Series: Heroes, not judges

I can't be as good as my heroes: Picasso, Beatriz Milhazes, Thornton Dial, Matisse, Agnes Martin ... 

list of heroes on my bulletin board

On this subject, William Stafford (below) is speaking to me, and maybe you. Never mind that his art is writing. 

Stafford's inspiration, also on my bulletin board

So I'm going to make stuff, having fun.

It shouldn't hurt to have heroes! 

Series: I'm ready to have fun

Around here there are red dirt roads that wind into the countryside off the main highway. They seem lonely, but they lead somewhere. Maybe they are even more purposeful than the paved ways. I love them..

Lately I've been on a dusty, lonesome path of my own -- setting myself a clear goal, then following instead another way. I think I've arrived at my destination -- a series more compelling than the one I'd originally proposed. 

Surprise! I don't like to follow rules. If I have them, I tend to be slavish, which in art is self-defeating. Of necessity, a series imposes rules. That's why I've decided not to make a formal quilt series, even though several months back I convinced myself it would propel my artistic development. (You must have once promised yourself to do something "good" for you.) 

As you know, instead of quilting I've been painting in our shed

 and falling in love with Artists as I read their biographies: Agnes Martin, Picasso, Cy Twombly. They make me feel impossibly uncertain. You might call that an accidental series of flower paintings and another series of inspirational readings. But it's not what I intended. It's what I love. 

On the way to making a series of art quilts I've discovered I like to work intuitively. I want to make a mess.  I want layers, and I love moody. Words too.

So I'm promising to take myself lightly. To make drawings with thread and then paint them. To see where this goes.

Series: Looking for surprise

It's been a long time since I "started" a series of quilts. I had clear plans but got detoured by painting. I love it -- I've been painting every day but haven't made a quilt. Painting the way I do (the messy hands technique!) is forgiving, fun, and intuitive. If I don't like something, I can paint over it. This makes a rich, layered piece.  I can't plan how the end will look. This makes it surprising and fun. I don't expect all my paintings to satisfy me. Some are "mistakes" that lead to improvement.

Quilting, for me, is the opposite: You don't intuit, you measure and plan. You sure do hope the quilt turns out, because it takes so long to make it. It's satisfying, yes, but I've got to admit I like to paint better.

I want to make quilts, but I want them to surprise me. There are lots of "intuitive quilters" who lay down fabric as I do paint. This doesn't appeal to me. I must incorporate paint with my fabric.

Also -- I've learned another thing: I want to make art that speaks of my life. Flowers are gorgeous, but I love best the flowers and butterflies I've made recently; I learned of a friend who was cutting herself and she wrote of The Butterfly Project, an incentive to cease the self-destruction. I want to let my passions touch my art.

My 2015

All year long I make a list, noting highlights big and small. 2015 was crescendo and gorge and lots of ordinary changes.

1. In April Clark's brother Rig died.
2. My quilt Beach Dream was in Southern Exposures show at the Ruth Funk.
3. I sold some art -- people LIKE  it!!
4. Turned 70.
5. Vegetables and fish -- eating better, not exactly by plan
6. Kitchen renovation -- a magnetic knife rack in a sunnier room
7. Bud & Angel go -- What, you don't know the names of your vehicles? 
8. Traveled. Visited family in California, Clarkston, Cincinnati and Columbus. Visited NYC for Picasso show.
9. Fell in love with painting. Doing it, I mean.
10. Purse returned by NY taxi driver -- stupid me to forget it. But I'm almost glad I did -- his kindness and honesty revive my hope for 2016.