Dropsy

Did a lot of dyed joomchi this week, using up all of my pre-made sheets that I had laying around.  The results were great...nice strong colors...good pattern definition...lots of fun textures.  It was easy enough to do:  just bind the softened joomchi like one would for shibori, apply the dye directly, dry, and...

...that's where I screwed up.  I forgot to rinse the excess dye before I untied them.  But they have to be rinsed to avoid giving off dangerous particulate matter, so I washed a few sheets after dinner today (below).  The result is a major loss of definition in the patterns.  The turquoise did fairly well, but the red bled profusely.  I haven't rinsed any of the black yet.

They're not a total wash (pun)...I'm sure they will be used somewhere along the line.  In the meantime, I'll need to run a new batch this week so I have some with good pattern definition and they retain those awesome textures.

And

No, my 5 year old does not have glasses.  Those are for me and my old eyes.  More than two weeks since the last update, but I've been simultaneously fighting a cold and starting the Spring semester.

Things are off to a good start, but plenty of prep work for my class at Kent State.  I've had to prepare several new demonstrations since it's a repeat pattern only class...but the upside is that I will have six new repeat samples by the end of the semester.

I also spun off three fat skeins of turquoise/white yarn this week.  I wish I could have kept the spinning wheel longer, but I have a student that needs it.  Definitely have to get one of my own.  I'll just add that to the list right after the submarine and cyborg velociraptor.

There are still seats available for both of my Endangered Studies classes offered by CIA's Continuing Ed program (actually, nearly all of the seats...).  If you've been waiting to take a felt-making or tapestry weaving class, this is your chance.

And it looks like I'll be doing a two day joomchi workshop at the Morgan in late July.  And they've invited me to participate in a show this year.  And there's something big in the works for Spring 2015.  And...

Welcome to the (solar) new year.

It may be a new year, but the old workload is still in place.  In fact, I'm even farther behind after the seasonal activities.  I definitely need to come up with a new strategy for next time...the winter break is just far too short for extracurricular goings-on.

Nevertheless, 2014 will be a banner year for workshops, etcetera.  I'll be offering a pair of 8 week workshops through CIA's Continuing Ed program...Felt-making on Wednesday evenings and Tapestry/Stump Weaving on Thursday evenings.  There will also be a one day Joomchi workshop for educators as part of their B.A.S.I.C. program.  Check out their webpage here for more info.

Also, there is the Joomchi lecture and two-day workshop offered by Textile Art Alliance (here) at the Cleveland Museum of Art in late June.

At the end of May I'll be off to Korea to see the family and squeeze in a little bit of research.

There are a couple of other workshops in the planning stage, but nothing has been confirmed yet.  If there are any requests for specific Continuing Ed offerings in the Fall, please let me know...I'm always happy to take suggestions.

Back to work for me.  The office work has to be finished before I can turn my attention back to the studio.  Happy New Year!

Placeholder

There will be no updates this week due to the holidays and familial visitors.  Instead, enjoy the gingerbread village my wife and daughter made.

Wishing in one hand...

Looks like I went over my self-imposed weekly posting rule again.  I didn't even realize it.  I've been going full steam on one piece trying to meet a deadline at the end of this week, and it's still not finished.  Two days of seasonal baking didn't help my workload, but it was nice to have treats to share.  Spent some time on Saturday hearing tales of Dean's Nepalese adventures.  And Aimee graciously braved the snow storm to join us for a round of Oellers' punch.

I realized today that there is such an enormous backlog of partially finished work in my studio that I'm going to have to make a punch-list and timeline to get this stuff wrapped up before the Spring semester begins.  Until next time, enjoy the overly-tweeked photo of the current work in progress.

Drill, baby, drill!

When I woke up I said, "I think I'll make today a lazy day...because it'll probably be the last one I have for about 7 months."  So far, this morning has yielded nothing but one technological innovation after another.  Take a look above.  I know...the image is a little dark.  Just think of it as one of those satellite spy photos.  Any idea what's occurring there?  Go on...take a guess.  Still no clue?  Sorry, but I'm not going to tell you.  You'll just have to take my joomchi workshop at CMA in June, where all tricks and discoveries will be revealed.  For now it remains the studio equivalent of a "state secret".  I wonder what else 2014 will bring?  Maybe something awesome (wink).

And here's a juicy little detail from a piece currently in the works.  Should be done within the week.  Should.

Odds & Ends

Went a little long between updates....not that there's much to update this time.  As usual, I have a dozen pieces going simultaneously.  The deadline for a show I was planning to enter has been extended, meaning I will definitely get that piece done in time.  There is a course proposal due soon, so that needs to be wrapped up.  Otherwise, there's nothing new this week...so here are some odds and ends from documentation day.