Names

I wish I could say these patterns are mine, but actually they are a study I did of the textile designs of the inspiring Lucienne Day (1917-2010). It was fun to recreate what someone else's hand and mind had created.

Not only was Lucienne Day an interesting person, she had a cool name. Thinking of her name reminds of a boy who was in my class at college whose name was Lucien Snow. I thought that was a good name, but he turned out to not be as likable as his name.

And thinking of Lucien Snow's name got me thinking about one of my all time favorite names: Neptune Frost. Neptune Frost! What a name! Neptune was a black soldier who died at the battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775, which was the fight that triggered the start of the American Revolutionary War. He is buried in the old burial ground in the middle of Harvard Square, Cambridge. I mean, he's right there, 20 feet from a bus stop! There's a sign on the fence to let you know that he and another black soldier from that war, Cato Steadman, are buried there. What a wonderful name - Neptune Frost. It just makes you want to write a book, or a song, or simply rejoice in the presence of poetry.

What's your favorite name?

Wool Week

Did you know that Britain and the Campaign for Wool has deemed October 11-17 "Wool Week"? They want to educate people on the advantages of wearing, wrapping, knitting, decorating, and living with wool in order to support sheep farms, endangered breeds of sheep, and the production of wool.

It's so gray, windy, and rainy today that it's definitely a good day to wear some wool or stay under your wool blanket. My most worn and most loved wool item is the fuschia wool scarf I got in 1983 when I took the train into Boston with my friend Maria Garcia (where is she now?) and went shopping at Filene's (out of business). The highlight was trying on some Girbaud jeans (do people still wear these?). What's your favorite wool thing?

Cairn

I've been wanting to make some pictures from my trip to Ireland, and Queen Medb's Cairn on the summit of Knocknarea Mountain in Strandhill was my first choice. (She is also known as Queen Maeve if you anglicize her name.) Queen Medb's got an interesting story, a mixture of potential truths and a lot of mythology. But, what really surprised me is that it turns out she was killed by Furbaide with a piece of cheese. Yes, cheese. He used it as a missile to kill her while she bathed in a pool. I figure that part must be true.

10.10.10

I am trying to be artistically productive, but it's not going that great. My painting of Queen Maeve's megalithic tomb looks more like Queen Maeve's pile of spinach in a field.

Drawing this twig made me feel better. In fact, I am thinking of drawing it again.

But what I really want to say is, I wish I needed more keys, ant traps, or Whiffle ball bats, because the two guys working at the West Roxbury True Value Hardware are unexpectedly rocking it in a "I ride a bicycle and raise my own chickens" kind of way.