Over a decade ago when I retired from my day job I had more time to spend with one of my dearest friends. Rose was in transition herself and we often had the conversation about whether to look for work or make art. She did not need to work as a young widow left with […]
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breaking through the fine art ceiling…
One of the reasons I call myself a textile artist is I firmly believe if we say it often enough and loud enough, someone in the fine art world will take notice. I am just back from the opening reception of a juried exhibit “Fire & Ice” at the Petaluma Art Center. My work Upheaval […]
life hangs by a thread…
Twenty years ago when a friend was suddenly killed in a car accident, a colleague of my then-employer said quite simply…life hangs by a thread. At that exact moment I was both stunned and comforted by that simple sentence. And fortunately or not I have not thought of it much since then. I have lost […]
reality check…
Life happens when we are making other plans…being a semi-grounded person most of the time I am frequently reminded of this expression in my own life and in witnessing others. Three days ago I got a huge reminder when my husband was admitted to the hospital with a pulmonary embolism. While I generally refrain from […]
if the shoe fits…paint it!
It all started with a decision to go to an ‘elegant affair.’ I knew immediately what I would wear and then I got stuck on the shoes, which is usually where all my wardrobe conundrums start and end. Though I courageously decided to wear ‘chucks’ for the rest of my life about 3 years ago, […]
new work…
Just before I left for Denver I finished the latest in the Currents Series…#16. Clearly I am on a roll! This one like #15 before it contains fabric from last fall’s week-long soy wax batik immersion with Els Van Baarle. This morning I decided to finish up the process that I do with each work: […]
5 enlightening days in denver…
I am back from Denver where I taught a seminar on juried exhibits (4 times in 2 days) at the annual SAQA conference. It was great fun, insightful, enlightening and exhausting all rolled up in one tidy 5 day package. Last spring SAQA put out a call for teaching proposals at their 2011 conference to be […]
back on the hamster wheel…
Years ago a favorite yoga teacher said it takes as long as an event to recover from said event. At the time it applied to my physical recovery from being primary caregiver to a dying friend for 20 months. Of course months passed and eventually I felt like myself again. And then I forgot about […]
france…the final chapter
Now that I have been home from France as long as I was there I am ready to close the chapter on the blog posts about it! So today I share the final chapter… On nature…potted plants outside a shop on the streets of Conflans. The following were all taken in Giverny at Monet’s garden. It was […]
france…part quatre
Patterns, shapes and textures are primarily what inspires my art. I see composition everywhere I look and have spent many a trip shooting just that. My late boss used to ask…who was on this trip? when I showed up with dozens & dozens of prints of texture and pattern. While most people want to wait in […]
part trois…architecture
Considering every reasonably sized city in America looks identical with miles of strip malls, big box stores (many vacant) and subdivisions, European architecture still rocks my world. At least there is character and imagination. The Eiffel Tower of course is stunning from any angle, any time of day. I took probably 50 images in the […]
part deux…the food!
Honestly I could not imagine a trip to France without their fabulous pastry so I was a tad nervous about my wheat gluten and dairy intolerances. Knowing that butter, cheese and flour are staples of the French diet I loaded my luggage with bags of raw almonds, cans of pop-top tuna, pitted dates, dried apples, and LARABARS. […]
reflections on trip to France…
We have just returned from a fabulous vacation in France … in celebration of our recent 40th anniversary. We chose France because the flight was shorter than Oz…which remains on the bucket list. We spent 4 days exploring Paris. We did not see nor do everything everyone said we should, but rather enjoyed our time at […]
would you like mustard with that?
A couple of years ago I was quoted in an article by Rayna Gillman on Working In A Series. I carried on about how series work was essentially boring and done by those with no other ideas in their head. Of course I was referring to several reknowned quilters who are famous for the same […]
and now a word from…
Over the weekend I finally used a little discipline to finish integrating updates into a PowerPoint presentation I am giving in May. I had more or less put it off since December. I never really thought much about how much energy procrastination sucks up!!! On the one hand I didn’t consider it procrastination because I […]
on commitment…
Forty years ago today the ‘old boy’ and I were wed. It is both a strange and proud moment. Neither of us can barely remember life without the other. And yet four decades have ‘slipped by.’ We feel immense pride that we were one of the lucky few of our generation who made it and […]
before/after
I must admit it took a little attitude adjustment on my part to embrace the new white background on my website. Somewhere in time I got seriously hooked on the black background which I since learned from Gloria at GloDerworks is really bad on the eyes. Hmmm…maybe that’s why I had cataract surgery in my […]
the tall girl….a work in progress
My Tall Girl Series: A Body of Work is complete. It has been finished for nearly 2 years, had its debut exhibit with two more coming up this spring. I have given my TG PowerPoint presentation to 7 groups and sold a lot of books. And yet it continues to be a work in progress. Huh? the […]
the site’s (a)live…
My renovated website is live! It’s been a wild and crazy few weeks since I decided to take the leap and have it upgraded by people who do this for a living. I have finally realized that doing it all is no longer my mantra. That said I have been duct-taped to the chair all […]
"someday" is here…
I am by far one of the world’s most organized people. This is the reason organizations always tap my warm body to organize their stuff. Currents #6, detail ©carol larson 2009 So you cannot imagine how frustrating it is to me that I have so wantonly ‘filed’ original digital images of my work. Several […]
on procrastination….part tres
Been back from vacation for a week and experiencing all sorts of unfamiliar emotions. I was completely relaxed for 3-4 days. I really got into it, did some reading and not much else except the requisite exercise. Then a bit of life anxiety began to creep back in and so I chose to tackle a project on […]
the obsessive with a camera…
central coast We’ve just returned from a road trip. We went to Ventura, CA with no other motivation than to play tourist in our home state. Initially we had no bad weather to escape just an excuse for a change in scenery and to visit spots on our bucket list which so easily get overlooked. […]
a long day…
Today I spent a full 8 hours in the studio working on a deadline. Actually I finished the project in just about half that time and then decided to press on (no pun intended) to wrap up the rest of small projects looming . I am exhausted. I have become so unaccustomed to doing anything for […]
back in business…
Currents #11 ©carol larson 2011 This morning I fetched my pfussy Pfaff from being serviced. I have been sewing on an older Janome 3000 but after you have had the best it is hard to settle. The pedal on the Pfaff was shorting out so I asked hubby dearest to see if he […]
sage wisdom…
It seems to be human nature in this society obsessed with celebrity and plastic surgery to fret about aging body parts. While I generally feel fabulous and live consciously in my broken body, every once in a while life throws me a curve where I begin to obscess about an aging part. For some time […]
visiting an old friend..
Currents #8 ©carol larson 2009 Today I had to run to Santa Rosa on an errand. I also had the bright idea to pop in and check on my art now installed at the Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa. I took time to look at a lot of the art and it was […]
slapping fabric on the wall again…
Upheaval #3 ©carol larson 2010 I am back in the studio again…working! I am currently stitching work which was in process when the commission came in, so it will be nice to see it to completion. Fabrics are up on the wall ‘fermenting’ for the next piece and smaller projects for the gallery shelves […]
on resolutions…
Happy New Year! An epiphany surfaced last night as we patiently waited out the new year watching movies streaming to the TV. I will never have the time, energy or stamina to use up all my art supplies. My primary art goal for 2011 is to be more productive in the studio than I am at the computer. […]
