Inspiration...ilaria margutti

"Embroidering is woman.
It shows the process of the womans' nature without saying a word.
Like Penelope did, every woman weaves her own expectations, her body, her way of living according to her own desires, following patterns and rules made by herself.
According to these contents, I have decided to deal with embroidery, not only as a technique but also as an action with strong existential contents"

This work by Ilaria Margutti.
The title of the installation is Mend Me
I found this inspiring installation while perusing, Design for Mankind. Her lines and content are incredibly moving . It is the beautiful details of her work that I am overwhelmed with. Sorry I could not include the detail photos but go to her link her words and images are fantastic.
I believe, through meditative needle work that women have mended themselves for centuries. I love the implications of this homage as well as the visual experience her work delivers.

I am in the new Craft!! VOL 10

I am pleased as pie to tell you finally....Way back in September I was asked to turn My Fabric button Barrette tutorial into a quick craft by Craft magazine.


I am thrilled to say that my Quick craft is in the latest issue of Craft Vol 10 !

Look Inside >> Volume 10

If you subscribe now you get started with volume 10. The new Craft hits newsstands on February 10th. Locally you can get a copy at Book people, and Barnes and Noble.
YAY!!!!

Baby its cold outside.

Yay central Texas weather ! Friday highs were in the low 80s Saturday the high was in the 40's!!!!????? Daddy had to bring me a big thermos of hot tea at the market...
....Because his crazy Georgia peach decided this would be a perfect day to start back up at the market. I do really well in freezing cold,cloudy weather, right?
Anyway we are back ....and it was very cold. Not alot of people stopping too look at clothes in cold, cloudy, windy, weather, however I did sale a hat to my good pal ...she wears it well.
I was happy to keep my new Teapot apron for a little longer...

...I 'm a little teapot short and stout!
..and here is my cup with my earl grey


~I have also been working on panties for valentines day ... here is a little panty and tank set I finished just in time for the 40+ temp.~ I added some lingering holiday barrettes.... and an orphaned pin cushion to my stock this week.~as you might have noticed from the barrettes, I finally got some new"old" buttons and was really enjoying them this week.






~Daddy printed some of his airplanes on some ts and onesies this week, I just love them!

so that is the post view ...hopefully next week will be warmer.

handmade books ~memory keepers

I received a wonderful book for my birthday called How to Make books By Ester K. Smith of Purgatory Press.
I am quite thrilled with this gift because although I had a very productive year artistically last year I feel like aside from photos of finished pieces I have no record of my creative process. The book has great projects most are books that I have made in some form but the illustrations and fresh Ideas are all new to me and quite inspirational. I am especially keen on her cloth book examples~ For me the process is not only a reason I make art but also I find the process (esp thought evolution) to be an artistic entity in itself. In many ways I needed a break from all my "art" thinking. I needed to learn and practice the craft of sewing, but I am really beginning to feel a need for a visual/artistic synopsis of my sewing endeavors to help create depth and define boundaries.

~I love handmade books. They combine so many making methods that I am inclined to. I got my first sewing machine to help in my book and print making projects. I love the conceptual implications as well as the basic form and structure of books. The endless combinations of materials also draws me to the art of bookmaking. I have always kept journal/sketch books to help me record Ideas and sort through daily life.

~ This book was produced in my first formal book class that I took in the summer of 97 with Judith Golden ,at the University of Arizona. It deals with lost love, lost self, and loss of morale.






When I first started printing I used these journals so much that the lines between my prints and the journals became hard for me to draw. To me the prints were just not as strong without some of the information that I had in my journals. For this reason I started trying to combine some of the info from the journals with the prints and I fell into the world of art books. This was somewhere around 1995-6. I really got into bookmaking in graduate school; creating books as on their own and as accompaniments to installations and even some performance pieces.

~ this book was produced from ideas and materials used in a project that dealt with consumption and our relationship with the products we consume as well as how consumer culture effects personal relations
I continued bookmaking as a means to collect snippets of my thoughts and practice my love of drawing and collage long after I lost access to a press.

~this book I made in 2002 , It was traveling(Mexico) journal and also included alot of my frustrations with the state of the union in the aftermath of the 9-11 as well as what I was doing to help heal my own soul






~In the last year I have found myself in a position for the first time(in my adult life) without a journal book. And aside from my handmade cards I stopped making books as well.
I consider my handmade cards to be very much in the same category as my books, They are little tiny books that people give others in order to send a message.

~These two little cards are from last week
In October I started a journal that I will not let turn into and address book( my 2 journals from burger's first two years have both turned into address books)
I am not sure why I have been on a journal hiatus maybe part of i is this blog. I also think that burger and I have been so close it has been hard for me to be introspective.
Any way, this is the first post about books , I have many many books to share. these are just the first three. It was difficult for me to photograph them (but fun), Trying to show something virtually that is built to be a tactile experience is and interesting challenge.

~It is funny in the last few weeks I have made contact with a lot of my past. I pulled out my stash of handmade books in order to start documenting them with my camera and I had a flood of memories wash over me. I am the first to admit I have a horrible memory. I jokingly call it my coping mechanism. I am thankful to have all my books that give me little glimpses of my former self. It is interesting to me because at the time it was just a way for me to try and communicate with the rest of the world my perspective. Now 10 years later I am using them to communicate with myself.

Sunny sunday

~75 degrees and feeling fine.....


It is warmin' up here at times and if you blink in central Texas at this time of year you could miss spring. I love Texas weather (yes even the heat; although check with me in September) especially the first 3 months of the year.
We made a quick picnic to a local, lovable park yesterday. This park is very close to home yet further south of the city so really only groups of families hang there which means not a lotta crowds.And in turn lots of room for boys to play. (They have a great drop in yoga class on Tuesday evenings at 6:15 for 10 bucks; I should go more).
We(mostly Dada) tuckered our little rancor out good .



I also managed to get a hair cut this weekend from the lovely and talented Erin at Topaz salon . This photo is the day after slept on + hat head ...but you get the idea!
I did not manage to get back to the market. I was feeling like it was a week to soon for my still scratchy throat and the drizzly weather predictions. It turned out to be a fine day weather wise but I was feeling quite icky in the head area.
We will be back at the farmers market Saturday January 24th for sure. I plan on being there for 2 weeks straight and then starting an every other week rotation. I promise a preview in the next few days!!
~Ps ...this is what I've been gettin' when I say"smile "