I received an interesting article from Ebay today. This article was sent to me since I sell my destash fabrics and stuff on Ebay rather than go to the hassle of having a garage sale. The article in a nutshell is about a Supreme Court Case where a student is being sued by a publisher under copyright law. There is also a link to a petition to sign. This can be a real hotbed of controversy. On one hand, artists and publishers want their copyright’s protected. On the other hand, anyone who has an over abundance of patterns and books and wants to sell or donate them might not be able to do it without fear if this case is successful. In an extreme interpretation of this law, there would be no secondary market for anything with a copyright. Give the article a read if you are interested and see what you think.
Author: JP Dawes Artist
Creepy Crawlies
AAACCK. I had forgotten that fall weather brings out the tarantulas. I was sorting green tomatoes to make relish when Ron tapped on the kitchen window and motioned for me to look. I grabbed the camera and hurried outside. As you can tell in the first picture, this baby was on the move and nearly crawled out of the frame before I could snap the shutter. Then it was on top of the landscape timber still moving at a blurr.
I tried to get Ron to stick his hand down to stop it but the best I could get him to do was put his foot in front of it.
Thankfully, these were taken in front of a neighbor’s home and the creepy crawlie was not on the move to my house. I never work in the garden without first swishing things around to make any tarantulas or snakes run the other way.
My momma didn’t raise a fool! ****UPDATE*** while I was writing this Ron pocked on the office window. It seems a family member was trying to climb up the wall of the house. By my bedroom….not sure I will get lots of sleep tonight.
Quilt University – Working in Series
I am taking a course at Quilt University with Elizabeth Barton called Working in Series. This is something I’ve wanted to explore for some time but I always have the excuse of not enough time. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do but I no longer want to willy-nilly create work based on what hits me at the moment. That really screams of not being focused and excuse my use of the word…but making craft rather than art. What creative time I have had has been eaten up by just doing it…for the sake of doing it. Maybe that is why not much gets done. I agree with artists who say you have to work at it every day but that statement doesn’t go far enough. You have to work at it with a focus.
I am on a new path that I hope I can stick to. I’m madly cleaning the studio and house and thought at first I would have a garage sale since there is so much stuff. But, having a sale of any kind is a lot of work. With Ron’s blessing, we are boxing up unused things that came with us to Arkansas from Florida, putting them in the van and tomorrow we will deliver a full van load to the Humane Society Thrift store. I know that if I keep this stuff around even to have a sale, I will find a reason to keep it. I mean honestly, I had a plastic drawer about 24″ wide and 6 inches deep that was full of sequined strands from a glitzy blouse I tore apart and unraveled. I really have used some of it but its been hanging around for 8 years so it was time to part with it. I think when a lot of the clutter from my life is gone it will be a freeing experience.
I have high hopes that this class will set me on the right path for the rest of my creative life. I hope you join me once in a while for things I’m able to share with you along the way.
Since I haven’t been posting photos recently, I thought I would add a photo you might like. After one of the worst droughts in Arkansas history, it started raining and amazing things happened. Some of the trees started blooming again, wildflowers got their seasons mixed up and mushrooms of all kinds have been popping up everywhere. I’ve seen so many fairy rings I lost count. I have a digital folder full of nature photos for inspiration and I photograph lots of mushrooms. I love the textures and love to watch them grow and change over time. Hmmmm…there really might be a series in that….
House Quilt for Jamie Fingal’s project
Jamie Fingal posted on the Quiltart mail list that she was inviting participants for the house quilt project. There are instructions on the blog for the two house projects.
Since Ron is retired Army and one of my sons is a West Point graduate I wanted to participate with a house quilt for a service member. The house has to have a flag and be a specific size but then it is up to the artist to do as they please. You can see the flag flying and there is an eagle flying overhead. If you look closely you will see some falling stars that I thought were fitting to represent the fallen heroes.
I was not pleased with the wonky binding on the back but I didn’t want to do it all over again. So I hit upon the idea of fusing thin strips over the stitching for a nice neat back. This won’t be judged and I think it might find its way into my box of techniques .
Update Off the Wall Friday Piece
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Who would have thought that ugly discharged Amish style wall quilt would end up looking like this! It was really one of those things that happens when art starts to morph into something it wants to be instead of what I want it to be.
A little paint here, more paint there and soon a fiddlehead fern quilt looks like a piece of vintage Mexican pottery. Of course, now I have to give it a new name! We used to spend winters in the Rio Grande Valley. I had used broken pottery through out my Texas garden. I have often wished for some of it for my garden here.
But back to the quilt.It has all the qualities of the primitive decorative painting on vintage pottery. I am truly in love with this now. maybe I’m not supposed to love my own work, but I hope you will forgive me this one time.Off the Wall Friday
JP Dawes Contemporary Artist 