observation

 

Asparagus impression on paper towel.

saturday morning meltdown and new books

Sawyer and I had quite a morning yesterday. It started at about 4am when he woke us up whining. He does this sometimes so we told him to shush and went back to sleep. He kept it up periodically but I tried to ignore it. Then around 8 he started gagging. I thought he might be choking on the stuffing he pulled out from his bed (bad boy) so I checked his mouth and throat and didnt feel anything. He eventually stopped the gagging so I thought he was better and started to get ready for work. Chris was getting ready to go on a kayaking trip with his friends so he went to Parkers to get something for lunch. I was still getting ready when I heard a weird sound, I looked over at Sawyer on the bed and he had thrown up all over the quilt. Yuck. So I cleaned it up and threw the quilt in the washing machine and didnt think much of it because sometimes dogs throw up and then they’re fine. Chris came back to grab his stuff and go and laughed at me for gagging and being grossed out.

Sawyer still didnt look like he felt good so I took him outside so he could go potty and he threw up out there too. I was thinking, ok, that was probably it. But when we came back in he started again on the living room rug. So by this point Im getting pretty worried so I called Chris and he said we should do something. I had about 15 mins. before I had to be at work so I started making phone calls to my boss, Brenda (left a voicemail) and the nearest vet (no appointment openings) and then to my vet (walk-in hours till 12 only). For some reason with each phone call I started to get more upset so when I called Brenda again and my co-worker, Joey, I was leaving voicemails in tears. I didnt want to just not show up for work, but I had to take care of my boy. Brenda called back and was so understanding and sweet, as always, and told me to take him to the vet.

So as we’re leaving Sawyer is looking all pitiful and sick, but then perks up some when we get in the car and seems to be enjoying sticking his nose out the window. When we get to the vets office there are two other dogs in the waiting room and Sawyer thinks its play-time. He’s trying to sniff and play with the dogs but one is sitting quietly not paying any attention to him and the other one is trying to play but his owner is restraining him. Im trying to keep Sawyer sitting down but he keeps whining and trying to get to them, so I guess he was feeling ok, or at least distracted enough to feel ok. The vet said he probably got into something that upset his stomach, like licking puddles before I can pull him back when we are out on walks. He gave him some meds and he seems to be fine.

When I finally made it to work Joey was already there, covering for me like the sweet guy that he is. He let me go back home to stay with Sawyer to make sure he was ok and then when Chris got back I went in and took over so Joey could leave. I have to say that I am so lucky to work with such understanding and wonderful people. I was a worried mama but everything seems to be ok now. I may have overreacted a little, but I couldnt leave him all day worried that something would happen. Its better to be safe than sorry, and Im glad I was able to get him looked at.

Dont let that pitiful face fool you, he’s just trying to get some kisses. My vet wants us to get him fixed soon. We have been putting it off for a while because even though we know we should do it, we dont really want to. Sawyer isnt aggressive, he doesnt chew things (except now his bed stuffing- but Ive taken care of that), and he doesnt bark unless someone gets close to the window or knocks on the door. We havent seen a major reason to do it yet, but I think it will be better for him in the long run. I guess its finally time.

Amidst all the craziness of yesterday, I got my books from Amazon! Right now I am reading Your Inner Physician and You, by John Upledger, and Wisdom in the Body, by Michael Kern. These books explain the benefits of CranioSacral Therapy and how it works. This information is fascinating and its what Ive been looking for, without knowing it, for a long time. I am still in the early stages of research, but basically the Craniosacral system is the area in the body in which the brain and spinal cord function. Upledger had a theory that the plates in the adult skull are not fused and do in fact move. When these plates get stuck it causes chaos in the body and manifests in ways that can cause chronic pain and decreased brain function. There is so much more to it and as Im researching I’ll post my findings. I am really enjoying these books. Up next is The Mindbody Perscription by John E. Sarno, who thinks that pain is caused by the mind holding on to a trama from the past and when you can let that go, the pain subsides.

Ive been doing some experimenting with tea this weekend and trying to work out a few ideas so I’ll be back to post those soon. I hope everyone is having a fun weekend!

assignment #55

Learning to Love you More is a website created by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. The work is created by the general public after selecting and completing an assignment from July and Fletcher. For my Structural Materials + Processes class we had to complete an assignment and I chose #55: Photograph an outfit you were wearing when something significant happened.

 

This is the outfit I was wearing when I found out I passed my first review at SCAD.  Its a fun site and the assignments are really creative so I encourage all of you to submit and be a part of this great project!

a busy weekend

 

 

 

Look at this beautifulness! These are figs Chris and I picked at our friend Susan’s house on Friday. This makes me want to have a garden so badly! My only soloution right now would be to get a bunch of potted plants so I could bring them with us if we moved but the yard doesnt get much sunlight. Susan made this amazing appetizer the other day with figs and goat cheese wrapped with ham. Oh man, so delicious.

Friday was also my internship group’s wall art presentation. This is a project we have been working on for four weeks. We had to develop and design something modular for the wall without many restrictions, except it had to be more geometric than organic. This criteria was left so wide open that it made the project very difficult to reign in. Add to that outside opinions and the issue of connecting the panels, it was a little frustrating. Our presentation went well, except that there was something wrong with the file we sent to the waterjet cutting place so our prototype couldnt get finished. At the last minute we had to improvise with screen printing and it didnt work all that well. Unfortunately (or maybe not so unfortunately) I dont think I can legally post pics online of the things I design for Working Class Studio, I’ll check tho.

On Saturday I finally took the intro class to my Bernina Activa. It was an all-day class at Colonial Quilts learning about what this machine can do, and its an insanely enormous amount. We didnt even come close to covering half of what is in the workbook, and there are 3 very large and expensive books on the different kinds of feet they make and what they can do! My brain was mush by the end of the day, but it was really fun.

Chris and I went to brunch at Firefly Cafe on Sunday morning. This is one of our favorite places in Savannah and it was our first time catching their brunch. I got the special- Lobster and asparagus omlete with the fruit and the best hash browns Ive ever had. Wow.

We also watched The Secret and What the !@#$ Do We Know, both of which I am going to watch again so that I can write down ideas to do more research. I enjoyed these movies and felt like they solidified theories I already have and live by. Watch them, because depending on the tone of your internal self-talk, they could change your life.

So those were a couple of the big things of the weekend (including some online car shopping!). Hope you had a great one!

 

 

 

midterms and a haircut

So midterms are over and I got a lot of great feedback about my work in my critique yesterday. I have a lot of research to do tho. If anyone wants to talk about psychosomatics let me know!

And I finally got a haircut…. although it is still really long and doesnt look like I got anything cut. Its never this straight so I thought I’d show you. My girl Lindsey at B Street Salon is the best!

the new one

Hey guys! I decided to move my blog over to wordpress because there are so many more options here.  Please bear with me while I figure everything out.  Hopefully you will like my new home!

impression

I have been playing with the idea of “impression.” As in the impression of an object, something left behind after that object is gone. I just wanted to see what would happen with the tomato….

But what I am really interested in are tea bags. I have been saving my tea bags from this quarter to possibly do something with in the fall and I had this idea last week to also have the impression from each bag. So I began on this piece of watercolor paper last Monday.

I love the ghost-like image that remains. The contrast between the hard and soft edges are beautiful and they almost resemble cocoon shapes.
The blue-green impressions are from a green tea with berries. Its supposed to suppress the appetite, but I dont think it works. I like the taste tho and the colors from the impression are intense and deep.

I am going to start a daily practice of collecting the impressions from my tea bags. I have made small pieces of paper into single signatures (just a folded piece of paper that would be sewn into a book) but instead of binding them I am stacking them between two blocks of wood.

Once the stack gets very high it will be hard to balance, which is ultimately what this piece is about. Drinking tea brings me a calm and balanced feeling. I try very hard to have balance in my life, I need it and I thrive on it.

Thats it for now, I am trying to figure out whether to post my daily collages all at once because I have about 16 to catch you up on. It would be a super long photo post, but I guess that wouldnt necessarily be a bad thing.

coptic

I just couldnt get this idea out of my head last week, so I had to make it to see what it looked like. I went crazy with the coptic stitch. The book is about 5.5″ x 7″ and it took about 8 hours total, worked over 3 days. Every stitch was very meditative and satisfying. As I got into a rhythm it reminded me of the breathing practice we do in yoga, called ujjayi breath. It is an audible, hollow sounding breath through the nose used to sooth and focus your attention to your practice. In a sense, this practice demonstrates how the breath can connect your physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual selves together. The sound of piercing the paper and drawing the thread through each opening reminded me of the breath. It created an essence. I recorded the sound to capture this essence. I did a few test rounds then a final round, and after each time I listened to the recording as I continued to stitch the book together so it created this stereo effect- listening to the recording while creating the sound. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.

hostel in the trees

This is where I’ll be spending my birthday this year, with Chris and about 14 fibers girls (and painting and graphic design girls). This was the only time we could work in the trip with my class and it happens to be on my bday so Im pretty freakin excited! Its going to be great.

Ive been trying to get organized and straighten out my life lately but its been super difficult with school and my internship. Im trying not to be too hard on myself and feel like I havent made enough work, because I have been working really hard, its just in different ways where I dont end up with something physical or complete to show for it.

In an attempt to get myself back in balance I am taking yoga classes at the Savannah Yoga Center. And Chris signed up too, completely unexpected! We’ve been to two classes so far and its been wonderful. I have been out of practice for too long and its great that Chris is doing it too. Yoga is such a great way to clear your mind and strengthen your body. I started practicing at the gym where I worked almost 10 years ago (? 10? is that possible? am I that old where 10 years ago I was a teenager?!), and have been doing it at home with crunch fitness dvds (which are awesome by the way). Ive been out of practice for almost a year now and feel grateful to be getting back in to it.

I must be going now but since I hate to leave you pictureless…..

Sawyer eating the floor in my newly organized studio. I cant wait till the whole house is done! I promise to post with in progress and completed work soon. Ciao!

two, three and four

two, 28 Jun 07

three, 29 Jun 07

four, 30 Jun 07

I am having a lot of fun with these daily collages! I am also getting better on being more disciplined with my studio practice. I made a calendar that outlines my entire day and it has been much easier to stick to.

These have been in my back yard for about a month and a half. After many thunderstorms they are tightening up and the felt is migrating down the stick. Some bits have fallen off and my hope is that animals use them for their nests. I still havent made it out to the marsh to see my other installations since my jeep died, but hopefully this week I can borrow Chris’ car.