Monthly Archives: January 2012

Shibori Class at Made

coffee and dye nuts

This last weekend I taught a class at Made Sewing Studio, a new business in the Greenwood neighborhood in Seattle. At Made you can sign up for all sorts of classes in sewing. I’m their new dye expert and look forward to teaching classes every month or so.

As well as classes, you can also pay an hourly rate to use the sewing machines, sergers, cutting tables and there’s always someone there to help out with questions and advice. And, as of this weekend, you can also pay the hourly rate to use their dye studio. I literally christened it this weekend when a container of boysenberry dye slipped out of my hand and splashed the newly painted wall. The dye studio is a great resource for people who want to dye fabric but don’t have the space. The dye room is small but they have a big padded table that’s perfect for printing or working on yardage.

I taught my first class there this last weekend on low-water immersion dyeing and low-tech shibori techniques. I only had three students but they were all great and it was actually good to have a small class while I get used to teaching in a new space.

Because we were doing immersion dyeing and everyone went home with bundles of wet fabric, a one-day class could be unsatisfying because there’s no “reveal.” My brainstorm for this workshop was to have a Sunday morning coffee hour. It gave us a chance to regroup in a more social setting and play show and tell. It was really nice to sit back and look at what everyone had made, talk through processes, and address questions in a relaxed atmosphere.

Studio Visit with Alicia Tormey

Continuing my January of studio visits, I spent a lovely afternoon with Alicia Tormey last week. Alicia is an encaustic painter and has a studio at Inscape, the old INS building which has been turned into studios and now has 100 artists all working in the same building. Alicia showed me around her very tidy studio which was full to the brim with new art, materials, and inspiration. We also took a field trip around the building and visited a few other artist’s studios. Even though I love my cozy and convenient space, I sometimes get studio-envy of people who work in the big, old, buildings full of history and artist communities they house. I definitely am jealous lately of their high ceilings and vertical space, ie walls, something I don’t really have in my attic space.

Look for Alicia’s beautiful work at Grover/Thurston Gallery. She has just signed on with them after the sad closing of Pacini Lubel Gallery and will have new work in their January group show. I’m excited for her new adventures.

blocks of bees wax

Alicia in her studio

Field Trip to UW

Lou Cabeen in the classroom

Today I had a lovely visit with Lou Cabeen, an artist and surface design professor at the University of Washington. Lou will be one of the presenters at the upcoming SDA Washington Symposium on March 3-4. She has such an interesting perspective, as both a fine artist and an academic. We talked and talked and talked about dye chemistry, the set up at the UW, and fiber in the art world. I think we could have gone on all day.

The excuse for our visit was for me to see the class set up for surface design in the art building on campus. I love my cozy little studio but I am definitely jealous of their space and facility. What I wouldn’t give for one of those long tables sometimes! And the exhaust hood! And that sink! It’s definitely to “dye” for.

the work tables

the long, long washout sink

the dye room!

Slush Bound

It’s 40 degrees and raining in Seattle, a weather report that most of us here take comfort in, even though it’s not in the least bit “nice” weather. But the snow is turning to slush, people are driving again, and life is beginning to return to normal. The kids are STILL home from school and I’m still home with them.

So what to do with my time inside these walls? Organize my fabric storage, of course!

I’ve got a finite space for storage and it was overflowing. I decided to put the last of my commercial fabrics into deeper storage. I’ll still keep them, there are some nice fabrics and the kids like to do sewing projects, but I don’t need easy access to them. I sorted, shuffled, organized and labeled much of the day yesterday. My dyed fabrics are now neat and easily accessible. And I’ve still got room for more!

before

after

Snow in the Garden

the geometry of dried fennel flowers

Surprisingly, our “snow event” has been sticking around. It’s snowing like crazy right now and isn’t supposed to warm up until tomorrow. I guess that means the kids are getting a whole week off from school. Lucky them.

I took a walk to meet a new friend for coffee (Hi Wyly!) and get some groceries. Along the way I found a few photo opportunities. It’s so different shooting in the snow. The light is flat, diffused, and soft. The lack of contrast makes it difficult to get good shots. But then, without the snow, there wouldn’t be any.

a cascade of grass head icicles

Hammamaelis blooming under the snow

hydrangea

artichoke

blueberry leaves

a neighborhood cedar

Seattle Snow

our snow covered back yard

We don’t get much snow here in Seattle. Whenever it’s predicted the kids are glued to the windows, waiting for any sign of flakes. In the last two days we’ve been having a “significant snow event” as the weather men call it. School was cancelled before the first flake fell and everyone’s staying home. The kids spent the whole day outside, cramming all the snow fun into one day as they can, since it’s supposed to start raining again tomorrow.

I took a short walk in the neighborhood and snapped a few photos before returning to the warm indoors. I’ve been taking the time to get my dye book organized but mostly dinking around and doing a jigsaw puzzle. It’s nice to take some time off and recharge my batteries. School’s already cancelled tomorrow, too. By the time the roads clear I’ll probably be pacing the floor and more than ready to get back to the studio. For now, it’s time for surfing the web, sipping tea, and spending time with family.

a gradation of dark to light

Back Room Exhibition at Foster/White

back room

In January the gallery has a Back Room Gala where they clean the preview area from top to bottom, put up as much art as they can tastefully include, and invite their collectors over for some wine and cheese. This year they thought, as long as they were going to all that work, they might as well share it with the public as well. I visited on Friday and snapped a few photos.

It’s still a thrill for me to see my work up at such a beautiful and well-respected gallery. They show a variety of work by artists from emerging to established and the quality of work is top-notch. And the staff is so nice and so supportive of me and my work it makes me pinch myself.

I hope it was a successful night for them with lots of red dots!

back room 2

back room 3

Stone

Stone One: Boulder, 2011

Here’s the artist statement for the new series.

This new series, Stone, is inspired by recent travels through the landscape of the American West. Evoking concepts of time and memory, the work explores the idea of stone as both permanent and ephemeral. The Earth is solid and yet it is malleable. Time, wind, and water all make their mark on it. The inherent contrast in these pieces lie in that they mimics hard stone yet are made from soft materials.

Foster/White January Preview Show

FW install

Last Thursday, January 5th, was the opening for the group show I’m in at Foster/White and the premiere of my new series, Stone. Uncharacteristically, I was working up to the last minute as you will know if you keep up here on my blog. I actually delivered the final piece on the morning of the opening after having spent 12 hours hand-stitching it the day before. But in the end, it was all worth the effort. The pieces look great together and the lighting makes them glow.

It’s a terrific show with large-scale installations by Evan Blackwell, George Rodriguez, and Eva Isakson. They are also featuring work by Rachel Denny, a Portland artist new to the gallery who works in fiber. There are also a number of new pieces by Guy Laramee, a sculptor who works with books, who’s work is fantastic. Other artists in the show include Stephanie Ashby, Merrilee Moore, Bratsa Bonifacho, Clare Belfrage, Kevin Piepel, and others. The show cohesive, with lots of sculpture and makes really good use of the space. My husband commented that it felt more like a contemporary art museum than a gallery.

See it if you’re in the Seattle area before January 28th.

Stone Mothers

Not Done Yet

Here’s a detail of what 16 hours of sewing looks like. I’ve got all the machine sewing done but still have to hand sew the panels on to the metal frame. Can I get it done in time for tomorrow’s opening?

We’ll see . . .