Sunday, August 25, 2013

starting again

Seems like a long time since I blogged.  And even though I thought about what I wanted to say many times, I just never got around to putting it down.  Soooooo here we go again.

Last week I got home from teaching in Chicago at Stitches Midwest and then visiting my family in southern Ohio.  It was a welcome break from my normal routine here at home.  The previous month was completely taken over by working on the Grand Opening event for the gallery at Studio Channel Islands Art Center where my studio is.  The gallery moved from across the street to now be on the same campus as the studios.  A great move and the gallery is certainly beautiful.  Planning the gala celebration and getting the move accomplished was lots of work and I'm glad it's over and things are back to business as usual.  The gala event was sure fun....  




A couple of days after getting home I was off again to teach a one day workshop in Palm Springs to a lovely group of weavers.  This was on using double heddles, something I've been thinking about quite a bit lately.  It's a challenge to thread the rigid heddle loom for double heddles and there are several ways to explain it.  Seems tricky to say it the right way for each person to understand.  The class went well and the group is very enthusiastic to continue with more double weaving.  

Driving to Palm Springs I was reminded how much I love the desert colors.  They are so subtle and understated.  I enjoy the pale pinks, beiges and greens that you see there.  And once I got out of the Los Angeles basin, there were the many wind generators.  They are lined up like soldiers all in very straight rows.  I always wonder why some are spinning away and others are still.  Are those broken or turned off?  They seem to be facing the same way as others that are rapidly turning, so I am mystified.  


They are also HUGE.  Each pole is so much bigger than a telephone pole even though that's hard to tell in the images.  I don't think I could encircle the pole with my arms, but of course I didn't get out of the car and try that!

Between teaching, traveling, and helping out in the gallery, I did not get to spend much time in the studio actually weaving this month.  I'm looking forward to weaving this week!