Friday, September 19, 2008

Speed Walking Through NYC and Life in General

I joined some friends yesterday for a little bus trip to the Big Apple. All of us desired to see lots of art, visit some cool shops, and enjoy some great food. We did our best to do just that, and had lots of fun, but I think we all felt we could have used at least twice as much time. The day zoomed by, and it felt like we barely scratched the surface, before it was time to get back on the bus. I only managed to get a few pics, here are a few of the few...


Times Square


Yellow door spotted in Greenwich Village.


Fire escapes, taken while walking from the Village into SoHo.


Graffitti found on the side of a trash can.

As well as speeding through NYC, I am feeling that way in general. My "to do" lists are getting longer and longer, and the days seem to be both literally and figuratively growing shorter and shorter. With summer ending and fall officially right around the corner, I have decided to give myself a little break from blogging for the rest of September. I need to focus on a few other things right now... family, home, yard, artwork... everything feels a bit disorganized and/or neglected. I will be back with a new post on October 1st. (I hope to share with you in October some new work, a BooDilly's giveaway, and the unveiling of the new 2009 Collage Artplay Calendar, of which I am thrilled to be in!) See you then, and enjoy the rest of your September!

Monday, September 15, 2008

New Work


I set out last week to make some new functional art quilts. My plan was to continue with the Mid-Century inspired work that I recently embarked on, (see here, here and here). However when I shut my eyes to see what this new quilt would look like, (now you know my highly sophisticated process of design) I didn't see stripes, and lines, but instead saw circles and flowers.


I opened my eyes and politely explained to my brain that it had made a mistake, and to please try again. Closing my eyes I saw the same image as before. After several more attempts to redirect my brain, I finally gave in, (which is always the smart thing for me to do, for whenever I try to make something that I am not seeing, even if it something that I made before, it never turns out right. When an idea wants to be born, it wants to be born. My job is to get out of my own way and let it happen!)


As in the previous quilts, this to is meant to be both functional and beautiful. Use it as a table runner, hang it on the wall, or drape it over a hanger or chair. I have another one of these contemporary circular designs lined up to be quilted this week, and I hope that they will be as well received as the Mid-Century designs, (I am delighted to say that two of the three have already sold!)


For more information, you can check out this quilt in my shop, here.


One more bit of lovely news, I was again awarded the Brillante Blog award. This time from the very sweet and talented Gunnel. Thank you so much Gunnel, I truly appreciate it! And I once again am going to pass on the official passing on of this award to 7 worthy bloggers, (due to well documented phobias in this general area) and instead pass it on to all of you because you are all so delightful, and because it is my blog and I can do what ever I want!

Monday, September 8, 2008

A Gathering Of Elephants

This film was made by Eames Demetrious, the grandson of Charles and Ray Eames, to commemorate Charles Eames 100th birthday, June 17th (2007)

It is delightful!



To view more amazing short films please visit Eames Demetrios' Das FilmFest, where he posts his short films on (mostly) Design, Architecture and Sustainablity!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Happy Birthday Dad


My father John, (he's the cowboy, and the clown is his younger brother Pete) was a freshman in college when he approached his father Anthony to ask if he would co-sign a loan so my father could purchase his first car. Anthony replied, "No". (And with good reason, too, for my father was not always the most reliable of young men, and lacked a certain maturity that his father wished for him to have.) Now, this was not the answer my father had hoped for, and in fact he was so ticked off at his father, that out of spite he did the one thing that he knew would hurt his greek immigrant father the most; he quit collage, and joined the army, crushing his fathers dreams of seeing his first born son graduate from college.


John was sent to Germany, where he spent his time deciphering morse-code and getting into trouble. He was court marshaled twice. Once for getting into a bar brawl, (the scar under his one eye is a result of that fight) and once for stealing someone's raincoat, (someone had stolen his first.)

While in the army, John received word that his father had died. Anthony was a captain in the Civil Air Patrol and while flying his plane on a search and rescue mission one very foggy day, he became disoriented and crashed into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.


Upon returning home, John discovered that his father had left him with a choice, the family restaurant or $25,000. John took the money, and immediately enrolled in college. And that is where he stayed for the rest of his life, first working under Milton Eisenhower at Johns Hopkins University, (where he arrange for Dr. Martin Luther King to come and speak) then later moving to Pennsylvania where he became a vice president of one liberal arts college, and later the president of another, (where he transformed a run down neglected college into one of the top small liberal arts colleges on the east coast) and where I believe he spent the happiest days of his life.


My father died almost six years ago from a very rare form of leukemia. Before he died he made a pilgrimage trip of sorts to his fathers island of Chios. If he were alive today, it would be his 74th birthday. My father loved acting and the theatre, classical music, literature, history, and collecting art. He considered every man his equal and his friend. Once when I was a young girl a friend of his talked him into going hunting. He shot a dove. I watched him when he came home. He stood by the sink, holding the dove in the palms of his hands, and he began to weep. He explained to me what he had done, and how remorseful he was. Then he cleaned the bird, cooked the bird, and forced himself to eat it to insure that it did not die in vain. He never picked up a gun again.


Happy Birthday Dad, I love you and miss you.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

New Color, New Work

I hope everyone had a lovely long holiday weekend. I know that for a lot of folks in the New Orleans area, the only thing lovely about it was that they weren't hit as hard as originally feared. Thank goodness for that, however they still got slammed pretty good, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that all future storms spare them. They have been through enough. And by the way, thanks to everyone who left such thoughtful comments on my hurricane quilt from the previous post.


We spent part of the weekend giving our kitchen a much needed paint job. I choose this pale sunny yellow color, and am delighted by how cheery the kitchen now looks. Seeing as it was on my to do list for the last 5 YEARS, (!) I am thrilled that it is finally done! Hoping to tackle the dining room next week!


And this is my latest mid-century inspired
table runner/wall hanging/art quilt, which I posted a few days ago here in my shop.


I am really enjoying designing and constructing these pieces, and am looking forward to doing more!
(But now I need to go blog hopping and catch up on everyone else's weekend!)