One Idea (No, Two) for Art Wear/Wearable Art

Fortunately, I don't have to resize photos for the blog--I can take them straight from the camera to the blog. That is happy news, eliminating several steps I used to make. I'm tired of looking at that photo of the house on fire so I'm putting up some quick photos of art wear I've made.

I just took this vest out of the drier.
Yes, it could use a good ironing, but I'm in a hurry to get to bed and this will move that smoky photograph toward the archives. If it looks similar to my earlier jacket, it should. These are more of the cotton batik scraps from Thai Silks. The vest is a compilation of favorite patterns and the hem is whacked at different lengths and angles just for the fun of it. I think it would have looked better if I had been more extreme. This way it looks more like I didn't know how to keep the hem straight.

I had the most fun with using different colored threads from Superior Threads (www.superiorthreads.com) to stitch around each scrap. Up close they're interesting. From a distance they don't show up. There's a lesson for next time! So now I'm thinking it's time for more embellishment. I've worn it several times and after washing, some of the strips ravelled away from the stitching. I don't mind telling you that I did a very quick fix. It's duplicated in several places so that it can look truly intentional. I have to do more of the same--five places doesn't look like a design choice.

Remember how I was looking for fabrics to go with my purple/brown African print? I'm still working on it but here's my latest attempt. I love the trims from India I found at a discount store in San Francisco.

www.brockette.com You must see Jack Brockette's stunning work. The quilting, the ideas, the pojagi jackets, the quilts and wallhangings are wonderful. I'm so glad he gave us some closeups. Of course I wish for text to tell us some of what's happening before our eyes. Are those silk screens at times? The color combinations in the pojagi pieces draw me in--especially the brown, gold, orange one. And I can tell you that Jack dyes the fabrics so he's created those colors. Did you knit that one striped piece Jack? Thank you for the list of artists for inspiration. Sue Benner is a new favorite of mine. Go have yourself a treat--check out Jack's site.

I guess that fire scared the folks who run our community because they sent out two letters recently. The last one gave me two weeks to cut the wild grasses that are our landscape. Normally we wait until they turn brown (golden) but now we have to cut them before they even finish growing and setting seeds. This is an early photo taken a few weeks ago before the heat wave, when everything sprang up overnight. This is part of the side and back yard.I understand being wary of California wildfires but this feels a bit extreme. Don't the deer need some of this while they're giving birth and raising fawns? Nevertheless I'm tired and sore from climbing our slopes with the weed trimmer. I'll have to do some every day to get through the whole thing in two weeks.

Dexter will be happy. He hates wading through the tall grasses. That's the name of the stray I told you about some time ago. Turns out he belongs to the little boy down the street. I only found out on Wednesday. Meanwhile I had started to think of this cat as my own because no one claimed him. I thought he was a girl after all, named him Teenaleena, and we had a regular schedule. He came for supper at 8 and immediately ran downstairs to his bed in the garage where he massaged the softness and told me to turn out the light. So for one night they kept him in and I missed the cat but was glad to know he was at home with his owners. Since then he's been back for supper and bed two nights in a row. I think I'm the part owner--besides, I think I'm the only one who combs his beautiful long fur. Now if only my cats could appreciate him.
Till next time, Rosalie