The view in the studio

Things are being built, painted, drilled, washed, ironed, painted, strung, and washed again.  I have been working long hours in the studio with so many wonderful helpers, and the work that is coming out is really, really beautiful, if I say so myself.

check marks are adding up!

Today will be our second test build and Seattle Celebration at Sandel Park in North Seattle from 3-6pm. I am both excited and nervous about this. Will it work? Will we be done when people get there? I am completely confident that every element in this installation will be beautiful, but will it work together? Are the dimensions correct? The poles the right height?

So many questions. And only a few hours until many of them are answered.

It’s a busy morning. I’ve got banners washing out in the basement. Scarves to iron. Other banners to pick up. A coffee run for the crew who met at 8am to load the vehicles. And then head over to the park to help with the erection, wink, wink.

But before I run I have to say a little bit about the overwhelming feelings of gratitude I have for every person who has helped out on this journey. We could not have done this without you and I am humbled.

Well, maybe not today. Today has been orthodontist, drug store, groceries, and waiting for the dishwasher repair man. All important, sure, but not what I really want to be doing.

But Wednesday and Thursday were exciting, all right!

Wednesday was the test “erection” for the structure at the center of our Burning Man project. We had to dodge some raindrops, and do come head scratching, but basically got to a place that answered most of our questions before we took it down again.

First two legs attached to the center point

adding the third leg

half-way there!

all eight legs on–it’s only missing the horizontal pieces that will stabilize it

And it is so beautiful! Peter has done an amazing job. The attention to detail shows in every way. There’s still some work to do on fitting the horizontal pieces and the whole thing will get six coats of clear stain before it hits the playa. But wow!

Thursday in the dye studio was a big day, too. I got two of the 6 foot banners dyed leaving only one more that size to dye. I had help from Norma and John (and his daughter, Rose, too).  I’m still hoping to get to the studio today to dye the last 6-footers. Then I can steam and wash them tomorrow and have them ready for the eager sewers.

Norma working on a design from the Swat Valley in Afghanistan

and finished

a design from the Caucasus Mountain regions

the dye studio

There is still so much to do but it is exciting to finally see the project come together. I am so grateful for our amazing and dedicated crew, and also to all my friends who have been helping out in the studio and with sewing. I’m one lucky gal.

looking up from inside the structure

Things are happening fast these days! We got back from our annual trip to the Oregon Country Fair a week ago. It was a lovely time and some really good relaxation and connecting with friends in and among the chaotic beauty of the Fair. Above is a panorama of our installation there, Yew Are Here, a little idyll of a public park.

Back here in Seattle, Peter has been working double-time to get the structure for Playastan Crossroads up. Our new crew member, Charlee, is a rock-star addition and has been a huge help. They got a test “erection” up on Thursday and are installing the whole thing this morning. I’m headed over there as soon as I finish typing this update!

A quarter of the structure installed at Peter’s.

The happy crew, Giovanni, Peter Weston and Charlee

In the dye studio I’m busy trying to get banners dyed so that my ace sewer, Ann, can get back to work. I got four 6-footers done last week and will get to the rest of them this week. Here are some process shots of the banner I dyed yesterday. And I’m off!

I started with the lightest values.

added the reds

and finally filled in the darkest value, the red-violet to finish

It’s been over a month since I last posted here, but it’s not been because I have been twiddling my thumbs. No, indeed, I have been working away and putting in long hours on my Burning Man project. I’ve been drawing and waxing and having meetings. I’ve been emailing and plotting and planning and buying a cute little trailer.

I’ve also had openings for two shows, shipped artwork off to Michigan, written a proposal, and watched my daughter graduate from high school. Currently I’m squeezing in more work time while packing for our annual trip to the Oregon Country Fair. Life is full!

patterns everywhere

Life in the studio is full, too. I hit a bad spot a few weeks ago when I realized that, as designed, I didn’t have enough time to finish before I needed to leave for the event. I talked it over with my good friend, John Boylan, who gave me some excellent advice. He told me to think about how I could fulfill the original scope of the project and streamline the process without compromising the intent. When he said that I immediately knew that I needed to reduce the number of designs and make some duplicates. I’ve also reduced the size of the last set of banners from 10 feet to 9 feet. It’s a small time savings, but much easier to manipulate within the confines of the studio, especially given that I’m only a little over 5 feet tall myself.

some of the motifs in the banner patterns

In the end, I’m only repeating four designs but that translates to at least four days of work. Plus, I’ve been getting some great help. Ann Darling, fiber goddess and designer of custom wearables, is doing the sewing for the first set of 12 banners. In the studio, my good friend and studio-mate, Pam, helped out with the waxing last week and my former intern, Vivian, has been helping me with some of the drawing. It’s so good to have the help and the company keeps me going.

I only have five more banners to draw, then waxing the last nine and it’s forward to dyeing! I’m feeling much more encouraged, much more confident in my ability to get ‘er done. Every day I just keep rolling the ball down the street, every day I get a little bit closer to the finish line in Black Rock City.

Hubby and I with our new to us 1976 Trillium trailer

my hubbie and daughter cutting out beams for the Pavilion

The work for our Burning Man project is proceeding. Sometimes it speeds forward, like at the work party Peter organized where all the wooden pieces for the Pavilion were cut, routed, edged, and sanded all in one day! Other times, it seems to be limping along. I guess it’s like that with any project. All the thought and design is what takes time, and once that’s in place, the showy stuff can happen all at once.

many hands and all that

What is truly gratifying to me about this project is the way that other people are jumping in to help. And, along with their help, they bring their own skills to add to Playastan Crossroads. We now have an electronics guru, Terry, who is going to work with our electrician to add some wonderful effects to our lighting. The books that will be in the center of the installation have moved forward and are very exciting. Each one will be a work of art in itself. Anna McKee, print-maker, painter, and installation artist, will be making a hand-bound and printed Journal in which participants can add their experiences at the Crossroads. Writer and educator, Steven Mentor (aka Rabbit) is writing “A Brief History of Playastan,” which will be a large-scale art book telling the history of Playastan, a place both real and imagined. I came to the realization that I really need help with the sewing and have had four people volunteer to help in the last three days.

This project, which started as my vision, is expanding. It grows deeper with every person who touches it. I think it might be magic!

the Wood Butchers

the first banner completed!

Last week, with the help my lovely friend Claire, I focused on the Burning Man project and was able to finalize full-size drawings for 8 patterns, under-dye fabric and wax the designs for 12 banners, and paint two of them. It was really satisfying to be able to finally see what has been in my head for all these months.

This week, although I’ve been aching to continue working on the banners, I’m taking a little sideways detour into the rest of my studio life. I’m going to be selling hand-dyed fabric at Lorraine Torrence’s Quilt Retreat on May 23rd so I thought maybe I should start dyeing the fabric. I dyed 25 yards yesterday, phew! And today is laundry day. Another phew!

I also need to spend some time on paperwork and getting organized. I’ve got work in three group shows and one two-person show this Summer. I’ve been so focused on the Burning Man project that I missed a deadline for paperwork for one show. I’ve barely been tracking this really important stuff. There’s also some calls for entry coming up and then there are those emails that need answering . . .

For now, it’s a beautiful day in Seattle. It’s supposed to get up to 80 today! Lovely. For now, it’s time to put another load in the washer (that 25 yards, remember).

Full-size drawings for the 24 x 45″ banners

Here’s a short update on what’s happening on the studio.

Basically, the design process for the banners has taken me much longer than I anticipated but it is finally starting to feel like things are moving along. Luckily, I had planned to have the banners completed done by the end of June so even though I’m 3-4 weeks behind my original schedule, I still have plenty of time.

I have final designs for 32 of the 33 banners and an initial color plalette of dyes. I have full size drawings of 12 of banners and am working on the color stories for all them. My lovely friend, Claire, came up from Santa Cruz to work with me this week and we have really moved the project forward. I received the silk this week and we under dyed fabric for the initial set of 12 banners. We started waxing the lines for those 12 yesterday and will finish that today. I will work on the final dye palette today and we should start dyeing this afternoon! Very exciting!

Pictures and then back to the studio!

more full-size drawings

under-dyeing the silk

studio shot of full-size drawings and some color studies

Claire working on the soy wax resist

detail of waxing one of the designs

I’m putting together the palette of dyes for the Burning Man banners. I’m planning on under-dyeing the silk a light golden yellow so that my waxed lines will be a color rather than white.  It will also help tie all the colors together and add a golden “glow” to the banners.

So I started doing some tests of the under-dye saturation. When you’re going to be dyeing over 50 yards of silk fabric, you really want to get it right the first time. So I tested four pieces of fabric. Then I tested another four pieces of fabric. Then I tested another two pieces of fabric for a total of ten. Now to test the color palette I’ve picked out on each of those ten (what you see above).

My master plan is to steam the dyed banners to get the best color and most permanence. But I’ve begun to wonder if that is necessary. What if I get just fine color without steaming? Well, that would sure save a lot of time. So, I took each of those 10 color tests and did them twice–one to steam and one to just let batch. That would be 20 color tests.

Today I’ll steam one set of each. No matter what, it will be interesting, and some additional information for this dye nerd.

I sure hope at least one of them gives me the info I really need!

full-size drawings

It’s been a good week in the studio. I finally started making full-size drawings for the Burning Man banners. I’ve been doing some color studies, too. I’ve got an initial palette picked and started doing some coloring (yes, coloring!). Today, I’m planning on starting some test dyes.

So yes, it feels like progress!

Coloring!

initial palette