Tagged

I've been tagged by Andrea, someone who found me by searching for 'textile artist'. I need to list 7 things about me. I sort of feel that I've written about everything I want people to know and what I haven't written about is stuff I'm not about to share. But here goes:

1. I love crossword puzzles. I also like Sudoku and Kakuro (but Kakuro books are difficult to find.)

2. I hate trying to make small talk with the person sitting next to me on an airplane. I much prefer reading or working puzzles.

3. I love the palette of colors shown by trees in the Autumn as they turn to red, orange, yellow, tan, with some green still mixed in.

4. I wish I had more space for a bigger studio. I practically have to back out to turn around.

5. I wish all motels and hotels would use fitted sheets. I hate how the bottom sheet gets all scrunched up and pulled out when it's just tucked in.

6. I hate the fact that on my next birthday I will be 60 years old. It sounds so old..."60 year old grandmother". Doesn't that just bring to mind a little old gray haired bent over crone?

7. I'm not much into politics, but I think the Current Resident (in the White House) has done irrepairable damage to this country and to the world at large. I cannot think of even one redeeming leadership decision that he has made.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, but we won't be celebrating until Saturday due to schedule conflicts. So instead we will be removing wallpaper from the hallway and maybe the dining room. I have an 18 pound turkey defrosting in the refrigerator. Usually I wait until right before T-day to buy my turkey but several times the stores have already run out by then. So I bought it last Saturday. We will probably be eating it all the way until Christmas.

Materials Hard and Soft

Welcome news - another acceptance. This time the letter came from Materials Hard and Soft held at the Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton, Texas. It was a rather thick letter and I thought at first it was a rejection because they were sending my slides back. Then I remembered I sent them a CD, not slides. The letter was thick because it contained a contract for the show. This was the fourth time I've entered this show and I'm excited to finally have been juried in. I've heard that it's an excellent show and rather difficult to get in (at least it has been for me). The juror was Georgia Gough and while I am not familiar with her or her work, she has an excellent resume. Also, she is the founder of the Materials Hard and Soft exhibition. Obviously, she cares about this show.

She selected Yellow Brick Road which, now that I think of it, has a name that fits right into the show theme.



Yellow Brick Road 53"L x 50"
©2007 Catherine Kleeman

Out of the seven shows I entered in August and September, the results are 4 acceptances, 2 rejections, and 1 still waiting to hear. This is a better percentage than I had expected, figuring only a 50% rate. My philosophy is that if you get into everything you enter, you're not aiming high enough.

The Weekend

This past weekend I was a my guild retreat at the West River Center, south of Annapolis, MD. We've been doing this for nearly 15 years, I think. The facilities are spartan and the food is lousy, but it's lots of fun. We have a large room in which to work and each person had an entire table to herself. There is also a 'living room' with sofas and a fireplace (which we've never used) where you can go and sit if you need a break. Or you could go outside and enjoy the scenery around the West River. The area has become more built up in the years that we've been coming, and it's also becoming more exclusive (=$$$) since it's right on the water. Teardowns are very popular. That's when a little house or cottage is sold, torn down, and replaced by a 3 story mansion. In order to be able to build, the new house has to have the same footprint as the original because this area was originally a wetland, and alot of it still is. The lots are tiny and everybody is on well water and it just doesn't seem to be an ideal place to live except that you're on the water and close to Washington, DC and Annapolis.

The good news is that my piece Spring Green has been accepted into the SAQA exhibit Transformations '08 which will premiere at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England, August 2008. After this show it will tour for up to a year.



Spring Green 54"L x 50"W
©2007 Catherine Kleeman

A short break and now back to work

I spent the last week in Chicago helping my Mother move from her apartment in independent living to assisted living. She had to decide what to give up from a two bedroom place in order to fit into a studio room. Lots of furniture will be put into storage and the rest will be squeezed as best as possible into her new place. I'm glad she made the decision and I think she is glad, also, even though it was difficult leaving the other place. But now there are people around all the time to help her when she needs it. And she doesn't have to do any food preparation at all.

I'm working my way through two books I just got from Amazon. The first is on Creativity - Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists - and is very interesting. There are several fiber artists included, Susan Shie and Bean Gilsdorf, but it also includes artists who work in other media. There is lots of talk about journaling. Some of them do it and some don't. Keeping a journal is something I always have good intentions for doing but never seem to actually get around to doing it consistently. Of course, looking at some artist's journals is quite discouraging because they are works of art in themselves.

The second book is Why Is That Art?: Aesthetics and Criticism of Contemporary Art by Terry Barrett. Terry has written several books about art and critique and there is an ongoing discussion on the Ragged Cloth Cafe blog referencing his book Interpreting Art. I haven't started reading the Why Is That Art? book yet, but it's next on my list. Here are links to two of these books but for some strange reason I can't get the link for the Why Is That Art? book. Amazon says they don't have it, but they do because that's where I got it.