Practice Makes

I've been out of school for almost five years now. It's not what I planned... because I did have a plan. And it was a rather good plan at that. Grad school, teaching, settling down. Yeah, not so much. There are lots of reasons the plan hasn't worked out and it's easy to get down on myself for not doing more. You know. MORE: more art, more shows, more money... more work.

But sometimes it's worth reminding myself that I haven't been idle. (Ha, right? Those of you who know me probably wouldn't come up with the word "idle" to describe me. Workaholic, maybe...) But sometimes idle is how I feel- the part of idle that refers to worth. Maybe it's my rigorous art school background that demands that I appraise all of my creative actions on a societal scale of value: the larger, more physically tangible and conceptually ethereal the better. Maybe that's just not how I work. I'm starting to suspect that it may never have been how I worked.

Nobody has told my brain that, though.

That's where my sketchbooks come in.

 

I don't do much drawing, but I always always have something to write down: ideas, notes, words, lists, concepts, worries, plans, schemes... And so here I am, five years later, suddenly with tangible evidence of my working. 

 

I started a new sketchbook this morning and it simultaneously felt like starting over and continuing on: like a reaffirmation of my identity. I don't know yet how that comfort relates to the plan, or even if it does at all. I don't know if I should promise myself to try to get out of my sketchbook and into my studio more or if I should throw myself head first into the sketchbook and guilt be damned. I just don't know. 

But I do know it was a good morning. 

Practice Makes is a reminder to myself that any doing is doing, any thinking is in the right direction. Much like a yoga practice, you have to allow yourself to be effected by your art practice and nurture it lovingly and with patience. Practice doesn't have to make perfect, but all practice changes you. All practice makes.

  

Spring 2012: Chicago

Gardener's Log: Stardate 4-29-2012

I love my Sunday mornings: while the farmer's market is on Spring hiatus, Rebecca and I have been spending all of Sunday morning in the garden. I have to leave for class at 1:30 but from 10am until then, I know where I'll be and what I'll be doing. It turns out that a limited weekly schedule is pretty perfect for novice gardeners like us. We get the time we need to get everything done without have enough time to get carried away or over-attentive. (Gardening mother hens? Mayhaps perchance.) Weekly intervals are also great for staggering planting and doling out the time between now and summer when things really start to happen.

We've been putzing for the last few weeks months: painting pots, prepping beds, reading about soil content (nerds)... but today we finally got some stuff in the ground. YES. LET THE VEGGIES GROW.

(Click on any of the photos to go to my flickr- lots of  notes and thoughts about each plant.)

 

 Carrots and the first round of beets: planted! 

We'll plant another two rows of beets every other week for a "continuous harvest" which sounds very official. Also delicious.

 

 Not just seedlings any more!

Five types of tomatoes. They're going to have to get thinned out, I know, but I just couldn't help putting so many in the ground.

 

Rebecca: "That was actually way more mint than I wanted in my mouth at one time. At least my breath is minty fresh now."

You guys. Mint? Turns out it's kind of invasive. After letting it grow way way past it's little fence all spring, we really had to clear some of it out to make room for the (craploads of) tomatoes. We had some extra mint. Now now, I know what you're thinking: "what do you MEAN EXTRA MINT??" But fear not! 1.) There's PLENTY MOREJITOS A'COMIN and 2.) Please. You know I can't actually throw any plants away. 

 

SEE?? Who wants mint?!

Free to a good (and local) home. Mmm.. Apparently, I eat a lot of yogurt. Lucky for some of you, that means you get mint. Yum!

High five team garden!

Starting the Garden 2012

I've been a bit lax about updating my blog. Work, identity crises, work, and the need to find some time to sleep (occasionally) have kept me from thinking and writing about art. Also keeping me from art? My sudden, burning, all-consuming neeeed to garden ALL OF THE TIME.

You guys.

This years garden? Is going to be LEGEN(waitforit)DARY.

I got (almost) all my seeds this year from the Seed Savers Exchange, a company that specializes in organic and/or heirloom veggie, herb and flower seeds. They're awesome! Gaze upon my rainbow of veggies-to-be!

I'm also really excited about having a gardening buddy this year. Last year, my garden was a meditative source of solace while I was going through a season of change. This year, ROOTS difinitively. My friend Rebecca is awesomely working with me to create the best possible garden results!! 

 

Also? She usually brings beer. BONUS! We started our seeds indoors back in March.

 

I would say that this is my favorite part of the whole gardening process, that moment when the first seeds in the first seed pods start to germinate and grow... but I know from experience that I'd continue to tell  you all season long that each step was my favorite. ALL OF THE STEPS ARE MY FAVORITE.

 

Yeah, this would be why I haven't been getting very much work done lately. My studio seems to have become a temporary greenhouse. Oops? The tomatoes jiggle and sway when I use my ancient sewing machine on my rickety card table... I feel a little guilty about shaking them up so much but it makes my studio smell like tomatoes which makes me really happy.

We were lucky enough to get a bizarre heat spell in April which allowed us to get outside early and start prepping stuff.

 

I've been gathering a ton of ideas for garden designs from pinterest (my one true love). We need a ton of pots for all the annuals... Not sure what we'll do with the pallets but they were right there in the alley! We couldn't just pass them up.

 

Spray painting pots. And yes, we did establish a color scheme in advance. You better believe I've got a whole Garden 2012 sketchbook with schedules, notes, color swatches and samples. What. Once and artist, always an artist. 

:0)

 

The pots along the garage wall will hold climbing veggies like peas, beans and cucumbers. Most of the plants shown here are gonna get moved around... I'm waiting for more of my seedlings to mature before I do a bunch of moving stuff around. The raised bed (shown here housing the overly tall and ugly dusty millers that should have died off over the winter) will eventually hold root-type veggies: beets, carrots, leeks aaaand chard, I think. 

 

This project is Rebecca's baby: a potato condo!! The idea is, as the potato plants grow taller and taller you can add boards up the side of the frame so that the container gets deeper and deeper. Bonus? If you get impatient, you can pry off the lowest board mid-season and pull out a couple of fingerlings. Haha, genius! She built the frame out of reclaimed wood purchased at The Rebuilding Exchange which is why they are already so lovely and weathered-looking.  She planted three types of potatoes... red, white and blue! NOM. 

In the interest of making my first blog entry inlikeforevs a reasonable length, I won't make you look at aaaallll of the pictures of my plant babies I can't seem to stop taking. (They're like babies or cats! I can't seem to stop photographing them! They're just so darn cute!) HOWEVER, there are a bunch- and will definitely be more- on my flicker. Gaze upon their visage !

Stay tuned! The gardening season is just beginning in earnest... we'll see if I get any sewing or art done at ALL until harvest. YEESH.

And by "yeesh," clearly I mean SWOOOOOOOOOOOON.

Winter Session Come and Gone

Let's be honest: everything I do these days worth blogging about is at Lillstreet. Thaaat... or... their required blog schedule is the only thing keeping me up to date these days. One of the two!

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I can't believe it's already July! Wait... March? What month is it?! It's jarring to say that we just finished Winter Session but, there it is. I had a great time with my classes! Here are some highlights from the past 10 weeks:

First Time Sewing:

Bags!

Aprons!


First Time Quilting:

Log Cabin Variations!


Multilevel Sewing Projects:

Clay ponders his epic messenger bag...

So epic!


Meagan's skirt: with zipper and pockets!


Susan's American Girl Doll Sleeping Bag!



Whew! Good times! And the Spring Session is shaping up to be just as exciting! Hope to see you in the classroom!

xoxo
Nora

New Spring Classes for Lillstreet!

Blog Preview! I'm not scheduled to post for Lillstreet until Thursday but because I'm feeling particularly productive this morning, I've already done it! Here's a sneak preview of... the exact blog that will go up Thursday morning. :0)

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It's almost Spring! I'm starting to see tiny crocuses poking out of the ground and the Lillstreet Spring Catalog is open for registration! I've got two brand new classes this session that I'd love to tell you a little more about:

Metal on Material (10 Weeks)

Thursday, March 29, 2012 to Thursday, May 31, 2012, 6:30-9:30pm

Level: MultiLevel (Beginner to Advanced)

(Pin by Ashley Gilreath)

Work in both the textiles and metalsmithing departments as you learn how to combine two different materials work while working with both textile and metalsmithing techniques to create wearable or sculptural art for body adornment, jewelry, small sculpture or wall pieces. Fiber techniques including felting, dyeing, embroidery and hand sewing will be covered, and the metalsmithing component will teach you how to saw-pierce, texture, solder and fold form metal. No experience necessary. Materials fee covers materials for first project. Additional metal may be purchased from instructor. $30 materials fee.

Ashley Gilreath and I have been plotting and planning this class for months! We're hoping it will provide an opportunity for students of metals, textiles or neither to experiment and explore the combination of these two realms. We'll look at texture, color, pattern and lots of construction methods. It's gonna be so much fun!

Because the possibilities are endless, I've also started an inspirational pinboard for this class on pinterest. Follow the link to see some really beautiful metal/textile pieces!

Register for Metal on Material here!

Fabric Design and Print Exchange (10 Weeks)

Monday, March 26, 2012 to Monday, May 28, 2012

Level: MultiLevel (Beginner to Advanced)

(Fabric Design by PennyCandy for Spoonflower.)

Perfect for sewers and crafters who want to expand their practices! Are you comfortable with your sewing skills, but want to use fabrics designed AND sewn by you? This course focuses on surface design- specifically, repeat patterns and an exploration in color theory in relation to the finished object. Traditional and digital printing design techniques will be discussed. The final project will be a class-wide fat quarter print exchange. Great for quilters! A class kit will be sold on the first day of class for $20. Students will have access to both sew and print studios during open studio hours. Come to class prepared with project ideas and sample fabrics.

I was thinking specifically of my quilting students when I designed this class, but it will be equally as fun/productive for anyone looking to create their own printed material. There will be plenty of hands-on exercises and lots of oggling lovely fabric!

Register for Fabric Design and Print Exchange here!

I hope to see a lot of new and returning students!! Happy almost spring, everyone!

--Nora

New Books on My Shelf

Blog Entry for Lillstreet Textiles!

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Merry Christmas to me! Or, maybe by this point it's Happy Valentine's Day to myself...hm. In either case, I have been on a recent book buying binge! Here are some of the new titles I've purchased for my studio:

Super Stitches Knitting, by Karen Hemingway

An amazing collection of different knit patterns! Everything from knits/purls to cables & lace to intricate color work! Looking forward to trying out some of these soon...

Around the World in Knitted Socks, by Stephanie Van Der Linden

This one was actually a Christmas present from an Aunt. 26 beautiful color-worked sock patterns inspired by countries all over the world. SWOON.

The Art of Manipulating Fabric, by Colette Wolff

CLASSIC. I actually can't believe I didn't have this one in my collection already. A veritable go-to for how to make just about any texture with fabric. We have a copy of this one in the Lillstreet Textiles collection! Check it out in the sewing studio!

A Field Guide to Fabric Design, by Kimberly Kight

A new discovery, this book has some amazing resources for fabric design. Pattern and color theory is discussed at length and there are instructions for both traditional and digital methods of design/production. Also, it's really pretty!!

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting, Catalog by the Museum of Arts & Design

This show was up in NYC when I was in college and features a couple of my professors. The collections of work in this book represent a range of concepts and techniques that were instrumental in my falling head over heals in love with art in general and fiber, as a material and method of communication, specifically.

Aren't books the best???

--Nora

Quilting Boot Camp: Where we left off!

Here's the final entry about Quilting Boot Camp that I did for the lillstreet textiles blog! What an awesome time we had!

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We had a great time in our Quilting Boot Camp, held the week between Christmas and New Years! Yes, our goals may have been lofty, but each of my students worked admirably and sped through their projects. Here's where we left off at the end of the week:

Karen finished her eclectic quilt top! Lots of colors and patterns!

She decided to do her basting and quilting at home but spent our final class practicing machine quilting and binding techniques on a pot-holder.

Christine after finishing her queen-size quilt top!

Basting can be a physically exhausting process. Bravo, Christine!

Sometimes you need a little help wielding the expanse of your quilt while you work with it under the machine (provided here by an extra rolling chair.)

IRONING, YOU GUYS. It's soooo important. Right, Jordana?

Basting! Huzzah!

I was soooo impressed with everyone's creativity and dedication throughout the week. Thanks, you guys! I can't wait to see pics of your finished quilts in their natural habitats!

Anyone else interested in learning how to quilt? I've got another First Time Quilting Class starting in three weeks! Sign up today!