Oh yeah...I took a workshop this summer.

After stepping out of the college bubble and into the real world, I have learned a few things, and one of the most important things that I have come to find out, is how critical it is for a person to try and take classes and learn new techniques whenever they have the time (or the funds). Although it is not a realistic idea to take long-term workshops if you must maintain a day job, or contribute a large sum of money, it is definitly a realistic goal to try and take as many one or two-day classes as you are able to. This past August (on my birthday actually) I treated myself to a several-hour long paper making class at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA. The class was taught by a man named Richard Aldorasi, who runs the Philadelphia Handmade Paper Co. It was a great class where myself and about 4 other students were able to create many sheets of handmade paper, using materials such as cotton fiber, magazine pages, construction paper, and skeleton leaves, glitter, and copper shreds for decoration. For some time now, I have wanted to learn the craft of paper-making, and it was a great opportunity to be within that cozy, creative, studio atmosphere that I had taken for granted, and greatly miss.

*I would also like to thank those of you who are "following" my blog, it means a lot to me and I appreciate your support!*

Love that Crisp, Fall air.

So, I was surfing the Anthropologie website because they have amazing clothes and unfortunatly I can not buy any of them...but these are two lovely things (above) that I would splurge on if maybe, just maybe, I had a couple hundred dollars just laying around. A girl can dream....

So who else loves the Fall? I mean seriously, it is possibly the lovliest season in Nature. The leaves, the air, the scary movies, the cider and pies...oh October. Autumn just has such an "atmosphere" about it. Do you know what I mean? Speaking of October...what is everyone going to be for Halloween? Any unusual costume ideas? As of right now I have no set plans for the night, but if I do manage to get everything together, my costume is going to be fabulous.

One down...

So, over the past few weeks, I have been working on a peice of fiber art. This is meant to go on the wall, and it is the first time, in a long time, that I have created something that is not wearable. It is a feeling that is almost bittersweet. I guess in one sense,I feel that my work has had a tremendous sense of intimacy and a great precious quality, because of the fact that it can be worn on the body. When I finished my senior thesis last April, I felt like I was looking at a little, wearable family that I had stewed over and finally, created over a period of a school year.

As I have now come to the completion of a piece that is meant to be admired and touched, but not really worn, I can see that those same precious qualities still exist ,somewhere. I have also noticed that I seem to subconsciously lean towards a rather non-descript and almost unnatractive color-palette. For some reason, although I love color, I choose fabrics that are either flesh-toned or very muted and almost color-less. Why you ask...? I don't know. Perhaps I want the viewer to appreciate the forms that I make with the fabric, or maybe I am able to see that subtle beauty that comes from these ordinary fabrics, and the extraordinary possibilities that they have.

On to the work...I have made this wall-hanging, which I have named "Pocket-full". Some of the fabric had been soaked for about a week in a mixture of coffee and tea. I used this almost burlap-like fabric, as well as tan and dark purple colored thread. Hopefully, within the next couple of months I can continue to work from this idea and create several different peices which I would like to exhibit at some point.....