AND

"Menopause is a Bitch"

Those hot flashes are NOT caused by Sven
and

That extra weight isn't because you're a greedy lazy little bugger
and
what the hell was I going to say
I forgot

Wordless Wednesday

At the Train Station, Yellow Springs, Ohio
graffiti artist unknown

Stencil Graffiti History
Blek le Rat-godfather of stencil graffiti

The Struggle Begins

This was an early attempt to integrate painting, assemblage, and sewing into one piece. I thought it was a nice, albeit decorative, little piece but it generated NO interest and consequently got cut up and the pieces used somewhere else. I think I should have kept it though, Oh well!!!

I got Tilleke's fabulous embroidery book and I was reminded of how structured I am in my work, even in my assemblage pieces, AND even in my attempt in my sketchbook to play with an idea for an embroidery.
This is so NOT what I want.

I am so busy thinking about it that I am not getting anything done ( I know some of you do that too). That is part of the struggle, as well as being too structured/controlled. The challenge,
the struggle
try to integrate media in a way I am NOT used to.

So I am going to do this.

Painting by Gallery Girl Jen for Jafabrit's Birthday

I know I've said it before, but planning an embroidery or doing one for a show is NOT playing. Playing is spending time doing something with no end goal in mind, no boundaries or fixed rules. You just sit and play with the materials and explore.
So today I will play on a little piece of muslin.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

The sun was shining and the bees buzzing and I started to read my book that I got for my birthday The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman .
"Within a decade, she was a white Indian with a chin tattoo, caught between cultures. "The Blue Tattoo" tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Orphaned when her family was brutally killed by Yavapais Indians, Oatman lived as a slave to her captors for a year before being traded to the Mohave, who tattooed her face and raised her as their own."

It is interesting to see how tattoos once considered savage/or common are now accepted culturally and socially.
Indigenous Tattoos resurface after 95 years

Tattoo History Museum
Maori face design on a stone, maori call it Tā moko

This is" Sweetum's" who lives on a shelf in Yellow Springs somewhere.
I found the doll at a Garage Sale and painted her with black gesso, sponged white acrylic paint, black acrylic for the designs, and a final coat of resin.

So, err even Barbie has tattoos now, ahem!
Tattoo Barbie Project

Tattoo Doll Project

It was the Teeth that started it

People often wonder how a painting is inspired. Mine started with a National Geographic Photo I tore out and put in my sketchbook. I thought his teeth were horrendous and I wanted to paint them. I thought as awful as his teeth were he was happy, had loving arms around his shoulders and it made me smile. So I did a wee sketch that then led to the painting below. As I started sketching I was listening to a bbc radio documentary about Highway 61 and the birth of the delta blues, the great migration north and the struggles they faced trying to reach north. I thought of all those men who died along the way who wouldn't feel the loving embrace anymore.

Highway 61
Oil on canvas 12"x12"
"from the 1920s, the music and the musicians began to drift north to Chicago with the great black migration out of the South. Highway 61 became the Blues Highway, carrying the music to a wider world. "
Delta Blues

Stuff, Scary and Otherwise

SCARY FACES

"12 steps to nowhere"
12" x 12" oil on canvas

I liked this painting OnCe, BUT now I really really don't like it.
I'm glad it isn't in my house otherwise I would cut it up or paint over it.
You ever feel like that about a piece of work?
I called it 12 steps to nowhere because it was based on the story of the first great migration north by African Americans in which many trying to escape the tyranny in the south found it on a roadside ditch traveling up north.

SCARY STORIES
How about THIS story about the dangers of Plastic Surgery and being dragged off to a mental hospital against your will.
Talk about
tyranny.

Stuff in the Studio
OH! I came up with a title for my embroidery
"the prick who came to dinner"
It sort of alludes to a once famous play called "the man who came to dinner"
about Sheridan Whiteside, an "insufferably arrogant radio personality"

THE OTHERWISE PART

Got most of the knit graffiti up, just need to add a few more flowers, but rain thwarted the jafagirls efforts and we had to make a dash for it.

Well Carpe Diem folks

Guerrilla Art:Okay I admit it

Okay I Admit it
LOL! I am a guerrilla artist at heart
Thanks for the shout out Modern Living Cyber Cafe and the Creative Perch
I guess I didn't really think of my blog as a Guerrilla Art blog per se, but I suppose since my blog is a reflection of me and me likes it, the concept of it, and doing it it is a case of the "if the shoe fits."
I thought I would make a slide show and well, ahem I didn't realize just how much I had done.

One of my favourite places to visit is the Wooster Collective which showcases street art from around the world. It is not only inspiring but eyeopening to explore how artists around the world create within their given environments and the way others interact with it.

AND
I am one year older
It's my Birthday
and
I am having Ha Ha Pizza tonight
YEA

Cancer Voodoo Doll

A friend of the JafaGirls has been diagnosed with Prostrate Cancer so Nancy and I made
a doll with a image of a cancer cell that I printed on fabric, and a pouch to keep it in.
Pins were supplied.
The good news is that it was detected after a psa test and caught early.
There has been some controversy about the psa tests, but I am not sure men who have been diagnosed feel it isn't worth it.

Embroidery:Dinner Guest from Hell (parental guidance advised)

"dinner guest from hell"

I chose tea stained linen because it represents a stained tablecloth and that is certainly how I felt about the dinner that evening, stained. Stained by behaviour that I felt warranted a pecking by the crows on his little dunghill of ignorance and insults.
While I didn't personally take offense, his offensiveness was astonishing.
I can't tell you more because locals read my blog and I don't want to embarrass the hostess further.

This is slated to go to the Eclipse Gallery for the 50 Artists, 50 States, 50 Mediums
exhibit in September 12, 2009 - January 1, 2010
I used black floss, a transfer for the birds and flowers, but designed the rest myself, and a mixture of satin , stem, whip , and long & short stitches.

Not sure about the title, so if any of you have some ideas I would love to hear them.
For a wee bit entertainment, check out Dinners from Hell website.

sketchbook translations

Sketchbook collage 2008 by jafabrit

Translations
I thought it might be fun to see if I could do an embroidery version of the above sketchbook page. I did do something along those lines a while back.

I never really did anything with it. At the time I thought I was going to use it for a quilt and didn't see it as an individual piece, so I'm going to have to revisit that. I did a mixture of paint and embroidery (stitched lips onto it), beaded circle on gessoed black muslin. Not easy to stitch on, but the effect is reminiscent of my painting style.
Here is the original sketch

CODEPINK

art+craft=craftivism had a blog entry about donating knitted squares for the codepink's mother's day banner for peace. It is an issue close to my heart because as a mother of a veteran (marines), and as strongly as I supported our military I did something that was unpopular, I was against the war in Iraq.
“freedom means nothing without dissent”
Many paid lip service to that and went after those who questioned the merits of such a war with accusations of being anti american, supporting terrorists, being against our troops. Peace groups became the targets of unwanted attention (government spying), bullying, verbal abuse, accusations, death threats, hatred, etc.
Today I share my voice of dissent with the simple act of knitting a square

using stips of cloth from my son's cammies, and my favourite pink fluflly yarn.
May our children be safe from the machinations and ambitions of those who choose war
and from those who are blinded by fear to follow them.

"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
Herman Goering
"Leading member of the Nazi Party, convicted and sentenced to death for war crimes"

Buttons, Paint and Thread

A couple of years ago I was experimenting and did this embroidered painted copy of my daughter's childhood drawing. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it at the time. Now I realize it was an early stage of trying out an new idea. I have loved doing the latest embroidery and it's inspired a desire to explore further how to integrate my painting and embroidery (as well as other elements) into art pieces.
Seeing the work of Tilleke Schwarz pushed that desire even further.

IN THE MAIL

I got a postcard addressed to JAFA WORLD HEADQUARTERS and it had me in stitches, thanks Bill (from Under Construction/Art Contemplations) for the chuckle and thanks for the card. This is one of my favourite images (Meltdown) of your work, so thank you.

AND

A big thank you to W-Women Globally for doing an interview on me on their website.

Graffiti Alley Ann Arbor Michigan

Graffiti Alley March 17th, 2009

I find it very difficult to create a chaos of colour, shapes and text on paintings (and embroidery) so I always enjoy it when I see it, if not on a canvas, then on a wall somewhere. Creatively I always seem to veer away from colour yet I LOVE it.
Here is another view and of course I had to leave one of my stickers.

I didn't notice where I was putting my sticker until I stepped back and noticed the penis LOL!

Memo to self
don't take penis embroidery to a christian based craft store and try and sneak it out to find a frame, ahem!
It isn't quite finished though, I need to add a couple more things.
I found a scottish proverb to stitch onto my embroidery piece about the dinner guest from hell.
"A cock is valiant on his own dunghill"

Which means one can wallow and crow in their own poo in their own home to their hearts content, but outside they will be immediately deemed a person full of it and a right dickhead.

Button Brag and Button Art

I LOVE buttons ( I know! I know! I love a LOT of things) and the above one made of WOOD is my FAVOURITE vintage button from the 1920's. It has been used on coats, bags, cardigans,and now sits on my shelf in the studio to be coveted daily.
Here is the BRAG part
My husband, bless his heart, secretly bought me a stash of buttons

which arrived yesterday.
I think I went mad with delight.
Of course I had to google and see what button related art was out there in this big old world

Button Art
image source ecofriend
and I found the work of Lisa Kokin
I love how she has connected all the buttons and created this delicate lacy mesh.

Vintage Button Sale Website-and some of them are just amazing

PAINT & PASS


I finally did it Jen, Connie and my new buttons found a home to roost
And I will be sending the Painting very soon

William Morris: Myth, Object and the Animal

It has been a while since I've been to an exhibit that left be gobsmacked.
And this one at the Dayton Art Institute did just that. The quality and craftsmanship was beyond admirable, it was stunning and inspiring.
But it wasn't just that, it was the fact you could hardly believe they were made of glass. I wanted to touch them, photograph them, draw them,drool over them, take one home.
Leanne, you would go bonkers over the
"Crows and Rhyton series"

As for their permanent collection I saw some new pieces and was allowed to photograph them.
I rather liked this Jim Dine Painting, it seems sinister and whimsical at the same time.

It is one of many works exploring the theme of Pinocchio.
After reading about the series I can see why I felt that way.

NEW LINKS
Art Babble-art " site opens window to the world of museums" NYT article
Embroidery Art by Tilleke Schwarz

Carpe Diem Cras O Mistress Mine

Carpe Diem
O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O Stay and hear! your true-love's coming
That can sing both high and low;
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
Journeys end in lovers' meeting----
Every wise man's son doth know.

What is love? tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty, ---
Then come kiss me, Sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
William Shakespeare

I roamed around town with my camera
relishing the sunshine as it kissed my cheek
and the aroma of sweet blossoms seduced my senses.This is the view from the car park side of Tom's Market

I roamed with my knitting and left a loving touch
on a local bench.

I picked colours that matched the blue in the window of the Laundromat and the orange of the newspaper box at the side. Nancy is going to add the textile portion with a quote carpe diem, which is exactly what I did that day.
The procrastinators version made me giggle though since I kind of relate to it a bit too well.

Carpe Diem Cras
"Seize the day tomorrow"

Meanwhile
I have been drawing out my design for my embroidery piece in my sketchbook
I came up with a title for it
"Richard Cranium"
A little bit of wordplay there

Art of Embroidery Stitches

I got this from my gran years ago (Supplement to Weldon's Ladies Journal No.688) and I'm guessing it's from the 30's/40's because it has 4d on it LOL! I still have some of the transfers too, including this one from another set of transfers she gave me.

NEW PIECE

I am using an old transfer that I will add my own elements to as the piece goes along. So far I have used satin stitch, long and short stitches for the birds, and whip stitch on tea stained muslin. For the larger leaves I think I might use Cretan Stitch, which is beautiful.

Here is a full page of stitch diagrams from STITCH with the Embroiderers' Guild
Some of these I haven't done for years, so I may need to practice.

AND
for some interesting stitchery, Historically Inaccurate, is really cool stuff

I also really like the work of Andrea DezsoImage source: we make money not art

Check out some of her other "my mother claimed" series of embroidery, they are hilarious.

As for Tilleke Schwarz, she is the Jean-Michel Basquiat of the Embroidery World, her work is just marvelous.

Body (somatic) Memories

"mitten man"
he who prowls looking for his quarry
fabric, hair, antique buttons, hand knitted mittens from turkey, bone, photograph eye

Have you ever had them?
I started getting them at 16, these stabbing pains in my private parts that would make me wince and double over. They would last only a few seconds. Sometimes I would get 10 or 15 a day. I assumed I had been physically damaged due to the abuse but doctors never said anything and I was too embarrassed to ask. Over time they got less, and I learned to just live with it. By the time I got married and came to America they had become rare and when they did happen I just took a deep breath and let it pass. It wasn't until I was in my late thirties that I learned that it was PTSD.

Here is how the Sidran Institute explains body memory
"This popularly-used term is actually a misnomer. The body does not have neurons capable of remembering; only the brain does. The term refers to body sensations that symbolically or literally captures some aspect of the trauma. Sensory impulses are recorded in the parietal lobes of the brain, and these remembrances of bodily sensations can be felt when similar occurrences or cues restimulate the stored memories.(Lenore Terr, M.D., personal correspondence, 31 August 1994). For example, a person who was raped may later experience pelvic pain similar to that experienced at the time of the event. This type of bodily sensation may occur in any sensory mode: tactile, taste, smell, kinesthetic, or sight.
See also somatic memory."

I think many people don't understand that recovering from abuse isn't just a matter of getting over it, sometimes we don't even know how it impacts us. Nobody ever told me there was such a thing as body memories and so I suffered quietly for years.

There is no need to suffer quietly nowadays.
If you are victim of abuse and recognize these symptoms please contact RAINN, a national network for victims of abuse full of information and links.

Skeleton Yarns in Yellow Springs

Bra gets busted in Yellow Springs
all because of Esqualita

"So she broke up the party and made me help her with her knitting!

Hmphf!...I did not think being a yarn holder was very becoming of one

so bodacious as I..."

I know, it's an old story but I have new visitors who may not have seen how a traveling bra could end up on the knit knot tree and at the police station.

Last I heard Olga was getting up to mischief in Canada

Creative Cycles: Up and down like a Yo Yo

I love this quote I read on Sheree's Blog

Making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life."

Dr. Maya Angelou

I had a friend mention I should get over my art mood because after all I don't "have" to earn a living with it.
Nobody HAS to earn a living with art, that is a choice.
BUT
the need to create isn't
Just as talking and eating
It is a need that is sometimes a pleasure and a pain

If creating was all about ego then there wouldn't be a problem
BUT
sometimes when the gap between expectation and reward gets too much it is discouraging
the ebb and flow of our creative energy is normal
Creative exhaustion is normal

"Telling Herstories" has a great article titled "Creative Cycles"
The Constant Creative Flux

It can also be annoying for others who don't understand
so my advice is just acknowledge it as a professional frustration
and my advice to me
don't blather on about it (well except here of course LOL)

I GAVE UP

I cut it up and put it into my sketchbook. I think technically it worked very well, I liked the concept, but aesthetically it just wasn't working. The central image was distracting from the focus of the piece which was about people's attitudes regarding shaving.
Oh well!

Meanwhile I was very happy with the results of my order from Canvas Press. This is for the ChamberPot Gallery exhibit in June and the theme is Yellow Springs. I had to stretch it myself and that was a REAL challenge to line it up on the edges. It didn't make sense to pay for it on stretchers when I has spare ones at home.

24" x 36"
Knit Knot Tree

Coffee Table Still Life and loyal dogs

Still life sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it, lol! Not sure why, but I love this photograph. I think it's because of the textures of the carved wood, the lighting and shadows, and the way the dog ornament (picked this up at the Lambertville flea market) is resting on the sketchbook.
It's almost like the dog is waiting for his master.

This dog, Greyfriars Bobby, waited 14 years

source wikipedia

sitting by his masters grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard in Scotland

Jafagirl Postcards

If any of you are in town and need/want/ urgently desire one of
our ( jafagirls) cool Yellow Springs Postcards they are available
at
Town Drug (corner of Xenia Ave and Glen St),
AND
Village Artisans (corner of Dayton and Corry Streets)

Photography by Corrine Bayraktaroglu