Lynnwood Solo Show

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.

Moving on to 2011

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.

Exhibit!

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

EDGE

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.

Balance

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.

Secret places

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.

What is tapestry?

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.”

Happy 2010

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.

Wishing and Wanting

I want my art to be a prominent part of my life.

After graduating from college with a BFA in fibers (over 25 years ago). I moved to Seattle, got a job as a graphic artist, and saved my money to get my own loom. I continued to do some weaving, but gradually other aspects of life took over (you all know the excuses) and my loom became this very large and heavy piece of furniture which got moved from place to place.

Thinking about and wanting to weave, wasn’t weaving. If I wanted to think of myself as an artist, I actually had to produce something. (Well, duh!) The time was never going to be enough, the space to work in was never going to be perfect. Slowly moving forward, if that was all it could be, was better than not at all.