Dia de los Muertos

Thank you all so much for your kind words about my sweet kitty, Chyna. I'm so glad to know and there are so many tenderhearted people reading my little ol' blog who feel the same way I do, that our beloved critters are friends, and more than that, they are family. You bless me with your kindness and I thank you most sincerely.

Do you know about Dia de los Muertos? Day of the Dead? Even if you don't, I'm sure you've seen the most commonly associated image, the sugar skulls. Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that focuses on prayers & remembrance of friends and family who have died. The celebration begins on October 31st and ends on November 2nd, and the traditions include building private alters called "ofrendas" to honor the deceased, I think it's beautiful.

Ok, now let me back up a little. Back at the beginning of September, my pal Jacquie hosted a crafty party at her place in Santa Rosa. She had a bunch of cool things for us to try, one of which was painting paper mache skull masks (like these) which sounded like fun. Jacquie and I chatted away the afternoon, more chatting than crafting, but a great time nonetheless catching up with her and shooting the breeze. I left with a good start on my mask, promising myself that I'd get it finished by Dia de los Muertos so that I could share it with you guys. And then, as usual, I got swept up with new ideas - like Halloween swaps! I never forgot about my mask, I saw it every time I walked into my craft room, I'm just easily distracted. 

I was discussing Chyna's passing with some friends the day after she'd gone when one of them reminded me about the Day of the Dead and that it was a good time to remember those who've gone on, which in turn reminded me about that unfinished painting project, so I took it up once again, this time with her in mind specifically.

It was nice to do something creative, even if it was sooner than I would have thought possible after losing her. The previous week had been so stressful worrying and watching her every move, listening for her to make any noise, timing her medicines and foods, keeping the dogs from annoying her too much. It was relaxing to zone out, listen to a book and draw & paint for a few hours.

Her name really was Chyna Cat Sunflower, I named her after a Grateful Dead song, the words of which don't really make any sense, it's just lyrical imagery, fun and pretty. I always loved that song, give it a listen, you might be surprised how nice it is. I picked a few little elements from the song to incorporate in my own way...

Candles to remember her...

Shadow cat, watching butterflies near a shower of pearls.

Diamond-eyed Jack.

And sunflowers, of course there had to be sunflowers.

A giant sunflower for my Chyna.

And an alter for her, and for Butch...

 My furry angels.

Bones & treats for Butch

Beer for Chyna, she loved beer. It sounds ridiculous, but it's true, she was forever trying to mooch from Sean. He indulged her sometimes, it made me craxy... those two.

Water to drink and a soft rug for them to lay on, welcoming & familiar. Everything here was gathered from around the house, much of it meaningful and tied to other happy memories.

I left the alter up until last night, a day longer than necessary, but it made us smile every time we walked past it, and that's a good thing. 

I've only shared this with a small handful of friends, and I was so pleased to learn that many of them also have little shrines to the pets they've lost. Do any of you? I'd love to hear about it if you'd like to share.

Thank you again for being so supportive and sweet, you're the best!

oxo,

Lisa

Chyna Cat Sunflower

Hello Friends,

Sad tidings today... I really don't like writing posts like this, and it doesn't seem like it's been two years since I wrote one like it about our Butchie boy. This was so unexpected and so quick, I almost feel like I still don't know quite what to say about it.  

Last week we lost our kitty grand dame, our beautiful Chyna Cat Sunflower. 

Chyna was a regal queen of a cat. She lived a good life and was in good health her whole life, a sturdy, steadfast feline if ever there was one. Late last week, she rather suddenly seemed unwell, she didn't look herself at all and she was weak.

I took her to the veterinarian last Saturday morning and had a gambit of tests run on her only to find out that her kidney's were rapidly failing and she was indeed quite ill. 

Immediately, we began to do everything we could for her, fluids, antibiotics, B-12 injections, liquid iron supplements, Pedialyte, special foods, but she faded so fast. Cats have the rather awful ability to hide their sickness from you, and when it finally becomes apparent that there's something wrong, it's often too late to do much about it. Such was the case with Chyna.

Just five days after diagnosis, in the early hours of Halloween morning, she quietly made her way out of this world and on to the next. Chyna died here at home with Egypt right by her side, he was her constant companion her entire life. 

This is one of the last pictures I took of them together, the evening before she passed away.

They snuggled together every night from the time we added her to our family, twelve and a half years ago, their last night was no exception. He seemed so protective, so worried that night...

I think he and I both knew that she was at the end of her road. Egypt hasn't been well either, and I'm so worried about him. He's over 19 years old himself, and I'll be honest - I'm so scared that now she's gone he won't stay with me long, either. I hope with all my heart that my worries amount to nothing, only time will tell.

It never, never crossed my mind that we might lose her first, she was seven years younger than he is, and apart from being a hefty gal, she had always been in good health. 

Oh, sweet Chyna Cat, you are missed so much.

When we found her Thursday morning, we sat together for a long time, us at the critters. Egypt of course had been with her, but the dogs had not and we wanted them to see and smell her a bit so that they would understand that she was gone, they nosed her gently, then jumped up on the bed with me and sat very still and quiet. I think they were mourning, too.

I took this picture of the three of them, Egypt, Lola & Boswell that morning as we sat with her, before taking her body to the veterinarians for cremation. Those sunbeams are falling exactly where we found her, just outside her bed, right under the window. I didn't see them until after I'd taken the picture and they struck me as so beautiful... Even though Chyna was already gone, it felt like this quiet, still time was our last moment together. Bittersweet.

Thank you for visiting today and kindly reading about our sweet Chy, I could go on & on about her, she was quite a gal... You would have loved her.

oxo,

Lisa

The Big Show!

Hi All!

Ready for some great art! This is just a small sampling of the wonderful offerings at Hello World, I had to narrow it down a lot, also I'm terrible and didn't note all of the artists when I took photos, but nearly everything in the show is for sale at a web store the gallery has set up, here, if you see something you simply must own. 

Oh! I never did say what I was submitting to the show, did I? Here are the finished pieces just before I packed them up and sent them off...

Home Is Where The Bra Comes Off

 Finished size 8" x 10"

Super Butch!

Finished size 8" x  8". 

I finished the piece only hours before I mailed it out, I think when you last saw it, it looked like this. I stitched the words on bright yellow fabric, trimmed it down to a strip and blanket stitched the strip to the existing piece. Then I did some piecing around the embroidery, much like a quilt square. 

After everything was squared up, I mounted on the piece on a gallery matte that I first padded with cotton batting so the stitches weren't sitting so "hard" on the matte, does that make any sense? I just like to have a little padding for the stitches to sink in to. Then I learned something new, how to make perfect gallery corners! 

Ok, let's go!

The show was held at The Service Station, this place is really cool. An old service station repurposed as an art gallery, event space, Hello World was it's opening event, but they've got some very neat things coming down the pipes, like open air movie screenings, they did Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure last weekend, how fun, no?

Yarn for bombing, bombs away!

 Thanks Lion Brand!!

My pal, Ellen. Ellen Schinderman that is. She and I bombed that fence, we cross stitched "hello world" for the day of the event. Cross stitching a chain link fence isn't as easy as it might seem (and it's dirty, nail breaking work). But it was worth it :)

After bombing and helping with site setup, Ellen and I took off to get gussied up for the show. Back at the event we met up with our stitchy friends who were all contributing artists in this show. It was so exciting to meet these folks in person. Most of my stitchy friends are "online" but fortunately highly concentrated in California. Hi guys!!

From left to right, is Mark Bieraugel, yours truly, Ellen Schinderman, Amy Goldsmith Sheridan and Mo Powers. 

The show was a blast, there was live mural painting, a DJ, art everywhere you turned, drinks, a pizza truck and happy people, it was a wonderful amalgam.

This is the live mural painting, this was an amazing process, I watched it develop online the week leading up to the show, then the guys went gangbusters on it on Saturday. Dave MacDowell is a very talented painter, and a pretty chill dude. Meeting him in person was rad, he had a great vibe.

.

Meex One's tribute to Keith Haring.

The Fiber Room! 

Yu Cotton-well, what a sweet lady and an amazing artist.

Amy's piece was the first sold at Hello World, and to a pretty high roller, to boot! Congratulations, Amy!! Amy is a creative wonder, and prolific! Mad skills, and quick! I don't think I know anyone else who produces more embroidery than Amy. You should really check out her Photostream. I'm lucky to have one of Amy's pieces hanging in my craft room. I snagged it from her Etsy shop the day she listed it. I loves it. 

This piece by Tod Hensley is astounding, I mean wowza! Previous to the show, I'd never seen Tod's work in person and like many embroidered things, it's hard to grasp the scale of the thing looking at it on a computer screen. This piece is SO small, the stitches comprising this amazingly dense piece are minuscule! The finished size of this piece is 16" x 16" but it's matted on raised, black velvet, I'd say the embroidered portion is no bigger than 4" x 4"! I was honestly blown away, and stood gawping at this piece for quite a long time. Click the photo for a bigger view, you will be amazed, too. 

Strange Charm by Mark Bieraugel, science meets embroidery = awesome.

These two embroideries by Mo Powers are my favorite of the show, oh, how I'd love to own them. They are so graceful and somewhat haunting. Just gorgeous. Let's take a closer look...

Primrose by Mo Powers

Fallow by Mo Powers

The trio of pieces on the left are by artist Alaina Varrone, they are wonderful and weird and I really dig them. Alaina's stitching is incredible, her use of teensy, tiny satin stitch blows my mind. I actually own a very small piece by Alaina, it's one of my favorite things in the world.

The piece on the right is by Katharine Lawrie, the stitching is delicate and interesting, but what's more interesting (to me) is that Katharine made the fabric and the frame. She made the fabric, people. That's dedication.

Speaking of dedication, this piece by Ellen Schinderman is incredible. It's a portrait of her mother, which in itself is pretty great, but as I mentioned earlier, seeing things online makes it difficult to get an idea of the scale of a piece. This piece is large. LARGE. Two FOOT by three FOOT. 

Over sized cross stitch, pixelated portrait. 

Here is a snapshot I took of two people looking closely at the work in portrait. I wanted to give you a true idea of how big this is. I enjoyed seeing people go in close for a good look and kind of shake their heads, unbelieving at first, "whoa" and then they lean a little closer and see that this huge portrait is actually made of thousands of stitches, not ink, and utter another, breathy "whoa!" and then turn to their friends and say "whoa, this is crazy, come check this out!" It makes me proud for my friend. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

Wait until you see what else Ellen is cooking up! I'll have to think of a better phrase than mind blowing, but let's just say it will make this gorgeous portrait look rather small.

My friends came to the show, too! 

Hi Lokens!

These are some other pieces I thought were great...

 Yarn bombed.

I did that, heehee! I think wrapping those fence posts in small, knitted squares is as close to actually knitting as I'll ever get.

Oh, hai guys! Hey look, it's that thing I made.

It was a great night, but it went by so fast! I got to meet some online artist friends in person, I got to see fabulous art, I got to see my best friend, and I got to be a part of something I never imagined I would. I think it's fair to say I might have been floating on air that night. What a lucky girl I am!

This was short trip to LA, just an over nighter (thanks for the lodgings, Ellen!). Next morning, I had breakfast with Mel then hopped on another plane and flew home. The day after that I hopped on two more planes and flew to Georgia to see family, but that's another post ♥

Whoa, that was a lot of links, I hope I didn't miss anything. Did you make it through? 

Is anyone still here? 

Hellolol...?

What'd ya think? Pretty neat, aye?

oxo,

Lisa