Haiku, Photography, Poetry, Poetry and Photography

What do you think of when you think “Gnarled”?

Guila Greer

The November prompt word from the Haiku Art Group is “gnarled.”  First thing I decided was that this one will be a photo – no time right now to do a quick art quilt for this theme and besides, I knew the perfect subject for my ‘gnarled’ challenge.

For several years we have had a little family of feral cats occupying our back yard. Yes, we’ve been feeding them, and at one point early on we trapped them (3) and took them to be sterilized and for shots. We then turned them loose once again. There was no way these were ever going to be pets. 

Now, there is one plus a couple of neighborhood interlopers who come around from time to time.  This remaining little cat is the original – the Mom cat – she must be at least 15 or 16 now and is a tiny tough kitty. And very gnarly indeed.

Here is my Haiku: 

Gnarly Old Cat

Gnarly old cat waits
Not quite feral not near tame
Now running away
Art, Poetry, Poetry and Photography

Reflections on Poetry and Art

Guila Greer
Two things came up today that led me to thinking about the why and the how of what I do. I started posting some poetry to an art group called Mind’s Eye and a comment prompted me to dig in and think about why I write – especially because poetry isn’t my primary identification as an artist.  The comment mentioned how “to the point” the piece was and how most people could identify with it.  Here’s what I wrote:
…I write (as a lot of us do), to help clarify my thoughts and feelings and with the expectation that if can get the feelings translated into words that they (the feelings) will be somewhat mitigated.  While writing I create my own form as I go.  I’m not familiar enough with contemporary poetry to know what the “established” or common styles are or if I come close to any of them.  I really don’t care.  I do care that people will be able to relate to what I have written.  If an obscure reference happens to be perfect to include in my narrative then I will include it.  But not if it creates a roadblock for most readers. It is important to me that my work be to the point and accessible…

A friend asked me to approximate how much time I spend in a week on working on my art.  This is a little different twist on the question:  how long did that take you?  It was a question that I was very interested in answering and did it ever open my eyes!!

Hard to say….. I spend many hours day, evening, night working on things related to my art: working on websites, adding items to Etsy, photographing what I see around me for inspiration, photographing quilts and items for website etc., reading about new techniques, looking at other artists’ work for inspiration, writing my poetry (that often leads to an art piece), shopping for supplies, writing in my journal (really unleashes the creativity), selecting fabric and supplies for a new project, daydreaming about the new project, sketching it out, cutting, painting, drawing, fusing, stitching, solving problems, quilting, adding hanging sleeves, hand stitching bindings, hand applying beads, hand embroidery. And so on. You get the picture!!

So, especially you my poet and artist friends – what would you add to this list?

Do you think that it is important or even desirable to stick to acknowledged forms in poetry or other art? 

I’m very interested in your comments.

Art Quilt

A Project That Has Me Working Overtime and Wanting to Share

Guila Greer

The rest of the title should be…And catching up with Haiku Art.  I am woefully behind BUT I have excuses.  The dog ate my quilt?

Let’s see, the November word just was announced – it is Gnarled.  I mean the word is “gnarled”.  October was Canopy (I’m working on the art – at least in my mind) and September was Rhapsody.

Finally Rhapsody is well on its way.

Here is the Background that I’m so excited about…

It is collaged ribbons and fibers on tulle.  I just washed out all the stabilizer and it’s dry and ready for the next step.

Stay tuned!

Accessories and Ornaments, Fiber Art, Ornaments

Holiday Gifts and Ornaments

Guila Greer

These are some fun ornaments and accessories that I’ve done in prior years.  I’m trying to decide on a couple of favorites to concentrate on this year.  I will keep some for our own decorating and gift or sell the others.This snowman was a lot of fun to do.  It is free standing lace sewn with a digitized pattern.  The snowflakes and bookmarks are all pretty much done using the same method.

The sewing is done directly on a hooped piece of water soluble stabilizer.  After I sew the piece I rinse out the stabilizer and allow it to dry.  I don’t wash ALL the stabilizer out; I leave some in to give the ornament added body.  Then the real fun begins – to make each ornament unique and add some bling. I do this in a variety of ways; add ornament hangers using ribbons or decorative cords; add sparkle with Swarovski heat set crystals. On occasion I might even add some painted decoration.

Hand Dyes, Tutorials

Dyeing Fabric – Getting My Mad Scientist Groove On

Guila Greer

For my first effort back at fabric dyeing after a long break I decided to do some experimenting and to use up fabric that was in my stash,  left over from other projects or who knew what? So I ended up with a stack of Mystery Fabric.

A couple of pieces were obviously muslin, the rest either Kona cotton or Pimatex. Just for good measure I threw in a piece of (I think it’s cotton) lace and some cheesecloth. I cut the fabric into fat quarter size pieces.

To gain some kind of ability to measure results against predicted results in the instructions, I carefully labeled each piece of fabric. I used a Pitt pen on Tyvek and stapled the label to a corner of each piece.

Not only didn’t I know WHAT the fabric was I didn’t know if it was PFD or had been pretreated. So it all went in the washing machine and enjoyed a soda ash bath.  The lace and cheesecloth were included and were put into a mesh laundry bag so they wouldn’t get chewed up.

My equipment was arranged on the counter. Helpful Hint  It all came from the Dollar Store – and is stored away between dyeing sessions so that it won’t get mixed up with the ‘people’ utensils.  Make sure you  have a set of dedicated measuring cups and spoons.  Plastic is fine – Do not use metal because of the chemicals.  You will also need plastic bowls and stirring implements.

Helpful Hint  Make sure you carefully label everything.  But don’t use a Pitt pen on your Tyvek – it came out in the wash!!

Following one of the recipes in my guide book I mixed up a series of dye concoctions – each one a little weaker in color than the next.  I wanted to end up with a variety of green fabric – envisioning some nice brights amongst them. Helpful Hint – I substituted colors – how much difference could it make? Right? Wrong! Don’t substitute colors if you want the results shown in your directions!   Here is a photo of the fabrics enjoying their dye bath in tightly zipped up baggies.

When I first put the fabrics into the baggies I smooshed them around so that they would get thoroughly exposed to the dye.

It’s very interesting how different the instructions can be in reference books. The two that I use are:

Fabric Dyer’s Dictionary  by Linda Johansen  C&T Publishing

Dyeing to Quilt  by Joyce Mori and Cynthia Myerberg  The Quilt Digest Press                                                                                                               

I found that the biggest differences in this case addressed the soda ash bath process and the “steeping” time or “curing” time for the fabric.

Previously I had used a 3 hour steeping time; this time I went with overnight. The next morning I removed the fabric from the bags, rinsed it under running water then washed it with Synthrapol.     And here is the dyed fabric. Not exactly the Brights that I was going for but nevertheless a nice array of greens to add to my stash.

Unfortunately all the numbers from my markers disappeared!  I’ll have to try another pen next time.

Flying, Haiku, Photography, Poetry

Blogging From 30,000 Feet

Guila Greer

…So I’m sitting here in my window seat writing, staring at some particularly fluffy clouds only partially obscuring my vision of the land beneath.  Some of the cloud peaks are magnificent reminding me of  mountain peaks;  others of peaks  of whipped cream.  Still others  are spread out and breaking up like ice floes on a tranquil sea of sky blue.

I’m all  ear budded up with my iPod, listening to Pretty Hate Machine. I’ve settled into that unique cocoon that you can get into at 30,000 feet – where you can consider your world, your life with a decidedly dispassionate view – like you’re somehow apart from it all.

I was thinking about sketching some of those clouds but I’ve changed my mind. My muse is telling me to record what I’m seeing in words instead.

Sandy earth below

Streaky sun through the window

Climbing higher now

Velocity up

Acute anticipation

Tomorrow’s mys’try

Mountain peaks or clouds

Clear vision or optic trick

Beauty is constant

Ear buds snuggled in

Music easing heart and soul

Turbulence warning

Art Quilt, Hand Dyed Fabric

The Magic of Hand Dyeing Fabric

Guila Greer

I realize that the only way that I’m going to dig into my hand dyes and actually use them will be to create some more.  Now that the weather has eased up some I can move outdoors and set up there.  It can be done in the kitchen but gets a little (!) messy. 

So I went through my hand dye stash to get inspiration.

BUT WHAT ABOUT MY PRECIOUS GREENS????

😦  not much left after digging into these for a project.

This is something a little different that I did with green – It’s a sun print – I gathered some leaves for the sun images.

and finally a couple of “serendipity” fabrics that I created with leftover dyes.

So what do you think of Hand Dyed Fabric?

Photography, Video

Some of My Favorite Photos Set to Music – a Video

Guila Greer

Early this year I was looking on You Tube for Diana Krall singing Boulevard of Broken Dreams. There were a couple of club performances but not very good quality. So of course I decided to make my own. Turned out to be a great learning experience and a lot of fun. I selected suitable photographs from my own collection. This evening when I was considering adding some of these photos to my blog I thought “Why not just post the video?”  So here it is – Enjoy!

Art Quilt, Art Quilts, Fiber Art, Journal Size

Eat Your Veggies

Guila Greer
Most of the art quilts that I’ve been making have been fairly free form.  So I wanted to try my hand at a Still Life. I wanted it to be vibrant with color and simple in design.  The fabrics that I chose would be very important.

First, not knowing which veggies would make the final cut, I went to the refrigerator to see what was available.  I arranged various combinations on a cutting board and ended up with something that looked pleasing.  I photographed them as I went along to get various perspectives.  When I was satisfied I made a print in the size that I wanted to sew and prepared templates.  I adhered a clear piece of laminating film to the printed design and cut the shapes that I wanted to use.

For the first time I went to my little stash of hand dyes and selected the veggie fabrics.  Believe me when I say this was a really big deal.  This is my holy grail of fabric.
I found pieces amongst my commercial stash that would work for the background and the cutting board.
Eat Your Veggies
Once I had the composition in place I decided that some highlights were needed on the veggies.  I added these with Tsukineko Inks, chosen because of the ability to readily control the amount and depth of the color to be added.
I machine quilted to add texture and interest.

As I said earlier it’s quite different from what I usually do – do you like it?