Sidney's Ties, A Weaving of Memories

"Sidney's Ties", detail, by Rayela Art, 2009

It really helps to explore the boundaries of one's potential artistically when there is a patron in sight. In my case, Joyce Levy has been that benefactor. Formerly a board member of the now defunct Textile Arts Center of Chicago, Joyce's love of art and textiles has given her the pleasure of supporting an unknown like myself with fairly large projects. Projects that I would not have been able to explore without the financial backing. I started quilting in the early 90's and even with limited skills, she commissioned four quilts in memory of her brother Bruce. The quilts were made from Bruce's t-shirts and went to his wife, parents, best friend and Joyce. You can see those quilts and learn more about their story in my former post.

Rachel Biel Taibi (Rayela Art) with patron, Joyce Levy.

Joyce, a brilliant lawyer, comes from a family of talent and enthusiasm for life. Her mother, recently deceased due to a medical error, was a psychologist and an avid collector of folk art from around the world, including a large collection of Native American silver work. Bruce, a cancer victim, was a mathematician, a minimalist, but gifted with words. The patriarch of the family, Sidney Levy, is recognized around the world for his work in marketing and behavioral management. Sidney is now on my short list of patrons. He commissioned me to make something interesting out of the ties he had worn for the last 40 years. Thus, "Sidney's Ties" came into existence.

"Sidney's Ties", A Woven Quilt
Hand-stitched, 37" wide x 61" long

"Sidney's Ties", back

"Sidney's Ties", closer views, top and bottom

After Bobette passed away, Sidney went through a purging phase and moved to a smaller place. At 88 years of age, he no longer wears his ties. What to do with them? So many memories tied up into them... Ties worn to work, ties purchased at favorite stores, ties received as gifts, ties that went overseas... These pieces of silk represent a lifetime of woven history, thus weaving them together make an added statement of all the memories that tie us together.

Sidney Levy, patriarch of creatives.

I have not had the honor of meeting Sidney in person, although I have had the pleasure of speaking to him on the phone and via email. I was tickled to find a video of him on the web, an interview posted by "Life in Perpetual Beta":


Find more videos like this on Life in Perpetual Beta

The project started with a visit from Joyce to visit Sidney in Arizona. They spread the ties out on the bed, over the quilt I had made in Bruce's memory. "Surely something can be made of this!"

Ties laid out for "Sidney's Ties".

My initial mock-up was quite different from the final piece. Some people plan everything out before they dig in. I don't. I work from an intuitive level, changing things as I go. This can be difficult in a commission as the future owner of the piece has to be as free spirited as I am. When I asked Sidney what the budget was, he said, "Go until it is finished." A mandate like that can only come from someone who understands and has experienced the creative process.

"Sidney's Ties", mocked up.

I like texture and have been exploring how to make my textiles more dimensional. I had seen a demonstration of rushing at the quilt show and thought that would work for framing the photos. I had to gut the ties to make them pliable enough for gathering. This was also the first time I had worked with fabric transfers. I used the pre-treated fabric sheets that Caryl Bryer Fallert sells at her shop. I stuffed each photo and quilted around the body outlines. These ties were the special ones. Joyce had written little notes attached to them and I wanted to incorporate her words, but ended up not figuring out how to do that in a way that worked for me.

Joyce and Bruce as children, "Sidney's Ties"

Young Sidney, "Sidney's Ties"

Bobette at 23, "Sidney's Ties"

Sidney, who wore all these ties...

I used buttons, glass Czech beads and fresh water pearls to lighten and highlight the central figures. They glow when they are under a spotlight. You will notice that the piece is not straight. I don't like straight lines. Maybe I can't even do them, but I know that the ethnic textiles that I so love are often uneven, crooked, worn and all of that tells me a story. So, "Sidney's Ties" is also crooked. Life is beautiful, full of wonderful memories, but Sidney and his family have also had their share of grief, of the pain that can make any straight back crooked. So, this tribute to a life well-lived hopefully captures some of the dualism that propels each of us from youth into maturity, from life to death, and from need to abundance. I thank you, Sidney and Joyce, for the great pleasure this project has given me!

"Sidney's Ties", back detail.

See Sidney's bios at the University of Arizona and at NorthWestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

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Sidney's Ties, A Weaving of Memories

Murder in Paducah. My Neighbor is Dead.

Don't Shoot, By Miles Tebbutt

There is a house across the street that is full of people. It's a problem house. Dogs run around without a leash, scaring the postal worker and kids walking by, fights break out between the tenants and other neighbors, and there is just a sense of chaos around that place. Last night it escalated into real violence, ending up with the death of one of them. My relationship with them has centered on frustration around their lack of dog control as they cross the street and provoke mine, who are fenced, into a frenzy.

At 4AM last night, a loud bang woke me up and my dogs went out of control with their barking. The noise sounded about the same as when the electrical terminals exploded during the Ice Storm we had in February, so I thought another one had shorted out. When I opened the door, I found that there was a firetruck, ambulance and around ten cop cars out front. There was a lot of action on the front porch on that house across the street. I watched for about an hour, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. There was a lot of screaming and crying. I saw the medics go to the back of the house and come back with a body on a stretcher. I finally went back to bed and had nightmares for the rest of the night.

In the morning, the cops were still there. One of the tenants crossed the street and told me what had happened. Some girlfriend of some guy who didn't live there was at the house, the boyfriend came and when one of the guys opened the door to him, he was shot in the chest with a shotgun. Dead. Gone. I kept having images in my head of him playing with his dog, joking around. He was very sweet in his own way.

Canadian Poster Campaign for Gun Control

I moved to Kentucky four years ago from Chicago. Big city to small town, USA. Lots of differences, but all of the same social problems, although there is less organized gang violence here. Still, there is plenty of good and bad in both places. I was in the heart of the inner city in Chicago and had seen my share of bad stuff. I was at a pastor's house once and we ducked as a bullet came in through the kitchen window. I saw a teenager walking around with an ouzi. My apartment was broken into twice and once I nabbed the burglar. He slipped out of my grasp and jumped out of the window and ran, duh, TOWARDS the police station a block away. They caught him with my camera and boombox in hand. When I first moved to Chicago in 1984, I made a decision that I would not live in fear. I would try not to be stupid, but I knew that I was not the probable target and that if I were sensible, I'd probably be OK. Same thing here.

But, when I first arrived in Paducah, I had a part-time job at Hancock's of Paducah, one of the largest suppliers of specialty quilt fabrics in the world. As I cut fabric, I enjoyed the stories told by the sweet women who worked there. Repeatedly, they warned me that if someone broke into my house, I was to make sure to kill, not injure. Apparently, a thief can sue you if they come on to your property and your dog bites them. Later, I kenneled my dogs when I went out of town with this tiny, little, blond woman who had a bunch of horses, labs, and birds. When I picked them up, I told them that I was going to take the dogs to a forest preserve, Land Between the Lakes, so they could go swimming. She said she never goes there without her gun, but I should be OK with four dogs to protect me. It's a very strange thing to move from a place where the criminals have guns to another one where the citizens also subscribe to being armed. Feels like what my friend Abdul describes in Afghanistan, where everyone has rifles hanging from their kitchen ceilings.

Peace Art Project Cambodia (PAPC)

Like most things in my life, I have contradictory feelings about all of this. I have no interest in owning a gun, I know that I would never defend myself that way, and I believe that the argument for owning these weapons are flawed and unconvincing. We live in a violent society which has violence on a pedestal. I'm part of it, too. I love well-done war movies, I listen to murder mysteries all the time, and I understand the need people have to feel like they need protection. Without my dogs, I would feel terribly vulnerable here. Yet, anyone with a gun could come in and shoot us all down in a few seconds. It's all a very sad and hopeless state of affairs. Friends report on the escalation of violence in large cities in South America where homes are now protected with high walls and topped off with electrical fences. They say it feels like one is a prisoner in their own home. I really don't see how we can change all of this except to choose peace and conflict resolution in our own small circles and hope that it will become contagious. I know that the law of the land here will never support gun control as it is in other industrialized nations, so I just have to hope that when a bullet comes my way, I can duck fast enough... By the way, the cops here in Paducah are really great. I have seen them deal with several crises and they are always calm, cool, collected and they get their job done. They caught the suspect!

Shotgun Chair by Alex Reh of Texas

The following facts are from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence:

FACT: In 2006, there were 30,896 gun deaths in the U.S: 12,791 homicides (41% of total deaths), 16,883 suicides (55% of total deaths), 642 unintentional shootings (2% of total deaths), 360 from legal intervention (1.2% of total deaths) and 220 from undetermined intent (.8% of total deaths).

(Numbers obtained from CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2009.)

"Standard Issue Smith & Wesson," by Stephanie Syjuco

FACT: Suicide is still the leading cause of firearm death in the U.S., representing 54.6% of total 2006 gun deaths nationwide. In 2006, the U.S. firearm suicide total was 16,883, a decrease from 2005 total of 17,002 gun suicides. Total gun suicides in Illinois for 2006 were 372, a decrease of 12% from the 2005 number 424. Over half of suicides in the U.S. are committed with firearms.

(Numbers obtained from CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2009; and the American Association of Suicidology.)

FACT: While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.

(A Kellerman, et al. Journal of Trauma, August 1998; Kellerman AL, Lee RK, Mercy JA, et al. “The Epidemiological Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries.” Annu.Rev Public Health. 1991; 12:17-40.)

pistol own skin 2004 by Joanneke Meester, Netherlands

FACT: 59% of students in grades six through twelve know where to get a gun if they want one, and two thirds of these students say they can acquire a firearm within 24 hours. (Harvard School of Public Health.)

FACT: As of 1994, 44 million Americans owned more than 192 million firearms, 65 million of which were handguns. Although there were enough guns to have provided every U.S. adult with one, only 25% of adults owned firearms. Seventy-four percent (74%) of gun owners possessed two or more firearms.

- National Institute of Justice, May 1997

Precita Park memorial bench. Made with 130 melted guns in honor of a young couple gunned down by an unstable relative. Guns into Art.

FACT: Every two years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the total number of American soldiers killed during the 8-year Vietnam War. In 2003, the total number of people killed by guns in the United States was 30,136.

- Based on data from CDC National Center for Health Statistics WISQARS online data collection system, 2006.

Peace Art Project Cambodia (PAPC)

And, this one is from the American Bar Association:

"The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children younger than 15 years of age is nearly 12 times higher than among children in 25 other industrialized countries combined."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1997;46:101-105.

"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
-Isaiah 2:4

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Murder in Paducah. My Neighbor is Dead.

Fruits of My Hands: Scissors in the Garden

Fruits of my garden.

I have to admit that my eyes sometimes roll around in my head when I go to a blog to look at textiles or art and all I see are the artist's flowers.... Well, this summer I had a bit of a conversion experience as I tackled my yard. I planted flowers and foliage, cleared a plot of land for a vegetable garden and labored to fight invasive vines, grasses, and weeds. I pulled, yanked, tilled, watered, seeded, and did my best to coax a yard which had been neglected for decades into something productive. Every bug in the book came to feast and then weird spots and molds showed up on my precious babies...

My baby veggies, so eager to live!

When you nurture something from a seed, there is a great source of pride and fascination to see it grow into a plant, especially if it also feeds you. At least, this is true for me. I have always had a few potted plants, but had never really tried to be the backyard gardener. I figured farming was in my blood and it should come naturally. Ha! I planted everything too close and had no idea that a tomato plant could grow to be over six feet tall. My friend, Tom, is the director of Angelic Organic's Learning Center. I called him for help and he recommended that I read John Jeavon's book, How to Grow More Vegetables (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains and other crops).

How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine

What a great resource! Of course, I had done everything wrong, but there was still time to correct some of the mistakes. The soil was nitrogen poor so I added some organic fertilizer and started a compost pile.

Garden plot in June 2009

Some things grew very well, while others got eaten up by bugs or a pest. I had the best luck with tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, and pumpkins. Oh, and I got lots of wonderful basil!

Garden plot in August 2009

The sweet peas dried up with the heat of summer, the lettuce shoots up into large stalks, I did get some green beans, but then a worm got on to them, and forget the broccoli! My goodness, did that get infested! Jeavons and other authors in books I checked out from the library, all talked about what can feast on your precious plants. But, the worst of all are snails and slugs. Jeavons described how they go slug hunting at night, so I figured I should go out one night with a flashlight and take a look. The slugs were everywhere! It revolted me so much that I was almost sick! I had nightmares from them, big, fat, slithering monsters invading my veggies and chomping away. How disgusting! I tried the salting and that was too horrific to endure, plus it is not good for the soil. So, I bought pellets, similar to "Sluggo" which are approved by organic gardeners. The slugs eat them and dry up in a few days. But, one slug can lay 300 eggs, so it's a long process, especially if your neighbors are indifferent to what lives outside their doors.

My cucumbers, zucchini and green beans.

It has been fascinating to go outside and decide what I am going to eat that day based on my little harvest! I feel sad to see that Fall is upon us and that soon I won't have these delicacies. My respect for my peer artist friends who also garden has grown. I was just in Chicago visiting friends and a few of them had some gorgeous gardens, all of which renew the spirit and provide beauty to the eye. My friend, Roberta, is a ceramic artist and her garden is adorned by sculptural pieces.

Roberta de Oliveira's garden in Chicago.

Chris and Joyce won a neighborhood award for their garden. Their goal was to do away completely with grass and the result is a lovely mix of flowers and veggies.

Chris an Joyce's garden in Skokie.

The most surprising garden I was across the street from my husband's apartment. He lives in a densely populated urban area on Chicago's north side. A couple of Vietnamese women have taken up a bunch of the grass areas and planted vegetables. Apparently, they are out there every day, bent over their plants, and they share the produce with whoever wants it.

Vietnamese women gardening in Chicago.

Chicago has made a commitment to become the greenest city in the United States and has even established a successful green roof program, so I guess I should not be surprised to see any plot of available earth being used to grow food.

However, there has been a consequence in my ability to produce another fruit: I have only touched my scissors to cut off veggies and bad leaves, no fabric! This is the age-old pattern of the farmer/crafter. Food is the priority in the summer months and the time for waiting becomes dedicated to production of functional goods. For centuries, people have worked the soil and then used the winter months for projects which can be done inside the home.

One of my favorite photographers on Flickr, Baba Steve, has caught many of the vendors from around the world. These places also produce many of my favorite crafts!

Vendor in Assam, India by Baba Steve

1. West Africa, 2. Tajikistan, 3. Darjeeling, India, 4. Pakistan
All photos by Baba Steve

In fact, the production of handicrafts and farming are recognized as partner industries by most development organizations. The Peace Corps has combined the two in their strategies for decades. They were the ones that brought Scandinavian sweater knitting patterns and techniques to the indigenous Quechua of Otavalo in the 1960's. This has grown into a multi-million dollar industry with traditionally dressed Otavalo Indians selling sweaters in markets all over the world. (See some consequences.) Oxfam International works with similar groups in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The United Nations reports on how poverty is especially dire in rural areas and how the internet has become the new tool to bring income into these distressed areas.

Vendor in Afghanistan by Baba Steve.

Does that sound familiar? Am I not doing the same thing? I live in a small town in Kentucky where job opportunities are limited. My income is mostly generated by my online stores. A friend of mine from Ghana told me how now business is all done on cell phones, both by farmers and handicraft traders. Having the ability to live where you grow your food and make your craft also has deep implications in how societies are able to structure their family units, preserve their traditions and maintain ownership over their land, a problem that USAID identifies for many struggling communities who live in rural or forested areas.

No, I will not roll my eyes anymore at other bloggers who garden and love their flowers. Whether our scissors are inside, cutting some fabric or thread, or outside, harvesting some fruits, we are all part of this wonderful tapestry that makes Earth a better place to live!

Making some earth...

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Fruits of My Hands: Scissors in the Garden

LowerTown Art & Music Festival: The Aynex Video

We had our festival this past weekend and it was captured by Aynex who has done most of the documenting of LowerTown's growth and talent. Now, I'm sure to be famous, too, as she caught me doing a henna!



Aynex is a graphic designer and quilter. You can find much more of her expressive self and her videos on "Que es lo que pasa aqui? ah!", her blog.

LowerTown Art & Music Festival: The Aynex Video

LowerTown Art & Music Festival: A Great Time to Visit Paducah!

LowerTown Art & Music Festival

Paducah in Western Kentucky

May 23 & 24
Memorial Day Weekend

Doing anything this coming weekend? Feel like a road trip? Wondering about the Artist Relocation Program in Paducah? Aaaaaahhhhh...... Yes, there is a festival and this is a great time to visit Paducah! All of nature is in full expression of itself: trees, flowers, and anything else that is green is growing, growing. The LowerTown Galleries have their red carpets spread out, everyone decked out in their best, celebrating this wonderful community and all the talent that, with the green, abounds.

LowerTown? Yes, Paducah, a small city in Western Kentucky, has an artist's community. LowerTown is a neighborhood adjacent to the downtown business district that was designated by the City as artist friendly. The City, along with Paducah Bank, enticed artists from all over the country to come in and revitalize a formerly depressed and forlorn neighborhood. The response was met by talent from all over the country. Painters, printers, fiber artists, quilters, and others following a muse came and settled here in the last seven years or so. Most have a wonderful sense of humor and generosity that helps unify the community into a viable, workable entity. Cooperation and respect, enjoyment of each other's work and a seasoned understanding of all it takes to build a presence all help to bind this group together. And, this weekend, Memorial Day, celebrates this wonderful group of people through the LowerTown Art & Music Festival. The following video by Aynex Mercado, founder of Paducah Fiber Artists, interviews a few of the artists in this neighborhood:

I wrote about the Festival last year in this blog. Click here to see the article and photos. This year the set up is a little different, focusing on more local artists rather than those from out of town. Live music promises to be fun and all the galleries will have special highlights during the festival.

I will be at HeART of Healing Gallery, doing Mehndi! Yes, it's henna season again. Here's an older picture of me with some of my cousins at a family reunion. I thought they would either think it was a really weird thing to do or they would love it. Everybody lined up to get their temporary and painless tattoo!

Rachel Biel Taibi, henna artist,
at a family reunion in Mondovi, WI.

While you are waiting for your henna to dry, you will want to explore HeART of Healing's wonderful colleciton of Kuna molas, Chinese Peasant Paintings, vinatage kimono, and paper cuts. Oh, there is more than that! Those are just some of the treasures offered by Dr, Christi Bonds Garrett!

HeART of Healing Gallery in Paducah, KY

Ah, and one more treat! My good friend, Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts, will take over the parking lot at HeART of Healing with his carpets, beads and textiles. He truly has an amazing collection of all things Central Asian, so if you have the same lust I do for this region, do not miss this! Abdul was my partner in my last store in Chicago, Dara Tribal Village. Here is a funny photo of him, trying to look mean (he has a great sense of humor, a big teaser!) that I took of him at his house in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago.

Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts, being funny.

7th St. and Monroe. 11PM-8PM on Saturday and 11PM-5PM on Sunday. Remember that and come see us! We, and all the others in LowerTown, promise you a wonderful weekend in Paducah, Kentucky!

LowerTown Art & Music Festival: A Great Time to Visit Paducah!

Ricky Tims Brings Rhapsody to Paducah

Bohemian Rhapsody by Ricky Tims

This past week, I had the good fortune of meeting Ricky Tims this past week as he taught a workshop on his Rhapsody quilts at the National Quilt Museum here in Paducah. Ricky Tims has carved himself a niche in the quilting world. Recognized internationally as an artist an and educator, he is also one of the few male quilters to take such an extensive leadership role in this art form dominated by women. I first saw his quilts at a group show at the museum which showed the work of three male quilters, one of them being Ricky Tims. His stunning choice of colors, beautiful designs and immaculate stitching make them a wonder to behold.

Ricky Tims, "The Quiltin' Harley Dude"

Known for his good humor and enthusiasm, Ricky Tims can pull off flaunting "tough" symbols like riding a Harley or wearing a cowboy hat from his native Texas. At the same time, his quilts show a depth of sensitivity for beauty, color and grace. A gifted musician, his music is hauntingly beautiful and soul oriented. All of this love for raw beauty, art and nature comes together in Autumn Rock, "40 acres of heaven", a get-away for quilters in southern Colorado.

Autumn Rock, A Piece of Heaven for Quilters

The workshop Ricky Tims had here at the Quilt Museum focused on teaching students how to design and execute the technique he uses in the beautiful medallion quilts that have won so much recognition. Ricky Tims has several books out on the process, both step-by-step instructions and patterns for individual pieces. I learned most of what I know through books, but there is nothing like having the guidance and personal interest of someone who has already worked through all of the kinks and who know what short cuts will achieve the desired results.

Ricky Tims' Rhapsody Quilts

Students learn how to break an intricate design into a simple concept.

A simple drawing breaks down a complex quilt medallion.

Several steps take the student from a small drawing to a full-size template. The large piece has been drawn out on freezer paper.

Freezer paper drawing at a Ricky Tims workshop.

The freezer paper is cut up and ironed on to the fabric. Each student had brought their own stash of fabrics that they were planning to use. It was fun to see how different each person's taste translates into a unique visual, a combination that will make a similar technique achieve very different finished pieces. Ricky Tims uses hand-dyed fabrics, vibrant in color, which produce gorgeous contrasts. He also has his own line of threads, which in the Rhapsody quilts, have a necessary and complimentary impact. Those, along with books and patterns, are available in his website shop. You can also purchase cds of his music there.

Cutting freezer paper for the Rhapsody quilts pieces.

The pieces are sewn, appliqued, and assembled on a wall board. Working in a structured manner helps keep order in a process that could easily become chaotic and overwhelming.

Sewing a piece for a Rhapsody Quilt.

Pieces assembled and pinned to a wall board.

Of course, the master knows all the tricks of how to make edges meet, how to keep them from puckering, how to make seams flow naturally, when to quilt, and how to make colors sing to each other.

The participants, all women from around the country, were engaged in their tasks, thrilled to be both with Ricky Tims and here in Paducah. I sat and talked to a few and of course, they spoke of the burdens they left at home, of the relief they felt in taking a respite where for a few days, they could dive in to their creative juices full time. I thought about how any creative task really becomes a healing agent in our turbulent world, of how something so flat as fabric can make one feel so alive, of how important the quilt industry is to our city, and of how people like Ricky Tims use their gifts to inspire so many people. It gave me a warm feeling inside, an acknowledgement once again, that this is also my path, that I really do enjoy being a part of this larger community. We come in all shapes and sizes, some clunk along with mediocre results while others fly into orbit with their talents, but we feel called to the cloth, the fiber that weaves us all together.

Rhapsody Quilt workshop with Ricky Tims at the Quilt Museum.

Links to visit:

Ricky Tims (the site is divided into his quits and music)

The National Quilt Museum (list of workshops)

Nacho Grandma's Quilts (a list of other male quilters)

Here's an excellent CBS interview with Ricky Tims, focusing on the quilt industry and its economic impact. Ricky Tims emphasizes the importance it also has in developing community.

Many thanks, Ricky,
for all you do to inspire all of us!

Ricky Tims Brings Rhapsody to Paducah