I spend long days and nights absorbed in creative efforts. For each new project my jubilantly hopeful heart and mind identify significant ideas in need of expression and my hands enthusiastically dig into my multitude of resources. There is nothing like the action of creation.
Creativity is one thing. Becoming a master is another. It takes tremendous discipline, training, and effort. More times than not, the fruits of labor go unrecognized. It’s tough to be competitive and rejections abound.
The major competition for contemporary Quilt Makers happens every other year in Athens, Ohio. I’ve entered many times and have been privileged to be included in a few. The secret for acceptance is to show the jurors something totally unique that they have never seen before. It’s not easy. The last time I was accepted was in 2011. In 2013, I was rejected. I didn’t even enter in 2015.
And so with the results of 2017 announced yesterday, I am excited to report one of my entries (each artist can submit up to three works) Raisel’s Mantle included in Quilt National 2017.
Some time this summer make your way to Athens, Ohio to survey the best creative juices in the world of Quilt Making including my very own original Raisel’s Mantle.
Somewhere between 476-221 BC, the five element Creation Cycle was introduced in China. Fire melts Metal. Metal chops down Wood. Wood grows through Earth. Earth makes the banks that the Water flows in. Water puts out Fire. These elements describe five different types of energy associated with a pair of organs and different kinds of emotions and to be applied to the human body, to cycles of time, to mental aspects, and even colors.
Wood – sunrise – spring – upward – liver and gallbladder- anger, impatience, activity, positive attitude, enthusiasm. Sour. Food sources include Leafy green vegetables, raw or steamed, sauerkraut, vinegar and lemon.
Fire – midday – summer – outward – heart and small intestine – hysteria, excitement, expressive, outgoing, social. Bitter. Food sources include Fried onions, garlic, ginger, spring onions/scallions, mild spices, coffee, alcohol, oils, nuts, seeds and herbs such as parsley.
Earth – afternoon – late summer – downward – spleen, pancreas and stomach – jealousy, quality of life, practicality, stability, homely. Sweet. Food sources include Sweet root and ground vegetables cooked into a soup or casserole. Stewed fruits, apple juice, syrups.
Metal – evening – autumn – inward – lungs and colon -depression, playfulness, contentment, contained, inner strength. Pungent. Food sources include long cooked grains such as brown rice, wheat, rye, barley, oats or spelt. Pickles.
Water – night – winter – flowing in any direction – kidney and bladder – fear, objective, artistic, original, flexibility. Salty. Food sources include Miso soups, bean soups, stews or casseroles, mild use of sea salt.
The principles of the five elements are fundamental to acupuncture, feng shui, shiatsu, and qi gong. Practitioners use acupressure points and meridian diagnosis to detect imbalances in energy and correct these through stimulating or calming the chi flowing through the body.
With The 5 Element Qi Gong form that I have been studying, the 5 categories are applied to movements, which relate to certain groups of muscles, vessels, and joints. Begin with these questions: What elements were you born with or are represented in your name? Which do you tend to demonstrate in your usual thoughts and actions? What is the condition of your organs? What is missing?
Once you discover which elements are too weak or too strong, you can compensate by bringing in or diminishing elements that feed or restrict weakness or strength by wearing different colors, eating certain foods, or tapping particular meridians. With balanced and harmonious energy, you can flow easily, fully, and softly fostering harmony and balance in your life.
Getting ready for a vacation creates lots of work- laundry, packing, bill paying, creating itineraries, finishing outstanding commissions, record keeping, sorting out volunteer responsibilities, helping friends and family with projects- plenty to do so I can walk out the door and feel whole- but miten drinen I found myself at the Salvation Army compelled to make myself a summer bed quilt after discovering the perfect backing – an old cotton sheet and a fabulous selection of men’s big and tall shirts in blues.
In the old days we used to make fun of this woman Eleanor Burns who created the idea of a Quilt-In-A-Day. No self-respecting quilter would admit to any kind of quality product that only takes a day to make. Enter Louise Silk- quilter extraordinaire and meshuggener – Saturday night I deconstructed all of the shirts and Sunday a cut and pieced the best-ever summer quilt for our bed. Only one problem- I won’t be sleeping under it until I return from France. Things could be worse! Bon voyage!!
Being with God is a nondual state. This means it can never be achieved by choosing only one side of reality in reaction to a less preferred condition or state.
Words like awakening are necessary evils. They open a path to thinking about things, but they block the road, even as they point the way. They make us think there is a special way- that being with God or being awakened is a special feature we need to recapture again and again. But God is kinder than that and makes everyplace the way home. Every molecule of reality- whether tangible, like matter, or emotional and psychological, like varied states of being- can be the gateway to the nondual experience of God.
Try this: Whatever you are feeling right now has a silent opposite that is present at the same time. So, confusion is present with its opposite understanding; lost accompanies found. Hope is present with despair and loneliness with companionship, even though there may be no one around to fulfill that function.
Now: Allow both pair of opposites to exist. Completely. Vividly. Open your body to this allowing. You may notice a subtle feeling of openness, or silence, of expectation without a goal. This is one of the million gateways to God; it comes from being with what is in this particular way. Trust this opening, Friend. You can extend it further, to opposites that are more challenging, like sickness and health and even life and death. As you do so, the doorway to God will open wider, as wide as your heart.
Jason Shulman pg. 56-57 The Instruction Manual For Receiving God
In the effort to do All Of The Above, Sarah and I made the effort to get our business, SilkDenim, nominated for the Martha Stewart American Made Awards. The entry itself took quite a bit of effort. There were many questions and a video. For example here is the answer to Tell us about your business in 1000 characters or less: Inspired by the beauty of authentically worn old jeans, we started SilkDenim to repurpose clothing with history into meaningful one of a kind garments, bags & quilts for people who want to be eco-conscious, stylish, comfortable & unique. A Mother Daughter business, we individually craft every item in Pittsburgh PA out of handpicked vintage jeans & clothing. Louise Silk, a fiber artist for over 40 years, raised Sarah Silk with a love of all things fiber. Together, we began designing clothes & bags to fit our artistic lifestyles. Leftover t-shirts from Louise’s memory quilt commissions became Sarah’s dream shrug. Family’s members’ old jeans became our favorite purses. Requests rolled in. A business was born. Our process includes deconstructing & reworking denim into transformed pieces focusing on style & function. We plan to keep the business in Pittsburgh so all pieces can be made by us or local artisans.
Next month we will find out if we are one of 500 finalists and then we will need your help to win. Stay tuned for more info. Meanwhile meet SilkDenim on Utube.
I love working at SilkDenim where I can continually sharpen my most advanced skill of patchwork construction. You can see the great results in the newest additions of Collection II on our website.
But in today’s internet business world, one studio skill needs the follow-up of active publicity and marketing to makes its way into the digital hands of the consumer. Enter the #hastag where thousands of social media users are only a word away from connecting with our SilkDenim garments, quilts and accessories.
Three Examples:
Robert Brandegee’schair with our #SilkDenim custom cushion. Made from 100% recycled denim: #custom #patchwork #chair #craft #art #recycleddenim #reclaimed #upcycleddenim #upcycle #reuse #recycle #designer #denim #home #apartment #design #craft #handmade #jeans #vintagejeans #pittsburgh #madeinpittsburgh #cushion #pillow
June 30th was the last day anyone could legally use polystyrene foam products in New York City. This includes everything from plastic foam coffee cups to packaging peanuts. The reason is that they cannot be recycled and cause real environmental harm.
Yesterday, grocery stores across the entire state of Hawaii are banned from distributing plastic bags at the checkout. California also passed this law but the measure is on hold for a referendum in November. Individual cities like San Francisco, Chicago and Washington have all enacted bans. Plastic is not biodegradable contributing to large floating islands of ocean trash plus a whole lot more.
My family is way ahead of the curve on all of this. My daughter, Iz, gave everyone reusable silverware several years ago as Hanukah presents; My son, Eli, uses these reusable sandwich bags; and Sarah and I pride ourselves on one of our best silkdenim products, the To-Go Bag; and since 2012 with the discover of schmattas, we all wonder why anyone would even consider a Kleenex when they could use a schmatta????
At this stage of my life, everything fabric, patch, thread, takes on multiple meaning. It’s the same for breath, thought, action and so it is for the three categories of work on display: Bed Quilts made from gleaned scraps of my fabric collection; Kabbalah theme quilts from tee-shirt remnants; work from personal materials of memory.
A. Etz Chaim; 60”H X 56”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Tee-Shirt Remnants. $736.00
B. Yesh; 60”H X 58”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Tee-Shirt Remnants. $736.00
C. On The Edge; 59”H X 62”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Tee-Shirt Remnants. $736.00
D. One Among Many; 75”H X 41”; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Tee-Shirt Remnants. Sold
E. Port of Entry 3.3; 40”H X 65”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Tee-Shirt Remnants. $736.00
F. Self-Portrait 2013; 10”H X 8”W; Hand Embroidered French Knots. Collection of Artist.
G. Bubbe’s Memory Quilt; 85”H X 87”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Personal Materials of Memory including clothing favorites such as Sun Dog shirt, Dana Buchman vest From Eli’s Bar Mitzvah, first cashmere sweater, Lilith Fair and JJill hemp clothing, CP Shade and Panache garments. Heath’s corduroy shirt and pinstripe nightshirt. Dad’s golf hankie, navy blazer and NRM sweater logo. Mom’s 75th birthday suit, poke-a-dot dress, stripe shirt and Pieces of Memory remnants. Materials from Biblical Women projects including Erased Out Of Herstory Tee-Shirt. Billy Siegal’s molas, MaryAnn’s batiks, Israeli hand-embroidery, Indian kurta and pants. Sadye and Howie silk appliqué found by Dana at Triftique. Hand embroidered prayer. General Sisters Underwear, Childhood blanket and Nana’s afghan. Jim’s Bubbe’s 60th Birthday Schlep Tee-Shirt. Collection of Artist.
I. Acceptance: Journal End Tables; 24”H X 14”W X 14”D; Cut and Machine Stitched Hand-Written Journals (1971-2006), Tee-Shirt Remnants, Wire Basket. Collection of Artist.
J. Hannah’s Children; 72″WX60″DX49″H; Tent made from remnants of mechitzah from Museum Of The Diaspora Protest Project circa 1994; Pillows Made From Remnants of Jacob’s Ladder Project. $736.00
L. Jacob’s Ladder; 60”H X 56”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Materials of Memory from JCC Community including challah cover, logo tee-shirts, napkins, biker shirts, men’s sport shirts, baby onesie, tie-dye shirts, bedspread, table clothes, quilting fabric, chemo-cap, Mexican embroidery, African fabric, Holocaust Star and photo, rags, crocheted doily, beads, apron, painter’s pants, pajamas, upholstery materials, knitted shawl, hand-batik fabric, curtains, woman’s blouse, hexagon quilt pieces, denim jeans, men’s work shirts, men’s khaki shorts, woman’s skirt, carry bag, woman’s suit jacket. Collection of American Jewish Museum.
M. Jacob’s Ladder Coaster Collection; 48 sets of coasters made for individual contributors with their materials of memory. Shown with crocheted basket and rug. Gift from the Artist.
N. Dream Interpretations; 101”HX83”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Remnants. $736.00
O. Keter; 86”HX86”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Remnants. $736.00.
P. Sky and Water; 87”HX79”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Remnants. $736.00.
Q. Tiferet; 77”HX67”W; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted Remnants. Sold
R. SilkDenim Boro; 88”HX85”W; SilkDenim.us First Collection Denim Remnants; Machine Pieced and Hand Quilted. $1800.00.
S. Modest But Zealous; Diptych 17”HX22”W; Hand Embroidery on 1980 Sadye and Howard Shapiro Community Leadership Awards. Collection of Artist.
BubbeWisdom 