Pattern & Content: Day 2

Another good day--actually a better day. I spent a good bit of time today working on a large piece based on the design I worked up last night. Here are 3 in-process photos. I'm really happy with where this is going, but after looking at the photos I can see that there might be more work needed to pull the whole piece together. I need to get it up on the wall tomorrow.

Just before dinner we took a break from printing for a slide show of Kerr's work. Well, of course it was wonderful. I love the end product, but the process is equally engaging. I don't mean so much the mechanical stuff like, "What did you put on the screen?" and "Is that a mask or discharge?". What I mean is that it's amazing to hear someone talk about their work in terms of their vocabulary of marks and their family stories (such stories) and their life experience. She's able to dissect a finished piece an relate it to...well, to what seems like everything leading up to that moment. But, at the same time I get the impression that these images just emerge during the process of creating, rather than appearing on the cloth as part of a preconceived design that includes every detail.

I can really related to the mind-in-neutral creative process. In those moments when things seem to really be clicking for me, it's almost as if I'm not there or I'm just a spectator.

This class is making me think about my own vocabulary of marks. What are they? I keep coming back to the wonderful feeling of circles and curving shapes and gesture drawings. To me those kind of messy scratchy lines bring energy to a composition and are a joy to create. That's a very strong element for me right now--something to spend more time with tomorrow. But, that's tomorrow.

Ten hours yesterday and 12 today. It's bed time.

Pattern & Content: Day 1

It was a good first day. Even though Kerr is going over all of the basic stuff about the techniques, I still feel like I'm picking up where I left off. I don't know if it's this place or just luck of the draw, but all of my classmates seem to be well developed artists with a fair amount of dye experience. It's making for a fast-paced class, which is good.

Today we started with a warm-up exercise by doing a 4' x 4' charcoal drawing. We even had a jazz accompaniment! The photo below shows my drawing. After some initial gestures we were to think about the inspirational object that we brought with us. My object was a pair of scissors, which is were the oval shapes (the handles) and hexagonal shapes (the nut that holds the blades together) come from.

We did some sample deconstructed prints in the afternoon, and ended the day with prep work for tomorrow. We had to pick an image of a work of art from which to develop a color palette and design concept to explore tomorrow. I started with a painting, then related it to the hex nut image from the morning, and worked up the draft design below.

The plan for tomorrow is to explore this image in as many different ways as possible. It promises to be challenging but very good.

Greetings from Ohio

After a 6+ hour drive through wind and rain, over one massive hill after another, I'm here in Pickerington, OH--about 15 miles east of Columbus. This week I'm spending 5 days at the Nancy Crow Timber Frame Barn taking Kerr Grabowski's class, "Merging Pattern & Content" (http://nancycrow.com/HTML/barngrabowski.html).

Although class doesn't officially start until 9AM tomorrow, we had the option to go to the barn this afternoon to get our workspaces setup and meet the other students. There was a lovely dinner at 6, followed by a full round of introductions. I was surprised to hear how many people have been to the barn before and how many of my fellow classmates have taken classes before with Kerr. I think a number of folks are treating this as retreat time and not just learning time. I guess I am too. It's going to be great.

My very first show!

What do you know? I got into my very first quilt show. Remember a while back I said that I entered my art quilt called "Teach Us to Pray" in the SAQA Amazing Art Quilts Show? Well, today's post contained the usual junk and catalogs plus a thin little envelope with my handwriting on the outside. Dan figure out what it was before I did, even though I've been waiting for it. I gave it a quick squeeze, felt the square outline of a slide inside, and decided that it was almost certainly a rejection.

It was not! Much to my surprise the first sentence started with the word "Congratulations." I don't know what to make of this. I'm heartened, grateful, and surprised. The juror (Julia Pfaff) selected 39 pieces from a field of 122 entries. That's pretty good. The show runs in Staunton, VA Aug 29 - Oct 5 then goes on to the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Arts Festival 2009 in Hampton, VA. I got two for one.

This is just a great send-off as I prepare to leave for Ohio tomorrow morning for my week with Kerr. Five whole days of studio time--what joy.

Watch the blog this week. If things go as planned, I'm going to save a little energy for blogging each night.

Homework for Kerr, part 2

Read my last post before you read this one. It will save me the trouble of explaining what this "homework" thing is all about. The second part of the assignment is to prepare a written critical assessment of my work--not so much a critique, but an analysis of recurring theme, colors, techniques, etc. So, here goes. A critical look of my work

Color

• orange
• green
• blue
• brown
• tan
• black
• love purple, but I've avoided it because I've had trouble mixing it successfully (that's getting better since Carol's class)

Technique

• Mostly working with thickened dye
• Direct application with foam brush
• Doing a lot more painting than I expected. Maybe I'm part painter?
• Screened dye--often printing with the full area of the screen, with or without paper or wax masking on the screen. I like the hard square edges.
• Extruded dye to create messy lines. The syringe is a little hard to control and forces me to work fast, which is good.
• Layered application of dye (some technical problems here that need to be worked out)
• Discharge paste screened on with a mask to remove background dye (love to do this with leaves)
• Drawing with discharge paste in an syringe or a squeeze bottle

Form, shape, and pattern

• Almost nothing figurative or textual
• Lines and grids
• Round and square spirals
• Circles--regular and irregular
• Leaves
• Dots
• Splatters
• Question: what are my cultural motifs?

Texture, rhythm, descriptive words

• Happy
• Layered
• Depth
• Rough
• Messy

Scale

• Patterns tend to be 10" X 10" or smaller
• Overall composition size tends to be about 24-36" wide X 45" tall
• It's time to do a full width 2-yard piece
• Maybe I need a BIG screen

Fiber

• Cotton--some Kona, but lately Test 400M Print Cloth
• Silk--Habotai is my favorite
• Rayon--takes dye really well and great for whole cloth quilting

Embellishment and quilting

• Running stitch to outline specific shapes or add detail
• Fabric paint--outlining shapes with dots
• Fabric markers to add detail or outline
• Reverse applique
• Machine embroidery
• Yarn appliqued by machine--free motion or with an embroidery machine
• Quilting tends to be dense--stipple, lines, or grids, almost all free motion (I don't do feathers!)
• Starting to do some echo quilting

Homework for Kerr's workshop

I'm leaving one week from tomorrow for Ohio to spend a week at the Nancy Crow Timber Frame Barn studying with Kerr Grabowski. I've been looking forward to this workshop since I made my last drive down Thunder Mountain Road in a billowing cloud of dust. That vivid scene was on the last day of the workshop that I took with Kerr and Rayna Gillman last summer at Peter's Valley. Come to think of it, I started this blog just a couple of days later, after reading Rayna's blog and being inspired to give it a try. I'm a little conflicted (but only a very little) about taking a second workshop from the same person. There are some really great teachers out there. Shouldn't I be looking for breadth instead of depth? I guess I'm more of a depth kind of guy when you get right down to it. Anyway, I don't expect this workshop to be a repetition of last summer. I'm going with the expectation of refining an developing some of my skills, getting answers to some of my "what am I doing wrong here" questions, making great cloth, meeting interesting people, and working in the Barn. It's going to be great. I'm already wishing that it was a 2-week workshop, but my boss would have a fit so it's just as well that it's one week.

So, Kerr sent an e-mail yesterday to the whole class giving us a homework assignment. Can you imagine?! Like I don't have enough to d0? : )

First we need to bring "2 objects that you feel strongly about" and these are to be used for inspiration--sketching, collage, etc.

Second, we are to do a critical assessment of our work, looking for common themes, characteristics, etc.

2 Meaningful Objects This shouldn't be hard, but it is. I've done several laps around the house and come up empty handed (but I did do a little cleaning as I went!). I've come to a sort of weired realization: it's the house and it's contents as a whole about which I feel strongly. I have real trouble picking up a piece of pottery or some other object and saying, "I wouldn't want to live without this." Everything I see or touch has a shared memory attached to it. It's something that Dan and I bought together, built together, some connection. This is an amazing and emotional realization.

Now, I still need two things to take with me...I feel strongly about the cats, but Hillary and Isabella would not enjoy the trip. Isabella had a panic attack the last time she was in the car for more than 5 minutes.

I've settled on two odd things, but they are full of meaning. The first is a journal from a couple of years ago. It includes the beginning of my discernment period (the one I'm still working through), the time of my first serious fiber workshop (Jane Dunnewold), and my conscious, verbal acceptance of myself as an artist. Other volumes and this blog have followed, but this first volume represents the whole.

The second object is a pair of Gingher shears. They were a Christmas gift from Dan more than 10 years ago. They weren't terribly expensive, but something I had hesitated to buy for myself. It wasn't a big thing, but one that was incredibly thoughtful. I opened this gift in front of most of his family and sat there in silence with tears welling up in my eyes. I think it was the validation and support that was so moving.

That's enough of that for now. The critical assessment part of the assignment is going to have to wait for the next posting.

Good new that I forgot to share

I got a note from Darcy Love (ArtCloth Network) that she added me to the group's membership page on the website (http://www.artclothnetwork.com/members.html). It's not a big deal. It's just a thumbnail that links to my personal website. And yet, it is a bit of a big deal. It's a little piece of me out there in the great wide world, and in excellent company to boot. I was tickled when I got Darcy's e-mail, but sharing the news got lost in all of the vacation preparations.

So what next? Well, having been back in the office of just one week, I'm now thinking ahead to May 18th when I'll be driving to Ohio to spend a week with Kerr Grabowski at Nancy Crow. I've been looking forward to this workshop for a year. It's going to be great. I just wish that all of my travel wasn't happening back-to-back. I was away for a week in March, another in April, and now this thing in May. I feel like I'm packing suitcase every time a turn around.

Vacation pics

You probably don't need to see these, but just in case...

The view from the beach. This is what we spent most of the week looking at.

By contract, this is what a lot of the rest of the island looks like, at least on the French side. Yes that's livestock in the front yard.

Happy, rested, and well fed on our last night.

Back in the saddle

Vacation was lovely. As expected, we spent a great deal of time at the beach on cushy chaise lounges under a big umbrella staring at the water. That was interrupted by occasional swimming, eating, drinking, and reading. It was just what we both needed. We had lovely weather except for a little bit of rain near the end of the week. We ate very well, if very expensively. Perhaps we can just accept it as a given that where people are speaking French they are probably also preparing good food.

The trip back was rather bad--American Airlines, delays, long lines, missed connections, etc. We left the hotel at 1 PM Saturday and my head it the pillow (in my own bed, thank God) at 330 AM on Sunday. Total frying time was 4.5 hours; you do the math. Even after all that, I was tremendously grateful that we did not get stuck in San Juan as most of our fellow travelers did.

Would I go back? Yes. The resort was lovely, situated high on a hill overlooking Anse Marcel. We had free beach privileges at the resort down below.

Lessons learned? Avoid American Airlines. In the Caribbean: travel on weekdays; avoid flying through San Juan; expect all flights (especially on the weekend) to be intentionally oversold and delayed; arrive at the airport not one minute less than 2 hours before your flight; allow 1-2 hours for immigration, baggage claim, and customs. Never go to any airport without food in your carry-on luggage. The sandwiches that I made before we left the hotel saved us.

So, I'll post a couple of pictures over the weekend. It wasn't a very good photo vacation for some reason. For now, I'm back a work and very grateful to have had some time away. I think I was a lot more burnt out than I thought given how much better I feel now (even after 3+ days of work).

I survived

...but it wasn't pretty. Actually, the work was a huge success--all the servers successfully upgraded, more than 130 happy users, and no impact on the publishing schedule. Now, the upgrade team may be a different story. I think we're all pretty much wrung out and, quite frankly, fed up with management bureaucracy. It's kind of ironic that if you do your job well then a VP or Director will tell you it's because he/she rode your you-know-what beforehand. If we hadn't done the job as well as we did then we'd be getting miserably abused now. Either way there seems to be abuse; the only difference is before or after. I don't know. This is just more complaining. I've got a really bad case of bad attitude right now.

St. Martin will cure that. No, I'm not building a shrine in the back yard. (Off the top of my head I can't even recall who St. Martin was). What I mean is that Dan and I are going to the Caribbean for a week. Much needed, much appreciated, and much anticipated. Packing starts at the end of the week and we fly out early Sunday morning. We're staying in a smallish boutique resort east of Grand Case on the French side of the island. I'm going to laze in the sun, practice my so-so high school French, eat, shop, and try to ignore how painfully low the dollar is against the euro.

St. Martin is about 200 km ESE of St. Thomas. The weather should be delightful this time of year. I don't know if there'll be another posting between now and the trip. If not, you can at least expect vacation pictures when we return!