Miriam Badyrka is The Doodler

Doodle of the Week

A nice group of medallions this week.

I like the big one on the bottom. It looks like Greek pottery to me, although it really doesn't. I can't find anything but this plate, which is not what I am thinking of.

Strange how your brain sometimes makes connections that don't really exist. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind are black pottery with incised concentric circle decoration. I am certain it was greek, but I don't know why.

I found these which are blackware ca. 350 - 325 BCE. I think it is as close as I am going to get without resorting to pulling out my old art history text.

And none of us what that, now, do we?

The 2009 crop circle video is here in all its glory. Enjoy!

Doodle of the Week

This week's doodle looks hopeful or like bubbles, take your pick. I think it looks hopeful. I am not certain why I have that impression, but that was my initial response when I saw this one. Which is a good thing, I think.

I have been feeling not so optimistic about my art lately. I have no clue what to do with the Books and Needles project. I am trying to do some new, and not so easy things with it. Things that make me nervous. At the moment, I am on the bad side of the learning curve

Doodle of the Week

Another group of roundels. I like how bold they look, but otherwise have little to say about them. I didn't doodle anything particularly interesting this week. 

Doodle of the Week

I like this doodle, it is a bit more organic than my usual Collection of Medallions type doodle. The whole thing revolves around the central medallion.

There is something about this doodle that reminds me of a tatoo from the South Pacific. I am going to have to do some research on this, a quick google search leads me to tatoo galleries, but not the kind of historical documentation of tribal tatoos that I am looking for.  

This is a Maori facial tatoo from the 1800's.

I have breezed through a couple of tatoo galleries, but they are not really what I had in mind. Mostly it is people selling downloadable designs for you to have tatooed.

I don't have any tatoos and don't want one. I do like them as art though. Many of my doodles would fit right in.

It does make me wonder if that is what most of the hits on my blog are from people looking for tatoo designs. Could that really be it?

I took another stab at a search and came up with this, which claims to be the world's largest on line tatoo museum. This seems more like what I was after.

Doodle of the Week

I love this one. I wish it was big enough to cover my bed.

I have been thinking about block printing on fabric for a while now, but haven't acted on it. I used to do quite a bit of block printing, and also incorporated it into my paintings. In my mind's eye I see this work as have a combination of block printed and embroidered elements.

This doodle may spur me to action, because I see this doodle as being a much larger scale. It is time to spring for some fabric and do some experimenting. I am really excited!

Embroidery #13

Here is the latest free embroidery doodle in my Books & Needles project. I know the name of this one, but oddly enough, I am not certain which way it ought to be oriented.

Even though I have always twisted and turned my work (this includes paintings, drawings, doodles and even the books) in every direction while working, I have almost always known which way was supposed to be up. My work has always told me which way it wanted to go, but this one ain't talking.

Here it is again, but flipped over. I think it works either way.

In my student days, I was told that it was a sign of a good abstract composition if the work looks good from any direction, but I have never really subscribed to that point of view. I think it is a good exercise to turn work. It gives you a new perspective and fresh eyes, but I still know if the piece is laying on it's side or upside down.

This piece is called The Star Factory. Do stars come from below and float up, or do they come from above and drift away? 

Doodle of the Week

Here is this week's doodle. I like the large medallions, but mostly this is a fairly ordinary group with a couple of pods thrown. The reason I picked this page is the carpet doodle on top. The long (for me, anyway)  stretches of repeating motifs are rather unusual. Plus, I like the way that they change direction from vertical to horizontal and back again.

We went for a wet hike this morning. Before deciding to go, we checked the weather. It said the rain would come in the afternoon. They lied. Now, I have a damp dog. 

I did finish the embroidery I promised last week. I just didn't get it up. I will post it either Monday or Tuesday.

Lots and Lots o' Links

Time for an extremely linky post because my bookmark list has gotten long and I don’t know what half of them are anymore. Do you do this, or is it only me?

First up is this lace inspired fencing by Dermakersvan . Their site says they will soon launch a website devoted to this fencing. Impressive what comes up when you use that feeling lucky button on Google.

While flipping through their other products, I found this picture which reminds me of Théâtre de la Mode. The Théâtre de la Mode is one of my favorite things ever. It is housed at the wonderfully strange Maryhill Museum in Goldendale, Washington. They even have their own Stonehenge.

Along the same line, from Coilhouse, strange and mysterious costumes from a 1908 production called Blue Bird.

From the Textile Blog, we have wonderful abstract patterns from 1900 by Rene Beauclair. You can see more of this work in this Flickr photostream.

For the Cooper Hewitt exhibit Fashioning Felt, Janice Arnold made a yurt inspired by the museum's conservatory. Here is a wonderful video of the making of the felts for her palace yurt installation. I am especially jazzed by this because I just finished reading Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. I knew little about the Mongolian's place in history before reading this. I wonder why their history is so little taught here in the west, because their impact on our history and our present is undeniable.

A crafty thing that caught my eye. I don’t usually make things that have directions, but I may actually have to learn to fold these shells, the lady in the video makes it look so easy.

Sculptor Tara Donavan. Beautiful white on white works, meditations on infinity.This image is called Haze and is made of clear plastic drinking straws.

Some of them are horrible, but it is fun perusing this Flickr set of pen drawings. I like the bold, geometric drawing  by Alex Purdy and this one by BernierJordan. This is my favorite, by Derrick Buisch. I like the colors and the scribbley energy, so different than anything I would do.

Fibercopia is one of my new, favorite blogs. A treasure trove of rugs and textiles chosen by an interior designer who is obviously in love of all things fiber. I have yet to make it through the archives, but I am sure that there are wonderful things to be found in them.

Ross Racine’s digital drawings of imaginary subdivisions. Simultaneously snarky and beautiful. I love the aerial viewpoint and the geometry imposed by the subject matter. (via bad banana blog)

Some resources for tapa cloth. I love the bold geometric designs.This site has a nifty little video too.

Look at these! I have no idea how or where I came upon these scary surgical instruments, but they are interesting as objects. I wonder what I was thinking when I bookmarked them. But, since it is October, they are just right for Halloween.

Doodle of the Week

This is a very busy doodle. It is a carpet doodle with 3 borders.

Why, I am asking myself, only 3 borders? Why is the left hand border so much more intricate than the other two, which are just simple repetitive shapes?

It is useless to ask these sorts of questions, but I still do it anyway.

I still haven't written that link post or finished my latest embroidery. This week has swooshed on by without my even noticing it. I know I was busy all week, but what did I do?

It is useless for me to ask a question like that too.

Doodle of the Week

Here is a large mandala image. Still with the circles, but a nice one, with a small satellite. I especially like the positive/negative dots. A minor detail, but one that pleases me.

My bookmark list is getting huge again. I must write a link-y post. Stay tuned for it later this week, along with a new embroidery.