Susie Monday . El Cielo Studio

Where have I been? Wrestling with the muse in the studio, my friends. (And setting up newsletter templates for FASA.)

With the deadlines for two shows just over the horizon, I've been working diligently on the design table. Funny thing happens; for two days I cut and laid out fabrics working with the idea of making another medium sized Sirena (mermaid) piece, intended for my exhibit in Rockport. (Coastal town, right, makes sense?) Finally I realized she just was not swimming into the picture -- two small a background perhaps, too strident a color palette. So now what?

Looking around the studio, my eye fell on my "in table" and the bright Mexican embroidered  tablecloth so generously given to me by Donna LoMonoco. A couple of little voices spoke up: "You've been working on the wrong side of the beach. We creatures are ready to dive in." And so they did: two slightly  scary Sea Harpies and a Sun Dog. (I know sun dogs are the little circles of light that come through the tree leaves, but this one is winged and has a rather forked tail.)The piece came together pretty fast after that. And so I seem to have added a new category to the angels, saints and sinners who show up in my work. (They are definitely on the sinner side of things, not really evil, but ready to cause a bit of trouble.)

The lesson, for me, is to know when to quit. And to know where to go for inspiration when I need it. Mexican and other folk art always inspires my eye and my hand. These figures don't look like the animals on the tablecloth, but they share a their shapeliness and quirky form. They are members of the same family, I think.

Sewing is next -- I've this piece and a Stella Maris ready for stitching. I will post after pictures closer to the exhibit dates -- but meanwhile, if you live in the Corpus Christi or Rockport area, I hope you'll put the opening reception on your calendar: Saturday, August 9,  5-7 p.m. at the Rockport Center for the Arts. I'll also be teaching a half-day version of my Field Guide to Color workshop for the Fiber Artists Society of the Art Center of Corpus Christi in Calallen, another small coastal town close to Corpus. That one is 9-1 also on Saturday, and for registration info, call Paula Gron at 361-985-1137.