Monthly Archives: July 2013

It’s All Part of the Process

dyed fabrics batching on the deck

Last week I dyed half the fabric I’ll be working with for an installation in Bellevue, Washington. I don’t have a date or location for the installation yet so I’m working on faith here, like always I suppose. This Summer is a good time to get the dyeing done and ready to go. Plus, knowing the way these things work, I may end up with only a week or two’s notice before the install date.

doing the laundry

picking out the stitches

Although the technique I’m working with is simple, there’s a lot of time involved. First I sew each 18-inch-by-12-foot-long strip into a tube. I then scrunch the tubes onto PVC pipes and apply the dyes. After the dye sets I wash and dry them, remove all the stitching, and iron them out. Even though I do them in batches, it takes well over an hour for each strip. When you multiply that by 26 strips, it adds up. None of it is brain surgery, it just takes time.

Luckily, this Summer I have time. I don’t really have any deadlines. I’m in shows but it’s all existing work so I’m just packing it up, delivering it, or picking it up. I’m enjoying these sunny days and the long evening hours with my friends and family.

Change and hard work are on the horizon. For now, I’m content to be picking out stitches, ironing, gardening, relaxing, and soaking up all the Vitamin D I can before the pace picks up again this Fall.

before and after ironing

I’m Back in Seattle Again

55 yards of silk torn into strips

I’m back to work, for a little while anyway, before I head off for my next trip. Today’s task was turning a bolt of silk into 26 twelve-foot-by-18-inch strips for the installation I’ll be doing in Bellevue. Next step is to sew the strips into tubes so that I can scrunch them on to pvc pipe for a shibori pattern.

My intern, Jesse, is coming to help me at the studio tomorrow. We’ll be dyeing half of the fabric with three colors of blue. I’ve done a number of tests to check the colors and techniques but it’s always a leap of faith to dye so much fabric at once.

Wish me luck!

samples washed and ironed

Summertime!

It’s Summer. Aaah!

It’s festival season and my studio work has slowed way down. I’m still puttering away but not working on any big projects. I am working on the dyeing for an installation in Bellevue but I don’t have an install date, yet. As soon as I get a date I’ll light the burner, but for now, I’m enjoying the sunshine and time with my kids.

We head off to the Oregon Country Fair tomorrow. We’ve been going for many years as part of the Ambiance Crew. I love the Fair and it’s my great pleasure to care take a park there. It’s not a park in any traditional sense. It’s more of an outdoor living room filled with art. It’s a spot where people can relax and take a break, even a snooze, before heading back onto the path for shows, delicious food, and beautiful crafts for sale.

The Solstice Parade was the start of our festival Summer. Country Fair is next and we’ll be at Burning Man over Labor Day weekend. Throw in a camping trip to Orcas Island and a family trip to the Pennisula and it’s a full Summer.

I’ll find a little studio time here and there before September but there may only a few posts here.

Until then, enjoy the sunshine!

Milestones

the studio gang on the ferry: Paul E McKee, me, Pam Gray, Anna McKee, and Claire Holguin

Fifty. It’s a big number, all right.

I feel completely blessed by the many, many wonderful things in my life: health, family, friends, art, travel, delicious food, beauty, laughter, comfort.

On my birthday this week my studio-mates, past and present, took a trip to Bainbridge Island to go to the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and have lunch. It was a perfect way to celebrate. It was a gorgeous day for a ferry ride. We walked on and sat outside going both directions, absorbing the sun and taking in the natural beauty of our landscape. All the travel I’ve been doing this year has really helped me recognize the special place that I live–and this stretch of fine weather we’ve been having helps, too.

The trip to the museum was partially motivated because I had heard that a piece of mine was included in the opening exhibition. I was thrilled to see that not one, but two pieces are on display and that they are promised as part of the permanent collection! I also got to meet Greg Robinson, the Executive Director and Cynthia Sears, the Founder of the museum. Cynthia is the collector who purchased my pieces and has lent them (for now) to the museum.

my pieces in the gallery with work by Cecil Ross, Philip McCracken, and Christopher Hoff

my pieces in the gallery alongside work by Cecil Ross, Philip McCracken, and Christopher Hoff

It’s a beautiful, well-designed building just a short walk from the ferry. There is no sense of the stuffiness and formality that is often felt in an art museum. Instead it feels personal, like being welcomed into the living room of someone who has a really terrific collection and wants to share with you. Lighting is a big part of that sense of ease. The big windows, which have UV protection, suffuse the entire entire building with natural light and the art glows in it. Although they are diverse in terms of media, the exhibitions feel cohesive, the voices of the Northwest artists singing together harmonically. The curators have done a nice job of creating vignettes where the pieces can tell a short story to viewers before they move on to the next conversation.

I highly recommend making a visit to the museum. The ferry, the museum, and a delicious lunch at Cafe Nola with terrific friends made for a wonderful entry to this next decade. I can’t say I’m excited to be the Big-Five-O, but as they say, it sure beats the alternative!

me with Heartwood and Parchment from the Madrone Series