Mathematics and Birthdays

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The inspiration for this post came from a few different directions. Last week The Sea celebrated a birthday. Let's just say I "put off" (read: kind of forgot) birthday shopping until way way late. Luckily beautiful girls make it easy to buy them beautiful things. The Sea loves the aesthetic of life. If The Sea could have one of everything in a simple repeating pattern and a vintage inspired modern color - I bet she would trade her pitbull's first born for the chance.

She would've loved a set of these letterpress journals from Pistachio Press pictured above, unlucky for her my only shopping options were by foot and Etsy ordering (and waiting for delivery) was out of the question.

So that was the first inspiration for today's post - the second:

I have been armpit and over head deep in the studio these days, contemplating my navel, your navel, the way I see things, the way you see things, and how these things might all be connected. 

Thinking about Automatism, I thought about auto-blog-ism.  By following the thin thread in my head, over the next week of posts, I will display this feat of human intellect and inqury, here, now, at The Mountain and The Sea. (Or perhaps it will be just another display of the new and the dazzling internet-inpsired ADD.) Either way, I think it will be fun.

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Notice the floor tile in Manuel Alvarez Bravo's photograph "Fallen Sheet", in our last post, beautiful repetitive geometric design - brings me to  thinking about the addition of texture to pattern when skimming the notebook selection of Pistachio Press, takes me to the weight of these scarves, both physical and visual.

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Taken by Stop-Look-Repeat these images are ghost-y surrealist screen-shots of Epice's winter collection. In their nearly see through abstraction, these scarves become animals, they become harbinger's of the forest-past.

Leads me to think more about fabric, and what I might trade a day-old baby pitbull for.

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Viola! Norwich Textile's webpage on "Understanding Pattern Books".

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These books like whole-grain coffee cake, healthy and delicious.

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Which leads us next to the land of espresso and ceramic tiles. (You'll just have to come back and see...)

In the meantime, I encourage you all out there to Auto-ism with me. Can you make it around the world in 4 disparate thoughts? Through time and back again? Notice this week how your inspiration moves through and in turn moves you.

Wednesday Work: Tora Greve, you're in my dreams

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Where to begin? Tora Greve was mentioned a few weeks back on a blog I follow fondly, Fine Little Day - and while I am not in the practice of re-posting, it piqued my interest, and I had to investigate more.

Tora Greve is an artist residing in the Netherlands, hand weaving these wonderful, weird, intriguing tapestries. Her site is largely committed to the Sirius Solar System - an extensive series of tapestries telling the story of the place.

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I can't say I know anything about the Sirius Solar System, other than its moniker the Dog Star. But what I can say is this - I fell in love the minute I saw Tora Greve's work.

To work with such confidence in a seemingly free and playful way...well I want my studio practice to work like that. I am learning from you Tora.

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I would like to have a cup of tea, or several with Tora Greve, discuss the "news, rumors and anecdotes about the star Sirius, its inhabitants and contactees." Discuss her adventures chasing the solar eclipse.

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And see more of her Space Art. Then we should go to the flea market, look at the old and musty, while walking in the crisp autumn air, the browns and oranges and golden rod colors of the leaves on the trees, beneath our feet, crumbling, ... oh what a journey it would be.

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Look at Tora Greve's extensive body of work, here.

And if you are on the East Coast today - put on your boots! It's snowy out there!

Wednesday Work: Textile Exile

All I have been able to think about in the past few weeks is fabric fabric fabric. I'm not talking fashion design, I'm talking fabric as a canvas, for everything I've always done, but with more possibilities...

Crocheting fabric,

Sewing, Serging, Shearing,

Textile designs by way of screen prints,

Dying fabric-y things,

Okay ... you get the picture.

It seems though, that the more I research fabric artists, the more I am coming across the same ole quilty quilts. You know, the kind that are meaningful if Great Aunt Wanda spent hours of painstaking time, sewing it by arthritis-ridden hands for that special birthday surprise. Those quilts have their places in our hearts..... of course....

But, Oh, The Delight! when I came across these two lovely ladies and their beautiful, original textile pieces:

Leah Evans creates these quilted wall hangings using an impressive assortment of layers and different techniques. All of her work has a common theme throughout, which is how maps interact with our ideas about land. More about her work can be found here.

Sarah Symes creates abstract art about life. She uses colors and spaces to explain real life emotions and experiences. See and read more here.

Just look at the detail!...

















Tomorrow I'm off to visit a friend's fabric studio.
Ohhh, that's right, Im just getting started.

Cheers to Autumns approach, the landscapes, the colors, and the entrance of new, fresh ideas.