When is enough enough?

And I'm not talking snow here...although I could after the third snowstorm of the month.

No, I'm talking about when is a piece done?

I remember reading that Pissarro sometimes added to a painting, continued to tweak it, even when it was hanging on a galley's wall.

I'd been thinking about how language changes.Perfectly acceptable words become "bad" or dated or just plain silly and drop out of use. After a decade or so goes by and they have dropped out of common usage, whole groups of people have no knowledge of them at all. Sometimes this is a good thing.

And, other words are added to the general public's vocabulary that are brand new. Language evolves in a way.

This is the basis of my most recent work: "Evermore: Language Evolves". I created a time machine monitored by my trusty, nosy crows into which old words pour and out of which brand new words are spewed.

I'm beginning to wonder when it will be done. Or if it already is. I am continually reminded of another word that should be added on one end of the "evolution" or another, and, like Pissarro (and that is the ONLY thing we have in common, obviously) I keep adding to this piece.

Unfortunately in so many ways, I've never ascribed to the Meis van der Rohe axiom that "less is more". Well, almost never.

Happy Presidents' Day, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Chinese New Year!

AND Happy "I Got Juried in Day" to me!

Erring on the side of discretion for a change, I'm posting a detail and not the entire image of "Stick and Stones", the piece that just was juried into the PAQA-South (www.artquiltersouth.org) upcoming exhibit ArtQuiltsIlluminations.

The exhibition will be presented March 26 to May 30 at the Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC. There's a chance that the exhibit will travel to other NC venues.

I was fortunate enough to have been juried into the PAQA show last year ArtQuiltsTransitions with "Phases of the Moon". I'm happy to say that it was purchased at the Fayetteville Museum (by one of their Board members) when that show traveled there. I'm posting a detail from it too.

Where's Waldo?

Actually, the cat's name is Tate.

We travelled to Florida to visit our grandchildren/south. We're no fools: we plan our visits in the winter. This year we missed two snow storms.

We meandered down attending a fiftieth wedding anniversary in Cumberland MD, an Aboriginal Art exhibit in Charlottesville VA (www.virginia.edu/kluge-ruhe), and friends and rels along the way.

One of our favorite stops is with my friend Martha Wolfe (http://thepinkganeshji.blogspot.com). I got lucky this year and was able to meet some of her art quilt buddies. Show and tell is always a treat. I shot this pic of some of her stash...the cat's cubby is about five feet off the floor.

We're on our way home tomorrow...weather permitting. Weather here is nice but north of us more snow is predicted. Unfortunately we can't linger longer. We're braving the elements and heading home.

Guest Exhibit in New Gallery

The Guilford Art Center has closed its shop and re-opened the space as The ShopSPACE Gallery. For a lot of reasons...the economy being one of them I'm sure...this space will now be dedicated to regional artists' work. The Gallery Committee juries applicants' work for six week exhibitions throughout the year. The first reception is this Sunday, Feb. 7. For more info http://www.guilfordartcenter.org.

The ShopSPACE Gallery complements the existing Mill Gallery which is a larger, more formal space that hosts larger exhibits...like the recent SAQA Transformations.

In a space high above the entry to the Mill Gallery is this "Boats at Slack Tide". I think I am the only person I know that really likes it (if I do say so myself). I don't want to count the number of times it has been rejected by juried shows. It is a totally pieced work...only "we" can appreciate that. Hand dyes and some batik. Machine stitched.

Oh, well.

This last photo is "Mountains of my Youth". Very simple. Japanese fabrics largely. Hand stitched.

Did I mention that the space

I'm assigned is the entry to the building? Hence, some odd hanging space: over the transom, over a window, over the guest registry. At least it's the first thing visitors see. I like that.