Virginia A. Spiegel

Just a reminder that my sister and I will be at the REI store in Maple Grove, MN this Saturday at 2 p.m for a discussion of adventure and art in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Follow the Classes, Events and Presentations link from here for more information. I will have Boundary Waters 24 on display as well as other BWCAW-inspired art.

We have our packs already packed as we will be setting off on Sunday on the first of two BWCAW trips in May/June. We have had to choose an area of the BWCAW away from the Gunflint Trail due to the Ham Lake Fire. It matters not as what we most desire to have paddles in hand, new canoe in the water and the adventure underway.

Yes, time for another Garbage Day Project post on my website. I’ve added a new category to TGDP, Amazing Things A Garbage Truck Can Crush, as well as information about reusable shopping bags.

Today’s bonus photo is of wood in its more elemental form.

After a show has been shipped, I always like to clean my studio. I can’t imagine re-starting in July after all my travels in this chaos.

A little measuring, a trip to Ikea, and here’s my new under-the-counter basket towers (from the bedroom closet section) in progress. The directions said to pound in the connecting panels on a wood surface; the back of my large ironing surface worked great.

What seemed like 400 hours later - my “new” studio! A little scary in its neatness. The sewing table has to go in that exact spot so my view is only of trees and fields and not my neighbors.

I always need a second work table. I “borrowed” this one from my book arts studio which is now going to be strictly storage of “stuff” not being used in my current work. I always bring my book projects to my textile studio anyway. All my painting stuff has gone to the basement. It’s a chain reaction of organizing yet-to-do.

My husband had to convince me to buy this clip-on rack - whatever would I use it for?

The white fabric covers basket towers with all my hand-painted and hand-dyed fabric - they are still a disaster. I have the two baskets of fabric for the Boundary Waters series under the table behind my sewing table. Two design walls are stacked one behind the other.

Other Ikea items besides the work tables — a bedroom dresser for yarn, found objects, etc.; collapsable fabric containers in a variety of sizes for inside the new baskets and on top of the dresser, and a metal wastebasket to store rolled Lutradur, interfacing, etc. I still have artwork to hang, but this is a studio that I will be happy to return to in July.

I’m still finding interesting fabric from my Virtual Studio at Make It University with Cloth Paper Scissors magazine at IQF-Chicago.

Both of these pieces were painted, dried overnight and then rubbings using Shiva paint sticks were added. For the rubbings, I used my own E-Z-Cut (available from Dick Blick) stamp (the spiral), a rubbing plate made from small wooden letters glued (E-6000) to a piece of plywood, and a cardboard lunch tray given to me by Peg Keeney (small square grid).

My sister and I will be at the REI Store in Maple Grove, MN next Saturday, May 19, talking about our nine (so far!) trips to the Boundary Waters. I wrote an article for the Boundary Waters Journal and despite the editor giving it the title Canoe Up, GIRLS!, the REI Outreach Specialist invited us to share some tips to fire up other women to give the BWCAW a try. Here are all the details.

I will be bringing several of my Boundary Waters journals, including this one that was featured in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, as well as work from the Portage and Boundary Waters series. I hope to see you there!