Sorry folks, I’m just not feeling it. Welding class was pretty interesting this past Thursday. However, I never really thought through how incredibly dangerous it is. From retinal burns that can cause blindness to the possibility of losing a finger – goodness, how the sparks fly - I was stunned at all the possibilities for injury to occur.I looked at the Mr and said “I think I took a wrong turn at pattern-making class!?” I’ll continue on with our next five welding classes without complaint, but I don’t think I have found my new creative calling. I prefer art making of the quieter, calmer, safer variety.
This past weekend, we went to the Wassaic Project art festival. There has been a revival of an old grain mill in a nearby hamlet of Wassaic. Brooklinization has begun. It’s an amazing old building, and the Wassaic Project is doing refreshing things in the community to reinvigorate this place that time has seemingly forgotten.I guess it’s been a while since I looked at what young artists are making, but this old lady was pretty shocked at how much of the art that we saw was digitally produced. There was a lot of collage (which I absolutely adore) but even much of that included pixels. That being said, the most interesting display I saw was a grouping of embroidery called Astroids by Jessie Henson.
As you know, I’ve been thinking a lot about starting a new creative project, but have not done it yet. You see, I keep thinking I will do it once I get caught up. The problem is -the moment I get caught up- the spiders have woven new webs and it’s time to start over again. Chasing spiders is not a satisfying existence and living in two different places is proving to be very difficult for me.I suppose I should just relax my standard for housekeeping, but that isn’t appealing to me – especially with these crazy white floors that we installed. Had I truly gone for utilitarian, low maintenance flooring (not what I thought would be visually stunning) I would have put in medium toned floors, not white. But I made my bed and now must sleep in it.I’ve been day dreaming a lot about the idea of weaving again. I haven’t had the pleasure of weaving since college. Looms are large, and most times people have a studio, a dining room, or a garage that they dedicate to having a loom set up around the clock. I’d love to put a loom out in our barn, but ideally I’d rent one to be sure I was into it before jumping fully on board.
When I was in college, we had the opportunity to weave on a Cranbrook loom like the one you see above. Some Cranbrook Looms allow you to weave up to 96″ width fabric – can you imagine weaving an 8 foot wide rag rug? I want to!After popping around the web on a weaving website to a weaving blog, onto another, and yet another - I realized that I had all but forgotten that weaving often leads to natural dyeing of your own fibers – yet another very fun and satisfying fiber arts activity. And there is always knitting – oh how I love knitting - and that doesn’t require a loom! Perhaps a visit to Purl Soho is on order?
Needless to say, we are not even remotely settled in the City. It feels more like we’re staying in a poorly decorated hotel room than anything. All I can think of when I am here is how I am wasting time when I could be up in Connecticut taking care of the never ending upkeep. Since my downtime seems to be when I am in NYC, I wonder if it is the best spot to set up a loom?
Images via Village Weaver, my phone, NY Times, Marshall Arts

Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / ABCD Design Inspiration and Personal and Uncategorized