Ok..Truth...will I really finish this?

 There are some projects you start because you have an idea and want to try it out....but...part way through you realize you don't like it.Are we obligated to finish it?...Absolutely Not. I started this baby sweater...loved the colours...hated the yarn. Then one day my coffee spilled on my mittens that bled onto my knitting and left a red stain on both the yarn and the knitting. This was, to me a sure sign to stop.
I am a yarn snob and I realized that I have to love the yarn to finish the project. I can buy a cute acrylic sweater, but I can't buy a hand dyed superwash merino one,  made in a yarnlike Madeline Tosh. Now that there are so many        beautiful superwash wool yarns,

I don't want to knit in a synthetic fibre.
Sure people say they don't want the wool to irritate the baby, but very few people actually have a wool allergy. A wool allergy consists of being allergic to the lanolin in the wool. Most people have an ïtch factor" problem and that can be resolved, for a baby, by using a yarn like Madleine Tosh or Mulberry Yarns which are superwash merinos. Merino is the softest yarn available.
Needless to say, the orange and yellow baby sweater will never be finished...
On the other hand, I have been working on this crochet blanket for years....still love it, the yarn is cotton and I know |I will finish it when the right       reason comes along.

One Hundred Felted Soaps

I did a 100 felted soaps to be used  in gift packages for the opening of the BO.TTEGA The Bottega is a modern farm inn set against the backdrop of beautiful South East Kelowna. I was given  a white alpaca fleece from their herd to use. I mixed it with some fibres that I had in the colours green and teal. The alpaca was beautiful, soft and fluffy. It would be awesome to spin up and knit into something.
This was a fun project to do. 100 soaps seemed like a lot while I was felting them...took quite some time..but in the end they all fit into a shoe box. 

Abstract Paintings UBCO BFA Grad Art Show

The Right Path is a Journey 4'x6'

Depth 40"x40"

The show opened on Tuesday and I sold these two paintings on the first day....It was so exciting. The larger painting is a multi-layered abstract with a felt ball attached to it. The second painting is also an abstract with multiple layers of colour and texture. I called it Depth to compliment its counter part which was Surface.I was thrilled to pass them on to someone who will enjoy them and hang them in their home.

Getting Ready for the UBCO BFA Grad Show

 We spent the day cleaning up the sculpture studio, putting away all the stuff and bringing in the lockers from the hallway. The lockers will be the backbones of our walls which we are building tomorrow. We patched the holes on the walls and painted them white. Joshua and Tony dragged in all the drywall for me...couldn't lift it myself.
It is truly amazing how the place transforms....and how much garbage there is to be thrown out.

All the tables and chairs and junk is hidden behind the lockers

This ladder saved my life...Now I can hang my work.

This will become my white box gallery space.

This is Jennifer's space

Twenty Twelve

The UBCO 2012 BFA Graduation Exhibition is coming up on April 21, 2012 at 7 p.m
Come and join us

The Stories we Tell

My Installation piece for my 4th year BFA show is about the stories women tell when they gather to knit, crochet or whatever. If you would like to share a story with me....I would love to hear it.

 Contact me at coloursparks@gmail.com 

or check out my website for samples.
http://judithmueller.weebly.com/stories.html

Mid Term Critique

 Well, its almost reading break and my mid term critique is behind me. It was well worth while cleaning up my studio and using it as a practice installation space. Its a great way to try all kinds of different ways of installing my pieces. I had attached my heads to the wall with plastic tubing and wasn't really convinced it was the right way. I had them at different lengths but settled on the  shorter length as that way they didn't hang as much.
As I was waiting for my critique time, I realized that something was missing....the metal. My artist statement is about the combination of wool and metal and I was forgetting the metal. So off I went to the metal shop and welded some pieces together and added them to the installation. somehow, for me it was an ah ha moment where I realized that the metal adds an interesting effect to the space. It wasmuch too flat just having the heads attached to the wall.
Anyway, I hung up my balls....I love my balls, and as you look at the heads through the walls, I feel I am getting the elements I want together. The audio is on, but needs work...its the third

 component. It allows the heads to speak....but the not so fast...they need more space
I now realize that there is work to be done and my installation won't completely gel till I have my walls up in the sculpture studio. So reading break is almost here and you will find me in my studio making heads.