Home, The Artist’s Residency and A Look Back

Home, The Artist’s Residency and A Look Back

I’m back home.

And in the middle of teaching a workshop this week, but thought I’d grab these few free minutes that I have to write a post. First off, if you haven’t seen my other videos and posts about my artist’s residency, it was AMAZING!  Truly beyond anything I had imagined.  Being immersed in art, living with a group of artists for two weeks was just incredible.  I had no distractions other than self imposed deadlines, and the occasional load of laundry, but otherwise I was free to explore, create, learn and be inspired by everything and everyone around me.  It was magical.  And added plus, in a group of 16 artists, there wasn’t a single prima donna!  Not a one.  Everyone was beyond lovely.

I’ve been home now for just over a week and already it’s all beginning to fade into the background.  In many ways it feels as though I was just there, as in yesterday, and in other ways it feels as though it was all a dream and never happened at all or if it did, it was years ago.  Time is strange like that.  Still I have both Paris and Orquevaux on my weather app, so everyday I look to see what the weather is like over there. It’s a tenuous thread that still attaches me to that magical place and time.  One of these days I’ll remove them both, but for now, it’s a bit like listening to an old phone message from my mother.  I know she’s gone, but I can’t bare to delete it.

The piece I created while at the residency is pinned precariously to a large foam board and propped up on a desk until I can put together a more permanent solution for it.  I started referring to it as The Beast until someone suggested I use the french word for beast, which is La Bête, and they’re right it does sound better, a bit less jarring, a little softer.  Still, there’s something about the forcefulness of “The Beast” that I rather like, so I alternate between the two depending on my mood.  My friends in Paris suggested I call it Genesis, particularly since I’m doing a series.  I’ve bookmarked that idea for now.

Once this workshop that I’m teaching is over, I’ll get back to it, but for now, it waits for me patiently.

While at the artist’s residency I interviewed a few of the other artists and then ran out of time and so was only able to interview six of them.  If you’d like to see what some of the other artists were doing while at the residency, you can watch those interviews on my youtube channel.  They are all under the Interviews! playlist.

I also had time to create a number of videos on the process or more accurately my process.  Here are a couple of those videos:

A Work Space of One’s Own

A Work Space of One’s Own

At three in the morning, in a fit of frenzied sleeplessness I decided my work space was in desperate need of reorganization.  And what great idea that comes to you in the wee hours of the morning isn’t a brilliant one?!  However, upon further reflection, I decided reorganizing is not one of my strengths and so, I did what anyone would do. I solicited the help of someone who excels at reorganizing.  Step into the limelight my fabulous husband (FH) and take a bow.  He is extremely good at just this sort of thing.  “Okay,” he said, all business-like, “talk me through this.”  And then proceeded to ask me a series of questions.

From this conversation he prioritized and broke down what I needed to do in manageable steps.  I forgot to take a photograph of the disaster that was once my work space, but this is what it looked like at about the halfway point.

As I was trying to decide what color I should paint that great expanse of white wall (this was a tricky decision as it is a dark room, made even darker by the red carpet I bought decades ago in Turkey) I thought, “I need a design wall!”  This is not essential, after all I have sketch books and a table where I can play with ideas, but a design wall would be really, really nice to have.  So I googled design walls and found some wonderful ones.  I decided I wanted one that is at least 62″ x 72.”  In order to do this I needed to get rid of a great many things scattered all over the place.

I decided on a bright mango color to brighten the room up.  However, as with so many things in life, painting one wall proved more complicated than I anticipated.  I ran into bubbles.  Thousands and thousands of tiny bubbles appeared after the first coat of paint.  I pricked one of them with a pin and, much to my horror, the bubble expanded exponentially, revealing all the coats of paint below the fresh coat I’d just painted, so that I was staring at dry board!  I was so horrified I didn’t have the presence of mind to take photos, but my FH was witness.  I ended up pulling off great sheets of bubbled up paint.  After running to the hardware store for advice, making a couple of emergency phone calls to friends of mine who are far more experienced in painting walls than I am, I finally pulled up as much paint as I could, sanded, dusted, spackled, sanded some more, dusted some more and finally repainted and held my breath.  What should have taken a few hours took more than a day and a half, BUT it came out pretty well, if I do say so myself!  FH had the great idea of hanging my ironing board.walllookingoutThen there was the question of my design wall, which is removable.the-designwallI needed to organize my fabrics and other materials that I use for my jewelry design, such as wax, files, metals, wire, etc. While I was doing all of this, I came across my old portfolio from my days in fashion design and got a little side tracked… croqueparsonsfinalparsonsFinally, after all of that, I got back on track.

And here is the finished space!jewelryfabricwallthewallNow it’s time to get back to work – I have a queen-sized quilt to sandwich, baste and free motion quilt and then there are these little guys who keep calling to me.

sharkey

A work in progress – Sharkey Dog

rhino

The African Rhino and his Friend – Blue Bird

 

A Work Space of One’s Own

Expressing Life Through Art

I just returned from a two week long artist’s workshop, where I studied with the fabulous and fabulously talented artist, Rosalie Dace for five days, followed by five days with another fabulous and extremely talented artist, Lorie McCown.  The workshops are part of the Schweinfurth Art Center‘s yearly summer program –  Quilting by the Lake, also known as QBL.  Though there is now no lake, there was one at the place they first began doing these workshops more than thirty years ago, and not everything produced is quilted, though it depends on the workshop you signed up for.

Here’s a run down of my time at QBL.

Day 1 of Rosalie Dace’s Workshop entitled Skin Deep:  Panic! and the realization that perfectionism is creativity’s executioner.

By the end of the first day I have a couple of ideas, but am definitely struggling.

An idea

The seed

Day 2: I begin repeating something Rosalie had written on one of the large boards propped up on one of two easels in front of the class.  “DON’T PANIC!”  This becomes my mantra for the rest of my time at QBL.

Day 3:  I hate everything I’ve created thus far and have the rude awakening that my expectations are a killjoy.  Around the middle of day 2 and into day 3 Rosalie encourages me to use machine stitching, which definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone.  I proudly show Rosalie the machine stitching I’ve done (and am devising ways I will hide it after showing her) she applauds my efforts and then drops a bomb by suggesting I add two more lines of machine stitching so for every one line there are now THREE and a little part of me dies inside.

This was what I had done by the end of Day 3, beginning of Day 4.  People would wander by and remark, “Ohh, pretty” or “oh the beach!  I love the beach” or just, “water!”  It was around this time that I came up with the title:  “It’s deeper than you think” and then proceeded to muddy those serene waters by incorporating many of Rosalie’s great suggestions.

Pretty

Day 4:  Go with the flow.  I’m a fiend and machine stitch everything I can get my hands on.  I am one with my Bernina and life is good.

While working on the “It’s Deeper than You Think” piece I begin playing with the other study, which began with a cream colored background.  I decide I have to lose the brown fabric, it’s a sink hole and is bringing everything down, including me.  It morphs into this, with sticks and stones and leaves that I found on my way to class that morning.  I entitle it, “And Yet, You Are Here”  (I will refrain from explaining the title as I trust all of you to come up with your own interpretations!)

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Day 5: I finish the “It’s Deeper Than You Think” piece and reflect on all that I learned, not just technique, but about art and the making of it, and was reminded of the often painful process and cycle of creating.  Whatever genius idea I have, usually showing up in my mind at some absurd hour in the middle of the night, loses it’s luster by daylight.  By afternoon I’ve decided it’s the worst idea I ever had and by evening I’m questioning the meaning of everything.  Needless to say this usually spirals down into a kind of personal horror, like a set list with all the songs you’ve ever hated that randomly play loudly on a loop.  Relief comes in the middle of the night with yet another stroke of genius and the cycle begins again.  But, as Rosalie reminded me more than once, “It’s okay.  Don’t panic.”  And with that mantra in mind, I can sit with the discomfort and “keep swimming.”

It’s Deeper Than You Think

It's Deeper than You Think

Rosalie is a force, brilliant, funny, kind, welcoming, encouraging and oh so very talented.  It was an honor to be in her class.

I had the weekend to play before I began Lorie McCown’s class called “Connections.”

A brief summary of Lorie’s fantastic  5-day workshop.

Day 1: I got this.  I’m an old pro at this point and nothing is going to phase me.  Lorie mentions that machines are optional and encourages us to use hand stitching (I promptly ignore her), immediately decide I’m going to resurrect (with Lorie’s okay) the other piece I started in Rosalie’s class, “And Yet, You are Here” and machine stitch the whole thing.  Lorie encourages us to think out of the box, explore materials we otherwise might not have thought of.  I’m open to this idea, particularly as I’ve already given my inner rebel some freedom.  She shows us examples of her work that are powerful, emotionally laden and visually compelling.   I decide I’m going to use paper and maps and whatever else I can get my hands on that evoke the title – “And yet, you are here.” Remember I am now one with my Bernina. All is well.

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Day 2:  I’m not going through the angst I experienced the week before, so things are coming along nicely.  Lorie is terrific, gives lots of encouragement and suggestions and wonders aloud whether I might “go bigger” and then asks, “What do you think?”  I’m totally on to her, but do “go bigger,” because, well, why NOT go bigger? and anyway I’ve already demonstrated my anarchistic streak by ignoring her whole hand stitching thing.

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Day 3: I announce that I’m thinking of using silk ribbon and Lorie suggests I use it as a way to tie in the idea of “And yet, you are here” by tacking it down in various places and then bringing all the various ribbons to the “X” so they converge.  I love this idea and dive into my silk ribbon stash.

Lorie discusses various backing options. I decide, since I don’t have the canvas I’d prefer, I’ll back my piece in wool, which I have a great deal of. Still very little hand stitching, almost everything is machine stitched because I’m clinging to my whole – I’m a rebel – schtick.

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Day 4: I’m letting “And Yet You Are Here” simmer for a few days and decide to begin working on a version of another idea I had in Rosalie’s class.

This is what it looked like in Rosalie’s class.

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And then I added to it.

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In Lorie’s class I took this concept and did this.

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Which then became this

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Day 5:  I can be a rebel with hand stitching too!  The night before, I worked until 10PM and was in class by 7:30AM.  I’m determined to work in some of my ideas for this piece – holes and slashes with stitching around them.  The piece now looks like this… it’s still a work in progress, I intend to do much more stitching on it and you’ll notice I hand stitched everything on this piece.  I’m calling it – “Life #1” and am thinking of making a series. Lorie’s all over the “series” idea, which you can see if you visit her website, and I encourage you to!

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A few close ups

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Thanks to Quilting by the Lake, the Schweinfurth Art Center, Rosalie Dace and Lorie McCown, but more than anyone I am forever grateful to my husband, Richard Long, who said when I broached the idea of going away, “Absolutely, you deserve it.” And when I asked, “Are you sure?” He didn’t hesitate, “I got this,” he said.  I know how much he had to do so that I could go.  What a great guy!   And what an amazing twelve days I’ve had!