I am again immersed in the Earth Stories work. I lost my way for awhile. I was just piecing and sewing but not feeling the vibe. So I showed parts in progress to my art group this week. Normally I don’t want input of work in progress…it diffuses my vision. This time however I needed […]
New Work.
in the beginning…
I’ve started my ‘Earth Stories’ piece. After months of mental configurations and even a bit of sketching, this weekend I took rotary cutter to cloth and started in. Actually last week I started in by painting some fabrics for added depth and layering potential. And snagged this wonderful piece of rusted silk organza designed by […]
chaos and gel medium…
Never one to hesitate long about my next project… currently I have four waiting patiently in the back of my mind. And yet I decided to tackle right now, this week, this day… an altered book homage to my late parents. I knew instantly which book to use for the base and that was […]
no deadline diva this one…
The past couple of days I have been finishing up my donation to the annual SAQA Auction fundraiser which happens this fall. I am one of those deadline-challenged people so I design, finish, cross it off the to-do list and get in the mail long before it is due. The best part about this year’s […]
singing cloth…
Long ago a very wise woman and fellow artist suggested keeping a work in progress any time there would be a studio interruption due to travel, illness, or whatever. I have done that ever since and it is brilliant as I can just pick up where I left off. So I am making progress, day […]
earth stories…
Last week I received exciting news that my work was juried into a new international exhibit (of 25 artists) which will travel 2014-17. I digitally submitted five pieces from my Upheaval series for the exhibit titled “Earth Stories” which was juried by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi. This was actually the second time Dr. Mazloomi has chosen […]
more studio time…
Last month I retreated to the studio in an effort to just chill out. How surprising is it that this is the place where I most am likely to relax?! I finished Stone Path but could not decide whether to place on my website as ‘abstract’ or ‘pictorial’ as it really is an abstract pictorial. […]
studio time…
What a surprise! Just as I was majorly stressed out I walked into the studio and bliss happened. I designed and finished another abstract landscape piece which I have yet to photograph. And I started a couple of new projects for small sales at ACCI Gallery. Just before Texas I whipped out a […]
and sew it goes…
I have been away from the blog and the studio most of May for a number of reasons all of which seem to be attributed to the decision to have my second knee joint replaced in July. I am now working backwards from that date, taking care of details like working my fiscal year hours […]
lake mac donald…at last!
I’ve finished this piece on Lake MacDonald which I started in an abstract landscape class with Patty Hawkins in March. Normally I finish work quickly but not so in this case although I can say I really enjoyed taking my time with it. I created a lot of texture in the mountains, ripped out the […]
lake macdonald landscape continued…
Today I got back to working more on the Lake MacDonald landscape. This is the piece I started almost 3 weeks ago which for me is a long period of time when it comes to designing work! I’ve spent a fair amount of time considering the stitching, if I should pillowcase and stitch as I […]
abstract landscape class…
This past weekend I took an abstract landscape class with Patty Hawkins. I have long admired her work and knew I wanted to study with her. While it is always good to meet other artists and hear about their perspective on life and art I don’t take as many workshops as I once did as […]
new work…
Since I finished the massive documentation project I decided it was time to re-immerse in some art making. And so these are two new pieces Currents #19 and Currents #20. I continue to be fascinated with the curved line and now have entered the twenties with this series. This same curved line has also worked […]
dancin’ shoes…
Last week when I felt lack of gym motivation I decided to do the stairs as cardio. I had not been down more than a few stairs since my total knee replacement five months ago so I figured it was time to try the 13 stairs. I went down and back with ease. So after […]
just start…
This afternoon I took time to go into the studio and just start. My wise friend Miriam Nathan-Roberts says when the muse is dormant just start! She is wise because it works. Soon I was engrossed in the process and created this square from a linen dinner napkin for the 2012 SAQA fundraiser auction. Designing a […]
new work…
Today I managed to get to the basement to photograph two new pieces. I accessed the lower portion of the house by going out the front door and around the side to the back door with only two steps that direction. I returned via the interior staircase, 13 in total which I managed easily one […]
making progress…
Happy New Year! When I went in for a knee replacement in October I left two pieces of cloth hanging on my design wall with the intention of inspiring me to get started again with my art-making. One piece was already designed and pin-basted to be stitched. The other was simply a painted metallic thread […]
blog delinquency…
I have been blog delinquent! I continue to recover at a good pace from a total knee replacement 8 weeks ago. I am now back in the pool, walking with a cane in the exterior world and less so at home, driving, prepping some food, minimal shopping, clearing out and loading the dishwasher etc. In […]
mood indigo…
I often pile fabrics to audition for future work. While I design spontaneously I like to let the cloth ‘ferment’ for awhile before I dig in. Sometimes I will have 3-4 different combinations stacked on any flat surface in my studio. A trip to Japan in 2002 yielded a giant suitcase full of vintage kimono […]
on a roll…
Once I got past the terror of the MRI I seem to be on a roll. I am actually looking forward to surgery mid-October, getting it past me and on to the next trip, art quilt, surgery, GF cinnamon roll, commission or whatever life holds for me. I just put Upheaval #10 up on my […]
keeping up appearances #3
I just added Keeping Up Appearances #3 to my website. This one contains more vintage linens: an embroidered linen tea towel, linen tablecloth and linen dishtowel all of which are dye-painted and screen-printed with text. I found a number of well-worn (and no doubt loved) linen dishtowels in my father’s laundry room last year when […]
more upheaval…
I just finished and photographed Upheaval # 9; what I hoped would be the 3rd of four new works designed in August. With just 5 days remaining in the month I am re-assessing that challenge! I am now taking a break to do some ‘housekeeping’ chores of my artistic life. And yet as soon as this one came down I […]
keeping up appearances..dos
Here is the second in the Keeping Up Appearances series! As viewer will recall this work was inspired by a long lost and then found copy of mid-20th century American etiquette. This one challenged my sense of balance with the delicate embroidered and painted dresser scarves vs. heavier woven dyed and painted dinner napkins. […]
keeping up appearances…
Last summer while cleaning out my aged father’s home I happened across my mother’s manual for life…Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette published in 1954. I grabbed a spot on the sofa and began to leaf through this treasure of civility. Not too far into this tome and I was laughing till the tears came. […]
if it’s worth doing…
I must have heard that expression ‘if it is worth doing it is worth doing right’ a hundred times during my youth. As a kid I recoiled at the very idea of doing anything over again and yet I remember as an adult when the light switched on in my head. Oh yeah ….it is worth doing […]
new work…
I just added my latest work Upheaval #8 to my website. Strangely it does not feel finished. It is so rare that it happens but the vibe is very strong about this one. Captivated by a wonderful piece of batik on an old Hong Kong Flour feedsack which I designed last year, I was seeking […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
