I woke up in Sedona, and the view was amazing from my room. Hot air balloons slowly rose up over the hills, and the colors were breathtaking.
On Tuesday afternoon, after finishing the first day of the workshop for the Verde Valley Weavers in Sedona, AZ, one of the members of the guild drove me around the corner from the workshop to stop and see the house of one of my oldest friends, Candiss Cole, an amazing woman, and designer who lives in Sedona. I stood for Candiss for her wedding in 2004, we go back all the way to 1980 when we were across the aisle from each other at the Gaithersburg Craft Fair in Maryland. We became instant friends, and have shared many amazing adventures together. It was my one regret on this trip that Candiss would be on the east coast while I was in her home town, teaching around the corner from her house.
So we stood in front of her house, listening to her dogs bark, sending big hugs back to the east coast, and that night, I posted on her Facebook page how I missed her and I loved how her house looked.
Turns out, she was home, her trip had been delayed a couple of days, and on Wednesday she ran over to the workshop with her staff, and we had a great little visit. That night, Candiss and I went out to dinner to a wonderful local restaurant, Elote Cafe along with two of the women from the workshop.
I left Sedona after dinner, and we drove the hour and a half to Prescott, over a treacherous mountain in the dark. I’m glad it was dark, I’m not use to mountain passes and javalina pigs running across the road, and cliffs straight down the mountain, and winding roads that seem like you are riding a Tilt a Whirl in an amusement park. I’ll take a NJ interstate anyday. I know I’m a wimp…
When I arrive at a new location in the dark, and it is dark, it is always a treat to wake up and see where I actually am in the daylight.
The house I’m staying in is just a cacophony of colors and artwork, and fibers and books and I felt instantly at home. The house is nestled in a hilly area of Prescott, with a very different terrain than Sedona, and much different views. There were small patches of snow on the patio, and Prescott has more of a winter, with temperatures in the 40’s. The driveway was amazing, a simple dirt drive, but it meandered through the most beautiful rock formations, huge boulders and craggy trees, and made a stark comparison to the magnificent red rock formations of Sedona. I loved it.
I just finished the 2-day workshop for the Mountain Spinners and Weavers in Prescott, AZ. What a wonderful group of women. They worked like Tim Gunn was in the room telling them, designers, you have one hour to complete your look before leaving for the runway.
The workshop was another class, where the students brought their handwoven fabric, and they all made vests from that fabric, custom fit to their bodies. They still have a lot of handwork, but I’m so proud of the fact that all 11 students actually had a vest to try on at the end. There were still some armhole bands and neckbands that needed to be finished, but they all seemed happy and thrilled they had gotten so far.
Tomorrow I lecture to the full guild, and then make my way back to Phoenix, where I will give the same two day vest workshop to their guild. I’m on autopilot, and all my hard work before this trip has paid off, I have everything I need waiting at each stop, and everyone has been so great at feeding me terrific food and putting me up in such wonderful comfortable homes.
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I made it out of the snow, into beautiful sunny Southern California, and I kissed the ground as I got off the plane. OK, maybe I didn’t actually, but I thought about it. My ride was waiting for me in the baggage area, and my hostess for the weekend, Marj, took me to her lovely home in the Pacific Palisades, where there were flowers and green things, and sunshine.
Once I got settled, we went on a field trip to the Fowler Museum, to see the Nick Cave “Meet Me at the Center of the Earth” Exhibit. I missed the show when it was in NYC last year, and I love Nick Cave’s work. I actually took a workshop from him many years ago at Peters Valley, and I was so disappointed to have missed his work in NY. So this was a real treat. There is a fabulous photo tour of the exhibit on the Fowler website. Not to be missed.
I started early the next morning, lecturing to the Southern California Handweavers Guild, a fabulous group, their show and tell was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Of course many of the pieces shown were just completed in time for the Convergence Exhibit deadlines, so it was nice to hear some of the stories behind the pieces. And there were some new weavers who told of their struggles and perseverance, and I love to hear those stories as well. I love the raw enthusiasm of a new weaver, as they explore a world just like I did so many many years ago.
The workshops went well, my only mistake was not to ship more monographs than I did, I underestimated how much they would want my books. So I’ll just have to go home, and print a whole bunch more and ship them to California.
My flight yesterday to Phoenix was pretty uneventful, once I left LAX, where the TSA security lines were the longest I’ve ever seen in an airport. I hope it was because it was the end of a holiday weekend, but literally it was more than a mile, through two corrals, down an escalator, out the door, down the road where the cars drop off passengers, all the way to the next terminal. I made it to my flight, fortunately I’m pretty good at getting to airports two hours ahead.
So now I have finished the first day of a two day workshop in Sedona Arizona, staying in the most spectacular Craftsman style home nestled in the canyon, where the Milky Way streaks across the sky at night, where it is so dark you can see the planets. My class is terrific, all have handwoven fabric, and they are busy making vests. All are cut out and ready to sew first thing tomorrow morning. I’ve had too many fabulous meals out, and am having trouble fitting into my two pair of jeans I brought for the trip. I think I’m going to have to switch to salads for the rest of the trip!
The rock formations in Sedona are of course incredible. The view from the window of the classroom makes me understand the lure of the gorgeous vistas. The couple who own the house where I am staying are retired from , of course, New Jersey.
I’ll leave you with a couple of inspirational photos, I’m not sure when I’ll have access to the computer again, since I move around every 48 hours or so, and not everyone has WiFi available. 
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It’s about an hour and fifteen minutes before Project Runway, and I just got back from All you Can Eat Sushi. What a way to spend my last night home. And on top of that, my son sent us four letters today, newsy, and comforting. The snow began to melt, everything is cleared away thanks to my husband who has a snow blower and is not afraid to use it, and my 17 year old daughter, who ventured out back today and cleared off the decking. I never touched a flake. The gratitude here is overwhelming. The power held, I’m checked in for my flight, so far it is on time, (I’ll believe it when I am actually on the tarmac ready to take off…). I feel like the universe today, at least for me anyway, has righted itself. Tomorrow is another day.
All of my bags are packed, and after tedious reworking of my computerized packing lists for each class, I was able to zero in on the most important things to bring, and get it all into the two suitcases, each under 50 pounds. I don’t know how that happened. I am very lucky that out of the eleven workshops/seminars I’m giving in the next two weeks, many are repeats and none required very weighty materials. Of course I spent more than $250. shipping stuff ahead. That has something to do with it…
So, until I am safely in Southern California and can find some time and an internet connection, enjoy the rest of February, the Olympics, the promise of spring just around the corner, and in the words of my favorite T-Shirt Artist Fred Babb: Go to your Studio and Make Stuff…
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Well it was inevitable. I hung on, one foot in front of the other, trying to stay on top of the lists, and ahead of the schedule. Best laid plans. I was doing pretty well, going into the weekend. Really wishing I could just sit down and sew, or paint a warp, or do something other than prepare for my trip, I never-the-less plowed ahead, after all, this is my job, and I don’t get paid unless I fly someplace and teach. And I haven’t done that since last November. So, if i want to continue living in the manner in which I am accustomed, I need to work, and therefore, I need to do this prep work, though I probably shouldn’t have said yes to the guild commitments in March.
Anyway, on Sunday morning, my husband, for many many reasons which I won’t dwell on here, decided that we would be better off if we moved all our email accounts off the host server for my website, and onto Google as a host server, apparently there is an APP for that. And for many of those reasons, I agreed to let him make the switch, they all made sense, but I will say I wasn’t expecting it to happen on Sunday, six days before I leave for a 6 week marathon. Of course moving his account was no problem. When he went to do mine… well lets just say that we finally got it up and running properly on the new server, today, that would be Tuesday. And I’m slowly losing all my hair from ripping it out. It makes nice curls when it hits the floor in clumps… So, Amy, my mail to you won’t be blocked anymore, since I probably shared space on the old host server with a porn site or two, and now, I can access my mail files from my laptop on the road, or any place I can access Google and still keep my original email address. It is a wonderful thing, but, don’t try this at home, or at least don’t try this six days before you plan to go out of town…
I think I printed over 300 monographs and handouts, and I have a serious wrist sprain from all the binding. I’ve trekked boxes to the shipper, I’ve cut bolts of pattern paper, interfacing, and assorted materials, organized and categorized, and made my poor brain explode. But I was doing pretty well, in spite of the mess with my computer, until the weather report yesterday. That put me over the edge. Yes I know an 18″ of snow blizzard is out of my control, yes I know I just need to not stress about it and keep breathing, yes I know I’ll eventually make it to LA, hopefully in time to teach Saturday. And yes, I know there is a good chance of a power outage during that blizzard and I won’t be able to print, back up and transfer files, download books on tape onto my iTouch for the trip, or any of the 4000 things on my to do list that require electricity for the next 48 hours.
So, I went into emergency plans, that is to re-prioritize my to do list in order of electrical usage. So all the books/handouts/monographs are printed, (there was a huge delay there since the $500. worth of ink I ordered got stuck in Tennessee and was late coming in on the Fed Ex truck). All the books on tape are downloaded. I’ve transferred back up files of my presentations to my thumb drive. The only thing remaining that requires the computer, is entering the remaining four shows. I will do that first thing tomorrow morning. The snow isn’t suppose to start until later tonight anyway. And I’ll finish vacuuming my house tonight, leaving the bathrooms and kitchen to clean tomorrow and Thursday(which don’t take electricity), I’d like to leave behind a clean house so it won’t be cited by the health department when I return in two weeks. 
But the good news is, I did manage a couple of creative escapades in spite of everything, so I can show you a couple of pictures that don’t involve comb binding spines and an HP laser printer…
Remember the rocker I recovered starting last October 31st? I finished recovering the rocker pretty quickly, but decided to weave the braid for the trim, which was about 6 yards. I had the inkle loom warped for the final couple of yards, but never got around to finishing it, and since it was the back of the rocker, and no one saw it, I wasn’t real driven to put it on the top of my priority list.
Sunday night, I curled up on the couch, the way I imagine knitters do in the evenings. My husband and I watched the Super Bowl together, eating Super Bowl junk food and watching the silly commercials. I brought the little inkle loom down and sat and wove off the remaining two yards of trim, and glued it on this morning. I can’t be happier with it. The rocker is done, and my mother-in-law, who gave us the rocker as a wedding present 32 years ago, is smiling down at me.
And yesterday morning I went to my guild meeting, Frances Irwin Handweavers. We’ve been focusing on some surface design technique for the last couple of programs, and this month (I missed last month with the flu), Jenny taught us all to do some needle felting. Since I’ve done needle felting, and I didn’t really have all the required tools she wanted, and I read the newsletter too late to request a kit, and because I really didn’t have time to plan too much, I just brought along my needle felting machine and cheated. So sue me…
But, it was just what the doctor ordered.
And, on top of that, I answered a challenge from Donna Kallner, who writes a creativity blog, and suggested a creative exercise, using a dictionary and finding a word and making up a definition and basing a design exercise on the definition. I had commented that it would be fun to use the funny words you get for what’s called a Captcha, the group of letters that come up, that you have to retype when you comment on some blogs. So Donna challenged her readers to pick a medium (I picked felt, don’t have a clue why, thought it would be quick?) and a time frame, (I picked an hour), and send it to her in a comment, and use the Captcha you were assigned as inspiration. Well I answered the challenge, and my word was “dededn”. I read it as a sort of mythical dead end, and I had that in mind when I started drawing out a design with the pencil for my needle felted piece yesterday at the guild. Am I efficient or what?
I still have to do the other edge of the piece, but I can’t tell you what fun I had just playing. I worked both sides of the cloth, and I’d love to be able to sit down and finish but it will probably have to wait until I get back. OK, I’ve already spent an hour, so my time is up, but another 15 minutes won’t hurt anyone. Anyway Donna, I’m doing my best!
In case we do lose power and I can’t blog, or I just completely run out of time, I’ll do my best to write in from the road, and send photos when I can. I’m looking forward to the trip, the crazy part is getting ready, leaving stacks of stuff for my husband to deal with in my absence, making sure everything is in order and all the details are covered. Once I’m on the plane, there is nothing to do but sit and read a trashy Janet Evanovich book and relax.
Oh, and if you notice that once in awhile, a message comes up that says there is a memory problem and my blog isn’t available, we are aware of the problem, that accounts for the other pile of hair on the floor, that pile is from my husband ripping his hair out, and we are basically convinced that my current host server (the one that shares porn sites), doesn’t offer the full capabilities of Word press and what we really need to do is dump the server completely, go to Pair Networks, and bring in Word Press directly, and start over. And that’s why ladies and gentlemen, I’ve come completely unglued. Just keep trying my blog, it eventually comes back…
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Our lead story tonight, is the storm of the century, bracing for the onslaught of what the media defined as a record breaking snow fall, already wreaking havoc on the mid Atlantic coast, the NY area prepared for the worst. Supermarkets were cleared of anything necessary to weather the storm through the Super Bowl on Sunday, and then there was nothing to do but wait. And wait… And wait. At dawn this morning, as the sun began to lighten the sky, there was, what’s this? Not a flake? Not a single bit of snow from the Storm of the Century?
Even an hour south of us, there was snow. My mom called in from the Baltimore area, they had 30″ and it was still coming down. We had nothing but brown grass. It was almost disappointing. My sister in rural northern Maryland still can’t get out of her street, and life as we know it has stopped from about a half hour south of us, all the way to the Carolina’s. My husband and I kept checking out the window, thinking we were probably dreaming. Alas. The strong arctic cold front pushed down from Canada and pushed the whole storm just south of us. So all we got was a bunch of wind. C’est la vie…
In other news, my son wrote his third letter today from boot camp, clearly loving that I am writing daily, “Don’t stop writing mom”… and telling us of his grand adventures. They are spending their days shooting in the field, and will soon engage in hand to hand combat. My son reports that he likes the structure, having his days planned out, and eating three meals a day. The only thing he really really misses, is Taylor Ham, Egg and Cheese sandwiches. A staple of all NJ diners. We buy 8 pound rolls of Taylor Ham. Some call it Pork Roll, but it is a real NJ delicacy. He use to get up at 2am and make Taylor Ham sandwiches. Gotta love it.
I wish I could tell you all the wonderful creative things I’m doing in my studio since I last blogged. Truth is, I haven’t done anything creative, all I’ve done is print, bind, organize spreadsheets, print some more, pack and ship handouts and materials for the workshops for the next couple of weeks. That and entering shows, writing proposals, and fighting with a bookkeeping program which I hate. (I really loved Microsoft Money and since they stopped supporting it, and we switched to Quicken, my really flexible personality is having a meltdown). And it isn’t like I have all the time in the world to figure all this out. I am bleary eyed, and have a sprained wrist from all the binding. Actually I sprained my wrist last Tuesday trying to do a hand stand in yoga, but it makes for more drama if I say its from the binding machine. That’s probably just aggravating the situation.
So this is the best I can do for photos.
Here is my workhorse of a printer, which I adore, and don’t know what I’d do without.
And here is my cutting table, nothing colorful and creative on it, just lists, handouts, binding combs, and monographs. And pattern paper, and interfacing, and whatever else has to go in the box ahead of the class. Two boxes have been shipped, one is ready to go, and the next one just needs another dozen packages of interfacing. The last one will be the nightmare, it is a huge guild and there are four different lecture/workshops. And lots of participants. So I have Staples shipping me another 5000 sheets of paper, and I’ve ordered another $450 worth of ink.
To all of you who are spending the weekend digging out, my heart goes out to you. Stay safe, and don’t overdo it.
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I woke up in Sedona, and the view was amazing from my room. Hot air balloons slowly rose up over the hills, and the colors were breathtaking.
Turns out, she was home, her trip had been delayed a couple of days, and on Wednesday she ran over to the workshop with her staff, and we had a great little visit. That night, Candiss and I went out to dinner to a wonderful local restaurant, Elote Cafe along with two of the women from the workshop.
The house I’m staying in is just a cacophony of colors and artwork, and fibers and books and I felt instantly at home. The house is nestled in a hilly area of Prescott, with a very different terrain than Sedona, and much different views. There were small patches of snow on the patio, and Prescott has more of a winter, with temperatures in the 40’s. The driveway was amazing, a simple dirt drive, but it meandered through the most beautiful rock formations, huge boulders and craggy trees, and made a stark comparison to the magnificent red rock formations of Sedona. I loved it.
The workshop was another class, where the students brought their handwoven fabric, and they all made vests from that fabric, custom fit to their bodies. They still have a lot of handwork, but I’m so proud of the fact that all 11 students actually had a vest to try on at the end. There were still some armhole bands and neckbands that needed to be finished, but they all seemed happy and thrilled they had gotten so far.
Tomorrow I lecture to the full guild, and then make my way back to Phoenix, where I will give the same two day vest workshop to their guild. I’m on autopilot, and all my hard work before this trip has paid off, I have everything I need waiting at each stop, and everyone has been so great at feeding me terrific food and putting me up in such wonderful comfortable homes.
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