The Swell Season

Tomorrow I'm heading for Seattle to catch The Swell Season perform at The Moore Theater. Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard of The Frames  and pianist Marketa Irglova (who make up the band The Swell Season) starred in  the movie Once together and also wrote the soundtrack. I caught this film last time I flew to Seattle for ArtFiberFest in October. I'm a huge Frames fan, so finding this movie on the inflight digi-player en-route to Seattle was AMAZING! 

Printed Matter

These are the prints I made in a block printing class I recently participated in... I've already sold one of the fish prints in our local Whale Fest art show this week. The star fish I plan to frame vertically in a series of prints matted together in one frame. I haven't decided if I'm going to put four prints together to make one long dramatic piece, or three and leave the fourth as a single print to sell.  I have two more prints where the starfish are darker in the middle. Those I plan to mount horizontal as shown above in a single frame.

Silver Lining

So... I went to the thrift store looking for inspiration and found some silver sparkle threads to deconstruct. The shirt I shredded and the sweater unraveled and brutally ripped apart...

which created this wonderful, glittering pile of crimped fiber that I love, love, love.

Combined with merino/silk, wool, angelina and novelty yarn...

and wildly carded on the drum carder...

creates these decadently soft metallic batts that I'm dying to get spinning on. I've got some bits to add in during the spinning process and some complimentary threads for plying.

Art + Yarn

I can't believe I forgot to blog this:

This is the amazing package that I received in a seasonal swap from Australian spinner Wooldancer in early February. I sent her my "Spring Eternal" yarn (the one with the branches and bird nest) in exchange for this autumn inspired work of art. This was so worth the wait!

Bling!

I fell in love with these and had to have. They got me thinking about textile peices I'd like to sew and embellish... I love the feel of natural stone.

Farewell Yarn Shop

It's officially official: I have sold The Rookery to local fiber artist Chris Lynch. The deed was done on Monday March 31st. I would have blogged it sooner, but it took me awhile to get my laptop online at home, and as a result I have lots of pic's and stuff to share. At the moment I am still trying to settle in to a life without retail and make space at home for all my fiber and stuff I had stored at the shop. I am super excited for Chris- she's amazingly talented in so many mediums and I think she'll bring that energy and creativity to the shop and take it to the next level. I can't wait!
I know I could have used spell check when making that sign...

I neglected to take a pic of my favorite part of the shop: The fiber corner!

Sigh... I'm going to miss that couch. Best couch ever. So comfy...

Interviews with Lexi of Pluckyfluff

Just finished listening to this insightful and endearing podcast interview on CraftSanity with Lexi of Pluckyfluff. It's a meaty interview- so you might want to grab a coffee, beer- whatever you prefer- and get your wheel going. If you're an instant gratification sort of person, or just short on time right now and need a quick fix, you can check out Studioloo's online magazine for a printed interview with Lexi that covers similar ground...

We are trying to organize a Camp Pluckyfluff Alaska 2009 here on Kodiak Island. If you think you might be interested in partcicpating, please visit Lexi's website and email her. This has potential for being one seriously wicked weekend. BTW Lexi if you read this... you can swear like a sailor while you're here and no one will notice. Also: speaking your mind, or the first thing that pops into it, is socially exceptable... and... no one will hold it against you if you crack a beer with your breakfast.

Visit Handspun Collective



Find more photos like this on Handspun Collective

Shifting Gears...

Well.... a little update as to why I have not been blogging or posting any new work in awhile. I'm in the process of selling my fiber shop The Rookery, and if all goes well I should be handing over the keys on March 31st. People keep asking me if this is a good thing- yes yes yes!!! As much as I love the fiber shop and all the wonderful people who pass through its doors, I am ready to focus on full time art production. Spinning, felting, mixed media art, journaling...

With 2 small kids in grade school, running a retail business is becoming more of a challenge as they get older. Trying to stay on top of homework and find time for after school activities competes with running the shop- and having to have my kids at work with me after school everyday sucks all the way around. No fun trying to help a customer while you're prying your 5 year old son off his older sister as he tries to claw her eyes out for verbally taunting him.

In order that my children do not grow up hating me for keeping them imprisoned in a yarn store for their entire childhood, and so that I can make more time for what I really love, I'm giving up retail and will focus on studio work. Well, its actually more like closet work at the moment. My art room is a closet which my friend Liz thinks is really funny for some reason. Hey, you've got to work with what you've got. I will have a real studio though when our house is finished in about a year and hope to hold workshops. I've talked with Lexi about hosting Camp Pluckyfluff in July 2009 in my new studio- so anyone intrested in hanging with Lexi and I for a workshop weekend should visit www.pluckyfluff.com and email Lexi that you're intrested. If you've ever wanted to travel to Alaska this could be your excuse! Or if you live on the mainland and want to visit Kodiak Island for a weekend...

Knitting Guerrillas Rock the Yarn

Sabrina Gschwandtner of KnitKnit was recently featured on NPR in an 8 minute interview about knitting's new wave: Knitting Guerrillas Rock the Yarn You can also watch and listen to an Audio Slide Show that features artists from her new book.

Look Inside....

Here are some excerpts from Lexi's new book Intertwined. I'm over the moon to have been part of this project, even though my part seems so insignificant compared to all the work Lexi put into this. I can't even imagine the stress trying to meet the deadline for a book and make it all look so good. Lexi, you rock! The book is amazing...
I'm honored- all three of my yarns that Lexi chose made it into the book! Above on the top left page is Fire Bubble. On the left page featured below is Screamer and Punked!

The following are submissions from my creative co-conspiritor Liz. She designed the Antionette Skirt using Lexi's yarn. So pretty!!! And below that is her delectable Tossed Salad yarn that I featured here on my blog and on flickr last year...

I got a peek at Lexi's new book Intertwined : The Art of Handspun Yarn, Modern Patterns & Creative Spinning. WOW!!! She stole my heart with her first book Handspun Revolution, but this... AMAZING! I'm waiting for the yarn shop copies to arrive so I can read it cover to cover!

YARN!

Here's a peek at the yarns I've been hoarding. I haven't been spinning much of late, but these were the ones I manages to sqeeze in right before we moved house. There are a couple more that I haven't photographed yet, spun from fibers I received in an exchange with Lampe's Lumps. The yarn above, Shrieking Violet, was sent to Lampe. I'll post pic's soon of all the fabulous fibers I received from her....

WTF?

Not really sure what to make of the holidays this year... My daughter and I flew to Anchorage last Monday on our first ever shopping trip- just the two of us. About 5 hours into department store overload, I get a phone call from my husband that his father in Ireland just died and that he has to go home. So, he makes arrangements to drop our son off at a friend's house, gets the neighbors to watch our dogs and bales for the old country. My daughter and I spend the evening trying to cram 3 days of clothes shopping for the whole family into less than a day. Talk about burnt! We flew home the next day and the house was like one of those sci-fi movies where a team of space travellers enters a drifting craft void of all signs of life- cup of tea half finished, clothing strewn about, lights left on- that sort of thing. Like they merely stepped out for a cigarette and would be back any second.

It took a few days to settle in and get the house back in order. Tried to work on some art projects but couldn't get my brain around it. Talked alot with my husband on the phone who was emotional to say the least- tough, burly fisherman that he is- and heard all the details about the burial and could hear the music and drunken singing in the background. It was quite the wake. Anyhow, the only flight he could get home to Kodiak was today- Christmas Eve. Yesterday was clear skies and beautiful. Today, fog to the ground and its blowing a blizzard. Needless to say he didn't make it in. All flights were cancelled. He's booked for an early moring flight but I seriously have my doubts. It's looking like he may well be spending Christmas in a hotel room in Anchorage, alone. Suck. All I can say is that I hope the hotel has a well stocked bar.

Now if you think thats pathetic, it gets even better. Today I busted my 9 yr old daughter shoplifting! I FLIPPED! Yeah I remember doing stupid shit like that when I was a kid, and most adults my age have similar stories, but the fact that its Christmas Eve... She got marched right back in the shop and had to own up to what she did. Ofcourse the owner's son who works there is one of the nicest guys I know- even when he's trying to be menacing he's sweet. She was so embarrased and ashamed. So now what? Its Christmas Eve. She's officially in the top ten on Santa's naughty list! Do I fill her stocking with rocks? Cancel Christmas? Or as my hardass husband suggested: Let her open all of her presents then take every last one to the Salvation Army? I did put her to work doing chores, took away her favorite distractions: tv, video games, access to the computer, her friends and music, and grounded her from them all. Do I let her open her gifts and then ground her from playing with them as well? This sucks! Kids need to come with very detailed instruction manuals that have an extensive chapter on trouble-shooting.

Anyhow, I'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday (free of family drama -as if thats even remotely possible) and all the best in 2008! Cheers!

M.I.A.

Long time no post. Seriously- I'm not slacking off here... life has been insane since I got back from ArtFiberFest in October. Running a retail shop has meant giving up my creative time and focusing on planning, ordering, packing & shipping orders and staying on top of book keeping.

Even though I've been stocking the yarn shop for the holidays, trying to stay on top of housework and making time for family, I have managed to squeeze out a few projects that I'll post photos of soon, as well as take part in organizing an art show in our retail building. Sold a couple of my peices which was pretty exciting and also had some of my felt work selected to hang in the new Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center through the summer months. Getting ready to submit my latest felted peice for the All Alaska Juried Exhibition and finish up an article for an upcoming issue of Artitude!

On top of all that, we have been planning for the past year to make our house bigger and now it seems it's all about to begin. We're moving out of our house Jan 1st and will start knocking things down and getting the lot ready for new construction. Thought we could just build up and add on, but our house was so poorly built (originally a cabin built from salvaged stuff by a car mechanic) and added on to over the years that its not even worth trying to deal with. Nothing is level or lines up- a serious nightmare to try and engineer. Yeah, we could have just sold our house as is and bought another one, but we have such awesome neighbors on both sides and a killer mountain view in a quiet cul-de-sac that I simply can't bring myself to leave. Good neighbors are hard come by.

Now that I've gotten completely side-tracked from the original reason for this post, I'll get to the point: there is a little blurb on whipup.com about spinning art yarns!
http://whipup.net/2007/12/02/hardcore-handspun/#comments

ArtFiberFest 2007

Here's some of the stuff I made while at ArtFiberFest 2007 in Port Townsend Washington. To see more photos of this event, click on my flickr link in the sidebar. I'll post more pic's of projects made soon....

Fairytale Yarn

This was made for me by my friend Liz for a yarn/fiber swap we did back in April. I had to be very very patient- but I'd say it was well worth it!

Guilty Pleasures

I'm having to cut myself off from doing any more swaps or art projects and focus, focus, focus. Must spin more yarn.... The top peice was for a local art show called "Talking Trash" where trash had to be used in the composition. The little matchbox with ATC's was a swap I could not resist participating in as well as the mail art where you had to make your own envalopes in addition to the art. Now- Back to the wheel and to pimping out the yarn shop.

Animals Smell When Wet

Animals Smell When Wet was a spin challenge recently posted by Pluckyfluff on her blog. The idea was to create a yarn the was either water proof or water resistent without using any animal fibers. Starting today, folks can vote for their favorite entry at http://pluckyfluff1.livejournal.com/ The winning spinner will receive a skein of yarn Pluckyfluff spun that provided the inspiration for this challenge. The materials I used to create my yarn include a water resistant jacket, vintage oil cloth, polar fleece hat, plastic coated wires, plastic bag and a foam packing sheet. Please drop by Pluckyfluff's blog to vote as well as http://www.yarnmuseum.com/ to see more photos of all the entries.

Vintage Inspired

Inspired by vintage fabric sent to me in a swap with Lulubeans. Extra fine merino spun with vintage fabric, felted slubs, wool coils, recycled silk and mohair locks. Plied with vintage thread and beads.