Another Busy Week!

(Above:  Mandala CXCVII.  Custom-framed:  22" x 22".  Found objects hand-stitched to the reverse of a vintage quilt. Objects include:  Twelve, little rubber ducks; UAW buttons from 1970; a gold plastic lid with a coffee K-pod; orange insulin syringe caps; four child's scissors; vintage poker chips; corn-on-the-cob holders; orange toy men on horses; copper colored can tabs; orange, plastic lids; copper-colored Mardi Gras doubloons; Scrabble tiles; yellow beer can yokes; binder rings; and assorted buttons and beads.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I just finished Mandala CXCVII moments before Laura Bachinski came to select artwork for her gallery, Main & Maxwell, in Greenwood, SC.  She loved it instantly.  It is now there!  It was so much fun to stitch, especially spelling out "Lions, tiger, bears, oh-my" with the Scrabble tiles.

 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXCVII.)

I got the little rubber duckies at the Pickens County flea market.  They are much smaller than the usual ones and awfully cute.  During the construction of this piece, I was reminded that I had wooden blocks too.

 

(Above:  Wooden toy blocks ... all cut in half!)

Perhaps because blocks were on my mind, I found more of them last Wednesday at the flea market.  Now, blocks are always a bit too "high" for my mandalas (or at least I don't like them "whole"!)  Over a year ago, I had lots more of the larger blocks and cut them in half using my miter saw.  It was a dangerous job.  No matter how I braced the block under the blade, half went flying and generally broke.  I attempted to hand saw one.  I attempted to use the little saw attachment on my Dremel tool.  It took a half hour to half just two blocks.  Thankfully, I found a local woodworker who cut all my blocks in half!  I'm excited now!  I can even spell "Found Objects" using these blocks.

 

(Above:  Six, assorted sizes of future In Box Series pieces waiting to be free-motion stitched.)

 

As anxious as I am to design a Found Object Mandala with my newly cut blocks, it will have to wait!  Why?  Well, I've got lots of other artwork in various stages of production.  Six In Box Series pieces are ready for free-motion machine stitching!

 

(Above:  Mr. Minnie, my studio assistant, asleep on the job!)

 

Almost every day, I stitch some on The Lace Forest ... because I really, really, really want to enlarge this installation!  The only way I'll eventually have fifty+ individual strands is if I keep stitching!  Plus, I've already finished stitching on two more Found Object Mandalas ... but we are currently out of stretcher bars.  A new supply was ordered ... which is a good thing because I've also designed two more mandalas!  Retirement seems to agree with productivity!

 

(Above:  Ariel Curry and Liz Morrow, authors of Hungry Authors:The Indispensable Guide to Planning, Writing, and Publishing a Nonfiction Book, at M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, SC.)

Retirement has also allowed me to read books just for the fun of it, for the joy of a story, for the enlightenment found in beautifully written paragraphs.  It has also stirred a youthful dream of actually writing a book.  Sure ... I've had several essays published and even been paid for some of them.  Sure ... I write stream-of-consciousness "Morning Pages" (a habit I started in 2006 after going through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way).  Sure ... some teenage plans really ought to go by the wayside, but perhaps this one could come true!  To this end, Steve and I went to a free hour with two authors.  I can't say I learned anything new.  I can say that the hour confirmed that I could, if I apply myself, write a book.  Steve is most encouraging; he's always said, "Susan, you ARE A WRITER!"

(Above:  Selfie at Foust Textiles outside Kings Mountain, NC.)

Steve and I also found time to visit Foust Textiles, a place that sells only to those with retail tax numbers.  It's wholesale only and I got four bolts of Wonder Under!  I also snagged six pounds of polyester stretch velvet remnants at three dollars per pound.  I'm definitely set for future Stained Glass and In Box series pieces!

 

(Above:  Steve and I atop Crowder Mountain State Park's peak.)

Foust Textiles is near Crowder Mountain State Park.  We selected a loop trail to the peak.  There was an elevation change of 699' and most of this was in the first three-quarter mile of the three mile hike.  We were drenched in sweat but really enjoyed the view.  Thankfully, there was plenty of shade!  When the weather turns cooler, we plan to hike more!  Below are a couple more images of Mandala CXCVII.