In Search of UFOS(unfinished objects in studio)

Sometimes event(s) conspire to create storm and debris surges and an overload of UFOS’s. Believe me there has been more then enough of this conspiring going on for the last 9 months in my life.
What is a Storm/debris Surge?A storm surge is a mound of water produced when a hurricane moves across a large body of water. Driving wind “pushes” the water and debris so quickly that it “piles up” on the water in front of it, producing a mound of water and debris that is higher than normal sea level. An apt description of my last months 9 months. 
The storm surge can be pushed up the beach and deep into inland areas carrying everything in its path to places that seem or have seemed impossible to be. It arrives as a rush of water or an event and can be capped by large, strong, pounding waves. Storm surge flooding is often the most deadly and damaging impact of a hurricane that and what it leaves behind…
reality and what it actually isn’t, but feels like
Storm surges always lead to events such as UFOS an acronym for  Unfinished Objects in studio.
“Anecdotal studies” by this – – – – – – (-please fill in blank–researcher, me, weaver, instructor) have established that the majority of UFOS observations are misidentified conventional objects or natural phenomena and are most commonly interrupted needful projects put on the back burner by debris and storm surges with a small percentage even being hoaxes.^[8] After excluding incorrect reports, however, most investigators and seekers have acknowledged that between 5% and 20% of reported sightings remain unexplained, and therefore can be classified as unidentified and unfinished in the strictest sense. Many of these reports are deduced visual accountings from observers. Some involving simultaneous sittings by trained(?) observers-husbands, co-conspirators, other involved partners, arm chair quarter backs and sideliners.  Proponents of the extraterrestrial hypothesis suggest that these unexplained reports are of alien UFOS’s though various other hypotheses have been proposed.(with a little help from Wikipedia and my vivid imagination)

There has been some debate in the  home, Calapooia Brew Pub, within cars and other unnamed places about whether any scientific investigation into UFOS sightings is warranted, but all agree they  should just be termed hazardous materials and disposed of in a safe way.

SO what have I been doing since I last wrote. There have been Workshops and trips to Seattle, D.C.  and now  in a few hours MAFA in Pennsylvania and  a week later a trip to Montana. I won in honorable mention in National Fiber Directions, I finished a piece for the Firestorm exhibit and I am finally ready to finish up “And He.. that will be  in the NW Coastal Fiber Arts 2013. and a Piece in the ATA small format exhibit opening in Tacoma. I have finished all the paper work on my Dad’s estate and attended Troy my oldest Grandson’s high school graduation and have become involved in the Calapooia arts Gallery a co-op Gallery in down town Albany, Or…I now own one of my favourite tapestries by Linda Rees. Spent a whole day looking at 4-5 tapestries in the national art Museum and taking photo’s for future use.








I finished
Part B of “There has got to be a Morning After!” Part A of course was the  fire piece.

Of course, I would love to show them together sometime, but for now I am just really glad they are finished and at least one is showing in the Woven together Firestorm Exhibit in Colorado Springs.  .
Which Again leaves me seeking more UFOS in my Studio!
I have managed to weave about an inch more in the last month of so on this piece. It seems to be the biggest most outstanding UFO in the studio.
After I come back from from Montana my plan is to work a week or two and then head for Santa fee to do some weaving with my friend Diane and maybe a couple of other things that haven’t been planned yet. So this will be my constant companion until finished.

Somewhere in the last several months. I have been or have decided to find a way to challenge myself to try and adapt patterning and more different kinds of back ground into my work. I have been perusing the Zen Tangle designs and using them as a text book to help me learn to doodle and be more playful and fill up space. While journaling I have sort of discovered that I don’t really know how to just sit and play with drawing for the last several decades my drawings have always been very directed and driven to end goal.  I have been spending about an hour a day for the last month just trying some of the design elements-mixing and matching. I have found some almost impossible for me to do because of my Dyslexia. Angles and repeated  angled things have a tendency to be difficult for me to draw-reversing and dancing away in the wrong directions. I also have a tendency to skinny things up and not make ends meet together. Here are a couple that I copied and adapted a little from several Zen tangle books. I would not really call anything-the drawings I have done original art work. They are strictly derivative of 2 or 3 Zen tangle books. Just a prod towards a slightly different thought pattern
I am not sure where I am going with the idea, but I find them relaxing to do. Of course,they sort of remind me of backgrounds used by many Art Nouveau artist in back grounds etc. and on book covers that I have laying around my studio.
Of Soumack and Other Things-
For those of you who keep asking me about when I am going to teach another Soumack and Line  class in the NW. I am going  to teach one in the studio this fall. It will be a 3-4 day workshop. This is a class I love teaching. It’s being changed up a bit. I am adding more techniques that are in the soumack family, but aren’t necessarily called soumack-rya, Cicim, brocading, Zilli. I am also beginning to emphasis background and design that these techniques float over and around. I am Adding bobbin blending and hatches.
If anyone is interested please contact me. I will in the next month begin adding  tapestry classes that I want to teach in my studio and accepting more private students.   This is something I had hoped to be begin doing in January, but life got in the way.
Have to go pack. Before I run out time. I am leaving to teach at MAFA in about 6 hours. I am spending 3 days after the conference to go see the cloisters and then race back down to DC to visit with  my Grandchildren. Twice in two months. I am blessed!
More later,
kathe