If you haven’t heard, Google is taking steps to delete inactive accounts, so if you have gmail accounts for email or a blog, etc. you might want to be sure you are using them occasionally. Google of course did send out warnings months ago. But now zero hour is approaching. December 2023 the fun begins. As the title says—I love deadlines.
I don't want to lose this blog which I started in 2009, so today with this new post I hope to prevent deletion. I set up Sentimental Pentimento initially as an alternative to an art website. The title was taken from a piece I made in 2007, if memory serves, and it in turn borrowed the title from Lillian Hellman’s book of the same name. Along the way the blog became much more—a chronicle of my work both finished and in progress; all the various shows I participated in or curated; plus work by others.
Now that I'm behind the scenes in blog mode, it turns out I haven't completely forgotten how to set up a post. Thankfully Blogger hasn't changed much in that regard. I like the old school feel.
If you are wondering why the big gap between posts...it’s not that I’ve forgotten how to make rusty art, it’s just that the spark for creating went out. My outdoor studio, seen above behind the shed, has been idle since fall of 2017. I made a ton of work that year, in fact much more fabric was rusted that year than any other, more than 50 pieces in all. I did several shows too and It wore me out. I always take a break between seasons, but in the space of the following two years, both my brother and my sister passed away and I had a stroke in between their deaths.
FYI, it was mild, as strokes go, and I fully recovered, but the spark to create has not returned. I did participate in the last ever Innovations in Textiles event in 2019 by exhibiting some work at the RAC Gallery on Delmar in St. Louis along with fellow grads by invitation of my professor from the fiber department at SIUE. Then In the summer of 2022 I curated a show for a friend who has a gallery in Hillsboro, IL. I hadn't curated since 2015 and like always, I forgot how much work goes into the planning and installation. I’m way too old and out of shape for the level of physical work required. It was a humdinger of a show though, and I’m glad it happened.
Anyhoo, here I am trying to save something important to me, just because I’m a saver. We had a spectacular fall color display here in south western Illinois. Our maple trees, fire bushes, sassafras and sweet gums provided some beautiful scenes around the yard. So for the time being I’ll leave you with my favorite photo of the batch I took in late October.
