This weekend.

If you are in Brooklyn and need some fiber friendly and fabulous events to attend here are two. Above is the postcard for the Holiday Show at my studio building. There will be a gallery exhibit with works for sale, a print sale of hand made prints, and open studios with art for sale all Saturday evening. There are over 100 studios and many more artist that work in the building!
I am super bummed that I will miss out on all the fun but I do have a work up in the gallery show and my studio mate will have our studio open. So stop by join in on the festive fun.

And for Friday...

Artist Talk: virgin knitters:

Join the Textile Arts Center and Kimberly Hall for a discussion on the allure of the handmade and her Virgin Knitters project. Plus, make your final bids for your favorite scarves! (no $ required) Just in time for the cold, cold weather.

December 3, 2010 -- 7PM

Kimberly is interested in exploring the questions:
What makes an object lucky?
What makes a garment attractive?
What is appealing about handmade items?
How do I value what something is actually worth?

Each scarf will be up for Silent Auction -- not for monetary exchange, but for the desire for the particular scarf. Kimberly believes that the act of giving away allows the maker to consider the emotional and intellectual work he/she put into the piece.

Wine, Cheese, Bidding. What more could you ask for?

going home.

What a wonderful experience it has been here at the Tin Shop Artist Residency in Breckenridge.


I have enjoyed the bright cozy studio...


and the simple home here immensely.


I have loved the walks for coffee in the morning through the snow.
The beyond gorgeous views of the mountains.


The time and space to make my work.


And the simpler, less hectic life here.


I am so excited to get back home with my community but not excited about having a BUSY schedule again.


Though all the reasons that I am busy are wonderful.

But nonetheless I will be back in my studio soon.


Finishing some work I started here and moving on to whatever is next.


But I will attempt to remember the simplicity of this month, the ease of the routine, the letting go of an agenda and take this memory with me to put at work back at home in Brooklyn.

the other hand.

This is what I worked on mostly this week in between some skiing, snow mobiling, a train ride with Santa, lots of family time, and a delicious Thanksgiving meal of Pumpkin Chili.

We are now in the process of thinking about packing up and heading home. I am hoping to get the hand finished tomorrow and then folding up the studio back into the trunk for a long drive across the country.

A little review of the month here in Colorado tomorrow plus some posting about ALL the exciting things happening this weekend. Which I will miss due to the fact that I will be in the car.

mom.

Familar Faces: Sullen Bear, Maggie Rozycki Hiltner

A very cool show is happening at Turman Larison Gallery in Montana:

MOM Show

November 5 – December 10, 2010

This is an exhibit featuring mothers that are also artists.

Spoon, Deb Durant

Guest Curator and MOM artist, Jess Parker says this about her struggle of identity:

I am not in the studio going like gangbusters. Those days came to a screeching halt 7 + years ago when I had twins. With twins there is no fooling yourself that you will simply strap two kids to your back like a primate and keep on working in your studio. Seven years ago “mom” became my identity crisis.
When my kids were about three, if asked what mommy does they would draw a blank and maybe say “make dinner?” My husband would helpfully nudge them, “Mommy has a studio out back, she’s a mommy and a potter.” Thanks Dad. But really I was going through some kind of metamorphosis. On January 23, 2003 I became and will always be a mom. “Artist” is now my identity crisis.

Equate,Erin Ferimsky

The show features varied mediums and mom's from different backgrounds but definitely seems like an interesting show and a great celebration of the balance women try to create. You can read the full press release and snippets from each mother here.

Cake stand, Fredi Rahn

PLEASE NOTE: BLOGGER SUCKING TODAY . SORRY ABOUT WEIRD FORMATTING.

Happy Thanksgiving.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

see some more DIY turkeys over here.

words that work.

Love the above work by artist Adele Todd, perhaps because it reminds me of a fair amount of Annette Messeger's word pieces. In this work Adele used local phrases from her home of Trinidad.

The still above is from a performance of hers, it also evokes Messeger's work, specifically her Albums.


Adele has a powerful series about violence and abuse using silhouettes and installation, reminding me of Kara Walker but without the historical context and references.


Adele is very diverse in how she uses thread and fibers and is generally inspired by situations that affect or are a part of her West Indies culture.


You can see more of her work as well as videos of her performance here.

the other hand.

this has actually made a ton of progress since this shot was taken... but thought I'd share the drawing too.
Yesterday, I took a day off from the studio which was nice, roamed around the town, ate crepes, got a little gift shopping in, sat in a hot tub. Nice.

Today back to work though. Unfortunately that will be computer work though trying to get a grant application and another residency application done. Not fun but necessary.

I have...

deep gratitude for I am...

napping baby, falling snow, jazz on the radio, embroidery at my hands.

good.

knitting fluid.

Super interesting artist Marcy March forwarded me a link to this awesome piece of work, Fluid Dress, by Charlie Bucket also know as Casual Profanity.

Fluid Dress from Charlie Bucket on Vimeo.

The work is 600 ft of tubing knit together and orchestrated with fluid to come alive with light and beauty. Such an intriguing work. See more of Charlie's equally interesting work here.

progress.

making good progress on this piece.
starting the other hand today.

must say I am feeling a little burn out of some kind so...
since my folks and sis are coming in this week for the holiday, yay, I am planning on being a little light over here on the bird.

I fully plan on still posting but maybe a little briefer then normal. Give my brain a blog brake.

the voice as thread.

Still from the work Quilting Piece by Clio Padovani.

She states this about the work:

The voice is the thread: it connects and constructs, it pieces together this sequence or story, this kind of cloth.

Watch this lovely, lovely piece. Scroll down to bottom and just get lost.

Her work is very interesting combining words, voice, poetry, video, and cloth. Take the time to explore her website to see more of her intriguing work.

happy birthday.

Happy Birthday my sweet husband, who so freakishly looks like my sweet son...
This will be the 12th birthday I celebrate with you and the 12th year that my life has been so much more full.
You are an outrageously and unique being that touches everyone you meet with your fierce determination, your shocking intelligence, your intense fascination with most all things, and your infectious laugh, not to mention your incredibly dashing good looks.

I can only hope that we will live to beyond 102 and that I will be continuing to hold hands with you.
All my love.

coming to life.

here is the hand coming to life.
I am actually super excited about the piece, its simplicity will absolutely be its strength.

on as side note it is crazy gorgeous here, the snow is so pure and white and just blankets the mountains like creamy icing... and the sun shines so bright. Trying to take it in while I can.

in the studio...

just a little update... a new arrangement on the wall with a recently finished text piece.

kind of on hold here, need more of a particular thread to finish the legs and need to be in my home studio to add the applique and wait for it... yes I am going to experiment with a little bit of van dyke to allude to the sheets and bedding.....hmmmm.

what is on the hoop now, I have a feeling I am going to love this piece.

and what is next... it is pretty hard to see with just the marker but... it should be a good one. I plan on doing it a bit more simply with less detail but we will see.

and that is all for today.

class.

Taught my workshop for the Residency yesterday, it was great fun and a lovely group of women.
I do so love teaching and hope someday I will again teach in a university setting again. It just does not seem the right time for that now, but maybe someday...

and don't forget to check out my upcoming teaching schedule, I would love to see you there.

between our moments of labor.

Film Stills, Between Counting.

I am not with the energy to find words today so I will let this intriguing and eloquent artist speak for herself. Nicola Naismith often works with video or installation to talk about such issues as the everyday object, hand work, and labor.

Betweens

Exploring the ordinary qualities of everyday items for example the white shirt, the sewing needle and obsolete technology, Nicola Naismith uses a combination of digital and analogue processes. Simple objects are subject to complex questions concerning production, labour, value and the human machine. Naismith represents these ideas through works that unravel operations between hand, eye, brain, body and machine whilst referencing industrial and globalisation contexts.

Process, 10, 000 hand sewing needles.

With an extensive interest in industrial production the work explores the relationship between manufactured object and hand skill. How can the needles be contained in such large quantities within the hand?

from white collar worker

Through theoretical and practical investigations the ordinariness of the white shirt became transformed into extraordinariness, the transformation effected by the crossing of boundaries between art, textiles, sculpture and architecture.

from white collar worker

The shifting medium of working, between traditional hand skills and technological processes retained the constant of white from the original shirt as an anchor point on which to pivot the expanding concepts. Working through purchasing and unpicking, subverting and documenting, a key question developed: Does being a ‘hand’ maker inhibit practice? This expanded into: What is it that constitutes something being classed as ‘hand’ made? To finally: What is a person minute?

Film still from 14 person minutes.

You can read about all her projects and see more images at her website.

stuff.

One of the small text works that I have worked on while here.

Yesterday I got quite a few of my small text works all ready and packaged to be sent back to NYC for and exhibit at Taller Boricua, a gallery space uptown. I am super bummed as I will miss the opening- I will be on the road returning from here but am very delighted to be part of the show.
I need to start applying for things again so shows keep happening.... So much effort and time to apply. ergh.

also packaged up a piece that sold last week, it is heading back to the city too.

and borrowed a projector to get a few new pieces drawn out so I can start stitching them this week. I am very happy with the "mama" piece that I have been doing, but do not think I will continue with that technique, a few problems came up that would need resolved if I do.

now a walk in the snow, lil't time, and coffee before the studio work begins.

the memory of cloth.

I found out about the incredible exhibit, Threads of Feeling, at the Foundling Museum in London, by reader Abigail Thomas. I am so glad that she commented to lead me to this exhibit, it seems like a truly special, unique, and moving show to see.


Sadly, I am not in London so I will not see it, but none the less, I can imagine. The Foundling Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, London's first home for abandoned children. It is a restored building adjacent to the original hospitals property and showcases the art, social history and domestic interiors of the hospitals time. This in itself makes it sound like a museum worth visiting.


Threads of Feeling, is a very special exhibit that pays homage to the very difficult decision and emotional journey of a mother choosing to leave her child at an orphanage. The exhibit has on view the small tokens that mothers would leave with their baby as they parted, often this would be a small swatch of fabric from their clothing or home.


The concept for the show is powerful, moving, sad, lonely, and beautiful all at the same time. I myself work with fiber because it does have the power to hold so much love, memory, and story within its small threads. Just think about how we smell the clothing of someone we miss, we wear the sweaters and shirts of people no longer with us, and layout our most precious linens to be closer to those that have touched that fabric before. I feel that this exhibit tells its own story of mother, baby, and hospital but also tells the much larger story of fabric.


In the press release, historian John Styles explains:

The process of giving over a baby to the hospital was anonymous. It was a form of adoption, whereby the hospital became the infant’s parent and its previous identity was effaced. The mother’s name was not recorded, but many left personal notes or letters exhorting the hospital to care for their child. Occasionally children were reclaimed. The pieces of fabric in the ledgers were kept, with the expectation that they could be used to identify the child if it was returned to its mother.

The textiles are both beautiful and poignant, embedded in a rich social history. Each swatch reflects the life of a single infant child. But the textiles also tell us about the clothes their mothers wore, because baby clothes were usually made up from worn-out adult clothing. The fabrics reveal how working women struggled to be fashionable in the 18th Century.

The museum also has a wonderful collection of textiles in general including samplers. So you Londoner's please do not miss this.