Fragments XXXIII through XXXVI

I remembered having digital images of the identically framed "fragments". So, here they are. I used a piece of Japanese indigo dyed fabric as a base for lots of hand stitching. To this, I added "puff paints", acrylics, and some metallic foiling. My intention was to create something new rooted in something old, to create what appeared like a scrap one would see in a museum, to make a texture that physically looked like a crusty layer of aging.

I think I am posting these in a half-hearted attempt to change my mood. I need to feel better about myself and my artwork, especially this evening. We are going to the opening of Wim Roefs' show, Construction Crew II. It's are Gallery 80808, right outside my studio door. For two weeks, it will surround me.

Wim is quite the salesman, the art curator, the expert foreigner, and is quite authoritative in his opinions. I generally feel like an amateur whenever he's around. There's an arrogance that undermines me. I've even overheard Wim selling artwork by comparing it to the laughable work done by some of the artists renting studio space in the building. That's me. Wim only represents artists with established regional reputations. That's not me.

Yet, I am looking forward to the show. I've admired Christine Tedesco's douiponi silk quilts for years. I've never met this architect who sews on the side. I will likely meet her tonight. She is exactly my age. So is Virginia Scotchie, the internationally acclaimed ceramicist who teaches at USC and just finished a major commission in Taiwan. Her work, too, is part of the show along with Paul Yanko and Matt Overend. I've seen most of the work already. How could I miss it. I see all the installations while I come and go from my studio, almost a safe haven but with no protective ceiling from the salesman's comments on the other side of the wall. I cannot let these words undermine me!