I have tried to be discreet, really I have, but is there any way to put a tree in a room without drawing a little attention? I don’t think so. And yet my shop has gone through so many transformations, a deeper reflection of myself.

Awhile ago, (well maybe two years ago) I purchased this beat-up doll house at an estate sale. I bought it on a whim. It was the dollhouse I never had growing up. I always wanted one like this, and mine was always the metal kind without a lot of charm. When I was little, I did everything I could to make improvements with more plastic furniture and people with moving parts, but it never really satisfied me. So when I saw this, it was an instant and heartfelt moment.

I painted everything inside and out with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I could not believe how it improved the appearance. I put a decorated Christmas tree inside and even some tiny string lights on the outside that can be turned on by a battery. I just want to move into it and set up some cozy rooms. Currently, it is empty, but full of anticipation!

And doesn’t everyone need some tiny red shoes under a tree to complete the mood? I just want a little magic in my life. I think everyone does. More to come.

This weekend I took the most incredible workshop on Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint and its uses. A California stockist, Anne Skougard and the mini stockist, Kari Saupstad led the workshop and inspired us all. The creative possibilities of this paint are vast. It is simply an amazing paint. I arrived home filled with so many ideas and thoughts, I could barely sleep last night. I nearly got up to start a painting project.

The paint colors in this sample that I painted nearly match the vintage toile I used as a backdrop. Many of the colors in the toile match the colors in the sample. I love the idea of the two playing off each other and enhancing the strength of each.

Awhile back I posted some photos of this silk fabric that I stenciled. I loved the process, but not the paint. Now I want to try Annie’s Chalk Paint on some of my collection of textiles. I think it would be the perfect paint for this.

I purchased some really wonderful stencils while I was at the workshop and if anyone is interested, they can be found here.

This week I am going to experiment with the possibilities of this technique. I will be posting some photos here when I finish a few designs.

Friday, the 27th, was my birthday. As I was to spend the day alone, and not looking forward to this, I decided to travel to Seattle to see an exhibit that I had read about and knew was ending soon. So I made the drive on the 26th, spent the night and took in the museum the next day. It was absolutely AMAZING!! And I am so happy that I made the effort to go see it. Sometimes in life, it takes extra effort and inconvenience to do something, but if it is rare and special and promises inspiration, I will often go to the trouble to engage myself.

Let me tell you about the artist, Nick Cave who is responsible for these creations and this exhibit of “Soundsuits”. He calls himself “trans-artist working between sculpture, installation, performance, video, designed objects and fashion.” Since 1989 he has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently Chairman of the Fashion Department. His vision, talent, deep and ever-evolving insight and self-expression is so impressive and for me, very touching and real and absolutely magical.

Nick has performed around the world in his Soundsuits, and in one room of the museum are three screens showing Nick dancing and performing in his creations. I had a hard time sitting still. I wanted to get up and dance around with him in my common and boring street clothes. If only I could have donned one of his Soundsuits and let go of all inhibitions and just been truly my dancing, hidden vibrant self for one moment in time!

We were not allowed to take photographs, so disappointing as the Soundsuits were beyond anything you could ever imagine, spectacular! But as I sat on a bench in this one room, trying to not get up and join the dance on the screens, I took out my cell phone and clicked a few images of that moment in time……that very, very special moment in time.

Here is what Nick Cave says about the Soundsuits: “What is interesting about wearing these pieces is that your identity is erased. The sense of freedom and independence is so extraordinary – and the sense of allowing yourself to be that much more expressive.”

Of course, I have always known what is wrapped up in the clothes we wear, how we present ourselves to the world, what we convey. Are we sheep? Are we original? Are we in touch with exactly who we are? And if we know who we are, do we know from one day to the next how this idea will or can change? If only I owned a variety of Soundsuits!

But for Nick Cave, the embodiment of a Soundsuit is a magnification of so much more than any transitory experience. He says, “I am interested in working with objects that are taken for granted, laughed at or deemed less precious, yet have a certain insignificance in themselves….I was raised with a single mother and seven brothers; we all had hand-me-downs, there was not a lot in terms of surplus or art supplies.” He goes on to say, “I was always working with found materials….somehow you have to create your own identity through dress—-I might cut off the sleeves of a shirt or make a substitute for a pair of pants. You have to find your own voice in an environment that is limited in terms of resources.”

I spent nearly four hours watching, reflecting, going back viewing, and writing in this notebook thoughts I had, things I was reading, and quotes from Nick Cave. To say I was moved and caught up in the whole stage and theater of it is an understatement. It was, for me, an interactive exhibit. I could not tear myself away. When I went to the gift shop to buy the catalog of the exhibit, I was told that it had already sold out. Later, when I tried to order it from Amazon, I was informed that they were having to do another printing. I am not the only one with strong emotions over this art by Nick Cave. I think we all want to dance in the streets in our own unique Soundsuits, although many, maybe the majority, would never want to admit this fantasy. I think we would all be healthier human beings if we could embrace this individual dance of life.

When I was getting my degree in English, I had to take a literary criticism course and was introduced to the writings of Michel Foucault, the French philosopher. In the exhibit was a quote from him that seems to explain why people are so drawn to the fantastic elements and drama of this exhibit. Foucault says, “I dream of a new age of curiosity. We have the technical means for it; the desire is there; the things to be known are infinite; the people who can employ themselves at this task exist. Why do we suffer? From too little – from channels that are too narrow, skimpy, quasi-monopolistic, insufficient. There is no point in adopting a protectionist attitude, to prevent ‘bad’ information from invading and suffocating the ‘good’. Rather we must multiply the paths and the possibility of comings and goings.”

These Soundsuits are described as “full-body masks that release the wearer (actual or illusory) from his day-to-day reality, allowing him [or her sic] to inhabit another, very different one.”

Essentially Nick Cave “invites us to dance, play, and to dream with the empowerment of expressive transformation.”

I finally decided to name this piece “Weathering Hearts”. I have been watching and listening to Jude with her mini-series “Whispering Hearts”. Recently, I listened to two audio books on my walks, Wuthering Heights by Jane Austen and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. So in keeping with a literary theme, and for one I feel deeply connected, I thought my hearts and this piece might make a good combination coupled with this appropriate title.

Ebby has also been growing fur, very, very slowly. I am finding this process a bit difficult in terms of the sewing and the angle, but I like the look. I won’t cover the entire body with this as I intend to use other pieces that I dyed, but I think the effect is good.

As I was downloading my photos, I realized I had taken a photo of Mt Shasta in Northern California on our trip back to Oregon last week. I never get used to seeing this spectacular mountain. It is always so breathtaking and spectacular. I think that I will climb it….someday. If my knees hold up, it might just be possible.

I have been gone for a week visiting grandchildren and, now, missing them so much. I have other loves waiting for me, though, and that is the plus side of walking into the house.

Cats do not greet you like dogs, but the subtlety is something to treasure especially when you crawl into bed at night and they snuggle up beside you for the entire night unwilling to move or change positions. And in the morning the routine of the food and the treats and the same expected rubs makes you feel as if you had never been away. I find this so comforting and stabilizing.

I have been working on this piece while the baby naps and finding the stitching and its endless path like a good book that I hope will never end. And then in the car, there has been the stitching of Ebenezer who seems to be coming along quite nicely. I will post a few photos of Ebby soon.

This was the inspiration for Tigi, my collage kitty in lace and softness…..

And this is Ebenezer, soon to be found in the best way I know how.

The tail was a good beginning.

The fur will be a long but fun process.

There is a potential for grace here, and that is how I envision Ebenezer.

Gray cats have various tones of color, so in this tub I dumped many whites and cream and ecru tones to see if I could get some nice variations. I also did two other tubs of color and ended with a nice assortment.

Ebenezer has stolen my heart. I have spent the last two and a half days on his tail alone because tails are so important to cats, especially Ebby. There will be a lot more manipulation of fabric in this cat so it has more of a sculptural quality in its fur. I am doing a lot of tearing and gathering and forming. There is no end to the results that one can create with lots of playing and hand stitching. I think Ebby will find a nice new make believe home here with lots of love and devotion.

I will post a few pieces here and there as I work in the days ahead. I have a trip to see my grandchildren next week, but I am hoping to take Ebenezer with me. His tail will be finished today.

Tigi was named for a cat that I met through a missing cat sign on a telephone pole. The name and the personality stayed with me until it became a kind of spiritual entity, a remembrance, as many of these cats are never found.

Throughout the creation of Tigi, the word “tender” captured the mood, and therefore, the lace, muted tones, and fragile pieces became the guiding design elements.

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The pieces are collaged, and some of the them were made in strips with lots of stitching holding them together. All of it is made with old laces and textiles, some quite fragile.

I basically let the laces and textiles dictate intuitively where they should be placed.

I started with some heads and paws…..

And then to create the body and legs and tail, I formed the remainder by looking at my cats and measuring and cutting.

If I create another, I would hope for it to be less cartoon-like and more realistic.

For the last several weeks now, I have been diligently working on a project that is so close to my heart. I am thinking a series of these projects, for starters, will be a good thing. I have spent so much time on this, hour after hour but loving every bit and piece and stitch.

Of course my work table is covered end-to-end and side-to-side with lots of things, but tidy is not on my list of priorities for the moment.

Recently, The World of Interiors in their recent issue, March 2011 also published an article with photos of this story and again I was moved by its history. The mothers would leave a swatch of clothing or something that would connect them back to their child should they ever return to claim him or her. The Foundling Museum decided to present these textiles in an exhibit called “Threads of Feeling”. For further information the website is here.

In my stitching for Jude’s class at Spiritcloth I had seen her stitch a similar strip and it reminded me of the token swatches left behind. I sewed some of my oldest pieces to a torn strip of silk and cotton voile leaving the scars of wear showing or the places where the dart or gather used to be in some of the velvets. I have an application for this in the near future, and I like the way it carries some history of cloth in its shadow of mystery. There is something so solid and deeply rooted in this string of patches.