An all black kitty but I made her some super bright clothes so she won’t blend in anywhere!
We are expecting some real snow tomorrow- seems like the first time this winter! Not that I actually miss it but it is pretty weird having a January with hardly any weather under freezing.
And now a girl-
All her clothes are removable but there is no layers so no need to undress her.
A close-up of her embroidered purse and book.
He is an outdoor, roaming kind of kitty. He has a picnic in his backpack.
Suddenly it seems I am teaching a lot of classes!
Owls- At the Brookline Arts Center
Sunday Feb. 19, 12- 4
In March, I will be teaching 2 classes in Cambridge at GrayMist. On Saturday March 11, we will be making felt whales–
and on Saturday March 25, Tiny World Pincushions.
At the end of April, I will be going out to Los Angeles and teaching Tiny Worlds again- at French General on Saturday, April 22 and at Craftcation (which runs April 27 – 30).
I will also be making a Crafty Hand ornament at Craftcation.
I hope some of you can join me for a fun few hours of making. Give yourself a crafty retreat-from-the-world spa day.
I plan on getting these into my etsy shop soon- hopefully today. I will update here when they are listed.
All the foxes-
When I make a fox out of a knit, they usually end up being a little bigger.
Then, I need to readjust/tweak all the clothing patterns. Keeps things interesting, right?!
This fellow is another fox made from my hand-dyed wool.
He is dressed warmly for January weather.
She has a vintage Laura Ashley fabric dress. Oh, the 70’s!
I finally have a finished piece to show you!
This fox was a request from someone at CraftBoston, back in December. She saw this fox and then came back later but someone else had taken her home. I was asked if I could make another with the same fabric. Luckily, I still had it!
This fox (body) is made of some hand-dyed (by me) wool. I love the richness of the color.
William Morris inspired dress fabric, cashmere sweater with 1 antique button, Liberty of London wool shawl, wool felt purse. Hurray for finally #1- 2017 finished doll!
I have been working. I’m doing that part of the job where I am getting all the parts sorted out (matching dyed “tattooed” body piece to plain flesh color pieces and then cutting parts out), stuffing groups of already sewed animals (kitties and foxes) and giving them faces,
and moving forward with dressing some of the them. I had a fox girl that I had promised to make so those are moving forward first.
Soon I will have some finished pieces to show. But, the thing is, that really isn’t why I’ve been so quiet.
*** trigger warning for liberal politics- stop here if you can’t stand anymore***
I have just been so overwhelmed and distracted by what is happening here in the US. I have had a hard time focusing on my work. I get sucked into checking the news multiple times a day. My social media feeds (twitter, facebook) are filled with all the terrible news. I find myself thinking, I will just go peek and see what horrifying thing this new administration has done since the last time I looked. I know this is bad for me. I have to limit my exposure but I vacillate between feeling like I need to be informed and wanting to put my head under the covers and block everything out. I am a person who has struggled with depression my entire life but focusing on my work is what has kept me stable and functional for years now. I have to find my way back to my focus, and I know I will, but it is mental exercise and that is hard work.
This blog has never been a place for politics. Someone once told me that my blog was their little oasis from the real world. I am not planning on changing the focus of the blog. I will give a trigger warning if I feel like I need to vent again. But, I can’t remain completely silent. Someone in my life recently said to me, it doesn’t matter who won the election, they were both the same. Honestly, it ruined my day to think that anyone believes that and I consider it to be deliberate ignorance. We are at the beginning of a very scary time. I will be participating in some art projects as one of the ways I will express my resistance and that will be showing up here.
This is what I worked on all of Inauguration Day. It is for a community art project for the window at Gather Here.
And this is what I posted on Saturday in solidarity with all the Women marching.
Now that I’ve finally written this post, I am hoping I can get things back to normal around here, posting and all. I was feeling completely blocked so phew.
I posted all the dolls, and now the rest of the things that happened last year.
I started the year making foxes. They were for the window at Gather Here in Cambridge. And then I made more and more and more foxes until there were 18!
I also gave a talk about using social media at a local gallery in January. I did 2 talks this year because I also spoke about my work at a local church womens group in November. Getting in front of a group of people to talk is NOT my comfort zone but I do okay as long as I can show pictures and talk about the work.
In the Spring I went to Craftcation in Ventura, California and had an amazing time. So amazing that I am going back this year and also will be teaching! After the conference, Ben and I spent a week in the LA area having a most excellent vacation. So Many Tacos!
In May I found out that I had won an award from the Academy of Handmade for the Textiles:Woven division. I was so surprised and honored. I have my award hanging in my studio and it makes me happy whenever I look at it.
Also in May, we had a family gathering in Brooklyn for my son’s graduation and MFA celebration. I am always up for a trip to NY!
In September I went to Nashville which was honestly, pretty much a bust. But that happens sometimes.
In the fall, my 3rd line of ornaments came out at West Elm– an owl family. I was really pleased with how they turned out. Unfortunately, it looks like that is all for now- no new designs for 2017. Oh well, I was very happy to have the opportunity to work with them and was never expecting anything beyond the first year!
The last big thing was CraftBoston Holiday which was terrific. I was so happy with how that went. I was invited to participate and I am so glad I jumped at the chance. It had never really occurred to me to apply because I didn’t think it would be the right fit for my work. I was wrong! Now I am excited to start moving in a new direction- namely higher end, more fine craft shows. It will be interesting to see how that works out.
Because of the CraftBoston Holiday show, I ended up in 2 separate gift guides in the Boston Globe on the weekend after Thanksgiving- that was amazing!
So, it ended up being a pretty exciting year for me. Not everything was smooth or obvious or easy. I found the politics to be incredibly stressful but luckily for my artwork, the way I deal with stress is to go into my studio, shut the door, find an escapist audiobook, and get to work. I feel like I have a good idea of some new directions for me to pursue this year. I learned (reminded myself?) that I do better mentally, physically and creatively when I am busy and have deadlines. It is good for me to do shows and get out of the studio and be with people. I am hoping to do more teaching both locally and out in the bigger world. And, I want to get some more patterns made. I came to a crashing halt on more ornament patterns and I have to get back to them.
And the pattern for the dog. There, I said it so maybe that will make it happen! So, another year goes by and another year to look forward to. Happy New Year everybody and thanks so much for coming and visiting and being on this journey with me!