Happy Anniversary

--to Princess & me. March 30 is two years since she came to live with me. :) She spent the first day and a half hiding under the futon. She has relaxed a lot, though she still can be hyper-alert kitty when the need arises. We are very cozy together even though I haven't conformed to her desire for a predictable schedule, and I keep her busy (she has an extra amount of work every time I reconfigure the chaos, because she has to check everything). I always make sure to leave cat routes between & behind boxes, and to make a lap nest with her favorite blanket so she'll sit with me. Sometimes her naps are contagious. Other times she runs around like crazy for as much as a minute, careful not to "hide" where I can't reach her. All in all, life is good.

Random Progress

The chaos reigning in my apartment has been reconfigured once again, with moderate improvements. I'm still waiting for the bookcase I ordered at the end of January.

Progress on the white embroidery sampler--it is getting very crazy; what works and what doesn't are very apparent. Aside from issues resulting from not using an embroidery frame (which would be a good thing when using such a variety of stitches/stitch tensions), having the central pod "shaded" and the rest monochromatic isn't working; too much business.

Over the weekend I finished this little embroidery sample I charted from a reliquary purse: The purse itself is in the fantastic database of the Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgium's Artistic Heritage--note that although the search form is in English, you have to search in Dutch or French. "Beurs" is pouch.

Sarah, what technique do you think was used to make this delightful item?

Temperate Kitty, Random Projects, & Seattle

Temperate Kitty is pleased with the current state of the climate. She doesn't always stay outside as long, but requests Balcony Patrol on a more frequent basis, thus giving her human more butler practice. She deigns to signal vocally for re-entry on a more frequent basis, judging that the speedier response is worth the extra effort, since her human's telepathy operates in an irregular manner (precognition is somewhat better, but still not entirely reliable).

Two Projects from about two years ago. I made them late 2005, and they were in a show at Sixth Street Gallery the next summer.

This was going to be a book, but it turned into a satisfyingly dysfunctional labyrinth. It is handmade abaca paper, formed to create irregular edges and interior holes--each "sheet" was thus made in one step, not altered afterwards. I "bound" it and applied various stitchery, including needle lace. The sheets are about 3.5"/45mm tall. It was creepily like sewing dried skin.

These are plant-like to me; maybe the kind of plant that could eventually walk around. Abaca paper over birch twigs--wonderfully flexible, shed naturally by the tree during winter storms--with needle lace. There are three more related pieces I finished early last year, but don't have pictures of yet. (tsk tsk) They were in an alumni show at Oregon College of Art & Craft, and are the same materials, but each constructed with a "skeleton" of three twigs, so it looks like they are ambling about. I finally found a place to put them where I didn't knock them over--they are very lightweight.

A day or so ago I did the last bit of the languishing binding for Natura Exenterata. It's done with tackets (those twisted bits of hemp string) which tie the signatures to the cover.





Status of the white embroidery as of midday Sunday: