Stitching the World Project

Don't mind me, I've been rearranging the world:

Alphabetically

Then I added denim patches:

It just seemed more interesting

What are my plans for this?

Two months ago I asked these four questions on my Pattern Recognition blog:

I decided to add an audience participation element to two Art Fair applications that I submitted in the fall.
There will be the questions to answer, embroidery floss to stitch with, and (hopefully) a dedicated Stitching Crew helping with the whole thing. I'm printing The Rearranged World on a Redbubble medium-size wall hanging, which fits nicely on a king-size bed.

I was accepted into the StARTup LA fair, February 14-16 at the Hotel Kinney Venice Beach, where this idea will be put into practice. Meanwhile, there will be preliminary collective stitching meetups  during the Sundays leading up to the fair. If you're in the greater LA area and want to join in, drop me an email.

If you'd like to add your responses to the Four Questions, 
click on this link to see the color chart and  access the form.

Next, I want to design some sort World Map textile repeat, so I can wear the world during the art fair.

Linking up with
Catherine's #shareAllLinkup
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Fur Real and Faux

Shelbee and Nancy are presenting their monthly Good Buy/Goodbye series with the theme Fur next week. They are soliciting outfit photos involving fur items.

I realized I have quite the collection!
I gathered up All Most of the Fur Things.
Put them in a heap, Marie Kondo style.

Mr Lou, my favorite Fur Thing, escaped when the pile got too big.

Assessed my collection!
Do they "spark joy"?
Oh, YES!

Shelbee style, I'm going to show you some "greatest hits" from the past:

2/6/2013

1/26/12

10/23/2013

3/24/2012

11/19/2012

12/9/2011
I gave this one away, it no longer fit.

Here's one particular item of note that I got from my Great Aunt Carol:

A grey cashmere cardigan trimmed with fake fur binding, buttons, and mice.

By some miracle, it has only one tiny moth hole.

It's also too small. Marie would say "take a photo and give it away. I say no.

And a blast from the past from high school:

11/1973
As part of our senior yearbook photo package, we had both informal black and white pictures in a location of our own choosing
and color formal posed "studio" style portraits. Guess who didn't take the studio portion seriously.
Wearing a mink-lined coat that belonged to Cousin Hitch (my paternal grandmother's cousin, I think).
My mom put the coat in fur storage when I moved to CA -- I wonder if it's still there?

Check out the Fur edition of the Good Buy/Goodbye Book.
There will be a new photo of the Big Pink Shawl Rug, as seen in Inglewood.

Linking with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #shareallLinkup

Let's Haiku. Linkup.

One of my favorite blog reads, Adulting – Second Half, wrote a post with her first stabs at poetry. I remember Shelbee on the Edge also was posting poetry recently. Have you had the urge to get poetic? Or did you write poetry as a teen?

from my high school art and literary magazine, 1972
Heavy influenced by Kenneth Patchen

I sure did. It seemed the best way to organize all those tumultuous teen thoughts.
And perhaps some of you are experiencing peri/menopausal emotions that might be nicely tamed in a poem. (Thanks, hormones). (I know a poem won't subdue the beast within, but it may help channel the energy in a creative way).

My response comment to Kelly got me thinking.

I like writing haiku at times. I was going to do a whole series “Haiku to My Closet” about favorite garments, which hasn’t progressed very far, but never too late to take it up again!
A recent poetry moment was in the final session of a year-long mending workshop: we were asked to sum up our activities as a short haiku-like poem since our prior meeting. It was a fun challenge!
So I introduce myself as a haiku: 

Anne M Bray, artist.
Serene road trip art, wild style,
Body as canvas.

Let's have a Haiku Linkup!
It could be a haiku to something in your closet:

original post

Or introduce yourself, as I did above.
Anything goes, as long as your link has a poem in Haiku format:
A Haiku is a Japanese short poem made up of 3 phrases with 17 syllables in it divided into 5, 7, 5.

This Link Party will stay open until 01/01/2020

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Linking this up with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #ShareAllLinkup

The Highs and Lows of Online Secondhand Shopping

On Saturday, I experienced the distaff sides of online shopping.
Two packages, two distinct experiences.

The first that I tore into came from Suzanne Carillo's VintageBySuzanne Etsy Shop.

Look! It's a present!

Suzanne blogged about this item and as soon as I read her words "it’s just not my vibe" I pounced.

Cool buttons!

It is my vibe it most certainly!

Package number two: Fluevog Supervog Safety Oxfords, purchased on eBay.
A "smile" greeted me as I opened the envelope
(Yes, I paid $14 postage for shoes wedged into a tyvek shipping envelope without any padding).
This was not a happy smile to see:

[Thinks to self: On noooooo. Expensive cobbler repair. Let's see how they fit].
[On dear. They were very large looking].
Advertised as Size 7.5, they were MEN's 7.5.
10" footbed - 1.5" too long! And both shoes have the sole splitting issue in front.
Damn. They are really pretty (albeit heavy) shoes.

Comparing sizes: a shoe that fits, a shoe that doesn't.

I went back online to check the photos of the listing to see if I'd overlooked the flaws, and to see how the sizing had been described, but the detail photos and additional description [which I didn't know about before. EBay newbie, me] were gone.
I asked for a refund and was issued a purchase price refund, without the shipping. So perhaps this is how the seller makes his money? I don't know. I messaged the seller to see if he wanted them returned, crickets.
I guess their destiny is my Poshmark shop. Sigh.

Have you experienced any online shopping highs or lows? Do tell!

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.
Catherine's #shareAllLinkup

A Glint of Gold

The Textile Arts LA "Year of Mindful Mending" with Ruth Katzenstein Souza had its final meeting last week. Ruth provided us with the golden opportunity of playing the Golden Joinery game.

From their website:

A tear in your favorite jeans? Your grandmothers silk blouse with a worn collar? They form the basis for the GOLDEN JOINERY game:
a fashion first aid
a game to wear
a treasure box
an adventurous journey
The game will be hosted by YOU. You will invite some friends, ask them to bring a dear but broken garment and together you will repair your clothes with gold. No experience needed with needle and thread, you will learn by doing.
The GOLDEN JOINERY game will offer techniques and playful interventions. The cards will guide you through the levels on the gameboard to get to the finish: your unique minicollection of garments with golden scars. They will be part of the ‘new’ fashion brand GOLDEN JOINERY, inmediately spread both online and offline.

I brought my grey Danish Schoolbag that I've had since the '80s, it had become worn at the bottom of a pocket -- so much so that I'd taped over the pocket opening with blue tape so I wouldn't accidentally put anything in there.
No before photo! Forgot, and we had to put our phones away!

Game material and tools included (from website):

manuals
gameboard
deck of 27 Cards
8 Round cards
set of needles
box of pins
4 Bobbins golden thread
threader
6 golden fabrics
leftovers
a tea bag

I was so grateful for the game supplies, because the golden "thread" that I brought was wretched to work with. Refusing to go purchase thread, I pulled apart some gold chord from my "Christmas Wrap" box. Each ply of the 2-ply chord consisted of 10 threads.

It was the most devilish stuff!
Threading a needle was a challenge (even with a needle threader!) and stitching with it even more so.

I also used some provided gold vinyl -- the tear was beyond mending with mere stitching.

Here's my mend in its current state:

I used two more types of thread: lovely golden metallic thread that came with the game and gold-color embroidery floss.

All the mends:

Ruth, thank you so much for our Year of Mindful Mending. It was a wonderful experience!

Linking up with

Patti's Visible Monday

Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Catherine's #shareallLinkup

October Goals Summery

October Goals? Sure, whatever.
I did what I could, and I did pretty well.

October 10-14 I was in Houston working an art fair, sold six things.

Love those red "dots" (or whatever the geometrical term is for a quartered circle).

Two weeks later, I attended FierceCon with 33 completed "cards" of my "Fierce Deck".

A closer look at the completed cards:

click to embiggen

I plan to sketch everyone that attended!
I must admit, the sketching project was a great conversation starter.
No awkward standing around like I did in 2017.

Daily Goals: Weekly Goals: not going to bother with this
Fall Goals: reduce, reframe and focus on the positive!
54 FASHION SKETCHES 34/54
Get taxes done. DONE 10/15, 9pm   :) refunds (:  

Steps taken in my "self-directed MFA in Textiles at Anne M Bray U"
[don't ask about the curriculum][haha]
10/6 Bauhaus Beginnings exhibition, Getty, walkthrough with curator
10/19 Digital Weaving, Physical Computing (beginning Coding) IG post
10/22 Started Four Questions virtual mapping project -  click here to answer the questions!

10/26 Digital Weaving, Physical Computing (more Coding, plus basic weaving) IG post
10/30 Started Daily Detritus paper weavings series from trash generated at work

Daily Detritus: 10/30 from 10/29, color laser print paper weaving, triptych each 3x3", ©2019

Do you have any sort of "To Do" list? Or maybe a "Honey Do"?
I'll report back again at the end of the November.

Linking up with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #shareAllLinkup

Bauhaus Beginnings at the Getty

It's the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus and there have been many exhibitions world-wide commemorating this milestone.
Cameron Taylor-Brown organized a tour of Bauhaus Beginnings at the Getty, led by the co-curator Gary Fox.

Our group outside the Getty Research Institute
photo by Julia Taylor-Brown

The tour was fascinating and Gary was most erudite and skilled at presenting the information.

Gary Fox

I wish I had taken a wide shot of the space with all the color theory course work. I felt like I was surrounded by all my assignments from Otis Freshman Foundation Design (black and white work) and Color Theory (all those color chips). It bordered on the nightmarish!
Here's an IG post of some students with Gary:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @giulia_amoresano on Oct 4, 2019 at 7:11am PDT

The English translation of the Bauhaus curriculum
(from Instagram because I forgot to take a photo)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Janet Bellotto (@janetbellotto) on Aug 10, 2019 at 12:30pm PDT

I had no idea that the Otis curriculum was so similar! Theresa said it was the same for her, twenty years earlier in 1963.
I guess it's ironic that the school's teachings, in operation for only 14 years, closed by the Nazis in 1933, has universally proliferated the art and design world.

The show closes next week. There's a companion online exhibition which is worth checking out.
There is also a pdf of all the exhibition's wall text.

I posted my "best" photos on IG here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by anne m bray (@annembray) on Oct 6, 2019 at 7:19pm PDT

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #shareAllLinkup
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness

Fall Goals -- September Summery

Daily Goals:

Do a Daily Drawing. (Fashion sketches count). 14/30
I have been working (somewhat) diligently on my FierceCon fashion sketches.
It's been very hard keeping them secret.
I revealed two so now I will share them here:

Catherine of Catherine Grace O and the creator of FierceCon

Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style, FierceCon Excel chart maven

My ultimate goal is to get 54 done for the FierceCon weekend event that starts 10/25.
How is my progress? 25/54

Procreate doodles 4/30
I had to take a break. Was getting too scattered.

Weekly Goals:

Waterlogues from old road trip photos 14/4 / Post to Saatchi Art. 4/4
This got accelerated due to the upcoming Art Fair in Houston. Mostly creating new Waterlogues.
Posting to Saatchi later.

Sew and/or repair at least one garment. 0/4

List at least one item on Poshmark 1/4

link to item

Upload new art to Redbubble. 3/4
Redbubble now prints on SOCKS!!!!! 

I posted a promo image on Facebook and sold a pair within 1.5 hours!
Thank you anonymous purchaser! (Redbubble only tells us creators the country of origin).
Mosaic link

I have to upload new artwork for these -- for some reason, the scale is super tiny.
Very excited about this for all my Fluevog print fans.

Fluevog Adele link

Sew one patch onto Crazy Quilt 0/4
Nope. Just nope.

Fall Goals:

54 FASHION SKETCHES 13/54

Get taxes done. not yet -- DUE 10/15
Nope. Cue doom music. Guess what I'm doing Monday, 10/14.

DeClutter the living room (again). started and needs more constant/consistent work
Started again! There is hope!

Get sewing machine repaired. (how many years has this been broken now?) still not yet

Do you have any sort of "To Do" list? Or maybe a "Honey Do"?
I'll report back again at the end of the October, progress or not.

Linking up with
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #shareAllLinkup

#SecondHandSeptember This Week's Thrifty Find

It's another Fluevog Thrifty Find!

The Fluevog Tate

All my September Thrifty Finds will be Fluevogs. I've found that many!
Because of the lacing, I can get my foot into this Fluevog style. His slip-on boots? Not a chance.
Believe me, I've tried!

With Grunge/90's styles making a fashion return, these are perfect, toe scuffs and all.
Thank you, eBay!
Now I just need SoCal winter. I will not wear boots in 80-90F weather.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Catherine's #ShareAllLinkup