cold days, new art, home cleansing

The month ended in a mix of activities this year and last. On Thursday, I went to Hanover NH to the Dartmouth art gallery, the HOOD, for a teacher workshop. I spent the day in the museum's current exhibition of Modern A Contemporary Art. The director, Brian Kennedy is a fabulously informed, energetic speaker.
Last year, I visited the Lamont Gallery on the Phillips Exeter campus for an exhibit called "Fittings". I used parts of their postcard to make the January 29, 2009 entry.

The text lists items from the exhibit:

links, chains, encaustics,
layerings, thirty-two discs,
constructed boxes

If I were to do a 2010 entry, it would have portions of the exhibit at Dartmouth, perhaps the El Anatsui construction. "Hovor" with a piece of the Mark Rothko, "Lilac and Orange over Ivory." The text most likely would be about the long, but scenic, drive through NH from the seacoast to the western border.


The January 27, 2009 entry represents my favorite teal afghan. Hand knit by a friend many years ago, it's what I needed most for a little warmth and rest.
(We added a quilt to the blankets last night to ward off the below zero temperatures.)
The art work has a favored device - paper weaving- and image - spirals.I wove using an old postcard of my own work with the spirals, colored with a little teal stamp and wrote the text twice.


On January 28,2009, we had a snow day. I sorted through a vast collection of papers - most of which went to the woodstove. I felt somewhat melancholy that what was part of my past lifetime and important enough to hold onto, now could be of so little use.
But, I loved using more old text papers from a book altering project I started last summer.
Papers are precious
for a few of life's moments.
Later, but fire's fuel.

Today,1/30/10, is bright with a blue sky. I'm catching a little of the sun as I work.

My work today, after sweeping immense piles of cat and dog hair, is to figure out how to construct the covers and the seasonal markers for the Daily Haiku book.I have book board for the covers and mat board for the dividers. I plan on covering them with both fabrics and papers. My friend, and colleague, Dawn suggested marking the solstice and equinox dates rather that the artificial monthly four seasons.
So I'm celebrating winter,spring,summer and fall today with some artmaking....