Please pass the bracelets.

Three ladies stepped up to the counter at the Oasis gallery, so I laid down my project to help them. One was trying on a bracelet by the amazing Ms. Sarah Lock. The other two were rather distracted by my project. This is how it sounded:

Two: Is that a quilt?
Three: It does look like a quilt, doesn’t it.
One: *admiring her bracelet along with the new one* I think these look good together.
Me: Oh, I do to.
Two: Can we see what you’re working on?
Three: Maybe she doesn’t want to show it.
Me: I don’t mind showing you. *I take it over to the sofa and spread it out so they can see the whole thing.*
Two: *gesturing* What’s it gonna be?
Three: Well, I think it’s a quilt.
Me: It’s a wall hanging.
Two: You’re going to hang it on the wall?
Three: Well sure, you suppose you could figure out a way to hang it on the wall.
One: *fingering the bracelet* I wore it all the time, never took it off.

Three: Oh I remember that bracelet, what happened to it?
Two: it’s funny shaped.
Three: Why yes, it does have an odd shape.
One: *Holding out her arm* I don’t know what happened to it, and I never got another one to replace it.

Two: are you going to hem it shaped like that?
Me: I’ll add a binding to the edges.
Two: She’s going to hem it and hang in on the wall.
Three: Well yes, it does need to be hemmed, now doesn’t it.
Two: It has a funny shape.
Three: Why yes, I believe it does.
One: *gangling her bracelets together* I like this one, it goes nicely with the one I’m wearing. (She’s saying this about one gold bracelet and one silver bracelet that are widely divergent styles.)
Two: Oh yes it does
Three: Oh yes, they are pretty together.

Two: Now what kind of fabric is that?
Me: *Pointing again to different sections of the work* These are hand dyed, this is hand marbled fabric, these are commercial fabrics and this is linen and this is silk.
Two: That IS linen, and that IS silk, I didn’t even notice them until you pointed them out.
Three: Oh I didn’t notice them either, but you’re right, there they are, right there.
One: *moving her arm around in the air* I paid a lot for that one and wore it for years, I wonder what happened to it.

Three: Did you lose it?
Two: Did you use Rit Dye?
Three: Why yes, I suppose you have to dye it to get it to look like that.

Me: No, I used a professional dye called Procion Dye.
Two: Oh, see? She used special dyes to make the fabric those colors
Three: Why yes, those colors are very pretty.
One: *toying nervously with the price tag* It really is pretty isn’t it and it’s only $50.
Me: That’s a good price for a silver bracelet made by hand.

Three: That's a good deal.
Two: And are you going to leave it that odd shape?
Three: Yes, it is a funny shape now isn’t it.
Me: Yes, I’ll leave it.
One: *dropping her arm to her side in resignation.* Well, I’m not going to buy it, guess I should put it back.
Me: Oh, and it looks so good on you.
Two: You’re not going to buy it?
Three: Oh, I think you should buy it
Me: Oh yes, it’s lovely on you.
One: Well, alright, maybe I will.

I go to write up the ticket to sell the bracelet to the woman who is already wearing it.

*sigh*

So here is my oddly shaped quilted wallhanging (that I shall hang on the wall) with the hand dyed fabrics (but I don't use rit.) Please pass the bracelets.

I've started the binding, and all I have left is the sewing by hand part and then it will be finished unless I decide to add something else.

In the zone

It started with this new chunk of fabric

And then I added a few others, mostly hand dyed with a few commercial ones thrown in.
And I was just minding my own business making something for my kitchen to replace the winter scene that just has to go.

And something really unexpected

started to happen

and I found the flow

and I got lost in the work

and remembered...

why I do what I do.

Yeah.

The Dye Babies

I recently picked up some seaweed stuff to make marbled fabrics. It’s an interesting process and when I had the gallery I sold many silk scarves by a local woman who hand marbles fabrics. I’ve never actually seen it done in person and would really love a class. I know I don’t have the right dyes for it, mine were a bit on the thin side and just spread out too much to leave behind much vibrant color for the fabric to soak up. I’m pretty sure I’m doing some of the other stuff wrong as well but I enjoyed the process and have some interesting fabrics as a result. So no complaints here. Though I have a big marbling tray in my kitchen with three gallons of seaweed slime laced with dyes. And I have no idea what to do with it! Does this stuff kill grass? Should I just throw it outside? (And hope the dogs don’t get into it.) I don’t think hubby would approve of dumping it down the drain. Hmmm… decisions, decisions.
So here are some results. They aren’t marbled so much as just an exploration of what the dye did when it hit the surface of the seaweed, I found that far more interesting than the ones who are swirled in the traditional marbling way. It’s the Jackson Pollock in me I guess. Honestly though, there are a lot of experiments left in this process. I think I’ll keep exploring. Which ones do you like best? I can't decide.

Quilts in the Sun

The sun came out finally, and I was able to catch a few snaps of these quilts. This red and white quilt is one I worked on all during the musical “Shenandoah Moon.” The red is a reproduction of a vintage red from the 1930’s and the play was set in 1933 so I felt like it was a good fit. There are also ecru parts in the design that are a little harder to see in this photo. I consider it a modified Irish Chain pattern.

I hand quilted it during practices and hemmed it during dress rehearsals between my scenes. I did about half of it by hand and other parts are machine quilted, which may seem a little strange but it actually works quite nicely in person. I will keep it as a reminder of the amazing people I enjoyed getting to know. I would come in to the green room, sit down and quilt, and my new friends would come and keep me company. It was good. The show is over and I miss them.

Baby quilt for Harlen (and Misde, my constant companion)

I used the quilt during the show. I entered folding it a number of times, as if it just came off the laundry line. It turned out to be too much to wrap the baby in, so I never was actually able to use it for its intended purpose but that’s ok. The second to last show it was draped over the porch railing in one scene. By the final show it remained on that porch railing through a number of scenes. I made a rag doll for another scene in the show out of the same fabrics. I think I’ll see that back one of these days, at least I hope so. They said they’d mail it. Thankfully the character that I played is long gone but the quilt remains, along with the memories.

These two small pieces are the first ones to come out of my first experimentation with procion dyes. They are a combination of cotton, silk and linen plus some dyed white on whites and I’m delighted with what the added texture does to the composition though it’s difficult to tell any of that from the photos.

The silks... oh they are soooo pretty! They are not finished, I need to bind them and that should do it unless I decide to add something more but I don't think it's needed at this point. I would like to name them but their mood perplexes me, not sure what all is there emotionally in these two. I was surprised at how somber they looked finished.

After the Rain

The rain gave way a little while this afternoon and I ventured out to see what was happening on the outside. This is our first Spring in this house so I don’t know what kinds of plants are even in my yard at this point. Here are a few of the high points. I haven't touched anything, I have not so much as removed a single weed. I will eventually get out there and try to work a little order on the chaos, but at this point I don't even know what everything is.
I believe this patch of tall things are going to burst into lovely peonies soon enough, but I’m little concerned about the vine that surrounds the patch. Hmm… Anyone know how to get rid of poison ivy without succumbing to its horrors? And some lovely honeysuckle below.
And again, lovely batch of lily of the valley, with the sentinel poison ivy… argh! And slippery rocks. Note to self, do not stand on slippery rocks after the rain. (Well, duh!)
This pretty pink thing comes in a bush form, never seen one of these before. But it's pink, so I love it.
How long will it bloom? What else does it do? I'll be watching.
Big thorny thing with just a few sprouting rose leaves. Hmmm... I am told it is yellow and something really special by the neighbor. Looks like it has been badly neglected and I'm not sure I'm a rose bush kind of gardener but I'll be watching this one with interest to see what happens. Maybe I could become a rose bush kind of gardener. I remember when I was a child helping with the care of the rose gardens each Spring and Fall, it was a big job but so fun to see a pretty bloom on one of the plants. (Provided you can get it before the bugs do.)
Another rose, I wonder what this one will do.
I should be walking around my house more, this one caught me by surprise, I hadn't even known these lovely lavender ladies were even there.
I need to spend some time making a plan for my yard. We aren't going to do a veggie garden this year but hopefully some plants in containders on the deck will yield a bit of this and that. That should work.

Oh, You're an Artist? What Media?

I’ve been hearing that question a lot lately and sometimes I’m not certain how to respond. I’ve worked in a wide variety of media over the years and naming every one of them doesn’t seem like the answer that fits the situation in most cases. I’ll generally say something like “well, today it was jewelry” or “I’m currently working in textiles and soap making.” I also hear people making a distinction between arts and crafts, considering soap making to be a craft and drawing or painting to be an art. Plus I sometimes hear people make the assumption that to be an artist means that I paint pictures. Well, I’m here to set the record straight. Or at least my little part of the record.Over the years I wrestled with myself, learning early on that art was considered a luxury by most people, the kind of thing one does if one has leftover time and resources. I believed at the time that I’d always make a living some other way, that art would be/could only ever be my hobby. But something changed all that. I remember the first time I came home to my identity as an artist. I was a student in college, I had three years of a Social Work degree and I’d just been denied entrance into the Social Work department at my college. I hated the classes and dreaded most of the professors, my grades were horrible, but I was learning stuff that was impacting my life anyway. (When I showed up.) Their rejection sent me reeling, I was young and ultra-idealistic and I wanted to make a difference in the world. And it seemed that my friends thought this is how one could go about that – by helping people as a Social Worker. It was a turning point for me, one of several. Now college was on my dime and I went off to Art School. I finished my education with excellent grades and a group of professors that I enjoyed. I had come home to my identity as an artist.Faced with real life on outside the hallowed halls of education, I got jobs. “Real jobs.” And I hated most of them. I’m rather creative and I tended to be bored out of my mind with a new job after only three months. My creativity was becoming a liability and there were very few jobs that I kept for any real length of time. I worked for liars, thieves and crazy people mostly. And in my thirties I found myself in the wilderness of Virginia, betrayed by my spiritual parents, suffering some huge personal losses and in one of the darkest depressions of my entire life. And something amazing happened.

"Lady Liberty" Watercolor

I had a dream in the night. I was in a room rimmed with doors and each door led to a different reality. There was one door that led to a well worn path that was hanging on by only one hinge. There were other doors that were solid and unyielding. I knew in the dream that something was about to happen, that I needed to prepare. I knew I had to close the doors to prepare. And so I went around that room pulling those doors shut. Some clicked closed easily, and the one door that led to the garden was so worn that I had to finagle it closed with a bit of stray wire. I left that room through one door and into other dreamscapes that evening.

"The Homestead by Morning Light" Watercolor plus Colored Pencils

The following day I sat at my desk (I was working as an art salesperson in a high end gallery that dealt in antique artwork) I began to explore what this amazing vibrant dream meant to me. I believe that dreams are parables, and sometimes meaning can be found there that applies to life. And I found in that dream the story of my life. I had tried many different things and nothing held my attention though I always went home to the same hobby. I had a visitation that day with God. There was an amazing presence in that room, it was a very rich spiritual environment that day. And my Creator began to show me a few things that I hadn’t really understood up until that time."Dogwood" (my first art quilt) hand dyed fabrics, sheers, beads and ribbon.

I pulled out paper and began to write down the labels on all the doors of my life, all the opportunities I’d had and all the things I wanted to do someday. And when I finally sat back and looked at the list, God gave me a gift of clarity. I saw on that page a person who had tried every door in the room but never gotten very far down any path. I realized that it was time to close all the other doors and walk through the one marked “artist.” And it hit home. My Creator had made me to be an artist. And while others may consider it a luxury or something only ever worthy of being a hobby, it was and is my calling.

"Floral Pearl Necklace" sorry the photo is so washed out.

People who have had a brush with death talk about their lives passing before their eyes. Well, I had my theology passing before mine. All the Bible verses I’d studied looking for meaning were now parading through my head. And some things clicked into place like nothing I’ve seen before. I could write volumes of the “download” that occurred in that place that day (I will write that book!) but this isn’t the place. I can only say that that day I became aware of a sense of calling and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. I recognized that I had skill, ability and knowledge that had been given or orchestrated by God. I was an artist, it was a revelation. That is my open door, and that is what my dream taught me. I realized that day that it didn’t matter what media I worked in, what mattered was that I released and reflected the beauty of God into the earth. And that can be done in a million different ways."Healing Hands" created for John Dufour with prints made for the Dufour family.

So I work in a variety of media, some folks will consider some of them art and some craft. I tend to believe that anything that an artist does is art, that craft is for those with hobbies. Not to suggest that everything I create is worth sharing – no! I have quite a bit of reject projects in storage, just ask my ex-husband! "The Winter Rose" pen and ink drawing for a program cover.
I’ve sold artwork or won awards in the following art media: In art school I concentrated mainly on painting and Interior Design in addition to a wide variety of media that I explored there. Jewelry design - beading in particular. My biggest award to date was in jewelry design and I’ve had work on the back cover of beading magazines and in catalogs. "Autumn" Mixed media college, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, paper towel, buttons, photos, glazes, etc.
I won a “Best in Show” award for a piece that was mixed media collage with glazes and found objects.

"Iris" Watercolor layered with Colored Pencils

I’ve also won awards for a piece that was a combination of watercolor layered with colored pencils and another piece that was a pencil drawing. "Iris" a pencil portrait inspired by meeting Jeff Chapmen-Crane

Another award came for my hand painted art glass (not molten glass work but creating a finish on reclaimed glass.) Let’s see… polymer clay, mostly to make beads and jewelry components. Uh… painting in acrylics, oils and watercolors. Drawing in pencil, pen & ink and colored pencils. Recently I’ve revived an interest in quilting, launching into hand dying fabrics in cotton, linen and silk and very soon I’ll be trying marbling some fabric. I’m looking forward to that. I’ve done some banners and art instillations with fabric in a congregation I attended in the 90’s that was very open to experiencing God through the arts. I’ve designed a few homes and designed quite a few renovation projects and done all my own Interior Design work. I’ve toyed with metal clay, print making, ceramics, enamels, wire working, and metal working.

"HOPE" a quilt inspired by the work of Melody Johnson

I do all my own product photography and dabble in other kinds of photography. I’ve worked for quite some time as a professional cake designer and I’ve toyed with gourmet chocolate. Oh, and a florist, I did that also for a few years. And that’s all I can think of at the moment.

"Tiara" custem order for Prom inspired by the work of Bekki Fahrer.

Product Photography by Charles Garratt

Oh, I write poetry and other stuff. I have co-written and directed an impressionistic drama, and I periodically perform music – vocal and piano. I dabble in guitar and I’ve written a few songs. So clearly I’ll try anything that is creative. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I’m the Soap Lady at the local farmer’s market. I love creating new kinds of soap that marry the visual elements of color and texture with the sense of smell. I consider it an artistic treat to include fragrance in my work. That laundry list sounds like I’m bragging but I know that the gift to create didn’t come from me, I am only its steward. And that only by Grace. So ask me again what media I work in and I’ll respond with what I’m doing at the moment. Tomorrow it might be something else altogether. I’m an artist and honestly the media really doesn’t matter - at least not to me. I was designed to create, to release God’s beauty in the earth. And so with a huge helping of God’s grace… ever onward. I am Carmen Rose. I am an artist. And I am grateful.

Adventures in Soaping

I made soap this week. I’ve been making confetti soap, which is just cut up bits of colorful soaps enrobed in warm soap and it solidifies into a whole new chunk of soap. It all wears together as it is used and since each bit of confetti is a different color and fragrance combination, it makes a soap that is an ever changing treat for the senses as it is used. This is my favorite kind of soap to use because it's always different. Here are a few of my favorites:
This one is perhaps the prettiest one and it smells like a combination of honeysuckle mixed with lime... now you wouldn't think that would work, but it DOES!

This one smells like the flowering trees of Spring time. It's floral with a hint of sweet and almond. A lovely and fairly traditional combo.

This one smells like chocolate chip cookies and kind of looks like chocolate chip cookie dough. Yummm... Same idea, only in heart shaped molds:

This may be the strangest soap I’ve ever made. I call it “Fresh Green Grass” yep, as in yard. It’s a combination of some delightful evergreens and some exotic spices... and Chocolate… and again – you wouldn’t think that would work. Oh but it does! And I just think it is funny looking. Wish I had thought to make it with hemp soap but it didn’t occur to me until it was made. Everything around here has been covered in a fine layer of yellow pollen until the rains came, so I included some yellow jojoba beads dusted over the top for that fresh pollen look.
In the coming days I’ll be taking down my website and putting up something entirely different. I haven’t gotten past designing the front page though so it could take a while. I want to use it more as a portfolio and possibly have a few things available for sale, but not much really. Since I do work in a variety of media, putting together an organized presentation of what I’ve done and do on a regular basis can be a little complicated so I’ll just keep working at it until I’m ready to launch it on an unsuspecting world. Then who knows what will happen.