More Fall Stew

I’m still working on my Fall Stew composition.  This week I made a lot of progress on the carrots and tomatoes.  I’ve also created he wool bases for the peas and potatoes.  I also stretched out my willow piece this week.  I completed the base for the water, but now I need to add the surface of the water, the peninsula, and add the willow to the composition.  It feels like I should be farther along, but I just haven’t had quite as much sit and wait time as I expected this week due to the hustle and bustle of preparations for winter festivities.   

I had to do some simple, less creative tasks such as repairing Frosty’s costume ahead of the Winter Concert by Sounds of South.  Frosty’s Velcro seal, which in Czech we’d call a dry zipper, was matted with the fuzzy fabric from his costume.  Frosty definitely needed a little love to keep him from melting, so I replaced the Velcro with a substantial, big-toothed zipper.  It’s fabulous having my own costume studio, packed with everything I need to fix things up as needed.  Monday the 7^th is the performance, so come by to see it if you’re in the area.  I’ve heard the Hallelujah chorus in rehearsals and it’s amazing!

Speaking of Frosty and the holiday spirit, we’ve started to decorate our house.  Tommie initiated the festivities by converting the dining room into a winter wonderland by cutting out snowflakes to hang from the ceiling.  I gave him the usual praises because they were indeed far superior to the ones he did as a little kid.  Now he’s reached the point where they are beautifully elaborate—

he says it’s like practical geometry to him (go school!).  He’s even enticed me into participation.  I love love love cutting shapes out of folded paper to enjoy my surprise at the transformation.  This afternoon the Exacto knives come out for a little more detail, so let’s hope that a trip to the hospital isn’t in the offing. 

Speaking of geometry, I’m pretty excited to visit an exhibit at the Peeler Art Gallery in DePauw tomorrow with my friend Dawn.  It’s a fiber art exhibit that marries art and science.  There are images of the three-dimensional sculptural work with images online if you’re interested.  Having the freedom to take off on an adventure is one more reminder that I gave myself December off from doing art fairs.  This is allowing me to regenerate and get re-motivated to connect with the art world and create something fresh for myself.

On the family front, Saturday night came with a trip to the IU basketball night with Tommie.  We got sugared up with some Sour Patch Kids candies and yelled for the Hoosiers.  All season IU has had great offense, but last night they discovered the importance of defense.  My fingers are crossed that they remember last night when they play Wisconsin in early January! 

Thankfully, Thursday was a pie day for me.  My deep dish pan was filled with a delightful raspberry pie, which I’m still enjoying for breakfast.  Last for this week, Jacob began expressing his creativity in pancakes again this morning.  We didn’t get a lot of pictures, but we did have some interesting creations to munch on for breakfast. 

He and Tommie are now off creating a candy house base to decorate sometime soon.  It’s a busy time of year!

Until next week,

Martina Celerin 

From stinky to sublime in my stockpot heaven

I dealt with the last of my stinky dye pots this week. The lichens I carved off the maple tree felled in my neighbor’s yard was the stinkiest. It also gave the best and most intense color. I thought I should try a second dip using some merino wool, with the hopes that I could create scarves in the beautiful golden-caramelly color from the lichens. Unfortunately, the colors were less intense the second time around. I’m going to keep an eye out for lichens on any fallen branches I encounter and see if I can repeat the experiment. My second dye pot contained oak bark, which gave a soft yellow-brown. I know it will be useful, I just don’t know what for yet! I also think that when the weather cools down a bit I’ll probably try a little more dyeing on merino using maple bark for use in my fall scarf collection.

Our vegetable garden production is booming. I’ve had the first tomato, and I see three-inch zucchinis on the vine. Of course the farmer’s market has far more, and sooner, but these are ours. Technically, Tommie planted them, and occasionally remembers to water them, but they end up on my burgers (the tomatoes) or in my cooking (the zucchini). Thoughts of green things growing on vines inspired me to create a new piece that incorporates peas. A long time ago I did a piece called ‘Pea and Friend’ with a pea vine and a ladybug on the plant. That was before I used needle felting, and now I think I could create a much richer and detailed piece by felting the leaves and peas. I pulled out some of the green fleece I bought at this year’s Fiber Event in Greencastle and carded it together with a few other lighter greens from my stores. I also discovered the extreme upper capacity for my carder! I still remember the words of advice about not overloading it from my friend Ulla. Of course without a demonstration one can’t know what that means. I just kept adding until I had a dense mat of beautiful green carpeting the drum. I had to get out a big screwdriver and do some serious lifting, rolling and ripping to get the fleece off the drum. It all turned out OK, with two big rolags of pea green fleece. The carding inspired me to weave the green canvas for the piece using my crunch green yarns, so now I’m ready to launch into making peas, pods, leaves, vines – and those cute little tendrils!

Saturday of this week was family day, and we packed in a lot of activities despite the heat. We started off at the farmer’s market, buying a big batch of heirloom and roma tomatoes for homemade bruschetta. We also picked up some fresh basil, garlic, and what turned out to be very spicy onions. My eyes watered until I remembered my protective gear (swim gogggles - what a sight!) and finished the chopping. We chopped, peeled, mixed and simmered in a ‘food only’ stockpot until we had a giant batch that ultimately filled around 20 glass jars. This has to last through the winter, but we’re going to test one bottle tonight with our traditional flatbread meal that consumes most of one of the jars of bruschetta.

After our morning farmer’s market stop we went to our secret creek bed that is littered with geodes and other treasures. Searching down in the cool, shady watercourse was a good way to spend a couple of hours. We collected rocks with holes in them, crinoids, rusty metal objects, and anything else that might look good in a weaving someday. I’m thinking about creating a piece with dirt and sky, as I have done before, but focusing on the lost bits and pieces and rusty things that turn up when you dig in the garden. I’ll probably nestle a tulip bulb underground and show the flower above. The concept is a little hard to describe, but I’m trying to capture the idea of the optimist planting bulbs in the fall for spring beauty. She breaks into the soil that has all the history and stored memories that you find when you dig a little bit. It’s always there, and the history precedes you—your world is intertwined with the people who worked the soil before you. In the end, though, you just remember the pretty tulip you see in the spring.

Until next week…

Martina Celerin