drawing again

After about a year of almost strictly writing, Tsia has finally returned to drawing. She had mostly been obsessed with spelling names--hers, "Mommy," Todd (written always as "Todd" and not "Daddy", and her friends' names)--and with the alphabet, but suddenly when school started she returned to making her adorable robots and the most wonderful new rabbits. This robot drawing was tucked into my handbag to keep me company when we traveled to Quilt Market last month.


We've also been assigned book reports as homework, so after we read a book Tsia draws a picture and we write about the story itself. We've been working our way through Beverly Cleary stories (more about this later), so here is our report about Ramona the Brave:
The book report triggered a small family of paper bag owls (love these ones, if you want to try it at home), like Ramona's owl.


But this is my favorite book report so far. We read If I Built a Car, and Tsia's illustration focused on this spread:


Can you recognize the pudding, cupcake, hot dog, milkshake, watermelon, cookie, french fries, hamburger, and aerosol cheese? And don't forget the boy and his dog. Cracks me up because I can actually tell what each one is.

Today Tsia is home from school with a fever and a cold, and although it's only 10:30 am we've already done painting, stitching, weaving, organized a closet, and selected some fabrics for a quilt. Obviously she's not that sick. I can hardly wait to settle down for some relaxing drawing again. Whew!

a blue silk winter coat?

Tomorrow I'm going shopping for fabric in the garment district.

Tsia needs a new winter coat, and I'm planning to make a her warm School Days Coat next month. Since I'm going to be in the neighborhood anyway, I'll be shopping for her too. I'm guessing that I'll be able to find her a great wool-cashmere coating at Mood. (Because for the less than the price of a nice wool at B&J, I can probably find a cashmere blend at Mood. And darn that because I like B&J so much better!)

Anyway, this was my exchange with Tsia tonight as she was lying in bed:

Liesl: "What color fabric would you like me to buy for your new winter coat?"
Tsia: "Blue and pink."
Liesl: "OK, but it can only be one color, so which do you prefer?"
Tsia (under her breath): "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...." (Out loud.) Blue. Silk!"
Liesl: "Well, since it's a coat, I think it needs to be wool. So I'll look for some blue wool, OK?"
Tsia: "OK, but can I have a matching tissue?" (Meaning, a matching handkerchief.)
Liesl: "OK, I can probably do that." (Thinking "OK, I'll use something with pink for the lining and make a handkerchief out of that." I can't imagine a wool handkerchief would be very pleasant.)

I guess that silk Jump Rope Dress made an impression. Anyway, here comes a blue wool coat.

And I keep meaning to tell you that CraftSanity posted a podcast interview with me the other day. Todd tells me that anyone who has listened to the news in the last year now understands what a hedge fund is, so my apologies for dumbing down the explanation of what George Soros was doing in the 1990s.

loose connections

My apologies if you and I have been in a discussion at any point during the past few weeks and I've managed to work into our conversation some art trivia, travel factoid, bicycle particulars, or bizarre animal minutiae. You see, I've been obsessed with reading David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries, which is a really fascinating collection of observations and stories, loosely held together by Byrne's penchant for moving around cities on a bicycle, which he often takes along when he travels.

The books starts out with a short history of American cities and how they've been changed as highways have broken them apart and cars have become increasing important in our culture. He makes some very compelling arguments in favor of in bicycling in New York, as well as in other cities. I fear, however, that all his talk about conservation and downsizing are preaching mostly to the converted, since it's a rather self-selecting group that's likely to read the book in the first place, isn't it? (We know who we are....) But the book has pushed me one step further toward attempting to commute to our studio in Brooklyn on a bike. The only things stopping me are the lack of a bike and a place to store it. I'm sure I'll work out those minor details, however, given a little time.

Anyway, I somehow managed to discuss the lyrebird, dogs addicted to licking cane toads, and Cindy Sherman (Byrne's companion who, by the way, rides away from a Chelsea gallery at the end of her segment on last week's episode of Art21 on a fold-up bike) with several different people who stopped by our booth at Quilt Market. So if you wanted to discuss fabric and sewing patterns and learned instead about Imelda Marcos' childhood, I blame it all on Mr. Byrne.

On the other hand, isn't this video clip of the lyrebird (from the BBC series, The Life of Birds) fascinating? I couldn't believe it until I in watched it several times. I'm not sure which sound is best: the camera shutter or the chainsaw.

And speaking of Quilt Market, we managed to sneak away before the show started to visit The Menil Collection. I was most looking forward to the Rothko Chapel, but it was the Cy Twombly gallery that really amazed us both. (Sorry that photos aren't allowed inside the collection--these were all I got.) I think it will become an annual tradition to visit before Market every fall. In fact, next spring's Market will be held in Minneapolis, and I'm already trying to convince Todd to give a little tour of The Walker Art Center to anyone who wants to join us.




As it turns out, the bike exhibition at the Aldrich Museum is directly connected to Mr. Byrne and his book. Little did I realize this when I picked up the book at the library before we left for Houston, but that night Todd returned home from his visit and explained the connection to me. Here are a few shots of our favorite bike in its temporary home there.




Also speaking of the Aldrich and bikes (are you feeling the frenetic title of this post yet? Some of these transitions are dicey. Sorry.) we wanted to take a workshop as a family project this spring to make Tsia a bamboo bike. Only problem: they don't have kids' sizes yet. Oh, and the cost is $1200 to take the workshop. Maybe a little pricey for a bike she would outgrow in one or two years, yes?

Hmm, I wonder how that bike would like to travel back and forth over the Williamsburg Bridge with me every day instead?

scrappy

We dragged two large sacks filled with fabric scraps to Tsia's school during the first week. School budgets are incredibly tight around here, and her school seems to do a really good job of utilizing the resources they have. I knew they would appreciate the cuttings that have been accumulating at the studio over the last couple of years.


Sure enough, just a few days later the children had stenciled leaves on muslin with brightly colored paints. And the next thing I knew, I had been sent home with a little assignment: the teacher requested a quilt made from the children's art. What could I say? It may be my busiest month of the year, but you can't say no when the teacher gives you homework, can you?


I decided to use the materials I had on hand to finish the quilt, and the process felt a little Gee's Bend, which was fun. I arranged the painted fabric pieces so they complimented each other and then gradually added strips of colored fabrics to join them. My favorite part is the bits of Denyse Schmidt's County Fair collection that I think keep the quilt from looking too predictable (although I would have added more pieces of those fabrics if I had them--didn't keep enough of the scraps for myself, I guess). The back is made from a piece of Michael Miller organic herringbone check with no batting between the layers since the herringbone is soft and thick, like a light-weight blanket.


Tsia kept me company on Saturday when I did most of the work on the quilt. We had two leftover leaves that were printed on very small scraps, so those leaves were appliqued to the finished quilt. Since it can't be washed (I'm fairly certain it would ruin the paint, since it's probably not fabric paint), I just fused the leaves to the quilt top and stitched them in place with a running stitch, leaving the raw edges showing. I had some helpers when we delivered the quilt to the classroom, and they love it!

and speaking of bikes...

...guess where our beloved green house bike has gone!


It's been transplanted to the Aldrich Museum's Bike Rides exhibition. Todd will get a chance to visit it tomorrow, so I'll ask him to say hi and maybe offer it a little plant food treat or something.

And by the way, how is it October already? This can't be!

little wedding in the big (windy) city

My goodness, all five of the Bockheim girls are now married!


The year we celebrated two weddings within just a few months. I'm impressed at how each wedding expressed the unique personality of the couple.

Christy and Kurt asked me to do their wedding invitations, which was easy because they already had a bicycle theme in mind. After a quick tutorial from Heather on illustrating in Photoshop, I was on my way.




Oh yes, we'll be there!

(photo by my sister)

And the post-wedding getaway? On a tandem bicycle, of course!

last week

Here is a smattering of photos taken over the past couple of weeks. Nothing in particular, but some fun things I thought I would share.

We had the pleasure of meeting some of our cross-town neighbors in the West Village at a giant block party last weekend. The event was based on the Palios of Siena and was organized to raise money for historically-based streetlights on the block.


Tables were stretched the full length of the street, and what a stylish bunch of New Yorkers!



The kids got busy playing bocce while the grown-ups chatted and ate terrific foods prepared by the neighborhood restaurants.


And here's proof that the Jump Rope Dress can also climb walls (but not very high--see that worried look?)...

...and waits nicely for the bus downtown. (No, she doesn't usually wear silk to school. Believe me.)



And I want to give a public shout-out to my former studio mate and dear friend Michelle, who worked tirelessly for the past two or three years to launch her Sea Warriors exhibit at the South Street Seaport downtown. See her beautiful flags on the lampposts?

Here's Tsia showing you her matching T-shirt,

and here's Michelle at the opening. I love the hem of her apron dress!


Another of her flags. I'm so proud of her!


If you ever visit the Seaport, you must see Bowne and Co. Stationers, where the curator/printer will demonstrate letterpress for you and you can purchase beautiful samples of his work.



After the opening we were treated to a special after-party in this fascinating building. (Our apartment complex doesn't exactly have an over-sized chandelier in the entry-way like this, you might be surprised to learn...)

We headed to the roof of the building where we could look up through the tree-top garden to the buildings of Wall Street overhead.



I especially liked the outdoor fireplace, which was perfect on a cool evening.


But what's that security block on the street below us?


Why, it's the New York Stock Exchange, just across the street! What a frieze for an eye-level view, no?


Back soon.

playdate

I think I cut out this pattern just before Heather and I left for her Vermont sewing workshop in July. It's finally finished, after snatching a little sewing time here and there when I passed "the workroom," as we facetiously call our converted closet.

This is an Oliver + S Playdate Dress, shortened and with the pockets removed to be a tunic for Tsia. I made it from chambray (what's not to love about chambray?), and cut the ruffles on the bias so they would fray a bit and didn't need to be finished on the edges. She loves it!



Can anyone tell me where to purchase girl's bobby socks? We only seem to find sporty socks in the shops around us, and we really need something that looks better with her school shoes.

Also, I was thinking about why I haven't been blogging much. I think it's mostly because I'm tired of lugging the giant camera everywhere. But Tsia's little digital camera (it's a regular digital camera, but we purchased it mostly for her) just isn't doing it for me. After two shots (that photo at the top is one of the shots) I decided I'd better start carrying the big camera, after all. I'll work on it.

the wilds of industrial Brooklyn

Take a little walk with me, will you? I want to show you what I found on my four-block walk from the studio to the subway this evening.

First of all, say hi to a pair of our resident pigeons. They live in the space between our building and the next, so when it's quiet and the windows are open you can hear them cooing. Ever wonder where baby pigeons come from? I'm pretty sure they all originate from the canyon just below our windows.


Ok, do you see this building on the corner, with all the weeds growing up around it? Some of the weeds are taller than me. But look closely at the weeds behind the trash by the stairs. Look closer. What are those green and red things? Berries of some sort?




They're tomatoes! I nearly fell over when I noticed this last week. Remember, we're in industrial Brooklyn. Warehouses and factories, not gardens. This makes me so happy, to think that a tomato plant survived the summer in a crack of the cement! And look at all those green tomatoes! They're ripening, a few every day. I wonder if someone eats them for lunch? I'm not quite ready for that. Maybe it's the trash surrounding them that throws me off. Or the not knowing just what sort of soil is hiding in that crack.

So now let's do a little wildlife tracking, shall we? Just around the corner are some footprints that were left in the wet cement. I don't think they're real pigeon prints, but we can pretend, can't we? Just to add to the wilderness atmosphere of the evening, with the sun setting behind us?



And I saved the best for last. Remember our greenhouse bicycle friend? Well, I've intentionally NOT tracked down the mysterious owner, since I actually preferred to make up my own stories and was concerned that the truth would be a bit disappointing. But here is our beloved garden bike, being transformed from pink to yellow courtesy of TWO biker-gardeners! And the real story is at least as good as my imaginary ones: this couple gives "hidden garden" tours (maybe my weedy tomato plant has other fans?), they have a roof garden nearby, and they maintain a wagon garden at a gallery just around the corner. The basil harvest is in ("We love basil," they told me), and the bike will be going away for a while. But in the meantime perhaps I'll pay a visit to the wagon garden.

remembering

and feeling grateful that the future hasn't been as bleak as it seemed. I love New York.