This week I excitedly laid out all the vegetables for the ‘My
Roots’ composition, thinking I had enough vegetables to fill the piece. I was mentally ready to stitch it all
together, but dang if it didn’t still have an empty spot! That sent me back into my art studio with my
fingers digging deep into my boxes of yarns and fleece. I settled on making one more kind of root
vegetable that speaks to my childhood—kohlrabi.
I remember finding peeled and chunked-up pieces in the fridge quite
often and eating it after school like pieces of apple, although I don’t
remember anyone ever cooking with it.
To
get started on making my own kohlrabi, I sorted through my big bin of green
fleece and pulled out about six shades and tints of green that I thought looked
as if they could come together to create the coloration of the skin. I used my drum carder and blended my choices
together into a green that I was happy with.
The kohlrabi bulb typically has a light green color with petioles that
come straight up from the bulb. I
decided to do a little wet felting to create those structures. I used my kohlrabi green fleece to needle felt
everything together and viola—kohlrabi!
Now I think I need to make five more bulbs and I’ll have enough root
vegetables for my piece.
This week I also launched into my commission piece that will
involve creating a trellis to stand in front of a garden fence. I’m envisioning the fence to be made of
weather-worn wood, much like the one that surrounds our back yard. I went out and took a few pictures so I could
capture all of the colors hidden in the aged wood and returned to my stash
of yarns. I dug through my gray and sand
and light olive bins and pulled out everything that was even close to the colors
I envisioned. I warped a loom and now I’m
looking forward to weaving this week.
I haven’t completely abandoned my efforts for the Sounds of
South production of Pippin this fall. One
side project that I did was playing with graphics that we might use to support the
production as T-shirts and posters. In
designing the imagery, I thought a lot about the story line. It’s basically a coming of age story where
the principal character is guided by the lead player who wears a black top
hat.
Our setting will be a vintage
circus decked out in royal colors that represent precious stones. I’m using sapphire blue, emerald green and
amethyst purple for the chorus costumes.
Pippin is the son of the king who rebels against his tyrant father and ultimately
chooses his love interest to be Catherine, a member of the circus troupe. He decides that a simpler life with her and
her son is closest to his heart. Some
how that seems appropriate on this Mother’s Day.
Speaking of that, I’d like to wish a happy Mother’s Day to
all today! I got a beautiful bouquet of
flowers yesterday from my boys, and I woke up to the smell of pie baking in the
oven. It turned out to be a mutsu pie
from last summer’s fruit. It made a fine
breakfast as a fresh-from-the oven warm treat.
Last week I delighted in a strawberry-rhubarb pie made from Nancy
Riggert’s rhubarb and farmer’s market strawberries. That was nice, but only lasted until about
Wednesday, since the boys seemed to like it a lot too. For me, life is good when you get two
different fresh pies in one week! I hope
you find whatever makes your life special on Mother’s day today.
Until next week,
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