Process - Ablauf

This is the next step.

I used these wools to make the tendrils. I'm thinking illuminated book as you see...

On the last photo I wanted to show how light the whole thing is. It is very thin because of ironing it with steam so that the background felts even more. You can even make a shawl with this.

The point is having a wonderful surface to stitch.

Das ist der nächste Schritt.

Ich habe diese Strickwollen verwendet, um die Ranken zu machen. Ich habe meine Inspiration wieder von illuminierten Manuskripten...

Auf dem letzten Foto kann man sehen, wie leicht das Ganze ist. Es ist sehr dünn, weil ich es mit Dampf bügle, um das Filzen zu verstärken. Man kann sogar einen Schal damit machen.

Die Idee ist eine wunderbare Oberfläche zu besticken zu haben.

Background - Hintergrund

I am doing the background of my new piece and I wanted to show how it looks like before it's worked on.

I love to do this kind of backgrounds because they look so mysterious. I must say this time it wasn't easy to take the photos showing the exact colors because everything looked rather green and the piece had very light color differences due to the different fabrics, sheer, cheesecloth, Colback, tulle, silk, organza, etc. that I embedded between light wool pieces and a woolfelt underground. I tried to work in a same color so that it isn't too messy as a background and I had to accentuate the hue differences with Photoshop for you to see the light changes of color on the surface. I think the first photo gives quite a good idea of what it looks like.

Now I must begin to work on the composition.

Gerade arbeite ich an den Hintergrund meines neues Stückes. Ich möchte ihn zeigen, bevor ich darauf arbeite.

Ich mag sehr, diese Hintergründe zu machen, da sie so mysteriös aussehen. Diesmal war es aber nicht leicht, Fotos zu machen, da die Töne der verschiedenen verwendeten Materialien nur grün aussahen und in Wirklichkeit gab es feine Nuancen davon. Ich verwendete Stoff, Voile, Mull, Colback, Tülle, Seidenstoffe, Organza, usw. und bindete sie mit Wolle an eine Wollfilzunterlage.
Das erste Foto ist das, welches der Vorlage am ähnlichsten aussieht.

Jetzt muß ich mit der Komposition beginnen.

About yesterday's piece - Über das Stück von gestern

I forgot to talk about this piece yesterday - and it went unnoticed because of the emphasis on the other theme - but I want to come back to it because it's the beginning of a bigger work that I intend to do in small pieces and is to be sewn together on the end. That's why this little square (6"x6" - 15x15cm) doesn't tell the whole story.

Ich habe vergessen, über das Stück von gestern zu reden - wegen dem anderen Thema - aber ich möchte auf dieses zurückkommen, weil es das erste Stück von einem Größeren ist. Es ist ca. 15x15cm.

The idea is to finish all the small pieces, stitched and with backing to do a kind of folk wall rug trying many new ways of using fabric, embellished wool and stitching.

Die Idee ist, kleine schon bestickte, gefütterte Stücke zu machen und sie dann zu einer Art Wandbehang zusammen zu nähen. Es ist auch eine Möglichkeit neue Techniken auszuprobieren.

You won't notice very much on the photo (perhaps better on the other one) that the middle piece stands about 1" (2,5cm) out of the background as the center of a reliquary casket and it's made of crochet with fabric stripes. I was making these plastic bags bowls and thought about using my huge stashes of fabric for doing bowls because I can never in three lives use all the amount of fabric I have stocked. I also have many self dyed fabrics I don't use because I like to stitch by hand rather than by machine and they are too stiff for this, specially in many layers.

Auf dem Foto merkt man nicht so viel, dass das mittlere Medaillon ziemlich erhaben ist, ca. 2,5 cm. Die Unterlage ist gehäkeltem selbstgefärbtem Stoff in Streifen geschnitten. Ich habe gerade diese Plastiktütenschalen gemacht und wollte die Technik auf Stoff ummünzen. Ich habe so viele selbstgefärbten Stoffen, die ich nicht nutze, da ich sie zu steif zum Handsticken finde.

It worked great and I did a felt frame with the embellisher to surround it. I used a flannel for the background and stitched all over. I punched some knitting wool threads couched with bullion knots around the figure.

Die Technik funktionierte sehr gut und ich machte einen Filz mit dem Embellisher rundherum. Ich verwendete Flanell für den Rücken und bestickte es. Ich punchte Strickwolle rund um das Medaillon und machte Bullionknoten über die Wolle.

The idea is to do this kind of construction in fabric (not that exuberant though). I'm always in love with constructions. It's not going to be exactly like that but you get what I mean. Now that I found this photo to depict the idea I find the photo also worth pondering for a future work... :-)

Das Bild zeig meine Idee für die Konstruktion. Nur die Idee, weil es anders werden wird und nicht mit so vielen Details. Aber das Foto, das ich gefunden habe, bringt mich auch zu neuen Ideen... :-)



I will show you the further process.

Some resolutions... - Einige Vorhaben...

Today I took some resolutions about my work in the future.

I'm not happy at all with the way things are happening in the world. I'm very concerned about the environement and social politics. I don't want to support the way taxes are applied to the advantage of wealthy people and to the detriment of poorer ones, old people and families.

I was thinking about all these issues for a long time and pondered the possible decisions. I want to get out of the system as much as I can. I'm already retired and want to try new ways of interacting in this world. A new option to avoid consumption and consumerism.

Heute habe ich einige Entschlüße verfasst.

Ich bin nicht zufrieden mit der Art wie sich Sachen in der Welt entwickeln. Ich mache mich Sorgen über die Umwelt und soziale Politik. Ich finde nicht richtig wie Steuer zum Nutzen von der reicheren Leute und zur Last der Kleinen, Alten und Familien kassiert werden.

Nachdem ich schon lange über alles nachdenke habe ich folgendes entschieden (da ich jetzt in der Rente bin):

So I decided for me:

• not to sell any more but to swap.
• to accept only paying in kind.
• to use my blog for interaction, exchange of information, free tutorials, collaborative projects (I have some ideas about new sorts of challenges)
• to be free for chosing any techniques for my art (I feel I'm in a kind of mold at the time, working only small for instance because people can't afford bigger pieces...)
• to share, share, share

und zwar:

• nicht zu verkaufen sondern zu tauschen
• nur in Naturalien kassieren
• meinen Blog für Austausch von Informationen verwenden, freie Workshops anbieten, kollaborative Projekte starten (da habe ich einige Ideen...)
• die Freiheit haben, Technik und Größe meiner Werke zu entscheiden (momentan arbeite ich nur klein, da die Leute sich keine größere Stücke leisten können)
• teilen, teilen, teilen
  

For the moment this is all I have to say about this theme. I just wanted to explain why I'm working differently now.

Das ist alles, was ich momentan zu sagen habe. Ich wollte erklären, warum ich alles ab jetzt anders mache.

This doesn't mean at all that I think that selling is wrong! I'm in the lucky position to live in a farm and being self sufficient. I just don't see the point of having to do a terribly complicated bookkeeping (write the time I leave for driving to the post office, the kilometers I drive, when I arrive, when I come back, just to give you an example) now that I'm retired. It's the story of the fisher, you surely know it:

Das bedeutet nicht, dass ich etwas gegen Verkaufen habe! Ich bin in der glücklichen Lage, in einer Landwirtschaft zu leben und Selbstversorger zu sein. Ich verstehe nicht mehr, warum ich eine total komplizierte Buchhaltung führen muss angesichts meines fast nicht existentes Einkommen. Es ist die Geschichte des Fischers.

"The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, "Only a little while.” The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs." The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life." The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise." The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years." “ But what then?" asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions." "Millions?...Then what?" The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

Sorry that they use an American banker, you could use any nationality!!

I hope you continue enjoying my blog!

Ich hoffe, dass Ihr weiter meinen Blog genießt!

World Wide Knit in Public Day - Tag des Strickens

Am Samstag ist der Tag des Strickens (eigentlich im öffentlichen Raum). Da ich denke, dass das in meiner Gegend nicht so funktionieren wird, möchte ich alle Österreicherinnen (oder Besucher aus dem Ausland, die sich in Österreich aufhalten) zu einem Treffen in meinem Studio einladen.

Bitte schreibt ein Kommentar zu dieser Mail, wenn Ihr zu kommen bedenkt. Es ist am Samstag den 14. Juni 2008, um 14h. Man braucht nur etwas zum Kaffee, Wolle, Nadeln und gute Laune!

Ihr seid alle herzlich eingeladen. Ich habe einige Stricktricks auf Lager, die ich gerne teilen will!

New Poll!- Comments

I would be happy if you answer the question of this new poll on the right column of the blog. I don't mean it only for my blog but as a general information to all of you who perhaps have the same worry.

I'm always wondering if everybody reads the answers to the comments they make or not.

I cherish so much the nice words you always have for my art and I would like to reply to all of you and say thanks. I have a bad conscience because I can't answer all of them...

I would suggest that if you have questions you really want me to answer you better send them per email. I noticed some people happen to ask questions in the comments and I don't think they read the answers there (I always forget to look for the answers to the comments I made and I suppose this happens to other people too). Time is such a scarce thing...

Thank you for answering!

Cyber Fiber Postcard - Clouds on the horizon - Wolken am Horizont

I'm participating in this swap organized by Susan Lenz. I used a stamp I made with one of my pieces and I stamped it with a stamp of mine. I couldn't send it as is in the Austrian post offices so I have to put it in an envelope.

Ich nehme an einen Postkartentausch für die Ausstellung von Cyber Fiber organisiert bei Susan Lenz. Ich verwendete eine Marke, die ich mit dem Foto eines meiner Werke, gedruckt habe. Ich habe auch einen selbstgemachten Stempel verwendet. Ich könnte sie nicht ohne Kuvert mit unserer Post senden, deswegen muß ich sie in einem Kuvert senden.