Monthly Archives: March 2013

Back to the Studio

Tomorrow is the last day of my show, Madrone, at Foster/White Gallery. It’s been well-received, I’ve gotten some very nice comments, and sold a few pieces. Very satisfactory overall.

But then here comes the inevitable question, “Now what?”

Luckily, I’ve got enough things to keep me busy until the next body of work develops. I’ve got some calls to enter, a grant to write, and a few shows coming up to track.

I’m going to attend the SDA Convention in San Antonio, Texas and there is a member’s show for that. The call is for 12 x 12 inch pieces. I already have a bunch of those but they are mounted on panels and the call specifies that all the pieces be mounted on canvas. So I need to make a new piece, after all.

I have all the patterns for my 12 x 12 pieces and I have a lot of nice fabric that didn’t get used in the last series. So, easy peasy, right? Well, actually, I found it’s much harder to start making one piece than a series of pieces. How to narrow it down? How to choose just one set of fabrics from all my beautiful stash. I found myself over-analyzing, poring over the fabrics, looking at them this way and that, taking photos and comparing. Just driving myself crazy with all the options, wanting the piece to be not just good, but really good.

Then I thought, why not just make more and then pick which one I like best? And after spending hours trying to make decisions about one piece, I had fabrics and patterns picked out for two more in about 40 minutes.

Who knew it would be easier to make three pieces than one! Plus, if I run short on time, I don’t even have to finish all of them.

 

The Big Island of Hawaii

I just got back from a dance and yoga retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii. I didn’t take many pictures because we were in class for about 4 and half hours a day!

sunrise

Here a few though, always focusing in on patterns and textures. Enjoy.

jackfruit

lava patterns

Ironwood tree

ironwood needles making pattern on lava rock

at MacKenzie Beach Park

 

Profile in the Daily Art Muse!

While I was in Hawaii I was profiled on the Daily Art Muse blog. It’s a terrific blog written by Susan Lomuto and showcases contemporary fine craft. I’ve discovered many, many wonderful artists through her blog and am honored to be among them. Plus I had a huge spike in visits to my website!

Thanks Susan!

Madrone

It was a terrific opening! Lots of good friends and even a couple of sales. Below is the artist’s statement for the show.

Madrone

Along Puget Sound’s shores Madrone trees cling to rocky cliffs. The trees’ rough bark splits and peels away to reveal layers of brilliant orange contrasting with smooth green inner bark. Textile-like shreds surround the bases of these evergreen trees, with their muscular trunks and curving limbs. Shaped by wind and weather, the trees provide food and habitat for wildlife and their broad root systems stabilize the rocky soil, preventing erosion.

But Madrones are sensitive to environmental stresses. Many are dying in the San Juan Islands from diseases that may be linked to climate change. Deer, whose population is unchecked by natural predators, keep new trees from establishing. The groves are interdependent in ways not completely understood by horticulturalists and, when one tree is removed, the others will slowly fail and die. These trees do not thrive in cultivated landscapes, but only in nature, protected from encroaching development.

This new series of artwork is inspired by the beauty of the Madrones and also by their fragility. Fabric, which is fundamental to my work, provides a metaphor for the trees. The bark of the Madrone peels away from the tree, littering the ground with papery sheets like the scrolls of a vanquished civilization. Fabric is strong, its threads interwoven to create the cloth that swaddles us from birth to death, much like the roots of the Madrones bind the rocky soil together. And yet, cut just one thread and a weak point is created in the whole cloth.

Standing amongst the Madrones on land sacred to the Lummi tribe, I feel the trees’ ancient presence. They are lonely sentinels, emblematic of our region and the struggle for permanence in a changing world.

 

Opening Night!

Cambium

Tomorrow night is the opening for my show, Madrone, at Foster/White Gallery here in Seattle. I’m excited and nervous, of course, wondering what to wear, figuring out logistics of how to get my kids down there and how to get them home so I can go out for a well-deserved drink!

I feel good about the work. When I saw the on-line catalog  I was really able to get that the show holds together as a body of work. I felt a real sense of accomplishment and pride. I really pushed myself to do something new. It was a huge amount of work and tomorrow night I get to see how it is received. It’s always wonderful to have my friends come out and support me but it’s often those comments from people I don’t know that make my night.

Here’s the link to the catalog: Cameron Anne Mason, Madrone

Excited and nervous!