ArtSpirit7

ABSTRACT ON FABRIC

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mary gow, indigo art, 2024.

“Indigo Abstract,” indigo dye on fabric, by Mary Gow.

With my love of abstract art that translates so well if applied to fabrics – finally in early 2024 I took a class I’ve been longing to take for a long while.

I discovered Joy Lily’s “Dyeing For Crafters with Shibori” class available through South San Francisco’s Parks and Recreation Department.

It’s a four hour class that runs about 9 weeks per term, offered 3 or 4 times a year. In a cool way, that means it’s possible to make this course almost a weekly routine – with some healthy breaks in between!

See the image above for a sample of an indigo piece I created.

If you’re interested in taking Joy Lily’s dyeing class in South San Francisco, go to
https://secure.rec1.com/CA/south-san-francisco-ca/catalog/index/
and in the filters box, put “Dyeing” and you’ll find out if/when the class is offered and whether registration is open.

Exploring abstract painting on fabric is an adventure! I look forward to doing more!

Mary Ciofalo at Sanchez Art Center

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Mary Ciofalo artist

Mary Ciofalo holding her art pieces created using sumi ink. Photo by Mary Gow Pincus.


Ah, the world is opening up and we’re returning to in-person gatherings and that means ART OPENINGS!

With delight, I saw Mary Ciofalo recently at Open Studios at Sanchez Art Center, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd., in Pacifica. I first met Ciofalo in an artist’s portfolio course, taught by Nancy Elliott, at City College of San Francisco over a decade ago.

The last time I had been to Sanzhez Art Center prior to this was for a splendid show titled “All Over the Map,” featuring paintings by Hung Liu, in March of 2018. I plan to write more about Hung Liu in a future post. You can download a PDF describing the Liu’s show by clicking on “All Over the Map.”

The two pieces Ciofalo’s holding were created using sumi ink. I love the her roll-up-able scroll format which reminds me of the portability that Faith Ringgold so eloquently demonstrated with her work on quilts as I saw at her DeYoung Museum show, “American People” in 2022.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with painting watercolors on sheets of card stock with portability in mind. In other words, bravo to works that appeal not only to the eye but also to the beauty found through simplicity of transport and storage.

It was good to see Mary Ciofalo. For those in the San Francisco area, you can see her work at Open Studios in October at Hunter’s Point. I have no idea how portable those pieces will be but it’ll be worth finding out 🙂

Observations

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"Lamb", digital photo by Mary Gow Pincus
Listening to Mel Robbins’ Podcast I find myself working on this post to take action and get it done rather than to think about it too much. Robbins has a 5-4-3-2-1 technique – a way of “just do it” thinking that means get it going. Start counnting, 5-4-3-2-1, and then do it.

I’ve been working on what to write and how to make this an epic and fantastic blog post.

That put a lot of pressure on my getting something posted here.

Do you ever feel that way?

After being away from my blog for a while I’m back, posting something.

The photo above is one I took from my lap, of my legs crossed. You may be able to see my flannel pjs that have little lamb-looking squiggly lines. There’s an intersection with my light purple robe that brings a few folds. I then used the Paper Artist app to get this effect.

For more info on Mel Robbins’ Five Second Rule, to check out her book of the same title, click here.

Let go of observing and go ahead and make a baby step forward, even if it’s an awkward one.

Little bit forward, make adjustments, rinse and repeat.

There, I’ve broken the spell. Check back for that epic post : – )
-Mary

A Real Life Urban Hero

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A few years ago I wrote an urban fantasy essay about being able to take our household plastic garbage to a central place – then a gizmo could restructure the plastics into everyday useable things. Could this happen in reality though?

There’s a lot more to melting down plastic that is best explained in an aritcle I found: “Why Can’t Plastics All Be Melted,” published by The Hour.com. There’s many issues involved and may include the issue that only plastics of the same type of resin should be melded together. . . but then I’m no expert!

Here is a modern day Unsung Hero I’ve come across, worth knowing about! She has figured out a way to make bricks from the plastics that usually go in the trash. She’s also was the winner of the Young Champions of the Earth Award in 2020 for Africa.

Don’t miss finding out about Nzambi Matee and her enterprise in 2 minutes and 26 seconds.

Urban fantasies can come true.