perchance to dream...

i've not been sleeping well the past few nights, so i'm pretty tired right now and plan on hitting the hay as soon as i post this.

seems appropriate that today's drawing is an impression of the moon. whoever said it's a "man in the moon" was wrong. i'm convinced "he" is a woman. and a decidedly coquettish one at that!

4.30.2013

mysterious orb
shining brightly and then gone
flirtatious geisha

wishing you sweet dreams - and me, too!

: : karen anne

heading home...

the other night, lying in bed, i could here the honk of geese as they flew overhead in the darkness, an ancient gps guiding them to their summer home...

4.29.2013

past present future
ancient ones point toward home
distant honk of geese

we live in the midst of quiet mysteries and magic, don't we?

: : karen anne

good fortune...

after a wonderful visit with some old and new, but equally beloved family members, i'm keenly aware of how fortunate i am to have a heart whose songs i not only sing often and joyfully, but whose melodies are heard clearly - and often joined in with reciprocated glee. (sometimes even with three-part harmony!)

i think the visit is what prompted today's drawing. while i know deep in my bones how blessed i am, i know that many are not so lucky...

4.28.2013

fragile faded dreams
of hearts with songs unsung
dying to be heard

it pleases me the way the fabric creased in parts when i ironed it. and i like the way there's a faint line/crease horizontally across the top. both bits effectively add to the melancholy of the piece i think.

may you have a heart whose songs are sung and heard.

: : karen anne

of willows...

i love willow trees. i love their color in spring, i love their gracefulness, i love the way their branches arch before gently turning toward earth.

when i was in elementary school we had a willow tree in our back yard that i would climb. it had the perfect brach to sit on and i'd rest my back on the tree's trunk. i'd stay up there for hours at a time just thinking while watching the clouds pass overhead. sometimes i'd climb up with a good book to read. it was heavenly. i loved that willow tree and i really got the feeling it loved me, too. i can't read shel silverstein's the giving tree without immediately thinking of my tree...

a few years ago i made a digital drawing of willow branches. just a few simple lines were enough to capture their gracefulness:

willow branches. digital drawing

it's rather like today's textile drawing, don't you think?

4.23.2013

the dance of willows
slow waltz in the warm spring breeze
leaves sip from the creek

but, truth to tell, i didn't think of the first drawing until the second one was completed.

it must be that this image of dangling willow branches is somehow hardwired in my brain.

i wonder what else is in there just waiting to be rediscovered...

: : karen anne

p.s. the black and white printed fabric i used is handprinted cotton by Julie Booth 

tea in the garden...

i absolutely, positively must have a cup of coffee with breakfast, but later in the morning i like to wander in the garden with a cup of tea. today i was excited to see that my lilac has buds that will soon be in bloom...

4.25.2013

redolent of spring
jasmine tea in the garden
sweet scent of lilacs

: : karen anne

tuesday and wednesday...

today's textile drawing and yesterday's:

4.24.2013

open the window
thoughts come and go as they will
be still and watch them

(this one was fun to do - it has a bit of vinyl window screening and a punch of neon)

4.23.2013

recalled in a flash
memories long forgotten
escape the shadows

: : karen anne

dance of the tulips...

busy days in the studio, flitting from one medium to another, each of them sharing in the dance that seems choreographed just for me. (expressions of an inner twyla tharp perhaps?)

all i know is that i have a penchant for cutting things up and reassembling them - but in new ways. something intrigues me about making new relationships - and about seeing old relationships with new eyes. there's a rhythm to the work; a certain syncopation that makes me dance along. my days of being the wallflower are long past...

dance of the tulips

gouache, linen, machine stitching on paper. 11"x14". 2013

what makes your heart dance?

: : karen anne

a physics lesson...

for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction...so goes newton's third law of action/reaction.

and so goes my work... a back and forth conversation between extremes.

yesterday's drawing was a cacophony of color and sound, today's a gentle observation of doves in my garden:

4.22.2013

do you hear their coos
mourning doves in the garden
making nests for love

the older i become, the more i'm drawn to the quiet. i think i appreciate it all the more for my excursions into the riotous moods of  my life.

the middle ground has never appealed...

: : karen anne

dreaming of a warm somewhere...

sunny outside but so very, very chilly still.

no.

make that cold. really c-o-l-d.

i can't seem to warm up even after multiple cups of hot tea...

4.21.2013

beware the woman
with two ripe avocados
tequila and limes

on a bright note, though, the apple tree in our yard has decided to burst into full bloom today, ignoring the temperature, so i'm trying to remain optimistic that warmer days are, indeed, coming...

: : karen anne

from the mouths of babes...

4.19.2013

listen with your heart
no more hurting people. peace.
from the mouths of babes

inspired by the words of eight year old martin richard who was killed by a bomb at the finish line of the boston marathon on 15 april 2013. upon the sale of this quilt, 100% of the profits will be made as a donation in martin's name to a group who's work i support: http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/

: : karen anne

in the quiet of my studio...

a chilly rain outside, a lovely quiet in the studio...

4.18.2013

be still be quiet
immerse your soul in silence
there are riches there

wishing you riches...

: : karen anne

escape is futile...

i've tried to stay away, but, alas it's futile.

the fabrics keep calling to me, urging me to pick them up, snip them, sew them, draw with them...

i think the dilemma was more around calling them "quilts" when i have never thought of myself as a quilter - only a "sorry excuse for a quilter" at best.

the works are, in my eyes (and by way of process) drawings.

textile drawings.

anyway, that's what i'm calling them now and i feel much better for the clarification. simple semantics i suppose, but it was driving me nutso.

today i came to the studio and completed the first since 5 march and i must say it felt really good to be back:

4.17.2013

i am karen anne
i make small textile drawings
they call and i leap

so there you have it.

: : karen anne

a dark place...

i went downstairs last night in the middle of the night because i had forgotten to plug my phone in to charge - and i do that in the kitchen. on the way there i was captivated by the dark shadows that engulfed me.

i loved these shadows that were playing on the wall, filling my imagination. i had just enough battery left to snap these photos. i love their graininess and mystery:

these are begging me to do something more with them and i'm contemplating a bit of hand stitching...

but not right now...

off to run errands and see if i can find the perfect pair of orange ballet flats!

: : karen anne

spring's first blush...

it is warm today and for the first time in many months it feels like winter might fade enough to become a memory. i love each season, but my favorite parts of the years are when the seasons first indicate a change is coming. today is just such a time; a soft, optimistic glimmer of what's to come.

i've been under the weather for more than a week, but today has even indicated a wonderful change on that front, too, and i was able to get up to the studio at long last. felt good to get up here even though i didn't do the work i had planned on, but, instead, did the work that wanted to be done. funny how that works, huh?

spring's first blush

gouache, colored pencil, embossing, machinge stitching. 8x6in. 2013

the weather is to continue to be warm for the next few days, and since one of my oldest and dearest friends is gracing me with a visit this week for a few days, i'm hoping it will cooperate so we can have tea on the porch to celebrate our friendship.

a full week, restored health, and lots of wine and girl talk should have me ready to return to the studio daily again next monday. it's been a lovely, lovely respite, but i really feel the need to have a go at some of the ideas that have been bouncing around in my head!

happy spring to you!

: : karen anne

express yourself...

When energy is flowing and we feel alive, empowered and have confidence that we can communicate our needs, that means the fifth chakra is open. When the energy is constricted, we feel like we are not being heard. Energy blocks in this area are often associated with thyroid problems or chronic neck pain. 

The Law of Detachment, which states that in order to acquire things in this world, we have to relinquish our attachment to them, is the principle that governs the throat chakra.

An open expression chakra enables us to feel confident in expressing our truth without concern of critics or other people’s opposing views. This does not imply we say things that are intentionally hurtful or insensitive, but that we skillfully and compassionately present our needs in a life-supporting way. Anxiety over how other people will perceive us slips away when the fifth chakra is open.
                                                                                                             - david simon, md

my neck has been killing me for several days...it's the part of my body that reacts most to inner and outer stimuli. why am i surprised then, that it is trying so hard to get my attention?

you would think that after all these years, and after all the times i've gone through this, that i'd get it. 

but no.

each and every time i have to remember all over again...

the summer kitchen in our 1831 home. a good place to have tea...

expressing myself creatively each day is what my fifth chakra needs to stay open.

not thinking about expressing myself. thinking just gets my neck all tight and achy and i've been thinking waaay too much since i decided to take some time off from a daily practice.

i need to get The Committee off my back and loosen the strangle hold they have on my neck.

i need to get out of my head and back in my heart.

it's just that simple.