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a good day

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the first time ever dared lace embroidery thing    said  "turn me over and around!",  and yes, and a perfect fit to the extent of connecting to the loved line in the Arlee cloth.   then,  a different face which is better.  she will have hair, of sorts, feet or at least one,  and hands if i can figure out how to do that.   and yes,  that will be a very large butterfly that has lit on her head. 

when i remembered about wanting to put her on this cloth i also remembered the whole of the initial thought about such a cloth.   that it would not be primary that everything "went together",  that i would experiment with incongruence in color and placement….they being second to the cloth being two things.  first a place to have things i love that have been all seperate and here and there,  this includes pieces of cloth that i love and probably could never part with.  and second,  it would be a kind of large sampler where i would Try things that have come to mind  but never had a place to be.  so she brought both of these things with her.

 
 

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34 responses to “a good day”

  1. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    do you remember those felt storyboards? i loved those, with just a small movement of a piece the story would move along, changing and growing. i love the BIGNESS of your lit butterfly.

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  2. Jacqui Avatar
    Jacqui

    Hi Grace
    I find it interesting that your cloths feature so heavily around ‘winged’ things and that Jude’s lizard cloth features a ground animal which takes centre place. Perhaps the lizard work ‘grounds’ the whole?
    Kindest Regards
    Jacqui

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  3. judy keathley Avatar
    judy keathley

    damn, grace–
    i love this
    & i love how you’re thinking about it–
    incongruence—
    what connects it (besides beauty ) is that all of these pieces/parts you LOVE —
    so they are YOU –parts of you —
    how much more congruent can you get !!
    (if you asked me)

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  4. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    Hey Grace, how I envy your space to work on a large format piece like this one (I dream of such space). I’m loving watching the progression of this work. It is exciting.

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  5. Valerianna Avatar
    Valerianna

    OH dear, my earlier comment got eaten.
    As I was saying…. the face has a more wise-woman/moony look. Love the color of that lacey bit, no surprise, really, a deep forest color. And I love the sampler idea. I tend to think that anything can be integrated visually, just a matter of keeping it going and creating a pattern, even if its not a repeating one. Sometimes the visual unity happens even with such complexity and variety with just one line from top to bottom of side to side to tie it all together and lead the eye around. Oh, here I am being so very professory again… we just did a bit on this in class, so its on my mind. Your process seems much more organic and expansive.

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  6. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yes…Sunday School. those missionary ladies.
    yes. some stuff is way bigger than is generally accepted.

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  7. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    an astute observation.
    oh sigh. yes. my beloved lizard clan. here they are
    predominately the blue whip tails. i could never tell
    the extent to which i love them.
    they WILL be on this cloth. i have seen them on this
    cloth already.
    it’s taking time because of that probably fact that i will
    be leaving this Place sometime in the not too distant
    future. until about exactly a year ago i had intended to
    live here forever till i just keeled over and dried up
    out there under some bush. but, doesn’t look that way
    now. it will be very hard to leave. they, the lizards
    will be hard to leave. when i water, which i have been
    weaning myself from doing Every evening, when i water,
    i squat watching and they come. i watch them drink. they
    actually do also make eye contact. they are familiar with
    me, however it is they experience things. them and the
    toads. the bull snake.
    Jude’s lizard is there because she was really the first
    person ever in my small art life that truly
    saw
    me.
    thanks for letting me say and think about this.
    it’s important.
    thank you

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  8. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    well yes. you are right. congruent in that way, yes.
    but not so much in choices of fabrics etc. and in the
    past, i would let that hold a lot of weight. this time
    i’m not.
    i really just want some of this cloth involved here,
    whether or not there is a flow
    thanks for liking it

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  9. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Michelle…i guess it’s ok to repeat, but this WAS the
    back porch. screened in. my daughter and i borrowed
    a Sawzall, a really violent but effective thing, and
    we just took a deep breath and cut the wall out of the
    trailer. 15ft of it. we didn’t know if the whole house
    would collapse or not. but i wanted the SPACE. the
    LIGHT. so we did it. and it’s all still standing.
    i scavenged all the windows, they are old wood framed
    ones which are totally impractical in cold months…
    huge cracks that let Wind in, BUT 9 months of the year
    it is bliss. This too is something i will miss
    when i leave.

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  10. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Valerianna….oh NO!!!! i love these thoughts. i LOVE
    them. keep them coming as it goes along. because i
    have no clue yet about how that can happen here. this
    is good and helpfull. organic or not, there is just
    an innate desire for flow……
    yes. this face is better, but as i said somewhere a while ago, it’s hard to “age” a woman’s face.
    actually, there’s not a lot here at all. eyes, two
    nostrils and a mouth. and unless it’s a kind of thing
    where you add wrinkles, loosened facial skin etc, i wonder
    how it can not appear as so young????? maybe i might
    change it yet again. but, maybe not too. a woman’s face
    is a woman’s face. period. if i were doing a drawing, as
    in my other life, i might just put the eyes and a line
    mouth. but then, that’s spooky. wasn’t in to creating
    a spooky look here. just a woman.
    again…thank you for all your thoughts….Happy….xoxo

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  11. nance Avatar
    nance

    when i clicked on this page the first thing i noticed was the sparkle of this piece…i mean it just sparkled right out at me…. then i noticed the woman which i have to admit i did not notice before… (i have been a bit preoccupied..sorry.) but when i saw her this time… i had just finished reading wangari’s obit. and i thought oh…there she is with her beautiful african head dress…. but i see it is intended to be one of your beloved butterflies which for me will hold her spirit because that spirit is what i first saw. then…. on to the analysis of this piece because i am in a mode of thinking critically since i am taking a 5 day art class… what i see is a balance of verticals and horizontals…with the verticals being a bit more prominent bringing you eye down to the bottom of the cloth. but i also see several lines starting to form… perhaps will end up connecting the various verticals and horizontals. there are areas where line is connecting several pieces… like the birds tail leading to the other blocks below. like the line in arlees piece connecting with the lace line creating a dance and the the very important diagonal below that which is just a darker part of the fabric the megamung cloud is pointing to the bird other areas too but you get the idea… it is connecting and moving your eye through the piece. so though you may not be using color in such a connecting way you are using line.
    well… lots of words…esp for me. sorry for being too windy… i am just in that frame of mind tonight.

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  12. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    I came back to catch the ongoing thread (should be in bed) and my goodness—I never heard/read about the sawing of the wall—missed it I guess—That took a good deal of faith or something like faith. But, another thing I don’t know is why you are leaving (Winters too cold? I think of Virginia Okeefe out in the desert for so many years. She was a hardy soul, wasn’t she. Of course, she probably a good deal of money to manage the weather and weathering into her old age. If warmth is the reason, it’s a good one. If i am prying inappropriately, just ignore the question. Now, speaking of warmth, I must go slip under the comfort of my cotton quilt or I too will keel over, but under the desk.

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  13. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    Grace, I gasped when this came on the screen, the way the light dances off of it inviting your eye to dance along.
    I love the face, yes a bit older and wiser.
    My daughter just learned of those lizards (in Albuquerque) – saw two within days.
    I love how this holds your important things. Yes.

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  14. margaret johnson Avatar
    margaret johnson

    hello Grace, your quilt is looking beautiful, alive. i love the woman standing on the tree roots.(?) she looks strong and confident, grounded. bravo! Marg. ox

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  15. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    As it was with the first cloth of yours, the strong woman holding forth, that cloth that so clearly spoke your name, that cloth that was asked for by your granddaughter to the daughter cloth that you recently made, now in a new place, wrapped around and held close by your daughter to now,this cloth, large in dimension, this magic diary cloth, large because it needs to carry memories. This cloth is your memory keeper for in this cloth, I see all the colors of your sky, your land, the beings that inhabit your landscape, that you enfold in your heart.
    One day, you will roll up this cloth to take with you to a new place,a place with different trees, plants, grasses, weeds, rocks, lizards, birds, and, possibly a squirrel or two. I have this vision of you unrolling this cloth and placing it on this new land, introducing yourself to this place. Your heart will hold a beat in memory and honor of Polvadera and then resume it’s natural rhythm in continuation of what will come next…

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  16. Valerianna Avatar
    Valerianna

    I wonder if its not wrinkles that will age a face, but the shape of it? Like pulling it in under the cheekbones and giving the chin an angular quality? Sometimes that;s worked for me. But then what I like about her is her moony quality – which might be the rounded shape. So, maybe its her eyes… something wizened in the eyes, and what a challenge THAT might be!

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  17. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yes…the shape. bones more prominent. eyes, well
    that too. after the main work of this big cloth, i want
    to make some small cloths of different parts of this cloth.
    some will be women like this one…it’s a long standing
    image for me. the “dolls” i used to make were like this.
    would like to translate them into cloths. so this
    face question will be on going. yeah, moony quality too.
    thanks for your thoughts, xoxo

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  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    well, what a great frame to be in!!!
    i am going to write down all these threads you have mentioned and take them over to look. you know i don’t
    by nature have a way of thinking like this and also, not
    the formal design training, so this is GREAT!!!
    thanks!!!!
    i have to work today, it’s the ALL day day, but when i get
    back, i want to take a pic of that lace piece just fitting
    as it was made to be totally perfect with the one dark
    line in the Arlee cloth. that just amazes me.
    love and enjoy your weeks workshop…

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  19. judy keathley Avatar
    judy keathley

    i know.
    i get what you’re talking about.
    it’s a challenge.
    it’s just so exciting, so freeing
    to have jude remind us that it’s not only ok to break rules–
    but that the rules themselves are completely arbitrary–
    somebody just made them up–
    so i could say to you –
    a rule of design is that the parts must be incongruent–
    thats a new rule–
    of course you could break it —
    because its completely arbitrary–
    just like the other rules–
    its just so good i think to shake up all this crap we allow to stop us from heading off in wild directions that can lead to –well–anywhere
    i appreciate that you are doing that–
    i think its brave.
    not to mention fun as hell to watch.

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  20. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    Hi Grace,
    I just came across your post on SEW – I don’t know anything about not remembering my email address?? Ooops – maybe I put something wrong…no idea – foreign languages are strange creatures!!
    You seem to be stitching and sewing all day long these days – magnificent work! I am, as always struggling, not satisfied with chosen colours, not enough time…well, the creative path does never run smooth, I guess.
    I have just come home from work – my usual procedure:
    put the kettle on ….tea is my personal life-saver. Check Jude’s page and Magic Diaries. Check Windthread…
    hope to find time to write another letter …have you received my (2.) letter? I think so, but I just want to check.
    Have a great day,
    eva

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  21. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    Hi Michelle,
    I’d like to take the opportunity to “talk” to you! I never succeed in posting a comment on your amazing and interesting blog. Never works.
    So here’s the well deserved praise: I am a regular visitor to your blog – love it!
    eva

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  22. Susan C Avatar
    Susan C

    I really like that you are always adding to this. Small stories making one big story.

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  23. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    OH EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes, YES, yes, i did receive, yes
    and i am slow to return mail…i have looked everywhere
    for a little piece of something to stick in and couldn’t
    find it, looking looking looking
    but now i have, but it needs a little more thread and
    you will be off on your trip before it will arrive.
    and also…what i wanted to ask you is if i have your
    permission to take a pic and post about your gift you
    sent????
    OH! i am so glad you commented this morning. this all has
    been SO on my mind……
    xoxoxo

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  24. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    Sure, just go ahead!!
    We leave on 24th October – so I will be at home for quite some time!
    eva

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  25. Eva Ucgatwork Avatar
    Eva Ucgatwork

    Grace…what does “xoxoxo” mean?
    A lot of folks seem to put it under a post.
    eva, again

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  26. Tammy Avatar
    Tammy

    Eva I couldn’t resist answering this. It means hugs and kisses. I’m guessing that the x’s stand for kisses and the O’s stand for hugs. When I used to chat online another way of hugging was to do this ((((((Eva))))))) so .. hugs and kisses to you!! 🙂 <~~~~~ that was a smiley face.

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  27. Tammy Avatar
    Tammy

    I think everything everyone said about your beautiful cloth has been right on and what strikes me about your work is the richness of it. I think delicious when I see this. I love the contrast of the colors, those bluesy grays and the hot orangy yellow. I love that the woman’d head is floating and I realize that you may not keep it that way but something about that and the look on her face that seems spiritual with it floating .. not spooky. And the thing above her head, I think you said you were going to make it into a giant butterfly ? Most of all I just love that it is like a giant collage of cloths that you love. Beautiful work!!

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  28. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    hey, Michelle. i don’t believe in prying. i LIKE talking
    about everything. it’s all just fodder.
    my daughter, because of her own circumstance, moved to
    California in August. WITH her herd of dairy goats. it is
    her intention to bide her time until she is able to get a
    place in Northern California where she will set up camp
    “forever”. establish herself as self sufficiently as she
    can. go forward with those dairy goats.
    i could stay here.
    could, in many ways it would make sense. but….there is
    a very strong pull to go there and cast my lot with her
    intentions while i am still able to be of use there. she
    is 38. time for this, for her. staying here for me would
    be nowhere near as …. uh,…..useful to the planet.
    i have things to offer. would like to offer them.
    warmth…well, i actually like heating with wood as much as you might hear me whine. i have a very great wood stove and the heat from it is magic. this will be an ongoing thread in the next months, so we will leave it at that.
    xoxo

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  29. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    nancy…the blue tails are the majority of the community here. MANY. i like it that your daughter is really so
    nearby.

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  30. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Marti…yes. someday i will unroll it there. yes. i
    will.

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  31. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    it is as Tammy says. it’s a way to say
    love to you…
    which i still DO say, but sometimes
    this xoxo thing

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  32. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    yes. it is wonder full for me….and…..
    i am
    searching
    for the gypsy ferrets music
    it’s somewhere here….i’ll find it.

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  33. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    her head will still float. to me, it’s how we are…a
    physical being and a mind and then the world we create
    for spirit
    ???????????????????

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  34. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    Yes so close. Maybe she could meet you for me!!!! Haha Kidding 🙂

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