Saturday, March 12, 2016

A Year Gone By......

Yes, it's been a whole year since I last blogged. But, what a busy year it's been! I assisted in the creation of an on-line store, www.santafefabrics.com, and wrote stories, fabric descriptions, and Cookie's blog for that gorgeous website. I also helped women become their most creative selves in the brick and mortar store, and drew many followers on Twitter and through Cookie's witty banter and stylish observations. Sadly, the owners, Nancy and Jack, decided to close the business, and so I moved on to help launch Detours at La Fonda www.lafondasantafe.com, the hotel's new gift store. It carries all the guest necessities ("I need a bottle opener for that Merlot I just purchased"), along with La Fonda Lifestyles, high-end art and much more.

It's good to write for myself again, so I'll update my Facebook page www.facebook.com/StudioLizzy, Tweet Cynthia Cavanaugh@StudioLIzzy.com, and Reggie will be heard from again (he's been very miffed, and his fans have not been happy about his absence).

And, since I'm also looking for those perfect writing assignments, here are some examples from my very eclectic portfolio.

The keys are clicking again!

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Lunchtime Letter

My Darling Peach,

You and your partner were the chosen ones.
So huge and gorgeous, nestled in your little carton
near the late summer melons and early fall apples.

I placed you gently into my basket and nudged you
around so the onions, pinto beans, beets, and roasted chilies
wouldn’t bruise your tender skin
I knew you weren’t ready, so you sat in a plain brown bag
in my kitchen for a few days.

I’ve had my lunch of earthy quinoa salad from Real Food Nation,
and the last of the glorious tiny cherry tomatoes, so sweet,
they burst on my tongue like exploding sugar balls.

Wouldn’t anything after that be really anticlimactic?

But there you were, filling the house with your heady perfume.
So huge I’d have to cut you in half with no one to share you with.
Peeled, sliced, and laid out in jeweled slices,
one bite sent all cherry tomato memory into orbit.

Your days in paper bag seclusion released all your musky sweetness.
You’re so good, you don’t need a pie or tart to add to your pure,
luscious magnificence.

Memories of long-ago evenings of mom’s canning from the Little
Tree in the Yard fill my mind with every bite.
You are the essence of summer, my darling.
Thank you for sharing yourself with me.

All my love,
-C

Cynthia L. Cavanaugh 09/10

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A fabric description for www.santafefabrics.com by Cynthia Cavanaugh
A Devore Velvet Coat from the 1920's
Fukeiga Devore Velvet

65% Rayon / 35% Silk, 42-44" wide
Fukeiga, or Japanese landscape, is beautifully rendered in this sumptuous burnout (or devoré) velvet. The sheer dyed scene in soft, subtle colors sits next to the gorgeous black velvet. This treasure reaches back to the popularity of devoré in evening coats of the late teens and early 20's: think Fortuny and Callot Soeurs, and wraps, opera coats, or jackets...

.....or, if you're very at ease in your own skin and a little adventurous, consider separating the two landscape scenes into pieces with sheer areas placed wherever you're comfortable. A form-fitting dress with each fukeiga running vertically down your sides, or fitting snugly in a horizontal placement ever so strategically...
...or fabricate your piece on the diagonal to float this scene around your body.

This work of art could be executed in your own art piece: an evening wrap, vest, or shaped jacket in its most elegant form. The black ground with softened shades would be the star of any night out.

Have fun with your own work of art! A Cookie Favorite

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A page from a lecture for on-line class at CSULB
Cynthia Cavanaugh, Instructor

COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT
MODULE 3: CARE AND STORAGE
Class Eight: Exhibition

Introduction
The size and type of institution that you work for will dictate your involvement with exhibitions. Your institution might not have exhibitions at all; but you might loan out your pieces to other institutions for exhibition. In that case, you might need to courier the art to its destination.

You might work for a very small institution where you “wear many hats” and will act as Curator, Registrar, Collections Manager, etc. In that case, your roles will be very broad.

You might work for a large institution that does exhibit, but has many departments involved, and so your role is strictly in Collections Management.

In this last lesson we’ll deal with both the first and third scenarios because both of those cover the second scenario, that of a small institution, as well. Please refer to your hand-out, “Exhibition Protocol”. This is a protocol that I collaborated on with Conservation to clearly define everyone’s role within our department, in the installation and de-installation of an exhibition. I think that the role of the Collections Manager (in this case called Collection Administrator) is fairly typical of what you would find in most large institutions that handle exhibitions.

Also, this last lesson is all about your organizational skills. You have learned about the hands-on aspect of Collections Management, and you’ve already started to organize your own files with many of the sources that we’ve made available to you to refer to in the future. Your involvement with loans and exhibitions calls upon the handling skills you now have, and will, develop. But, more than that, if you are already a very organized person, that will greatly enhance your ability to handle the intricacies of art movement. If organizational skills are not your greatest asset, now is definitely the time to work on that!

In this class we’ll talk about:
  • Loans
  • Collection Manager as courier
  • In-house exhibitions
  • Record keeping
Required reading
1.         The New Museum Registration Methods pages 189-191, 151-155, and 355-358.
2.         Hand-out: “Exhibition Protocol”.

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A fabric story for www.santafefabrics.com by Cynthia Cavanaugh
Making Mali Mud Cloth
Mali Adventure, Day 4 –Djenne′

Sitting here in the cooling shade of a café by the River Bani, it’s hard to imagine that this bit of oasis is in a place of so much sun and so little water. But this is a small, moist corner in a country made more of sand than of green.  Along the Saharan trade route through the millennia, this country of empires that have come and gone, Moroccan and sub-Saharan influences, French colonization, where Tuaregs and their camel caravans can appear unexpectedly on the horizon; it’s a surreal landscape. Along with the official French, Bambara, Dogon, Songhai, Bozo, Fulani, and Tamashek can still be heard in the marketplace where slabs of freshly caught fish lay by baskets of gloriously colored vegetables, the ever-present rice, and beautifully patterned cloth. In this town of mud houses, goats everywhere, the Great Mosque of Djenne′, and 3 hour tea rituals consisting of two pots of water and lots of sugar and mint, are beautiful, gracious people.

Tomorrow, Timbuktu!! But first….a purchase of Malian Mud Cloth.
  

A country of few resources, but with a rich history of music and art, young men are continuing a textile tradition that reaches into the balance of water and soil that is so indigenous to Mali. Bo`go`lanfini or bogolan cloth is a coarsely woven cotton cloth set in a yellow dye that is then removed to reveal clean, simple black and white designs that have been painted over the yellow. The dyes of leaves and bark are used to create the gorgeous earthy colors of this striking fabric. Each piece is a work of art, with simple geometric designs that echo the stark beauty of this harsh land. Perfect hung alone on a wall or as a beautiful floor statement, it can also be adapted to wear over other softening fabric. And with big chunky necklaces or a band of silver or gold African bracelets….magnifque′.

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Page from Petcare Guide, Burbank Animal Shelter

Page from Development Brochure, Burbank Animal Shelter

Page from Development Brochure, Burbank Animal Shelter

Fundraising Letter, Burbank Animal Shelter

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