and nothing to do with that,  having become obcessed with the colors of Jude's Magic 2  in lamplight, Jan 15th post…a cold morning.  i have no idea what has gotten into me.  i am NOT a yellow person,  but the colors there, greybluegreenbluebutteryellowivory just have me Caught.  yellow.  pale, vague yellows. ivory yellows.   i have NO yellows, really.  well, a few, but they are more canary yellow.

and suddenly, i think of the onion skins in the gallon jar that i get from one of the growers at the local Farmer's Market:

001

and then, i got a call from my down the road neighbor/friend inviting me for a Martin Luther King  Prayer Tie Making Breakfast…..?……..and an aside,  it will be also Wrestling competition, which is not quite what it sounds like because the kids will be involved too.  5 seven year olds.  so, it's kinda women/kid wrestling.   she invites me to some gathering about every 6 months or so and i think maybe every two years i go.  but this sounded too good to pass up for a person drifting in Purpose less ness:

002

003

004

005

006

007

008

009

010

i had taken one of my bags of scraps from forever.  the big spool of knitcroshene for tie string. colorfull.

then, home again and finishing the last line, i filled a tub in the sink and have submerged that cloth.  i don't have a washing machine.  so, am hoping that if it sits in there all night,  it might work to soften the weave of all that commercial cloth that is          stiff.  ????

011

this was with the flash.  below,  without, which didn't really work, but….i liked what happened anyway………

013

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in

35 responses to “continuing with the feeling: purpose less ness / meaning less ness”

  1. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    WOOOOweeee I can’t wait to see what comes out of the tub..and what are those amazing hands up to in the picture sequence ??? Captions perhaps?

    Like

  2. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    prayer ties, as mentioned above……..

    Like

  3. deb Avatar

    there it is that RED again, with a tail~! It reminded me of the Mayhem that went to live with Jude.

    Like

  4. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    and–“Vinegar is a natural fabric softner. If you ever run out of Downy and need those towels soft, white vinegar will do the trick. It won’t smell as good as a store softner, actually it won’t smell like anything, but definitely will soften fabric up. One other bonus is that it will never leave “grease” spots – you know those tiny dark spots on colors that sometimes appear when the fabric gets an extra dose of Downy.”

    Like

  5. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i can’t bear the fragrance of Downy. i am wierd.
    i’ll dribble some vinegar in but i think it just is
    how it is.
    it’s somehow the tightness of the weave process???
    or the dye/weave? it just won’t allow any sense of
    fiber. like it’s pressed or mashed into cloth, not
    woven. welll, live and learn. the color is so beautiful.
    i used the back of it. the front was much brighter and
    unappealing. but the back….
    oh well again. i think i’ll hang it outside. maybe
    months of wind and sun will loosen it

    Like

  6. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    yes…that red….Mayhem….perfect word

    Like

  7. Deb G Avatar

    That’s my favorite shade of yellow, the softest one. Starlight and moonlight and warm afternoon light.

    Like

  8. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    have you been able to make it?

    Like

  9. handstories Avatar

    i am NOT a yellower either, but can make room for a bit of butter or wheat. what a good way to spend today. my long gone friend, janie, used to make a mlk celebration dinner for today, we’d listen to the “dream” speech. she loved yellow.

    Like

  10. Deb G Avatar

    Yes, apple leaves. Onion is bright, at least it has been for me. Still pretty, but bright.

    Like

  11. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    ok. have an apple tree or two in my world (not here) so
    i’ll try.
    will see what the onion does in the morning. since they
    are local, they WILL be stronger than the store ones even

    Like

  12. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    yes..butter, wheat, ivory,
    i just can’t stop looking at that pic…really. can’t
    stop looking at it…
    and yes. I remember your Janie.
    i would have run away with Martin if he had ever asked
    me. what an amazing and brilliant mind inside a beautiful
    man. wonder what he’s doing now.

    Like

  13. handstories Avatar

    probably singing very loud, somewhere very high.

    Like

  14. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    –He’s getting his heart right for a rebirth–Trent Gilliss at Being blog posted this piece of history with a live recording of Martin Luther King–A piece of one of his last sermons, plus a link to NPR radio documentary
    about the last months of his life.
    It’s a valuable gift–LISTEN
    http://blog.onbeing.org/post/15977665276/the-day-martin-luther-king-spoke-to-me-as-a-failed

    Like

  15. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i DID listen…
    i can not love this man enough

    Like

  16. Valerianna Avatar

    Nice to do prayer ties on such a day! But that’s a first… make prayer ties, then, instead of a sweat, have a wrestling thingie… how funny! And how WAS that?

    Like

  17. ali Avatar

    maybe the point is not purpose or meaning but rather just being? your lovely, lovely images and creations inspire me on…maybe that gives purpose and meaning to being–just being–you

    Like

  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i KNOW!…that’s partly why i went, because it was so
    funny……
    and i could add to the mix that they are mostly lesbian
    women. so, stir that in.
    i left before the wrestling. it’s just something that
    has spontaneously arisen i guess. another form of
    self expression?
    it all just was so tenderly human to me. i really like
    the two neighbor women who have a child between them from
    a Donor Catalogue. they have split up but still parent
    together. One of the moms is she who splits the care
    of the Alz B with me. so that’s another connection.
    isn’t it all just amazing???????
    the new “love interest” of the one who invited me and
    still lives in the “marital” home found the left over
    piece of giraffe fabric in my scrap bag and added it to
    her little woolen plaid skirt like a loin cloth.
    the day should have been a movie.

    Like

  19. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i think about it, Ali. what’s enough?
    and what isn’t.
    i don’t know. so i keep thinking about it.
    two of the little boys, twins, but not identical, go to
    the local elementary. i talked to them about any ART
    that is involved in their curriculum…and they were
    vague. they said yes, they had art, but then couldn’t
    tell me much.
    i often think about this. it’s just down the road in
    the other direction.
    i am very good with kids. i know this. can say it with
    surety. so, then……………..

    Like

  20. Linda Avatar

    my friend, sewing susan, got that name because she went to a school and taught little kids how to sew on a sewing machine. they made shorts. she is now teaching kindergarten and still teaching kids to sew. good plan, grace.

    Like

  21. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    sewing might be part of it.
    but
    i used to teach kids drawing
    which was really
    seeing
    just looking at stuff
    and seeing it
    how stuff is everywhere. and always
    THERE
    all we need is a pencil

    Like

  22. Linda Avatar

    that sound great. kids need that young.
    it gets away from you as you age.
    you go girl..

    Like

  23. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    yes. you begin to learn to
    think
    thinking is nice….but not nearly as good as
    just seeing stuff.
    it was quite a day.
    thanks for coming here and putting your thoughts in….
    xoxoxo

    Like

  24. Mo Crow Avatar

    drawing… it’s the line that connects art to life… to paraphrase from this post by Terri Windling the other day about the bond we share-
    http://windling.typepad.com/blog/2012/01/the-bond-we-share.html
    have you ever read “The Zen of Seeing?” by Frederick Franck ?
    It’s my favourite book about why we have to draw every day, it taught me so much back in the mid 70’s so I gave it back to myself a few years ago and it is still totally relevant. You draw so beautifully Grace & teaching little kids to see what’s all around them if they just slow down enough to look and see will be fun!

    Like

  25. Nancy Avatar

    Thanks for the post and the laugh Grace. I needed that tonight 🙂

    Like

  26. jude Avatar

    i think the yellow i like and sense in the photo is what i would call ochre. and shades of it. it is the yellow of the earth.a hint of green and brown in it. i have a stack of it dyed here from light to dark. and it has inspired a tone change in the cloth. onion skins are not a good example of that. pomegranate skins in a copper pot have worked well for me. I will send some long in the integration package.
    as far as commercial quilting fabrics. they suck.
    i have had some luck “weathering” them but basically they are engineered to retain all the qualities i don’t like. an artificial lifelessness.

    Like

  27. suzanna Avatar

    Thanks for this story of your amazing day, Grace. I have begun a little onionskin bundling experiment as a result of seeing cloth mates adventures with them. This has caused me to expand my nutritional adventures also and so health and happiness are on the upswing!

    Like

  28. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes, Zen of Seeing…it’s right here to my left on the
    shelf. i have had i don’t know how many copies over the
    years, given away given away.
    i stopped at the school today, person i needed to talk
    to not in, but they said i would probably need to
    begin the volunteer process now for the next school
    year???? hmmm. school is out here in May. begins again
    in August. will follow up.

    Like

  29. grace Avatar
    grace

    shades of pomegranate skin…even the words are
    beautiful.
    well, it’s better today…after the soak but yes, still
    is what it is. good to have come to know.

    Like

  30. grace Avatar
    grace

    it really was fun and funny. i’ll be ready for another
    one next January.
    on the upswing!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!

    Like

  31. grace Avatar
    grace

    him and Janie

    Like

  32. handstories Avatar

    most certainly! her favorite hymn was “i’ll fly away!”- we sang it at her memorial, while looking at her quilts laid all about.

    Like

  33. grace Avatar
    grace

    my friend Maureen and i used to play the dulcimers
    together…
    i can sing this song.

    Like

  34. deb taylor Avatar

    a beautiful collection of hands..creating…one of my favorite things to photograph …please visit my photos from the Weavers Guild here
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/debdidit/sets/72157606371256593/

    Like

  35. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i DID….the flickr from Weavers Guild…
    watched the slide show….
    VERY VERY Beauty Full and Wonder Full. i will go back
    and watch again. many that I would frame if i were you.
    and yes…hands making are sacred to me. and i love
    the variety in these photographs…
    Thank you so much for showing me…

    Like

Leave a reply to Mo Crow Cancel reply