Workshop Notes - 03/07/24

There was this time in early 2023 where I made a rule for this project when I was writing once a week. I drew a line in the sand in “A New Rule,” and said, “I will not write if anyone in our house is vomiting.” Well, Juniper got strep this past week, which resulted in vomit. And yet, here I am. I am breaking my own rules, which I put in place to give myself a break. I guess I am a glutton for sticking with my disciplines even if my brain feels like a seared tuna fillet. Ironically, even with Lily and I trading off childcare shifts for three days, I got a lot of FARTS (Fiber Arts) done. Apparently, you can get a lot done when you are watching Frozen for the 45th time.

The big administrative push this past week was launching my funny little weaving and handspinning stickers. In my friend Hannah Haddadi’s weekly Divination for last week, she noted that you will likely be able to reflect on all the progress you made toward a goal. I really felt that strongly this past week. With the launch complete on Saturday, I was able to reflect at everything I learned in setting up a whole e-commerce storefront, which I am dubbing the Wizard’s Corner Store. I figured out how to print shipping labels, do all the packaging, get stickers printed for a reasonable cost at a unionized print shop. Each little task felt like a mountain while I was figuring it out, but I methodically figured each out and sent out the first batch of orders in the mail this week. It’s still sorta nuts that I was able to figure it all out and actually make sales. I am just proud of myself that I am still able to surprise myself well into my late 30s in what new things I am able to accomplish. There are still a bunch of stickers in the store, so go check them out! Treat yoself to some fiber art tomfoolery for your bumper. STICKER PURCHASE LINK

I also have to thank all my closest friends and Lily for helping me along the way. You have no idea how helpful it is to get a message of encouragement from a friend that folks are excited about a silly little bumper sticker you got printed. Again, big ups to Meredith Graves, the blackened G.O.A.T. of dark fiber arts, who helped think up the Only Wool is Real sticker. I sent off her package with 15 of each sticker to Brooklyn last week as well. If you are around those parts, keep your eyes peeled for them stickers. Lily was the true goat. Since she has been running her own business for over ten years, Lily was able to help me streamline a lot of the logistics side of things to get me up and running. Her attitude to just go for it is such an inspiration to me. I am too much of a methodical planner as a virgo sun sometimes, so she gets me to tap into my aries rising and take that passion plunge. As per usual, it takes a village to get even the silliest, smallest projects off the ground and running.

The funny thing is that accomplishing this project sorta makes me feel invincible. I know that’s sorta funny, because its all just sort of doing a little design work in canva and taking care of logistics. Yet, I really thought this sort of project was way over my head. I never in a million years thought I could be one of those sticker guys, but here I am with my own internet corner store selling my oddball stickers. The feeling is not dissimilar to when I started weaving and realized I could wield a craft that I never thought in a million years that I would have the skill to accomplish. 47 million huzzahs for continuing to do the things that we think are impossible, even if they are just SMOL little business things.

The bigger part of my excitement is that I have created something that is retaking visual space from the corporations with fiber art and luddite slogans. All stickers I create won’t be branded. They will just be these anonymous anticapitalist or absurd little slogans that will hopefully make people smile. Just the idea that some folks will have these stickers that poke fun at automation and the internet hyperreality on their cars or water bottles brings me so much joy. It feels like I am embodying the same energy that Banksy illustrated in his classic rip on advertising:

“You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.”

Yeah, we don’t owe the companies anything and we can cover our world in art and silly stickers all we want.

I finished the weaving on Destiny’s commission on Tuesday night. I couldn’t be more pleased with how this turned out. The big challenge with these triparte weavings is ensuring that each border is the exact same inches in length. To achieve this end, I first have to use the exact same amount of rows to build out each design element in the borders. Then, second, I have to pack down the weft very tightly. I still get surprised when I measure each section with a tape measurer and find they are the same length. It’s truly the tiny wins with weaving that send you over the moon.

I remarked to Lily on Tuesday night that I was proud of myself for all the weaving skills I have competency in. I know I say it often, but it still boggles my mind that I am able to create this uniform and symmetrical of a weaving with yarn that I handspun and dyed myself. I am not obsessed with this perfection as I am making the weaving. However, I certainly approach weaving as a very ordered process where I am aiming to arrange my design elements in symmetry with one another and make my selvedges (the edges) uniform. There is a visceral feeling that witnessing the little bit of order I created in my fiber spells brings out of me. It’s a contentment with what my imagination and hands were able to conjure from the void. After all these years, that is still one of my favorite parts of weaving.

After completing this weaving, I will be doing a small death cloth to honor the life of Destiny’s doggo Luigi. After taking a break from making reels, I am feeling called to document my creation process of Luigi’s death cloth with one retrospective reel. It will still be about 15-17 seconds in length, but will cover all the unique work that goes into making a death work textile for someone. As I am twinning off Destiny’s piece, I am already getting excited to get to work on that little 5in x 5in piece, that will feature Luigi’s beautiful multi-colored fur as a key accent in the center of the piece. I am thinking that I will do 2in bands of chocolate brown on the top and bottom and use a 1 inch band of white Shetland as a backdrop for incorporating Luigi’s fur. I think that will be a beautiful memorial for the lil doggo.

Album of the week - Matt Skellenger Group “Subspace Transmission”

Matt Skellenger is an excellent bassist in the lineage of Victor Wooten’s style of expressive, emotive playing. His bass tone has that same deep resonance that can take the place of an electric guitar in a jazz ensemble. Skellenger also happened to be the guy that taught me my first bass lessons, so I have a soft spot for his music. I found this record on CD at the local record store recently, and it brought me back to that creative lull I experienced with fiber art in 2019. It was within that period that I wove less and focused on different artistic pursuits like learning the bass. Consequently, whenever I put this record on, I imagine that I will pick up the bass again. Even if I don’t, I can still appreciate Skellenger’s excellent playing and dream of playing the bass like him.

That’s all for this workshop note, dear reader. I appreciate you being here. Go get you a FARTS sticker if that’s your dealy bob, ok? I would love to package you up an order and send it to your crib.

Best,

James

As always, I am grateful for y’all’s support. I remain devoted to talking about issues that folks don’t want to talk about and grey areas that feel scary to explore. If you are interested in this sort of prose, consider subscribing to this project. It’s where I offer two long form essays a week about craft and spirituality. I even do music mixes or album suggestions on Thursday and pretty regular photo essays. Free subscribers get access to every other weeks content and paid subscribers get access to every week of content. If interested in going paid, it’s $5 a month or $50 dollars a year. All free and paid support means the world to me. Thanks again.