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My work has become so much more about the process than the end product in recent years--so why focus so much on the end product, why not find ways of honing in on the process?

So today's answer is to show some samplings of what I have been thinking about.

September Indigo Dying

Recently we relocated to a much sunnier state with a house and a back patio. A perfect combination for cloth dying. I tied fabric for days with the plan to do more refined shibori techniques first and then dye up looser combinations of patterns and  color depth.

Indigo Dying: Process (on the left) to Product.

I chose to dye some commercially made clothing as well as some pieces of cotton gauze. I overdyed the pink linen blouse by soaking it 3 times. The dress is a cotton commercially-made dress, soaked 3 times. The tank-top is of two grades of cotton providing some nice variation. The cotton gauze pieces are a mix--some are overdyed and some were dyed from white to blue. Days 1 and 2 provided excellent dye color, but Day 3 quickly turned out to be rather weak in color depth.

The scarves managed to come out in various shades of light blue as my dye bath was failing on Day 3.  They will be part of a line that I call, "Atmospheric Perspective", after the "bluing" effect of things seen at a distance. Three cheers for living in a valley surrounded by mountains.

June 2011 Collaborative Installation

Greetings! The first half of 2011 has been completely absorbed by "i'm thinking of changing my smile,"
 a collaborative installation with Christina Gregor at the Dole Mansion and Lakeside Legacy Arts Park in Crystal Lake, IL. Our blog can be viewed at: http://collaborateeccg.blogspot.com/

This installation is significant for its size (5 rooms and a large stairwell of an opulent 1860's mansion). The house was built by Charles Dole as an opulent summer home and is currently in great disrepair. As part of an experiment, Christina and I were invited to do a mixed-media installation that dialogues with the age and history of the mansion. And that is exactly what we did. More to come on our other blog.

Nearly December

I always find the end of the Fall to be a bittersweet time. The leaves are gone and the midwestern winter weather sets in early, and yet there are new things to look forward to. It will soon be the end of the fall semester and my students and colleagues will all receive much earned breaks. Then comes the holiday season--which two days after Thanksgiving it has already taken hold. It is oddly a time of ends and beginnings. My eldest niece was married this week: the end of single life and the beginning of married life. My second eldest niece passed her GED exam with flying colors: the end to childhood and the beginning of an adult academic life. etc...
As this year winds down I feel appreciative of all that I have learned, and yet I look forward to upcoming and new projects. Today I spoke with Christina Gregor, friend and colleague, and we are planning what is the beginning of an interesting collaboraration. I have found collaborations fruitful, and I think this one will be as well. If there is anything that I have learned during and since graduate school, it is that as artists we must be supporters and encouragers of each other--"A rising tide lifts all boats."

Spring is here!

Spring is here and I have been quite busy, between my jobs at the museum and at teaching Computer Arts and Graphics.

Unfortunately I have had little time to work at my etsy shop, however, since I last posted I have created a second etsy sight devoted entirely to hand-made items. I realized that my http://www.ecolemancruz.etsy.com/ shop had become full of as much vintage and patterns as it was handmade. I wanted a fresh start and decided on opening a second shop where you won't be distracted by vintage items.

My "deliberate creator" shop is at http://www.deliberatecreator.etsy.com/ and currently carries reusable coffee cup cozies, crochet plastic bag, tea travelettes, and hand-made cards. All of my items are primarily made of materials that are vintage, upcycled/recycled, or leftovers and remanants.

Mapping

Next week is my mother's birthday and out of the blue she called me up, as she does every 6 months or so just to say that she is more or less "in the neighborhood"--which means she is less than 2 hours away. So as my husband and I drove to meet my mom about 4o minutes away I began to contemplate what I have already been ruminating on: maps of geography and mapping the "inner" or "emotional" landscape of my self.

I looked for some good images on maps, from shops found on etsy--here are a few that interested me:

From http://www.hellobrowneyes.etsy.com/, a 1939 map of Africa. This interests me because I spent three months in Mali, in West Africa in 2000. It is fascinating how much the boundaries have changed post-colonialism.

In http://www.petitpoulailler.etsy.com/ 's shop, I found a NY State Map from 1935 of Autumn routes. Living in the Midwest I suspect I am missing out some incredible fall foliage!

From http://www.copperleafstudios.etsy.com/ I found a great image of a copper map of the Great Lakes. Very gorgeous and intense--and also very visceral.

I am also including an image of a work of sculpture of my own titled, "Tidal Self II" and is made of salt crystals grown onto cotton and maps an inner landscape. The salt water used symbolizes tears, and the tears represent the sea of emotion within.

Thanks to all whose items I have featured.

September--Back to School

This summer began really slow and quickly gained momentum. Over the month of August I had a birthday, my husband completed and passed his PhD exams and is on his way towards dissertating, my family had a weekend where we celebrated my father's 60th birthday, and school started.

After a hiatus from teaching I am at Mchenry County College teaching some very cool students and working with some extremely fun and knowledgeable faculty and staff. So life is good and I am gearing up for two upcoming exhibitions this fall. I am doing a performance art exhibition with my collaborator Bianca called the Merkeyna Coif Boutique--more to come of that later--at the Ravenswood Art Walk in the Ravenswood corridor in Chicago, the first weekend of October. I am also doing an exhibition of work at the Bethel College art gallery in Newton, KS in November. So I am quite busy to say the least.

It is my goal to keep up with my etsy shop--notice that I have added some really cool new vintage items!