The computer gods smiled at me today…

I spent the last couple of days really focused on the guild website I’m building, wanting to get it put to bed so I can concentrate on getting this yardage done.  I am not proficient with the software at all, the learning curve is huge, and I find that I occasionally get something I just don’t know how to correct.  That happened last night.  I actually had the whole site created, and uploaded, and when I checked the web pages, I just couldn’t get rid of the ugly blue active link boxes around all the little menu buttons.  I knew I had to code the fix somewhere in the CSS, but I went to bed frustrated and depressed, and not sure how I was going to fix the problem.  So of course, no way to shut my little brain off.  I really didn’t sleep at all last night…  🙁

I got up this morning, determined to figure this out, or redesign the whole website, and my wonderful buddy Sally tossed me an email that said, why don’t you query the problem in Dreamweaver online help?  Duh (she says as she smacks herself on an already bruised side of the head…)

And of course, Sally was right on target.  It took about 45 seconds to find the little piece of code necessary to fix the problem, which I embedded and viola!  I had a site that looked the way I envisioned.  Now I’m just waiting for feedback from the group, typos, missed links, weird things happening with obscure browsers, and whatever else they can come up with.  Check out the site if you are curious…   Frances Irwin Handweavers

So the computer gods were my friends today, and after a frustrating week, I’m happy with the final product.  And I made a big ceremonious cross off my to do list on that project.  I still have to build the gallery, but I don’t feel so pressured on that part at the moment.

Meanwhile, I got a couple of calls/emails today from former students, just checking in on how much my workshops meant to them, and one of them Regina Novotny sent photos of what she’s done with the information from the class.  Regina wove the fabric for this coat, and tailored it from the pattern we used in the jacket class. Talk about a great big vote of confidence.  I felt really proud of my students, and how they’ve taken what I’ve given them, and run with it.  Two of the students who called today, want me to come and do a private session at their studio in the mountains of West Virginia in June.  I’m really really looking forward to that…

So, having a huge smile on my face, and a finished website, I turned to my cutting table which was completely unusable and cleaned it off.  There is nothing like a clean workspace to get the muses dancing…

On Sunday, I attended the opening at the George Segal Gallery at Montclair State University, for the Art Connections 6 exhibit.  I have two pieces in the show.  The opening was packed, hard to see the work, which was hung salon style, filling the walls floor to ceiling, and of course, one of my pieces was near the floor.  We all had stiff knees after squatting down discussing the imagery and iconography of the piece.

I had one of my smaller Personal Posts pieces there as well.  It was sort of lost between two bright and colorful pieces, yet there were a lot of people peering close to really see what was happening in the piece.

I met a couple of women I hadn’t seen in more than 25 years, one of them I went to art school with in the mid 1970’s.  I love the connections one makes at these kind of openings, and lots of business cards were exchanged.

So, now I’m going to focus on getting this fabric off the loom before the end of the month, so I can get it photographed and entered in the Convergence yardage exhibit.  I would have liked to have submitted more than one piece, but that’s not going to happen…

The fabric is weaving pretty well, the sticky springy cotton lace is still giving me a bit of grief, but I just ignore it and build up a rhythm.  I’ve finished about a quarter of the yardage, and I’m hoping to blow through another couple of yards tomorrow.  It is so pretty to weave, each time the cloth is advanced a whole new color section reveals itself.  🙂