I’ve been on a tear this past week, turning out the scarves for my upcoming gallery and exhibit commitments. I think I’ll be able to get everything done as long as no one gets sick. I’m also not allowed to say ‘yes’ to any other requests for two whole weeks!
As I was working, I realized that I’ve been influenced by the changing fall colors as I made scarves. I’ve been exploring oranges, plums and reds, but I did throw in a few blue scarves for good measure.
The fun part has been experimenting with the designs that have been coming together in my mind. The great part about making scarves is that they come together fairly quickly compared to a weaving. Even if turn I out the scarf-world equivalent of a klunker, before I can fret about it I’m off to work on the improved version. Of my more experimental pieces, I’m especially pleased with the ones where I’ve slit the roving into what might be called pencil roving and did some swirling patterns. I sandwiched the pencil roving with a shimmery yarn in between gossamer-thin 
layers of black merino. The pieces are reminiscent of Jackson Pollack paintings, but he didn’t have the foresight to make scarves. Actually, it’s all about playing with colors and textures and it’s a lot of fun.
My other project this week involved starting a commission piece. I was asked 
to do a new carrot tapestry, similar to the baby carrots I made a couple of years ago. I pulled out all my delightful oranges, which was easy because I’ve been in an orange frame of mind. Then I pulled an organic carrot out of the refrigerator. I mentally mixed the fleece colors I had to get a good carrot match so I’d know which ones to use. I then pulled out the drum carder owned by the Spinners and Weaver’s Guild, did a little carding and voila! I have a delightful wad of baby carrot orange fleece! That’s not a sentence you’ll read every day.
The big finale of the week was seeing Rent. I saw it years ago, and I enjoyed it so much I was thrilled when I saw that the IU Theater Department was including it in this year’s season. The evening started off by shipping the boys next door for a sleepover. Jim and I headed to the Limestone Grille for a delightful dinner of Indian spice-rubbed corvina (a lot like grouper, we were told) on a bed of steamed greens and accompanied by a cheese risotto. Add to that a 
pleasant glass of pinot noir and we were on our way to a lovely evening. We had just enough time to stop in at Blu Boy on Kirkwood for a decadent brownie, divided in half, and some decaffeinated Brown County coffee. Yum! We made it to the show in plenty of time and sort of melted into the production. It was an incredible performance, and the caliber of the performers was just amazing. It’s easy to forget these are mostly students. Angel was amazingly talented and funny, and the warm bond between Angel and Tom Collins was so loving and perfect. The manipulative Maureen put on a great performance too. 
She had the crowd mooing right out of her hand. I should have brought her a carrot!
Until next week…
Martina Celerin
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment