Work in Progress

(I am not a happy woman as I type this as some fucking glitch of editing deleted my entire post and I am attempting to type this all again and recapture my witty and effervescent tone!!)
Ahem! I was writing that I have actually had time- in between the seasonal hysteria of gardening for myself and a friend and working and delivering a piece of Bob's sculpture to Vermont- to begin a new piece. Maybe gardening is slowing down a bit as most things have been planted and it's a matter of tweaking and weeding and fertilizing. My studio calls!
I hope the picture above gives some idea of my direction. The piece is about five feet wide and the back ground fabric is this great swirly, opulent yet sleazy pattern; over the top! (As is typical, I bought that fabric because I liked it and didn't have a clue as to what I'd use it on. When I started to design this piece, the fabric was shouting at me to use it.)
Here's a detail:

Fabulous, isn't it? Baroque twirly crenelations with leopard inlays- who thinks this stuff up? The top third of that picture is the fabric I'll use for the medallion area, where my text will go. It's this sort of spongey lacey gold and silver concoction; it's all so sweet it makes your teeth hurt. The text is going to be that aqua shiny fabric seen laying on top in the top picture. The sales woman at the fabric store said, "Oh! That's so pretty! What are you making?" "Trouble!" I responded. They always ask; I think they are required to. As previously mentioned, one store I go to greets me with, "It's the WTF lady!" I guess that's better than being called the "Star Fucker" after another notorious creation of mine.)
So I could be coy and not tell you what the text on this piece is going to say. But seeing as how I'm still experimenting with what the text is actually going to look like it may take a while, so I'll just go ahead and print it.
It started with my repeatedly hearing the word "kleptocracy". Here's Wikipedia's definition:

Kleptocracy is a government with corrupt leaders that use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political powers.

(Obviously comes from the same root as "kleptomania". Let's face it, we now most certainly live in a kleptocracy!) Anyway, it had a certain ring to it and I played with "kultural kleptocracy" and a few other variants but I wasn't entirely convinced. And then it came to me- as my ideas often do!- while on my morning walk: "Uh-oh! Kleptocracy!" That was perfect. Sorta silly yet punchy and there's a hint of a warning in the "uh-oh".* I'm not sure when I'll get into my studio next for a extended work on the piece session, but you can be sure I'm exploring fonts and typefaces in my dreams!

* That phrase comes pulled up from the deepest dank depths of my childhood mind hole. See if you remember it. Bob got the reference right away and I was delighted.

A Post After the Elections

It's nice to be able to think about something other than politics (Go Blue Ripple!!) like the fact that Bob made this wonderful tile top table. It's got a great stable metal base with an attractive diamond pattern (maybe I'll photo that later) and these tiles were "found" down by Bob's studio. Amazing the stuff that turns up! I love the variation in blues among the tiles...

And you don't see items like this everyday! Our delightful and talented friend Roberta charmed me with an elaborate birthday package. This repurposed Osage orange (with a found alien hand!!!) announced my new magazine subscriptions (Remember that I use them in collage making). But that wasn't all: beneath the carefully wrapped orange was a lovely length of African cloth- perfect for upcoming project! and as if THAT wasn't enough, Roberta also bequeathed me a huge assortment of bulbs! Species tulips, scilla, daffodils, hybrid tulips... amazing! Any one of these gifts would have been more than generous but altogether, I'm overwhelmed! And really? It actually is nicer to receive gifts when least expected! Thank you Roberta!

And here's pastel upside down Robin to remind us that dogs enjoy getting mentioned, too! Robin's been very happy; I think she likes the colder weather, even if I don't. It makes her super frisky and nuts. She's been doing mad loops around the yard at like a million miles an hour. Craziness runs in the family.
I am trying to catch up with myself. It's hard to believe that it's almost Thanksgiving and the year is drawing to a close. So much has happened and continues to happen (and I'm not just thinking of politics!!! A decades worth of "incidents" in a day!) Remember that we experienced a tornado and we are still cleaning up from that. The tree guys are eagerly awaited to take down a whole bunch more dying spruces (the weather's been against them). I have a bunch more planting and yes! I have more studio ideas to implement. And don't get me started on the changes going on at work... anyone want to hire an artist? Actually, I have ideas in that department, too!