Maquette–noun— a small model or study in three dimensions for either a sculptural or an architectural project.
The paperwork for the sculptural submission process says: "digital image only, up to three views per piece in .jpeg format." I'm an advanced beginner in Photoshop—I have created simple digital images in the program and plunked them into a photo of the site and it works just fine. Problem is my skills don't extend to creating a 3-d image on the computer only.
So, to comply with the requirements in front of me I've got to create a maquette, photograph it, and remove anything from the photo that gives a clue to its actual size. I've spent the past few days knitting mittens and a sphere from my video tape stash (specifically a video of Foster Brooks and another that didn't have a readable label). Once the second mitten is painted I'll rig them up into a usable scenario, put my camera on the tripod and the maquette on a lazy susan and start snapping shots.
The maquette process has also been helpful in exploring the anatomy of a mitten and sphere. When I make the sculpture full scale (3 or 4 feet tall) I'll need to work in sections rather than knit it all on double pointed needles as I have.
And then there's the armature, which I still have to figure out.
A friend has asked me to create some pieces from audio cassette tape for her to give as a gift. She's supplied me with about 30 tapes and has plenty more where they came from*. So I'm swatching the fiber in knit and crochet fabrics to see what I like and here are some observations I've made about the two plastics:
Video tape spools are pretty easy to remove from the cassette—take out 5 screws, pry the cassette apart, cut the tape (be sure to rewind the tape before removing the screws) and set it aside. Toss everything else into the box to ship to greendisk**.
Audio tape fiber just has to be snipped and used straight from the cassette since the cassettes don't really come apart and if they did you'd just have a mass of loose fiber rather than neatly spooled tape.
Video tape can be a bit squeaky when you're working with it; haven't noticed much sound coming from the audio tape. I would call that ironic, I think.
I only double up the video tape for sturdy, free-standing items like shopping bag bottoms or boxes and things. Audio tape is not really usable in a single strand. I've experimented with multiple strands—3, 5, 6—to get the results I want.
Video tape comes in a flattering black color—consistently, no matter who made the tape. Audio tape comes in a range of shades from black to light brown and varies by manufacturer.
*Before you ask, I'm good on my audio tape stock at the moment. I'll put out a call when I need more.
**I send pretty much everything except the tape along with bum CDs and other techno-trash to greendisk.com.
I'm cleaning and reorganizing the garage. Two month-long projects are at completion and I have another sorting project to do in the next few weeks, and the weather's still warm enough to work in an unheated garage, so this is the time that was foreordained.
One of my goals is to better organize my materials storage. Since my studio is only so big I tend to store a lot of materials in "studio annex." Over the years it's kind of moved to wherever there was room—larger unsold artwork in this corner, smaller stuff in bins over here, stained glass on these shelves, tools for class in that area. And then there are boxes of books that don't fit in our "library," Christmas decorations, and a bunch of other stuff all mixed in.
A few larger items have gone out via freecycle this weekend and more will go to local thrift stores. But part of what triggered this reorganization is the influx of video tapes I had no storage area for. We had two large boxes invisibly labeled "for Jua" and then Juergen, one of the guys at my co-op, decided I needed to have his box of tapes as well. So, yesterday, two of the three boxes were unpacked and the tapes housed (once room had been made for them). That still leaves me with another unpacked box, a stack inside the house that's about 30" high, and a bag of audio cassettes I just got today from a friend that need homes. My goal is to get them all in one place, but that may not happen at this point.
Part of my preparation for this cleanout/reorganize was to watch the first season of "Hoarders." Interesting show! And if I weren't utilizing the video tapes for artwork I definitely wouldn't be taking more tapes into the collection. Luckily I haven't needed to break out the snow shovel to shift any of my stuff. That's when you know things have really gotten bad.
Always be prepared to loose a needle
While I was stitching the third section onto the Lace Sampler yarn bomb my needle flew off the floss and into the creek below the bridge. Happily I had prepared for such an event by packing two needles. I'll need to remember to restock a second needle before going on my next bombing raid or installation.
Three weeks ago I got the OK to put together a large installation for a one-day festival in my town. That meant three weeks of frenzied activity, laced with a few days of belligerent anti-activity because of breakdowns in communication.
After calling to confirm that, even thought the publicized end date for submissions was mid-July, they were continuing to take applications. So I applied with my generic idea of an area of trees that was decorated with knitted vines/flowers. They apparently liked it because I got an email from the director of the hosting organization a couple days later saying they loved it and I should be getting an official OK soon. So I started work.
I continued working after I got the official OK. The acceptance email was all boiler-plate and vague, promising further confirmation of space that didn't come until I asked for it. I had suggested the trees I wanted in my application and was working on the assumption that I had that space. Eventually I had to stop work because I was to a point where I needed that conformation. So I waited patiently for the event map to be released on the date promised by the website. It came and went so I wrote to them and eventually got it. I had the space I had asked for and photographed.
So I could finally do a detailed design plot so I would know how many flowers and how many yards of vine I would need. And I got back to knitting.
I've worked with this organization before and every time I do there's frustration and confusion. Each time I remind myself that this is the way they work and swear I won't work with them again. Then they announce some really incredible event they're hosting and I can't resist. This weekend's event is no different. It's not the way I like to work when I have a choice, but it seems to be their preferred modus operandi. So what is one to do but jump in and paddle (or knit) like crazy?
It turned out to be one of those bad-news mornings—stuff I had to deal with right away. So I decided to leave early and run some of the errands I had planned to do later. By the time I got into Manitou Springs and got my car parked I had just enough time to get the tag up if I didn't run into any snags. There was a truck parked nearby and there were 3 people just standing there parking; people walked by while I was stitching; and there was a police car parked just down the street (didn't notice that until after it was up). But I just stood there and acted like I was supposed to be there, right then, doing exactly what I was doing. Then I went on about my day.
Kinda proud of my bad self.
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