Saturday, July 31, 2021
Musings: Art Outside the Box: Laughter for Drama Queens
11:14 PM | 
Posted by
Ellen Anne Eddy |
Now Margaret Eddy was the queen of all stories. And a serious fan of silly. She told amazing whoppers, one-liners, true tales spun into gold from straw, hopeless lies and astonishing steaming piles. She loved her drama. She had a somewhat loose relationship to truth. She was a devastating school teacher, because much of that could indeed come out in a teacher conference meeting or a family reunion. But she had a special gift for looking within and without. First she's build you a verbal image of herself as she felt about the story. But then she'd draw you into an outer view, where you could see her spinning in what she knew was a silly situation, build for howling laughter.
It happens to me in my quilts. I'm quilting along and I realize that this silly thing I've drafted is someone I know. Or worse, me. There with all my rather small fears and desires. I'm not overly deep. I'm just noisy. At that point, it seems just to the point to let it be silly. I am. It is. And the world is better for it.
This quilt, The Orchid Olympics, wasn't meant to be funny. It just happened. I'd found a great picture of a frog in an odd pose and worked with it. One afternoon in a class demo, I was placing it into the piece and trying to put a sun over his head. It wouldn't go. It just wouldn't go. Not over. Not to the side.
I looked again at the frog and thought, "If you get into that pose, it has to be for something like the Olympics. No one would willingly bend like that otherwise." The sun fell into her hand like an award and there we were.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, I am my mother after all. But I try never to tell a story on myself until I've found the funny part. Perhaps it helps to be short, round and have a pug nose. My gray hair also makes any silliness forgivable.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Moving Day
No one ever believes
I'm organized.
That may because I'm
not.
I live simply in howling
chaos.
I also know where
mostly everything is.
Unless it's my camera, my scissors,
my glasses, or perhaps my wallet.
Perhaps you can see the hole in that
theory. I'm trying to be organized and
that may well be the best we can do.
With that in mind, I'm moving my blog
over to my web
page at www.ellenanneeddy.com. It's
easier for you to find and easier for me
to share with you.
Look for all my past blog posts, on the new site at www.ellenanneeddy.com
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Practical Thread Magic: Building Beautiful Color
Working with thread is so different. The machine work lays one line of thread next to each other. Our eyes mix the colors together, but they stay separate, clean, clear and beautiful.
Why so many? Because real tulips have multiple streaks of red, orange and yellow. That large range of colors lets me shade from side to side, giving my flower real depth and detail.
Here are some of the process shots.
One layer of zigzag stitching after another builds us to a flower with dimension and full color range.
Want learn more about building flower colors in thread?
Thread Magic Garden has a whole chapter on color theory for flowers. Why?
Flowers ARE color. It's what it's all about.
Thread Magic Garden is available for sale now on Ellen's web page at www.ellenanneeddy.com
Friday, January 6, 2012
Bad Raps, and Bad Wraps
I grew up reading the Jungle Books by Kipling, so I've always loved wolves. The wolves take this baby in and raise him as one of their cubs. Like most adoptive processes, there's a bit of cognitive dissonance about the whole thing. He doesn't fit in well.
So this video touched me. It's about perception and reality. For all of her obvious concern when she sees the wolves, they scatter when she says "Git!" The wolves are not evil. They're just wolves.
This last year I've been working on the issue of bullies. I really don't want to go to my grave grieving over things that happened when I was seven. And like all really good emotional issues, the opportunities come back again and again until I can find better solutions. There's two schools of though on this. "Oh no! Not another learning experience!" And, "There you are again!"Bullies function on a wolf perception.Someone has to be perceived either as a wolf to be driven away or a wolf who will probably eat you. Like most binary systems, it has some serious limits.
It occurs to me that two things have to happen to create a wolf perception. We have to give someone a bad rap. We give ourselves reasons why they've done what they've done. Maybe it's true. Often enough, that's a fantasy too. We just convince ourselves of their bad action and intent.
And then we dress them as villains. Give them a bad wrap to wear: a black hat, a swirling evil cloak, an evil glint to their eye.
I've had it happen to me as well. I've had people hand me my black cloak and hat and tell me why I'm a danger.
It's not that I believe there is no evil in the world. It's there. Nor do I believe it my job to change people's choices. I wouldn't take someone's path away from them like that. If we don't walk our path as best we can, we won't learn from it.
But after years of dressing people in bad wraps and giving them bad raps and being dressed in the same, it occurs to me that they might just scatter if I said, "Git!" My perception is power I give or take, all by myself.
You'll find the Jungle Book at Amazon.com. Skip the Disney copies. They're cute but a completely different story.
You'll find people who want to dress up in funny black cloaks and be icky and people who want to dress you too in all kinds of odd places. I hope you can say "Git!" to them too.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Find the Flakes
I just posted up my three winter ones. We're calling it the Snow Flake price because I really flaked out on it.
Here's a secret: They're all in the new Thread Magic Garden Book.
See if you can find them! They're at
www.ellenanneeddy.com
Thread Magic Studio Gallery
Monday, January 2, 2012
Not Quite Ready for Prime Time Theater
I was wandering around on the web today and found this great segment that AQS taped for me at the Des Moines Show this Fall.
This is a very nice tutorial for making flowers out of simple shapes. They taped this the last day of the show. I ran in and babbled like a brook.
But I found it and listened to it today. I didn't ummm. And it felt as good to listen to it as to do it.
Build some cool flowers. For heaven's sake leave the patterns out. Build something wild, while you're under the gun. It is, after all, time honored.
Labels:
art quilters,
art quilting,
embroidery,
fiber art,
free motion,
gardening,
Thread Magic Garden,
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Friday, December 30, 2011
Thread Magic Garden Is Ready for Pre-order!
Thread Magic Garden will be arriving for shipment around January 20th. You can pre-order your copy today!
You never really know what a project will take until you see it done. Perhaps that's good. A good dream well done should take your whole heart's effort and give you your heart back in return.
When I started this book, I had no idea it would take 2 years to finish. Part of that is that I had to learn so much to do this book. Part of that is the meticulous process C&T puts into every book. I got my premier copy a week ago.I'm still scraping myself off the ceiling. It's past my expectations. I'm hoping you'll feel that way too.
When I started this book, I wanted to continue what I'd accomplished with Thread Magic. I wanted to show folk ways of adding wild free motion to quilts that set things hearts and imaginations on fire. I wanted to set up instructions that would take you through your own process with this. You'll have to let me know how I've done when you read the book.
But for those of you who've known me in class or in print, you know I don't give recipes for cakes that don't rise. I tell you everything I know. I also don't do anything really hard. I just do things that are time consuming and compulsive.
So here is what we have.
- Fifty eye popping new quilts in the gallery
- A patternless approach to design
- Intuitive applique that makes creating flowers easy and fun
- Color theory for flowers
- Corded buttonhole binding
- Angelina Fiber
- 6 Free motion zigzag stitches
- Machine Beading
- Globbing
- Sandwich stabilizing
You can pre-order your copy of Thread Magic Garden at
www.ellenanneeddy.com
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Sprinkles on the Donut
I'm not that good an actress.
I was at church for Christmas day. The choir at this church takes off for Christmas. I could have sat in the choir pews, but I ended up in the general congregation.
I'm not an alto as a show off. It's simply where my range is. I can't sing the high notes reliably. It happens occasionally, but like Tuesday, anything could happen. So I was singing the alto line, against the bulk of the congregation on the melody.
It's different within the choir. You expect to hear the part above and below you. The blend is planned and it's where you belong.
This was much more separate, and more isolating.
At the end of the service it occurred to me that much of my life is that way: a counterpoint to melodies I can not reach. My plans for the holiday collapsed and I ended up more alone than was comfortable.
I was speaking afterwards to the choir director who said, "You know, you'll never be the donut. You're the sprinkles on the donut. And that's why we want the donut anyway.
I don't get to eat donuts either, but I've learned to appreciate allergy foods as a visual experience. And I'm an edible color chart! There are worse fates and worse goals.
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Wizard of Odd
Lately, they've been playing the Wizard of Oz again. It occurred to me just how much of our language comes from that amazing movie.
Most movies are a cultural moment at best. They expand on a moment in time. What is a classic changes with the wind, but I think we can say that it's about how it changes the way people think.
I was going through the number of phrases that the Wizard cemented into my verbal landscape:
- "If I only had a brain."
- "Ding, dong, the witch is dead."
- "Over the rainbow."
- "And your little dog too."
- "I hope my courage holds out. I hope your tail holds out."
- "I'm melting."
- " Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."
That being said, I take heart in this. When someone says, "You quilt, right? Can you make me a bed quilt? In beige?"
I remind myself that my glory and my crown, my hope and my consolation is that I be as gloriously odd as I am. And that if I do it well a small part of the world will shift for it.
Those of us doing our art shift the archetypes. Not purposely, or with cause, but simply by bringing our vision to the world. It's not something one picks and chooses. It's simply an act of trust to bring what your heart demands into being. We bring it all to the table and let time sort it out.
Labels:
archetypes,
books,
life as an artist,
lifestyle,
lunatic fringe,
movies,
story telling,
Wizard of Oz
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Silent Night: Waiting for Wonder
I'm convinced this is a reaction to the dark of the year. I can't speak for any one else. It has an addictive edge to it I don't trust. When I try to strip myself down each year to the celebration of Christ's birth and basic kindness to the people in front of me, without the endorphin pump of extra shopping, sugar and alcohol, I find myself facing all kinds of edgy truths about myself. Much of what runs through your mind in the dark.
Not that I'm a stick about sugar and extra spending. They're just not good for me. There's an old saying, "Up like a rocket. Down like a stick.", which pretty much covers my mental health after any Christmas-New Years week. Since I don't have the family obligations, I can and often do choose to opt out of the commercial aspect. And anything that takes extra vacuuming, or must be put away unless it's up next spring. Ick.
I'm an escaped Catholic. I go to an Anglican Church largely because I love the rituals and can think what I like. They don't green the church (translate: put up the tree) until the Sunday before Christmas.
It leaves time for waiting in the darkness. To push back against the darkness, and it's nastier little whispers and say, "The Light is coming." There's a value in saying that before the light arrives. It reminds us that good and bad, broken and whole what we need is there and right for us.
That all said, I think I'm going to put up an origami bird tree. One I don't have to take down after the season. There's nothing wrong with lighting a candle in the dark.
All of the best of the blest for you and yours for the holiday.
Ellen
Saturday, December 17, 2011
No More Color Police:Creating Flower Colors
In spite of everything your kindergarten teacher told you, it's not a simple answer. If she made you color all your roses red, give me her name and I'll go have a little chat with her. Or better still, you might want to tell her that she can't live in your head anymore without paying rent.
That's not a white tulip. Nor is it really red or yellow. It's a wonderful swirl of a number of great colors. Leaving any of that out is a loss. But how do you do it in fiber?
When Mark Lipinski asked me how important color was on his show this week and why I put so much emphasis on it, I almost fell of my chair. Color IS the media. We see everything through the color and the texture. You can here that conversation on Mark's Creative Mojo show, December 14th.
Labels:
art quilting,
books,
color,
embroidery,
fiber art,
flowers,
gardening,
machine stitching,
threads
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Blog at C&T Publishing
C&T Blog.
I've posted a blog called My Studio Garden.
See it at http://www.ctpubblog.com/
Thanks, C&T!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Announcing My Computer Radio Show Premier at Creative Mojo!
Wednesday, December 14th, at 3:00PM -5:PM EST
(2-4 CST, 12-2 MST, 11-1 PST),
Live for two hours with Listener Call ins.
On of his gifts to the quilt community is this fabulous show.I'm so honored he's asked me to join him!
Go to www.toginet.com on your computer and click on the live button on the right hand side of your screen. Or you can listen to it later at http://www.marklipinski.com/
Come and join us. Call in! I'll answer
anything (well almost.)
Monday, December 12, 2011
Lauren Strach: A Botanical Lunatic with a Plan
"My inspiration, like so many other quilters, comes from nature.
As a life-long biologist and Master Gardener, I thought I saw nature, but it wasn’t until I embraced my artful journey that I began to really see. My inspiration is found in the whorls of snail shells, the miniature worlds of mosses and lichens, the rugged nooks and crannies of the bark of the fallen tree, and the intricate shading and nuances in the early spring wildflowers. And, the more I see, the more I see.
The act of translating that vision in line, pattern and color into textile recreations introduces the next level of AHA! It is an ever fascinating challenge to take the experience of seeing with eyes wide open, to shape it into form. From the fantastical realism of exaggerated insects, to the abstracted likeness of the quintessential flower bud, I seek to uncover the universal codes, to bring them to life with fabric and thread. Tactile, textile translations of the mysteries of nature, celebrating the wonders of life, that is where I find my inspiration.
Lauren's work has been showed at both Paducah and Houston. She was a finalist in the $100,000 Quilt Challenge. Where will she show next? It could be anywhere. If she doesn't send it in, it's likely
to fly in on it's own.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Maharishi of the Vacuum Cleaner
No one actually cleaned much of anything in my childhood home. We lived in a pleasantly shabby small house carefully insulated by mountains of books. So once every five years or so, someone would put some effort into finding the floor and once found, vacuuming it. Of course that took in my case, huge quantities of ice cream. In my mother's case, similar quantities of gin. Either way we never faced it chemically unimpaired. It may explain why she thought it was funny to chase me around the room with it. It may also explain my complete dread of them.
But at a certain point you decide that your childhood is past. The floor is in shambles and it would be nice to see what color the rug is. So I went on the search for the vacuum I wouldn't hate.
This was not easy. We went through a Royal, several Hoovers, a Eureka canister that lasted a week.We have a dog cookie under every rug and mattress and wisps of thread escaped from the studio. Some of them whole and some in crumbs. Admittedly, this is a hard life for any vacuum cleaner.
OMG did this thing whirl fur and fluff around. So it was with tears in my eyes I watched it die today.It was almost a whole month old. Could I find the receipt? Of course not. So I went online, and found the manual. While I was looking for the belt, one of the hoses fell off spewing crumblies everywhere. When I looked in the hose there was a small plastic bottle.
What could it be? I poked at it with broom handles, my croquet mallet handle, the fire poker, the skewers we use for roasting marshmallows. It finally gave it up for particularly long mop handle.
So I am now, by right of my passage Maharishi of the Vacuum Cleaner.Chief bottle washer too. And I know where I put the Sewer's Aid. Life is good. Now where did I put the floor?
Sunday, December 4, 2011
In Search of African Violet Colors: Anatomy of a Color Study
I love that purple and gold combination. It makes me think of African Violets, my favorite inside flower.
Wrapping it up:
African violets are a great complementary purple/yellow color scheme, enhanced with some analogous purples on the side. If they make your heart happy, see what happens when you put oranges with blues. The color wheel shows us the relationships of these colors. Similar relationships will have similar effects. It's a great way to stretch your palette.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Getting Together
Normally December would be a time of getting things into place. Getting them together. Tax receipts. Almost finished quilts. Articles that have to go out. The teaching is done for the year, and all those tasks impossible in the travel have to be done.
This December, add to that I'm getting ready for Thread Magic Garden, my new book from C&T publishing to arrive in January. There's a flurry of newsletters, articles and new work that has to be in place.In the middle of that muddle, I'm trying very hard to realize that the best task is simplification. So with that in mind, I'm putting all my blogs into one place.
I know that some people just want information, some people want stories, some people want a place to check for schedules, and some people just want eye candy. You'll still find it all here at the Art Outside the Box at ellenanneeddy.blogspot.com blog. I've put in a cloud label so you can find what you need easier. And I'm very curious as to what you think. I'm hoping you'll let me know.
All the blogs have been fed into this one. I'll still show you wonderful Lunatic Fringe people, color studies, funny stories, fabulous techniques and amazing embroidery. But, we're getting together. Right now.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Distraction Faction
I live in dread of distraction. So it is with serious fear that I face the holidays. I have a really low attention span, and I multitask unmercifully, but I know I will leave three out of five of those tasks in the dust. So when the holidays come, I know I really ought to find the floor.
This year we had a particular reason why that was vital.
This is Tom and Sarah.
This is Tom and Sarah with munchkin. It's astonishing how something so small can hold your whole heart that tightly.
Keira is at seven months, a bright sunny soul who likes soft boiled eggs, bee bop music, and is working on toy tossing as an Olympic sport. We had visions of what she'd do when she found the dog bones so we at least had to clean that much up. After that it became the search for more suction in vacuum cleaner land.
The weirdest thing has happened to me. It was bad enough at the baby shower. I actually made a baby quilt. Since it's out of all my apron prints, it includes ghosts, tigers, hawks, spiders, and beetles. We thought we ought to start her early on those things.
But I'm knitting...............................!
I was really worried about having been distracted in this way and then it came to me. I won't really have to have someone pry the knitting needles out of my hands. They come in pairs and I'm bound to lose one sooner or later.
Either way, I've been given the ultimate delight of a tiny hand waving wet spoons and toys at me as I sing her bee bop. Pretty good for a maiden fairy godmother.
Keira lives in Austin with my God kids, Tom and Sarah, They better bring her back soon or, God knows what I'll knit.
This year we had a particular reason why that was vital.This is Tom and Sarah.
But I'm knitting...............................!
I was really worried about having been distracted in this way and then it came to me. I won't really have to have someone pry the knitting needles out of my hands. They come in pairs and I'm bound to lose one sooner or later.
Either way, I've been given the ultimate delight of a tiny hand waving wet spoons and toys at me as I sing her bee bop. Pretty good for a maiden fairy godmother.
Keira lives in Austin with my God kids, Tom and Sarah, They better bring her back soon or, God knows what I'll knit.
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Quiltposium, Fall2011
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Essential Embroidery Stitches: Free Hand and Machine Embroidery Designs and Techniques.
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