Art Retreat Results

The family all returned Sunday evening and my art retreat came to an end.  It was fabulous!  I really only had 4 days fully alone, but I made good use of them.  Having a little time alone makes me realize how badly I need that now and then.  It was especially nice to get to stay in my own home for a change, but the most important thing is getting time to focus without any distractions.  No stopping to make dinner or talk to anyone.  No leaving the house for errands.  Doing exactly what I want when I want to do it.  Perfect.  I never get as much accomplished as I think I will, but I'm pleased with what I did.

I spent my mornings painting and ended up with two paintings I'm pleased with.  That's pretty much a record for me!  In the afternoons, I caught up with podcasts while I worked on ongoing stitching projects.  In the evenings, I caught up with my favorite TV shows--Project Runway and So You Think You Can Dance, and watched some great art documentaries on Netflix.  I really loved "Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang", a Chinese artist who uses fireworks.  Gorgeous, complicated things.  I also enjoyed "Jeremy Scott," the very wacky, avant-garde fashion designer, and "The 100 Years Show," about Carmen Herrera.  I'm not in love with her minimalist art, but very inspired to see her still working at 96.  The problem with everything I like to watch is it's very visual so hard to get much stitching done while I'm watching.  

I did finish my fall trip journal.  I'm happy with the way this one turned out.  I used variegated threads that I dyed, and I like the spark of color change they add.

Here's my journal collection so far.  They are a really good excuse for some obsessive hand stitching and button collecting.

The 70273 Project

The low point of this year's campaign had to be watching Trump mock the handicapped reporter.  Or maybe it went even lower when we realized that even that was not enough to end his candidacy.  When I heard about Jeanne Hewell's 70273 project, I knew it was just the compassionate antidote I needed for a while.  

Started before Trump's performance, Jeanne wanted to commemorate the 70,273 mentally and physically disabled people who were murdered by the Nazis.  After reading their charts, not even seeing them in person, a doctor would mark a red X on the chart if he judged that the patient should be murdered. Two doctor's red X's on the page determined the patient's fate.

Jeanne is collecting 70,273 white blocks that have two red X's on each one.  She will turn them into quilts that will be displayed at various venues when they are done, in memory of those who lost their lives.

I set the goal of making 60 blocks before my big, significant birthday this Feb.  I was a little speedier than I thought and got 60 done just in time for inauguration day.

I challenged myself to make each block different and was amazed at how much variety you can get with a few different pieces of red fabric and a few different weights of red thread.

Jeanne still needs many more blocks, so check out her site http://thebarefootheart.com/70273-2/ if you would like to participate.

Arranging Components

I've been playing around with arranging the individual components from my 2016 daily stitch project.  I like their rough and irregular edges.

When I was making the components, I thought they would go together into one large piece when they were done, with the days flowing into months, the months into a whole year, but now that looks crazy, busy and all the nice edges get lost. 

I could join them with some transparency in between, so they are together but separate.

I think I'm liking the long, skinny arrangements best, but each month's panel will end up over 10 feet long. I'll have to play with these for a while.  Each month may get broken into two separate panels, so they can fit on a wall. 

Judy Martin has a beautiful blog post about Dorothy Caldwell and her latest work.  You can read it here.