Advice & creativity

Still on  a short leash, and still subject to sudden, deep naps as my body mends, I have been handed time to sort through piles, rereading things, tossing much and filing a few. This, from a sleek insert to the Wall Street Journal of all things, bears mention:

Tom Sachs' list from the Wall Street Journal

Tom Sachs is a contemporary artist of sufficient success to have a shop and minions. My studio would drive him crazy, but his directives remind me to stay on the path. Among them (bold face, his words):

Work To Code. The creative mind by definition wants to wander off after new ideas. The hardest job for me often is to stay on task, to see something through, right down to that last, longest ten percent.

Sacred Space. The Studio isn't a coffee shop, it isn't a living room. It is a workspace. Show up, on time, stay there, see your job through.

Sent does not mean received. How can I still be learning this after so  many years working? Pick up the phone. Speak to the person. Follow up. Call again. It's amazing how many details fall between the chairs, through no one's fault. It's just entropy applied to ideas.

Always Be Knolling.  Don't you love a new word? KNOLL is the professional equivalent to "tidy," in particular meaning to put away what's not in use and straighten up what is. Amazing what you find (like free space and lost tools) when regularly applied.

I think I'll go put some more flotsam away.

watercolors in autumn

My ability to think while sitting up slowly returns. 

I've  colonized our kitchen table, now called Command Central.

Flowers from friends and pumpkins bought for a class inspired me to bring out the watercolors. First: doodling on junk mail and flyers.

Who can resist the plumb eccentricity of pumpkins? 

 Mail art is a great idea. Remember the thrill of getting mail, real mail? 

I declare today Mail Art Day. Doodle on an envelope and put it in the mail to someone. With a note inside, of course.

 This letter's bound for my daughter at college.

Perhaps I am just sentimental about the post, being half-way through Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth just got the long long letter from Mr. Darcy. 

 

I can slowly walk the dog now, around the block in the afternoon sunshine. Picking up leaves is good exercise. They are little, perishable gems of color, and pose for me once home.

 I made fresh applesauce and actually cooked  dinner last night: amazing after eating like a mouse for  week. So things are looking up, for which I am profoundly grateful.

Pinterest and pockets

One week gone now since I got back from the hospital. The body mends miraculously. The power naps are incredible: drop-of-the-hat, profound sleep, usually with NPR chatting away beside me.

Source: morelovexoxo.tumblr.com via Linda on Pinterest

 Fiber Bubbles by Alejandro Sales - Barcelona, Spain

The markers for recovery: stairs climbed, steps walked, words read, TV watched. The last decreases daily - thank goodness - as the mind and body begin to sit up and function, a little longer each time, each day. Last night, an entire episode of Parks and Recreation, complete with laughs. Things are looking up.

Source: casholmes.blogspot.co.uk via Cas on Pinterest

 photo by Cas Holmes, author, The Found Object in Textile Art

Meanwhile, the Pinterest is a gift, letting my imagination travel along paths already well marked by friends and fellow artists. The marvel of others people's work, a time-and-space-free museum to wander in.

Source: tumblr.com via Linda on Pinterest

   Encaustic by Graham McArthur

Each day has small goals. Yesterday I cleaned off my studio desk, and ironed. Today, it's clean out the bill bin, file my mom's paperwork, and at least hold something I want to work on.

Breast Pocket Project

 Meanwhile, have you got a minute? Please consider making pockets for flatties. A response by Melanie Testa to "Plastic Surgery Reconstruction Day" (yes, it exists).

Her goal is news coverage, to make honor women who step back into life without "enhancement" after mastectomy. She  hopes to collect 1000 during the week of October 22.

Comment on her post to get the address. I think I'll go make mine now, while I'm still awake. Make one to honor someone you know.

Double Open Studios In Lowell

A little bird told me.

Open studios this weekend in Lowell, Saturday and Sunday, 11-5.

Please join me at Western Avenue Studios, studio 512, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell.

I have a new batch of rayon scarves, and more that's still

in the works. Check back for details.

Sunday at 1 pm, I will demonstrate several ways to

transform fabric: painting, dip-dyeing, printing. 

Come watch, and  bring your art cloth questions.

Newest thermofax screen