Observations on life & art and the inspirations I see around me

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Stay Cool

Ashley and I are in Austin visiting Celeste and Elliott. Austin is one of my favorite places; considered by many as the "coolest" place in Texas. We're enjoying our visit but it is NOT cool outside today. The thermometer just read 104 when we came in from picking fabrics for cradle sheets, gowns for Celeste, and receiving blankets. This is definitely an "inside" trip.

I've almost gotten one cute gown made; just need to get it hemmed. There are other baby surprises in the works back home but I can't show those yet. I can't post pictures from C's computer but Ashley has done several great posts lately on her blog. Her post about her Dad and mine brought tears to my eyes.

From here on Friday I'm going south to Susie Monday's for a workshop. Michelle, Lu, and Brenda are picking me u. None of them are native Texans and the plan was to explore the hill country on our way down. With the heat we'll be compromised in how much we can explore. They've never seen the Hill Country so the view might just be from the air conditioned car.

Hope everyone is having a creative summer and however you're looking around, stay cool.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

ALWAYS POSSIBLE

I've been gone for nearly 2 weeks. Much of that time was spent digging, moving, and smoothing dirt but that doesn't really tell the whole story. I've been dragging around in a low energy state and not entirely sure why.
I'd never wish bad vibes, juju, kharma, or ill energies on anyone but I will confess to some sense of relief finding others in a state similar to my merky disconnect.

Blessedly, nothing bad has been going on and there have even been some high points worth noting. Ashley blogged about our adventure to the Lavender farm and last week I enjoyed the company of creative friends and the pleasant surprises of rust dyeing along with catching up on inspiring reading. Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day early with an outing around Ft. Worth with Ashley & Frank (camera left at home).

I might blame the weather. I'm NOT thrilled with the forecast of 99 for every day for the week ahead. The wild rides of last weeks' rains were scary but we were lucky not to have flooding or wind damage like many.

I actually think this state of being is more universal as not everyone expressing frustrations is in north Texas. Maybe it's midyear slump. From a few of my favorite blogs I read: "lost in a whirlwind"; "needing new direction"; "studio needs cleaning"; "do I remember what to do here"; "time to regroup and redirect"; "good intentions, but....". I'm latching on to what is ALWAYS POSSIBLE. Start again. Make a new list of goals; get to work in the studio; and keep up with the blog for starters. Here goes.

And just so this post doesn't go out without an image, here is the fabric I sent off with it's last layer in a Complex Cloth Round Robin.