Announcing CraftStylish.com

You may be wondering where my creative energies have run off to lately, and  I’m pleased to finally announce part of the answer. Craft Stylish, a new website launched by the lovely people at Taunton Press. I’ve been posting over there, all about crochet, my other crafty love. Sometimes I wonder if anyone who reads this blog knows that I love to crochet, since I rarely post about it, but that’s just because it can be hard to make crochet exciting in a quick post.  I’ve actually found lots to post about at CS, and new cool crochet stuff continues to crop up the more I look for it. So far I’ve been writing lots of how-tos, tips, book reviews and roundups on cool crochet sites , projects, and designers. If you happen to know of anything that might be good for a future post, please feel free to drop me a line any time!

Here’s one of the photos from my Granny Square tutorial– my goal is to take close-up shots and clearly show my hands so you know what’s actually going on. Imagine me with my self timer, gorilla pod, akwardly dangling camera cord and yarn ends everywhere, doing everything half-bent over till my back starts to yell at me. What, you couldn’t tell from the photo? That’s good! I need a staff, I tell you!

Head on over and check out the site– there are lots of original posts on all things crafty, including beading, sewing, and embroidery. You can register and comment, too, and I’m told there’s more to come! What a nice way to pass the Friday.

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).

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.

Fruitcake Softie, For the Fun of It

I’m not one to make a lot of purely-fun projects (I like to make things I “need” so I don’t end up with piles of clutter), but I decided to give a last-minute go to the Holiday Softie Awards.

 

I started last night, using mostly fabrics from my Denyse Schmidt fat quarter pack. (Let’s see, I’ve now made napkins, a house, a baby quilt top, a halloween banner and a fruitcake using fabrics from that stack. My mom took some to make me a quilt And there is still more!) Anyway, I loved the fabric I used for the side and pecans, to me it looks just like a fruitcake wrapper.

 

It was really fun to stitch this thing (although, lesson learned, I could use a thimble), and I am especially proud of the pecans.  I’ll have to pepper in some more whimsical projects to spice things up now and then. Wish me luck!

I can knit! + Anna Schuleit

I admit it: for the longest time, I thought that I would crochet everything. Knitting didn’t appeal to me: all of that swatching, counting, making sure things fit. But when I saw some beginner knitting classes at the local yarn shop, I decided it was time. After all, they were only $15/class. I knit this hat over the last two weeks, my first ever!

I added pom-poms instead of braids. It turned out a little large, but that’s actually a good thing because I hate too-tight hats.  Next week we are learning to knit in the round, which I’m excited about too. Don’t worry, I still love to crochet, but I thought the idea of crocheting an entire garment would just be too hot to wear (Unless I use tiny yarns. Which are not my favorite). I’m excited about the possibilities of combining them, too.

Things are going really well here in Bozeman. I now have hats and scarflets for sale at a local boutique called Tart (I put them in the shop last Friday and sold one already), met some cool local ladies (including Carrie, who found me via Alicia’s blog–thanks Alicia), and I’ve got some freelance work rolling in. I couldn’t ask for more!

I also had the pleasure of meeting MacArthur Genius Grant Award recipient Anna Schuleit this week via my day job. She does truly amazing work- she spent years funding a project wherein she made a dilapidated mental hospital sing, and recently wired an entire forest to receive phone calls. I just got back from hearing her talk about her work, and she’s an amazing and generous person. She is done with public art for the moment because she (understandably) needs to withdraw from people and paint in order to work with them again. But when asked how she could pull off these seemingly impossible public works, she said something to the effect of “It’s easy to have one clear idea and tell people what to do and make it happen. To paint is more challenging.” So true. I love meeting people like Anna- she has an idea, she makes it happen. What’s sad to me is that some people never realize that they are fully capable of the same things. Even Anna Schuleit has her doubts about whether her projects will succeeed- but she keeps on. To me, that’s what life’s about. Keeping on.

Go outside!

Yesterday’s weather was gorgeous. I’m not quite understanding how the city can be blanketed in snow one day and70 degrees and sunny the next, but I’m not complaining! It really makes me appreciate the lovely days.

These are some of the leaves popping  up around downtown. They are so pretty!! Most of them are already falling off in droves and rustling around the sidewalks and streets. 

 

I also wandered across campus, where I passed these sidewalk stencils (at a sorority house, I believe), some juicy looking berries, and the duck ponds. The ducks are a little crazy- they all came traipsing over once I sat down to say hello. And begged for bread, of course.

I came back exhausted, but rejuvenated. I need to remember to go outside (for more than ten minutes) more often! More pics on flickr.

Autumn!

It’s already Fall, which became clear to me because of the color in the trees on the way to work.  Right after I realized this, I heard on NPR that there would be snowshowers this weekend. This seemed unbelieveable as it was nearly 80 degrees on Friday. I woke up Saturday morning excited to peep out the window: nothing. There was snow in the mountains, but nothing on the ground. But later in the day, on the way back from the studio, there was snow(look closely), and more obviously, horses. They moved them to this pasture near the road, where I can see them all together.

This morning I insisted we hike, since yesterday was rainy (mostly shower, only slightly snow) and today was gorgeous. We didn’t stay long because there are always things to do, but I loved all of the colors in the leaves! I never feel like I get to observe enough, I could stand over plants and stare at horses through fences for hours.

After that, Paul went to the studio. I stayed home and cleaned up, then decided to cook him an early birthday meal (it’s tomorrow). I made baked breaded acorn squash, rosemary lemon chicken and a little spinach salad. It was delicious! And there is squash leftover. I love fall, with all of it’s oddly shaped gourds. I definitely need to make something with pumpkin soon.

P.S. If you are participating in the Patchwork Swap, you should have received an email from me by now. If you didn’t, please email me to let me know.

I love…

In response to Floresita’s list, here are some things I love:

+ crisp fall days
+ grafitti (the kind that makes you smile, the kind that makes you think)
+ warm crocheted hats
+ the red groove on my index finger that comes from wool yarn passing over it again and again while crocheting
+ the extra five minutes i spend in bed before i get up
+ macaroni and cheese
+ unexpected combinations of pattern and color
+ seeing mountains at the end of each street when i ride my bike
+ the horses we pass on the way to the art studio

What do you love? Post here or on your blog.

Back from Texas

Just a quick note to say we’re back from Texas. The above photo is of a Century Plant we saw in beautiful Big Bend National Park. The plant (which looks kind of like aloe) grows for about twenty five years, blooms (as above), then dies. I saw such an array of plantlife in the desert, it was amazing! I felt like I was in an aquarium that had been drained of water. More on the trip to come in my flickr once I sort the photos- including a visit to Santa Fe and a steep mountain drive in Wyoming (3600 foot drop in just 10 miles!).