Not sure what to make of Pittsburgh

The important news first. My dad is continuing his remarkable recovery from his stroke earlier this month. He's going to PT 3 times each week and it sounds like they're really putting him through his paces. His speech is also improving. We spoke on the phone earlier this week for quite a while and I understood everything that he said. Two weeks ago I was scared that might not be possible.

Last weekend's trip to Pittsburgh was interesting, but I don't think I need to go back. I was there briefly about 20 years ago. It's clear that the city has invested considerable effort in trying to move beyond they're history and reputation as a steel mill town. The mills are mostly gone, replaced by deluxe pedestrian shopping/entertainment malls. It seems like these are in turn sucking the life out of neighborhood retail just has they've done for the last 40 years all over the country. It seems like there might have been a lesson to learn there, but I'm not going to mount the urban planning soapbox today.

So, we covered a good deal of ground, saw lots of neighborhoods (good and bad), and did a lot of sweating in the 95+ degree heat. The Nancy Crow exhibit at CMU was great. Although the gallery was a bit dim in places, the work still showed very well. We also spent Saturday morning at the Warhol museum--quite nice. We left early on Sunday morning so that we could stop at Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. Both were wonderful. Of course Fallingwater is such an icon. The tour was very well done, but it's hard to get a sense of the place when you're just zipping through it.

This is one of those classic views of the house. In many ways it give you better sense of the place than does the tour, with the hustle and bustle of all the people.

Dan and I were both surprised by Kentuck Knob. It's one of Wright's "unonian" houses, but on the high end of the scale (compared to the Pope-Leighey house for example). The house is lovely and very livable. The grounds are also a wonderful natural landscape and include a meadow full of tremendous modern sculpture. I was thrilled to learn from the tour guide that the collection includes not one but two Andy Goldsworthy's.

I love the earthy, organic feel of these sculptures. There's no reason that I should come upon a stone circle or a cairn in the middle of the woods, but what a delight when I do!

Things continue to improve

More good news from Dad. He continues to improve. His speech and hand mobility are both much better. He had his first physical therapy appointment yesterday and saw his primary care physician. Both were very optimistic about his continued recovery. There's just so much here for which to be thankful.

This is a quick post because Dan and I are off for Pittsburgh in a few minutes. This afternoon we're going to see the big Nancy Crow exhibit at the Miller Gallery on the CMU campus. The rest of the plans are kind of loose. The Warhol museum is a must, and there are a couple of other nice museums (depending on how hot it is outside). There are also neighborhoods to explore, food to eat--all of the usual "vacation" things. Sunday on the way home we're stopping to see Frank Lloyd Wright's houses, Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. We're both be Wright fans, have never seen either of these homes. The Crow exhibit and the Wright visits are the anchors for the trip.

Monday night I get to meet my fellow Artists in Residence from the community center. We're having a pot luck dinner and planning the group show for later in the year. Progress on the studio renovation continues. I'm still hoping that we hit the Aug 1 move-in date, but it's out of my hands at this point. This week I bought by business insurance (never thought I'd be doing that) and started thinking about studio furniture. Life continues to surprise me!

A belated happy B-day to my blog

July 6th marked the one-year anniversary of my blog. It's hard to believe. I surprised myself. The posts have been a bit sporadic lately, but that's more a symptom of a busy life than lack of interest.

More posts to come. No real end in sight...

I have a story to tell

Actually, I probably have more than one, but I'll start with the big story (in a condensed form) and see where we end up. Regardless of the details that follow, this story has a happy ending. Keep that in mind.

Last weekend Dan and I were in Rehoboth Beach, Deleware staying with our friends Howard and Patrick, hanging out with 2 houses full of friends. It was a great weekend. The weekend started out on an exceptionally good note. Last week I found out that I've been accepted as an Artist in Residence at the Greenbelt Community Center, and I'm just thrilled. So, on the first day of our holiday I finally got answers to all of my questions about liability insurance and I was able to officially accept the invitation. I'm hoping to be able to move into the studio at the beginning of August.

The rest of the weekend was great. We ate and drank well, did lots of visiting, and got lots of sleep. It seems that "wild" weekends at the beach take on a new flavor after 40. This weekend was also the first time that Dan and I had been able to see Patrick since he got his new hip 6 weeks ago. He looks fantastic. I told him that I think the doctor put in a battery to go with the hip. He now seems to be in almost constant motion. It's a joy to see.

Can you feel the suspense building? I wouldn't have assured you of the happy ending if there wasn't going to be a big bump in the road. It's time to buckle-up.

We arrived home on Sunday to find all as usual. The cat's were giving us the silent treatment because they were mad about being abandoned. We sifted through the minimal stack of mail. I checked the voice mail. Now--you know--that's when the other shoe dropped. What I found was a message from earlier in the day from my sister saying that Dad had suffered a stroke and was in the ER at Fairfax Hospital. I was surprisingly calm, but I think that it was more numb and calm. We were out the door in about 2 minutes. Dan drove. I have a pretty fuzzy memory of the trip except that I was fascinated, in a detached sort of way, by my almost complete silence. I will spare you the details, except to say that we found my normally gregarious, smiling father lying in the Neuroscience ICU with a half droopy face, a slightly curled up right hand, and nearly unintelligible speech. Despite all of this he was doing his best to laugh at his family's so-so attempts at bedside humor.

So, here's all of the good news. Mom noticed the attack very soon after it happened and called 911. He was in the ER, CAT scanned, and full of tPA (the so called "clot buster") all within the magic 3-hour window. When Dan and I saw him around 3 (about 7 hours after the attack) he was already starting to improve. That was Sunday. Tonight (Wednesday) he came home from the hospital! When I talked to Mom tonight she said that he was upstairs checking his e-mail. I had to bite my tongue to keep from crying.

The stroke affected the left hemisphere of his brain, but the MRI showed no vascular damage. The lasting affects appear to be impaired (but improving) speech, impaired mobility in his right hand, and some facial numbness. There is great hope for continued recovery and much cause for celebration in the midst of this tragedy.

Throughout this ordeal our friends have been a tremendous support. If I ever questioned why community matters, then I surely won't again. I can't explain why or exactly how, but in the last several days I have felt the almost palpable presence of my friends' thoughts and prayers for me, for Dad, and our whole family. I don't know how to say thank you except to stand at the ready to share the same gift of caring.

Well, that's a long story, and one that's not over. Recovery isn't quick or easy. But, it's a story with a happy ending and a message: Don't hesitate to reach out to your friends and family in time of need. That's part of why community matters.

Whatever happened to "Summer Vacation"?

Whatever happened to "Summer Vacation"? I guess I know the answer to that question: I grew up and became an adult with too many interesting things to do. Still, I could use a little down time. I don't seem to get that without leaving home. Blah, blah, blah...same old complaints.

This is going to be a quick post because I've got stuff to do.

I've been busy lately. I got some discharging done since my last post. No photos yet, but I'm pleased with the results. I also took time to photograph my recent workshop pieces. One that I'm particularly interested in is the one below. I printed the first image at a workshop with Kerr last summer. The second image is what it looks like after a second dye session during my workshop with her last month. This piece says something to me about my development. It feels good.

I've also been busy with paperwork. I applied for an Artist in Residence position at the Greenbelt Community Center. It's a one-year studio space rental in a small community of artists. The residency includes facilitating a community art project, participating in open studio days, and spending 30 hours per month in the studio. It would be a big step for me, but productive on so many levels--connecting with other artists, sharing my work with a larger group of people, getting some teaching experience. Most of all it would provide dedicated space and time for my work.

I did the portfolio presentation last week. I haven't heard anything yet. I guess I won't be devastated if this doesn't happen. But it could be very interesting if it does.

And finally, I had a lovely visit last week from a new friend Peggy, who is a fellow member of the Art Cloth Network. She was in Baltimore visiting her son and stopped by to meet me. We had a very nice show-and-tell then and dinner at the local brew-pub.

Busy, busy (with pictures)

Oh, there's just too much going on. I'm going to spare us all the details right now and just hit the high points.

It was a bad week on the creative equipment front: the printer died and was followed very soon by the serger. Given the low cost of a new printer and the age/quality of my 15 year old serger, I opted to replace both. So now we have a lovely new Canon printer that was delivered in under 48 hours by the nice folks at Adorama (www.adorama.com -- an excellent source of photo and printing equipment).

After a bit of Internet research, I scooted over to the sort-of local Baby Lock dealer. I am now the happy owner of a Baby Lock Imagine. So far it's done a great job with a rolled hem on two silk habotai scarves and a couple of napkins.

Here are the scarves. I'm very happy with both. I've never been able to make up my mind about whether or not there's a place for me in art-to-wear. I think I might be finding it. The scarf is a basic form that I think stays as true to the cloth as possible while still being wearable. The first one is finished.

I've already finished the edges on this second one, but I'm considering working back into it with some discharge--maybe more. It's lovely in person, but the more I look at it here, the more it looks half-baked.

I got some other good printing done last weekend, still riding the wave of inspiration from Kerr's workshop. I'm pleased with what I've been doing lately because I feel like the color thing is working a bit better for me. I'm spending a lot more time considering and mixing colors, and what I learned in Carol Soderlund's class is proving very helpful. The green and purple piece below is a good example. I have problems with mixing the whole violet range. In this case I knew what I wanted and I came close enough to be delighted with the result. I think this yardage might find its way into a piece that's starting to germinate in my head.

Finally, I had a "cute" piece of batik from last December that looked rich on the print table, but lost a lot of the dye in the washout. Here's the link for my December 29 posting that shows it in process. I don't have a picture of the faded version, but just image all those strong colors going pastel. The image below shows what happened with some deconstructed printing over top. I like where this is going, but I'm not sure what comes next.

June is full of potential and I'll try to be a bit more regular in my blogging. Stay tuned. -R

After 4 years and more than 600 hours...

EfM (Education for Ministry) is done. It took 4 years and well more than 600 hours of classroom and prep time, but last night was my final class. Take me out of the oven; I am officially done.

If you detect an element of relief in my voice it's because I just got back two evenings every week (one for class and one for reading) for 9 months out of the year. That really adds up. There's also a bit of sadness, which will only really set in late in August when the group reassembles, welcomes new members, and begins the next year of study. I'll also miss the people. We've talked about a lot of sensitive issues and taken risks to speak from the heart about our personal struggles, beliefs, joys, fears, the whole range (or at least most of it). I miss spending this intense time with those who've graduated before me. I'll miss the folks I'm studying with now, and I'm sure that my absence will be noted as well. That's just part of the process.

Four years of studying scripture, church history, and theology then attempting to apply it all to reflections on the reality of day-to-day life has been wonderful. I feel that I've grown spiritually and intellectually as a result. The program isn't perfect, but the overall experience has certainly been a positive one and a good use of my time. I'm not sure that I have many more "answers" to the big questions of faith than when I started, but that wasn't the real goal. What I have is more ways of asking the questions and, hopefully, a set of more developed and thoughtful ways of exploring the possible answers.

If you have a similar chance to explore your own faith in a trusted community with a good mentor (and our mentor, Nancy, is excellent), then I encourage you to do so. It only makes the journey that much more interesting.

"Thank you" to all of you who shared the EfM experience with me. I've learned from each and every one of you and I'm grateful for your generosity, insight, courage, and compassion. You have helped me grow.

Pattern & Content: Day 5

Well, today was a great end to the week. Here's a picture of my final collection of cloth on the wall (all except for the 3 that are still batching). I wish that you could see the rest of the room. It was amazing.

I'm surprised by the volume of work that I did this week, but also by the amount that I feel that I've grown since last summer. The work that I did here is very different from what I did at Peters Valley: more complex, more complete. I feel good about that.

I had a really good critique session with Kerr. She gave me some very helpful feedback and somethings to think about as a way forward.

The picture below is of the last piece before cleanup. As expected, I was getting a lot looser. With this piece I was using polychromatic screen printing to explore complementary colors and designs that don't incorporate my ubiquitous black lines. I like it. It's big, rough, and basic.

My final observation about this is week is this: what a great group of people. As I said in an earlier post, all of my classmates are accomplished artists, some very much so. More importantly though, they were all open, enthusiastic, and supportive. That contributed tremendously to the success of the class. I feel like we all pushed and supported each other. And, if I'm going to give all due credit, then I must say that this second workshop with Kerr did not disappoint. She's a great teacher and guide. If you're a fiber artist and have not studied with her then you owe it to yourself to seek her out. I also have to say that Nancy and her family are excellent hosts, and chef Margaret did her part by making sure we were wonderfully fed all week. If you've never been to the Barn then it's time to visit the web site (www.nancycrow.com) and start shopping for a workshop. It's a great experience.

So tomorrow morning it's off for home for a couple of days of decompression before work starts on Tuesday. I've also got to get back on my diet and try to drop the pound or two that I picked up this week. I wasn't kidding when I said that Margaret's cooking is top notch!

Pattern & Content: Day 4

Here are some pictures from today. There are a couple of today's pieces that are still batching. One of them is radically different from anything I've done. Those will have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm tired. I've been having a lot of fun, but I've also been pushing kind of hard. Cleanup starts at 3:30 tomorrow. Even though we don't have a full day (i.e., 9 PM), I think I need to slow down a bit. I'm hoping I wake up with a clear head and a good idea for how to end the week. To be honest, I think I could just walk in the woods and hang out in the studio and get a lot out of just being here.

Pattern & Content: Day 3

Today's topics were printing with fabric paint base extender + charcoal and/or water soluble crayons, and discharge. It wasn't a good day for discharge--too much wind to work outside and not enough sun to activate the thiox under black plastic. Personally, I'm not fond of using an iron to discharge. I prefer to steam, and that's not an option here. So, tomorrow will be my discharging day.

Here are pics of some of today's work and the washed out versions of pieces from yesterday. Other stuff is still batching, so more pics tomorrow.

Yesterday's work.

A couple of works in progress from today.

And finally, the lady herself, demonstrating proper use of safely equipment. In this picture Kerr is laughing as she struggles to wiggle into her respirator before the discharge demo.