A Glorious Day

Today I went to the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) Ohio regional meeting in Columbus at Beth Schillig's house.  Everytime I go it is a shot in the arm. I love seeing such wonderfully funny and talented people as Shelley Brenner Baird, Teri Ann Hartzell and Jen Siegrist.  Sharing and seeing the great things....and as usual, I saw some very moving quilts during show and tell.  Dee Dadik and Molly Butler gave a great presentation on how they arrive at appraisal values.

I think between riding over with Mindy Marik and talking to Shelley, I have gotten the swift kick in the pants (or is it paints?) to get on with my work.  In other words, the light is shining through the tree branches.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be as glorious a fall day as today was and my hip won't hurt so much.  I have talked to a guy to hire him to come help me cut back the garden.  It still looks pretty good, even though I have been neglecting it.

The birds and other critters (unfortunately a healthy collection of mice....but at least they were providing hawk food the other day) are enjoying my grasses and various fruiting shrubs.  Ilex verticilata, or winterberry , provides food for the birds but a wonderful red berry until they are devoured.

In theory, I shouldn't be growing them here as they are acid lovers....however they seem to be doing fine, with some leaf yellowing.  Like other hollies, the winterberry must be matched with the appropriate male pollinator.  I usually use one male plant for three to four female plants.

I meant to talk to you about my Heptocodon miconoides, or Seven Suns Flower, or Seven Suns tree or shrub.  It's a native of China, but has wonderfully sweet, lemony scented flowers in the late summer.  Bees and butterflies adore it.  After the small white flowers drop, they leave beautiful red calyxes which stay on for a while...but the winds and the rains I have been having have left me with only a few.  Take a look here to see what they look like. I don't have any fruit, so I suppose that I would have to have more than one for cross pollination.

It grows about 8 - 10 feet wide to a height of about 20 feet.  I planted it in front of my bay window in the hopes that someday it might give me a little shade on my deck.  At present, mine is only about 10 feet tall.  One of the other attractive attributes is that the bark exfoliates, so even in the dead of winter there is something interesting to look at.  The birds find its branching habit good for getting shelter from hawks and Lemmie the Magnificent when he's on one of his hunting forays.

One sad thing, I emptied my pots out this week....and because the roots were so severely filling this lovely blue pot....I accidentaly broke it when I was trying to get the roots and soil out with my little spade.  Oh well...one less thing to worry about putting away!

Dry Spells

 I've been having a dry spell lately.  I guess part of it may be that I'm up to my eyeballs in trying to get things done with the garden (fall clean up, pots taken in, plants brought in and things set to be held over winter) and the house that I'm just too much in that than I am in the art world.  I also have been having some scares....and problems.  I pulled something in my chest while trying to pick up a 15 - 20 pound stone to replace on my pond's waterfall, then this week I managed to trip over a rolling step stool in the library and now my hip has been hurting terrifically.

Today and yesterday, I've been trying to work with notan elements as well as trying to get my last Dayton Landmarks slice quilted.  I've ripped it out three times.  I'm finding that I'm having a hard time controlling my quilting and I am guessing that it is still the nerve damage. So, I hauled out a printed panel and started practicing, just outlining it and trying to make sure that I stayed cleanly on the lines as well as making sure the stitches are good.  I hate the concept of messing up a quilt just because I don't have the quilting down well.

Sometimes taking a step back and focusing on the mechanics is a good idea. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

I've also been trying to do some sketches for some pieces I want to do....but they aren't coming well.  So, I might just pull a "Pamela Allen" and do it free form/free cutting , no drawing and more abstract.  I WANT to do it in my usual style, but it isn't working for me right now so I have to accept this is where I am at present and give it a shot. Who knows? It might come out well....but I hate the idea that I'm working in Pamela's style, not my own.  . . . Not to say that my pieces will ever be like Pamela's, but still...

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all veteran's.  We just added a new Vet to our family in Andrew Cole who served in Iraq with the USMC. At left is my dad and my grandmother in the 1940s.

Getting Out to Vote

I just got back from voting....which wasn't without some consternation.  We have two polling places.  In presidential years or years when there is expected to be heavy voter turn out, we vote in one location which is actually closer to my house.  I have to go further down the road to vote at the second station.


The first spot is at a church on a corner, but set back about 50 yards from the street.  The second place is in the township garage and it is at the back of an industrial complex off a state road.  The church's only designation as a polling place today was a small yard sign placed in front of the church's door and a 8 x 10 flag stuck in the ground, neither of which was very visible from the street, but there was a plethora of political signs for and against issue 2 and with the Troy Legal council candidates.  The second location was blocked by a semi-tractor trailer turning around the first time I went, and again, no signs except right in front of the building back beyond sight from the road.  I had to stop at the church to figure out WHERE I was supposed to go....I guess you're just supposed to intuit these things as they weren't published in the paper....however there was 59 pages of the full text of Issue 2 which was the proposal to limit Government union contracts as well as other Government employment contracts.

I always try to vote.  I have been unsuccessful twice, and it wasn't because I didn't try.  I feel that it is important to vote because of how much so many people have given to give me the right to vote, from the service men and women who have fought in various wars to the Suffragettes.

The quilt above is Judy V. Gula's, of Artistic Artifacts fame.  Called "Suffragettes Picketing in Washington, D.C."  The right for women to vote took a long time....100 years in America from the first part of the movement in the 1820s until the 19th amendment was passed in August of 1920.  African American men (but not women) obtained the right to vote in February, 1870.  Interestingly, section 1 of the 15th amendment reads:  "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."  You'd think that included women...but evidently we weren't citizens.


Women campaigned to obtain the right to vote and many were beaten and imprisoned for it (Lorton Prison, later called Lorton Correctional institution in Lorton, Virginia, near Artistic Artifacts, was where many of the Suffragettes who marched on Washington, D.C. were incarcerated.  In 2008, a portion of the Lorton Prison was opened as the Workhouse Arts Center.  Some interesting articles on Women's suffrage in the U.S. can be found here.  While the term "Progressive" has come to be something to be spat from the mouth by some people today, it is important to remember if it weren't for the work of the Progressives and the Progressive party, women and persons of color would probably not have the right to vote today.  The Night of Terror is outlined here, and if that isn't a reason to vote, I don't know what is.

Judy's lovely quilt shows some photographs of the Suffragettes, as well as ribbons similar to ones which would have decorated the signs, placards, buttons and chests of the Suffragettes. The backing of the quilt is composed of the shirt samples, and the lovely buttons are period mother of pearl buttons which would have graced the dresses of the women at the time.  The square and round objects through which the ribbons pass are vintage mother of pearl belt buckles.  


I think that she captured the feeling of the period quite well, in addition to answering her own challenge nicely.

Her second piece is Suffragettes Suits of Power.


I think she sums it up nicely in her artist's statement for this piece:  "Are we woman of today taking our responsibilities seriously? My Mother told me that I had opportunities in the world that she did not. What did she mean? She was young. To the generations of woman before me who carved our rights, opportunities, and power from the stone of male politics, thank you!"

Being Cuban in D.C.

While I was in D.C., Lourdes took us to a Cuban Restaurant which pretended to look on the inside as if it were a Disneyized version of Havana.  Mark, Lourdes' husband, had to ask for a flashlight to read the menu.  For dessert, I opted for Tocino de cielo...Bacon from Heaven which was served with some fresh fruit and a wafer cookie.  Tocino de Cielo  is very similar to flan.....which prompted a discussion at the dinner table.

Since I'm just married to a Cuban, I learned how to cook Cuban specialties from cookbooks and from talking to Carlos' two aunts, Haidee and Gloria who are very good cooks.  From them, I learned that the difference between the two is that Tocino is made with the yolks of 10 eggs, whereas flan is made with the whole egg.

However, Maggie and Lourdes' grandmother made her flan only with the egg yolks....so this caused some confusion over the dark dinner table.  I've done a little more research and that does seem to be the distinction.  Although the Couciero grandmother called it flan, it seems that it is indeed Tocino de Cielo.

Another Cuban past time is playing dominos.  Whenever we get together, the three of us (and usually my daughter Meg and Mark if they are around) play Mexican Train dominos.  We play with double twelves, and I admit sometimes my scores are so astronomical that I have a hard time adding all those little dots in my head...high scores are NOT something you want.  Mark, who is also a gringo, is here at left holding Sydney a very spoiled Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and a rare picture of Lourdes with her glasses on.  Carlos doesn't much like playing dominos....he calls them "Dominos lentos."  Slow dominos.

Hopefully, I'll be back to posting more regularly.  I've been trying to catch up on stuff around the house and last week I did something to my rib which has caused a great deal of pain and some fear...and I'm afraid that I'm too tired to post sometimes!

Some things Stay the Same

It's November....and political feelings are flying high in Ohio.  Around the country for that matter with the Occupy Wall Street and you name the other locales.  

In August, I stayed at the Youth Hostel at Malabar Farm.  I had heard of it, but had never read any of the books by Louis Bromfield, the highly touted early 20th century writer who lived there.  After talking with the hostel director, I decided to read "The Farm", which was first published in 1933.

It was a little slow to pull me in.  A lot slow...I have persevered in continuing to read, admitedly much more slowly than I usually tear through books.  I'm reaching the end, and it is getting more interesting.   I was taken by the following observations, and thought you'd be interested in it as well.:

"James Willingdon left the bank for politic when two of the political bosses in the northern part of the State persuaded him that in politics there was a great future for him.  Three things, I think, led them to believe that he was the material they sought--his charm, his easy-going ways, and his wide acquaintance among the farmer.  The Republicans already had such a man--handsome, simple and willing to compromise.  He came from the next county and already he had done much to help the "party," which mean that he voted as he was told by men who seldom held any office but stood in the wings, prompting and directing the performers.  His name was Warren Gamaliel Harding.  The Democratic Party no longer held to its old-fashioned principles.  In it too there were men who believed in tariffs and believed that "business" should be helped now and then discreetly and judiciously.
      But the men who sought out James Willingdon failed to count upon his what they later called eccentricity and pigheadedness.  They did not understand that "honesty" meant one thing to him and another to themselves, nor that he was a man so fantastic that he could not be tempted either by money or by the political honors which could be bestowed through the mechanical operation of a political machine which was not above making bargains with the opposite party.  Nor did they comprehend a man who never allowed ambition to become an obsession, and saw success and money not as the whole of life, but only as a part of it.  It was, in their opinion, simply mad for a man to prefer respect for himself to money and renown.
     He was elected at once, and no sooner was he seated in his office in the big Court House than certain rich men came to him separately and in groups to demand reductions upon the valuations of the mills and factories and houses which they owned.  It was scarcely a shameless procedure because the question of shame was not involved.  They had supported him and given money toward the expenses of his election, and now that he had won they were entitled to their rewards.  It was all a part of the game of politics and not very many citizens troubled to consider the ethics of what they were asking.  Not many of the citizens who elected Johnny's father could even have defined the word "ethics."  The Republicans had had their innings and had their properties undertaxed, and now it was the turn of the men who had succeeded in driving them from influence.  A poor man had no chance of having his taxes reduced, but the rich man who contributed to the party fund could have what he wanted.  It was simply a question of "business"  Why should anyone drag in a question of honesty in government?  The contributions were investments and now the men who made them had a right to a return.  Subtly, the government itself was being taken over by business men.  Subtly the government was being put on the level of shopkeeping.  It was a rule which worked in Washington as well as in a moderate-sized town in the Middle West.  They had plenty of Senators like Aldrich and Hale and Payne and Foracker and Hanna who saw the point clearly and made no trouble.  Often enough because they too were business men they were helping themselves as well."  (pages 224-225, The Farm by Louis Bromfield.  Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York and London, 1933, 1935,1946).

I realize that this quotation is far longer than it should be, but I also know that this volume is probably not widely known or widely available anymore, despite how popular it was when it was first printed.  Bromfield usually draws his characters from a composite of people he knew and "The Farm" is considered to be autobiographical in nature.  Certainly the parallels with the current economic crisis and the Great Depression are interesting, however, I would hazzard to say that there has been little change in the political climate.

Power Suit Challenge Part 4: Cards and My entry

 Not surprisingly, several of the entries in the Power Suit Challenge included cards.  I was somewhat amused to hear artist Linda Cooper explaining the hand to another visitor.  It was all I could do not to eves drop as I was standing on the opposite side of the panel.  I don't play bridge, so I was very interested to try to understand this game....

Power Suit – The James Bond Way
"In Ian Fleming‘s Moonraker novel, there‘s a scene where James Bond stacks the deck and deals this hand devised by the Duke of Cumberland, son of George III. Bond is playing with M against the villain, Hugo Drax. And although Drax‘s hand looks magnificent, there‘s no way he and his partner can take a trick. I made this quilt with fond memories of many years of card games played with family and friends. I thank Conner Gillette and my brother, Joe Thoma, for posing for the head and torso (Conner) and hand (Joe) of Bond."

I was intrigued by Marilyn Welling's Poker Power Suit because she used the shirting fabrics as the back side of the poker hand and turned them back so you could see the card values.  This added dimension to her quilt.  Of course the power suit in poker is a Royal Flush which is seen here in the upper left corner.  Marilyn noted that she likes playing poker in her artist statement.






Lastly, here's my entry.  If you look back through the other photos of the exhibition you can see a corner of it hanging.  This is the shot I took just before sending it off in the mail.  Mine is called "Run for the Money".  The background is made from the shirting swatches cut and randomly pieced.  The men are cut from the black suiting swatches and fused with Misty-fuse.  The monopoly money was fussy cut from a fabric printed with Monopoly money, and I carefully cut out the pieces which you could see most of the bills from and also fused them with Mistyfuse.  I free-motion quilted it with dollar signs.  The binding is the rather dull grey silk tie which was in my packet.

Halloween Power Suits

Sharon McDonagh The Power of Halloween

Just for Halloween, some more power suits for you...I really liked Sharon McDonagh's "The Power of Halloween," partly because it mirrored a comment made by my sister-in-law a couple of years ago.  As a Cuban immigrant  in the late  1960s, she marveled that here in her new home you would dress up, go to a strangers house, knock on their door and they'd give you CANDY!  This was a novelty as they didn't celebrate Halloween in Cuba.

Sharon's Statement:
"My mixed-media work honors the power and magic of Halloween: I selected my packet because of the orange/black tie (all the while berating myself for being so literal). But I soon realized it was actually perfect, remembering how donning those carefully planned costumes instantly gave a small girl her first taste of power: to scare, to attract, to mystify, to amuse... Put on a costume and mask, and you suddenly possess the courage to walk out into the night, to approach even the scary neighbor‘s door, and request—no, demand—candy from grown-ups… Power suits indeed! Sharon McDonagh Alexandria, Virginia

Linda Morgan Victoran Power Suit

While not really Halloween, at least this Victorian Power Suit is wearing a mask.

"Power Suit - my first thoughts were of Queen Victoria and her spectacular dresses and jewels, and then I saw this amazing portrait of a Victorian woman with a stunning butterfly mask. I love the chaos of collage, the freedom to create layers of paper, cloth and found objects - every element chosen has a story to tell. After her morning French lesson Edwina known to friends and family as 'Birdie' put on her best butterfly mask and leisurely strolled through town to the portrait studio showing everyone what a beautiful, vibrant, charming, powerful woman she is"
. Linda Morgan,  Falls Church, Virginia

Dolores Fegan Power Tie Suit

This one, the Power Tie Suit, really should have been in last night's grouping, but frankly, it was getting long and late!  I marvel at the wonderful ties others had in the packages as mine was a tone on tone grey.

Power Tie Suit "This quilt was inspired by the idea of a power tie and superhero suits. The body is cut from the tie I received. It is to express boldness and strength. Raw edge applique with a zigzag stitch. The quilting is freemotion work. I limited my quilts to the given materials. Repurposed suit fabric for the backing, batting retrieved from recent packaging. "

Dolores Fegan Stanford, Kentucky