Exquisite Corpse Unshrouding

There are now 3 completed pieces back in the hands of the original owners! Considering that the final deadline for this round robin was in August, these really liquesced :}

Nellie's Durand's "Pattern" EC 
Michelle Bond's "Create" EC

Reta Brunner's "Grief/Loss" EC A closeup of my square for Nellie:

arlee barr's square 4 nellie durand's EC

You can see where i "joined" my square to Nellie's and to Vero's---with my stencilling and painting, i imitated Nellie's printing, and also tied in with Vero's ribbon work. 

The very first thing i have learned with this exercise, is to be direct and to have clear photos and instructions! We have been having some fabulous discussions and critiquing happening on the Yahoo group, delving into the mechanics and the practice and how to improve on the concept. Because i, the hostess, originator, and Grand Corpse Vizieress, wasn't on the ball from the beginning, so far we have only one piece that sort of qualifies as an Exquisite Corpse. No one's fault but mine! All the work done though is wonderful and covers the whole spectrum of textile techniques, and has resulted in intriguing interpretations of each person's theme.

Because we have already been discussing the pros and cons of what we've seen to this point, those who are still working on squares are benefitting doubly as they apply these ideas to their work for each other. Second round participants will have a plethora of advice and ideas to draw from and i'm hoping that we all have fun! No one is getting nasty and the support for each other is a joy.

The second round also will take a different format from the first. I'm torn between having the "owners" draw a complete design on the whole and each person working their square, with the owners covered, or doing a  "traditional" layout and concept. Much to think about!

It were a productive day

And thank goodness i had something to immerse myself in, as Greyman and MIL are fighting by not speaking to each other---i just tune out the hard silence........

Completed 2 ATCs, one for Domito (Dominique) and one for Karen, also my Arch page for MAy for Cathy W in the Textile Challenges group.

 

 

 

gone in 60 seconds

See ya on the flipside :}

two cups, two bowls, two spoons

I'm kind of liking this spareness of possessions! Almost tempted to get rid of most of it permanently :} I do miss my art on the walls though: bare and white and echoey is not for me! Two more sleeps and we're in the truck and gone......

Good news too---i'll be back online late on the 4th! I'll no doubt be jittery and snappy with pains and delerium, missing my online world. Sad in a way, i suppose!  

Apropos of nothing in particular, i just really like this quote: "I don't know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everybody." (B.Cosby)

Because everything is in boxes, even the last little bits and the sewing machines, i have been reading---on my 15 minute breaks from the final cleaning and organizing :} ---there was a copy of Focus, Victoria's "ideas and culture" magazine, in our mailbox and as i was paging through came across a Very Important article. We all try to live eco-friendly now, (even us mixed media/textile artists who are poisoning ourselves and our environments with burnt tyvek, melted lutrador and singe-d angelina--and yes, that is ironic tongue in cheek), but how about when we "shuffle off this mortal coil"? I've always hated the idea of being embalmed, stuffed into a 10's of dollars metal box that is advertised to "last a millenium" and having a heavy stone laid on my head. I want to be cremated so i don't wake up in there! Yeah, yeah, i could wake up in the oven, but it would be quicker than eternally emtombed and screeching. But how about this? "Green Burial"----now THAT is more like it! I will slowly rot into the ground and not wake up after all. I can be buried in a simple shroud, a woven basket or any container made of materials that will naturally decay and decompose as nature intends when we are taking the Big Dirt Nap.

Now i have to plan my shroud in natural fibres and embellishments--i'm thinking rust dyed cotton---oo ooo oo NO--- my liquescing body can turn it into a shroud of turin kind of thing--always wanted to try compost dying dye-ing dying !  Of course there will have to be sparkles of some sort--perhaps flakes of mica trapped with silk webs of throwster waste? The possibilities!!!! The possibilities!!!!

When it's done it can go in the closet with my embroidered straightjacket.........i'm going to need both probably, at some point.

If you want more info on this fascinating way of dealing with something that is going to happen to all of us:
 Eco Burials
 Green Burial Trend
And where i'm "coming home" to, on Vancouver Island again :} They'll be starting in the fall of this year. You'll need Adobe for this one:
 Royal Oak Burial Ground

Maybe one more post to come; if not, see you next Fri or Sat! 

hurry up and wait.......

I pre-ordered this in January and it's not shipping until July!  Can't wait to see my journal page in it!
1000-Artist-Journal-Pages-Inspirations

You'll never look at Sunbonnet Sue the same way again :} <--that's the blog. Here's the work.

I need more boxes. It's raining. All the boxes at the Recycle Depot are wet. I need more boxes to pack stuff in!! We're almost done, but we need more boxes! 

Especially since i bought more beads and fabric at WoeMart today...shhhhhhh, don't tell Greyman! For 16.52 including the taxes, i couldn't resist!

 

framing possibilities

The framework of the wicker chests is more useful than i thought! I got three pieces by taking it apart: the top frame, the lid and the bottom. The wood has been dovetailed at the corners, but may need  L brackets for stability, and is stained irregularly in brown and purple, depending i guess on how much dye penetrated after they wrapped the rattan around. May have to varathane it to seal that! (I'm also tempted to wet them and let it seep into some fabric too :})

 

First, i thought of doing the textile work on each piece and then "stacking" them in a shadow box effect---i could use diifferent techniques or densities to create open or more arresting areas in each frame, letting the eye pass through. (All the rattan will be removed, not keeping it solid as it shows here, haven't stripped it all yet.)

 

Or how about a Byobu screen? Lots of scope for design  here too, perhaps combining several techniques?

 

Or a vessel? Lampshade? New basket shape? Art figure? Turn it on its end?

 

At any rate, it means more cording needed :} That's probably all i'll be doing in the next couple of days, as that's all that's left out now!

I would imagine i'll get one more posting in or maybe two short ones, before the move (5 more sleeps!), and then i'll probably be offline for at least a week to ten days--that's gonna be real tough!!!!!!!!!! I'll miss ya all, and will try to check in on my email and the ECRR CorpseMistresses. 

served with hot cooked mice

I guess i need glasses for distance now too. I swear i've seen these signs lately:

God's Plaza ( There's a "love shop": Sin City Lingerie and Gifts. Maybe a bakery: Mannah from Heaven?? Is there a bank? Is this where Jesus saves? )  (Gold's Pizza)
Save our Sirloin (Is it endangered? How long should i save it? I'm reminded of George Carlin's meat/cake routine..)(Savour Sirloin)
Served with hot cooked mice(I could tell you a true story about toasted mice, and deep fried mice...) (Served with hot cooked rice)
Camp for the nearly blind (Camp for the blind nearby) (Maybe i should go there.)

Anyhoo............

As most stuff is packed now, i have had to be really creative to be creative! With all the cording i've done in the last couple of days, i was wondering if i should just stuff it in (another) box or try to use it on/in/as something. Hmmmm. I have this:

 

Actually i have 2 of them. Bought for 5 bucks each, over the last 3 years they have served as catfood storage, winter nightie stock and finally as rag repository. They're caving in, because they weren't the best quality, and i was going to huck them out. BUT, the framework is good and the hinges are working. Okay, prise off the metal and save for something else (of course) and use the sturdier wood frames for......frames! What a novel concept! Repurposing the purpose!

I can weave, tie, knot or whatever to the frames, and the 10 bucks spent on the 2 means their life has been well lived :} One i may leave as a box, with all the wicker off, and the other i will take apart completely. Thrifty and creative, my favourite combo!

Cording hoarding/horde-ing

Or how to sew/make your own cording for textile projects of all sorts!

I'm  going to show you just one of the cordings i made this morning; they're all pretty much the same, but in different colourways.

First i tore about 3/4" wide strips from several polyester sheers (i wouldn't want to try this with silk or a natural fiber unless i had a definite idea why) --uses up those uglies and makes 'em purty. I twisted as i ran through the machine on the widest zigzag i can do.

Beside the basic cording here are the teeny scraps i've been saving. All the smidges and trimmin's and what everyone else would throw out as too small (there's no such thing...):

 

I ran the cord through again twisting only a little and catching scraps as i went along; they don't have to be straight, organized, fully caught or fiddled with :}

 

Then i did another pass with different colours in the top and bobbin, twisting the whole thing as i went. Don't worry if all the bits aren't "contained" by this pass of zigzagging: that ain't the point!

 

Nice, but not quite what i envisioned. So, more of the camo glitter netting, just "trapped" again with a straight pass of zigzag, letting the pieces attach as they wanted:

 

A satisfying skein about 3.9 metres(4 yds and 9 inches), feels lovely in the hand, is strong because of the synthetics and all the passes and waiting begging to be used :}

 

Incidentally, the initial cording was strips about 10-14 inches long--i just attached as i zigzag twisted. That's why all the colours, though you could certainly use a multicoloured or printed sheer as well and save the step. Just a little more tailored to what i want!

A great way to use up a lot of things! 

ffffphffpfppphwoosh exhaling!

Phew--blue is not my best colour!

I remembered that i was supposed to create a March Arch page, my "sendee" being Hannah Katarski--she wanted rich colours and a Ren or Gothic feel so i rummaged in the component box and came up with this:

Arch for Hannah (clickable)

And a detail:

detail, arch for Hannah (clickable also)

I had a scrap of the heavily textured, collaged and painted fabric left from the "Nobody's Business" series, and it had the perfect feel for this one. I cut out part of it that was plainer and inserted in a reverse applique manner, a painted and free motion outlined figure, attached the whole to a thin batting, then beaded and finished it. I hope Hannah likes her March page "Making Magic". 

Now i can mail it, beating the end of March deadline! PHEW! 

now i'm approaching lapis lazuli...

I'm still here, though my readers sure aren't.....

Most of what i'm doing right now involves unpacked scraps and suspect yardage being turned into cording. There's a project i've had in my sketchbook for about 10 years and i finally know how to bring it to life! Unfortunately it's a big piece so i can't do much beyond preparing materials for it.... And how perfectly ironic that after carting three metres of a hideous red and yellow checked sheer around for 4 years that the week after i get rid of it, i NEED it?

The really good thing about this cording though is that all of a sudden those 1" square scraps and 5' long strips that everyone wonders WHY we save, are actually being incorporated:} And if i remember correctly, my dear MIL on her last visit to us, was trying to show me a needlework technique that i've never heard of before and now will be able to show me correctly when we finish the move. If it's what i think it is, it will segue its way nicely into this project too.

So ya wanna look at piles of cording? 'Cause that's all i got right now. I assure you they are pretty and they are interesting. Really. Really really. 

Okay, fine. Be that way. Pics later. I'll send you away with these:

I'm totally in love with this woman's work----MItsuko. 

And this is almost an Exquisite Corpse project--- "Book".

Byebye for you.