to.give.thanks

i am nearly in the clear. a moments rest is just beyond reach around the corner. and after days, weeks and months leading to our clothesline weekend, i am now filled with overwhelming joy and anticipation, i am thankful. grateful beyond a simple word. affirmed in my artistic desires and dreams. recovering my wits about me i am eager to begin anew, the commissions, coral castles awaits, and paper quilt publishing submissions. with one hundred and one thousand projects that i hope to afford the time for. and as of last night, in a small but informative discussion with my boss at cvs, i pretty well exclaimed my decision to quit my part time efforts before or around october twenty sixth. it is because of your support that i can rely and trust in what making art can do for me. cvs filled a space of time for me in the evenings that i was not using to benefit me, almost three years ago. now that i have found my self in my art, i have found comfort and i recognize my responsibilities and the gift i want to share is more. making art for myself is indescribably incredible. it fills me up, it lifts my spirits and lays insecurities and fear to bed.

i must thank my mom and dad for creating the creativity in me, somehow, god only knows. to my sisters: suzanne for standing beside me, emily for dying my hair, my dear mary and laurie for sweet words of encouragement everyday and for loving my art. to my brothers, ethan for the email this morning, for finding me after your twenty nine years, as siblings in the same world of creativity. he a builder, myself a visual artist. your words ethan, are words to live by and for and to cry out and exclaim the truth about, what we do and how it represents our hearts, thank you for finding the common ground with me. thank you aaron for being solid.

to the women of clothesline my heart is humbled by your beautiful inspiring art. i know i'm being weepy and sappy but our hearts and souls, our eyes have seen the glory and we have been given the gift of sharing it. i love every minute of planning and organizing and driving the efforts and event to it's opening to closing.

to my patrons: rob and maryalice, i cannot believe you guys. may twilight trees forever bring happiness and joy, may you be reminded of the sweetness of childhood and rest in underneath a forest of beautiful happy trees. thank you. to those of you who took a small bit of my art home with you i am so happy. to rebekah s., you know who you are, thank you for watching my work, for blurking, for your encouragement, for being honest and for stepping out and purchasing. to annette, if you're reading, thank you. i am so glad you liked my television trees, i was seriously worried about how an audience would receive it and wanted someone to love it as much as i do. i'm glad you found it. to taylor, again if you're reading, i'd love to make more artwork especially for you, thank you and feel free to contact me. to austina, it was so nice to finally meet you. i am so happy you liked my fish enough to give it away as a gift, i hope that it conjures up a beautiful little world for the little girl you're giving it to. amy and greg we'll be in convo, i'll have recycled air for you this coming friday! thank you phillip, denise and stevie for making it out. and to my coworkers thank you. thank you too linda!

okay, i think i'm finished. i am sorry if that was laborious, it's just really important that i thank you all publically because this is the beginning and i sort of want it to last forever. i also want all of you to know how serious i am about creating work, not for the money, not for fame, but for the purpose of bringing light and life into your homes. if you or your children are inspired by what my hands have done than as so many have said before me, i have met my goal and have served as i desire.

if you and i spoke at the show regarding commissioned work please feel free to contact me. email me at catcollier@hotmail.com. i would love to fill my calendar with deadlines for the rest of the year and for the first six months of next year. if you're interested in completed work not seen at the clothesline show, i'd encourage you to visit my etsy shop. i promise i will be updating with new work and the paper quilt cards.

if you're interested in keeping up with clothesline remember we've got the blog and if you're an artist we spoke to about getting involved and or participating we will be intouch. i've got just a bit more catching up to do and then it'll be back to regular broadcasting efforts here at phantomcrimes.

i just started reading mason & dixon by thomas pynchon and dixon in a letter to mason ends by saying: "y'r o'b'd't s'v't"

that's sort of how i feel about right now, goodbye all. until tomorrow.

nobody girl

this past weekend i seriously accomplished the huge list of things i needed to. it's amazing what a deadline can do. it's even more amazing that i didn't have to work until last night. having had a whole lot of time, almost ninty six hours worth, to paint, print, package, hang, distribute, meet&discuss and recover all that i originally thought was lost in my head. when you have thought about something for so long and then it actually happens or gets close to happening, it can be a little overwhelming and boy oh boy what a relief.
i am super excited about what i have to share and show at clothesline and can't believe that we're about to do it all again. the second in my television trees (above) is a serious departure from my paper quilts, even from my previous trees, but all in all these are the trees i've been thinking about and feeling like lying underneath. and of course there's nothing about them that is symbolic, it's my personal interpretation on graffiti, on a soft world of graffiti that is.

on saturday i finally got to the printers and on sunday picked up sixty brand spankin new card sets of my six paper quilts. this go around i wanted to spruce them up a bit and am pleased as punch with their new rounded corners-ahhh and envelope seals!

on one hand i wish i could say that after clothesline i'd get a little bit of break but on the other hand, i'm eager to start the next in line project(s). my next "meet the deadline" is october first. i have in the recent months been asked by aaron robbs, lead singer/gituarist for coral castles to design:make the art for their newest album:ep. on sunday we had the opportunity to sit and and discuss, surf the www and speak openly on subjects of design, art, creativity and the like. i am thrilled to pieces about this and can barely contain my thoughts on this tip.
i think i mine as well just post about my next deadline. i'm hestitant because there all kinds of things that i have to do first, plus a publishers approval and all, but i'm excited and thought if i told you all about it you could keep me in your thoughts and "cross fingered" prayers.

i have been contacted by someone who would like me to submit my paper quilts for a diy book to be published at the beginning of next year. it is going to be a whole lot of work but i feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and to share it with my friends, family and readers here. it seems like it maybe an encouragement to you as you travel down your own creative paths. i will definitely keep you updated as i approach december one and january one of twothousandeight.
i've started my next to last piece for the clothesline show, pictured below and hope to have it completed by tonight or tomorrow. again what's with the rounded corners? this will be my third twilight trees (a warm colored one for the record books) and then a fourth (a cooler one in blues and greens and turqs) hopefully will be completed by thursday night-friday afternoon at the latest. unga.

i have no idea if i'm leaving something out or not. if it weren't for the holiday i think i might have gone bonkers. thanks labor day!

thinking about ryan adams, can you tell?

are you coming or not?

Twilight Trees II:i am not my own

it will take a miracle, a miracle beyond all. to the form or shape of what, i'm not so sure. to complete enough work for the upcoming clothesline show. in the mean time i have finally finished the second installment in a twilight trees series, which may have started here...or here. maybe i'm misgiven, it's less of a series and more like a forest i think and write about when describing all of the trees i have been painting. lately i have forgotten all about the grove of trees i have hanging at fitness together and can't imagine what they might all look like hanging out together. i suppose that if i'm unable to accomplish my goal of four more new pieces, i could show flea market:beehive tree and the freezing trees, but they're not so new, but they've not ever really been seen in a show/exhibit forum. one last thing, i'd like to have cards made of my paper quilt series. it's seriously all going to stretch me, mentally, physically, and probably financially, and artistically yes, but it is growth after all. yikes!

in the eye of my small little storm. i'm realizing how little i am my own at this point. it's how the tide has turned and i am more of my art than my art is apart of me. it is living and breathing, sleeping and eating my art. it's about being emotionally tied up, bound to sleepless nights of planning and rehearsing the hours and days to come. and i need to be thinking about my health too? goodness. i believe it will all be alright. it will all come together in the end. until then i'll keep you afoot of the details. and please think of coming out to our show in september. it has been a thrill to see how all of the lose ends are coming together and i'd be so happy to see each of you there. thanks a mil:)

ae.eh.ia.oh.uo.

the clothesline is off and running. of course we will update the public with dates and times. our meeting went really well last night and we're gearing up for an even better show, even better representation and presentation. mostly we'll have things internally smoother which was our main concern coming out of the previous show. if you're a participating artist please make sure you've checked your email, at the bottom of each email is a specific task list that you've most likely volunteered to help accomplish. i feel incredibly fortunate to be amoungst this great group of women, who are artists but also mothers, wives, and professionals. jennifer kring came having done a considerable amount of research {thank you!} and we have settled on the weekend of september 8th. mark it on your calendars!!! laura, diane, katie, mary, maria, linda, and kelly, as well as christina and lauren will all be back with new art, just in time for the holidays. we are corresponding the clothesline show with the gallery hop on the 8th. we're hoping to get on the map!!!

the clothesline is really the news of the day. i spent the rest of last night compiling thoughts and ideas and then this morning it's been about emailing and posting chemo charges simultaneously. how wonderful i feel.

making a way

i haven't had nearly enough time to get by here. in the last week i have felt like i was barely making a way for myself let alone phantomcrimes. yet throughout the thick and the thin of a sixty hour work week i made it and enjoyed mostly every minute of it. tammy gilley sent me an incredible five senses swap package, i almost couldn't believe my eyes, mostly overwhelmed in her brillant color choices. i feel terrible, i haven't a minute to send my five senses swap to my partner. although i've gathered just about everything, it's a shame, i should have figured my timing out a little better. i am so so sorry anastasia.

i did however finally get around to finishing my paper quilt project piece and sent it off. i feel fairly uncertain about the outcome and am not quite ready to show it off. i think it came together well enough and it amounts to meaning something to me and i felt so honored to contribute, but as far as the best thing i've ever done in my life. probably not. it comes down to my familytree and how it has grown and grown over the past few years. how i have grown to love my family; past, present and future family. how these family people have become some of the most important people in my life. a tree that represents life, growth, shade, protection and stability. and on a side note the paper quilt project and wendell berry's hannah coulter have both made me think of my nana. i remember crying my eyes out at her graveside service, because it was one of the most beautiful new jersey days you could possibly imagine. and plus i was there at her side as she slipped gently into the night. i felt heaven in those minute quiet seconds. sometimes i seem to invent things that remind me of her or others past. so strange. so wonderful to know.

and then how the clothesline show came to be. oh personally i had an amazing time. the spirit of the moment, the weather, the women artists, the amount and variety of art, the food, the fellowship, the turnout was all so overwhelming. it was not as you might think a party or artshow to be, more mild and calm, laid bare to avoid intimadation, the gallery pretense was nowhere to be found, intentionally. it was an immense success and the internal flaws can be looked at as a potential growth and strength. there is room for improvement, yes. but that is not to say it wasn't a fantastic way to celebrate art made by women artists. i can't not wait to get started on the planning for a fall show. look for updates both in my flickr and the official clothesline blog/site. if you were there and would like to leave an sort of feedback please do on that site. or email us and your thoughts at: ourclothesline@gmail[dot]com. thank you all so much for coming out and supporting us, me, them, everyone.

and for those of you following sam and liam's story...well they are doing really really well. they spent most of the day out and about town with their two little parentals. i had a chance to see them on sunday, very short and they're feeding well, growing and making us smile. thank you all for your continued thoughts and support. our family and the aaron and laurie collier family sure to appreciate everything.

that's it folks. gotta hit the trail, so to speak.

*making me happy*

it is amazing to me that sam and liam are actually here. i decided that i could not stay away from the hospital this past weekend. the temptation was so great. and here in the yellow cap is sam. and in the white cap, little liam. funny how babies change the instant they are born. according to laurie, sam was fairly active in the womb and now after having entered the world, has become chill and quiet. liam on the other hand was stressed a bit in the womb, crushed underneath sam and now as you see in alvin huffine's arms is more alert and active. yesterday i went to see them before they went home and they were in their little tanning beds. oh my oh my. laurie and aaron are doing really well. they were really eager to get home, to show their boys their rooms and the giraffe, to sleep in their own beds. laurie can actually breath now, previously so much pressure. aaron will be off a little and then will have to go back to school to finish up the year and he'll be out for the summer. we are going to have an awesome summer. i cannot wait. cannot.
i have plenty to accomplish and have nothing to show. i have been working my paper quilt project piece and should be finished by the end of the week. right now i don't feel like showing it to anyone. and i've gotta the rest of my five senses swap together. and clothesline at the end of the week.

working on our clothesline

just wanted to let you all know that katie and i have been working most of the day on a new site/blog for the women artist who are participating in the may 2007 clothesline show. i really wanted to use the new blogger format but can't take the time to learn the html language-xtml or xhml or whatever the heck it is. kind of more complicated. if you are a participating women artist and would like to contribute work or thoughts or what have you please contact me @ catcollier[at]hotmail[dot]com. i will also include your name and site/blog/myspace on the sidebar. i am thinking i ought to send out an email asking for info from each of you (the eleven). until then please go by, check out, let us know what you think. this will help not only us but the rest of the chattanooga community of women artists as well as the general public. hope all of you have an excellant weekend. takecare.