Finally Spring

Today is the first day the crocus are blooming. Most of the snow is melted and we have the windows open.

an update

1st a Chet update.

There hasn't been another seizure. The Vet did blood tests and then went away on vacation, so I haven't heard from him. He is suppose to be back tomorrow and call me.
So until then we're assuming that it is a form of epilepsy of unknown origin. Since there was only one seizure and it was fairly short it will probably be a OK with out any type of medication, we'll just have to watch him. The Vet did say that it would be unusual if this developed at his age, so if it is epilepsy the people who gave him up most likely knew about it, that's the vet's suspicion at the moment.

In the rest of my life.....

We're trying to get enough stuff together so we can sell it and make some money. Funny that the hard part is finding the objects that use to be fairly simple.

I have been doing little bits in the studio, but today , gosh..... I'm feeling deflated. or maybe defeated..... There is a fiber alumni show at Cranbrook. Everyone was asked to submit images etc... for a show at the museum and there's a book project connected with it. anyway - long story short, I wasn't picked for the show, they picked 60 out of the 200 who responded.
Now I'm really wondering if I should continuing trying to make stuff.

I'm not going to whine on about this, but it just feels sucky.

Oh, yea, there was a little knitting going on with some crazy novelty yarn from the dollar store.... not anything except a ??????

Chet Models

U.S. readers

Please go here

and send an electronic postcard to Congress demanding immediate action to solve the climate crisis.

A real post from me later today

Ups and Downs

Sunday we went to the Hamptons to spruce up the shop and move some new things in and Fran wanted to go to the beach to take some photos. We get there (the month in both locations has been slow) get the room in order and drive over to the beach. It's our fist time with Chet at beach and it's a warm beautiful day. We walk along, Fran has his Holga out and all of the plastic toys and is working on the new series. I look up and see - how strange is this - someone I know. Any one who has spent time with me will know that I run into people everywhere, In mexico, in the UK, going to a quiet little dinner, it just happens. So there is this someone, and he's with his dog and a friend with a dog and they come over and ask about Chet, Chet doesn't mind the little dog but the friend's dog is a young portuguese water spaniel and a little bit hyper, Chet growls, tries to snap, we say our good byes, I think that the spaniel was also a little bit of a problem so they knew to just walk away, that's good. In the meantime, a woman (uber rich looking blonde hampton's type) comes on to the beach with 3 dachhounds and they are wild, crazy runnning around trying to nip other dogs , Chet decides not to even look at them and they don't come too close just about 10 feet yapping and yapping. all in all a good day at the beach even though it was short (the time on the beach) and three and a half hours from our house. The good part no snow there.

Monday is a day of the studio and just doing work , here's one of the sewn knitted things and the $ store glove.Tuesday is a roller coaster kind of day. Fran is in a mood and you can't tell if you might just say the wrong thing and set him off on a tirade. This can be about anything. money . politics, antiques, who knows. By the end of the day he's calmer and things are ,well, just normal.

We're sitting aroung watching tv it's about 10:30 , Chet is laying on the couch with us near my feet. He crawls up to me, whimpers and then goes totally stiff. I freak out + jump up. He looks dead, his head is tilted and his legs are stretched straight out, I go to the phone and start looking up the emergency animal hospital number, and I start looking around for everything for a rush to the vet's. Some where in there I moved Chet to his bed. While I'm doing all that Chet wakes up, and sits with Fran looking scared. I come in and he attaches himself to my leg. This lasts about 15 minutes.

We have had experience with dogs and seizures, but this one was different not so convulsive more of just a stillness. We go to the Vet today at noon, They say not to worry unless a pattern of seizures develops,

man that was scary, I'll let you know how the appointment goes.

What am I doing?

I have started sewing, obsessively on the knitted images, and I'm leaving pockets unsewn - those I'm stuffing - sort of ragdoll -ish.
I'm not too happy with the work , it has me feeling insane but,
I've decided that I just have to push through even if the work looks like it totally sucks ass.I've managed to cut fingers on both of my hands. That is making it a bit difficult to work on the knitted newspaper, String keeps catching in the cuts and reopening them. So.... I got some weird knitted work gloves at the dollar store and have been trying to wear them while working.

Maybe I am now officially insane.

It's just my opinion ....

I have managed to do some work in the studio this week. I've finished a little of the newspaper knitting and I've been sewing like mad on these knit images.

Today's studio wall
and a very bad/dark photo.

So far I was only in the courthouse for one day of jury duty. I was lucky and didn't get picked for the first trial, and my # hasn't been called for any others this week.

Has anyone been to NYC to see the radical lace & subversive knitting show at the Museum of Art and Design?

Over all I thought the show was a disappointment. I'm not sure if it was the installation or the ambitious/ambiguous agenda of the curator that killed it. I walked away with a very bad feeling about knitting + lace as art and a really terrible feeling about the state of "Fiber Art" in general.
but I have got to say....
There were artists who's work seemed to overcome the limitation of the show.

*link heavy area ahead*

Piper Shepard - is it radical? is it subversive? I don't think so - what it is is good design and an extremely interesting take on the process of cloth making vs. art making.

Sabrina Gschwandtner - What can I say, I love her approach to knitting and the way she keeps broadening the definition. Sabrina, if you read this post I'd love to hear from you with thoughts on the show. You have my email.

Cat Mazza - Everyone who reads my yakkity yak knows that I have nothing but good will towards Cat, I've linked to her since I started the blog. I think her projects at MicroRevolt are radical and subversive. Her work is so accessible, I almost would categorize it as trans formative, both to the genre and to a larger audience.

Anne Wilson - please watch the video excerpt and then explore her site, lots of process going on there.

Yoshiki Hishinuma - I love the industrial applications stretched and manipulated to make us think ... handmade.

So there it is a little bit of my opinion.

Jury Duty Today

I'm hoping to have a post on the latest shows that we saw in NYC this weekend, for now though I've got to get ready for jury duty.