relaxation.

it's been a long, quiet, productive, lovely weekend. i always wish the weekends would never end. this one is no exception. *yawn*, says girl.

thursday we cooked an organic, offbeat thanksgiving dinner for ourselves and a friend we knew from florida way back when, who happens to live in the mission. a spread of a few artisan cheeses and fuji apples, pork roast with rosemary and garlic, homemade macaroni and cheese (from a roux...it's the secret to making it taste orgasmically good), yams with molasses topped with a gouda tinged with blue, and a spinach salad.

yesterday we participated in buy-nothing day...and instead, i dug deep into my mending basket and hemmed and fixed a myriad of things. things i bought ages ago and have been meaning to get wearable. it felt SO GOOD to do that...and rather than buying a bunch of crap that stores foist upon us every holiday season, i made great things i already own more awesome and wearable.

today we took a short bike ride over to the de young museum, which is in golden gate park (and actually visible from our house here on the hill), and i got another look at the gee's bend quilt exhibit, and the amazing wire sculptures by ruth asawa, that almost look like they were knitted or crocheted, in some cases (they very well may be, but it did not seem clear from looking at them). her sculptures were often fashioned in these organic shapes that reminded me very much of sea creatures, or alien life forms i would imagine floating and undulating in a serpent-like fashion through the atmosphere of someplace like jupiter, if that lovely large planet actually supported life.

(photo from the de young website.)

the art that so often moves me is the kind that is made of fibers or akin to fibers. somehow, there is always a thread connecting back to fashion, to the clothes i (and you!) wear on my/our back(s)...somehow, some way.

on vibrating colors and combinations

i read this quote about color in the most recent issue of the home decorating magazine, domino (a monthly that i unabashedly ADORE), and i love it, so i'm passing it on to you:

"The first thing to be said about color is that clashing colors do not exist. The whole idea of certain colors conflicting violently with others was nonsense dreamed up by a lot of genteel women in the 1930s. Colors do not clash--they vibrate...So do not be afraid to use color freely. Have courage. As with drawing, painting, acting or any creative activity, you must attack with strength."-David Hicks (interior design maverick of the 60s/70s)

***

(i practice what i preach.)

my tiny little office.

i finally got off my duff and cleaned up my desk area. it's still a work in progress and seems chaotic to me, but i guess that's the nature of the beast. work spaces almost always invite some messiness, right? i always get crazy and make a mess everywhere, and then afterwards clean it up. something about a somewhat tidy space makes my head somehow feel clearer and i can be more creative, as if a blockage is being released. i now feel as if i can actually get to work and start making things.

***

these old yarn bobbins belonged to my now deceased grandmother, josephine. she died the day after christmas last year (2005), in the middle of the night. she was a knitter and a crocheter and a seamstress. a tiny, thrifty sicilian, a child of the depression and of bootleggers who brought liquor across the canadian border into new york state. she taught me to sew at age eleven, when i was in sixth grade. we made a pink linen straight skirt together, when she was staying with our family in florida for the summer.

every time i knit or crochet a stitch, or see the color purple, i think of her.

i want to turn these bobbins into some mixed media art piece, dedicated to her. the colors delight me.