Dancing Crow Designs

stripey pony

stripey pony
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Maybe a pony a day?

Probably not.

I embroidered this guy a couple years ago, when I was still getting the hang of free motion stuff with the machine. I think he had some brothers, at least at the sketch stage. I'll keep digging.

bronze horse

bronze horse
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

I am thinking about horses, and birthdays, and teeth.

Not necessarily all at the same time. The birthday is done, which is a huge relief. I work hard to pretend I don't care about them, but I do, and I want them to be lovely and/or meaningful. At 48 it has no great significance unless you have an affection for the 12s tables, so I had to rely on lovely. We had a dessert tasting from the local fabulous bakery, and everyone had enough dessert and a taste of everything they were curious about. Plus a lot of laughing, and very fine company. I blew out candles, we discussed science, the vagaries of children when they were young and whether or not fish could recognize a person. We decided the last issue by dunking Bill's (waterproof to 5 ft) digital video camera into the water pitcher. The consensus was that if they had enough neurons to rub together, they could recognize a particular human.

Teeth because a tooth is hurting and I am waiting to hear back from the dentist to see if he can see me today or I have to wait until tomorrow.

Horses because I want to think about something lovely, and that counts. This one is from an illustrated Beowulf I borrowed from Cathy. We are thinking of making him into a T-shirt.

I think I have to make a flock of fiber horses.

In looking back over last year's entries, I wasn't pleased with my work for August/Sept then either. Maybe it is ennui, or the alignment of the stars, or maybe I just have a fall flop and need some time to get juiced up again. Horses might do it.

Lists, UFOs, WISPs and keeping track

When I first thought about lists, I thought "I am a list based person" but I am less sure about that these days. It is true I cannot go into a store for anything - food, clothes, hardware - without a list. If I attempt list-less shopping it generally involves things I didn't need combined with signal failure to acquire things I do need. But the lists I've found while returning to my work room are not so important. I should know, I keep finding them.

I have found dozens of small notebooks (apparently I love notebooks almost as much as I love boxes) with lists in the first two or three pages and blank pages beyond. The lists remind me of what I was thinking at the time, but I find I am not terribly compelled by my old ideas of things to make. I can remember that I was inspired to write down series of things, sets of projects that are all clearly related and grow from each other, except the list is all there is. Apparently for making stuff, once I get it onto a list, the impetus to make it starts to be dissipated. If I don't put it (a concept, an idea for a piece, whatever IT is) on a list it rattles around in my head and gains intensity and urgency each time around until I HAVE to make it NOW. So I stopped making the lists of things to make a couple years ago, when I started a postcard a day. I have a long list of themes, things that I thought might be inspiring for a month, but beyond that I haven't got much written down.

I am much more interested in the parts or progress on pieces I have partly done. More than the lists, they represent things I started, materials collected, cut, some sewn together... These are much more interesting to me. Many are lovely enough, or meaningful enough, or expensive enough, or have enough work done on them that I can't simply throw them out or give them away. In a much realer fashion than the lists, these tell me what I was thinking about, who I was fond of, and how much free time I had to work on things. I have had to separate them into categories; those likely to be finished, and those to be re-purposed to other projects.

July TIF redux

Apparently I was not done with this yet.

Now, new and improved, with Frame!

wretched excess

May I be excused, please?

full page
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

My page is full....

work room

work room
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

Edited to Add: Welcome to the GPP Street Team visitors - you can see this is an ongoing project! And yet, it fits right in with Challenge 23

It is taking too long. The plan is to move only the things I need back into the room, everything else goes Out or In the Cellar, or AWAY - whatever it takes.

I am thinking that this project that has swallowed months is a good candidate for both the August TIF challenge (balance in life) and the Sept one too (lists of things). I need the balance between stuff visible, and room to put things together. Between visual stimulation and room to make my own ideas. A sufficiency of supplies without overwhelming clutter.

Kirsty Hall has a lovely post about how balance is what it takes to not fall off the beam (thinking specifically of gymnastics). It isn't a static place, but a moving target. Some weeks a lot of this, other times more of something else.

And for the lists? Well, I've found myself finishing projects that have languished long enough rather than repack them into the (new! clean! space) for finishing later. Because this is later, and I might as well do it now.

So I am thinking both my TIFs are done and I can devote myself to getting the rest of the way back into this room without worrying that particular issue. Like a slow snail, there are still boxes stacked in my bedroom, and I ahve to draw the rest of the stuff into the room or leave it behind.

And this is post # 500. I can't believe I have that much to say! I can't believe you have read this far! Many thanks..

Dept. of Gender Equality inches forward....

In other news, Lipizzaners now have girls!! Woot!!

The Spanish Riding School accepted two women into the program. They have some  probation, and then some learning to do, and in five years or so we get to see them perform. I always knew they'd eventually accept women, I just hoped, in 6th grade, that it would be ME.

Now all they need is to use some mares in the program, instead of only stallions...

Alice

Alice
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

headed to 5th grade - I'm doing ok with this one, actually.

Aerin

Aerin
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

high school freshman.

eep, anyone?