demolition blues (and how i'm learning to hum along)

firstly, everybody, i mean
everyone of you on this beautiful planet

as part of this silly nation,
i want to express how sorry i am
for messing up our environment

also, for those of you who thought of us,
done things for us, gave kind words to us
....even to this little me...

t h a n k y o u.


secondly,

a while back i had the fortune of
meeting up with awesome people from
an organization called arts npo aid (link at the end)
who traveled quite a distance to
see about the affected north and
dropped by to hear me out, my babbling mouth


(click here, if the image link doesn't work)

interview is in japanese only for now, it's my
usual talky talk about what i do and why (with pro- editing),
and what i was doing on that big day in march...

speaking of the wicked,


i've been meaning to write about
making stuff amidst the disaster but
my heart sinks at every attempt so
i will put that on hold a bit longer

it's hard to write about something while you are right in it


i can name one thing though, that i am doing that is:

trusting the inner alarm system

and pay close attention to the difference between
heady anxiety from thinking too many what-if's
and
genuine warning in my gut

indulging in the former, and it is so easy to do
under these circumstances but still,
totally stifle my creativity, or passion for life for that matter
(((oh crap)))
while the latter seems to put me in a little gap
where it feels secure enough to indulge in life

not the easiest thing to practice but
it feels important, even without the disaster...


anyways.

back to the arts npo aid
please do go visit their site at:

http://anpoap.org

their aim is to aid artists and artistic efforts
that are affected by the 311 quake/tsunami/nuke disaster
and please do support their cause, in any ways if possible

my wish is for those creative souls amidst the big mess
to keep on humming to their tunes

in fact that's my wish for everyone,
every one of you on this beautiful planet
for you and your inherent creative soul to
never forget the tune only you can sing



thanks for your visit!

p.s.
so what was i doing on that big day in march?

as the 6 minutes quake maximized, i
curled up under my desk and sipped my tea with honey and ginger
not wanting to spill on fabrics piling on the floor one by one
it was like a symphony of things falling and breaking
too shocked, fear got suspended and i stayed very calm

human mind is amazing...


p.p.s.

i would like to express much deserved honor and respect to
those brave souls been working at fukushima plant since that day in march
- amidst humidity, lack of light,
needless to say danger as the land shakes on
and nowadays the record-breaking summer heat...

someone's gotta do the difficult deed, you are doing it
literally saving lives of so many.

wing dress update: peace in the valley

hello everyone,
long time no talk about the dress project

if you're here for the first time:
this is a blog about making of 2 dresses with
dyed/painted feathers on them
you can view the progression of the project right on this blog


anyhow.

i restarted the project just a week or two ago
it was brutally interrupted by the notorious quakes since march
and boi-o-boi, did they keep on shaking, rattling and rolling
for the past few weeks though, we are getting much less quakes
and while i am out of clue whether it is a good sign or what
it sure has given me a calmer frame of mind to stitch again

below:
oooh i've been stitching again
shoulder to shoulder



now, there was a major trouble about the
sewing needle -"for fine fabrics"- damaging the garb at its seams
getting messed up like nylon stockings would
you know the kind to put on women and robbers

i've taken my dear reader eve's suggestion
(thank you!!)
and changed it to "for fine knits" and as in above photo,
it's been clean and dandy since, worry free, run free

below photo titled as:
the salvation in a cardboard package lolling on the salvaged



keeping on with silly photos...

next, titled:
punching air, piggy-backed



...but why, you may ask
well, first of all, see that pin cushion?
i made that darn thing, but also equally important
are the pins with blue and white heads

below photo titled:
three pins revealing a delicate face casting shadows in lilac



from l to r, on a serious note:
head-to-toe black, cool pin made in germany
long, small headed japanese-made ran over by a machine needle
newly-acquired, super fine for the most delicate beyond reason

that's right, pins were also causing the material to "run"
and the super-fine worked wonders, worry no mas


now, on my last post on the subject
i talked about a little cut i made right on a seam
unintentional error made in one of those moments
if you care to see the cut, the photo's here
in fact, the last post shows both cut and run

below:
this is how i did it



luckily, i could move the pattern a bit so now
the little cut rests off the seam

i used a special thread for that, by the way

below:
the special thread on a special stand



i'm not affiliated in any way, just simply amazed
the name of the thread is called "eiffel", debut in 2009
and it stretches even more than usual stretchy thread
manufacturer's website (japanese only) is here

and this is how it looks on the outside



so there, all the issues found their solutions
and i got
peace in the valley
smile on my face
the dress on a mannequin
and...

a flower pic for you!



thank you for your visit!