Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Lacking focus: make a list


I haven't posted since I returned from Louisville and gave you a glimpse of the doings at the Carnegie during the opening reception for Form Not Function. Since then, I have had many many days of going from one thing to another "I CAN NOT FOCUS" At least not for long on any one thing. IT MUST BE THE WINTER BLAHS.
The winter blahs are legit. This is what I see when I look out the windows every day. First there is the remains of the 2-3 inches of ice that fell and the 4-6 inches of snow that followed.

I am all over the place of late maybe I should make a sign for my studio space that says "FOCUS" in red letters to keep me on track, but am not sure if that will help. Maybe a list in order of priority would be better. Maybe if I see in writing everything I need and what to accomplish in the next few months I would get back on task PRONTO.

I really do have a lot of stuff for the list. However, the following (make decoration for chair backs) is not one of them.
River City Fiber Artist, the group I belong to is in the mist of a project titled Dinner Works. My part was to make the decoration for the chair backs. DONE
FYI: Dinner Works at The Water Tower is an annual juried exhibition of art dinnerware and the Water Tower is the main gallery for the Louisville Visual Arts Association. Dinner Works is a fund raising event that pairs Potters and Ceramicists with Interior designers and Fiber artist who create tables scapes that highlight the dinnerware. I think there were 12 potters and ceramicists juries into this year's national exhibit. The 12 or so tables for eight are on display for several months in the gallery which is open to the public. The dishes and table linen are for sale and in some cases so is the glass and dinnerware. In our case it isn't since the glassware and dinnerware are on loan from two members of the group. Also as part of this exhibit there is a formal dinner and an afternoon Tea, that cost BIG BUCK to attend. Needless to say I have not purchased a ticket.

I've started a new quilt with flower, not that I have sandwiched or begun to quilt any one of the many tops that I have finished since last November. Right now I feel I really need the joy I find in making flowers, so I have begun one. I also need to dye several yards of fabric from some of the many ideas for other quilts I have running rampant in my brain. When I moved I left my supply of dye and stash of PFD at my friend Marti's house. I knew I would return to Louisville for our annual week long dying spree. (It more fun to dye with a friend) But last month I realized I need to dye some fabric for one of the quilts I have in my head. So while I was in Louisville I found time to measure out some dyes, gather some fabric and put them in the car to bring home, but so far I have not dyed one inch of fabric yet. The containers of dye made it into the house but the bolts of fabric I brought home are still in the car.

I cut up one of my completed tops while in Louisville with plans to add additional fabric and resewed it into a different configuration when I got home, which I did. But resewing did not improve it in my opinion AND MY opinion is all that matters so I stuffed it in the scrap basket for now.

For now? Who am I fooling, it will never see the light of day as one of my completed pieces.

I've wanted something to read or something read to me for a while so last Saturday I visited the library and found not one book that suited my state of mind. So I went to Barnes and Nobles where I sat for nearly two hours leafing through books, people watched and enjoyed a cup of coffee. I would have stayed there longer but it began to snow, with almost a inch on the ground in short order, I got home just in time to pull the hill on the main road to our subdivision before it became impassable.

Lyn my daughter started for home 30 minutes later and had a 40 minute wait in line on the narrow two lane (no shoulder) road as drivers ahead of her without four wheel or rear wheel drive attempted to negotiate the hill. In the Jeep she had no trouble. However, I must compliment the city of Columbia and their efforts to keep us connected to the outside world. Our hill is one of the first to be plowed, salted and cindered when the white stuff falls. It is just the first few travelers that have the problems before the road crew arrive.

Tuesday evening I went off to the second meeting I have attended of the local art quilt group here in Columbia and signed up to take a 2 day workshop with a local retired art professor/fiber-artist in March. Her work has been feature in Fiberarts magazine. True to form, I forgot her name but visit her website. Not entirely sure if I am as interested in the class as I am looking forward to meeting other art quilters in this area. Those who know me well know I tend not to WORK in workshops. I learn best by listening and observing rather than doing, which can be a little disconcerting to instructors at times.

Don't remember if I told you the art group meets in a local quilt shop that is very well supplied with a great selection of fabrics, books, threads and must have supplies including needles. The shop sells Husqvarna/Viking sewing machines. I was glad to hear from someone looking out the shop window that had begun to snow just as the meeting was breaking up, because I was being tempted by all the colors of the fabrics surrounding me. The first meeting I attended there was held in the class room, but last night there was a sewing machine education class going on in that room and so the art group met at tables set up in the shop proper.

I am still all over the place, but today I did this blog. Picked up and put down my yarn and needles several times. Went to the studio to make some more fractured squares for the quilt on the wall. Made the FOCUS sign and placed it on the wall and looked out the window at the remaining snow several time. I am thinking now of what to have with the defrosted steak that is in the refrigerator, not that eating has been on my mind much at all today.

The lack of the desire to eat tells me what I am going through now is not my usual and annual SAD symptoms that befall me at this time of the year. With SAD all I want to do is sleep and stuff carbohydrates into my mouth and the more refined the sugar the better. For SAD I know the cure is lots and lots of light. Not so with this winter blah thing. More light isn't helping. For that matter yesterday I had to leave the studio because there was too much light or glare because of the snow ground cover. The sun light reflecting from the snow was bouncing off the house wall perpendicular to my studio window, blinding me. Ouch!!!

Maybe I should go make that list now.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eyes are very blurry this morning but my first look at the picture you posted was what beautiful white flowers. I later realized what I was looking at, being your paper pattern. Even then I moved away from my computer and loved what I saw. Note, yesterday we had snow whn I woke up, Covered everything but the roads. My big front yard full of trees was beautiul You would have loved to have takn pictures of it. Miss ja

Anonymous said...

Juanita,
I love keeping up with you through your blog.

Now, have you thought about this? Maybe you are missing your "up close" quilting friends in Kentucky. I know you just left them and yes you can call them at anytime, but the fact is now you can't drop over whenever or have a quick lunch/dinner whenever or sit and sip with Val while crocheting a sock or scarf? In fact, I don't know what you did with each one of them individually, but there is that void now in your life.

For what this is worth, think about it.

Take care, Winifred Wallace (Kentucky Symposium 2005)