tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221007332024-03-23T12:02:25.356-06:00thelmasmithMy name is thelmasmith. I am a working artist and an independent curator. I live in the Sonoran Desert.
My artistic medium is predominantly textiles. The genre that most fits what I do might be Other. I use dye to paint with. I hand dye cloth. I hand dye threads. I use anything and everything that may come to hand.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-24092567190616953962007-03-18T18:12:00.000-06:002007-03-19T01:18:21.125-06:00Last PostThis is supposed to be the last post using blogger. The new blog is available at the <a href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog">usual place</a>. This blog will remain here for archival purposes.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-35775250678213626302007-03-17T18:04:00.000-06:002007-03-19T01:24:44.954-06:00Extra, Extra, Read All About ItThe last time I saw an extra edition of a newspaper was the Los Angeles Times the day Walt Disney died. I was downtown at the Central Mercado buying candied fruit for the holidays.<br /><br />Today, here's your <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/">EXTRA</a>. </span>We've moved our blog. This one is archived on my own website and will remain available either <a href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/oldblog/">here</a>.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-13170553854239418122007-03-14T11:43:00.001-06:002007-03-14T11:51:15.628-06:00Progress Continues<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Progress-759002.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Progress-758978.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Spring continues and has morphed into an unseasonable but tolerable summer. True summer will come in June with 106ºF temperatures.<br /><br />Yesterday I worked all morning on the clean up and clean out of my workroom. The sorting and packing and throwing out was so strenuous that I slept all afternoon.<br /><br />I've pushed the remains of the left hand closet junk yard to the far end of the five foot by eight foot dye board. This end is all the Hoffman Bali and stacks of hand dyes. All have to be sorted by color, tidied, and stacked.<br /><br />I've made plenty of room on all the shelves with my clean out efforts. I've accomplished less than a fourth of the work. It does feel satisfying to get things in their proper order again. Too many years of pulling stuff out to try and then just jamming it back in and closing the door. What's the old cliché? If you're gonna play, you're gonna pay?<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-84648450311357277072007-03-11T18:15:00.000-06:002007-03-11T18:25:19.440-06:00Looking for Romanian WebsiteI found that my web URL was listed on a page from Romania. All websites have behind the scenes panels where you can look up all sorts of information. That's the good part. The not so good part is that after a certain amount of time the information is discarded.<br /><br />I would like to hear from textile artists, quilters and art quilters in Romania. <br /><br />If you are an artist from far away please leave a comment on this blog or email me. I would like to do a series of blogs about artists from all over the world. Let me hear from you.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-67749034154007651192007-03-11T14:49:00.000-06:002007-03-11T15:24:42.856-06:00She Made Her Mark - Judges Comments<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/ClasperMarieCurieA-781063.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/ClasperMarieCurieA-778565.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>March 3, 2007</p> <p>Judge’s Comments For “She Made Her Mark”</p> <p>Best of Show - “Marie Curie”<br />By Carol Clasper</p> <p>I could recognize the subtleties and surface complexities even from a distance. The hand x-rays were clear as well as a sense of radiant glow from around the hands. Subject was immediately engaging.</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p> <p>1st Place<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/VanHorn.SeekingHigherGround.300-785445.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/VanHorn.SeekingHigherGround.300-776128.png" alt="" border="0" /></a> “Seeking Higher Ground”<br />By Larkin Jean Van Horn</p> <p>Doesn’t honor any one woman, but notes all who have stepped forward and held themselves up for all of us. Although not dramatic at a distance a closer view reveals a subtlety swirling emerald surface, textured by superb quilting. The eddies and whirlpools of stitching only make the elevation of the glass (allegorically, the individual) more dramatic. If I could have any of these quilts in my home to view daily, this one would be it.</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p> <p>2nd Place “Ruby Bridges”<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Coleman.Ruby-Bridges.300-tiff-785131.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Coleman.Ruby-Bridges.300-tiff-782182.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>By Marion Coleman</p><br /><p><br /></p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p> <p>The entire composition of the quilt and its restrained use of color really accentuates the story of the girl who inspired it. There is a very journalistic quality to this piece.</p><br /><p><br /></p><p>3rd Place “Lady Godiva”<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/powers.47.38.godiva-785647.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/powers.47.38.godiva-782689.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />By Ruth Powers</p> <p>Glorious color and superb quilting! The variety of stitched textures and fabrics are full of excitement and drama.<br /><br /><br /></p> <p>Ann Calland<br />The Quilters Hall of Fame<br />Museum Curator</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Judge, Kathleen A. O'Connell<br />Herron School of Art and Design<br />Indianapolis, Indiana<br />Herron School of Art and Design, Associate Professor<br />Herron School of Art and Design, Visual Communications<br />MFA from Syracuse University<br /></p><p> Kathleen looked over the entries several times in making her decision. She had good comments about all of the quilts.</p> <p>Her Honorable mention if we had had one would have been “Doppleganger”. She really liked the play of light and dark, life and death, etc.</p><p> She very much wanted to give an award to the O’keefe quilt, but thought it was too much about Georgia’s work than about the artist’s own interpretations. But, she very much liked the upper center panel of the mountains and sky.</p><p> The Quilters Hall of Fame<br />926 S. Washington St<br />Marion, IN 46952</p>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-36518760750369303232007-03-09T14:37:00.000-07:002007-03-09T14:45:02.535-07:00Someone Turned the Switch<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JohnnyVolunteers-792378.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JohnnyVolunteers-788288.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>In just a few days we have gone from frozen water dishes for the birds to 83ºF weather.<br /><br />Sonora is like this. We never have a gradual transition from winter to spring to summer. One day you awake and everything has changed.<br /><br />The johnny jump ups to the left are volunteers that seeded down. The parent plants have been good to me and true to their designation of perennials and reappeared this spring.<br /><br />There has been a lot of trimming away of freeze killed leaves and so forth. So we shall see what remains of the plants in the pots.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JohnnyJumpUps-794289.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JohnnyJumpUps-787866.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I've been unwilling to venture into the tropical garden courtyard in front of the master bedroom. The fishtail palm is looking poorly and the last time I looked at the banana tree it seemed dead. I won't know if the roots have survived for another month.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-1760538710674542202007-03-09T13:37:00.000-07:002007-03-09T13:45:46.470-07:00Ah, Spring<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/SpringCleaning-720541.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/SpringCleaning-715301.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JustTheWhites-728055.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JustTheWhites-724042.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A few days ago I got a wild hair. I emptied one of the two fabric closets. I still have the top shelf to empty. It doesn't count.<br /><br />The point of all of this is to sort out, straighten out, clean up, tidy up, and get my materials in a newly orderly arrangement. I've been working out of these closets for two many years.<br /><br />I pull what I need and then jam back what didn't work in a higgledy piggledy manner. Time to clean.<br /><br />This is just the beginning. I have found one bundle of ivory silk broadcloth. It reminds me that there is a box that has yards and yards of silk broadcloth. I know my daughter sent them when she returned from Thailand.<br /><br />I have no idea exactly where they are. Time and stamina are what I need. That and a mind that no longer resembles the ball running around in a pinball machine. <br /><br />The baskets of white fabric, are only a beginning. I know that there is a huge basket of raw silks under the mangle. Oh, well. One day at a timethelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-58185853287830295712007-03-02T21:04:00.000-07:002007-03-02T21:20:29.261-07:00March, Like a Lion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/LiepvreDatura-732134.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/LiepvreDatura-729315.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Here in the Sonoran Desert we are, again, in the throes of winter. The saucer that holds water for the birds had a quarter inch of ice on it this morning.<br /><br />Tomorrow morning is expected to be the same.<br /><br />The datura, at left, was a photo taken in Liepvre, Alsace, last September. It is known here in Sonora as the sacred datura, a hallucinogenic.<br /><br />Because it is such a beautiful flower I planted one in a big pot in the tropical garden courtyard outside one of the bedrooms. It looks as though it has been totalled. I won't know if the last two months of hard frosts has killed the root or not. It will be mid April before the warmth comes true enough to start pruning frost damage.<br /><br />I hate to even go out there. My banana tree is probably gone. The beautiful fishtail palm is looking pretty sorry. I've been blocked with the art and balked by the weather with the garden. I did get the roses pruned a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if the freezes will destroy the fresh, dark red, new growth.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/file-775654.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/file-770927.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>This store window, with the reflected shutter, is an image taken while walking in Ribeauvillé last fall. It's easy to see that I'm sick of winter. Wool socks and a coat to turn the cold wind are getting old. The brilliant Sonoran sun does little to stop the wind.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-39252054856568054952007-03-01T14:49:00.000-07:002007-03-01T14:55:26.133-07:00Just a Bit Snarky Today<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/T-HW-705579.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/T-HW-793051.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My friend, June Underwood, and I were discussing lists and the various ways of using them. As working artists we all have many different ways. I seem to have been stuck. I am stuck. I am working on pulling myself out of stuck.<br /><br />Today, I wrote down three things that have been let slide for a long time. The Howard Zinn quote was on a bumper sticker on the back window of my little red roadster. It was removed over my objections.<br /><br />So today, I went Googling, and Googling, and Googling. I finally found not only the image but a bumper sticker, a magnetic attachment for it to protect the painted surface of my bumper, and the same message on a black Tshirt.<br /><br />Seems like I am getting more than a little pushy in my old age. I have two of the three items taken care of. Now for the last. Maybe more tomorrow.<br /><br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-22268374383165272662007-02-22T17:42:00.000-07:002007-02-25T12:46:50.788-07:00More Beautiful Than Flowers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/ThreeBitter-717948.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/ThreeBitter-714863.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I found something that was so beautiful I bought four of them. The opened field packing case was sitting on the floor in the produce section. This, remember, is not your garden variety grocery store. The cardboard box was almost empty. The side said Chinese Produce. The end had more than two dozen possible contents. The check box for Indian Bitter Melon was checked.<br /><br />The first image was what was left after Little Miss Smoke discovered that Indian Bitter Melons were rollers. First she bit one to understand exactly what it was. Then she pushed it off the plate then off the counter to the floor. Anything that rolls belongs to her. The image below was taken two days earlier and shows you how really gorgeous they are.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/BitterMelonA-758234.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/BitterMelonA-754418.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>On Wednesday, the twenty first, I was in search of fresh rice noodles with shrimp and green onions. The search was unsuccessful as Chinese New Year was last weekend. All the cold cases were almost empty. The story was the same everywhere: next shipment on Thursday.<br /><br />Back to bitter melons, I have a punjab cookbook from London dated 1995. The only sensible reference I can find is Bharwein Karele, stuffed bittergourd. The notes say eight to the pound. I had four small ones that cost me 30¢. I had everything in the pantry except the dried mango powder. Good sense said, beautiful, beautiful, besides the cat likes them. More beautiful than flowers. Art is like that. Almost every artist is also very interested in food. It is a pleasure both to cook and to eat. Images of the cook book follow.<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/TastePunjab-764142.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/TastePunjab-761194.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/TastePunjabISBN-747577.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/TastePunjabISBN-743140.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-82801207825195250592007-02-11T13:33:00.000-07:002007-02-11T13:20:13.525-07:00Just a Story<div style="text-align: justify;">First things first. Thank you to all the people who have commented on the curatorial process. You have no idea how many smiles and how many times I've said thank you out loud. Your notes do so much to buoy up my spirits. Again, thank you. Now for the promised story.<br /><br />Years ago I met a woman named Annie McCandlis. She became a friend. Although we now live on different ends of the country when we meet we pick up where we left off. I have a few good friends in the same category.<br /><br />One of the things Annie taught me was :<br />change the rules<br />change the game<br />or don't play<br /><br />The first time I hear that small set of rules was in 1980. I was working in Port Townsend, Washington. It was a different sort of art in those days as I was just a bit younger. I would see Annie here and there. I would complain and Annie would listen. When I complained most bitterly she would remind me of the rules above.<br /><br />I learned to parrot those lines. I could say them for many years. Slowly, slowly, I began to learn for myself what they truly meant. It's like truth; truth comes one to a customer. Those rules, like truth, mean exactly what one person needs them to mean. Artists all have rules of their own. Annie's rule comes in handy in making career and professional decisions. <br /><br />Here it is twenty seven years later. I'm learning again, that rules, like truths, are up to each, one person's perception. It's time to begin the spring cleaning of my workroom. Like all house cleaning it works on multiple levels: the physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual, the universal. Time again to change the rules.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-52349485386897049482007-02-10T14:25:00.000-07:002007-02-09T09:49:40.040-07:00Day Eighteen - She Made Her Mark<div style="text-align: justify;">Finally and at last, the work of curating the fiberarts, art quilts for<span style="font-style: italic;"> She Made Her Mark</span> at <span style="font-style: italic;">The Marie Webster House</span> in Marion, Indiana, is complete. Lists of the accepted art works from thirty three artists have been published in prior days.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too, </span>a separate but associated exhibition, also has thirty three art works from thirty three artists.<br /><br />Day seventeen was a six hour day for anyone keeping track of the woman hours. Today, I've spent two hours cleaning and tidying my workroom and filing away all the documentation from <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark</span> in my quilt archival files.<br /><br />Someday I hope that some researcher receives all my archival files. There is a lot of information in there. I don't sell the patterns I draw when I make one special quilt. I fold up and file the kraft paper drawing. Most times I also save the vellum tracing of the pattern that is used to cut every piece of the sonoran desert landscape quilts accurately.<br /><br />So, with some sadness, I must conclude that this job is done. I have had a great deal of pleasure working with all the images other artists have sent me to select from. <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark</span> is going to be a memorable exhibition.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-68731716671706545622007-02-08T14:45:00.000-07:002007-02-08T16:20:53.817-07:00Day Seventeen - She Made Her MarkOnly one more day to go. Sorry, no images today. Day Seventeen was gathering together documentation for Anne Copeland, Michelle Verbeeck, and my own files.<br /><br />I made color copies of all the floor plans and elevations of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Marie Webster House. </span>These, along with the listings of the thirty three artists, and their work were shipped, certified, return receipt to <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quilters' Hall of Fame. </span><br /><br />Anne and Michelle got really big packages with spreadsheet databases, Cds of all images large and small, all lists, and copies of both the domestic and international shipping instructions.<br /><br />I got all this tidied up, in envelopes, etc. and ran for town to take my husband to his doctor's appointment. By the time I got home I had just enough time to squeek under the wire at the local post office. Everyone concerned should have their mailings any day now.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-32779543111325668582007-02-06T09:51:00.000-07:002007-02-06T09:58:43.981-07:00Day Sixteen - She Made Her Mark & Omission CorrectionsFirst of all. I've found two more inadvertant omissions. My apologies to each artist involved.<br /><br />The Lady and the Light - Sherry Boram<br /><br />Memories of Lucy - Cathy Lewis<br /><br />Both art works and artists have been added to the photo folder and the list of <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too. </span>I'll repost the proper list here:<br /><br />She Made Her Mark, Too<br />Artist’s Selections<br /><br /><br />Ann Frank - Terry Grant<br /><br />Autumn Gypsy Rose - Susan Schrott<br /><br />Continuing Legacy - Dianne Leatherdale Johnson<br /><br />Daisy - Jamie Fingal<br /><br />Don’t Say Goodbye - Stacy Hurt<br /><br />Dorothea - Heidi Miracle-McMahill<br /><br />Equality - Eleanor Roosevelt - Cynthia A. Morgan<br /><br />Foremothers - Shari Adkisson<br /><br />Georgia On My Mind - Marilyn Gillis<br /><br />Harlow - Theresa L. Shippy<br /><br />I Remember You Well - Susan Sanborn North<br /><br />Isabel - Dianna Callahan<br /><br />It’s Really Just Black and White - Wendy Wetzel<br /><br />Linda Z. Smith - Barbara Douglas<br /><br />Marianne - Peggy Schroeder<br /><br />Memories of Lucy - Cathy Lewis<br /><br />Modifications - Carol Taylor<br /><br />Ode To Dorothy - Gwyned Trefethen<br /><br />Oprah - Gayle McKay<br /><br />Peace’s Walk - Julie Zaccone Stiller<br /><br />Pinwheel Garden - Jane Gnoit<br /><br />Psyche - Linda Campbell Reilly<br /><br />Revelation - Vivien Zept<br /><br />Sacajewea - J. Marie Norris<br /><br />Sourjourner Truth - Terry Pottmeyer<br /><br />Stars and Stripes - Marcia Ann Kuehl<br /><br />She Makes Good Beer, Too - Ginger Henkel<br /><br />The Birth of Feminism - Sue Lemmo<br /><br />The Lady and the Light - Sherry Boram<br /><br />The Everyday Woman - Christine Predd<br /><br />To the Ladies of Gee’s Bend - Loris Bogue<br /><br />Uncommon Valor - Lynn Drennen<br /><br />1850 - Karen Maru<br /><br />Day sixteen was an eight hour day. It's no wonder I have so many errors. I'm very tired.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-38921346249961673592007-02-05T15:26:00.000-07:002007-02-05T15:28:58.065-07:00Day Fifteen - She Made Her Mark - Error CorrectionGood afternoon, everyone. In tidying up the database I find I have made two serious ommissions. <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too,</span> includes the two following, additional works:<br /><br />The Everyday Woman - Christine Predd<br /><br />Sojourner Truth - Terry Pottmeyer<br /><br />My apologies to both artists.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-59797640886310978292007-02-05T12:32:00.000-07:002007-02-05T12:57:33.753-07:00Day Fifteen - She Made Her Mark<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Database-775354.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Database-770798.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>I thought you might like to see just a bit of my working conditions. I'm working with the database spreadsheet that Peg Keeney and I built weeks ago. I've cut and pasted the two legal size sheets together so that I can read straight across. I got out the big aluminum ruler so that I could keep track and just get the information on one artist.<br /><br />Um,. . even that did not work completely well. There are at least a dozen artists out there who have received scrambled emails from me. I have gotten the name right and the art work wrong. I have gotten the name wrong and the art work right. I think I have responded to every email pointing out my flaws. I think I have gotten it all sorted out.<br /><br />If you recognize yourself in the above paragraph and have not contacted me for a correction, please email me at thelmasmith@thelmasmith.com.<br /><br />I think - after what I learned about image sizes - the next thing I have learned is that posting incomplete information prior to midnight of the deadline is confusing. I should have gotten completely, accurately, double checked, finished before I released any information. Tonight, midnight, February 5, 2007, is the deadline. I was trying to be nice to people. If you let someone know as soon as possible you release that quilt for other entries. Sadly, early release combined with my dyslexic fingers, eyes, and mind has created unhappiness for a lot of artists. I am truly sorry for this.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/ParlorFloorPlanW.Schematic-785853.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/ParlorFloorPlanW.Schematic-780320.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This is the floor plan of the Grand Parlor in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Marie Webster House, The Quilters' Hall of Fame. </span>The capital letters are the identifying letter of the quilts and where, exactly, they hang. Tomorrow I have to make four copies of all the floor plans. Each room has a xerox of the wall elevation; those letters are identical to the letter on the top of the inch to a foot scale, color, copy of the artwork. The original copy, with images that are hinged like an old stamp album will be sent to Marion, Indiana.<br /><br />The curator, Ann Calland, has a staff of docents who will use these diagrams to ensure that the quilts are hung as I have envisioned the exhibition. It has been a very difficult but delightful task for me. I have been used to hanging things in one big room. A residential space presents all sorts of new and unusual challenges. I met those challenges head on and succeeded.<br /><br />Here is the list of the two extra exhibitions. They have been combined into <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too. </span>If you have an email that says accepted into portrait or accepted into mixed bag, those entries are now in <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too. </span><br /><br />Anne Copeland is very ill. She and I spoke by phone Saturday afternoon. She is too ill to handle the extras. The Art Commission situation in Los Angeles County and the State of California is a real Catch 22. If you cannot prove that the public has provided a certain amount of funding, neither will offer you a grant. You cannot get a grant if you are not serving your local community. Since Anne serves an international committee she gets not even $500 - which is the usual amount - from either level. That is why I keep publishing this <a href="http://fiberartsconnsocal.org/donate.html">link</a> for paypal donations. Pay pal charges the recipient of funds a certain flat fee plus a percentage for the use of their services. You lose about 8%. I'm hoping that everyone on the quiltart list will understand the need for supporting those who support them. A $2. donation from thousands of people will allow the main exhibition - the list published on Day Fourteen - to go to Houston.<br /><br />Exhibition venues for <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too</span> are pending. They will be exhibited publicly. Have faith and patience. As usual, Blogger doesn't respect my tabs. <br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark, Too</span><br />Artist’s Selections<br /><br /><br />Ann Frank Terry Grant<br /><br />Autumn Gypsy Rose Susan Schrott<br /><br />Continuing Legacy Dianne Leatherdale Johnson<br /><br />Daisy Jamie Fingal<br /><br />Don’t Say Goodbye Stacy Hurt<br /><br />Dorothea Heidi Miracle-McMahill<br /><br />Equality - Eleanor Roosevelt Cynthia A. Morgan<br /><br />Foremothers Shari Adkisson<br /><br />Georgia On My Mind Marilyn Gillis<br /><br />Harlow Theresa L. Shippy<br /><br />I Remember You Well Susan Sanborn North<br /><br />Isabel Dianna Callahan<br /><br />It’s Really Just Black and White Wendy Wetzel<br /><br />Linda Z. Smith Barbara Douglas<br /><br />Marianne Peggy Schroeder<br /><br />Modifications Carol Taylor<br /><br />Ode To Dorothy Gwyned Trefethen<br /><br />Oprah Gayle McKay<br /><br />Peace’s Walk Julie Zaccone Stiller<br /><br />Pinwheel Garden Jane Gnoit<br /><br />Psyche Linda Campbell Reilly<br /><br />Revelation Vivien Zept<br /><br />Sacajewea J. Marie Norris<br /><br />Stars and Stripes Marcia Ann Kuehl<br /><br />She Makes Good Beer, Too Ginger Henkel<br /><br />The Birth of Feminism Sue Lemmo<br /><br />To the Ladies of Gee’s Bend Loris Bogue<br /><br />Uncommon Valor Lynn Drennen<br /><br />1850 Karen Maru<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Day fifteen was three hours in the afternoon and three hours in the middle of the night. Another six woman hours for anyone who is keeping track.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-23463698537615301632007-02-03T13:49:00.000-07:002007-02-03T13:59:43.640-07:00Day Fourteen - She Made Her Mark<div style="text-align: justify;">No pictures today, just a tally of the entries and a list of the accepted works for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quilters' Hall of Fame.<br /><br /></span>Sixty-five entrants from twenty one states, two Canadian states, and three foreign countries submitted ninety four works for consideration. You have been following the progress and the curatorial process for almost a month now.<br /><br />The accepted works are as follows:<br /><br /><br />Above the Clouds Terri Haughen<br /><br />Aviation Pioneer - Amelia Earhart Carol Borman<br /><br />Breaking Barriers Gerrie Congden<br /><br />Dialogue IV Peg Keeney<br /><br />Dolores Huerta Rebecca Reasons Edwards<br /><br />Doppleganger Emmie Seaman<br /><br />Eleanor Who Wore Many Hats Virginia O’Donnell<br /><br />Far Away Gramma Sandy Keating<br /><br />Grammie Karen StiehlOsborn<br /><br />Grasslands Jane Gnoit<br /><br />Hannelore’s Shadow Jette Clover<br /><br />It’s All About Me B. J. Reed<br /><br />Joan of Arc Loris Bogue<br /><br />Julia Krichkowski Jeri Pollock<br /><br />Lady D - Catherine Dunham Edna Patterson Petty<br /><br />Lady Godiva Ruth Powers<br /><br />Letter From Home - by invitation Dijanne Cevaal<br /><br />Madonna of the Prairie Janet Ghio<br /><br />Makeda - Queen of Sheba Klara Schafler-Landsberg<br /><br />Marie Curie Carol Clasper<br /><br />Mrs. Willard Waits - by invitation June Underwood<br /><br />Nefertiti Marion Barnett<br /><br />Once Upon a Time Shirley Jo Rimkus-Falconer<br /><br />Reincarnation Cathleen Richardson Bailey<br /><br />River of Grass Stacy West<br /><br />Rubbed Out Julie Schlueter<br /><br />Ruby Bridges Marion Coleman<br /><br />Seeking Higher Ground Larkin Jean Van Horn<br /><br />The Dionnes in Quintland Pamela Allen<br /><br />The Distance Between Us Penny Mateer<br /><br />Tin Lizzie Sylvia Weir<br /><br />Uncommon Virtue Sandra Snowdon<br /><br />Unknown Women Who Made Their Mark Monique Gilbert-Oversteyns<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br />I note or two. Blogger does not like my tab; I'm afraid my columns are a bit untidy.<br /><br />An exhibition is all about synergy. The whole must exceed the sum of the total. This is a very site specific selection. The remainder of the submissions were not selected due to the physical constraints of the space. The quality of the submissions, particularly from neophyte artists and emerging artists, is of the highest calibre. I have been honored to work with these images for the last four weeks.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-63398739427941846942007-02-02T12:39:00.000-07:002007-02-02T14:48:15.551-07:00Day Thirteen - She Made Her Mark<span style="font-weight: bold;">Remember: No emails have been sent for many of the submissions. </span>Patience. I have two more exhibitions to pull. Hold your breath if you have to. I still have a lot of work to do. Thank you so much for understanding.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Today has been a strange day. I've photographed the mock-up from every conceivable angle. I expect that the pictures are going to be very boring. I'm waiting on an upload for Michelle Verbeek. She needs all my huge image files. She will be building the catalog for <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark.</span><br /><br />I've spent my time labeling the inch scale images. Then one by one I removed the images and placed them, with appropriate markings, on the elevations of each room that will be used in the exhibition at <span style="font-style: italic;">The Marie Webster House.</span> As I worked I made sure the same notations were on the proper wall on both the elevation and the floor plan.<br /><br />I thought I was done. I counted thirty two. Oh, well, I must have counted wrong yesterday. No, I just forgot to label one of the art quilts that fits in the grand parlor. Fixed that problem. Had to make two copies of the floor plan for the entry parlor. I had no floor plan and no elevations for the staircase and landing. Both are necessary in the hanging. Copies will be made and all documents will be kept.<br /><br />I am still waiting on this <span style="font-weight: bold;">huge</span> upload. <br /><br />Something I have learned in this process: to select from digital images the only size image really necessary is a six inch high, 300dpi, printable, image. That's the image I drop into photoshop to enlarge and really study. The other 300dpi image I need is the detail that should be an approximate six inch by nine inch portion of the quilt. Remember to frame the detail so that it has good, interesting, design, in and of itself.<br /><br />With those two images of any work a curator, a catalog builder, a magazine editor, all have all they need. There is no need to again burden the artist with varying dpi sizes. Curating from digital submissions is in it's teething stage. As we go along we will be better able to define what is needed.<br /><br />I said it was a strange day. Here's why: This is all of the mock-up remains. Once the images were in place on the elevations it was like striking a stage. Curtain comes down. All the stage hands scurry to take everything apart. When the quilting pins (nails) come out the structure starts to wobble. When the plastic clamps (hurricane straps) that are holding various rooms together come off the rooms begin to fall in upon themselves.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JunkPile-749364.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/JunkPile-742426.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The final blow comes with an exacto knife to all the cellophane tape. I wish now I had photographed the step by step destruction.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Downstairs-735591.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Downstairs-731856.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is the only shot of the grand parlor that has decent focus. The grand parlor is twenty one feet from the front window to the back door. You can see the back door faintly outlined to the left in this image. Behind the stand up image are the huge bay windows that face north. I did not bother to mock them up as they had no effect on the work I was doing.<br /><br />A mock up is so different from an architectural scale model. I hope you are beginning to see why it is no more.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/MoreUpstairs-728324.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/MoreUpstairs-721267.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is a birds eye view of the upstairs. To the far right in the background is the east wall of the hallway. There are two more rooms in the background that were not mocked up. One is Marie Webster's room; the other is not a part of the exhibition.<br /><br />The photography here is simple documentation. Don't expect to see all the accepted works. I could not get the camera into all the nooks and crannies.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/UpstairsDownstairs-717027.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/UpstairsDownstairs-714305.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is another view of upstairs/downstairs. You can see how the walls of the rooms are held together with clamps. See how the wall between the grand parlor (right) and the entry parlor (left) has opened up from being moved around on the card table.<br /><br />A good day's work. Six hours in. The Acceptance List, only for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quilters' Hall of Fame</span> portion of the selections has been typed. I'll post it tomorrow. <br /><br />Tomorrow is the start of selecting two groups of art works for <span style="font-style: italic;">The FiberArts Connection of Southern California. </span>Those lists will be published by Tuesday. I'm sorry to be a day late on that deadline. I'm going to try and get all the emails out on Monday.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-24621143953633520102007-02-02T09:29:00.000-07:002007-02-02T09:36:15.008-07:00Day Twelve - She Made Her Mark<div style="text-align: justify;">Thirty three artists have been notified today of their acceptance in to the exhibition <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark.</span> Opening reception, by invitation only, is Sunday, March 4, 2007. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quilters' Hall of Fame </span>is on South Washington street in Marion, Indiana.<br /><br />No notices of works declined have been sent as nothing has been declined yet. I have to pull the two additional southern California exhibition packages.<br /><br />Sorry about no photos today. I've put in eight hours. Peg Keeney was here to help with the database. It's the first time she has been here since we completed the initial administrative work. No one, except the cats, have been here to ensure that the integrity of the curatorial process.<br /><br />Tomorrow, photos of the mock up. Beginning selection of the two additional groupings. Email notification for all involved. Maybe by Sunday I will have typed lists of all the accepted artists in each of the categories.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-53037372252401578572007-01-30T15:22:00.000-07:002007-01-30T16:14:43.101-07:00Day Eleven - She Made Her Mark<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/WebsterHouse-782911.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/WebsterHouse-775753.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I received a lovely pack of snap shots in the mail. Yes, they clearly match the space I have mocked up. Whew ! That is a relief. The exhibition <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark</span> is going to be memorable. I can now see each piece in it's place in my mind's eye.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark </span>will open on Sunday, March 4, 2007. The reception will be by invitation only. The exhibition for the general public will open on the sixth. Last day will be June 30, 2007. Check the website; there is a treasure trove of information behind the index listings.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.quiltershalloffame.org/">Marie Webster House</a> has been lovingly restored and is far from the childhood image in my mind. I used to pass it on my way to school. Next door was a drive in and soda fountain that had tin roof sundaes. Just south of that was the railroad station, Railway Express, the Broadway Limited; the door to the universe.<br /><br />The selections for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quilters' Hall of Fame</span> are visually complete. The administrative work has not been done. The form letter and database need work. Selected artists should receive their emails no later than Monday, February 5, 2007.<br /><br />Artists who have works selected for the greater Los Angeles basin exhibitions may lag just slightly behind this. Shipping instructions will follow in a separate bulk email. Please make sure my thelmasmith@thelmasmith.com email address is in your address book. You don't want your notification languishing in a spam blocker.<br /><br />This has been one of the most exciting months of my life. It is also the most heartbreaking. You have a certain number of wall spaces. There are four or five equally good choices for each space. Quality has not been an issue. What has been the most difficult is understanding the flow of a residential space. It was restored with white walls and lovely carpets. It is good, professionally lit, display space. It is not one huge gallery room.<br /><br />I have lived my life by the rule of the continuous right turn. No sooner had I said that publicly than <a href="http://clicks.robertgenn.com/gallery-flow.php">Robert Genn </a>published his thoughts on Gallery Flow. I felt a bit foolish. I read what he said carefully. I tried to put my past experiences with different sorts of spaces, my thoughts on flow, his thoughts on flow, the images in hand, into some sort of pleasing equation.<br /><br />I know I have gotten it right. The selection became not a question of what was best; almost all were "best." The selection came in response to the space itself. People will laugh if I say the house told me to do this. So laugh. The snapshots confirm my intuitive process.<br /><br />Sarah Ann asked about the mock ups. They are not actual architectural models; just a rough spatial 3D. I would be ashamed to have them exhibited. They are very rube goldberg in structure.<br /><br />However, once the acceptances have gone out to the artists I will photo document the stack with the scaled images in place. I'll get pictures from every angle. Sadly, the doors and windows are in light pencil. They are not cut in. I did not think the mock up would hold together if I cut out the broad pocket doors. The broad bay windows to the north both upstairs and down were not mocked up. Maybe I'll take a felt tip so you can see more, to better understand the photos. However, it's almost impossible to get a straight edge into these rooms once they become 3D.<br /><br />The cats are quite fond on the grand parlor. Don't know what they would have done had I opened the pocket doors, built the staircase instead of just the landing, put in floors upstairs. So far they have made no deals with the golden retriever on TV who is trying to sell recipes.<br /><br />An aside here, eleven days hardly make up most of January. My life right now is quite complex. I've lots of medical trips for my husband. So, even though I touch on this work daily, some days it's a snoop at two in the morning to reconfirm that I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-69421097536815771602007-01-28T18:07:00.000-07:002007-01-28T18:26:10.700-07:00Day Ten - She Made Her Mark<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Lizzie%27s-768354.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Lizzie%27s-764119.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I know it seems as though I've been absent without leave. Actually I've been present, accounted for, and absolutely horizontal due to some sort of virus that produced the filthiest sinus headache I can remember in some decades.<br /><br />The image of a jig saw puzzle of a Victorian house I once owned in <a href="http://www.ptguide.com/history/index.html">Port Townsend</a>, Washington, will be more interesting that a haphazard pile of foam core board. When I was young and foolish I ran a construction company that specialized in the restoration of Victorian and Edwardian era residential buildings. So when Anne Copeland of <a href="http://fiberartsconnsocal.org/donate.html">FiberArts Connection</a> of Southern California took me up on my word about curating an exhibition I thought I know all about old buildings.<br /><br />Ah, hubris, I thought that less than favorable aspect of my personality had gone the way of all my dark brown hair. Mock-up, sure, not a problem; um, . . . the walls in my stair well are not plumb. The downstairs has no ceiling. The two rooms I've been assigned upstairs have no floors. I thank the universe every day that I had enough sense to mock this up in scale. <br /><br />There is no way I could have gotten the rhythm, balance, cadence of this exhibition without being able to see it in miniature in the round. It has truly been an exercise in humility. I think there is a possibility I am done. I don't really know. I need to look at this again, and again, and again. I look in from the vantage of the front window downstairs. I look in the rooms upstairs like a parakeet. Mighty pudgy parakeet.<br /><br />Even if this still looks right on Wednesday there is still a lot of work to do. I have to annotate the data base. I have to notify each artist. I have to work my way through the first round of declined works because every one of them is worthy of being in the master exhibition. I still have to pull two small, concise exhibitions that will be specifically for the greater Los Angeles basin. <br /><br />I have about five and a half hours in today. I've completely lost count of the total woman hours to date. Maybe someone who has been paying attention can post a tally as a comment.<br /><br />I'll be back at it again tomorrow.<br /><br /><br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-23776524763512919612007-01-25T10:50:00.000-07:002007-01-28T15:00:22.156-07:00Day Nine - She Made Her Mark<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/DownstairsMock-ups-727240.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/DownstairsMock-ups-722901.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Day Nine has been a day of expletives deleted. I' ve spent more than five hours. The image is intentionally boring as I've shown you the outside of the reception room on the ironing board.<br /><br />The grand parlor is on a lower table in the front. It appears from my antique architectural training that the grand parlor could originally have been the parlor to the front of the house and the dining room towards the back. It seems from the two fireplaces, placed differently, that there is a wall that is long gone.<br /><br />I need to add the back (staircase) wall to the reception area and the hallway wall leading to what had been the kitchen a hundred years ago. Some of the few really spacious walls in the downstairs.<br /><br />Upstairs are four separate galleries. There is a very wide hall with good, expansive walls. I am looking forward to seeing how the space works in three dimensions. It is very frustrating work.<br /><br />Two rooms, five hours, and I have tentative placed eleven works. There are about a dozen pinned to the ironing board; you can barely see them to the right. This reminds me of moving into the house I am living in. I moved furniture for a full three years before the energy patterns felt right and the space looked as comfortable as I wanted it to be. Not only that. I sat down last evening and promptly got up and moved two well framed posters. Gheesh.<br /><br />Day Ten, off to making four rooms and a hall way with nine foot ceilings.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-85952358504125774972007-01-22T11:21:00.000-07:002007-01-22T18:24:02.398-07:00Day Eight - She Made Her Mark<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarI-789113.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarI-775560.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Aurora Horribilis, © Nancy Erickson.<br /><br /></span>Well, I think the phrase is "hoist on her own petard." My living room is twenty two feet long but due to cabinetry I can't get more than nineteen feet focal length. I was in a big hurry this morning. Cold, grey, bleak, shooting in ambient light, I thought I had this image famed properly. It's easier to fudge as it is not rectangular. Notice the tell tale of the line between the wall and the ceiling. I screwed it up.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarI.Rotated-724978.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarI.Rotated-718667.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is the exact same image dropped into photoshop and custom rotated 1º right. See how it is not even with the text. If I had cropped out the ceiling line I could have gotten away with this one. Yes, the bottom is uneven; it is built that way.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarIII-736959.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarIII-730398.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />This is the first one I took from about twenty five feet back and maybe ten feet to the left. Are you beginnng to see how important it is that your camera and the work are square with each other?<br /><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarIV-791537.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/PolarIV-788218.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This one was taken from about ten feet back and maybe twelve feet to the left. See the keystoning that is looking like visual perspective?<br /><br />All this to show you that good photography is not easy. If you do not own a tripod, the least expensive is about $30 retail. Look for the levels. There should be a leveling bubble on the tripod body. There should be another leveling bubble on the head that actually holds the camera. Use them; they are there for good reason.<br /><br />One of the problems a tripod solves when it comes to keystoning is the winder that makes the camera higher. I am the shortest person. Without a tripod I am looking up at everything. There is no way I can get a square image without standing on a ladder. Frankly, $30 is the cheapest emergency room insurance for me.<br /><br />Learn to use your tripod and your camera. I am very fortunate that the Spider tutors me. It's an ongoing process. I'm honored to have his help.<br /><br />However, for exhibitions that require slides there is no way, no matter how good the tutor, that I can replicate Jack Kulawik's studio. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and decades of photographing art put Jack in a class by himself. He regularly puts my slides in the accepted column in national exhibitions.<br /><br />I don't have the time or the fuel to take a photography class at the local community college. It may be an option for you. However, don't fool yourself into thinking that the best digital camera can replace a professional. I proved it myself this morning.<br /><br />So here I sit, with my head stuck up like a turtle looking through my trifocals. I've worked seven hours today. Four hours of that is PhotoShop time. The other three hours is in photography, color printing, and computer and phone communications. All these things take time. I am waiting on two images. <br /><br />Tomorrow I begin the mock-ups in earnest. I've avoided them as long as I can. However, working with the images, sizing, going through things again and again, I'm beginning to get the names, the works, and the sizes comfortable in my brain. Without that nothing happens.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-87415301811777892722007-01-21T16:05:00.000-07:002007-01-21T16:40:23.178-07:00Day Seven - She Made Her Mark<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Keystone-792770.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/Keystone-787005.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Good Sunday Afternoon,<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It's cold, raining, and the wind is blowing here in Sonora. I closed the blinds that look out on the garden to cut the heat loss. Beware, I'm on a rant.<br /><br />I'm very frustrated today. I am in the process of reducing every image submitted to <span style="font-style: italic;">She Made Her Mark</span> to the scale of one inch equals one foot.<br /><br />I have provided one of my own very crappy <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">keystoned</span> images rather than disclose any images from <span style="font-style: italic;"><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SMHM</span>.</span> I have spent about two hours working on the first third of the image deck. The bad news is that <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">photoshop</span> work gets priced out at $35 per hour.<br /><br />I've been closely cropping and sizing images. Many too many of the images are <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">keystoned</span>. I could use <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">photoshop</span> to correct all the <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">keystoning</span> as represented by the sample. That process distorts the image; it is an improper way to get a good image. That is not the curator's job; it's the artist's job.<br /><br />If you are going to take your own digital images you need to carefully look in the image display on the back of your camera. Unless you intentionally built a trapezoid you better be able to see that each edge of the quilt is parallel with the window. If you don't have a tripod invest in one.<br /><br />You need to learn how to closely crop an image and size it properly. File names are of necessity consistent. They should have your last name, height x width, (which is my fault, not in the prospectus), and resolution. Even if that is perfect I still have to rename the file to add your entrant's number; today I'm adding a notation that tells scale.<br /><br />I am looking at a lot of work that would lose all consideration if a panel of three jurors were evaluating the images. One of the most exquisite works is nicely, closely cropped. However, the artist did not remove the vestiges of the garden in the background.<br /><br />Anne Copeland and the <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">FiberArts</span> Connection of Southern California have worked very hard to create openings for beginning and emerging artists. Anne has proven time and again that the work of artists with unknown names is equal to or of greater quality than the work of names we know.<br /><br />Now it's time for all of you to do your work on Google and find the online places that offer classes in everything from photography to <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">photoshop</span> elements. The information is out there; in many cases it costs nothing except self discipline to teach oneself. Quit depending on your children to do your computer work. If you are smart enough to create the quilts I'm looking at you are smart enough to teach yourself about your own computer.<br /><br />The other issue that is really bothering me is one of scale. As you saw yesterday, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Quilters' Hall of Fame </span>is a huge old house. The ceilings downstairs are ten feet high. Upstairs the ceilings are nine feet.<br /><br />As I work my way through and scale these images so that each may be considered equally according to their size, image, and merit, I am concerned. I have already cut ten inch strips of foam core to mock up the walls. When I compare the scaled image on my monitor and the foam core I worry.<br /><br />Many of these lovely works are very small scale. How do I arrange the exhibition so that the intimacy of these works is not lost in a huge space?<br /><br />As artists do you ever consider how and where your work will be hung? Have you ever thought about scale? If not, it's time to put those issues into your thinking caps.<br /><br />Sorry to be so harsh today. I set out to give you a good look at the curatorial process. Now you've seen the darker side. So, we need to charge up four hours today, two to <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">photoshop</span>. The woman hours are adding up. If you are a non profit there is no way you can fund an exhibition if you have to hire help.<br /><br />Now, before anyone has a nervous breakdown, all these issues are mine to work out. This is going to be a knock out of an exhibition.<br /></div>thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22100733.post-89615163281633924972007-01-20T13:10:00.000-07:002007-01-20T13:39:07.491-07:00She Made Her Mark -- Day Six<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/QHFLogo-769212.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/QHFLogo-764439.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Well, day six is sort of squirmy. Maybe it's me that's squirmy. I'm heartily sick of the back brace that allows me to sit upright in what a doctor considers comfort.<br /><br />I've been through this image deck again and again. I've sorted it six ways from sunday. Sorting is about useless when it comes to setting the sequencing of an exhibition. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Marie Webster House, The Quilters' Hall of Fame</span> is an Edwardian mansion built in early in the first decade of the twentieth century.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/QHFMainFloorPlan-767680.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/QHFMainFloorPlan-761407.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />This image is the floor plan of the entry and main area in the building. It shows the architectural vestiges of the Victorian era. Note the main staircase in the very large entry hall. On back you see the servant's stairs.<br /><br />From two thousand miles away it's a bit difficult to envision the traffic flow. An exhibition has to grab a visitor and pull them along in a predetermined path. It's particularly important in a space such as this. As 80%+ of the population is right handed and everyone in America drives to the right of the center line of the road, it is normal and natural to live one's life in the continuous right turn sequence. It avoids all sorts of problems in life. <br /><br />So, looking at this floor plan, the reception area opens directly on the staircase proceeding up. It is the most "drawing" architectural element. So, with right hand preerence, the keynote and first major exhibition area is just past the double pocket doors leading into the grand parlor. It's counter intuitive because the huge space of the pocket doors wants you to turn right. However, if you want the viewer to enter the grand parlor a bit farther back in the house, the enticement must be strong enough to be placed between the front door, the stair, and the entrance to the gift shop.<br /><br />That done, the visitor can choose whether to work their way around the grand parlor in the continuous right turn of clock wise. So, the works selected for the grand hall~reception area and the grand parlor all have to speak to each other. It's like selecting voices for a large choir; each has it's own range yet each must be a comfortable and capable part of a congenial whole.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/QHFEntryParlor-763953.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.thelmasmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/QHFEntryParlor-761275.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This image gives you the wall space of the interior of the grand parlor, the wall containing the pocket doors. <br /><br />I had thought about doing the arithmetical acrobatics to scale color xerox images to match the scale of these drawings. Then, hum, you do call yourself an artist? Don't you? Eight inches to represent a ten foot high room doesn't seem quite sufficient. <br /><br />Why not draw each wall in a one inch equals one foot? That will make, eventually a mock up of each room. You will be able to sort and try and fuss and fidget. The works will finally tell you where they belong. So, I'm thinking of searching out the B size quad pad. What? You have a T-square and the ability. Why not just re-draw each wall on foam core? <br /><br />So, that is where my squirmy mind is taking me today. Choosing the works for an exhibition is the very least of the work. Creating the sequence, rhythm, balance, and cadence of the works is what excites the viewer and draws them through an exhibitin. <br /><br />Bleght ! I've a lot of work to do.thelmasmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13414762887518310449noreply@blogger.com1