Looming Thoughts

Lynnwood Solo Show

2011-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

My solo show is now closed, the pieces have come down and are back in their boxes. It was so much fun to see it all hanging there together and I thought it looked great! What a great experience to apply and get a show all to myself. How nice to have someone else do publicity and hang the show, all I had to do is make art -- almost like having gallery representation, (ok, not really, but I can dream.)

Now the pieces are back at home, some get put back on the walls, but most get put back in boxes waiting for their time to shine. I guess that's just the way it is unless you have 50 feet of wall space. Someone told me "art not hanging in a gallery is a storage problem" I might have to agree.

I love putting my work out for people to see, all and any comments are welcome as it is usually the critical ones that help me grow. Now it's back to the studio to put the finishing touches on a couple of pieces and get ready for the next exhibit at Auburn City Hall in June.

Many thanks to the Lynnwood Arts Commission for giving me this opportunity to show my work.

Exhibits - getting ready

2011-02-15T16:09:00.000-08:00

I have not had a solo show since way back in the school days, things are different now. My plan of attack was to take the diagrams/measurements they gave me and first see how mach empty wall space I had to deal with. All of the places I am showing in this year have wall “spaces,” walls for hanging with doors between, or wall sections to hang on. I won’t have the luxury of having that long white wall of uninterrupted space. The pieces not only have to go together, but need to fit each chunk of space without being too squished or too spread out. I guess the space between each piece should be similar on all of the wall sections also.

After studying the Lynnwood Arts Commission Gallery, I made several versions of what pieces I thought went together and sizes. After much juggling around I came up with a plan and only created a couple of pieces to fit and fill out the space. Hopefully the people hanging the show will agree with me and it will all work out great.

The attached photo shows the space as it is now, with some very colorful close-up nature photography. I wonder if they like having everything the same size like this show, it’s probably easier to hang. My art will be all different sizes including one very large piece consisting of 10 sections. I hope we’ll be able to hang it like I envision.

Moving on to 2011

2011-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

During 2010 I made a goal to have a solo show somewhere in the Seattle area in 2011, I wanted it to be a formal gallery setting, preferably a government agency or a business. I felt this was my next step for me on the “food” chain, but if nothing came along I was going to do a coffee shop or something, just have the experience of having a space all to myself.

Around April 2010 there was a call for art at University Unitarian Church, not exactly what I had in mind for my goal, but well worth trying for; plus the information said they liked fiber art and large pieces. I figured I had a chance and it would be good experience. They required everyone who was interested to bring some examples of work to the church on a specified time and date where they would make their decisions and we would pick up our work the same day – no files or money to send.

While I there I also got a sneak peak at the exhibit space – it was huge! Within the week I got a letter saying I was accepted and they would let me know when I would be scheduled. I was thinking that with all that space I better get a late date, because I would need a LOT of time to get enough work done. It took a couple of months before I heard back, but when I did, I found out that my month would be November 2011 – perfect, more than a year to do new work.

Knowing I had a solo show scheduled already by May, I thought I should challenge myself even more, after all it wasn’t really a gallery space. I had photos taken by a professional photographer and when the calls for art started being posted in early fall for the next year, I was ready. I sent out 2 proposals about a week apart and much to my surprise, got them both. Wow! this was too easy (lucky). I was prepared to keep sending out proposals until one hit, or they stopped being posted.

Then the reality of getting ready for these exhibits hit home -- I needed to get some new work done, a lot of work. I was tired of seeing my old work over and over at all those group shows, but making the work is time consuming. I also knew most of the old work would be shown with the new to fill the space. It’s all suppose to gel into one body of work and look cohesive anyway, so it was “get to work” and make more, growing my vision within the body of work.

This is a tremendous opportunity for me, but in some ways my competitiveness, keeps looking at the opportunities/the calls for art and realise I’m booked for 2011 and can’t try for anything else -- sigh...

Next, getting ready for the exhibits.

Silly resolutions -- dead!

2011-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

It’s well past the middle of January, time enough to have failed on all the silly resolutions and get serious about the ones that matter.

I’ve been working on many art pieces which have given me plenty of time to think about the past year, but because I’ve been working on art I haven’t had time to write anything down. The short version is that 2010 was fantastic and 2011 will be even better. A goal in 2010 was to show work and take advantage of every opportunity that came my way. The result was that I had art hung somewhere 28 weeks out of the 52 (starting in March). These were mostly group shows -- my fiber group and because I took the EDGE program (a sort of a business program for artists) we became a second group and this resulted in 5 months of shows. The other weeks were single items in juried shows. The result was a lot of lines on the resume, fairly minimal exposure due to the very local venues -- but great practice in getting ready to show.

This was a wonderful experience to have, but at the end it left me a little tired and wanting better venues.

Next post, my 2011 goals.

Plant Dyes - Tansy and Queen Anne’s Lace

2010-10-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

I picked my tansy from the side of the road, it grows about 4 feet high, and the leaves are sort of like a fern. What makes is easy to identify is its flowers – bright yellow buttons forming clusters. The flowers have the scent of camphor and rosemary, it can make quite a stink when simmering on the stove – go outside! Supposedly the flowers can be used as a mosquito repellant.
The tansy had been drying in its paper bag for almost 2 months before I got around to making dye with it. I’m not sure if the color would have been brighter if they had been used fresh. My dry plant material was twice the weight of the wool used.

As with most of my dyeing, I simmer the plant material the night before for about 45 minutes and then let the pot with the plant material sit overnight. I strain the plant matter from the juice; add my wool I have pre-mordanted in alum and heat to a simmer for about 45 minutes. I remove the wool from the pot, rinse thoroughly and take three bundles of yarn and put one each in a dip of iron, tin and copper, leave it to come to a simmer and remove -- 10 to 20 minutes -- or until the color has shifted . I again rinse out these samples and hang them up to dry.

The photo shows the final product, from left to right:

Tansy with alum, tin, copper and iron. Then Queen Anne’s Lace with alum, tin, copper and iron. These two plants gave very similar colors, except the Tansy with the tin is a much brighter gold-orange than the lace. The photo doesn’t show it well but the iron modifier turned both of these into a very deep olive green.

I picked the Queen Anne’s Lace from the land next to a freeway on-ramp. I knew the road crew mower was coming so I went back several times collecting only about a third each times. I wanted to get as many of the blossoms as possible, but still leave plenty to seed for next year before they mowed them all down.

The legend of Queen Anne’s Lace is that the queen was tatting (making lace) and pricked her finger, there were several spatters of blood and that’s why the flowers have a pink center.

The plant is closely related to the carrot, so when crushing the leaves in your hand or simmered on the stove, it smells like carrots. The root is supposed to be edible, but the plant also looks a lot like hemlock – yes, the very deadly poison of old. Both plants can also grow in the same place, so extreme caution should be used, make sure you have positive identification if you’re planning on using it for food. The leaves of hemlock smell horrible when crushed in your hand – don’t lick your fingers after trying this test, wash thoroughly and carefully afterward.

The Queen Anne’s Lace was picked in early fall, dried and wasn’t used until 2 months later. The dry plant material was one and a half the weight of the wool used.

Exhibit!

2010-10-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

I was just notified today that I will be showing in the Auburn City Hall Gallery in June 2011. (I’ll be sharing the space with a photographer.)

My art world is going great!

Last week I was notified that I would be having a solo exhibit in the Lynnwood Arts Commissions’ Gallery space sometime next year. Adding these to the solo exhibit I was scheduled for earlier at the University Unitarian Church for November 2011, I think I’m about booked for next year – who knows what group shows might be happening next year between the EDGE group and the Fiber 19 gals.

I got a lot of work to do…

In 2010 I got into a few juried shows plus was in 5 group shows with the above groups. My goal for 2011 was to get a solo show somewhere – coffee shop, yoga studio, I didn’t really care. But then I got the solo show at the church (found out about that in May), so I told myself I had to go to the next level and at least apply to some real galleries, thinking on the level of municipal spaces. Within the last month, I applied to 2 places and as of 2 hours ago have found out I got both – who could ask for more?

Photo: Bryce Canyon

Indigo!

2010-08-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

comes out of the dye pot green

We got into the indigo - a totally different way of dyeing. Forget what you learned the day before, this is vat dyeing. Put the stuff in a pot,, add stuff to take out something, add something else to take out the oxygen, and make sure the ph is between 9.5 and 10.5 -- picky little process! I'll definately have to go over my notes to get this all straight in my head, but it was fun!

turns blue reacting to the air

When you take your yarn out of the dye pot it's green and as it reacts with th air it becomes blue - totally magical!

Dipping our yarns dyed from the previous day did somewhat as suspected -- turned yellows into greens and reds into purples, but what a color range we created without much effort.

our beautiful range of colors

Mad Scientist

2010-07-24T18:18:00.001-07:00

weighing fiber

It's "mad scientist" time at Convergence! The class in natural dyes is about to start, I hope it is very "hands on" and we get to take home samples. I've only done natural dyeing with plants I have gathered in the neighborhood. That beginning into the world of plant dyes has been very interesting and entertaining for the neighbors to watch, but I mostly get yellows, greens and browns. The class today will play with the materials to get reds and blues -- finally a whole range of colors from natural sources!

cooking dyestuffs

We got right to work, going over the basics and getting the amounts for mordant worked out for the different fibers. Moved onto straining the dyestuffs (that the instructor had soaked overnight.) and putting the samples into the dye. After alternating from info bits and figuring out percentages for more dyestuffs and taking out the samples and washing them -- a lot of juggling of tasks by the instructor to keep things moving forward -- we ended up with seven plant samples in wool and cotton.

chopping madder

Our dyestuffs are: Osage Orange (yellow), Sage (yellow), Madder (reds), Brazilwood (reds), Cochineal (reds), Logwood (purple), and Cutch (tan). Many of these plants are altered by hard or soft water, ph levels and temperature - I can understand how modern science could figure this out, but how did our ancient peoples figure all this out? Smarts and time -- passing down information for generations. Amazement and respect for those that came before us!

cooking the yarn

Tomorrow we'll put indigo and iron into the mix and end up with 42 samples plus whatever we do with the indigo.

samples drying

Wedge Weave

2010-07-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

I'm at HGA Convergence in Albuquerque and spent the last two days in a class on wedge weaving. Wedge weaving is easy to identify by it's scalloped edges. It was originally done by the Navajos but possibly fell out of favor when interior designers equated straight selvages with quality. I had not heard of this type of weaving until reading about the class in the Convergence class catalog. I have been wanting to learn tapestry techniques and this was the closest I could come to at the conference. I googled "wedge weave" to find out what it was and looked at some traditional images (on right). I also checked out the instructor Connie Lippert and liked the contemporary way she was interpreting this traditional technique(below left).

Wedge weaving is unusual because the weaving is done at an angle, changing colors to create wedges, diagonals and arrow shapes. We all started out working on little cardboard looms learning how to begin each wedge, and how to change colors.

At right is my beginning cardboard sample.

We then moved on to our real looms and began our projects. I chose to go for the big shapes, minimal color, bold approach. I also used colors that were totally unlike me, I don't think I have ever used blue, red, and gray together.

Below is my beginning, middle and end of class project. I think I'm about half done after 10 hours of weaving. This did include some time for "unweaving" my errors and general slowness trying to figure out what to do next or begin the next section.

My weaving technique was in general, not great, but that would improve with practice. I also was using heavy yarn, which on one hand made the weaving go faster, but I also think it was harder to make it smooth and even since the three yarns packed differently. Or I could be making excuses...

I'm also including (below) the weaving starts from some of my classmates.

I probably won't get into wedge weaving in a big way, but the techniques are interesting and could see myself using this together with other tapestry techniques in my future work.

Artist Anniversary

2010-06-15T20:38:00.001-07:00

It's been a year since our graduation show for the Fiber Arts program. What a year is has been! A perfect time to make note of accomplishments, check up on goals, and assess what has to happen next.

Artmaking has been a constant this year, I always have one or two projects in the works and think about what's next all the time. One person would say I am consumed and have neglected almost everything else and I suppose in a way that is true.

Accomplishments:
I have had four pieces accepted into three different juried exhibits. They were local, but I made the effort to get my work out there and get some feedback from people who weren't family or friends. I also had rejections, but that goes along with entering.

My fiber class has continued to meet -- Fiber 19 as we call ourselves. We have had one group show in a cafe and one more exhibit is booked for October.

I also graduated from the EDGE program (developed by Artist Trust, Seattle). A sort of a "business for artists" type class. We learned about grant writing, portfolios, marketing, taxes etc. We are having an exhibit that starts next week and runs for two months, and because of one classmate with connections, this exhibit will also go on to two more venues before the end of the year.

And finally: I have a solo show booked for November 2011 at an alternative venue with great space and high volume attendance. I'm excited about this! not only is it "all about me" but it's a great opportunity to plan how the whole space will look.

So I have succeeded in my goal of working toward getting a body of work together and showing my work to the public. My next challenge is to complete this body of work and get into higher level venues. I also still have to get all of the parts of the "art job" organized and my space functioning the way I want it.

Back to work!

Photo above is called "Goblin Valley" I visited this state park in Utah many years ago -- remembering the orange hoodoos that populated this valley.

- Posted from my iPad

Move by heart or move by head

2010-06-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

In about a year, I may be starting the next phase of my life. Full time employment hopefully will be in the past. I will be able to spend more of my time making art or exploring many other interests without having to squeeze them into the time leftover after working for someone else.

We're thinking about moving to CA for warmer and dryer weather. Two locations have been picked out. One town is on the Central Coast; it's small, the roads are quiet, close to the ocean, but that also means it's farther from the big city offerings including a vibrant art scene. I have not looked in depth to see what's there, but it doesn't look as good as what even Seattle has to offer (not counting the contacts and groups I already have in Seattle). But I "like" it there.

The other area is the east bay near San Francisco; the towns are big and numerous, the roads are busy - what would cycling be like here? The BART is nearby offering an easy way to get into SF and all it has to offer. Art - can it get much better? I already know of an art group I could possibly join and I'm sure there are more already established. With all those galleries, there must be many places to exhibit for established and emerging artists. But I guess I just don't "like" it as much.

I know I would be happy in either place.

I like the Central Coast because it's small. I like the East Bay because it's big.

Follow your heart? Or follow your head?

- Posted from my iPad

Shredding Burlap

2010-03-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day for shredding burlap. It warmed up to 60 today so I went to my favorite lunch place – the roof across the street – to eat, enjoy the weather and get one of the mindless art tasks done.

Shredded burlap to the right and cherry blosssoms to the left.

I always dye my burlap first, putting different colors in different areas, cut the pieces out of the layers and assemble it back into one piece. I also dye strips of burlap to use for the “fin” or contour lines on my map art. Part of the work for getting the “fins” ready is to shred some of the threads off so I have strings to poke through and tie on the back of the piece, this is how I get the “fins” to stand up perpendicular to the main fabric piece. Shredding is quite mindless, but a perfect task for relaxing out in the sun or riding the bus. Outside is definitely preferable because the fuzz tends to blow away rather than swirl around your nose.

Public Speaking

2010-03-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

Last night was a success of sorts. I spoke in public (25 people) about my art and did really well. I wasn’t nervous. I pretty much read my speech, but was able to do it slowly, looking up at my audience much of the time and I think I appeared happy and relaxed. This is a total victory for me. I was able to get my thoughts about how my art came about and what it means to me. I got many complements that I will take to heart and use to build up my confidence.

I did have help.

This was one of our exercises, part of our graduation from the EDGE program developed by Artist Trust. The extra help may not have been fair, but I wanted to present well and after last Saturday’s practice run with my classmates, I felt it was the only way. During last week’s practice I had a total meltdown in front of my eight fellow students who I had been with for six Saturdays. After only one sentence my voice quavered, I stopped took a deep breath, but couldn’t get it together. I finally foraged on and got out some more sentences before bursting into tears. I stopped to collect myself again and again, and forged on. My classmates tried to be helpful; the old “find the friendly face and talk to it.” People who can get up in front of a crowd don’t understand there are no friendly faces; there is nothing but a black hole out there with an evil force, its total tunnel vision without the vision. Every nerve in your body is on fire and all you want to jump out of your skin and beyond. Your brain has shut down so long ago the only thought is “how -- why?” I did finish reading my speech, eyes never wavering off the page, tears streaming down my face, and finally being able to run to my chair.

This had to be uncomfortable to watch – at least I hope so (or else these people are sadistic). All I could think was - I had a tiny kernel of confidence before the practice session and now I had less than none. How would I get through the official presentation? For the rest of the class, the drive home and throughout the night, I would continually burst into tears at the very thought of the experience. Then the light bulb came on in my head – I have drugs! For years I have had know anxiety issues. I have pills for fear of flying, this is the same thing, they just smooth things out. You’re not drugged (sleepy, dulled) just calm, the nerve ends aren’t buzzing like high tension wires on crack.

It totally worked, I almost had fun, and I could see how some people like to be up in front with all the attention. How nice that must be, I’m envious. I’d rather speak without the “help” and I’ll work on it, but what was most important for me was to be able to say what I had to say as well as I could.

Exhibit at Cafe Solstice

2010-02-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Only 6 days until my Fiber 19 group hangs our show at the Café Solstice for the month of March. I know it’s just a café show, but we’re doing it. Our group came together last year as we took the Fiber Arts class through the U of W extension. The exhibit will be very eclectic. We all in different places art-wise in experience and commitment, our use of fiber in some way will be the only unifying part of this exhibit.

I’m continuing to make my topographical maps out of dyed burlap. The idea for the one in the exhibit started with a glimpse of a photo in a science magazine, I’m not sure what it was suppose to be, but as I recorded the image days later in my sketch book, to me it looked like a river with rocks in it. My colors again took over and in this case the river part looks like it has had some kind of bad industrial accident, so that’s why it’s called “Acid River”

Single Weft Interlock

2010-02-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting back to my goal to learn tapestry techniques in 2010.

This is the joining system that says “tapestry” to me. Both colors go around the same warp making a very durable weaving. The finished piece can be hung horizontal or vertical without any sagging or bagging. It is slower to weave since you have to keep all the colors in the same row or they won’t interlock, so you’re always picking up the next butterfly and moving across, unlike some of the other methods where you can take one color and weave just that section because it doesn’t lock with the color next to it.

I did notice that if you made a straight vertical line, where both colors twined around the same warp, because two wefts came together, it would start to bulk up on that warp. So I guess the trick is to not go around the same warp to many times or use a different method of joining.

In my little double square tapestry I was fairly happy with the way it turned out, changing from two wefts to three and back again usually worked out the first time, but sometimes I had to remove or add a half a row to make the weft fall the right order with the raised and lowered warp.

A guest at EDGE – Lanny Bergner

2010-02-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

During our class on Saturday we had a guest – Lanny Bergner who showed images of his art that covered almost 30 years. http://home.wavecable.com/~lbergner/

I loved Lanny’s artist statement: “By using hands-on processes of coiling, fraying, twisting, wrapping, glueing and knotting, I transform industrial screening, wire, silicone and monofilament into organic constructions. My desire is to create works that appear to have grown into being. I love the natural world and am constantly inspired by its beauty and infinite varieties of form. This, in combination with my fears, quirks and joys, results in works that celebrate the wonder of it all.”

It was great to have him explain how he creates his work and how it has evolved over time. He uses wire mesh for much of his work and because of this material; it has also lead him to be accepted into the fiber art and basketry worlds, which made his presentation more interesting to me. When he told about his making art, I loved the imagery of him sitting and shredding the wire mesh or twisting the pieces of wire together in “small repetitive motions.” He says this process very meditative and gives him time to think, but sometimes he twists wire does in front of the TV, maybe so he can be around the family(?). I could put myself in his place because I sort of do the same thing with my burlap; quietly shredding, stitching and constructing the 3-D parts for hours and hours, so sometimes I need to work in another part of the house to be near Bob or just be in a different place.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about an artist I follow on-line that is producing 20-some pieces in 7 weeks for a show, or the gal that does 50 pieces a year, or the guy who welds something in 2 hours and calls it art. Not that it has to take a lot of time to call it “art,” but I’m suspicious of “art” that can get “cranked out” in a short time, I would tend to put that in the “craft” arena. But in listening to Lanny, he said his work takes a lot of time, period; I don’t think he regrets that or really even thinks of changing it, it just is. He didn’t choose to create something that was labor intensive, that’s just what came out. Somehow this calmed my inner voice that was saying “you’ve got to find a way to make stuff faster, you need to get MORE done.” No I don’t, it is what it is, and that is the process for me. All I can do is keep working, steadily moving forward.

Fiber 19

2010-02-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

Groups are “interesting” (insert whatever word you feel is appropriate).

Last night I met with my fiber group. I expect it’s pretty impossible for any group to meld together perfectly, but sometimes this one has me laughing one minute and the next whacking my forehead thinking “what the..?”

We’re together because we took a nine month fiber art class last year. Like the classes before us, decided to continue to meet once a month for socializing and encouragement in our art endeavors – at least that was the idea. Going from having an instructor/ leader handing out assignments, to meeting on our own caused us to flounder at first. Socializing was the easiest thing to do, so we did a lot of that. The art making was not happening for many; they seemed to need an assignment to move forward.

I of course was appalled and disgusted with the non-art making part. I kept thinking, “we just left nine months of work, developing concepts and working in all sorts of ways with all kinds of materials, how could you not have a vision of what you want to do next? How could you not have ideas flying around in your head that you can’t wait to get to?” I had to settle down and keep reminding myself that we weren’t all in the same place; everyone has different priorities and time commitments. (But my head still does explode once in awhile with rantings of “what the..?) Time went on and the social part started to gel, so I figured socializing might be the main focus and I was ok with that.

Then someone came up with a format for our meetings; social for “x” amount of time while everyone shows up and gets settled, then the “business “part of the meeting, and then “show and tell." This gave us structure. We started from the beginning with discussions on why we were meeting and what did we want to do as a group. People started to settle into roles, we had a self-appointed “den mother” who always brought lots of food, took notes, and sent them out. We had people volunteering to look into places to exhibit – our number one mission, and others passing on information on how we could be a more professional group. As in any group, there are people who do nothing and the people that never seemed to know what is going on, but generally it’s working – and I keep telling myself we’re all in different places.

How long will the group continue? Who knows? Will it continue to serve my purposes? I’m not sure. All I know is that last night I had a lot of fun; we’re going to put an exhibit up in March one way or another. The show will be very eclectic and probably not very cohesive, but I guess that’s ok for now. I can only be responsible for my own work.

Grants and EDGE

2010-02-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

Another Saturday with the Artist Trust’s EDGE program.

This week it was all about grants, we looked at different programs/types of grants, compared the sources we found on-line, and went over our GAP grant proposals. Our instructor went over the need to do our research to find out if a particular grant was a good fit for us, what the grant requirements were and how we should follow them exactly, no more – no less than what was asked for.

Why do we want to apply for grants? Recognition, money, support and development of your work, psychological, connections, and networking.

What type of grants are there? Nomination only, open applications, unrestricted funds and restricted funds for specific projects.

Why do these people want to give money? They want to support you, your work supports their vision/mission, and they have money, it fits their vision to support project.

So with all that in mind we went over our proposals. Because this is an Artist Trust program, we all wrote proposals for a GAP grant. We did find out that 75 – 80% of the proposal is based on the work you have already done, only about 20% on the actual words. Basically Artist Trust wants to support artists they think have promise and this grant (for up to $1,500) is to help fill in a need (like equipment, time, space, or project) to help the artist grow.

It was interesting to see what my other classmates wrote and to see how many of them really didn’t get it. They didn’t seem to read what they were suppose to do, or didn’t comprehend it and didn’t seem to understand what to ask for or how. Some didn’t feel “worthy” or what they wanted wasn’t important, or felt “funny” about asking for something for themselves. I felt the same at first, but then I to junp in, use it as practice – it was an “assignment” I didn’t really have to submit it. I was surprised at how well my proposal faired compared to the others. It at least covered all the areas needed, people seemed interested in it and it really only needed some writing help, tightening up some areas maybe making a few other things more clear. So I felt pretty good about that and who knows maybe I really will submit it.

Weft Relays

2010-02-04T08:57:00.001-08:00

Now we’re getting into what I would call real tapestry weaving. As “The Tapestry Handbook” says; Unlike wefts that are shuttled from selvedge to selvedge, discontinuous tapestry wefts travel back and forth within the contours of the artist’s images, either touching gently in the spaces between the warps or crossing securely in some manner. These interactions between adjacent tapestry wefts affect not only the structural integrity of the textile but the style of its design interpretation.

There are a number of techniques for creating the “discontinuous wefts” that will make up your design. The first one is called “basic slit technique.” The weft yarns don’t touch each other, but simply go around the ending warp for each color. This does tend to pull the warps away from each other creating spaces between the colors; the two wefts should “kiss” each other before going their opposite directions. If you were to create long vertical slits, these would usually be stitched together on the back side for strength. If the weaving were to hang horizontal in its finished form these slits would form baggy gaps over time without the stitching.

My little weaving has spaces between all the colors. I either pulled the weft too tight around the warp, or because the wide spacing between warps (about 4 epi) is almost impossible to fill the space. I did not create any long slits, but switched color width fairly often. Although not technically correct, I kind of like the little spaces, I could see incorporating these spaces into the design.

EDGE training continued

2010-02-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday was another day of Artist Trust EDGE training; what I like to call a course of study about the business of being an artist. In the morning we continued to talk about portfolios and looked at a few examples and critiqued one of our classmate’s photos. Some were ok, but even the better ones we had comments on and our instructor indicated that they were of bad enough quality that it could give a juror reason to give it a pass – it seemed a little harsh to me. She said the photos in “American Craft” magazine should be our benchmark, -- perfection – if that is true, you absolutely need a good professional photographer experienced in taking photos of your kind of work to get anywhere. More $$, no snapping pics with your own digital camera. You would think they could get past a little imperfection and see the work, but I guess there is so much out there, they don’t have to.

We also went over out artist statements. I brought in the one I did last spring for our student show which I was quite happy with, but with more people looking at it I can see that it’s too long and I need to take the bio information out of it – more to do.

The afternoon was looking at grant proposals, concentrating on the GAP grant that Artist Trust awards. Mostly I think because it is somewhat attainable, small amount, and they give out quite a few each year, but there are also more applicants applying each year as artists find out about it. After discussing some dos and don’ts we looked at a number of past grants that had been funded, sometimes we shook our heads at what they gave money to, but apparently 80% of the award is based on your work samples, not what you’re asking for.

It was another tiring, but good day of information.

Saturday EDGE class

2010-01-28T08:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday’s EDGE class was a whirlwind of information. We have three sessions on the portfolio, Miriam Works presented two of them (morning and afternoon). We looked at some good and bad examples and discussed the why and what of each of them. We also went over what goes in the portfolio – great images, cover letter, artist statement, resume, optional bio, and supplemental materials. It was fun to pick apart the bad cover letter examples – and these were people who have done well in the art world – so it’s either not super, super important, or their art was so fantastic, the words didn’t matter, or these were first efforts before they figured it out.

Then we got to go through our portfolios, such as they are at this point. Considering we’re taking a class on how to figure this all out, for those that had something show, they were all ok. The biggest thing I need to fix is to get better images. One person who knows what my stuff looks like said the photos don’t do them justice. So I guess I’ll put that on the list of things to do (and pay for) along with business cards, art cards and more portfolio parts. (Along with getting more art done.)

I also need to spend time going around getting to know more artist and art people, the more people who know who you are and what you do, the better chance you have of getting a show and moving to that place we all seem to strive for.

Throughout the day there were also all kinds of tips and helpful hints, websites to look at, things to do, artist talks to hear around town – who has the time to do all of this? This Saturday we’re suppose to bring copies of our artist statements to review, I have something already that I did last spring in class, so I’m covered on that assignment, but I should probably look at it again and make some notes or updates.

EDGE

2010-01-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

I’ve started Artist Trust EDGE training through ArtsNow. I think of it as a how-to, business course for artists.

The official description: Become a successful artist entrepreneur after obtaining the important knowledge and essential skills taught in this nationally acclaimed program for visual artists. Artist Trust developed the curriculum and trained the instructors to give you 50 intensive hours in goal setting, business planning, portfolio development, marketing, funding, grant writing, and exhibiting. Program includes presentations, panel discussions, assignments, and peer to peer support and exchange with your cohorts.

We started out Friday night with the overview of the course (and passing out of huge binders). We then presented a fellow student to the class after a bit of one-on-one and learning what we each other wanted to accomplish. This was followed by each of us presenting our art to the class. I of course did terrible at that part. I don’t mind talking about my art, but hate to get up in front of a group. I can’t think straight and remember what I want to say. We also found out that we will have a group show a couple months later following the class – that will be fun! BUT it also includes a 5 minute art talk by each of us on opening night. This will be good for me, but unfortunately it is also all I will think about until it’s over. I’ll do my best, I’ll practice more than anyone, but it still won’t be half as good as the presentations by the people who love to talk.

Another pick-and-pick

2010-01-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

I did another sample because I really need the practice. Do you see the amount of draw-in on that thing? Way too much for a weaving that size. And do you see the big error? I don't know how I did not see that as I was weaving. I must have wanted to get this done. Yes, I did some stripes in the middle to use up space. I could feel my frustration level starting to rise and I think I need to move on to another technique and come back to this another time.

My buddy Carroll, the author, gives some tips.

If this is a reversible tapestry, because the methods above create ridges on the back, just forget all this and cross the side wefts around each other.

Sure sounds easier.

If there are an uneven number of warps, you’ll only have to deal with one of the selvedge methods, instead of changing at each selvedge.

That has a certain comfort to it.

The author says she tends to like the second method (when it’s down, go around) because it tends to lay flatter and not curl, but when she does pick-and-pick in the middle of a row, she likes the first method best, because she thinks it’s easier to go around a raised warp in the middle of a row.

There’s always something.

My conclusion: As I worked my second pick-and-pick sampler, I tried to change what I was doing more often. Trying to make a checkerboard type pattern was fairly challenging, figuring out how to introduce the yarn without making a blob of yarn or a hole. My sample is far from perfect. What I did like was carrying an unused weft up the side of the weaving and not having it show until I was ready to introduce it again. That was a nice way to not having to keep starting and stopping after using a color for only three rows.

I can see the possibilities for using this technique, especially the checkerboard type pattern for introducing subtle color and texture in an area.

Pick-and-pick

2010-01-20T16:30:00.000-08:00

This is the tapestry technique where you use two different colored wefts going the same direction, but in opposite sheds, so to create vertical stripes. When I did this on my first sample I just twisted the two ends, one weft over the other, and started back across the warp. This created a multi colored edge which is not correct and doesn’t make a good selvedge. So to Carol K. Russell’s, “The Tapestry Handbook” I went and read the instructions.

If both butterflies are at one selvedge, the shed has been opened for weaving the next row, and the selvedge warp is raised, then the yarn of the next butterfly to be woven should be underneath the selvedge warp, and the other butterfly should be over the selvedge warp.

(Photo to right, example of bad twisted edges)

Ok, got it, I’m ready.

Carry the active butterfly over the yard of the resting butterfly, under the selvedge warp and into the shed. Tug slightly on the yarn of the active butterfly, causing the yarn of the resting one to slip around the selvedge warp. This maneuver also steers the yarn of the active butterfly over the second warp from the selvedge, its correct position for the row. Note that the active butterfly has completely avoided the selvedge warp. Bubble and beat this row.

Huh??? It’s a good thing there were some pictures to look at. I could see what was supposed to happen and when I followed the instructions it worked! It was really pretty slick.

(Photo to right, example of better/not perfect edges)
Change sheds, and weave the second butterfly. As this butterfly is carried into the shed, it automatically makes a second trip over the selvedge warp, compensating for this warp’s being skipped by the first butterfly. Bubble and beat this row. Observe the neat progression of vertical stripes. Each warp including the selvedge warp is neatly covered by only one weft color. (The reverse side of the tapestry will have a double-width stripe of one color along the selvedge, but the right side of the tapestry will be perfect.)

Well, that was pretty cool; one yarn doing a little snake dance and hiding underneath and the other covering the warp working perfectly. I can do this.

But wait, that’s not all…

The above instructions are for if the selvedge warp is raised. It’s completely different if the warp is lowered.

If both butterflies are at one selvedge, the shed has been opened for weaving the next row, and the selvedge warp is lowered, then the yarn of the next butterfly to be woven should be over the selvedge warp, and the yarn of the other butterfly should be under the selvedge warp. In these circumstances, the next butterfly to be woven should be the one covering the selvedge warp. First in order to avoid crossing the two yarns, place the resting butterfly out of the way on the woven surface – not the unwoven warps. Wrap the active butterfly twice around the lowered selvedge warp. After the second wrap, carry it through the shed, all the way across the row. Two wraps of the selvedge warp with the first color compensate for its being skipped by the second color. Bubble and beat this row, and change sheds for the next.

Who would have thought…

The second butterfly can be woven through the shed with no special manipulation. Notice that it completely avoids the selvedge warp. Bubble and beat this row.

This all sounds fairly simple, at least once you go through it and see that the words do make sense, but I had to continually look at the directions. I finally got a rhyme going for when the warp was lowered – “when it’s down, go around” (wrap the butterfly twice around the selvedge) -- but I never did think of a rhyme for “up” or “raised.” My selvedges are far from perfect, this will take more practice before I will know what to do instinctively just by looking at the situation.

Tapestry diagonals

2010-01-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

A quick update on the self taught tapestry project; I completed this little one using three yarns across, changing the one in the middle for variety -- another rug ready for a dollhouse somewhere. Doing diagonals is pretty easy and fast. As your making the row smaller (or opening larger) for the next color, you can keep going with one color until it’s time to reverse direction, instead of going all the way across the whole row doing the rightmost color and going left, picking up the middle yarn going left and then the last color going left and then starting back to the right.

I was a little disappointed with myself, because even in something this small and simple I still made mistakes that I didn’t see until I was well past. Tapestry does take a lot of concentration and practice.

Balance

2010-01-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

We went to see the Alexander Calder exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum last night – what a treat! I had not been to an exhibit of just Calder before, only single pieces in various locations and museums. Besides his mobiles (the ones that hang from above) and stabiles (the ones that have a base) I didn’t realize he also did many of them in miniature, some as studies for larger works and others just to stay small. He also created quite a bit of jewelry using many of his same iconic swirls.

Besides looking at the engineering and enjoying how they moved around, it was also a perfect visual for illustrating my “word for the year” – balance.

What’s a word for the year? It’s a way of creating change in your life. Instead of making New Year’s resolutions which never last for long, you pick a word to guide you throughout the year. A better explanation can be found on Christine Kane’s blog along with many other interesting suggestions. http://tinyurl.com/yt4eb2

So my goal with my “word” is to hopefully keep in mind all areas of my life (not counting job and sleep) and not let any one thing take over (and probably shed some things that aren’t really important). Lately I want to spend most of my time in the art area of my life - playing, exploring and making art, but I also need to get my exercise in and do my share of household chores.

Hopefully my word and I will march perfectly through 2010, see you on the other side.

The Calder art shown here were not on exhibit at SAM - no picture taking alowed at the museum.

Fiber class January meeting

2010-01-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Our fiber class continues to meet once a month – it’s been six months now and half the class is still getting together. Although our bond began by seeing each other every week for 30 weeks, it is definitely strengthened as we continue to get together.

This month during the social part of our meeting we found out how one member had gone through two major surgeries in only a few months. Another gal is nursing her husband back to health after a heart attack. Plus mixed in with the “I took a really cool class in metalsmithing” and “two trees fell on my house,” we found out that two out of the ten people there had been severely bitten by dogs when they were kids – the stuff you find out.

We talked about our upcoming show during the business part of the meeting – scheduled for the month of March at Café Solstice in the University District. The details are being worked out, everyone has a task, and most people know what they’re going to create. I think we’re on a roll.

Show and tell is probably the best part of the meeting – when we can show off what we’re doing. Nikki is starting a clothing business for plus size kids. Debra had a really cool leaf print/fiber/stitched piece that had wonderful color and a translucent/transparency quality. Kaylin is almost finished with her newest quilt of purple, magenta, orange fabrics in her tree motif she has been exploring. Barb is working with paper collages and trying to incorporate a grid and transparent fabrics in it. Tre showed a loom/card weaving project she finished, a double sided twill of her own design; it’s a twill on one side, but with very subtle coloring on the other. Louise is playing with leftover Christmas package ribbon – she has a lot – right now it’s stitched together into a fluffy, curly mat, she plans on adding spears to it for our equinox/solstice theme show. I showed more of my burlap landscapes, I had one that was finished, one that was well on its way and one that was just at the start (for the show). I think they liked the fact that they could see the different steps and how it evolves.

I can weave diagonals

2010-01-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

I know this is a simplistic tapestry, but I’m LEARNING. After doing the first little weaving I decided I would do another practice piece of just diagonals, I now feel pretty good about this technique using 2 colors, I think I’ll go for three before moving on to another technique. My learning style for tapestry weaving seems to be “find ways to have small successes,” and for me finishing a 4” x 5” weaving seems to work. Someone told me I should felt them when I’m done, not a bad idea…

I’m also continuing to work on the burlap fiber pieces, they take a larger block of time than my tapestry learning. The burlap is into the 3-d building phase, this is when I attached the perpendicular pieces that will later be trimmed and coated with GAC-400 to keep them upright.

Photos: I shred the burlap, so I have some long fibers to poke through the burlap, the fibers then get tied on the back side and ta daa! They stand up on the viewing side.

Stones into Schools

2010-01-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

OK, this has nothing to do with fiber art in any way, but I just finished reading “Stones into Schools” by Greg Mortenson. It’s comforting to know something good is happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than just the horrors we read in the paper. Greg Mortenson also author of “Three Cups of Tea” (read that one first) has been building schools in these countries for years – with the emphasis on education for girls, believing literacy will do more for peace than anything else. The work he is doing is astounding, but I will let the books talk for themselves as I cannot do them justice.

My favorite quotes are: an African proverb, “If you teach a boy, you educate and individual; but if you teach a girl, you educate a community.” According to the book in military parlance, girls’ education is a “force multiplier” – and in impoverished Muslim societies, the ripple effects of female literacy can be profound… Young women are the single biggest potential agents of change in a developing world. – WOW!

Another quote comes much later in the book when they have also started some classes for older women who lost out on the chance for an education when they were younger. “When women take charge, things start to get out of control really fast.” Talking about how whatever these women learned, whether it be how to read or use a cell phone the knowledge spread like wildfire, Greg’s men in the field couldn’t even keep track on how many women’s lives were being changed.

How lucky/spoiled we are to have been born in the U.S. of A. We can work, earn money and spend our free time making art. We can quilt and make “pretty” things to hang on walls; they don’t have to keep anyone warm.

What a luxury.

Secret places

2010-01-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

I’m working on the computer at my day job, (actually I’m writing this) but thinking of stitching burlap. Waiting until I can steal time away during a break or lunch to work on my project. I usually go across the street to one of three buildings and sit in their lobbies, pull out my project and get to work. I try to rotate my destination so as to not always be in the same place at the same time. Technically these are private areas; I suppose I could be kicked out for loitering or not have business to accomplish in the building, so I try not to call attention to myself. They all have cafes in them, so at lunch I could have a reason for being there and hanging out in the lobby, but I’m usually not buying the food provided there. It was suggested that I should carry a glass or cup previously obtained so it looks like I just purchased…

I have one place at lunch that I particularly like, it’s quiet, a nice big space, has great light, and looks out onto a patio/open space; when I rains I can watch the drops plop into the water feature/stream right outside - perfect for stitching fabric. There's one exception, usually a security guard posted there. She doesn’t seem to mind that I’m using their space, but still, I don’t go there every day.

First "tapestry"

2010-01-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is my first “tapestry” as I attempt to teach myself something new. I glanced at my book, ignored the first instructions and jumped in. The bottom vertical strips were the first part to be done working with 2 “shuttles.” Basically the dark color is followed by the light color, both traveling in the same direction, when it comes to returning the other way I just did a twist of one color over the other and went on my merry way. In looking closely at my selvages I didn’t really like the way it looked and when I referred to the book, I had of course not done it the “best” way or the correct way according to the book.

Now this is exactly why I did not want to produce a “sampler” -- all the techniques in one weaving -- while learning techniques, at this point I would be so annoyed that it doesn’t look nice that I would either unweave it and start over or procrastinate and slowly (very slowly) continue. But the way I’m doing it, I can completely start over putting the “bad” one aside; I can also do another variation to practice the technique. Maybe it’s easier for me to focus on one technique per project. Having something finished – yea! victory! And then move on to the next project. I also have “cute” little weavings suitable for a doll house or maybe coasters – never underestimate the “cute” factor on the satisfaction scale.
I did like doing the angled weaving part, I’ll do more of that for practice building up some confidence for when I get the nerve to do curves and someday a circle!

What is tapestry?

2010-01-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

For a brief moment I wondered what the official definition of tapestry was, so to “The Tapestry Handbook” by Carol K Russell came:

Tapestry is the interweaving of discontinuous weft yarns with tensioned warp yarn through two alternate sheds, resulting in a firm, weft-surface textile constructed concurrently with the description of its design. Taken as a whole, this definition identifies tapestry’s distinctive elements.

Uh huh, ok well fine… I knew my first little sample was not tapestry, but I wanted to see what weaving on the little toy loom was like. There are a lot of disadvantages, like hard to tension evenly, no shed to open, it was more like needle weaving, but I still think I can get the techniques down, and convenience factor was high – I could carry it anywhere.

“discontinuous weft yarns” In most hand-weaving techniques, a weft yarn is passed continuously across each row of weaving. Since the direction of the weft is reversed only at a selvedge (an outside edge), weft colors are all interchanged vertically. By contrast, tapestry technique involves several wefts in each row of weaving. Because they can be entered, deleted, or reversed at any point in the row, color can be shifted horizontally.

My little stripe weaving does not meet this criteria.

“two alternate sheds” Tapestry weave is the simplest of all woven structures, universally known as “tabby” or “plain weave” – that is, each weft is woven over and under successive warps, in opposite order to the weft preceding it.

Definitely fits this.

“weft surface textile” Horizontal rows of tightly woven weft completely cover he vertical warps and thus form the surface of the textile.

Ditto on this one.

“constructed concurrently with the description of its design” In most visual arts (painting, for instance), the artist adds an image to an existing surface (in this case, a canvas). In tapestry, however, the artist constructs the image and the surface at the same time. This last criterion helps differentiate tapestry from other types of textiles. Embroidery stitched onto a woven surface may be fiber art, but it cannot correctly be defined as tapestry, it does not form the essential structure of the textile.

Ok, there is not really any image, but it does form the “essential structure.”

My sample is a pretty weak attempt, but others will follow more fitting of the definition of “tapestry.”

A weekend of stitching

2010-01-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

What a great weekend, I got so much done! Really helps to get the New Years Eve thing over with on Thursday night so there is still 3 days (assuming you didn't over celebrate) left to get work done before going back to the job.

I spent a number of hours stitching the layers of burlap together on 2 pieces, played with my little loom for my self-imposed tapestry lessons, read a bit and still had time for a couple of naps!

Both of these art pieces have a water/river theme, in one the water is actually blue, curving and swirling around a rock, in the other the water takes on more of an acid color like some horrible toxic accident. I keep trying to limit my color pallet and not use the whole rainbow, and I was successful in the one piece, but couldn’t help myself with the other and just had to use the secondary colors together to see if they would clash – I love color and to play with it in all its glorious forms.

I’ll update the photos as the pieces move forward, they still have a long way to go.

Tapestry beginnings

2010-01-02T16:32:00.000-08:00

I have taken upon myself to learn tapestry, I think the skill will be useful for my next art exploration. This thought is coming to me with a bit of reservation. I like the idea of creating the cloth as I add the design rather than just "attaching" it to the already manufactured cloth, and I also know this will also be a way to add texture to what I create. My reservation comes from the fact that it is SLOW, it can really take a long time and I want to make things with some size to them. In the past I have dabbled in tapestry a couple of times, but did not have the skills to make it look good, so now it is time to learn. I feel you should learn the technique - the rules before you can break them and I am certain to break them. I don't have a desire to "paint" pretty pictures by doing tapestry, but I do think it may be a good way to build my abstract ideas.

I have a book called "The Tapestry Handbook" by Carol K Russell that I will follow as well as I can follow any written instructions. Books like these always want to teach techniques by having the "student" make a sampler. I have no desire to make a sampler and follow along in the book in the order prescribed. I think that will just frustrate me, plodding along making something I don't want. So I have come up with the idea of using a very small "no frills" loom. I can take each technique and create a tiny work and then cut it off and throw it away if I hate it -- with a sampler I would be stuck looking at something I hate the whole time. I can also redo a lesson or skip one at my own pace.

The loom I have chosen is a Good Wood Loom, as you can see it is more of a toy than a loom, but I think it will work for what I have in mind. I want to be able to carry it around and use it when I have bits of free time, like lunch, or breaks at work, maybe even riding the bus if I want to deal with the questions. The loom measures 5" x 7" and creates a weaving approximately 4" x 5.5".

Happy 2010

2010-01-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

I started this blog to journal the year in the U of W Fiber Arts Program. After we had our final show, the blog came to an end, but with a new year I think it's time to start again.

The update on the class: some of us continue to meet once a month to see what we're up to and to give encouragement and advice. We are currently planning a show for the month of March at a cafe in the University district. There will be eleven of us participating. We started a "portfolio blog" that shows the final projects of the remaining 11 members and it gets updated whenever someone has a piece in a show somewhere.

I am going to continue to work on the burlap pieces until I get a "body of work" or feel I have taken the idea as far as I can. I think parts of this work will move forward into my next exploration, but how that will play out, I can only guess at this time. (at right; "Canyonlands," 30" x 32")

One of my goals for the year is to explore other related fiber techniques. It may include card weaving, inkle loom, kumihimo, finger weaving and learning tapestry trechniques. My thought behind this is that you never know what will spark an idea and I think it's important for me to have a variety of techniques to draw on.

Final show - Topo Map: Ridges

2009-06-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

Two days after the class final show I was off to Bryce and Zion National Park for get-away time. It was nice to finally have a break from deadlines of work and class and only have to accomplish what was in front of you, be it sitting and looking out the window at the passing scenery, hiking up a trail, or just sitting down for a nice dinner.

Now it's time to catch up with what we all produced for the final fiber art show. I may not post all of the projects, but will put up the ones I feel will show well on the blog. Almost of these look better "in person" my cheap camera can't capture the detail many of these have.

I'll start with mine, it's called "Topo Map: Ridges" rather than go on with a long discussion, I let you read the artist statement and come to your own conclusions. The size is 48" x 30" and is made out of dyed burlap in several layers.

The detail photo shows a bit more of the 3-D aspect of the piece. The topo lines are perpendicular to the rest of the burlap. Sometimes I would cut and pull out fibers to let the layer below show and in some places I would add dyed burlap parts to the top layer to get the effect I wanted.

Artist Statement

I create maps to help people explore new places.

I grew up on a farm in the Midwest, and I feel a real kinship with the land. I like the way the machinery imposes its crop-growing grid upon the land, but I like even more the way natural features such as rivers, boulders and trees break up that grid. As a child, I’d curl up on the couch and pore over maps from around the country. What were those places like? How were they different from Minnesota? What would it be like to travel there?

When I moved to the Pacific Northwest, I saw my first topographical map and learned that all those squiggly lines show changes in elevation – what an interesting way to show information. When I flew, the view from airplane windows gave me three-dimensional information about the land. When I rode my bike cross-country and in other states, I learned first-hand about topography as I climbed mountains, battled headwinds, smelled the salt air and felt the changing weather.

Today, I make my own version of topographical maps. I see narrowly spaced multiple lines and I feel a sharply ascending mountain or a dizzying canyon; languidly spaced lines show me the open plains.

I invite the audience to explore the world as I see it. Walk over the earth’s crust, travel through canyons, peer over the edge of the crater, or feel the coolness of a forest.

My maps show more than roads.

Flying home yesterday from Phoenix we ended up going over what I think was Canyonlands National Park. I snapped a few photos from the plane (the only good reason to be on a airplane) thinking this will maybe help explain where I'm coming from.

I plan to produce more of these "maps" for awhile, exploring the idea and materials.

Group Project

2009-05-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

For our second project spring quarter we were assigned a group project. I was not real thrilled about the idea of getting together with a group to get something done, not that I didn't want to work with a group, it was more the logistics of getting together. Plus I really wanted to save my weekends for working on my final project, gardening and bicycling. Sally and I were talking and thought maybe if we got people together that all worked downtown we could meet at lunch if we had to and leave the evenings and weekends free.

I thought of doing some kind of round-robin art where one person adds something and gives it to the next person and they work on it from there and pass it on until we run out of time or declare it finished. When we finally got a group together we brainstormed for awhile about my idea, then Sally's kite idea/skydiving and somehow ended up doing a parachute idea, maybe because Nancy said we could get little parachutes cheap at the army surplus store. I liked that idea; cheap, nothing to construct, we just needed to decorate the 'chute.

Sally volunteered to make baskets for all of us if I dyed her parachute. Hattie went shopping for the parachutes the next day and we were in business. We all had the task of finding a place to launch them from and finally ended up in the inside atrium at the Library.

We were all working on the concept of trusting in ourselves and what we had learned in class, moving on after class, growth, launching ourselves etc. Some decorated their parachutes with imagery of these items or wrote quotes or sayings on or in the basket.

Wednesday morning we gathered at the Library and let our parachutes float down from the 10th floor to the third floor. A few technical problems, but generally worked just fine. It was fun! We had a few people taking photos for us to document the event and then unfortunately we had to go to work. I think we all would have rather stayed and played with the parachutes a few more times and then gone out for coffee. Reality bites.

Project-wise I think it was good, documentation-wise trying to photograph a small moving object in questionable light in a large space made for a challenging task. Thanks for all who participated and Photoshop for its editing.

I'm in ANWG!!!

2009-05-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I posted... Spring is such a busy time even without school projects to work on. But...

I was notified today that I'm in the Juried Show at ANWG (Association of northwest guilds) in Spokane at the end of May. yea!!! I actually designed the piece last summer before taking the fiber arts class, so I think my stuff is more interesting now, but hey, who cares, it's a good thing.

Work on the final project is progressing, I'm pretty happy so far how it looks --- it's sort of a fantasy topographic map -- more later.

Our group project is due before that -- we're doing mini parachutes and launching them inside the Library in the atrium on Wednesday, May 20.

I feel like I'm being pulled many ways -- class projects, gardening, bike riding, getting stuff ready for the conference, plus work and day to day stuff -- somehow it will all get done... maybe.

Trail Torches - the show

2009-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

Spring. It's such a great time, but even without a class to do projects for I would be busy -- more on gardening and cycling later...

My site installation went up fine, I think the neighbors and invitees like it -- or maybe it was the wine... anyway I had fun, I kind of like the idea of installation or outdoor projects.

Photos will show the work from a few different angles, enjoy.

The only annoying part was showing it to the class. I made my first ever powerpoint presentation. I thought it was beautiful, set almost perfectly to music, changing views as the music changed, had this cute little fade that introduced the project, I was really happy with it -- I stayed up till midnight just tweaking the timing and used my lunch the next day to tweak some more. Well, of course you know what happened. Technology failed me, even though I brought my own computer to plug into the AV equipment, the music didn't play until I pulled out the plug and just ran it off the laptop speakers, but by then the timing was all off. GRRRR, if I was only going to show photos I could have went to bed at a reasonable hour and not worried the whole thing. I just really got into the whole powerpoint thing and wanted to show my project off the best I could.

GRRRR, never trust technology, maybe that's why I weave and ride a bike.

Trail Torches

2009-04-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

I did my art installation piece on Sunday, invites some friends and neighbors to view the work and basically have a party. Never underestimate the power of wine and food to get more favorable reviews from the masses. Generally people liked what they saw, one person said it looked like a sunset.

I'll show a few of the beginning photos and follow up soon with a few more. The first ones will be some arty shots of the pieces I was working with and then me beginning to install it on the lawn.

I'm backkkk

2009-04-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

Back from a trip to Minnesota. What to say.... Had a nice time, but I guess now it's back to work. For school we're stilll looking for a place to have the end-of-quarter show after the place we were going to use is becoming a pizza resturant. I guess we'll all meet on Tuesday with what we know about the different spaces and make a decision of where it will be...

I finished my simple inkle weave while in Minnesota, don't know what I'm going to do with it, but it was an interesting project in a technique I had never touched. I feel it's kind of limited, but may be just the mindless thing to keep the hands busy at times.

My Mom is a quilter and while visiting her, we did some shopping for quilt materials. I kind of got caught up in what she was doing and announced that I would make a quilt --- what was I thinking? The quilt in my head would be fun to have and know one else will make it for me... It will probably be the only quilt I ever make, so I better do a good job. I have also told everyone it will take me 20 years, so that should take some of the presure off.

Gotta get going on the install details of my school project, I need to show it this weekends so I can present it next Tuesday -- where will the time come from?

Grrrr

2009-04-09T20:32:00.001-07:00

I've basically have all the pieces for my installation project ready to go for when I get back from my trip. I wanted to put it along side the Sammamish Trail in one of the Redmond parks. Preferring to do this legally I contacted the Parks department, found out who to talk to and ended up sending the art person an e-mail with all the information I could (explanation of the project, the idea, and a little bit about myself; projected size; map of where I wanted it to be; and a photo of some of the pieces). As in true bureaucratic fashion she wanted to meet and discuss the whole thing. I'm not sure what more I could tell her, but I told her I was going to be gone for the next week, but was available any time the week after. The install was also going to be on Saturday instead of Tuesday as I mistakenly said in my first e-mail. Well, she fired back an e-mail and said there was not enough time to get together to plan and discuss this project, so the whole thing was off.

This was a temporary install, only for 6 hours, like somebody having a long picnic -- did she expect mobs of people to crowd the trail? It was a student project, I would have been lucky if someone stopped long enough to give me a polite comment of "interesting" (also known as the death comment.)

Since I don't have a lot of time to deal with this anymore, I will probably end up putting it up in the common space at the complex and invite the neighbors.

Site Specific Installation

2009-04-08T20:27:00.001-07:00

We're back in school working on our first project - a site specific installation.

I'm liking this idea, after doing the final project last quarter I made something large enough to walk around,found it to be an interesting experience and wanted to try it again. I'm wondering how installation artists get started showing, seems like no gallery would want to show it because it can't hang on a wall of fit in a normal space... something more to investigate.

The assignment we got was: "Find a public space of significance to you and create an object for that space that communicates this significance to others. Your object must remain in this space for at least 6 hours. Document your ideas behind this work, your process in making it, as well as the object in its’intended space."

I thought this sounded pretty cool, so I picked out an idea I had sketched -- something smaller that I thought I could finish in a short amount of time because I would be out of town and missing a week of class and two weekends -- prime work time.

I got right to work, getting supplies and cutting last quarter's project into pieces to reuse for this one. I also was trying out this polymer stuff, GAC-400 which was suppose to make fabric ridged. I wanted to make these cones and I wanted them to be able to stand upright.

The photos are of me dyeing the burlap and applying the GAC-400. The burlap really sucked up the stuff and at $10 a 8 oz. bottle, there was no way I wanted to spend over $200 just on that stuff for a school project. I remembered that when I brushed on elmers glue thinned with water the fabric got fairly stiff, so I decided to mix the two, and add some water and stretch out the good stuff.

I wrapped the glue saturated burlap around cones on forms I made out of paper and cardboard covered with plastic so it wouldn't stick. The ones made with the thinned out GAC and glue weren't as sturdy as the pure GAC ones, but seems to work well enough.

The last photo is the burlap shapes drying outside in the driveway -- more for the neighbors to wonder about.

More on what this is all about later.

Spring Quarter

2009-04-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it’s been almost a week since we started class.

During the first class I quickly read through our syllabus and got totally confused, it just seemed like there was so much stuff! Reading again it turns out we really only have three projects to do but there are a whole bunch of other reading and writing tasks. I decided the only way I could really make sense of what I had to do when, was to draw it all out on a calendar with all the due dates and when I would be out of town. The visual reference helps me to show myself that I really can get it all done.

This quarter we will again be working on conceptual strategies, but also be learning the professional practices of being an artist -- how to show our work, approaching galleries, writing grants, artist statement and resumes. Our creative projects are fewer than the other quarters and will include a public art installation, a group project and our final show piece. I think the public art piece will be the tough one for me because I will be out of town for a week including both weekends -– prime work time.

I’m not really wild about the group project (I’m remembering those disasters from high school) plus we all live a fair distance from each other and most work full time jobs, so coordination will probably be difficult. Hopefully we can think of something simple and most of the work can be done on our own.

I think everyone is pretty excited about our final show and want to do projects for that, but we will have a size restriction because the show space is fairly small. We are to continue developing a concept we started in a previous class and take it farther rather than fall back on something safe that we all ready know how to do. We will also form committees for this to divide up the work of putting on a show.

Photo above is showing the very beginnings of my installation project. I needed to get going on it immediately because I;m going to be out of town next week. I'll have more on this soon.

2nd Quarter Project - Louise

2009-03-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

"Untitled"
Ideas - Concept - Plan - Strategy
Hand, one side = realitic, the other side = energy.

2nd quarter final project - Janice

2009-03-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

"Headress for looking inward"

2nd quarter final project - Debra

2009-03-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

"Tarnished"
As life progresses, we become more tarnished.
Copper, wire mesh on a gray velvet fabric background.

2nd quarter final project - Kaylin

2009-03-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

"Red Scarf #1"
Machine stitched grid on a wash-away substrate, fringe and beads added.

2nd quarter final project - Hattie

2009-03-18T14:29:00.001-07:00

A house with all the family members represented by blocks. I think she said she felt a bit like her family was falling apart with now the passing of both parents. So when you take off the roof the sides spring out with quite a clatter. Each block has the face, map piece on where they're from or live now and text about each person.

2nd quarter final project - Moxie

2009-03-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

Baby book page in cross stitch.

2nd quarter final project - Mary

2009-03-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

"Waves"
Mary wove the fabric with two different fibers which shrink at different rates causing the bubbling or waves to occur. Along with the colors, it makes a pretty convincing ocean.

2nd Qt Final Project - Sally

2009-03-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

"First Flower"
Materials: I don't know the name of the basket materials, some kind of reed and copper mesh.

Inkle Weaving

2009-03-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Winter quarter class was over on Tuesday so I decided to treat myself to a day off work and take part in an inkle weaving workshop taught by a member of the Seattle Weavers Guild. The class was held in the recently reopened Southeast Seattle Senior Center's loom room.

In this two and a half hour class we were able to warp up our looms and start weaving. Inkle weaving is mostly a warp faced weave done on a fairly simple loom using string heddles and our hands to make two sheds.

The class warped up 3 types of weaves so we could at least have an overview of the different types by looking at what the others were doing.

We found out rather quickly that even though the weaving is simple, in warping the loom attention needed to be paid. We all made some kind of mistake which were turned into "teaching opportunities" by our instructor Marilyn.

First two photos are basic stripes, the next two were a warp pattern and the last the most tricky and time consuming to weave was a pick-up pattern, where you have to manually pick the separate warps to create the pattern.

I liked the class well enough to stop off at Weaving Works on the way home to buy some warp that was a little bit thicker and colors I preferred to work with. If you're going to look at something for hours, I would rather it be pretty.

Holding onto and letting go

2009-03-11T11:08:00.001-07:00

4' x 10' dyed burlap panels with classmate Mary.

Another view. I liked the idea that it was large enough that you could walk around and through it.

Plus one more. I also had never created anything that was two-sided -- more to think about.

Details of each panel. If I did this again I would not cut out "windows" to sew my "pictures" onto, but would do the story items directly into the burlap for a more continuous and seamless look. I would probably also pull out more burlap threads throughout the piece to make it more transparent.

My final project parts - #2

2009-03-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'm continuing to show the parts of my final project before being combined with the large panels. This one shows the theme quite simply. Holding onto and letting go.

Another hold on to the precious parts. The little velvet bag with the gem inside versus the rock that needs to be cast aside.

Another one for relationships. The good parts we hold dear in a special pocket. But when they go bad it's sometimes hard to rid yourself of the parts that now don't make sense. Hanging on to the past as if you can now change it and make it right again. Then its finally time to let go, completely move on, looking forward to the positive.

For this one I thought more of parents and children. Parents hold their children close, but one day they need to leave the nest and hopefully flourish.

Coming together and moving apart.

My final project - the parts

2009-03-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

How many of us have hung onto someone too long, clinging to their shirt tails just because letting go is so scary. We finally get so tired, loose our grip and float to despair/reality... Finally we recover, find ourselves stronger, ready to move on to the next challenge whatever it is, unafraid.

I really like this one, so simple but yet... Creativity, we can keep a tight hold and not let ourselves explore, choke off and kill what we most want to have. But we learn to let go, just "do" for the sake of "doing" - the process is all that's necessary to let us find peace.

Sometimes we hold on so hard to something, we don't let it breathe or grow. Taking a chance and letting go allows things/people to grow. It isn't always easy (usually not) but finally letting go lets us take the deep breath we need.

This one is pretty simple, holding hands, together with someone you care about. What goes wrong? You drift apart, many times not really understanding until years later.

2nd quarter final project

2009-03-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

We were able to do anything we wanted for our final project. Michael mentioned that an installation piece might be something to consider and having never done something on that scale, I considered the possibilities.

I had taken a photo of some raindrops hanging on a wire grid chair last summer and had recently pasted the photo in my sketch book wanting to do something with the grid idea. The "hanging on" of the raindrops became "hold on" and then the final theme "holding onto and letting go" for my final project.

I was thinking of all the types of things we hang onto - friends, relationships, things, ideas, and the things we let go of - friends, relationships, things, ideas. How sometimes we hang onto these item too long because we don't know what's next and sometimes we freely let go of these items because it's best for us or best for what we're letting go of.

I thought I would use my friend burlap again because it's cheap and takes the dye well. I hoped to hang the burlap panels at angles to each other, sort of like how the chairs were casually placed when I saw them with the raindrops. I thought I would cut holes or windows in the fabric that I would insert "pictures" depicting hanging onto and letting go. Hands seemed to be a logical symbol to use for many of the stories or vignettes I would portray.

The bottom photo is the three, four-by-ten foot burlap panels I dyed two Saturdays ago drying on the driveway.

Sharing - Sawatou

2009-03-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Sawatou inherited Janice's exquisite handwritten "In the Moment" piece. She ended up cutting it into strips and coiling the messages and putting them into a felted pouch with some of the messages breaking out of their confinement. Sawatou left early that evening so I didn't really get to hear her view.

Sharing - Sally

2009-03-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

Sally inherited Karin's linen spiral about time. Sally had linen fabric to work with, stitched with phrases and words, some stones with text, leaves and a large shell. She chose to take the linen and rip it into strips that she then coiled around wire to create a basketry material -- it's the small cord going around the outside and is also inside the basket. She painted the stones black with one gold one and I think she said the actual basket was made from painted paper. I think it's a very pretty and intriguing basket, but I may be reacting to the color as much as anything else. I'm becoming more interested in basketry the more of Sally's work I'm see, maybe I should take a basketry class.

Sharing - Louise

2009-03-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

Louise inherited Jan's record, cd and knitted casset tape. She said she really liked the knitted tape and didn't want to take it apart, so she used it in it's entirety along with broken record and cd parts.

Sharing - Janice

2009-03-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

Janice inherited Kaylin's bright and colorful paper collage. Janice, as you can probably tell from her work, is not exactly a wild color kind of gal. The bright background of Kaylin's piece is actually on the back side of Janice's. She instead used the text from the bright collage as her inspiration for her work. She said that one of the quotes had the word "whole" in it that she turned into "holes." She found items with holes in them to create this spectacular found object collage. Janice has a way of using found objects to create her beautiful pieces in a way I never would be able to.

Sharing - Hattie

2009-03-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

Hattie inherited Mary's beautiful quilted piece with moons. The pieces was full of wonderful colors in three vignettes. Hattie wanted to be very respectful of the piece and was hesitant to cut it apart. I believe she wanted to keep it as intact as possible and after placing the moon pieces up to many fabrics decided it looked best next to denim. Hattie had been wanting to created a rolled "hem" for her jeans for awhile so took Mary's moons and turned it into a colorful "cuff" for her spankin' new jeans.

Sharing - Brenneta

2009-02-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

Brenneta created this beautiful triptych after getting her materials from Mary the week before. I can't give all the thought behind her piece, but I believe she relies a lot on her faith and this work pays homage to that. She made references to Ash Wednesday and Easter, renewal and rebirth. I could really tell this one came from her heart, I think it is one of her best class pieces.

Sharing - Jan

2009-02-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

Jan started with my metal cube stuffed with gray fabric.

I thought she came up with a wonderful solution. She said she was playing off the desire I had in my piece to balance it on one corner, so she balanced it with sticks on a rock. I guess it took quite a few tries to get it to ballance, but when it does only a few sticks actually touch the rock. The sticks laying around are the ones that slipped through the cube and didn't "stick."

2009-02-27T08:13:00.001-08:00

Studio Visit

2009-02-23T17:55:00.000-08:00

Our class was invited to our fall quarter instructor's studio. I certainly wanted to go, wondering if she had the kind of place I could only dream of, and of course it was.

On arrival we were met by the studio dog. He was suppose to stay outside, but what fun is that when there's a comfy rug to lay on and lots of women to pat him on the head.

The main floor was huge, many square feet of space to spread out and lots of wall space to hang works. Layne said she waited 7 years before the studio was built. During that time she made many notes, envisioned all the processes she would do and what space they would require, plus visiting other studios to find out what others did.

Layne - sorry about the bad photo! We all had a great time sharing our winter quarter projects with Layne and hearing her thoughts. I think we all were remembering fall quarter and have been missing her insightful comments and helpful suggestions.

Yes, there's also an upstairs.

Also a "kitchen" type area with a large utility sink and more space to work. There was also room for a large table of food and wine where many classmates gathered toward the end of the day.

What's a fiber artist studio with out a collection of scissors?

Sharing

2009-02-22T18:07:00.000-08:00

I inherited Sally's transparent squished ball. She had printed on the acetate and cut it into strips, sort of pumpkin shaped.

I liked the idea of transparency and had not worked with plastic yet this quarter, so I thought that was the way to go. I had also recently taken some photos of light rainbows on our walls and wondered if I could include some colored light into the project. But what to do? maybe plant shapes? growing? maybe fan shapes?

At some point I thought of this line someone had posted on Twitter; "What color is the wind?" I really liked that idea and thought, "I'm borrowing materials, why not borrow the inspiration?" I'll use plastic to represent the wind. I can add colored LED lights -- the colors I found were red, blue, and green -- the colors of light, which together in their pure form equal white (or clear). How perfect I thought!

I sketched some sail type shapes and started to construct it. After spending a bit on time on the project I realized that how I was going about it and with the materials I had, it was not going to look like how I envisioned it. So scraped the wind idea for now.

I then thought of something Sally had said, she thought her object was kind of sea creature like and I agreed with her. I thought back to last fall when I visited the Monterey Aquarium and how I loved the jelly fish, anemone, and other sea life. I thought of making tubes out of plastic and how the small lights I had made them glow. So I decided to just have fun with the materials I had and play, probably creating some kind of sea plant.

I added some flowy plastic strips coming out of the base where the tubes of light were "planted," in part to cover the Styrofoam base and also to create a more organic form.

I like how it looks, even though I realize it looks a bit like a cheesy Christmas decoration. I don't like that it's really put together without a lot of finesse, plain old scotch tape is pretty much holding the whole thing together.

Time - Classmate Projects #2

2009-02-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

Louise "Waiting Room" a mock-up for a room installation.

Karen

Jan

Mary

Time - Classmate Projects

2009-02-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Janice "In the Moment"

Debra "Dying Flower"

Barb "Grand Canyon"

Time | Sharing

2009-02-15T14:33:00.001-08:00

We have two weeks to do this assignment in two parts. The first part is "create a work of art that is conceptually centered around the theme of 'time'. Consider time and its effects on how we think, live, work, create culture in our lives, etc. This could also branch out to themes centered around traditions, history, past, present or future. Time as an abstract notion should be your focus, think about how it is connected to your choice in materials and subject matter."

Then after finishing this part in one week, we're going to give our projects away, and will receive a project in return. And this project we receive will be the starting point for the other half of the assignment. This whole process sounds like a lot of fun, what will the person receiving think of my project and materials and what will I get to work with?

So on to the first part. I'm always complaining about lack of time (along with so many others). There's never enough time to do the things I have in my head, not even when I try to narrow my focus and only consider what I think to be most important.

Hence the "cage" I built out of this metal grid mesh which I think is suppose to be fencing material. It wasn't fun to cut out the pieces, I have the blisters to prove it, fiber is much more forgiving. I then took this gray fabric and ripped it into strips that I tied into knots, representing stopping/decision/frustration points. This is suppose to represent my brain, there is too much to do/think/figure out so it's overflowing its container.

Within the "brain" there are also items that represent the parts of my life or what I think about. These won't show to the viewer, because they don't always get talked about or shown to the outside. They're my secret and of course the person I share my project with will find them when they pull it apart to make the second project. I wonder what they'll think?

I can't quite explain the burning part. I just new I wanted to set it on fire, not to destroy it, but to maybe show a giving up on some activities so make room for what is most important and maybe then everything will fit into the box. Or maybe I wanted to have a bit of a performance piece if only for a few minutes and let the neighbors wonder what was now happening over in #116.

I wished I could have figured out a way for my little sculpture to stand on it's point. I wanted to show some kind of tension in all of this or maybe how we can balance all of the parts in our lives. But I am not a metal smith or know about fabricating, so I ended up making a simple stand for it to rest in while standing on its point.

More class projects - 2

2009-02-12T21:20:00.001-08:00

Barb's 3-d Heart - Empathy. Made with felting. gauze, weaving and many other fabrics. A very cool project, I wished it was huge so I could walk through it.

Kaylin's Tropical Homeland. She was showing the tropical feeling of her home - ocean,greenery and hibiscus.

Jan and her stitched hand. I didn't hear her thoughts on this one, but I l iked it and will need to ask her about her concept.

2 week class review

2009-02-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Last night we were in groups of four reviewing the work of our classmates.

I wasn't part of the team that reviewed Sally's basket, but I wish I was because it was maybe my favorite of the night.

I was in on Debra's review, she had a whole thing going with renewal, spring and life. I should be able to say more, but last night seems like a week ago. I was quite intrigued with what was a felt layer that she said she stitched leaf shapes and then took a torch to it. The result was a really nice lace effect that was really organic and lichen-like. It had a lot of depth and nice colors, but I couldn't get past the baby chick fuzzy yellow on the top layer or that it was stretched over a form and is supposed to be framed, it seemed so "contained." Does putting a frame around it make it more like "art?"

I briefly talked to Karin about her quilting, didn't really quiz her about concept or anything, but I liked what I saw, the colors were mature and gorgeous. When she gets on that sewing machine, she really rocks.

More class work to come when I get the photos fixed.

The 2 week weaving is done

2009-02-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

It is off the loom and I'm tying ends, but it is not ready to hang so I would not exactly call it finished, but good enough to evaluate. I like parts of it. I also see what else can be done and what is possible, but over-all it needs work, I can see where I went wrong and I can also see where my dyeing technique needs to improve.

Execution

In creating the dyed pattern, I thought that it would be boring to have large areas of the same color. I wanted more depth to the piece so I started dyeing the warp in gradations of color from the outside in. On top of that was going to go a subtle gradation of the same color to mimic the gradation of the window blinds, but in weaving the two together I see that I have too much going on. It’s distracting. It is more distracting in the green area than the blue area on the bottom.

The weft gradation dyeing that I loved so much wrapped on the pvc pipe ended up sometimes being dyed on only one side of the yarn. Although they were in the dye bath for quite a long time, I think they were wound so tight the dye couldn't penetrate through, so I ended up with white streaks where there should have been dark blue, adding to the busyness of the piece.

In trying to dye just one small area -- the bright yellow oranges, where the "light was shining through" I was not careful enough and dyed too large of an area so there is a lot of the orange mixing with the dark green. Some of this seeping is would be kind of interesting, but there is so much of it. I see that is possible to dye, or paint a certain area with dye and have that be the design, the subject of the work, I just need to be more careful. I also need to plan for the "accidents" that will happen and let them happen in the most pleasing way.

Reflection

I think I had a solid concept, something good to explore. I thought about it, kept revising it in my sketchbook, but I rushed when I got to the dyeing part of the execution and made decisions without thinking them totally through. I also needed experience and more practice exploring dyeing techniques to get what is in my head to the yarn. How can I make it more accurate?

I like the idea of the piece. I like that there is a technical challenge in the painting or dyeing of the fibers. I also like the excitement of starting to weave and put it all together. Have I dyed the parts so they end up in the right place? Will the colors in the warp and weft mix well together? I want to continue exploring this dye/painting idea.

I also like the strong colors, some of it is probably the newness of these acid dyes which I have only begun to use, but on the other hand I also think it is time to refine my palette. I think the total color of this piece is too dark. If I lighten up the colors I use and try not to be so dramatic, the colors will achieve something more sophisticated, more depth and richness in a more subtle way. The dyeing "accidents" which are going to happen will probably blend more pleasingly with softer colors.

2 week weaving continued again and again

2009-02-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

My life. Go to work, eat, go upstairs and warp loom. Hopefully Saturday I will be weaving.

Photos: warping the loom and little bundles of weft ready to be woven.

2 week weaving continued again

2009-02-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

I've started warping the loom last night -- still on schedule to get my project done for next week. These are the dyeing photos from the weekend. The top one is a small part of the warp dyed, this it the "letting in the light" part, Hopefully it will line up where I need it to when it's woven.

This is the top half of the warp dyed, this is what got done on Saturday. You may notice some plastic type pieces tied around the warp, this was to prevent the dye from spreading to far in that part; sort of like tie-dye.

When the warp was completely dyed it got hung up outside in front of the garage so all the neighbors could look at it. It also hangs outside until it stops dripping so it could come inside the nice warm house to dry.

The bottom photo is the weft dyed. For this project I wound four strands of yarn around large pvc pipe so I can dip it in the dye and get one long gradation for each strand of yarn. This should create the gradations of the "blinds" that I'm trying to incorporate. I really like how these came out, they may not work out as planned for this project, but they sure have me thinking about doing something with this idea for the next one.

2 week weaving continued

2009-02-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

I guess I need to go back to the beginning of the assignment...

The project that I'm using for my "past" example is the one featured in this blog on Sunday, December 28, 2009 and Thursday, January 1, 2009. (It's still not really finished, ends tied and ready for hanging.) Upon "Reflection" (using the four aspects of the Creative Process) I'm thinking over how I came about to do this project. I think I just put the idea into my book, not even putting in the time to finish the sketch. I was getting back into weaving and just wanted to get going on something. There wasn't really a concept, certainly not any incubation time where I really thought about it. I was also in a hurry to try these acid dyes that I had bought, seeing what I would get for colors. I got the yarn dyed and had it on the loom by the time the Fall fibers class started and there it sat until we had a break at Christmas when I finished weaving it. I guess I thought the colors were nice and intense, but now after going to class I wasn't really satisfied with it, because it didn't really say anything. After awhile I gave it a name "Breaking Through," I thought it was fitting with what I had been learning. So I guess I gave it a concept after I was finished with it, not exactly the best plan.

The new project I'm working on for the assignment...

During the fall I was mulling over what I was hearing in class, trying to break free from the geometrical, balanced gradations that I had been doing. Musing in my head about how much information there was about us out there for anyone to find out. And how much we are even inviting strangers into our lives through blogs, Facebook, etc. We don't really know who's reading about us, watching us, listening...

I was also looking at the blinds in our house liking the repeating horizontal lines, the gradation within each slat. Thinking if someone pulled the blinds apart to spy or peak out, this light would also be released. I thought about it for awhile and finally made this sketch a few days later. I continued to think about it, how I would dye the yarns to achive it, could I really dye the yarns with enough accuracy to make it work?

I kept going back to the sketch in my book, revisiting the idea, thinking about how I could make it happen. So when the possibility of doing a weaving came up, this project was just waiting to happen.

2 week weaving

2009-02-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Our assignment: I'm skipping a bunch of the preamble... "Taking what you learned from looking back on your past work, create new piece that strives to complete these four aspects of the Creative Process -- Prepwork, Incubation, Execution and Reflection." There's a whole bunch more on what should be said here, but my time just doesn't give me the space to dwell on more and also what we discussed in class.

On the assignment; all I can think is that I really want to do a weaving, but 2 weeks (with a full time job) isn't enough time. Last week I did so well at keeping the project within the time I had -- no question, I spent a bunch of time on my self portrait; all my time was spent moving forward, always thinking what could I do next, what should I glue now that needs time to dry while working on the the next part. "Keep it Simple" was my mantra, I was pretty much done Sunday afternoon, all there was to do Monday night was pack up the project. So even though part of my brain was basking in the "Keep it Simple" mantra and having some kind of a life beyond class, the other part of me is yelling "Do a weaving! do something you want!" "Do that project you already have planned! it could be submitted for the weaving coverence coming up, instead of doing yet another class assignment that I have no place to display or is not a weaving to add to my "body of work" which doesn't exist.

The other half of me is going "no way you have time for that!"

So ignoring practicality and sound judgment, I finally settled on, if you want to weave, weave. If you do nothing else but work on this project, you might get it woven and off the loom -- not "finished" but far enough to be able to bring it in to class and write the evaluation paper (our real assignment).

So here I am on Sunday (with time to write this blog), on the schedule which I think will get my weaving to the point of completion I'm hoping for. I had an idea ready to go, with size determined, I measured out warp on Wednesday and weft on Thursday. Theater tickets took up Friday night but I was ready to dye yarn on Saturday (10 hours) and finished Sunday afternoon. the yarn needs to dry, so at this point I'm as far as I can go. Time to catch up on writing the next version of our artist statment, this blog and laundry.

Photos: This is my dyeing lab -- right in the kitchen, I cover as much as I can with plastic, use pots that are only for dyeing, but still need to keep careful watch on anything I slosh around. At the end of a session the whole place needs to be wiped down, the sink and counter given the comet scrub for major colorings and any splashes that have occured. Yarn then gets hung outside or in the garage for drying. Not the ideal situation, but it works for now.

Classmates: Self Portraits in 5

2009-01-29T14:50:00.001-08:00

I'm showing mostly the 3-D projects.

Moxie

No name - sorry

Debra

Theresa "Iowa"

Jan "Growing comfortable with my age spots"

Joan "Me at Work"

Self Portrait in 5

2009-01-26T19:50:00.001-08:00

Objective: Create a series of 5 small works that function as an unconventional self-portrait. Each of the five parts should address one aspect of your sense of self -- either physical, mental, emotional or otherwise.

Here we go again, our 3rd assignment - self portraits. Unlike last quarter which our self portraits were suppose to be life size, these can be smaller (at least 6" x 6" x 6"), but there are 5, but to me that also means we can do 5 aspects of ourselves and I think easier, they don't have to all run together into one large piece, but just need to relate to each other.

I've decided to make my portraits of me at work, where I sometimes feel like a machine. Although it's a creative job which I like very much (if I have to work for money that is). but I also feel that much of the time I just crank it out and on to the next thing that needs to be done. I also have many different tasks that call on different skills. The variety helps keep away some of the sameness of any job, and I have the different skills, but sometimes there are a lot of different directions to take, it all needs to get done, and it gets a bit overwhelming.

I have decided to use metal for this project since it seems more machine like. I don't have any metal working skills to speak of so I will be relying on glue and nuts and bolts to make most of this happen.

Photos from top:
The first is "hand" it's mechanical, some of the work I do can be done in my sleep it's so automatic. The circles are under the index finger, the mouse click apparatus.

Next is "layout" almost everything I do is on a grid, the computer likes to line things up. You can flow outside and intermingle in the grid, but it's still a grid...

Middle is "production" the pieces given to me come in and I put it together and it comes out the other side. There isn't much difference in something that has 50,000 copies made or 5, They're pretty much the same as far as the construction.

Next is "paycheck" need I say more? I need to make a living and pay the bills. It's the best job I have ever had, but would I rather spend my time doing other things?

Last is "crazy" I have up to 100 people who ask me to do projects for them. Their project is important to them, they have no idea what else I have going on and sometimes I get really backlogged. What to do I do? Internally my eyes spin around, my head explodes and I tell them "yes, I can do that" with a smile on my face.

Winter Quarter 2nd Project

2009-01-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

After the 50 collages, I thought having just one thing to do (with 2 parts) would take less time, but somehow I was able to make it even a bigger project time-wise.

The project was: Diptych: An Evocation.
"Create a pair of collages that evokes (don't illustrate) two interpretations of a single theme, emotion or subject that is relevant to your thinking as an artist. The two works should be considered in the context of one another, and are intended to be shown together as a pair where one work informs the other. The two interpretations could be similar or entirely contrary to one another, but should stand as a visual articulation of the larger concept."

I think we all sat there for awhile thinking "what the???" "what are we suppose to do for this?"

I walked to my car thinking random thoughts, I had been picking up branches lately on my walks around the neighborhood thinking they had interesting shapes and maybe I should do something with them... I also had these stones I had picked up on the beach wanting to somehow put them into a fiber project, but didn't know how to attach them... I started driving and was thinking of hanging sparkly things from the branches about the same time I was thinking "wonder" as in "discovery," being "entranced by something," "star-struck;" and I thought of "learning" how sometimes we're just in fascination of something, it just totally takes us away to a magical place. I thought, "that's what I'll do, I create a fantasy place that a person could go to where they felt wonderful, twirling around, excited being in a magical place."

I had all of this figured out before I was halfway home, I wasn't sure what the other half of the project should be (probably an opposite) but I couldn't come up with a word. By the time I got home and chatted a bit with Bob, it all came into place, although the other word was still a bit vague -- boredom? trite? disinterest? the idea was there and I was ready to roll.

Wednesday after work I was off to JoAnn Fabrics for a few supplies and started to stitch the grid on the "boredom" part. Thursday it was out to dinner, Friday there was cutting of sticks for "boredom" and more stitching, I hoped to get that part done so I could work on "wonder" for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday I dyed the "wonder" background and ended up dyeing "boredom" too because "wonder" came out so dark "boredom" needed to be darker also. I did a some of the stitching on Saturday and finished the stitching and attaching the stones and branches on Sunday. Lucky for me I had Monday off and I spent the morning attaching a hanging rod and finishing up a bunch of details.
The afternoon was spent adding the "bling" to "wonder," probably the key to the whole project. Threading the little tiny beads and shiny plastic "gems" was a total pain, people who work with beads must be insane! My fingers never felt so clumsy! I finally go everything hung,, and especially in the correct light, I thought it looked spectacular! I know I could have added more detail, especially more stitching in the background, but I was really pleased with it.

I thought about if I was a little person about 3 inches high and scrambling over the rocks to reach this place that was sparkly, amazing, to be in wonder of what you had discovered.

I got some good feedback on the project, which felt really nice, but it was mostly a lot of fun to put it together -- what an exciting assignment!

Classmates 50 Collages #2

2009-01-23T20:31:00.001-08:00

Debra "Women - Mixed Messages"

No name (sorry) - "Water"

Joanne "Purple"

Mary "Pathways"

I didn't get photos of everyone, these are not nessesarily the best, I'm not the judge, they were just the ones I got photos of before class started.

Classmate's 50 Collages

2009-01-22T20:42:00.001-08:00

"Dresses" by Niki

"Bicycle" by Jan

"Baskets" by Sally

"Nature" by Kaylin

Final 50

2009-01-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

I'm way behind on posting, so I'll probably skip a lot just to get caught up.

The 50 collages. Practically everyone had 50 collages done! (or close enough). Well wack me in the head! I was so wrong about this, these people are obsessed with completion! They either have more time or work much faster than I do at putting things together. I'll show some photos of classmate's work, but unfortunately a photo with 50 items in it doesn't show very well in the small format of this site, but many of them I really liked and thought were very well done. I applaud them all,
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I'll start with my own. My theme for the first collage project was "what would an echo look like." I was thinking of hearing the sound and how would I interpret it in shape and sound. Out of the 50 sketches I did, I picked a few to do in real materials, a few of them with photos cut from magazines, but I didn't like them much, so I won't waste the space here.

Not 50

2009-01-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Class is tomorrow and I don't have 50 collages done. I have 50 sketches done and 15 collage/assemblies done. I took what I thought were the best ideas from the 50 sketches I did and worked with them. I used some burlap and parts left over from last quarter's class and picked up some parts from outside (sticks, stones, moss) and put them together with cardboard and other backing material, adding color on some of them using watercolor paint. The pieces I did using fabric, because of the sewing, took longer that they would if I had done a paper collage stuck together with glue, but I think they provided more information to me for future work. I concentrated on doing more paper collages at the end, so I could explore as many ideas as possible. I wish I could have completed more of them, but time was short as always and life also needs time.

It will be interesting to see how many my classmates get done, and what they come up with for a theme. (There's always that question in the back of your head wondering if if what you're doing is completly wrong.) I'm sure most will have more finished pieces than I do, I suspect a couple will have all 50 done.

50 collages

2009-01-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

I sat down on Wednesday night to start working on our assignment of creating 50 collages. I spread out my papers before me and wondered where to start. I had picked my theme and had a few ideas rolling around in my head, but when I sat down to work I was a little stumped. I would find photos that kind of depicted my theme, but then that wasn't really collage. Then I thought I could cut out chunks of color and paste it down on my board to represent what I was thinking, but I'm thinking that's way too slow, isn't this an exercise about getting ideas down and working with them to find things we want to pursue? I sat there depressed, staring at the few things I had cut out, not really feeling good about putting anything I had together. I was also thinking that doing it this way will take every moment I have and then some to get to where I want to be with this. Plus, why should I spend time doing something I'm not happy with? I would definately quit most of them before I was half way through because I know they're not worth pursuing.

Now what am I going to do...

I went to bed thinking about it and sometime during the night came up with my plan. I would take index cards and a sharpie pen and sketch ideas. This way I could get many of ideas down on paper without putting a lot of time into any one of them. Then I could go back and find the ones that had the most potential and develop them to the next level. Maybe even take the best of the best and carry them even farther. It seemed like a plan.

Thursday night I was waiting for friends to show up at a resturant where we had planned to have dinner. I got there an hour early hoping to have some time to myself to start my sketching. So there I was in the back corner with a glass of wine drawing on index cards. My method was to just start putting pen to paper, getting the shapes down; as soon as one was "finished" flip it over and start the next one. Put just enough down to capture the idea, not worrying how sloppy it was, just keep going. If the idea felt good, I knew I would probaly come back to it later and work with it again, if the idea was bad, no problem, not much time invested.

I finished about 30 sketches in the 45 minutes before dinner and did another 20 on the bus this morning, it feels like the right way to approach this. I'll probably do a few more on the way home tonight and then look at them all and decide which ones I want to explore more and spend more time with on Saturday and Sunday.

First class, winter quarter

2009-01-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

After the general class overview
and the introductions by all of us, we went downstairs for a collage slide show. We saw the works of some of the collage greats - Hoch, Schwitters, Ray, Duchamp, Raushenburg, and Matise. This gave us an overview and a bit of history of the technic to prepare us for our first assignment. I had heard about this one - 50 collages in one week. "50 Variations on a Theme." Create a series of 50 related variations on a single theme using visual collage an or text as a means to express ech variation and to further understand the conceptual potential of that particular theme or idea.

Hmmmm,well ok then, I guess it's time to get busy.

Winter Quarter - U of W Fiber Arts

2009-01-05T19:50:00.001-08:00

The University of Washington Extension fiber Arts class starts again tomorrow. We have a new instuctor this quarter - Michael Cepress. The class is titled "Conceptual Strategies in Fiber Art." I've heard he's quite different from Layne and the first assignment is a killer, I guess we'll all find out tomorrow...

Macomber Looms

2009-01-03T09:58:00.000-08:00

When I was out in New England last fall I decided to visit Macomber Looms and see where my loom was "born" many years ago. We drove down two lane Beech Ridge Road outside of York, Maine until we found the factory. It was as one would expect; a barn-like sturcture with a woodshop inside. When we first arrived we went upstairs to find someone to talk to, but only found tables with piles of paper on them - not much for computers in this place.

Downstairs we found the man in charge and he gave us a brief history as we walked around the place. Several looms were in various constuction stages and a few looked like they were ready to ship. I asked is all this was done by the two people I saw there, but he said "no, there were usually seven, but it was huntin' season." The maple comes from the lumberyard down the road and I think they manufacture the entire loom right there except for the heddles. I was giggling on the inside and had a big smile on my face on the outside. How wonderful to be standing right there where something is actually made all in one place -- should I say it? - in America.

How local, how simple and personal.

Off the loom

2009-01-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

The project is off the loom. I have many knots to tie and figure out how to complete the finishing so it can hang on the wall.

I know what I want to start next, better get started winding warp.

On the loom

2008-12-28T11:03:00.001-08:00

I dyed this wool during the summer and got the loom almost warped before the U of W fiber class started. The top photo shows my excellent drying work space in the garage. Open the doors of the paint cabinet, throw a stick across the top and you have a drying rack. Makes a nice composition with the bicycle.

The other photo is the project on the loom. It's a simple double weave project and it's going fast. I only have four harnesses and limited in how complex I can get, so I'm seeing how far I can go design-wise just using the dyeing part to create interesting projects. I have purchased more parts for the loom, so I will move onto more complex weaves, but may continue with just the 4 harnesses for at least one more project.

Snow slowdown

2008-12-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

All of the class photos I have of our fall final projects are up, I guess class is really over now. The lack of class and the snow has given me time to catch up on many other tasks. My goal is to get the weaving that has been on the loom half warped; woven and off the loom. Getting the weaving "finished" as in ready to hang up, is another task, but I should at least be able to get a good start on it before going back to class for winter quarter.

My project; Joan Schlichting, Self portrait

2008-12-26T20:20:00.001-08:00

"Turning the corner"
As I move to a new place, my pieces go with me.

Classmate Tonnie, Self portrait

2008-12-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

No artist statement.

Classmate Theresa, Self portrait

2008-12-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

No artist statement.

Classmate Sawato, Self portrait

2008-12-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

"Moving forward"
No artist statement.

Classmate Sally, Self portrait

2008-12-22T08:34:00.000-08:00

"Dreaming"
No artist statement.

Classmate Nicki, Self portrait

2008-12-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

No artist statement.

Classmate Moxie, Self portrait

2008-12-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

No artist statement.

Classmate Mary, Self portrait

2008-12-17T18:27:00.001-08:00

"Step Ten"
No artist statement.

Classmate Karin, Self portrait

2008-12-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

"My own space and time"
No artist statement.