I got a message yesterday that I show I had been invited to participate in this Fall was not happening after all. That is, I was “disinvited” to participate. It stung, all right, but it’s also a relief in a way. The work I was going to make for the show was feeling like a diversion from what I’m starting to get at in the studio.

I’m continuing to explore mark making using the antique baby dresses that were gifted to me. I’m not sure where this work is leading me but it feels important to follow. I was talking with the studio mates yesterday about it and Anna was encouraging me to immerse myself in it without attaching to the finished product. Her advice was that the work itself would inform me.

I’m drawn to this work: printing and looking. Sometimes I just hang up a piece of fabric and look at it. It’s a kind of meditation, I guess. My mind feels suspended, not thinking but just observing and being with it.

So it’s time to lick my wounds, let go of expectation, and get back to the studio where my work is waiting for me.

print on velvet

print on silk broadcloth

My studio-mate and good friend, Anna McKee, is a print maker and painter. She has a large and beautiful press in her studio and has offered to let me use it many times over the years. Since I’m in the midst of exploring new ways of printing on fabric, it seemed like a good time to take her up on her offer.

baby dresses after dyeing process

I’ve been working with absorbant materials for a while as a way of creating texture on breakdown screens. I then use those textured materials to print as well, creating both “positive” and “negative” imagery. Anna and her husband and studio-mate, Paul E. McKee, gave me some antique baby clothes from his family to use in the dye studio. I used those dresses to set up some breakdown screens last week (see previous blog post).

I usually take prints directly from the dyed fabrics by wrapping them in soda soaked fabric and letting them batch. I decided to try running them through the printing press to see how it  would be different. I got some interesting results. Overall, the prints were lighter in color but had more detail. This make sense. The color would be lighter because the fabric was in contact with the dye for less time: less dye = less color. The crisper detail makes sense because the rollers of the press apply so much more even pressure than I can with my hands or a brayer.

print taken from the dress with the press

detail of print taken from dress

Now I wonder, why did I wait so long to take advantage of this amazing tool? Anyway, the prints are lovely and I look forward to more experimentation.

(and I didn’t win the Audience Choice spot in the Art Walk Awards but thanks for all your votes!)

print from breakdown screen

detail of print from breakdown screen

Unbroken, nominated for the People's Choice

I found out this weekend that I’ve been selected to compete for the People’s Choice Nominee spot in City Arts Magazine’s Art Walk Awards. It’s a long shot for sure, there are 63 nominees, but every vote counts!

Click here to vote. Thanks!

This business of being an artist involves wearing many different hats. Making art, sure, but also marketing, networking, writing, packaging, shipping, inventory, shopping, research and development. I’ve had one of those weeks where I did a little bit of everything.

Monday was house and laundry and blogging and looking at art books day.

Tuesday included a trip to the Pacific Fabrics to ogle all the beautiful laces in their “Galleria” and pick out a few inexpensive ones for my continuing experiments with using absorbent materials for printing. At the studio I mixed up some print paste so that it would be ready for printing on Wednesday and placed a big order at Dharma Trading Co. There was also a site visit to Carkeek Park where I’m proposing an installation for this year’s installment of art there curated and sponsored by Center on Contemporary Art.

at Pacific Fabrics

Wednesday morning I packaged up and sent off my entry for the Member’s Show at the SDA Convention in San Antonio. Once I got the studio I found a very special gift from my studio-mates, Anna and Paul: antique baby clothes from Paul’s family! They are so beautiful. I asked A & P one more time if they were really okay with the clothes getting dyed as part of art making and they agreed. After all, like the gorgeous doilies I use, at least this gives these special pieces another chance to be alive in the world.

a detail of one of the baby dresses

a monotype

After admiring the baby clothes I did some monoprinting with the absorbent fabrics I bought. I also spent some time looking at art books and sketching ideas for new work.

Thursday I washed out Wednesday’s printing then went to the studio to set up breakdown screens for printing on Friday. Friday is when my intern, Jesse comes, so I have to have work ready to go so that I take the best advantage of the extra help. Luckily, it’s been warm and sunny here so the breakdown screens would dry overnight. I used the baby clothes and the absorbent laces. In the afternoon I met with my friend Jessica. She recently left her job at the gallery and is going to help me with some research–just because she’s so nice and she wants to keep her mind active while she’s home with her baby. I am so lucky! In the evening I worked on my proposal for Carkeek.

setting up breakdown screens

the dress after I took it off the breakdown screen

Friday I jammed on getting the Carkeek proposal together and got it submitted by 10 am! Jesse called in sick, which actually was kind of a relief because it freed up my day. I’m excited to print but it will have to wait until next week. At the studio I peeled all the fabrics off the breakdown screens and then packaged up three pieces that I’m delivering to CQA tomorrow for their group show in Tieton. It was a beautiful day and Anna and I snuck out for lunch in the sun and she showed me their architectural drawings for their new studios.

And then there’s this blog post . . .

So, to summarize . . .

Monday: research

Tuesday: research, inventory, acquisitions, prep work, writing

Wednesday: packaging, shipping, research, acquisitions, research, planning, and some making

Thursday: laundry, prep work, networking, career planning, writing

Friday: writing, packaging, networking

It was a busy week!

screens all ready to print . . . next week

I’ve been using some textured fabrics and doilies on breakdown screens. It’s an extension of the work I’ve been doing with absorbent materials and what I taught in my class at Pratt a week or so ago. It’s a technique that continues to excite me and I feel like it’s a way into the theme of my next body of work.

Here are some images of the process and resulting fabrics.

Textured fabric is wrinkled up and allowed to dry on a silk screen coated with thickened dye.

The silk screen is ready to print after the fabric is removed.

After printing and washing: fabric printed with the breakdown screen, the textured fabric used to create the patterning, and fabric that was printed directly with the textured fabric.

Several times while I was in Paris I had conversations with people about my home, Seattle. I was always a little surprised that they were so interested in visiting here. Why on earth would someone from Paris want to visit here?

One day during our trip I wandered into a beautiful little ribbon shop on the Place des Vosges. It was so precious and I was overwhelmed by the selection. I wanted to buy something, but what? Feathers? Sequins? Delicate white lace? My husband was waiting outside so I just took some pictures and let it go.

There’s nothing like travel to give you new perspective on your life. That ribbon shop in Paris helped me remember Nancy’s Sewing Basket here in Seattle. Nancy’s is a boutique fabric store with the finest fabrics in town. It’s where you go if you’re making your wedding dress, need some fine wool for a suit, a special button, or, yes, some lovely ribbon. My husband and I bought ribbon there almost 20 years ago to tie each of our wedding invitations. It’s that kind of place.

It was time for a visit. While I was there I tracked down some very fine and sharp hand sewing needles and bought some quarter yards of lace to use for breakdown printing screens.

I travel because it opens my mind to new experiences. It also reminds me of what’s special about coming home.

a selection of ribbons at Nancy's

What an amazing city! I spent 8 days in Paris with my family over our Spring Break. I took over 800 photos so it’s taking me some time to edit them down. Here are just a few shots of the city, the museums, and the glorious food. Much more to come!

at the Louvre

door detail at the Louvre

in the Islamic Wing at the Louvre

door detail in the Islamic Wing at the Louvre

the back of the door

an installation being prepared at the Louvre--looks like fiber art to me!

at Pere La Chaise Cemetary

at Pere La Chaise Cemetary

Pere La Chaise

Pere La Chaise

detail of the steps at the Eiffel Tower

detail of the steps at the Eiffel Tower

detail of the steps at the Eiffel Tower

the Tour d'Eiffel!

the window at Deyrolle, a famous taxidermy shop

a well deserved break after all that walking

inside the D'Orsay Museum

the D'Orsay

Sacre Couer on the top of Montmart

street art

cassis and pistachio marshmallows at Pain du Sucre

a beautiful tart at Pain du Sucre

the Carnavelet Museum

the Carnavelet

booksellers

booksellers

a ribbon shop on the Place des Vosges

a ribbon shop on the Place des Vosges

I’m working on a piece for the SDA Member Show at the San Antonio conference. I put together panels for three pieces and was going to finish all three and then pick the best one. Great idea but, with the cold I’m still recovering from and the fact that I’m leaving for a trip to Paris on Saturday (!!!), I decided one is just fine.

So I sat down at my sewing machine for the first time in over a month yesterday to do the stitching on the piece. Wow, was it a rough reentry! Some combination of the silk crepe fabric and the slippery rayon thread made for very uneven tension. That and the fact that the thread kept breaking made it a very frustrating experience. Once I moved on to the other panel of the piece it was smooth sailing which was reassuring. I haven’t lost my touch, after all.

the offending uneven tension

Working with the rayon threads can be so frustrating. I have some polyester thread made by Mettler which is great stuff but none of my local shops carry it anymore. It’s hard for me to pay the extra money to shop online. JoAnn’s carries all the Sulky rayon threads and I get them at 40% off when they’re on sale. They drive me crazy because they break so much but I love the luster they add.

The piece is just about done. Just the final stitching together and gluing it up to a canvas. I’m trying not to obsess about the uneven tension in my thread. I told my husband about it and he scoffed, “No one’s going to notice but you.” Hah! I’m entering it in a show of surface designers! If anyone’s going to notice, it will be this crowd.

One of these days I really should learn how to fine-tune the tension on my machine. I have a book but I’m such a visual learner that it doesn’t make sense. I really just need someone to show me. Anybody local want to spend 15 minutes showing me? I’ll buy you a cup of coffee!

ready to finish up!

the inside of the piece that won't be seen once it's finished

I was supposed to be teaching a workshop this weekend call Positive/Negative: Improvisational Mark Making with Silk Screens this weekend. Unfortunately, I had to cancel because I’ve been blindsided by a particularly nasty cold virus. I’ve never had to do that before and I really struggled with the decision. Boy of boy, was it the right decision. I’ve been miserable and in bed for two days. I’m starting to feel a little better now, thank goodness.

On the positive side, it looks like we’re going to be able to reschedule my workshop at Pratt for April 27-28! Perhaps a few more students will have a chance to sign up.

I’m glad the workshop will still happen. I’m excited to share the new techniques and ideas I’ve been developing over the last year. I’ll be teaching ways of making related imagery with “positive” and “negative” prints. I did all my prep before the cold kicked my ass so now I’m ready to go.

Which is good because I’m heading off to Paris (!!!) with my family this next weekend.

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.