In the studio

Dreaming of the red boat that I first saw here 

 and soon after gazed upon here.

2014

Today was to be a studio day. Alas Mother Nature and the school system had other ideas. We've 3-5 inches of the white stuff forecast so the powers-that-be decided today is a snow day. My little urchins will no doubt be thrilled. Me...well...another word comes to mind. Anyone care to hazard a guess at what it might be?

Toward the end of last year, I decided that 2014 was to be a year to focus and finish. (hmmm...2 f words and nice ones at that! Who knew?)

You see, I once was an artist who worked and sold seriously - professionally, you might say. That was with my weavings. Of course, it took years to get to that point, but still, I've been there and want to be there again.

I need to focus - both on the business side of art and on creating my art. In exploring various surface design techniques (which is just too much fun), I've come to realize that a large part of the joy, for me, comes from the process itself and can be quite addictive at times.

I'll work and work and finally stand back to realize that yards of fabric have been produced. And then a little voice in my brain says, Just what are you going to do with all of this?

Of course, the same holds true for photos I take. At brunch yesterday, I took a photo of the empty tables beside us. The sunlight was having a wonderful time creating shadows and reflections among the simple arrangement.

After showing my husband the shot, he said that I should be stock photographer. Hmm...perhaps. Or perhaps I'll explore Blurb and see what happens there.

Another venue for focus is to open an Etsy shop. It's in the works and will open this month. There's the matter of a 7th birthday party to finish planning and prepping before that happens though.

And then there's a web site that needs creating. Not from scratch. Haven't the time nor the inclination nor the know-how. I quite like the platform that Christine and Lotta used called Squarespace.

That brings us to finish. At the 3rd Annual Artist Retreat, all the rusted fabrics from that winter's rusting season were shipped to Pam's. The goal was to come away with ideas for at least 5 pieces. Instead, the number was 17. How many have been completed? Zero. There are 2 that keep whispering to me and that I feel I am now capable of making.

Should I mention the mono prints from the 2nd annual artist retreat? Those are waiting too.

Stay tuned. 2014 is going to be interesting...and hopefully very productive.

In the studio

A sneak peek at what's been happening in the studio this week.

 Rusted, mono printed and discharged cottons,

hand and machine stitching,

signed and photographed.

Now for the editing and listing on Etsy.

Soon.

In the studio

Been playing with tea bags this week.

What have you been doing?

What if #459

Or there abouts. Haven't actually numbered my what ifs. 459 just seemed like a good number this cool, wet and still misty Saturday morning.

Returning back to my own studio after being at Pam's for a week and working alongside her in her glorious studio always includes a bit of adjustment time on my part...as my absence no doubt does in hers. Once the boxes had been unpacked and my studio semi-organized, I slowly got back to work.

One of Pam's what ifs kept nudging at me to try it too.

She'd experimented by sewing a few tucks into her mono printed fabric.

I loved the results, especially for the sculptural possibilities it offers. 

This is definitely one of my favorite shots from the week...the light, Pam's hands, the work.

On Thursday, I sat down at the sewing machine and started stitching

various sized tucks in a long piece of green tea rusted cotton.

Something a juror once said of how I approached my weavings has stayed with me through the years and it was this thought that kept whispering to me.

Foon Sham, artist and professor at the University of Maryland, was one of 3 jurors for The Art League's call for entry for solo exhibitions the year I decided to be brave enough to apply. To be honest, getting my work in front of Foon Sham was the reason I applied.

In his notes about my work, he commented that I liked to create a pattern and then break it. And he was right. I did it intuitively as a point of interest, yet had never recognized it as such.
 

This week, I did it on purpose.

In the studio

Accordion book 4...

or scroll?

The gift of tea...

 ...bags, that is.

These beauties arrived last week. A gift from Pam. The note included stated that she thought they were needed here sooner rather than later. [She's coming to visit at the end of October. Woohoo!]

I did a little dance, sent a whispered thank you floating on the breeze in Pam's direction, oohed and aahed over the lovely rusting and carried them to the studio to photograph. Pam's creative energy must have been lingering on the bags for soon an idea had me getting the sewing machine out.

 With 3 tea bags layered

 for body and depth of color,

 I happily stitched lines across the rusty circles.

Once 4 sets had been stitched and photographed, 

 I set about adding them 

  to the 4 collages

already in progress.

3 are now complete. The 4th is being stubborn and needs a bit of considering. 

 

What if #437

What if I tried machine stitching 2 tea bags together?

Would it work or would the sewing machine eat the tea bags?

It worked.

Rust boro #1

Woohoo! The first completed rust piece. 

Cue music...time to do the happy dance in the studio.

Rust boro #1, 2012

20" x 40"

Philadelphia - Mending = Art

Yes. I'm the kind of art geek that takes a photo of the show statement because...well...the statement says it much better than I could paraphrase or summarize. I'll let you in on another little secret - what took to me this exhibit was the prospect of seeing more of Dorothy Caldwell's work. She is the one, after all, who has turned mending into art in our time. The Japanese have been doing it for centuries with their exquisite boro, yet boro was done for functional purposes, not artistic ones.

As with each exhibit I've viewed so far, there has been a handful of works that spoke to me, captured my attention and creative imagination, grabbed me and didn't want to turn loose. The same was true of Ilaria Margutti's magnificent Mend of Me series.

 Ilaria Margutti, Mend of Me, 2009

embroidery on canvas

statement accompanying Ilaria's work

To view other works by Ilaria click here. Her web site is in Italian, but the photos of her work transcend any spoken language. 

To view my photos in a larger format, just double click on the one you want to view. Enjoy!