridiculous amount but the way it is balanced means even a small wind will set it spinning. Gary has a telescope in his house aimed towards the piece and he looks out to see what the weather is like based on how fast it is spinning.

His Wind Arc, on the MSU campus, spins only when the wind hits a certain speed (it’s a bent tube, and the spinning to wind speed ratio has to do with how far down he cuts the tube). He said one professor told him that he looks out to see how fast it is spinning to determine if it’s warm enough to ride his bike home, or if his wife needs to come and get him.  He showed us another piece he’s working on that’s activated when it rains a certain amount. Here’s a sculpture on his land, where the mountain silhouette lines up perfectly if you lay on the grass and look at it.

In addition to all of the sculptures, I thought the land was just gorgeous. It’s a huge farm with a little house he built in the middle. I am still so amazed at how beautiful it is out here. I love learning about all of these thing that I’d seemingly never come across otherwise. Living in New York it was so easy to be consumed by everything that everyone is consumed by (the latest this, that and the other), but here I feel like I can breathe, and appreciate each beautiful thing, because I don’t pass a million influences on my way to work every day.

You can see lots more photos and stories of the art and the land (which are so interconnected) on my flickr page.