Comprehensive exam anyone? My goodness, the stress!

Comprehensive exam anyone? My goodness, the stress!

Things in my house have been a little anxiety-ridden for awhile now. When this sign showed up on the front door last weekend, I knew it could be a long week.

Right this very moment, Emily is taking her first comprehensive exam for her PhD in sociology. This school requires three of them. I can't imagine doing this two more times. The misery of trying to learn everything of any import from the last 150+ years of sociological theory is staggering. (Mind you, I mostly don't have any idea what she is talking about, but I try most days.) Many schools no longer require comprehensive exams. I maintain that if the coursework is rigorous enough, the exams are unnecessary. What a waste of a year of my life! (Oh wait, I mean Emily's life.)

All the little weavings...

All the little weavings...

The small format samples and pieces sure pile up faster than my big pieces. I'm lucky if I get one very large piece done a year. But these little guys just multiply like rabbits. There seem to be stacks and stacks of them now. 

Last week I did this sample for the Weaving Tapestry on Little Looms online class. It was a test run for the new pipe loom as well as a demo for the new class. It is about three inches square at 8 epi.

It's the DIY season, so let's make a loom!

It's the DIY season, so let's make a loom!

Halloween is bearing down on us like a freight train. Even if I never left the house, the Pinterest-y projects would tell me this was the case. I love Pinterest because it is a nice way to tag interesting things I find on the internet to return to later. Mostly I am looking for tapestry-related content. 

But I can't help but laugh at the blog and Facebook posts that start this time of year with titles like, "Nailed it!"

... Today I am going to tackle one of the final projects for the upcoming Tapestry Weaving on Little Looms online class. I'm making a new copper pipe loom. I expect it to be so much fun that I'll run right down to the corner hardware store for more pipe.

Driving all of Nebraska with the ACC conference at the end

Driving all of Nebraska with the ACC conference at the end

To get to Omaha from Colorado, you have to drive the entire length of Nebraska. It is a long state, though not without interest. After many Woolful podcasts, I arrived at Kaneko in downtown Omaha. If you've never been to Kaneko, make sure to make a visit--and leave yourself some time. Their tag line is "open space for your mind." And it is a place that will inspire you if you let it.

I was there for the American Craft Council conference, Present Tense. I was interested in meeting other creatives and having a few days to talk about the world of art-making.

Seth Godin and the accountant

Seth Godin and the accountant

I got up today after not quite enough sleep and went to an appointment with an accountant at the Small Business Development Center downtown. I run a small business. I hear businesses like mine referred to as "micro-businesses" frequently. It is just me doing something I love and trying to meet expenses while still impacting the world positively.

I don't know exactly what made me schedule that appointment at the SBDC, but I remember the way I was feeling. One day last week I had had enough.

Transparency and saturation in tapestry

Transparency and saturation in tapestry

Color is amazing, isn't it? It has the ability to delight us and then, just when we think we know how to use it, kick us in the butt. I think I will be learning a lot about color for the rest of my life. (Fortunately!)

As I was answering questions for my online classes this morning, I came across two submissions of the same exercise in the Color Gradation Techniques class. This exercise is part of the transparency section of the class where we practice using this simple technique to create forms that appear to overlap. The technique works best on large-format pieces and with careful choice of value... and saturation!