rabbit practice round two

Another rabbit, for practice. Not quite what I'm going for, but getting closer.

my happy world

I've had this chippy old enamelware cup for some time now. It originally housed a small plant, then later became a scoop for the laundry detergent. Lately it had been languishing in a cabinet, unused.

Last weekend I plucked it out and began needling.

I had seen the talented Mimi Kirchner's tiny world pin cushions a long time ago, which are housed in vintage teacups and thought they were so sweet.

I'm more suited to a chippy enamelware cup than a pretty teacup though.

So I made my own world in a cup, and it's definitely my kind of place.

There's a garden in the back yard.

And sheep. Of course there are sheep.

I suppose it could act as a pin cushion, but I think instead it will sit on my desk and make me happy.

Cheers!

Happy Weekend, all.

an otter class

I'm doing a private lesson for a young girl this week who loves otters.

I wanted to make a project that would be simple enough for her that will end up looking somewhat like an otter.

I hope this fits the bill.

I thought he was so cute that I did a little photo shoot with him on his very own beach. 

I taught another (not an otter) class last weekend, my first in quite some time. I could tell I had been out of the saddle for too long as the class went far longer than its allotted time frame, something I try to avoid. The students were really wonderful, and most didn't mind the extra time, but clearly I need to get back into the swing. It's something I really enjoy so I hope to do more of it sooooon.

p.s.

During the otter photoshoot I noticed a pair of giant water bugs mating in the water and learned a lot about water bugs mating practices during the subsequent google search. Fascinating.

awaiting finishing touches

The mushroom has been captured and is awaiting his finishing touches. The last peek before my show in September.

In other news, I'm expecting a delivery of wool today. 102 pounds worth. I'll snap a pic.

Happy Monday, all.

Day 5 stone

Day 5. A freeform stone. The color is reminiscent of my clematis, but the design was a free-flow, organic thing that happened just because I liked the feel of the stitches.

I was in town 3 hours early to drop off a child for a field trip so I spent some time at my desk this morning stitching. I finished up the last few stitches after work with some of my best artsy friends while we shared a glass of wine and art talk.

I'm looking forward to the slower pace of the upcoming weekend.

Happy Friday, everyone!

hopping off

A wee bunny hopped off in the mail today, a surprise for a friend.

Made in stolen moments in a very full week.

What are you making time for?

selfie in process

I worked on a project yesterday, a self-portrait for an upcoming show at the gallery at work.

It's been years, like years and years, since I've done any kind of self-portrait.

I'm not sure yet how I'll continue with this piece and I'm curious to see how it will turn out.

She looks a little sad, perhaps because I needled her face and then tried to drown her with soap and water. Just part of the process, darling.

Today it's back to work as normal so this will have to wait for now. I'll be twice as eager to return to it knowing it will be a week or more before I have this kind of me time. Me time. Ha.

Happy days to all of you.

channeling my inner robin

 

I needed some nests to decorate with in the sales gallery at work so I channeled my inner robin and made some of out of wool and twigs.  The grasses might still be buried under snow, but there is always a supply of wool and twigs around.

Have a cozy week, all.

Quadrat piece completed

Yay!  It's completed!

This is the needle-felted piece I've been working on.  Inspired by a call for art at the resident's gallery in the Franklin Arts Center where I work.  The theme is work that is exactly 12" x 12", and since mine is not an exacting nature, I had to ponder how I might be able to fit that requirement.  It wasn't until I started poking at some wool that I decided that I wanted to do a piece reflecting a portion of the landscape in my mind.  Like a quadrat, a tool scientists use to isolate a standard unit for study.

Though this scene is plucked from my imagination, it definitely has its roots in reality.  For example, my fungus here is influenced by the orange peel fungus by the duck pond in my backyard.

A sprouting plant with downy leaves is similar to the mullein by the driveway.

Waxed thread becomes my take on sporophytes that dot our back woods.

Pebbles and sprouting grasses atop mounds of moss and earth.

And pebbles, plucked from lakeshores, naturally.

This was a really satisfying piece to work on, especially since it allowed me to conjure up images of greenness in this otherwise winter-white landscape.

The frame was made from some planks I had in my workshop.  This piece hangs on the wall and I could see myself doing a whole series of these.  Hmm...

'Quadrat'

2014

12" x 12"

needle-felted wool, cotton thread

by Lisa Jordan

stones coming tomorrow

In the past few weeks I've stitched a total of 10 large stones, including this snowy stone I showed you a few days ago.  All of them will be for sale starting tomorrow in a different venue than my normal shop.  I'll have lots of photos and more information for you tomorrow.

Hope you're all having a great day.

at the intersection of craft and snack

Pomegranates are in season here in the US and we're enjoying a box of them from California.

They're a favorite around here and we look forward to having these as a special treat.

It's a bonus that their skins give dye, a golden yellow.   I've been drying the skins atop the wood stove in anticipation of combining them with these locally-grown lincoln locks.  So while we may be disappointed when the last fruit is eaten, we'll enjoy them once again in the dye pot.

Hope you're enjoying your week.  Happy Wednesday.

walnut wednesday

Along with the wonderful memories, I also dragged home a bag of black walnuts from my trip a few weeks ago.  I've had them fermenting in a big dye jar on the porch since I got back and yesterday seemed a good time to see how the dye liquor had progressed.

That gorgeous brown in the middle is the first dye bath with plain, undyed wool.  I love it!  Totally love it.  The mocha color on the far right was the next bath, and the many hues to the left are other naturally-dyed pieces that I over-dyed with the walnut.  It makes me eager to work with them, these earthy, natural tones.

And work, I shall.  I hope to be able to share a naturally-dyed piece that I've been working on, soon.

What sorts of oddities do you drag home in your suitcase when you travel?

bat whisperer added to my resume

 

I'm back from chasing the rainbow.

I got home late last week from a marvelous trip to see family and friends.  Though I love my home in the woods it's awfully hard to leave sometimes.  Lest I get a little too nostalgic and sad, I kept myself busy upon my return.  I've been dyeing wool (samplers will be in my shop shortly), hatching more guineas, climbing to the summit of Mount Washmore, and being the bat whisperer.

 

This little guy, who I believe is a Silver-haired bat, was clinging to the side of our pool.  The kids spotted him when they went out to swim and THANKFULLY they knew not to touch him and came to get me.

 

Poor guy couldn't get a grip on the slippery wall so I put on a flannel coat and some thick work gloves and approached him cautiously.  I tried to scootch him up the side, hoping he'd take off on his own when he hit the top but he started sliding down again.  I urged him to crawl into my gloved hand and carried him over to a tree in the shade (and here's where the bat whisperer comes in) whispering "please don't bite me in the face and give me rabies".

 

He didn't show any interest in biting me and instead climbed up the tree with his saggy baggy bottom looking like a little kid in a sleeping bag.

 

Last night I sat at dusk and watched his relatives swooping over the front yard and hoped that he was among them.  Marvelous little creatures.

Happy Monday, all.  I hope your week is off to a good start.

mushroom gnawing

 

Yesterday's unseasonably warm weather lured me out to the woods to check on my wool mushroom installation.

 

It isn't hard to spot it in its perch now that the snow has melted

 

 

When I last checked on it, some little critter had been nibbling on the cap and veil.  Now, it seems those nibbles have turned to gnaws.  A good 1/3 of the cap has been pulled off, the veil is gone, and the stem juts out horizontally from the tree, indicating that it is being used as perch for said nibbler's gnawing.  (I'm guessing there's a pine squirrel with a very cozy den nearby)

 

I spotted a few tufts of wool and a gill in leaf litter below.

 

And I still think there may have been attempts to burrow into the wool-lined knot in the tree.  I thought about pulling it out to have a look but wanted neither to disturb the piece nor get some unknown nibbler jumping out onto my face, so I let it be.

 

Already the progression is interesting, from its fully in-tact autumn self to its snow-covered slightly nibbled look, to its now-gnawed posture against December greys.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

a peek at some pieces

 

A few brooches have popped up amongst the stones this week.   I'm sending these off shortly but wanted to share a couple of photos before they went.

 

I also have a couple of vessel pieces completed that I'm happy with.  Like little gardens to wear around the neck.

 

The wood from each of these necklaces came from these yard sale finds from this summer.  I'm always on the lookout for pretty wood tchockes to take to the band saw.  

I believe the jaguar to be acacia wood, like Mr. Giraffe was.  It finishes so smoothly, I wish I could find more of it.  Plus, it smells like black pepper when you cut it, and I like that.  The black wood, on the other hand, has an unholy stench when cut.  It's extremely heavy wood, even more so than osage orange and absolutely beautiful despite its fragrance.  I'm wondering if it might be ebony.

 

Working with wood and wool together is really the best of both worlds for me.  I love my time at the saw and sander as much as I do with the needle and fiber.  Happiness is.

Wood and wool.  It's a good combo.  Coffee and sugar.  Ebony and ivory. (you're singing it now, aren't you?)

What are some of your favorite combos?