I finished my mom's scarf on Thursday, (doubling the weft makes quick work, I knew it in my head but hadn't realized how quick,) and still have about 120cm of warp left, so I could possibly get 90cm of woven cloth to be used on such areas as collars and cuffs later on. Or a really short thing around the neck, so I'll weave that, and be done with this warp this weekend.
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Friday morning when I got up, I thought the idea of continuing to work on "Father, Professor, Patient" (the colorful warp is made,) but in grays was a good idea, but not for the National Exhibition; such a piece wouldn't have the kind of visual impact I had in mind, for the occasion, and in the lovely Millennium Gallery.
I know their ceiling is reasonably high, and the maximum height of artwork they can hang is only 20cm or so shorter than the distance from the bottom of the rafter to the floor at the Refinery. So I had hoped to weave something as long as for the Refinery.
As I brushed my teeth, I started to see the fab sewing silks from Japan, and they wouldn't go away, so I'm now wondering if it means I will work in miniature and forget the high ceiling.
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I went to see "Buck" Friday afternoon; he is a real horse whisperer; his quiet, understated, matter-of-fact directness was fresh and rare, and as "Bob" Redford said, he's so polite. I'll hire the DVD so Ben can watch it, too. Perhaps we need to discuss becoming yarn whisperers?
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Ceramic artist (or potter?) Richard Parker's touring exhibition ended at the Suter, but I got the catalog and I was going to have a jolly good read last night. But before that, I wanted to read the bits and pieces of paper and articles I had saved, among them was The NZ Listener article on Matisse's drawing exhibition in Brisbane, Australia, closing on March 4. And it sounded like a "big deal" exhibition.
This morning the first thing I did was to look up the exhibition catalog, and wondered what I could give up to buy it. I sold one small scarf last month, and I'm told a big piece is about to be sold, and I've been feeling rather well-off, you see. (I sold all of three pieces in April 2010-March 2011.) I don't know what came over me, but suddenly I found myself looking up airfares and signing up for an electronic visitor visa into Australia. Long story short, I'm going to the exhibition, in Brisbane, Australia; the cost of the trip so far turned out to be about 150% more than I calculated, (so many, many more scarves to weave and sell,) but considering I've liked Matisse (and especially his rendition of textiles and his family history) for a long time; considering I'm starting to have an understanding of why and what I like to draw; and considering it is cheaper than to go to Europe, the US, or even Japan, somehow I've justified it, and booked and paid with credit card.
Although I'm not going for two more weeks, this is the most spontaneous thing I have ever done that I remember, and I felt dizzy, shaky, a little sick, and irresponsible, but I know I'll enjoy it. It also means I'm cutting five days out of the time I could be working on my National Exhibition piece, but I'll manage. I hope I can manage.
I need to slow down now. I've fond a lot of things I need to reflect on and contemplate these few days. I don't want to miss anything.
The more I look at Kaz's warp ends, the more I'm reminded of Randy Darwall's favorite saying. Of course he said it more eloquently, but nowadays, the way I put it to myself is: "What's wrong with more colors?" And the answer is usually, "Nothing," sometimes followed by, "but I don't like it..."
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