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.”

For some reason, I have never been a huge fan of the desert. Maybe it is the heat and the lack of shade or lush foliage that leaves me feeling parched, both physically and spiritually. However, having spent two nights there on Thursday and Friday, I have come away with new awareness and appreciation. My father always loved the desert, particularly in the spring when it was in bloom. He made annual treks to see the colors and the flowers and listen to the voices there that called him, the ones only he heard, the ones that carried him into the deeper recesses of his complex mind. He always came away refreshed and renewed. Now I think I was introduced to his appreciation the last few days.

The sky has a deep and penetrating blue as it becomes the backdrop for the sharp contrast of the red and stark sandstone. When I think of the desert, too, I am reminded of Georgia O’Keeffe and her love of the stark desert beauty around Taos, New Mexico where she lived and painted. And for me, part of the awareness and appreciation of the colors and textures are the same elements that I employ when I am thinking of creating a cloth design or imagining space and how something needs to be left open to chance and surprise, like the face of these desert mountains.

One morning we decided to climb Camelback Mountain in Echo Canyon in Phoenix. Phoenix is supposed to have the best urban hiking in the country, a fact that surprised me because I always boasted that we had this claim in Portland, Oregon. We had no idea what we were getting into with this hike. The stairs at the trailhead seemed harmless, so we ventured up, eager and ready for some good morning exercise. The elevation is 2,704 feet above sea level and the elevation gain is about 1,200 feet. It is all layered sandstone with plenty of rocks and boulders to climb over and around.

Some of the trail is so steep that there is a cyclone fence lining the edge as well as a metal handrail that you use to pull yourself up and higher to the next level. We went up the Summit Trail at the beginning of the Echo Canyon Park.

When we climbed up past this area, I turned around to see where we had been and took this photo. At this point, my husband was taking every step with great precaution because of his inability to use his left arm and shoulder from his surgery. At this point, he was regretting the climb, not wanting to re-injure his shoulder and begin the process of healing all over again.

I was loving the climbing and pulling up and over the rocks, the strenuous task of the journey. About halfway up the climb, we stopped to talk to a man about our age and he told us about this 80+ year old man at the summit named “Sonny” who climbed Camelback three times a day, 6 days a week for a total of 80,000 times to his calculation. Within 15 minutes we ran into him as he was on his way down. I asked, “Are you Sonny?” He was wiry, tan, and about 5’6” tall. When he confirmed his identity, I told him that we had heard about him. He merely smiled and clambered down over more rocks on the steep trail down. I love running into people like this. How inspiring!

Most of the hikers on the trail were fairly young, the majority in their twenties. I hope they all use Sonny as a role model as they age into their senior years.

We took the Cholla Trail down on the other side making the round trip around 3 miles. Now I am ready to go back to more of this desert urban hiking.

There was a shop in town that sold red dirt shirts. It looked just like the colors of the sandstone and this red dirt was used to dye this clothing. I loved the deep, rich color and immediately thought of the blue sky and then the turquoise jewelry that mimics this blue so beautifully.

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.

I have been quietly working on a weaving for a class project for Jude. Often my life is spent away from home, so the idea of taking a piece with me and being able to work on it is not only convenient, it is becoming more imperative if I want to accomplish and finish anything. I started out with a weaving of creams and whites and slowly added soft colors bit by bit. Initially I thought I would make an all creamy monochromatic piece, but I am so compelled by color that it eventually began to weave its way in. Yet, I am still tying to not go any stronger than a subdued brick tone.

In this piece one of the whites can still be seen. It is a dotted Swiss cotton that I have had for some time and decided its texture of dots would be nice, but it looked too new, the design and the color too stark, so I am gradually covering it with other worn and richer tones. I also have used various silk velvets and these have become a favorite because when they are stitched they reveal great character and texture.

Inspired by Ann Wood about whom I recently wrote a post, I decided to take these worn Victorian silks and use them in this piece. Touching and stitching these is really just another part of the enjoyment and richness that I am striving to create. I love the tactile quality as well as the worn appearance that they evoke.

This section reveals pieces from the silk chiffon garment. On the right side the silk chiffon can be seen slightly curling, and I have let ragged pieces lap over other parts and simply stitched over them to give the piece a transparent look in parts. The silk satin is a dream to stitch over too, and I love the way it wants to curl as if it has its own life and energy.

This is the piece taken for the silk chiffon. At first I thought it might fall apart as I stitched it, but it is actually quite sturdy in its new unfolding transformation.

This section shows the other garment that I used. It is a jacquard silk and some of it is quite delicate. I like that and decided to give it space to be what it is. I wanted to accentuate the delicacy while allowing it the honor of new life, a chance to be present in an altogether different form.

It is true that when one is working on a project, everything one sees becomes an inspiration or a connection to the ideas. The creation is always with you taking on another form and coming back as something else. On my morning walk, I saw this moss-covered wall and loved the way the moss grew leaving spots that showed the wall beneath but at the same time becoming the dominant part of the design similar to some of the worn and delicate textiles I am using in this piece.

Almost two weeks ago, my husband and I left on a flight to Alexandria, Virginia. We were finally meeting a new grandson and welcoming back a son and his family from Germany. We had such a memorable and wonderful time seeing our two grandchildren and catching up with news and life. One of the days I had some free time, so I took the metro over to The Textile Museum in Washington DC. I had been there previously about six years ago and found it to be worthy of time well-spent. It is also housed in the most beautiful building in a picturesque part of the city.

When you walk in the front door, this is the garden that you see directly in the back. This could be England or France. Impeccably maintained, it is a museum not to be missed.

Even the bathroom is stenciled with textile terms. Everything in this building is a textile lover’s paradise.

I keep up with their ongoing special exhibits, and I was not going to miss the opportunity of seeing this one, “Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats”. The dates of this exhibit are October 16,2010 through March 13, 2011. If you are anywhere near the area, it is well worth the effort to see this amazing, colorful exhibit. It features a collection given to The Textile Museum by collector Murad Megalli that includes nineteenth-century Central Asian ikat “robes for men and women and women’s dresses and pants, as well as cradle covers, hanging and fragments.” I have to say that it was absolutely breathtaking to walk into the rooms and see these pieces displayed against midnight blue walls. The designs and colors of these pieces just popped. I wanted to take photos, but of course it was prohibited.

As a note to this exhibit, I read that Murad Megalli was killed in a plane crash on February 4, 2011 just as this exhibit was nearing its ends. What a legacy he left behind and how generous was his gift to The Textile Museum.

I purchased the book because this is subject matter I find so fascinating to study, the history of the area, its people, the textiles, and the beauty and dedication of this magical craft of ikat dyeing and weaving. And the colors are so rich and captivating. The exhibit also coincided with another post I did on Russian textiles, as many of the linings of these robes come from Russia. This is the book that describes these textiles that were used, and they displayed a copy of this book by Susan Meller along side the featured exhibit book.

The second exhibit is one that is near and dear to many of us who write blogs about using and reusing clothing and textiles, “Second Lives: the Age-Old Art of Recycling Textiles”. When I entered this room, I just wanted to spend luxurious time here taking in all the beauty of the stitching and the old and loved and well-worn recycled pieces. However, the museum was about to close and so my fifteen minutes here were rather hurried. The flyer says the exhibit will last through January of 2012, but the newsletter says this exhibit ends July 10, 2011. Either way, there is plenty of time to see this if you are anywhere near the area in the next four months.

The hanging panel that is featured on the cover of the brochure is truly such an amazing piece. It is from Central Asia, Uzbekistan, 1850-1900 and features the most incredible collection of remnants, silk ikats and printed cottons from Russia. There are 35 squares separated by borders of repeated black and brown triangles. At first I thought this was a quilt but there is no evidence of quilting, and they name it a “panel”. But it is based on the nine patch with borders and then separated by these wonderful pieced triangle strips.

This is one of those pieces that I could stand in front of indefinitely in order to absorb all the prints and weavings of the various and most beautiful pieced textiles.

Back on the street, I had to ask myself, “Did I just die and go to heaven?” Boarding the metro and being in the crunch of the rush hour commuters brought me quickly back to reality. And isn’t this why we visit museums of art we love? It gives a chance to remove ourselves from the routine of everyday living and for a brief moment in time visit another world of beauty and culture.

For more information on this exhibit as well as others, you can visit their website here. Another exhibit I would love to see that starts April 16 and runs through September 11, 2011 is “Green: the Color and the Cause”. It “will explore the techniques people have devised to create green textiles, the meanings this color has held in cultures across time and place, and the ways that contemporary textile artists and designers are responding to concerns about the environment. Textiles from the museum’s permanent collection will be complemented by the work of a selection of contemporary international artists and designers.”

Now I intend to change the subject here as it is time for other things on a blog that is supposedly textile-related, the huge subject that often consumes my life too.

I have several skirts in my closet that have needed a little help, so about two weeks ago I started adding some embellishment to the hems. This one has a velvet ruffle and I added a crinkly rayon ribbon to it.

My next skirt was a silk one that had cotton lace on the bottom. I added some French metallic trim as well as some crochet pieces that I had dyed about two years ago. I still need to iron this, but I like the way the colors turned out on this one.

The next skirt was a purple one that was way too long, so I shortened it and added a simple narrow ruffle of silk taffeta.

And finally I took the lining away from the bottom of the wool skirt that I had made of this old jacquard throw awhile back. It hangs much better and is now ready to wear for winter.

My next project has to do with chalk paints. More on that later in the week.

Recently on a road trip this weekend, I had a chance to catch up with one of my favorite magazines, The World of Interiors. I came across an article that connected me to someone that is very close to my heart and vision. Her name is Joelle Le Goff and she lives in the region of Breton in the village of Paimpol, France. Here is a description of her from the article:

A friendly woman of about 60, Joelle is the essence of simplicity. Her voice is warm and her smile welcoming. A Breton, born in the region, Joelle went to school in Paimpol, then studied in Rennes, training as an artist/craftswoman. She brought up a family in Paris and then for nearly 20 years on the Ile-de-Brehat ran a gift shop, in which she also sold her own enamels.

A photo of her current shop.

Barely five years ago, back on the mainland, she opened her shop, L’Emotion du Passe, a riot of clutter somewhere between an attic and the giant cupboard of a private house. In it she began selling goods, pre-loved and worn with character and stories of mystery and beauty (or so I am interpreting). She goes on to say, I can’t open a linen cupboard without a lump in my throat. When I read this I knew she was a kindred spirit of mine.

The last sentence of the article says this about her:And this woman, who has no desire to give in to the times or to be in fashion, who is not interested in chasing after money, even if she does have ‘a hefty load to bear’, is amazed at her own success. And yet to me, it all makes sense for she is following a path of love and beauty and art and passion. Could there be any other way to spend the waking hours in a day? I think not.

The back of this red work embroidery is so amazing. It was done with a single thread and the detail and exacting outline of each piece is a work of art. It is the thing that makes me hope and dream and smile. Could there be any other work as endearing and lovely as this painstaking effort and success?

Last Thursday, I took a small road trip from Mendocino through the Anderson wine country and ended on Hwy 101 driving south just a few miles. I stopped and washed my car in one of those quarter-consuming, do-it-yourself washes, hand-dried it with old towels and then headed into the town of Healdsburg. This is one of those towns with a square in the center that used to be common and quaint and now has become very upscale and chi-chi with an expensive hotel, restaurants, and resort-style clothing stores. I miss the old Healdsburg, but at least it has maintained some of its antique and collectible shops on the outer skirts of town. I found this lonely applique square in one of those shops. I think the work is near-perfection and the fabric right out of the thirties. I am not a huge fan of this era for fabric, but when I see a piece like this it is hard to resist. I think it is quirky that the applique is not lined up to fit the square and has barely a quarter-inch allowance on one side.

There were 24 of these squares, each 6″, and I was pleased that there were an even number because designing with them will be easier. They seem destined for a quilt, a small one.

Everything I discovered that day was of this vintage, the 30′s or 40′s, and from two different dealers. This apron had an odd story to it that I discovered later when I started to disassemble it. I loved the design with the princess seams in the front, but I did not like the cheap polyester red bias tape that I guessed might have been added later. Or perhaps someone bought or had saved the fabric from this era and made an apron and added the bias as well as sewn the seams with invisible plastic thread on one side. I ripped out the seams and made a pattern of the apron for future use. I intend to sew the apron back together with cotton thread and then add a binding that is similar to the era of the fabric.

Early tomorrow morning I head back to Portland. The weather is very mild, overcast, and pleasant today in Mendocino. The weather today in Portland is 98+ degrees, so it looks like I will be heading back to the heat of the summer again. It is time to go trim my roses and return to my sewing room in the basement. I have many projects in mind, and the basement will be a place to escape the late summer heat.

So this bouquet of lisianthus is in remembrance of her and her love of flowers and gentle things.

However, on the eve of summer solstice, Father’s Day, my husband and I decided that even though the weather should be getting warmer and sunnier, and it was still rainy and cold, we would have a fire in the fireplace. We ate our dinner gazing at the fire and then we read our books. I started a new one yesterday…..

This is one I have had on my ongoing stack for some time now. When I was with my daughters last weekend, both great and voracious readers, my oldest was astonished to find that I had not yet gotten to this book. So even though I am currently reading an autobiography by one of the Bloomsbury women, Frances Partridge, I decided to start this one too. I am already caught up in the story and the beautiful way it is written. I am always drawn to books about strong women, this definitely being one of those.

I made this skirt when I was in Mendocino out of a vintage linen curtain panel. I have had it hanging in my studio trying to figure out a way to make it more appealing. I love the fabric and color but something is missing. I think I am going to shorten it a bit and add some old crochet trim to the flounce. I want to wear it for summer……soon.