Saturday, February 28, 2015

New Woven Scarves

You I put three new warps on my loom this week. Throughout the weeks I will post on here images of the scarves from my loom. 

This gray warp is 10 yards. I will be able to weave four scarves from this round. 

#1 Woven with silver interrupted by bands of khaki. 

Took some time off weaving to reflect and grieve over the lose of a friend. Check out the blog post above to see how special Bryan was. 



#2 Woven with black bamboo interrupted by bands of silver and khaki tencel yarn. 


#3 Woven half with bright orange and the other half with sky blue. 

It's been a long few days with EmmaJ having the flu, then passing it onto Cora. So, it's been nice to retreat to my weaving studio downstairs, watch House of Cards with my husband.  Weaving this a new scarf while the girls are peacefully sleeping upstairs. 


#4 Woven half with golden yellow and half in celery green bamboo.....I really love working with bamboo!! 


New round of warp threads in silver gray striped next to a hand-dyed gradation  warp. 

#1 Woven half in eggplant purple and half in spice red interrupted by bands of gray.

Finished and posted on 4/9/15


#2 Woven in silver interrupted by bands of red and orange. 

Finished and posted on 4/9/15

#3 woven with Blue Ming bamboo interrupted by bands of silver and bright orange 

Finished and posted on 4/9/15


#4 Woven half in silver and half in turquoise tencel. 
 
Finished and posted on 4/9/15

#5 Woven with golden yellow bamboo yarn interrupted by bands of silver tencel.

Finished and posted on 4/9/15


Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Taking a Break.....from Social Media Part 1

(maybe a little cheesy)
A couple of days ago, Monday February 23, 2015, I logged into my Debbie Barrett-Jones Textiles Facebook account and was notified by FB, that I could boost or promote my posts for as low as $5 a day. They let me know this EVERYDAY at least once.  For only $5 a day I can get an estimated 4-17 new likes PER day. And for only $30, I could get 26-103 new likes. WHAT A DEAL!!!  The pressure of getting more views and likes on Facebook is a daily occurrence along with showing me my "data" or "stats" for the week. So many page Likes, New Page Likes, Total Reach, Post Reach and People Engaged this week compared to last week.

   

And Etsy just the same with the constant stats and wanting money for more views........



This annoys the heck out of me and reminded me of a post that I wrote but didn't publish last year around this time, explaining why I was taking a break from on social media. I wrote this on my first day into my two week long break, but never wrote a response about how good it felt. Well, now a year later, I am feeling some of the same things I felt last year and have decided to take a break again. I am thinking at least two weeks......or longer. Within that time I might still post on this blog how I am doing during my break......or maybe not. I am not going to pressure myself too much. I will play it by ear and see how it goes. I just know it will be healthy for me again.

Here is what I wrote last year. I will admit, that I am kind of embarrassed letting people into my thoughts that I am not too proud of. But here they are.


******Post Written on February 27, 2014*****( Please don't judge my writing. Was just writing down my thoughts at the time. :) *******

I have to be honest with you. It can be a little hard to be a small business owner and CONSTANTLY have to promote yourself on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I appreciate that it is free advertising and a great way to network. And it is a easy and free way to document my work. I just grab my iPhone, take a photo with my camera and within a minute I can show the world what I have made or what I am up to...BUT it can mess with my confidence on so many levels that I am embarrassed by. Not to mention, I hate the thought of my posts annoying people. "Oh, not AGAIN, Debbie is posting something about HER work"....Arg!!!! :((( I know this might sound completely silly to some people but I am just trying to be honest here.

Oh, and I have Not mentioned that I run and help run
way too many sites online including;
BillySue Textiles Etsy
BillySue Textile Twitter
BillySue Textiles Facebook
DebbieBarrettJones.com
DebbieBarrettJones Instagram
DebbieBarrettJones.Blogspot.com
RockToSleepDesigns.Etsy.com
WeAreGoingToFrance.Etsy.com
and
WeAreGoingToFrance.Tumbler

(I am pretty sure I didn't leave any out. Probably by the time this is posted I will have another site;)

If I have to be really honest with you, I struggle with my confidence almost every time I post something on social media. It is awful!!! Once I post something, I find myself constantly checking my iPhone to see if anyone viewed it, liked it and best of all, wrote a comment. If it is my lucky day and I will get a sufficient amount to views, likes and comments. This builds my self esteem and I will feel really good about myself as an artist and as a human. BUT if I don't get enough "likes" ....I find myself being totally insecure and start feeling like a failure in many areas of my life.  It's like I am back in grade school desperately wanting people to like me...

I know, I know it is totally ridiculous and if I had a friend tell me what I am writing right now,  I would TOTALLY tell them the truth. I would tell my friend, "YOU are NOT your Facebook status updates! YOU are NOT the amount of 'likes' or 'comments' or 'views' that day on your facebook fan page or the photos you post!!

I totally know this but I can struggle with the truth of who I am especially when looking at and posting on Facebook or even instagram has become such a habit in my life. Facebook is first thing I look at when I wake up and the last thing I look at when going to bed. I have my phone on me most of the day. And have a panic attack when I cannot find it.  While in my studio, my smart phone allows me to update people on social media with the new work I am making so easily that maybe posting has become a habit. When you are someone like me, I am a part-time stay at home mom, trying to make somewhat of a living doing the thing I love and passionate about. So, I rely on and am thankful for Facebook. So many people can find out who I am and check out my online shops through social media. I know I don't want to not have my account but something has to change, when it can effect me in negative ways.

I sleep next to my iPhone so it is always close to me.....for what reason? What is even the reason why I get on there so much? There once was a time that I didn't have a smart phone. haha.....about two years ago. There once was a time that I didn't have a Facebook account.....oh my, what did I do way back then....call my friends....email or even write them a letter!!!!Because getting on facebook has become such a part of my life, a habit. What kind of person have I become, trying to find my confidence and I guess self worth in my STATUS UPDATES!!!

**Pausing right now to tell myself the truth again*** I am NOT my social status update! I am NOT the amount of 'likes' or the amount of viewed posts.**

And let me just say, how annoying it is at times to have a "fan page" on Facebook. Facebook constantly shows me the status of views I have on my post, how many views I have today compared to yesterday...... and for just $5 a day I can pay for more views. They do a great job with putting a panic in my that I am not doing enough. Etsy does it too....... I kind of get tired and weighed down by all the pressure to do MORE. And more always comes to a cost with Etsy and Facebook. Is this all worth it. I must take a break......not sure what that break looks like, but I know it is necessary.




Monday, February 23, 2015

"Don't stop imagining. The day that you do is the day that you die." Youth Lagoon - 17 (Lyrics)



I haven't posted for awhile on here. But today I was listening to this song and I just had to share it. Man, I love this song. I was in my studio listening to Youth Lagoon and I was struck by one of those moments that you realize you had been missing something. I have listened to this song many times before but didn't actually LISTEN to the lyrics. Well, today I did......over and over. 17 has been on repeat as my soundtrack. Here are the lyrics. Hope and pray this for myself, my daughters, my husband and for you that we "Don't stop imagining. The day that we do is the day that I die."

                                                                                         "17"

Roaming the campground up by the lake where we swam.
We were hunting for snakes,
but we couldn't find them.
Surrounded by nothing,
but the nothing's surrounded by us.
But it's just me in my room,
with my eyes shut.

When I was seventeen,
my mother said to me
"Don't stop imagining. The day that you do is the day that you die."

Now I pull a one ton carriage,
instead of the horses grazing the lawn.
And I was having fun.
We were all having fun.

My brain can think faster than I can,
I'm not fast enough.
Who is there to talk to
that won't lock me up?
At least God doesn't judge me by the thoughts that I find,
the snakes I couldn't find,
I don't want to find.

When I was seventeen,
my mother said to me
"Don't stop imagining. The day that you do is the day that you die."
Now I pull a one ton carriage,
instead of the horses grazing the lawn.
And I was having fun.
We were all having fun.

New Handwoven Textiles by Debbie Barrett-Jones at the Kauffman

New Handwoven Textiles by Debbie Barrett-Jones

January 5 - March 31, 2015

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Conference Center

4801 Rockhill Road Kansas City, MO 64110
New handwoven work created by textile artist Debbie Barrett-Jones of Kansas City is now up, filling the walls of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Conference Center. View Barrett-Jones work now through March 31, 2015. 

******And mark you calendar for a "Lunch and Learn" Feb. 17 11:30-12:30. An hour long artist talk over the lunch hour. (Please feel free to bring your own lunch.) Located in the Brookside Room. ********

About
Weaving is an art that emphasizes process. Each piece represents the tension between control and happenstance during the process. From the start of a project – drawing out the plans, drafting the pattern, dyeing yarn using a color-mixing and percentage-gradation process –Barrett-Jones’ woven panels reveal not only the communication that passes between one color thread intersecting another, but shows the range of control in both the complete and deconstructed. Barrett-Jones’ ultimate goal is to let the viewer see not just the complete, clean finished project but give the viewer a glimpse of the pre-weaving process, much of which can be painstakingly tedious. However, this attention to detail is equally essential to the actual work on the loom.

Bio
Debbie Barrett-Jones and her husband, Brandon, left their small town in Iowa so Debbie could pursue an education at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI). Since graduating from KCAI with a B.F.A. in Textiles, Debbie Barrett-Jones has exhibited her work throughout the United States. Along with weaving large-scale pieces for homes, businesses, and sanctuaries (including three-panel commission at Children’s Mercy Hospital, Truman Medical Center and one six-panel commission for a church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright); she also creates small, intimate pieces such as scarves and shawls. With each weaving, careful consideration goes into color, composition and material. Because color is such an inspiration, Debbie uses carefully calculated hand-dyes on all her fabrics.

Most pieces employ the process of color mixing and percentage-gradation dyeing. Each woven panel reveals the beautiful communication that passes between one color thread intersecting another. Her panels comprised vibrating colors and elegant patterns, narratives in flux according to one’s proximity to each piece.

Currently Barrett-Jones continues to live in Kansas City with her husband and two young daughters. Working from her studio at home and daily trying to find the balance between motherhood and being an artist is both the hardest thing she has done, yet most fulfilling. She would have it no other way, cherishing her time in the studio.



Artist Contact Information




Email: DebbieBarrettJones@gmail.com