Exploring Austin Music

My music tastes are eclectic so I go to several favorite venues to hear music once or twice a week. I also sometimes get to Daren Appelt's home for house concerts. Yesterday I went there and heard both Paul Klemperer and Amie Maciszewski from Sanget Millennium Ensemble. He was on the saxaphone; Amie played the sittar.

Later in the evening, I went to Tom's Tabooley to hear Paul's group Manteca Beat at Tom’s Tabouli's new Listening Room. What a pleasure it is to get to know a band that is new to me.

Lighting the fire of creativity

So what are you doing to stoke your creative fire?
Do you know your medium?
Do you sometimes play just to see what comes up?
When you find a creative play you enjoy do you work with it, creating over and over until you find even more delight? Ah, you are working in a series!

Do you seek more information about your creative media?
Do you take classes or explore online?
Is there someone whose art is similar to yours that you look up to?
Does this person teach? See where I am going?

The fabric above is a collaboration I did with Jean Dahlgren.

Working in a Series

Artists speak of working in a series. Begin with one idea and modify it in the next thing in the series.

I enjoy the visual series. I grew to enjoy this while working on my little people which was inspired by the Journal Quilt Project.


My current series is in crochet with up-cycled wool I found at St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. It is an experiment in felted wool which I have never done, but want to experiment with.

Complex Line Detail

Thinking about the stitching as I went about my business today, I realized that a detail of the stitching might be interesting for viewers. Get the picture of what I am doing?

Stitch Lines

Yesterday--I am taking several days off work to keep everything in balance and to get caught up on some tasks at home. The first day was for relaxing. After spending a bunch of time outside in the morning with the dogs and in the vegetable garden, I ended up in my comfy chair by the window with good natural light. Outside it was cooler than the 100-degree-farenheit weather we had on Wednesday, but still pretty darn hot.

Curious about what would happen when I stitched on my framed fabric pieces, I let myself spend time with needle and thread. I realized I could make complex lines with stitches by interspersing straight stitches with French knots. Interesting.

Wrapping it up

Two weeks ago--I have been considering various small projects that I could do in the evening after work. I want a project that is portable. I want to be able to experiment, so a small size works well. I also want to be able to mount the project on the wall when I am done.

I remembered the 12 x 12" wooden frames I had made a while ago, so I pulled them out along with my stapler. Then I cut fabric and cotton batting to wrap and staple around the frames. It does take a little practice to get it all tight and square. But remember that I worked in the family clothing store all my teen years and became an expert in wrapping packages at holidays! So I did pretty well.

I enjoy dyeing fabric and I also enjoy stitching, so I chose some embroidery floss to match the fabric--just four to begin with. Maybe I will use other colors as I go. I also found the shortest embroidery needles I have. The shorter the needle, the shorter the stitch.

What to do with dyed fabric?

Three weeks ago--I have beautiful dyed fabric that is waiting for the right use. When I look at the whole piece I cannot figure out what to do with it. There is no central focus. I could make an area of interest. The photo does not do justice to the subtle details of the one-yard piece of fabric. It just looks like a mess of strokes.

I feel pressure to meet a deadline. This is not going well. I must wait until I can work by my own personal clock. The time will come when I know what to do with the fabric.