Art goes on, and orchids too

Sunday afternoon and Monday morning were about doing art obligations. The main job was to select the artwork to enter into the group show per invitation.

I decided on one of the ink drawings I did in July, the hibiscus. It's pretty good, and I feel it's appropriate to show what I'm making now, rather than old stuff. It's about forward movement, not history.

Then the hated task of finding, choosing, cleaning and taking apart a frame to use. A sectional metal one, silver color, was the best available choice. 

Then came the fun of unscrewing it, and removing the spring clips without getting one in my eye, and breaking the glass, easily done, ask me how I know, then cleaning the sections, then polishing the glass, then mounting the drawing on a backing, then finding all the tiny screws again, assembling it all and rewiring it with the wire hangers slid (needed pliers)  into the new position, and getting the spring clips reinserted under the sides. Then sitting down for a minute.

Then came the online paperwork, title, size, date, price and artist statement about the art group, upload of image.

The occasion is the 32nd year of the local artists group, which I founded and ran for several years before a staff member was hired to manage the gallery among other things.  I'm considered a legacy member, too funny.   

So the piece is official, chosen, 

There she goes. I also helped write the overall blurb for the exhibit, and that's done too. The current organizer did most of that but wanted a bit of support.

This took an astonishingly long time, and I don't exhibit now for a reason -- I need my time and energy for other things. But this was special.

I also needed to think what to take with me to Tuesday's knitting group, and ended up dumping out and organizing several project bags.  I plan to crochet together linen squares and pinloom woven squares somehow, to do my version of a fusion quilt.  

In the course of organizing I found my big sewing needles, crochet hooks, mixed knitting needles,  that cardboard lucet and several pairs of missing scissors. Also some little experiments, which I tossed.  

The thing is that I supply each project with its own tools then lose track of them, and end up using kitchen scissors because I can't find stitching ones. 

And there were balls of yarn, now untangled and bagged all together.  The crochet hooks are now with the project that needs them and the rest I put upstairs with their set.

There were bamboo knitting needles of all sizes everywhere. Now they're with their same size friends, wrapped with rubber bands. And with the needle gauge, saves guessing.

This orderliness will last long enough for one project anyway.

Meanwhile the orchid is quietly tending to its knitting. 

Look at those negative spaces. It's a marvelous shape, locking together background and positive areas. I need to draw it again.

The weather turned very wet and colder overnight, 60s in a couple of hours, down from 90s.  I ended up doing a few things outside but not walking for once. It was surprising to feel chilly. 

Happy day everyone, try not to get things so befankled that you need to sort before you can make. I'm a bad example.