The Maltese Buddha

So we heard about the garage-sale Buddha that brought $2.1 million at Sotheby’s. And wouldn’t you know — we have one just like it! I took it off the shelf, found the receipt, dug out the description. Yep, it was definitely the same style. I was struck with gold fever. While Jim wondered what had […]

“Gotta Go” fabric design

I’ve been laboring away in a course called “The Sellable Sketch.” I reached the point where I picked out (1) a style I aspired to (“flowing”), (2) a current trend in fashion (“natural textures”), and (3) an end-user (long-story-short “cosmopolitan”). The challenge now: design a fabric collection — three or more designs that “go together.” […]

Thinking small: beads

Some days, when the socio-political world is too hard to take, I turn to nature. But when there are no flowers, no glorious moonsets, no stormy winds, I retreat into the miniature world of beads. Today, I set up the lightbox under the camera and picked out three kinds of translucent beads to look at. […]

As good as it gets

Spring begins with a full moon, setting within minutes of sunrise. It’s 6:48 a.m. and I’ve been rushing around in my puffy coat to get the right lens, the correct settings, and a good point of view. This is it: just the blushing moon contemplating her reflection in the water. Tech: 1/160 sec at f/8, […]

Frances Willard: a chance encounter

Jim had this old photogravure. Someone was a photograph collector like him. But look closer: a woman sits amid the clutter. Who? I followed up on the only clue: its caption The Den – Rest Cottage. Long story short, the woman is FRANCES WILLARD (1839-1898), feminist, suffragist, and president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union […]

Sun!

7 p.m. The sun will set in 19 minutes at 268.7° on the compass dial, just shy of due west. The bottom of our bank is still buried in a couple feet of ice. Frost and flurries will linger for the next few weeks. Tempests will rage. But the season has changed.

Sister Moon

5:25 a.m. here on the edge. 28°F. and calm. A dusting of snow. The waxing gibbous moon will set at 6:06 a.m., but I better get a picture before it sinks behind the cloud bank. Hope the bright moon and the chill air energize me for the rest of the day. Tech: 2 sec. at […]

Nevada gold mining 1905

Cross-dressing on the old frontier As I was organizing shelves, this set of photos turned up in a box marked “miscellaneous.” Some guy took his Kodak Brownie on a gold mining adventure near Goldfield, Nevada — northwest of Las Vegas, about halfway to Reno. In December 1902 gold was discovered in the hills south of […]

Wool: knit to felt

Remember, before Christmas we made a textile run at the local antique shop. Among our booty was a Pendleton “100% virgin wool” throw. This large blankie had a couple of small stains and a tiny hole or two. I figured I could toss it in one of my (hypothetical) dye vats and refresh it with […]

Earth cloth: St. John’s Wort

Dyeing fabric with plant stuff is a big production and I always wind up cursing at the results. But then I always wind up circling back, It’s an exercise in seeing the Other as it is, not as you wanted it to be. I did not study organic chemistry. The chaos is on my side […]