Beside myself

I hate losing sight of the back of a cloth ...

which is inevitably what happens when one turns to the front ...

making something of it ...

So many stitches, some intentionally visible ...

others not, here because Deb Lacativa's thread slips from light to dark, making Jude Hill's invisible baste true to its name ...

still others becoming hidden when they don't make the final cut.

Then there are the stitches that have been undone ...

No trace left, and no clue yet about what, if anything, will replace them.

Teach peace

September 21 is the International Day of Peace and this marks the second year I have the privilege of joining with two Australian artists in sending pieces of peace out into the world ... 

Weather-grams by Fiona Dempster and ...

silver-plate peace tags by Barry Smith

As I considered how best to participate this time around, teachers became the focus of my intention ...

It was a challenge with so many teachers who have been, and remain, a part of my life. In the end I decided to choose two new teachers, two art teachers, two writing teachers, and the one person who, more than any other, inspired my own journey into teaching.

To each of them I am sending …

• a repurposed silver-plate peace tag made by Barry Smith
  http://rustnstuff.blogspot.com/2018/07/process-of-pieces-for-peace.html
• a letterpress peace weather-gram made by Fiona Dempster
  https://paperponderings.blogspot.com/2018/07/printing-for-peace.html
• and two teach peace pins stitched on shreds of repurposed linen clothing,
  one to keep and one to give away

In the spirit of Tibetan prayer flags, any or all of these pieces of peace may be placed outside. According to Wikipedia, '"prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. The flags do not carry prayers to gods, which is a common misconception; rather, the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion ... to all"

Note: You can read about last year’s International Day of Peace here: http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2017/09/ripples-of-peace.html. 
And for those of you who recall last year's Peace Pin Project, there is more to come.

New moons

Up until now, the Moon Myth bases have been made before the moon patches. Now, as the moon wanes, I have turned the process around ...

The waning gibbous is thrifted white damask (50 cents) and Deb Lacativa  dyed cloth (priceless) reverse appliquéd with thrifted charcoal gray linen ($2).

The last quarter moon on the right is worked on indigo shibori cotton dyed at Maura Ambrose's workshop several years ago, sandwiched around a thrifted white damask hem ($1).

There were a few also-ran moons which may or may not make the final cut ...

And good news: we have been in a long spell of no rain, but ever since Fiona's peace weather-gram and Barry's piece of peace (more on that later) were hung on our porch thermometer ...

it has been raining ...

Sadly, but true to the land of flood and drought, the almost-bone-dry Blanco River, home of these rock cairns down the road from us  ...

has now risen and washed them all away ...

If you have Facebook, you may be able to see (and hear) video of the Blanco River.

Moon rise

Page 9 of Moon Myth is another memory cloth of a golden full moon rising over the trees on Cascade Trail ...

Once again, Deb Lacativa's dyed cloth and threads have a starring role ...

And this time I did a turned-edge reverse appliqué lined with a row of split back stitch worked with two strands of floss, while a single strand of detached back stitch danced around the edges of the dyed cloth marks.

Captivated

I love that Don got caught in the reflection of this painting ...

entitled Taos by Dan Namingha.

Our day had begun at Taos Pueblo

https://taospueblo.com/ ...

but the air was hazy and we were asked not to take photos of the residents without permission, so I only took one other picture ...

But we did come away with some hand-crafted memory pieces, chief among them being this cottonwood drum ...

After lunch, and before our ill-fated journey to the Rio Grande Gorge, we went to the Millicent Rogers Museum

http://www.millicentrogers.org/

which had a phenomenal collection, well-presented, as with this historical weaving ...

as well as this weaving in progress ...

Don was on the lookout for some particular artists, so we were gratified that the MRM permitted photography (I always ask).

We found two by Tony Abeyta ...

this one glass-fronted which reflected glare unfortunately ...

We also found one by Fritz Scholder (about whom there will be more in a future post) ...

Unfortunately, I neglected to snap a picture of the pottery process display that detailed Maria Martinez's methodology, but I was quite taken with this bronze depiction of her ...

Likewise, I have but one image of the many, many pieces of pottery ...

We left well-sated, then headed out to meet our destiny on the rim ...

Addendum:

I went to the Wimberley thrift store this morning and found three issues of American Indian Art Magazine (which Don mentioned liking when we were in Taos). It was only when I got home that I realized Maria Martinez was featured in two of the three ...

Time well-spent

Last week with P was gently spent, and naps afforded some time for stitching ...

This was a thrift store find, originally white linen that I overdyed with Prairie tea (Croton) gathered in our yard a couple of years ago. The plackets needed to be tacked down, so I started some detached back stitching with variegated Valdani #12 pearl cotton last month ...

but as so often happens, I liked the back better ...

so the first pass got ripped out and replaced with inside-out detached backstitching. One side done, one to go.

And no, I haven't forgotten our travels need to be documented further ... all in good time.

On the go ...

One of the good things about grandparenting is being able to help out when little ones are sick and parents have to go to work (a stress I remember all too well from our own working parent days). So we’ve been spending lots of time with P this week and will return to home and blogging next week.

Ranchos de Taos

We stayed just south of Taos proper, at a B&B in Ranchos de Taos ...

There we found tranquil beauty ...

and shelter from the sun ...

But best of all, we were close by the plaza where the San Francisco de Asis church has been the subject of Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams, among others ...

getting close enough to see this is not faux adobe ...

Then wandered on to "shop" at Chimayo Trading del Norte 

http://chimayotrading.com/

that was more of a museum than a gallery  (which is to say, far out of our price range) ...

and the Two Graces gallery next door 

http://www.twograces.com/

which was, by contrast, well within our means ...

Two boxes of metal later, it was clear we had fallen hook, line and sinker. 

Getting there

I'll have more to say about my favorite thrift store linen shirt soon. Suffice it to say for now that it is little more than shreds ...

But I've got some serious walking back to do first. I mean really ... how is it that we left for Taos almost four weeks ago and I'm just now getting to blogging about it?

Maybe because I took so many pictures that it's hard to sort through them all?

I mean, seriously. These are just the ones taken from the car on the way there ...

Although I must admit there was a lot to see in 776 miles of driving. I even pecked out some of the interior monologue that ran through my brain during Don's turns at the wheel. A crazy stream of consciousness threaded with my own personal soundtrack and the songs Don played on his CD mashup ...

Country Road (James Taylor)

Tuesday, July 31

7:25 Amarillo bound, 501 miles

GPS ETA 3:20, rain on the radar

That’ll change ...

Purgatory to the Devil’s Backbone

Follow the River Road along the Blanco, past Luckenbach to 290 (a good stopping point)

Wide open spaces (Dixie Chicks)

Then through Fredericksburg, accelerate to 75 on an undivided two-lane highway and cruise thru Grit and Hext (tho they aren’t more than signs along the way) ... none to see but goats

Shine a different way (Patty Griffin)

Stop in Menard (meh-NARD or MEN-erd rhymes with Leonard?) we’ll never know ... the town is dead or dying

Abandoned gas stations and dry creeks 

Summertime thing

The Hill Country begins to flatten, but in the distance, earthen tables lead to musings about buttes, mesas and plateaus 

Then there was lunch in Sweetwater ... the less said the better

Wind, oil and cotton fields on the flat land ... tractor wakes of red dirt dust ... smoke seen from miles away ... the smell of petroleum ... silos ... Georgia O’Keeffe’s clouds seen from below throw welcome  patches of shadow on parched earth ... irrigation fields leave literal crop circles ... and the rail road runs through it ... Idalou ... cattle dotting far-flung fields, the land so flat their backs define the horizon 

Two miles to Happy ... the road shimmers as cars far ahead appear to rise above an improbable river of highway ... a dust devil twists in the sun, flinging soil toward the sky

Palo Duro canyon a missed opportunity and a lure for another day 

And still the road goes on ... steadily rising to meet the Colorado Plateau

Morning glory (Jimmy Daddy Davis)

Wednesday, August 1 

7:07 63 and breezy under a waning gibbous moon

275 miles to Taos

The land even flatter, the horizon even farther ... wind farms as far as the eye can see 

And, seemingly in an instant, the land changes to scrub and red sand

Mesalands 

The dashlights glow white as we climb and climb and climb, ears popping 

Watch it shine (Walt Wilkins)

"They say there’s iron in these mountains ...

Sunlight through the heavens

Watch it shine"

Go wherever you wanna go (Patty Griffin)

Tall pines and mountains surround us ... elk crossing signs make us cautious about what we wish for

Mora

Falling rock and cow crossing signs as we follow switchbacks up into the Sangre de Cristos

The mountains rise straight up and while I’m not asking Don to slow down, my heart feels like it’s trying to find its way out of my chest

Big horn sheep crossing?

Leaves shimmer ... aspens?

A troubling sign of what’s ahead ... an  S-curve sign standing on its head ... the closest I come to “please slow down” is a comment on the horse carrier ahead of us “he’s from here ... he’s braking for a reason”

That and my foot is about to go thru the dash

Seriously, who rides bikes here?

So it went ...

Lastly (if you've actually made it this far), a confession. In all the years I've flown and looked out the window of the plane (okay, not that often do I actually get the window seat), I have wondered about this ...

And only this past month, as we drove down the road, did I realize the circles of green are formed by irrigation systems that pivot around a central water source.

I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out. Always I am learning ...