Consumerism

I don’t think of myself as a consumer, but I love to shop for some things. Groceries are top on my list. Did I write about this before? How I came home late one evening from two years living in Guatemala and Mexico and immediately went to the grocery store and walked up and down every aisle. I just starred at all the boxes of cereal, all the types of cookies, all the cheeses, and all the fruit and vegetables out of season for that area but available to purchase anyway. These days I don’t go up and down every aisle, in fact I never go past the boxed cereals or canned vegetables, but I still love going to the supermarket and slowly going through my list. I try to limit myself to a written list, but never manage to succeed. Besides the monthly bills that must get paid (like the mortgage), the grocery stores get most of my money. When times are rough, I ask Mark to do the shopping. He sticks to the list.

The other item on which I spend money is books. I used to buy textile related books. I have learned that if I see a book that looks good, I had better get it, because it won’t be there next time I look. The bookstores in Santa Fe always had something to tempt me. One memorable trip there, a fantastic bookstore was going out of business, and we flew home with armfuls of heavy art books. That was before the airlines started to charge for luggage. The books stay with us, from house to house, as we crisscross the country. They fill shelves in almost every room. Sometimes I don’t take one off the shelf for months, but when I do, it is like visiting an old friend.

 I go in cycles of topics. Indonesian textiles were high on my list for a while. In fact, almost any book on ethnographic textiles will catch my attention. These books are usually filled with lots of photos, and admittedly, I have looked at the pictures more than I have read the texts. I also like how-to books on weaving. No book has come close to Deborah Chandlers’ Beginning Weaving, one of the first books I owned, but that doesn’t stop me from buying all the ones that have come out since hers, explaining how to wind a warp, or set up a loom, or weave simple fabrics. There is this thing that comes over me when I find one of these books—I think it is called greed. I just have to have it. It’s as if my life will not be complete unless that book is put on my shelf. This hasn’t happened in Vermont because I have never seen a book on weaving that I don’t already own in any of the bookstores here.

 Lately cookbooks are calling to me. There used to be a Borders within a half hour of my house, and I would loose myself looking at all their cookbooks. Now I find I am creating quite a long wish list on Amazon; books on chocolate are piling up fast. I haven’t actually made any chocolates yet—but I am reading about them—and lusting after more books on them. Reading is definitely less fattening than making and eating, but I know that soon I am going to start…and then my list of needs will increase to molds, and dipping forks, and exotic ingredients. Cookbooks always seem to lead to purchases of kitchen tools.

 Desire is an interesting phenomenon. I can thumb through dozens of books and put them back on the shelf without a flicker of interest—but suddenly, when something catches my fancy, it seems like dozens of others are suddenly enticing. I have some control, so I whittle things down to one or two purchases, which then trigger a delayed action. Sooner or later I will be back to get the others. I have rationalized some of it. A book on weaving or cooking is something you return to again and again. It isn’t an item you can get from inter-library loan because you never are quite finished with it. Even if it isn’t a very good cookbook or textile book, still you might need to use it again in the future; and if it is a good cookbook or weaving book then you definitely will need to use it again. These are research items. Research is such a respectable word that allows me to indulge in consumerism. Mark thinks I should do some weavings based on cooking. Now that will really legitimize my research.

Look Again

Dowdy Corners Cookbook Club

I joined the Dowdy Corners Cookbook Club! This might not seem newsworthy to you but it shows a shift in terrain for me. Holly Jennings (third from left in the photo above) is the founder of the club--amazingly patient cook (read her past posts), photographer, and alumni of same graduate school as me. That's how we met--introduced via email by a mutual friend from school. I couldn't quite believe that someone else from Cranbrook had moved to this small town, but she had. When we first met, and she told me about the cookbook club, I was definitely interested in joining; but that was a period when I was pulling back from everything. I remember telling her that I had a tendency to join and then quit, so I would save us both the trouble and just not join. That was several years ago, and though I didn't join, I did read her blog and even bought one of the books and cooked from it.

Holly and Wendy (second from left in photo above) stopped by our porch during the town's July 4th parade and Wendy was very enthusiastic about the cookbook club and encouraged me and Marianne (left in photo above) to join. Suddenly it made sense to me. I love cooking (sometimes). It is one of the few things that really gets my attention these days, and I want to learn more about it, I want to get better. I even want to go back and get a degree in baking, though I doubt I will do that. So I said yes. And then I did it. I actually signed up on line and bought the current selection, Ripe by Nigel Slater. In fact, I actually bought a different Ripe first--amazed that it was so much less expensive at Jessica's Biscuits than on Amazon--not noticing that it was a different price because it had a different author. Both books are pictured above.

I think of Slater's book as a non-recipe book. It is a beautiful book--inspiring pictures, luscious words, and simple instructions. Sort of, wash a peach and eat it. But I used it (and Cheryl Sternman Rule's book) for many dishes (his blueberry pancakes made with ricotta cheese are excellent, and once I made them with glutton-free flour and they might have been even better than the first round which were also delicious) and felt that both books had something to offer. But when I went to the pot luck last week I was amazed at how wonderful the meal was--how every dish enhanced the other. Nothing was too sweet. Everything tasted fresh and satisfying. I think the other people (Melanie is 2nd from right, and Tamara is on the right) all felt the same. Maybe this book (Slater's) has more to it than I gave him credit for. I can't wait to read Holly's evaluation on the blog. By the way, she encourages people from other areas to join, and to start their own group for potlucks. I love the idea of communities of cooks gathering together all over the country comparing dishes they made from the same book.

I often don't spend money on anything except the monthly bills (boring and annoyingly regular) but I do spend money on food shopping and books. For awhile now I have managed not to buy books--and the Kimball Library here in Randolph is fantastic about getting books that are requested (and the staff are super excellent)--but I admit that a perk of joining the club is that I now can legitimately buy cookbooks. I have to--library loan just won't do for something like this (so I say). You should see my wish lists on various sites (but I think I made them private).

Beyond Craft: The Art Fabric by Mildred Constantine and Jack Lenor Larsen
(Top Right: detail of Space Hanging by Lyn Alexander; Middle Left: detail of Orange Weaving by Olga de Amaral; Middle Right: detail of HUM by Susan Weitzman; Bottom Left: detail of La Visite Di Aldebaran by Jindrich Vohanka, Bottom Right: detail of Raumelement, Yellow by Moik Schiele)

I had a visitor the other day who had some questions about fiber processes and during the discussion I pulled out my copy of Beyond Craft: The Art Fabric by Mildred Constantine and Jack Lenor Larsen. Most of you know this was the first definitive book on fiber art. I have looked at this book hundreds of times. Some works, like Susan Weitzman's HUM, have always left me breathless. She is one of those mysterious artists who made such an impact on people but who removed herself from the spotlight, something else drew her attention. But what she contributed has withstood the decades of change since she made that work. It still pulls me in and holds my attention. Other works are just invisible to my eyes and sensibilities, though I recognize their ambition and creativity.

But I must say, this is a time to pull that book off your shelves again and look through it. It is full of the most amazing work, by artists who truly were pioneers, working with materials in ways no one had thought of before and in a scale that is, even now, mind-boggling. I have just put a few details of works above, pieces that have great subtlety, simplicity, imagination, and skill. None of them tell stories per se. They are not the works that would have attracted me (except Weitzman's) when I first saw the book. But WOW--they sure look interesting to me today. And of course, the great tragedy, in this current time of anything goes--where fiber seems to be the material of choice for many young artists--the works in this book are not known. So pull that book off your shelves and start showing it to everyone you know who says they are interested in art. It really is a book that has retained its relevancy.

Nomad (Panels 1, 2 and 3) by Bhakti Ziek, 2010

Just a final note to say that I have completed re-finishing my six panels of Nomad. I don't have a wall large enough to photograph the six panels together so I had to do it three by three. No lights either, but....The Fuller Craft Museum has posted the exhibition information: Grand Tales of the Loom: Four Master Weavers. The exhibition will run from September 22, 2012 through January 20, 2013. There will be an artists' reception on Sunday, September 30th from 2-5 pm and all of us (myself, Cyndy Barbone, Deborah Carlson, and Fuyuko Matsubara) will be there. The four of us "came of age" as artists in the 1980s, a generation after the artists in Beyond Craft. We stayed with the loom, really mastering its possibilities, rather than working away from it, as did most of the artists in that book. We had our own "time" and as artists and teachers, we influenced others. I do hope this show will again prove that working at the loom in a careful, thoughtful way is still relevant.

Nomad (Panels 4, 5 and 6) by Bhakti Ziek, 2010

Okay, one comment more about Joan Didion's book, Blue Nights. I read the book straight through yesterday. At the back of the book, a library book, was a page where readers could leave comments. The first commenter felt she had never encountered a more self-centered woman, and added, "get a life." The second comment noted how sad the book was. I wasn't going to add anything but just couldn't help coming to Didion's defense, so I added something to the effect that she talks about truths that others want to ignore, deny, or hide from. The loss of her husband and daughter within 20 months of each other is almost too sad to bear. The way she keeps repeating certain phrases over and over reminds me of the way our minds gloam onto something and get stuck, the way records used to do. A life full of memories but always the same few come back to haunt us. And her writing about aging, so stark and honest, is almost terrifying. I note in my own life how 66 is nothing like I imagined it. It is both better and worse. And honestly, I don't think my friends who are younger can understand until they get here. I might think I am 12 inside, but when the young man at the liquor store tells me I shouldn't waste my money on an expensive (we are talking $20 here) bottle of wine because "older people can't taste things anymore" I admit that I am shocked at both his rudeness and the fact that he sees me as old. So Didion's experiences of vulnerability and insult are ones I can hear. I haven't read much by her, but I found this book compelling. And the shift of terrain I mentioned at the start of this post is something about aging, and finding new ways to engage with the preciousness of time.

Art and Food

Before any of our trips to NYC I always spend time on the computer doing research. I make lists of all the museums and galleries, their locations and what is showing. It doesn't matter that I have copies of the gallery guide, or I have done this before, or even that I think I can find most of them blindfolded, I still make my lists. I also make lists of potential restaurants--and the top item I look for are dim sum restaurants. It is nice to see that Nom Wah Tea Parlor, the first place my mother took me for dim sum when I was a child, is still open and recently getting good press, after a period of some questionable reports. Sadly three trips to NYC and I still haven't fit dim sum into the equation. I think it was easier when galleries were in Soho, but Chelsea is just a bit off the route to Chinatown.

Laduree, Madison Avenue and 71st Street, NYC

We did get to Laduree though. Be sure to click HERE and see their website--the animation just seems so perfect for their product and image. It's located just south of the Whitney Museum, and the Biennial was definitely on our to do list. It was pouring rain and as we approached the store we heard one man say to his companion, "The line would be winding around the corner if it wasn't raining so hard." So we lucked out.

Cookbook with Macaron Recipe

I purchased their cookbook, Sucre, after reading about it on the Not So Humble Pie blog. It came packaged in a box that looked like it was full of sweets, and when you open the box you find this softly colored tissue paper and small book with gold paper edges and a velvet cover. The pictures are scrumptous and I remember that Mark, my friend Marianne, and I just sat there and turned every page in the book--oohing and ahhing the whole time.

A variety of Laduree Macarons--a bit weary from being hauled around all day but still delicious.

I got a selection of different macarons for dessert that night. We cut them into quarters and critiqued them with our friends as we ate them. The raspberry one just seemed like regular jam inside, and the vanilla one (I think) had a sort of marshmellow-like filling that I didn't like at all (and I like marshmellow), but all the rest were delicious. It was so much fun to actually buy and taste them but I think in the future I will just make my own.

Images from the Whitney Biennial: Werner Herzog (top), Lutz Bacher (left middle top), Elaine Reichek (right middle top), Statement by Forrest Bess (left middle bottom), weaving by Travis Meinolf for installation by Kai Althoff (right middle bottom), Forrest Bess (bottom)

The Whitney Biennial 2012 is closed now but we managed to get there during the final week. I thought it was a relatively quiet show. Textiles are definitely a popular medium now and Elaine Reichek's room and the shroud woven by Travis Meinolf were both prominent. I have been a fan of Werner Herzog since seeing his Nosferatu in 1979, and as I approached the space where his installation was located, the music coming out of it let me know I had arrived. If you click on his name in the previous sentence, you can listen to a discussion he had with the curators of the Biennial on May 17th. Does anyone else have such a wonderful hypnotic mesmerizing enthusiastic voice? He opens my heart to wonder.

Opening of Silence at Masters & Pelavin, curator Jaanika Peerna (left), Anne Lindberg (second from left) and other artists in the exhibition; "Sleep" by Anne Lindberg (below)

We timed this trip so we could attend an opening of the exhibition Silence at Masters & Pelavin, which included work by our friend Anne Lindberg. It was packed, so the title Silence was like an oxymoron--but then the curator, Jaanika Peerna, asked for a moment of silence and a sense of peace took over the room. Mostly I get to encourage and applaud my friends these days through Facebook and email--we are all so spread out in space--so it was really meaningful to be able to see Anne (and her husband) and share her success in person.


On the way home we spent hours at DIA Beacon. No pictures are allowed so you will just have to go in person and experience the work, the place, the ambiance. My advice: GO! To me it was definitely a holy pilgrimage. This is the art that I understand as "Art." Robert Ryman, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Blinky Palermo, Walter De Maria...and the list goes on. GO!     

Already Memories

Raining in NYC

We came home from NYC with more than the Pisco Brandy that we bought. Not surprising since it rained the whole time we were there and we walked around with wet feet for days. We live a very isolated life in Vermont, so the crowds in the museums, galleries and buses must have given us some germ that has caused constant coughing, sneezing and hacking since May 25. Finally we both went to doctors and are on the mend.

Why the Pisco Brandy? Well I made a Bobby Flay dinner for a party a month or so ago that included his Pisco Sour Sangria. I had gotten all the ingredients and then discovered that none of the liquor stores in NH or VT (state-run) sell Pisco. I substituted Grappa, and it was delicious, but I put Pisco on my NYC list. Every store I went in had several choices. I haven't tried it yet but it is something to look forward to later this summer.

We went across the Tappan Zee Bridge into Westchester, then the Bronx, over another two bridges into Brooklyn and later that day through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel into Manhattan. We must have paid every toll possible in just a few days, and it did feel like we were hemorrhaging money. We went to Brooklyn so I could have a discussion/critique of my work with the curator of the Drawing Center's Viewing Program. It feels like perk enough to have my work included in the Viewing Program (if you click HERE it takes you to the home page where you can enter my name in the "Name or Keyword Search" area and go to my page), but I was thrilled to have an opportunity to meet with Nina Katchadourian. You may have seen The New Yorker blog article on her work, which was going around the Internet recently. I don't feel ready to discuss the generous conversation I had with Nina; I am still digesting and distilling it, seeing where it takes me and holding it close. But I will share my thoughts when I am ready. Meanwhile please go to my page, which I feel very good about, and give me some feedback.

Row Houses in Windsor Terrace area of Brooklyn
(unknown photographer)

We were just blocks away from the Windsor Place house we called home from 1983-1987, so of course we took a drive down nostalgia lane. The street is a facade of connected row houses. Every house on the block has been upgraded with vinyl siding in every pastel color imaginable, except the house where we lived. It had its familiar asphalt-siding (I always called it linoleum siding) and door with peeling paint and general air of weariness. It is our fish that got away. But if we had bought it when we could, I would never have gone to graduate school, or become a college professor, or lived in as many states as we have tried.

Ernesto Neto (above); Richard Avedon (below)

We headed for Chelsea galleries after Brooklyn. This trip we only had a chance to go there two afternoons, so we didn't see everything, but a little inspiration can go a long way. Nina recommended the Ernesto Neto show at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery and the Richard Avedon which was showing across the street at one of the Gagosian spaces. I like Neto's work, have watched it for years, but I am not so crazy about the recent spate of "gallery as amusement park" exhibitions. Bonakdar does have the kindest, friendliest staff that I have encountered in years, and I guess they need this attitude to deal with all the families with small children that I saw climbing all over the Neto's (as he intended). I loved the Avedon's because, like Patti Smith's "Just Kids", it brought me right back to my formative years. Ginsburg was always a hero of mine (first time I heard him read was in NYC around the time some of these photos were taken [he was so young!]) and it is amazing to stand in front of these huge images and study the people. Big art is so impressive and I am still struggling with the idea of how I can make my work big, bigger, biggest and still make it myself (which I want to do) and not physically destroy myself while making it.

Well, I am not done with the trip, but will stop for today. Have to go outside and scrape paint from our enormous house which just feels bigger with every scraping motion. 

Spring Post

My Roof: West by Bhakti Ziek, 2012

Detail of My Roof: West by Bhakti Ziek

Although I haven't written in this blog for many months, I certainly have thought about it. Too bad you can't read my mind, some of the posts were intelligent and interesting. On the other hand, maybe it is a good idea you can't read my mind.

I wanted you to know that I finished my six panel weaving My Roof and have shown three of the panels in Philadelphia at the Art Alliance (My Roof: East) and tomorrow the other three panels (My Roof: West) debut at the Durango Arts Center in the exhibition Textiles Today: Redefining the Medium, curated by Ilze Aviks. The exhibition will run from April 24 - June 2, 2012. 

Pat dipaula Klein preparing Chocolate Tart from Lovin'Oven in Fenchtown, NJ

But I admit the thing that really got me excited about posting was the chocolate caramel sea salt tart shown above. Pat dipaula Klein is a wonderful artist who lives near Philadelphia. We were colleagues together at Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science, but our friendship really developed through the connection to BigTown Gallery in Rochester, Vermont, where we both show. She and her husband come to Vermont each year to visit good friends and we have gotten to know each other, which has also blossomed into a wonderful email exchange. Pat's daughter Julie owns the Lovin' Oven in Frenchtown, NJ and she was featured on the Food Channel's The Best Thing I Ever Ate. I saw the program and have lusted after her salted chocolate caramel tart ever since. We even stopped at the restaurant on our last trip home from Philadelphia but forgot to check days and hours ahead of time and pulled up to find it closed. So when Pat said she would bring dessert to dinner this week ("something from Julie"), of course I requested THE Tart. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful evening of friendship, laughter and buzzing energy. I can still taste the burst of salt mixed with the chocolate and caramel. Next trip to Philadelphia we will time it for a full meal at the Lovin' Oven with Pat and Phil. I know what I will have for dessert.

Report on Road Trip--Part I

Myra Serrins in her studio

Natural Dyes 1 by Bhakti Ziek on left

Woven Dyed Piece by Myra Serrins on right

My road trip to Maryland/Washington DC area was so chock full of experiences that I will have to report on it in several posts. I stopped the first night with my friends Myra and Marty--just in time to go to Myra's yoga class. She is the teacher--and a really good one too. I didn't like yoga when I did it in the 70s, and I didn't like it recently when I tried a class here, but I actually enjoyed working with Myra. It definitely felt like the perfect antidote to hours of sitting in the car. I was pleased to see a couple of my weavings hanging in their house. Natural Dyes 1 is shown above, left. I wove it in New Mexico, and the warp was ikat dyed using natural dyes. Myra is a serious committed artist (my favorite type) who works in several medium, including weaving. I love the depth of black in her weaving on the right. If you click on the image it will open in a separate window and you can see the details of it better.

Blossoms Two Ways

I left piles of snow and no traffic, but the snow was gone by lower Vermont. By the time I reached Webs in north central Massachusetts my hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel with tension. I tried to remember Mark's suggestion--just stay in your lane and you will be okay. You would never know from my fear of traffic that I am a New Yorker. The first day was the worst--then I calmed down. (And I did manage to make it home safely, so I guess everything in terms of driving went well.) The trees had fresh small leaves in Massachusetts, there was green grass in upper New Jersey, and flowering trees in Maryland. I had to go and meet Spring, since she hasn't shown up here yet.

Since I mentioned Webs, I might as well tell you that I was so disappointed with the yarn that is available for weavers these days. I needed some black novelty yarn, a boucle or something like that, and they had one shelf with some variegated yarn on cones, and nothing else. I ended up buying a few balls of expensive knitting yarn to try it, but....I really miss Irene and Cooper Kenworthy in Providence.

Tied-Weave Study Group on left

Chris Spangler, Lanna Ray and Caroline Harlow on the right

Chris Spangler and her husband were my next hosts. A group of fantastic weavers were meeting at her house on Friday for their Tied-Weave Study Group. I don't think that is the actual name, but this year they are studying Tied-Weaves. Bonnie Inouye (second from left on sofa) was the moderator. I can name all of the people (Joyce Keister, Bonnie Inouye, Mary Pflueger, and Janet Stollnitz are on the sofa, left to right; Lanna Ray, Fern Grapin, Anna Byrd Mays, Chris Spangler, Caroline Harlow, and Larry Novak are standing, left to right) and I am sure if you are a weaver you know many of them too. If you click HERE you will go to the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery Members' Page, and you can see work by Joyce, Janet and Larry and many of the other people who took my workshops this week.

Everyone brought food (you know how I love pot lucks) and I was entranced by Lanna's asparagus tart. It was a Martha Stewart recipe so of course it was beautiful. She shared the recipe and I am going to make it tomorrow for Mark's birthday.

Chris Spanger at her TC-1

Weaving by Chris Spangler with detail at the bottom

Chris has a TC-1 loom like mine, except she has six modules so she can weave at 45 epi at full loom width (28"). When she upgraded from four to six modules, she also purchased the new vacuum pump which has the capacity of running eight modules. She has both the vacuum and the air compressor in her garage, so weaving is much quieter than my set up. When I arrived, we photographed her recent weaving (shown above on the right, with a detail at the bottom) so I had the image on my camera to share with you. It is really beautiful. I don't have the exact measurements but I think it is about 7 feet high. The detail shows you how she pixelated the image so close up it is very abstract but from a distance it focuses into a landscape. She wove double weave with four wefts and has enormous color variation and nuance in the work. Chris has a new blog, and you can go to it by clicking HERE.

I have been very lucky in my ownership of a TC-1 loom, and now I am even luckier, because Chris had her former vacuum pump in the hallway and wanted to get rid of it. She offered it outright, but I felt an exchange was necessary--so she now owns one of my small weavings and I now own two vacuum pumps. That means I am one giant step closer to being able to upgrade my loom to more modules. If you want to learn more about the history of the TC-1, click HERE to go to a recent entry on the TC-2 Blog.

So I had a very auspicious beginning of my trip and when I went to give my lecture and teach the first workshop the next day for The Potomac Fiber Arts Guild, I already knew the names of 8 participants.

Food

Mexican Wedding Cookies

photo by Holly Jennings

A mutual friend recently introduced Holly Jennings to me. We both went to Cranbrook Academy of Art for graduate school, different years, different majors (fiber for me, photography for her), but two years in that environment is sort of like a secret handshake. It seems almost improbable that we would both be in Randolph, Vermont and have gone to Cranbrook, but other grads keep popping up and right now I think I know 9 people in this close vicinity who have gone there. The alumni association said there are actually about 60 grads in this area, meaning Vermont and New Hampshire and lower Quebec. I thought about hosting a party (they won't give out names but they would send emails to everyone for me) but then thought better of it. I still might invite the nine I know to a pot luck, if spring ever arrives and I feel more social.

Holly and I also share a passion for food, though I do believe she is more focused than I am. She has put together a wonderful blog, The Dowdy Corners Cookbook Club, which I try to read every few days. It actually is a group of people that read cookbooks, make food from the books, and gather for a meal based on the current selection. I almost joined, but since I have a bad track record for joining and quiting, I decided to save myself the hassle and just not join. Instead I am lurking. The current selection is Diana Kennedy's The Art of Mexican Cooking. I missed out on purchasing the book when the club members' got theirs, but thought I picked up a copy when I went to Burlington. Wrong. I got The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, which is a compilation of three older books she has written. Holly had a stack of different books by Kennedy at her house the other day, and surprisingly they really do have different recipes in them. I have made the cheese chile rellenos from my cookbook twice now--and they are incredibly good. Since I lived in Guatemala and Mexico for five years in the early '70s, I never had a cookbook before, thinking I knew how to make beans and rice and rellenos. But following her recipe has convinced me that there is much to learn, and it is worth the effort to follow her instructions.

Holly made me a lunch using a delicious shrimp recipe from her book, and I brought Mexican Wedding Cookies for dessert. I actually didn't use the recipe which is in The Essential Cuisines book because it called for lard. Instead, I went to my trusty Martha Stewart's Handbook of Baking and followed her recipe. That book never fails--even though my oven has been misbehaving--and only the broiler coil got hot. For about two weeks now I have been baking by heating the oven to where I need it to go using broil, then turning it off, putting in the cake/cookies/whatever, and letting them cook--taking them out and reheating with broil sometimes, and returning them to the oven. Not a great way to cook, but it worked with the cookies shown above.

Lucky for me my neighbor is a genius and this morning he has fixed my oven. And if it doesn't last, he has already procured a backup plan. So I feel secure. Without my oven I feel very insecure.

By the way, Dowdy Corners Cookbook Club is open to anyone to join. There is a great post on queso fresco that includes a recipe that was posted on March 24th. I think when groups start gathering in different areas of the country, and report their findings on the blog, it is going to gain a big following. I might even join. And you?

Seafood Stew

April Snowstorm

Woke to a heavy April snowstorm and lovely walk with my dog. The other day, on a sunny blue-sky day, we ran into three little girls, who ran over to pet December. We got to talking and decided they should change their names to reflect the way our dog is named--so now they became July, August, and June. June was elated because her new name was a "real" name. I continued my walk, thinking, "I am living in a Norman Rockwell painting."

Mark's birthday cake on left, and a seafood quiche for later in the week

I mentioned the seafood stew I made for Mark's birthday on Facebook, and several people asked for the recipe. So here it is. First, I based it on Soupe de Poisson, page 50 of my Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, et al. and Summer Seafood Stew, Bon Appetit, August 1998, that I got from Epicurious. They are quite similar, just one makes a much larger pot than the other. So if you just check those out and follow the recipes you will do fine. But here is what I did:

I bought a pound and a half of raw shrimp in shells and shelled them and put them aside; along with a pound of scallops. I put the olive oil, chopped onion and minced garlic (I added more than called for) into the pot and sauteed, then added 1-1/2 pounds of fresh chopped organic tomatoes, almost an entire bottle of white wine (the rest went into my wineglass), 2 8-ounce bottles of clam juice, and the spices (thyme, orange peel, fennel seeds, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, saffron, parsley) and cooked for about five minutes--then steamed the mussels in a steamer basket for five minutes--removed them and added a dozen clams and steamed them for 10 minutes. I would not use the clams again in the future since they got tough in cooking, but the mussels are delicious. I think I had about 2 pounds of fresh mussels, and after steaming, I removed them from their shells and set aside until the clams were done (I took them out of their shells too). Then I added some water to the pot and put in 1-1/2 pounds of haddock and cooked the mix for 45 minutes. Then I added the shrimp, mussels, clams and scallops and cooked for another ten minutes. I let it cool and put it in the refrigerator. I made this stew the night before Mark's birthday dinner, and reheat it about 45 minutes before serving.

The day of his birthday I made a chocolate cake with crushed walnuts on the outside. I served rice with the stew but it was already so much, no one bothered with it. We also had a big salad of mixed fresh greens. And, prosecco. It was a nice birthday.

Since the stew was chock full of goodies, before reheating it, I removed three big ladles full of ingredients and used it to make the seafood quiche that is pictured above with the cake. I wanted a really deep quiche--which it was--but I didn't precook the shell enough--so it was rather gooey when I served it the first time to my friend Idora Tucker. Later, when i reheat it several times, it just got better and better.

Winding bobbins for next plain weave yardage

With all my posts about Osloom (there are still three days, and funds are coming in--you can make it happen--and I hope you do), and writing a grant proposal, I haven't gotten to the loom much--but I did finish the burlap which was Mark's birthday gift, and I have wound bobbins to start weaving the next plain weave yardage for him, and I am about to start designing my next jacquard weaving (April snow inspired), so there will be more about weaving soon.

10,000 Hits

More Images of March weaving progressing on the TC-1 Loom

This week my blog reached more than 10,000 hits. I know it doesn't mean 10,000 readers, that it could be the same loyal 49 followers reading it over and over again--but it makes me feel important to see that number grow so large. Thank you, everyone, who takes the time to read this blog.

As you can see, my weaving is progressing. In fact, I finished it this afternoon. I still have enough warp left to weave a small image, which means back to Photoshop® to design it. Probably i will do a detail from the larger piece as a reference. When I get it cut off, I will photograph the piece with my new camera, which just arrived today. The old one doesn't allow enough pixels for good prints, and it skews everything. Hopefully this one will be better.

Sheep, lambs and rooster at Highfields Farm

Curious Lamb meets Friendly Dog at Highfields Farm

We had lovely weather over the weekend and the owners of Highfields Farm in Randolph, VT called to say it was a good day to come see the lambs. In fact, it was a perfect day to see them--all eleven of them (well, maybe there are ten). They were frolicking and running around--we couldn't have asked for a cuter scene. Then Julie and Chris came back from a walk with their dogs--and I captured the image above of the curious lamb coming over to greet the dog. They actually touched noses. I really want my own farm and sheep and baby lambs, a few goats, chickens and fresh eggs, and a big garden (that someone else weeds).

Dinner Party with my tablecloth--notice that it shrunk

Well, the tablecloth definitely shrunk. I can't hem the ends or it won't fit lengthwise--and it just barely goes edge to edge in width. I really thought I had woven enough--I certainly had the warp to extend it by a foot. Oh well, it still works and my dinner party was a success. Can't say that about the latest power of myth gathering. Oh, the gathering was fantastic (thank you Kelly and Forest)--lots of fun--but the consensus is to leave Joseph Campbell in the dust. There actually is an option here--whoever hosts the future gatherings can choose the video--or I suppose they could choose to do a poetry reading, or play charades--but my vision of six meetings watching the six episodes, with six discussions really ended after session one. This one didn't exactly count since the video turned out to be the second one of a different series, a bit more pedantic as if Campbell was lecturing to his Sarah Lawrence class. I felt I should get a notebook and take notes, quickly, so I could be prepared for the upcoming test. It just didn't generate the type of conversation we had after watching the Moyers-Campbell part one. Mostly that conversation was about how dated their clothes and hair styles were, and how funny all that star wars stuff was--but it was still good conversation. This evening had its unexpected highlights though--like Tommy playing the piano. The entire house filled with powerful sound--it was like magic.

Hardly any snow on March 20th

We have had rain for the last two days, sunny warm days before that, and you can, almost all the snow was gone on Saturday, so after the rain, there won't be any. But I am warned, anything is possible in Vermont until May, or even later. I refuse to believe it though. Spring is here and i am all for warmth.

Spring also has brought registration for the summer classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They just finished registration for their students, and this week they open it up to anyone who wants to attend. There are some openings in my class, so if you want to study with me, sign up at www.saic.edu/summer. The class is open to any level of student--beginner to advanced--and students will work on floor looms as well as the TC-1 hand jacquard loom. This is the only venue where I will be teaching this summer, and probably for the rest of the year.

Weave-It

Weave-It Loom

The other day Mark and I went to a small flea market in Lyme, NH where our friend Marianne McCann was selling some work. She had this little box labelled Weave-It, and when I opened it I found a gold metallic cloth that was three-quarters done on the loom. It was sort of like a pot holder loom but finer. She insisted on giving it to me, and my greedy little hands accepted gladly. I did help her the next day on her gypsy wagon (we traced and cut out the ribs for the roof), so in a way it was a Vermont barter transaction, except she really did give it to me with no strings attached (except the ones on the loom).

Working on Weave-It Loom

When I googled this loom, I found several sites with information, including booklets about projects and instructions. Apparently the loom came with a needle, which mine was lacking. But I had several long needles up in my studio that I always wondered about. I thought they were netting needles. I have no idea where or when I got them, but they certainly have moved with me from one state to another to another. So I went and got them and used one of them to finish the cloth. The previous maker had made some mistakes in her plain weave, and maybe I made a few too. I definitely heard myself saying, "no wonder someone came up with a heddle system," and "I would already be done if I wove this on my floor loom."

Detail of needle weaving on a Weave-It Loom

Of course, I can't stick my floor loom in my purse, but i can take the Weave-It with me anywhere. It also has the advantage of making a cloth with four selvedges. On-line you can see some projects where people assembled these little squares into afghans and sweaters. It reminds me of crocheted vests I made in the '60's. It also reminds me that I have about six knitting projects partially done that I can also stick in my purse and take with me. I wonder where I am going that I need portable projects?

Finished first, and maybe last, Weave-It project

I finished my Weave-It cloth (collaboration with an unknown weaver) and promptly made it into a collage birthday card for Edith House. There was a surprise birthday party for her at Red Hen Baking Co. in Middlesex, VT yesterday. I should have had my camera ready when she arrived--her face was appropriately pleased, shocked and surprised. Lucky for all of us she thought she was coming to a small weaving studio group, and had brought a stack of her latest weavings--beautiful silk rag scarfs. Our society makes it difficult to see the numbers increasing as we get older (a friend suggested feinting dyslexia which would make the number more palatable) but I think it is like getting a higher grade in a test--you don't get an A until you reach 90. Edith isn't there yet but her life is an exemplary A+.

Life in New Mexico was full of great bread. I could cry just thinking about Sage Bakery. But Red Hen is a good substitute and yesterday, at Holly's suggestion, I bought their sprouted grain rye bread (Sprouternickle), which is only made on Thursdays, and it went perfectly with the lentil soup we had for dinner.

Elizabeth Billings at Fleming Museum

Exhibition of work by Elizabeth Billings at Fleming Museum

Today I drove up to Burlington with Elizabeth Billings to see her show, The Ties That Bind, at the Fleming Museum, and to hear her give a public talk about her work. The show is up until October 4th and if you are in the area, you really must go see it. Liz is a person with true integrity, and her talk poignantly shared experiences that have helped her shape a life for herself and her family that honors and extends generations of principles connected to and respectful of nature.

Elizabeth Billings at the exhibition of her work

Liz's work often incorporates poetry, or meaningful language. In a series of "handtowels" called Handprint Series, she incorporated one-line entries from a diary written between 1850 - 1865 by Harriet Warren Vail. These pithy remarks ("just the facts, ma'am") capture a busy life, by necessity in tune with the seasons, but also they show us an awareness appreciative of the changes of the elements. It is wonderful to discover the diary on display along with Billings' work at the Fleming.

Diary of Harriet Warren Vail

Part of the Handprint Series by Elizabeth Billings

On opposing walls, you can see two of Liz's monumental pieces, Wall of Ancestors, done in the late '80's, and a Sapling piece, done this year. Before anyone was doing or talking about woven shibori, Liz was gathering areas of her work to create texture. She takes strip weaving to a new dimension, using the repetition of ikatted skulls, to remind us of the generations that came before us.

Wall of Ancestors by Elizabeth Billings

detail of Wall of Ancestors by Elizabeth Billings

In many of her public art pieces, Liz has removed bark from saplings and branches, making magnified ikat threads out of the wood. The beauty of her newest work, with the organic flow of the branches contrasting the delineated line of the bark that remains (the resisted area of an ikat thread), and the scale of the work, which fills an entire museum wall, is not given justice in my photograph below.

Sapling sculpture by Elizabeth Billings

It was a beautiful day in Vermont, and Liz's thoughtful talk made me really aware of the beauty around me as I sat on my porch when I got home, rocking, enjoying the warmth, and the light, and the smell of freshly mowed grass, and even the little bugs swarming and biting. Just in case you think I am having too much fun, not enough work, I did finish my own "ties that bind" and wound the new warp back on the TC-1. Much to my relief, it wasn't just three yards, but 6 yards in length. I bought this silk, 60/2 (I think, but maybe it is 20/2--I will have to search my files), from Redfish at the Surface Design Conference in 2007, and wound the warp in Arizona in the spring of 2008, before we moved to Vermont. Tomorrow I will have to see if I have those crossed threads that have been worrying me the whole time I was tying knots, or not. I hope it is "or not."

Silk warp wound back on TC-1--waiting to discover if threads are crossed or not

Here is an image of the view in front me on the road home from Tunbridge Hill Farm on Monday, when I went to get my farm share. Being part of a CSF is one of the highlights of summer in Vermont. This is our second year participating, and it just gets better. You can see the fresh garlic and radishes that were part of this week's share.

Cows moving from one pasture to another

Produce from Tunbridge Hill Farm, Tunbridge, VT