Textiles and Tea catchup

Yesterday's post filled up before I got to cover Textiles and Tea, so rather than risk tldr, here it is today instead.

The guest, Valeria Maldonado, is a young Peruvian architect/fiber artist whose ideas were gripping, and I don't think the three dimensional pieces we saw quite fulfilled the premise she laid out. 

I think if they had been monumental in size, I'd have responded much more warmly. They are human scale, just a couple of feet each way. 

These two pieces,  about the fragility of balance,  I responded to most instinctively, the one on the right more so. The color meaning works so well there -- sand, shifting movement, impermanence, I loved this one.

Here's her book

She believes in being true to her hands, and that buildings, like baskets, are only porous containers. I like both these ideas, and would like to see them executed on a big scale. 

She sees art and expression as a way of making space in the world for the artist's ideas and, in this case, for the fibers she uses. Fibers have struggled to be accepted, seen as women's materials, dismissed in the male dominated art world. 

This is changing in the last few years, as museums and galleries other than textile specific venues, have started to acknowledge fiber as a serious material.

She does all her own dyeing from natural sources, cochineal, madder, grasses and minerals, and uses various fibers including alpaca. She definitely walks her own walk.  I'd be interested in your take on her work,  especially if you disagree with mine. Pushback is fine.

This is the last heatwave day, we hope, and maybe I'll get to walk again tomorrow.  Last evening Gary was over watering my flowers which I'd watered twice, and accepted a chunk of coleus to start in water. 

Under the heading of temporary maybe substitutions, I bought a drop-in push-button sink stopper for the most used bathroom, and it improved its appearance significantly after I tossed the ugly old contraption that came with the faucet.  

It looks much less desperate now and I may revise my idea about the faucets that come without a stopper, since I like their appearance. 

I also invested in a small heating pad and jettisoned the rice filled socks which worked for a long time, heated in the microwave. I'm just observing how much I do or don't need a new microwave. Up to now it's not looking urgent.

The heatwave and being indoors have not helped with making. I'm wondering if I need to return to an old project, continue spinning, start a sock, or what. Just musing. The thing is to just pick something up and do it. That's also the hard part. But I need to be doing something with my hands other than wringing them.

Maybe this would be good, the basket I'm making from cordage I made from my daylilies.

 I'm using rescued silk thread to stitch it, and spinning a bit of fiber in for contrast. I've no doubt this came to mind after watching Textiles and Tea yesterday. It's all good.

Happy day everyone, just let your mind wander, you never know where it might end up.

sez Ted and Big Ursy 

Sunday, Sunday...

I've had better days than yesterday. 

I realized I really have to replace my three bathroom faucets, over 30 years old and builder's standard. 

They're all getting difficult to turn, corroding, generally aged out. They're not leaking, which is why I haven't rushed to fix them. Then I checked the price for even modest replacements and the potential plumber's bill.  About three times my estimate. 

I want to hire a plumber because local friends have done enough lately, also I've done better with an expensive plumber than with willing but less experienced friends. I can't do the contortions required myself though it's not that skilled.  Soooo, big sigh...

Then while I was moaning about this I thought I'd melt some butter in the microwave for pancakes. I'd made a little supply of strawberry sauce with the last of the strawberries getting overripe. So pancakes with strawberry s. seemed like a good idea. Melting butter is part of the recipe. So I did, using the same butter, dish, cover, everything as usual.

Whereupon the microwave literally shot flames out. I unplugged and checked the back, and found the panel completely blackened, oops, could have been a fire. I also found the label saying this appliance was made in 1995. Another 30 years of service coming to a close. 

Now I have a heavy thing to dispose of if I can lift it. And I'm deciding on whether I need to replace it or whether a different appliance might be good, or whether a new replacement would last long enough to be worth it.

Hippolyta is a bit achy this morning, lack of walking because of rain, and I was about to reheat my rice bag then remembered that was one handy use for a microwave. Ah.

So I posted a request on Freecycle, my usual shopping outlet. That's where I got the current microwave, many years ago, in excellent condition from a nonprofit whose staff used it to reheat lunches and tea. Their boss gave them an upgrade and they Freecycled the perfectly fine as-new one.  

All this is so first world compared to what a lot of my countrypeople are enduring. But I think a brief whine is okay now and then.

And there's Foyle. Last evening I watched  the anthrax episode. At least I don't have anthrax. And I didn't burn down Notre Dame, nor throw a military snoozefest in the rain.  So there's that.

Happy day everyone, cold rain here again. The flowers like it, good for them.  And there's a sparrow out there breakfasting on little bits of pancake leftovers.

And the first daylily came out yesterday, among the lavender 

I think these are seedpods from the vetch growing all over. Officially a weed, I like it, along with day flowers, various creeping viny things, bittercress,  sorrel, with which I'm blessed. This used to be farmland and it still supports all the plants that used to drive farmers mad.

I think I'll make soup today. Mid June and soup weather, doesn't seem to compute. But I have stock and chicken bones, so I can see a tomato chickpea soup in my immediate future.  And crisp tofu katsu sticks maybe.

When life hands you lemons, make chicken soup sez Ted and Big Ursy. And it's Bloomsday, and I finally did finish reading Ulysses.