Niddly Piddly and Willy Nilly, The Crazy Days of March

How has your March been?  Quite a few folks in my immediate surroundings have had crazy making days back to back to back, including myself. I have 1 week left to be out of the old studio which is for the most part empty except I need to pick up niddly piddly type stuff and sweep the floor.  The new space is crammed with boxes and today me and my men went to the storage unit to unload even more boxes which came to almost 1/2 of a nearly full 5'x15' unit.  It felt good though to see my fabrics which I haven't seen in nearly 2 years...and my art books as well.  For the rest, I'm done being the keeper of stuff out of sentimentality.  However, realizing that everything has value, I do not want to dispose of things willy nilly but would love for them to move on to another place of appreciation.  I need to exercise patience with the belief that the destiny of old stuff will find it's new place.

I did take time out to attend LAFTA on Thursday as I was needing the uplift the meetings provide.  Sarah Fredericks did a presentation of her handmade papers and books along with other book/paper makers...ooooo and ahhhhh.  Our grab bag had loads of wonderful fabrics from a woman who retired from making custom purses and a designer who donated sample books...I got some really good quality fabric!  But the exceptionally great affirmation for me was finding Sunshine Joe at the meeting.  All the while when my children, all 3 of them, ages 22-32, were in elementary school, they were exposed to the art embroidery of Sunshine Joe.  I had not thought about him much at all since then, but in the last 10 years of me being on this journey of visual art with textiles, he crosses my mind at times, especially when I am hand embroidering.  He is from Mississippi and tells the story that he became enamored with stitching at the hand of his great great grandmother who had been enslaved.  Sunshine Joe is much older than his youthful appearance suggests.   It was a jolt to hear someone in 2013 having contact with a person who was born in slavery.  But in thinking it over, I am 52 and knew my great great grandmother who had been born shortly after Emancipation.  

The quilt he shared at the meeting was 4 years in the making and documents news events.  The base of the quilt is made up of neckties.  The other gentleman in the picture is Robert Hartley who is known for color all the time everywhere all day long...this was a black and white challenge he participated in.

Honoring Valerie & Robert White

Our Police Chief, Robert White, is leaving Louisville for Denver, Colorado.  The 2.5 years before he arrived were horrific ones marked by vigilante police justice and poorly trained officers that resulted in 10-11 deaths of suspects...one while incarcerated, one while already handcuffed with his hands behind his back, one mentally retarded man, and so on.  When I think how I've used my own dogged strength (to reference W.E.B. DuBois) from being torn asunder and that my anger and outrage eventually succumbed to brief periods of feeling like my life, and those of my children, had no value in this city solely based on the fact we were a Black People, I understood once again how those with less resolve and survival skills and consciousness fall prey/victim to enemies and the powerful.  Even as I write this and reflect on those 2.5 years, my stomach has knots and my skin is crawling.  Chief White turned the police department around by holding Accountability, with a capital A, for members who took the oath to serve and protect.  He embraced ALL of the community and updated training and focused on community policing.  Still not a perfect system, but SUBSTANTIAL progress was made and it made a difference.  I can't say I'm not apprehensive about who will replace him.

dignified 

With his leaving, the other loss, is to the artistic community.  Valerie White is married to Robert White.  She is a supremely intelligent and talented and gracious!  She is a blessing not only artistically, but makes me, as a woman, want to nuture the best part of me more than I do.  For that, I know she will always be a part of my soul-circle, but the gift of peeking into her artistic process from time to time will be sorely missed along with her critiques and assistance in my own work.  Valerie has held several shows while here and her imagery and craft never fails to leave me breathless!  No one is doing work like Valerie and it is extremely refreshing!  One of my treasured memories is her riding shotgun to my first time at the Crow Barn where we hooked up with Juanita Yeager, another Louisville artist and treasure who no longer lives here.

story-telling

Valerie and Robert will leave huge holes in the soul of this city...

A Day at the Fair....

Its not the rides, cotton candy, or deep fried butter...its not the horses, music concerts, or 84,000 ton tomato...for me, its all about the exhibits.  I love seeing what people make, create, and collect throughout the state.

Last Friday, I spent the day browsing and even though I was there for 4 hours I can tell you it wasn't enough time.  When I got to the quilts the first quilt I ran into was from someone I use to be in a guild with.  Willie Pride, she had 2 quilts entered.  She buys all of her material from thrift shops and they are mostly men's shirts...she loves plaids!

another Pride quilt below

Below are some snap shots of things I saw and liked...

aquariums exhibit...just loved the blueness of these fish.

walking/hiking sticks (2 have been stolen)

cake decor

and check out this cake meets political commentary

antique fine china (it was the yellow cake set that wowed me)

miniature kitchen in cross-stitch!

for Deb, my sister, you does heirloom sewing

art from recyclables (you might enlarge this photo to see the music conductor in coat hanger wire)

and art by LAFTA members

I was completely exhausted when I left there on Friday, so much so, that I was unable to make it to open studio for Trolley Hop.  I slept most of the evening and stayed in most of the weekend and Monday to recuperate...but it was worth it...where else could I see so much diverse creations in a public event under one roof???!!!!

And I made it into the studio yesterday and finally snapped pictures of my special gifts...so this will be a 2 post blog day! ;)

 

Low Technique Yields High Results

One of the suggestions Claire Benn gave us in May was to push the limits of one single tool...just commit to using one mark making tool everyday for a week in your studio.  A couple of weeks ago I did just this using a plastic card and did these...

But my new awesome favorite tool is this!

 click to enlarge.

The insert from toilet paper is a fantastic stamping tool.  I shape it into a pod, square, rectangle or odd shape  and just stamp with my medium of choice.  I must give a shout out to the fabulous Joanne Weis (toward the bottom on the post) for suggesting this in a LAFTA workshop she gave last year.

Stuff!

We, as in all of us generally speaking, have just too much of it! STUFF!  We, as in all of us generally speaking, are a disposable culture.  Capitalism depends on it.  But our saving, hoarding, collecting, keeping, whatever word makes you comfortable, of stuff is leftover from our days when individuals were inventive out of neccessity and some great grandfather made stuff by hand and made it to last through 10 generations and we inherited and utilized items of our dead relatives stuff.  But in this day an age, too much is too much...and how long do we keep hauling around our ancestor's stuff while accumulating our own stuff??  

All that to say this...tomorrow is moving day for my 80plus years young mother.  It has been long hard tedious road filled with stress, anger, relief, tears, and tempers...but tomorrow, August 1st is an what I hope will be true emancipation day for all of us.  Her new space is light and airy and I hope she will feel less burdened in it.  My brother managed to come and salvage his cassette tapes from the 80s and his primitive literary journals, my sister managed to salvage her graduation gown, drill team uniform with the go-go boots, and a beloved niece I hope will become firmly grounded as she matures into the new changes and using a 60 year old dresser drawers she is getting from my mother.  All the stuff that didn't get sold, salvaged, or reused, is going into storage.  and me?  well, all my sewing "stuff" is boxed, bagged, and rolled ready to go into storage tomorrow.   Although, I wish I could have come up with a better alternative, surprisingly, at the moment, I'm in a good head space.  

This morning I rose and got out of here before 8 and headed to the solitude of my wet studio.  I spent the time weeding out "stuff" to take to the next grab bag giveaway at the LAFTA meeting and throwing out "stuff".  I also, straightened and cleaned off my print table and just had to snap a pic, because it has never looked like this:

looks inviting, doesn't it?

But after leaving my mother's tonight I dropped off 2 boxes of "stuff" that came out of The Basement Workshop, so it doesn't look like this anymore.  But come Tuesday, I'm going to find places for the relocated "stuff" and get to doing something to some fabric heah!

Dennis Shaffner, Artist Interview

BUTTONbowl , woven rattan embellished with buttons, knotted Irish waxed linen  14" wide, Dennis Shaffner.

Karen:  Describe your childhood as it relates to your art making and creativity?  What were your influences and how do you think growing up in Pennsylvania influenced you as an artist?

Dennis:  Although my earliest mentor was my photographer uncle, while I was still a child, who made the chemistry of the old school dark room lab magical as he developed his prints from negatives, I had supportive grandparents who allowed me free reign to play creatively.  I remember most summers painting with a brush all concrete porch surfaces with clear water. The color change beneath the wet brush was as beautiful as paint.  A major flood in 1957 impressed my drawing subject matter by endlessly drawing the washed out bridge on graph paper supplied by my father, who worked as a turbine engineer in a very math based world of numbers. 

Karen:  Share more of your memories growing up with art?  When did the interest become a engaging one?

Dennis:  In elementary school, taught by nuns, we had 'picture study' every Friday.  The best day of the week, it was, because we had a small art reproduction school book illustrating classic European oil paintings from Vermeer to Van Gogh and DaVinci to Rembrandt.  The Madonna and Child paintings always seemed dynamic and different in composition, some square, some round...triptychs.

The paintings gave me an urge to want to paint.  By age 12 my father gave me an oil paint set he couldn't do anything with when he realized I could make a still life of fruit look 3-D while his were flat color shapes.

Karen:  What led you to your choice of medium(s)?  And what/who were your influences in those mediums?  And how do they relate one to another, if so?  What other mediums have you attempted?

Dennis:  Painting in watercolor came naturally to me (decades later dye on fabrics blossomed) but in Pennsylvania every child "artist" was compared to Andrew Wyeth and my instinct was to flee (like Mary Cassatt from Pittsburgh to Europe!).   I ended up in Kentucky!  In 1967 eastern Kentucky seemed like a foreign country to me landing in college at Morehead State Univ.  in the Daniel Boone National Forest (which was heaven to me).  Watercolors flowed easily in college for me but I wanted to weave.  Imagine, there was NO textile department in Appalachia where I had landed in Morehead (back in the late 60s).

Karen:   Describe your daily art making practices.  Include your approach to design and ideas.

Dennis:  Bird's nests always inspire me and with three active nests hatched at my back door (3 different birds breeding) I love this reminder from nature where WEAVING really evolved into a human industry.  Most of my ideas, especially in my basket forms and fabric constructions come from the realizations that always occur during the making of the LAST object.

Now I smell the honeysuckle blossoms which means vines are waiting to be cut, boiled and woven. During the manual harvest I will always get new ideas for possible shapes and forms of the new work.  I won't even mention the possibilities in using my overgrown BAMBOO!  I am blessed by my environment which once was the private world of Alma Lesch.

Sallie, 24"x36" vintage clothing collage with button embellishments, 1996, Alma Lesch.

Karen:  Artistically speaking, what challenges do you face and how do you (if you plan to) overcome them?

Dennis:  Avoiding the (local) attitude toward fine art (art as interior decorating) is ongoing.  How people in this world economy will spend over a thousand dollars for a worthless Thomas Kincade factory machine printed and churned out "painting" from Asia; then ignore a hand made one-of-a-kind work of art at half the price?  Education hasn't helped since art is the first program dropped from 'schools'.  Art is treated as an accessory in US society.  Educating the eye is the greatest challenge in our culture.

I try to ignore the usual challenge when asked to "explain" what it is I make. "What do you do with these?" one person asked about my BIRDnest sculptures recently at a public display and I almost am always speechless.  I lack salesmanship and marketing skills, selling little but making more artwork.  Art marketing locally often ignores our home-based creative people by bringing in a "SPECIAL TALENT" from half a world away (as in the Derby Festival artists for instance) the commissioned sculpture, a wire horse, at the airport is from Tennessee, and the French artist for Derby could easily come from a Kentucky based person...seems astonishing no one is using HORSES as their subject matter in the Bluegrass State!

BIRDnest, woven rattan with recycled plastic strips, 13" wide, Dennis Shaffner

Karen:   Do you work in series?  Or does each piece stand alone?  Share your reasons for either approach.

Dennis:  Both,  I think each piece I make stands alone yet they may be grouped in what I have labeled BASKETbowl, birdNEST and intentionally love to call (my spheres) BASKETball forms (an intentional poke in the ribs at Kentucky's state religion....$ports).  What coaches are paid compared to what any college ART teacher ISN'T....always disturbs me when college sports seldom recognizes the GRAPHIC DESIGN used to sell their industry.  Imagine a billboard depicting the exemplary Art Student who updated the LOGO for the TEAM?  That never happens. 

Karen:  Share the milestones that mean the most to you as an artist.

Dennis:  Getting work in a permanent collection is a moment of affirmation.  Evansville Museum in INDIANA has been good for me both through Surface Design Association awards; a painting selected by a juror from England (London Sunday Times critic) was one of those 'objective' out of the network moments for me in Evansville.  

Studying with Japanese master basketmaker Hisako Sekijima in Connecticut one summer changed the direction of my fiber art.  She and I shared an appreciation for our natural environment for materials, wherever we may live on earth.

Karen:  Whether it is the intent of an artist to become an entrepreneur, artists are thrown into the role the first time someone wants to purchase something they’ve created. What advice can you share that speaks to the business side of art?

Dennis:  Try to gain gallery representation that speaks for the art and the artist it promotes. Never mix fine art with commercial imports and consider barter when approached by an admiring soul.  I saved a salesman's commission once when the contractor admired a basket in my studio which he wanted for his wife offering to delete his $200 commission on the work I needed.

BASKETbowl, woven, rattan, three layers, 16" wide, Dennis Shaffner

Karen:  What advice do you have to share with emerging artists, whether they are 10 or 80?

Dennis:  Ignore rejection slips for juried shows but enter national competition to show your work. Digital photos of your work are a must for starting the conversations but trust the actual detail and quality in your work to sell the art, always.  Produce work for YOU rather than trends. 

Karen:  What are your future goals and what should we be on the look out for you in 2011/12?

Dennis:  My most recent basket sculptures are available at Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft Gallery on West Main Street. 

If Bernheim accepts, I plan to return to teach a BIRDnest sculpture workshop at Bernheim Forest in 2012 during a scheduled visit of a guest artist's commissioned installation on site at Clermont's Bernheim Arboretum and Reseach Forest!  This will place Bullitt County on the national map when Patrick Dougherty finishes his natural sculpture.

More info on Alma Lesch: here and here.  Dennis Shaffner's website here and photo gallery here.

Lisa Austin, Artist Interview

Lisa in her studio

Some weeks ago I spent a refreshing 3 hours in the Mixed Media Studio of Lisa Austin.  Artists who embrace Mixed Media with the pedal to the metal, full throttle down, give me wide-eyed fascination.   You see, they have serious collections of STUFF.  Unlike us who casually put together a mixed media piece simply because we can't bear to throw away pieces of thread, or buttons, or even the Dorrita chip bag...noooo, they collect serious STUFF! 

Lisa's space did not disappoint me...I hope you enjoy the interview!

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Davis: Describe how your childhood as it relates to your art making and creativity? What were your influences?  And how do you think growing up in Louisville influenced you as an artist?

Austin: I had no influences growing up. In fact, my parents and family never encouraged creativity and made fun of it. I was not influenced by Louisville at all. I began to be influenced when I moved to New Mexico in 1977 and worked on a Navajo reservation. 

 Davis:  What are some of your memories growing up with engaging art?  When did the interest become a engaging one?

Austin: Going to the Speed museum with my boyfriend every time we could when we were students. He really encouraged my love of visual art. I did get a minor in art history but never took a studio class until I was 34.

Wall of Inspiration  

Davis:  What led you to your choice of medium(s)?  And what/who were your influences in those mediums?  And how do they relate one to another, if so?  What other mediums have you attempted?  What does it mean to be a mixed media artist?

Austin: I was a studio potter for twenty years and got arthritis in my neck and had to retire from that. I hated having to do that because I was at the top of my game. However, I always knew I couldn’t keep dragging around hundred pound bags of clay much longer and always said I would quit when I was 60. It happened when I was 50. In the back of my mind I thought I would be doing fiber…it reminded me of clay, very tactile and flexible.  I love color but when I tried to work with fiber, I really missed the third dimensional quality, A LOT! I had been collecting cool stuff for years and as I looked around at the mixed media being done I knew I could do better, started and never looked back. I love Ed Klienholtz and Joseph Cornell. They make such contrasting things. Ed makes whole rooms and Joseph did small little boxes back in the ‘30s but they speak volumes. I had the great luck of seeing a Kleinholz retrospective at the Whitney several years ago when I was in NYC and I went nuts in there. I was talking to myself and running around. I did not look like a sophisticated New Yorker for sure. I saw the largest collection of Cornell in Chicago at the Art Institute a few years ago and was so disappointed. They looked dusty and beat-up.

Austin continued: What it means to be a mixed media artist is you get to be insulted a lot. I hear “I could do that” more than I care to and I think to myself “go ahead. You can’t.”  It is much, much harder than it looks. There are lots of people out there who get magazines and get “inspired by them” but I can tell who reads which ones because their work is often very derivative. But they think they can do it. The problem is: they frequently don’t do it well and there is not much very original about it. People who have junk lying around think they can too but usually it just looks like junk on a piece of plywood.

 Davis:  Describe your daily art making practices.  Include how your approach to design and what inspires you?

Austin:  I work almost every day on my art. At least five-six days a week. But I never stop thinking about it and being open to things that interest me. I keep a journal of words or concepts that intrigue me and I often turn to it for inspiration. I am always writing down new things in there. That probably comes from my background as a professional writer back in the day. I like to work with a theme since it makes sense to me somehow to work that way. My approach to design is really intuitive. I go with my gut and one of my greatest compliments was Jane Dunnewold asked me how long I had been a designer?  Then a graphic artist?  She was really surprised when I said neither. 

only a smidget of the cigar boxes stacked and ready to go

Davis:  Artistically speaking, what challenges do you face and how to you (plan to) overcome them?

Austin:  I probably work slower than I want but that is because I am very particular about what I do, what I use, how it is done, etc. So it usually takes me a good week to make one piece. Rarely, does it happen quickly and sometimes I will tear it apart and do it over because I am not happy with it. I must like what I do first before I hope anyone else does. I have no plans to overcome this. It just is how I am. I do not want to make mass quantities of something so it takes more time.

 Davis:   Do you work in series? Or does each piece stand alone?  Share your reasons for either approach.

Austin:  Usually I work with a theme instead of a series. However, each piece is one of a kind. It seems to focus me. I would be even slower if I didn’t do it this way!

the lazy susan method for button storage

Davis:   Share the milestones that mean the most to you as an artist.

Austin:  The first award I ever got many years ago as a potter. The first time I was in an international exhibit. The first time I was ever featured in a book.

Davis:  Whether it is the intent of an artist to become an entrepreneur, artists are thrown into the role the first time someone wants to purchase something they’ve created.  What advice can you share that speaks to the business side of art?

Austin:  I have several things I guess. One is: if you get “precious” over something and you can’t bear to sell it, keep it. If you are keeping too much then you are getting too precious about your work. Two: price what you think it is worth and then price what you want for your labor and consider what the market value is of your piece. Often they are far apart. If they are too far apart, you need to consider a more efficient way to work or else consider the fact you will have these for a long time until they sell. Three: if you are selling too fast, you are selling too cheap. Four: this IS a business, make no doubt about it and always remember that. Keep good records. Promote yourself. Be business-like and professional with your customers. Be on time and keep your word.

frames hanging from the ceiling

Davis:  What are your future goals and what should we be on the look out for you in 2011?

Austin:  I have a show coming up in March at Tim Faulkner’s Gallery in Louisville that is called “The Art of Seduction” and it is vintage female nudes. I hope to start a wall hanging of my trip to Africa in 2006 and spend the summer working on techniques I have learned from Jane Dunnewold. I have half-screened stuff laying around that I have never washed. That is terrible but my knee replacement, this summer’s horrible hot weather, and then work has gotten in the way of my experimenting more with fiber. I am DETERMINED to work on that next summer so hopefully you will see more fiber work coming from me

touch the Buddha wall for inspiration

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Lisa's show, The Art of Seduction is hanging at The Tim Faulkner Gallery and will run through March 30th.  The opening reception is this Thursday, March 10th from 6pm-10pm, 632 East Market, 502.381.1314.

Emma, by Lisa Austin

Lisa Austin's Website.

 

New Pages

Look up.  At the top of my blog.  There are 2 new page tabs.  One, my studio name has changed.  You might recall that I discussed the possibility of changing it a couple of months ago but stayed with The Beauty of Holiness because the time wasn't right.  The other day when I was there and didn't over think it but just went with my gut (pun intended) I knew it was time to go with it.  So Chitlin' Circuit: Studio of Karen R. Davis is the new name for the Mellwood space.  Other than the location being a former meat packing facility, there is a double meaning for me.  If you google "Chitlin' Circuit" or wikipedia it, you'll discover why the name is culturally relevant for me.

Also, the 2nd new page is for selling what is left of 2010 postcard-sized Art Going Postal.  They are sealed in a clear envelop.  There are about 20+ cards left.  Most of them are laminated.  I've discounted them at 20 plus 3 for s&h.  At the moment I've only scanned in 4 of them but more are on the way.  All transactions will be invoiced via Paypal.

I'm still not fully recuperated, so I've only been out on short jaunts to Barns&Nobles, JoAnn's, etc. I find myself needing the mental stimulus of colour and ideas plus the excitement of using some gift cards.  I picked back up the Learning Curves curriculum as best I can but I'm finding it difficult to concentrate.  The Visual Journaling and Sketchbook Journaling  are a soul saver, so to speak.  

I am going to miss the opening tonight for Form Not Function.  This was one of my main missions for January.  My other mission this month is to attend a 2 day workshop on screen printing with Jane Dunnewold and see her exhibit and hear her speak at U of L at the end of this month.  If you want to know more, see her Louisville schedule for public events, go here.

Peace,

So, What Do You Do?

Have you ever gone back and randomly read your old blog post?  I did. The majorest (yeah I know its not a word) difference is I no longer share as much of my day to day thinking and doings and, also, I almost never discuss my family and friends unless we merge in some way on the art making trip.   I don't know from reading my blog that you would know I've been partnered to the same fine man for 25 years, that I have 3 grown ass adult children and 3 intelligent grand-children, or that I worked as a social worker for 21 years...you know, all that social-demographic identifiers that people use for introductions and getting to know one another.  Whenever I found myself at a social gathering of strangers and was asked the question, "so what do you do?", my standard response was "in relation to what?".  I believe that a better intro would be to ask someone what they think about something you care deeply about.  For example, "what do you think about mountain top removal?".  Even if I don't have a clue, I can say in honesty that I don't know enough about the issue and then here we have a teachable/learnable moment.  I tend to remember people who have taught me something more than by what profession they hold.  Before I got around to finding out what you did for a living, I would know how you spend your precious time in tending to the heart and soul of you...if that happens to coincide with what you do for a living, then I know its going to be a great conversation because you'd be one of the very fortunate employed people who happen to spend the majority of their time engaged in their passion.    I'd like to know first, what you dream about, what gifts are you holding on to until the "perfect" time comes for you to use them before I know about your job and what zip code you live in.   

I had no clue that the above was even on my mind until I started typing.  What I came here to write about was my participation in 2 online visual journal projects.  One is sponsored by Strathmore Journals and the other is The Sketchbook Challenge working alongside 16 groovy (I love it when I can use that word) artists.

Although both are about visual journaling, they are two different pieces of fruit in the same bowl.  Here are the 2 pages I started for the Strathmore workshop taught by Pam Carriker.

I plan to add more colour when I can get out to get my watercolours.  (Woke up yesterday with a soar sore throat and upper chest inflammation, on another antibiotic and back to staying in).  Pam's workshop is about recycling your own art work for journaling.  The woman's face I sketched some years ago and the red paper came out of a LAFTA workshop by Debbie Levine on making Paste Papers.

This is my 2nd one in process. This is all paper but the border was a remnant from Penny Sisto's  tepee that she replaced.  It had been painted and what not, but the actual fabric disappeared into thin air some years ago and all I have is the image I had scanned. 

The Sketchbook Challenge is assigned a monthly theme for participants to sketch as often as they wish for the entire month on the theme.  January's is HIGHLY PRIZED.  I spent a day thinking (really over thinking it) until I realized  I don't have to go all esoteric on the subject and just sketch something I place some value on.  When that light bulb came on I went to the kitchen cabinet and gathered my 4 favorite cups for drinking coffee, tea, and hot cocoa.  Here is the first one that came from Korea in a Ya-Ya exchange with a female solider close to 9 or 10 years ago.  I don't remember her name or her Ya-ya name but I adore the tea cup with the lid.

Here is my sketch...

My goal was to focus on lines.  Ade thought I should do the shadow so I added it for the 2nd sketch.  I bet you'd like to see the actual cup, uh?  I'm going to do all the 4 cups and then I'll get photos of the real cups up later.

Peace,

Learning Curves, Week 4

Learning Curves is getting back on track after Thanksgiving week.  I made it to class (class is how I'm referring to each book I'm working with in the Learning Curves) but not on the days designated.  Like today (Thursday, 12/02/10, the day of this writing) I'm working with all 3 books on digital art.  I have continued to reference Visual Language (Benn & Morgan) in creating lines and shapes.  The 2 images above are small cloth samples.  On the top one I cut out random shapes from book-cover plastic (similar to contact paper) and stuck it on the fabric to use as a resist and then dye painted over it. The image directly above is with the plastic removed and then dye painted in the white areas.  The cloth sample has been washed out and dried here.

The Image Transfer Class (McElroy) didn't go this week.  I did order the Transfer Artist Paper and its on its way and succumbed to a Lutradur purchase.  I have 3 weights of it and the extra light offers the highest appeal...I'm thinking it would pair well with silk organza in a statement on transparency or where transparency could impact the overall visual.

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Jane Dunnewold will be here the end of January and will have a show at the Hite Gallery on University of Louisville's campus and is preparing new work for the show.  Here, on Jane's blog, you can see how she has written and defined the parameters for her forthcoming works. Here is Jane's schedule for her Louisville agenda. 

When I'm stuck on a piece, I pick up a journal and begin to ask questions and provide answers while actually sitting in front of the quilt/fabric.  When I first started doing this I was going to dedicate a journal by year, then by the series, then by location...but what I really do is just pick up whatever journal is close by, thus loosing continuity in writing about specific pieces and making it difficult to have the writing become reference material because my notes are spread throughout journals.  The one dedicated journal I have is a technique journal that I glue I glue samples into rather than how the designing of a quilt and the message of the quilt are related and what I did to get there. 

 I washed out the last of the fabrics I've been layering (images directly above).   Dunnewold limits the variables in order to self-impose focus and I'm going to join her in this journey for the next couple of weeks as I return to Crowbonics.  My next post will go into details.

 

Six Years, but whose counting...?

There are 2 exhibits with November 1st deadlines which I've just given myself permission to not submit. My focus has been dye painting and screening and my muscles are feeling fatigued and I'm releasing the will to push myself the next 2 days.  I did make it to the Open Studios and many artists were in their studios which is always energizing but rest will be the focus for the weekend.

There are 10 pieces of dye-painted fabrics wrapped in plastic that will cure over the weekend, possibly until Tuesday or Wednesday.  I'm on the schedule to to do some campaign calls for Monday and will be at my Mother's for bit also.  Tuesday I'm on the schedule for a few hours to drive folks to the polls so I'm not sure when I'll return to do the wash out.  The piece shown in the post below had very little dye wash out but I dye painted it again yesterday with a chocolate brown.  Here it is before the brown was applied:

I'm sold on curing AND steaming.  

It dawned on me yesterday that I'm focusing on dark colours...for no apparent reason but if I were to go all hyper-analytical I would say because I'm dreading the onslaught of winter and the need to readjust my activities due to it getting dark earlier.  But really that would be over-reading the intent.  I think it boils down to 'I'm just dyeing dark colours', (insert shrugging shoulders)

My presentation at the Carnegie last Saturday was a lot of fun for me and hopefully for those who shared the morning with me as well.  What keeps coming back to me is the clarity in which I knew that art-making is a conversation with my body and I used the metaphor of it being a dance that allows me to explore my limitations and sense of freedom.  The surface applications on fabric is hip-hop and the quilt design and construction is the waltz and modern dance sequels. 

This was the last piece I did yesterday and I was tired and don't know where the face came from but right before I did the face I asked myself "what else can I do with the writing?"  I've been doodling faces on scraps of paper and looking back over my attempt at faces in old journals...I do think it'll be a long while before faces as a motif makes it into a quilt but I'm open.

November 4th will be my 6 year anniversary of blogging...for 6 years I've been typing out loud about my journey with the main focus being my own art.  I hope casual readers and dedicated readers of Seamless Skin find some nugget that moves us closer to kindred spirits that keeps and increases the use of the internet as a fully positive human one.  

Beginning next week I'm going to add a new feature on my blog with interviews of local artists.  I'm starting with members of Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists.  When I'm at meetings I'm overwhelmed with all the creative vibes and the group experience that I'm wanting the interviews to be the counter-part and allow me to connect and get to know members as individuals.  The first one will be with ceramist and shibori artist Elmer Lucille Allen (see the video below) who has an upcoming show with Valerie White at E & S Gallery.

 

 

Peace,

Altering Quilts and Awards

This quilt belongs to the poetry series but I wasn't happy with it when I completed it and over a year ago. I'm still not happy with it.  For one, I've ironed the heck out of the middle section at the bottom and that crease will not come out.  Two, the vertical seams are not straight and that bothers me for this piece. Third, the horizontal strips need to be narrower and the colours are slightly off for what I intended.  Maybe if they had been narrower they wouldn't distract me.  What I love about the piece is the fabrics I created  (with the circles and writing) and the colours of those. 

These are the thoughts I have: One, cut them into three individual pieces, (see below). Two, cut it into postcards; or, three, make my first journal covers or small purses.  Since I'm not attached to this piece I'm open for suggestions.  (There is prolly someway to add a poll feature, but I don't have the time to investigate).  Leave your ideas in the comments...and peace :)

Postscript:  The above post was a draft I wrote yesterday for posting today but since last evening, my fantastic news that was announced at the LAFTA meeting is my quilt, Urban Egression, won the LAFTA award in the Fine Arts division/Constructed Textiles category.  The jurying process was a blind one with 3 jurors from the organization.  I haven't attended a meeting in months so it felt like divine guidance for me to have the energy and inclination to attend.  I instantly had goosebumps from head to toe.  I have the image upon my FB photos, but I'm on a different computer right now and will upload the image later.  Again, Peace...and have a super fantastic weekend!

Living and learning som'more

This is paper artist Debbie Shannon demo'ing for a small group made up of LAFTA (Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Association) members on how to cover book board with paste papers.  I met Debbie a few years ago at Mary Anderson Center for the Arts while renting out studio space.  She was upstairs in the larger loft making marbled paper...just beautiful stuff!!!!  In talking, we discovered that we were both members of LAFTA.  I was still a newbie at the time.

Being a member affords the opportunity to take monthly workshops from other members for free.  They are held in the fiber studio at the University of Louisville.  Yesterday, Debbie taught Paste Paper.  I loved it! But oh, am I saying to myself "no, you cannot take on another interest!!! you'll be inundated with more stuff!!!".  I already have a hard time discarding my garbage...onion skins-I can use these for dyeing; cereal boxes-painting surface, book cover, box making; thick colourful plastic packaging-these can go into an altered quilt...and yall know what I'm talking about...repurposing and recycling can be a massive undertaking and in this heavily consumer society it is endless!!!!!!!!!!

With that said, I do have some extra supplies that I plan to play with this morning once I get to the studio...the paste must be used before it goes bad and four hours was just not enough time to explore this fun release of art making energy...thats the story that I'm running with today!

 
3 samples of paste paper I made.  

Smallview of Mega-Artist Date

 

glue drying in screen, auditioning fabric, gelatin plate in the making, reference books

I ended the week feeling very productive.  I did push it to the limit though but feel it was worth it every second!  I did some brush calligraphy, continued with graffiti and writing on cloth, set up some buckets of soda-ash solutions (one for over-dyes, the other for white cloth), made a gelatin plate, mixed dyes for dye painting, and set up a screen with glue resist, and held steady with 3 hours in the gym.  I increased my time on the reclining bike from 10 minutes to 30 last week.  All which has brought me to today: the hardest thing I'm doing today is rolling in and out of bed.  The humidity has increased which is horrible for me so going out I'm not!

My social highlight of the week was an artists' date with friends, old and new.  Here is Emma, Pat, myself, and Juanita inside the theme hotel 21C.  The theme is 21st century art.  The C in 21C could stand for Cutting Edge and Conceptual also.  The hotel is a series of gallery spaces.  Below we are standing between the elevator interacting with a video tech. exhibit.  When you walk around the corner there is this wall screen/camera that puts you into the image of fallilng cascading letters...the letters bounce off of you or your body acts as a blockage to the letters falling.  This is highly entertaining!!!!!!! and addicting!!!!!!!!!

This is the lobby of the hotel and the 2nd picture below is a projection on the floor in front of the hotel desk of a couple in bed trying to get comfortable.  It is in video format so if you stand there long enough you see them adjusting pillows, checking the clock, tossing, turning.

The man and woman at the desk where just as stoic as the figures above their heads, as if they, too, are figures in the art.

  The art in the hotel is not just compatible or complimentary, the hotel is more gallery space from every nook and cranny, than hotel.  Even the bathrooms provide an ecletic artistic experience with projected video words in the mirror and one way mirrors that allow you to see out in the hall ways of the hotel.

Local artists are represented along with internationally known artists. 

 

digging this white on white embroidery

one of the galleries held a solo exhibit of lithographs by Kara Walker's grotesque antebellum imagery.  This is the 2nd exhibit I've seen of her work. I've read a dissertation turned book on it and I'm sorry to still say, the full meaning escapes me.  For work to be so intense and disturbing, and it is to me, I still can't fully grasp the intent of the artist.

We also headed to the headquarters of the Embroidery Guild of America to see the LAFTA show. Here are just a few shots from the show:

 by Joanne Weiss

And sometimes it all boils down to a sense of humour! This is a bust by Alyce McDonald:

 

 

We ended the outing at the Carnegie Museum of Art and History in New Albany, Indiana where Penny Sisto's newest solo exhibit is hanging.  I'm always so engulfed and interested in her work but this show, a series of portraits of faith/religion, left me feeling mediocre.  Even hearing her give a gallery talk some weeks ago did not tie me into the work beyond a cerebral/academic connection.

I'm looking forward to returning to my workshop next week...it will be my first time doing a gelatin plate and using glue as a resist.

Peace and blessings, immeasurably.