Small pouch, all natural dyes, going to someone pretty damn special 🙂
Category: Work 2018
a little more “love is the answer”, part 3
Love is Respect, and you can hold that in your hands, and take it out into the world.
These have to be stitched to the pennant, and a bit of text completed above the moon, and then i can put the back and front together.
The world is an ecoprint with my favourite local plant, red osier, dipped in indigo. The hands were cut from a rust and brazilwood piece done during one of my residencies at ACAD. I like too how the heart current abstraction also looks a bit like a tree, growing, protecting, strengthening the world.
I will however, resist saying “I am Groot” 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
“Love is the Answer” project, part 2
March 7/18:
(As i mentioned before, these entries will all be posted when my part of the project is done, but are dated at the time written. For reference to previous thoughts, see Part 1 and posts following this one by clicking on “Love is the Answer collaborative project” under the entry.)
Most of us have a personal symbol system, whether motif, shape, object, colour or even stitch, that marks our work, makes it ours and is ultimately satisfying. Mine are anatomical (hearts, brain, spine/bones) or nature inspired (bees/roots/branches/moons), and the hexagon shape, quite ubiquitous in a lot of my work. Hexagons, in my lexicon, are cells, microscopic flora and fauna, hives, memories, all symbolizing at a basic level, connectivity.
While most of my personal symbols would probably work within the context of this collaborative project, i feel the heart and hexagons would be the most appropriate. Heart and connectivity are most definitely parts of love, in all of its platonic, romantic, pantheistic and spiritual permutations. It’s these components that make it work, in my books. And that is where Respect starts, as Love is Respect.
For this, i wanted to use the really abstracted drawings of the way the heart’s “electrical” current flows. This was a pre-cursor to that (from 2006!).
I had started a new project/idea in January of this year (after correcting the placement of that left side hand!):
Went nowhere with it….
BUT. Those hands and what about with an abstracted heart?????
I liked this sketch,
and thought to make it a bit more story telling, a heart’s current over the entire world. (This is a somewhat artistic rendering of the actual heart current, abstracted and more ornamental, but it does represent the real thing. Because i have heart issues, i do a lot of research 🙂 )
Sept 29/18: A version of that sketch will go on this:
Oct:Â Â Â And i finished the “back” for this pennant, though i suppose there is no front or back, no “right” or “wrong” side to this project, as Mo is suspending them from very evocative armature.
“Love is the Answer” project, part 1
March 5/18: (I decided not to publish any of these until i had a certain amount of work done on my part of the project , hence the date at the beginning of the post. You might have seen some of the drawings/work though in previous to this project posts 🙂 )
I’ve been a long time follower/reader of Mo Orkizewski (Mo Crow) at her It’s Crow Time blog in Australia. I admire her spirit, her ethics, her art and her outlook on life. In June of 2017, she conceived a project, based on a line from her equally talented partner’s song “I Dream of a World”, that has become a hugely collaborative art installation, slated for display in 2019 at Artsite as part of a show entitled “Braille for the Soul”.
Now, long time readers will know that i “hold no truck” with arty proposed “solutions” to world evils, from folding paper cranes for Paris’s Charlie Hebdo tragedy, to prayer flags for whatever cause, or “craft for peace” days. It’s not that i think groundswell movements can’t change things (because alas, our sad world has so many problems), but that people use these as excuses to pay a moment of goodytwoshoes my piece about peace is more important than your considered opinion and actions about HOW to/that do actually make things better for SOMEONE.
*My* answer usually is go small, be small. Contra-indicative? Nope. Because i/you will never stop any of the depredations that man commits upon man, that man commits on the world, on Mother Nature, on women, on children (and by “man” that’s the generic human species, not specifically the male sex–though given the current climate in the US happening right now with the confirmation hearings, that’s a debate well in fury right now…..), by practicing origami, hanging rags on ropes in a breeze, or blessing fabric in the sea. Going and being small does not mean either that one is selfish–i mean go small, be small, as in sharing what you have with someone who truly needs, in your own part of the world. It is a small thing on a global or universal scale, but it helps someone/something immediately. Prayers don’t fill bellies, warm hands in -40 temps, or show any true kindness. Be small when you volunteer, donate give ( i don’t like the word donate with all its connotations of old clothes that don’t fit, or that you had enough money to mis-spend and really don’t care, or a 20 dollar bill once a year in the Salvation Army kettles because you feel guilty and seasonally magnanimous at the same time…), help, compliment, show respect, share gloves and scarves, a sandwich and coffee, a five dollar bill to someone scraping for busfare or cans in the trash, hold a door, pick up someone who has fallen on the ice, because small is big for some. If you can make ONE day better for ONE person, doesn’t that say more for your humanity and soul AND theirs, than all the frickin’ paper cranes in the world???????? And maybe THAT person is the one who DOES change the WHOLE world.
Off the soapbox. So WHY then would i contribute gladly to a project like this? Because to me, this one does say something–it’s the joining of a lot of viewpoints from around the world, expressed eloquently, calmly, lovingly and full of hope and concern, with intent, expression and heart that goes beyond slapping some felt letters on a scrap or finding the prettiest paper at great expense to torture into a symbolic shape.
So within the context of the show, what does “Love is the answer” mean? Love, true love***, whether platonic, romantic, pantheistic, or spiritual is, on a broader truer scale, about respect. It does not use apologies as manipulation, is inclusive, does not contrive, never obligates, does not keep a ledger. Love guides and supports, connects and strengthens, complements, enhances and shares. Love is moral, thoughtful, questioning but not aggressive, does not judge, is constant and patient. Love is not guile or a weapon. I re-iterate: Love is Respect.
So, anyways, off the box again 🙂 Mo sent me one of the “pennants” to do with as i wish. (The fabric is from a very old wedding dress.) I took it apart first, as the layers can be re-assembled when the work is done.
I did an alum pre-mordant, assuming the cloth was silk, but there was no madder dye uptake, then realized it was a synthetic after a burn test spattered some on one of my fingers! Then i spent two weeks dithering about what i was going to do next, staring at it, shuffling bits on and off it, having multiple “Eureka” moments that withered very very very fast, and thinking i was going to completely ruin it —–and Mo was going to politely say “oh that’s interesting” while privately wondering why the hell she had sent the original to me at all…….
This will be a layered process, something i have done before, but not a lot lately. Building dimension and story this way means the elements won’t be fighting each other. This is the “first” layer, though in the end, it’ll be the background, and not all visible. I deliberately stitched some areas so that they looked as if they were fading, rubbed out. (Unfinished at time of photography.) Not only is negative space important, but it will be more effective once the next layers go on.
Greyman thought i was embroidering him a wide tie 🙂 , but *his* choice of words would have been quite different!
July: A mock up for part of the front, still being worked:
August: and good progress on the back, as of the middle of August:
Stay tuned for “part 2” and maybe one more: one post would be waaaaaay too long!!! And of course, an “Artist Statement” 🙂
“Love, true love”*** does momentarily give me a giggle as i remember a particular scene from “The Princess Bride”…..
dot dot matrix (shop update), and the use of poisonous (gasp) plants in the dyepot
It’s hot, it’s sunny, it’s dry in Calgary, so while that lasts, i’m running a lot of indigo! Some of these babies will be kept for the stash, as i’d like to do an adjunct project with natural dyes this summer, not just the Summer Madder Study! Some will go in the shop***. I have listed only a few to start with, as it takes time to “match up” pieces, so they’re interesting :), and more time to photograph! There are MANY more to list, BUT once the ones in there now are gone, they are GONE, as these are impossible to replicate.
Indigo over madder:
Like a Monet painting!
Indigo over tansy and madder:
Indigo over ecoprint:
This one above i really love, as the indigo turned the ecoprint almost metallic!
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I’m still in need of green threads for projects, and remembered i still had some dried privet berries stored away from last February. CRAP, this points up why some materials should be used fresh, rather than dried or frozen……
And OMG did the dyepot STINK. A deep dark brown, it immediately got poured out in a spot where nobody goes in the back alley! I want to point out too, that privet (Ligustrum vulgare), while an attractive garden shrub, is also TOXIC. (It’s also invasive, so you might be doing the neighbourhood a favour by grabbing the berries so they don’t turn into baby privets…) One wears gloves, and one does not go all airyfairy breathy goddess and hang one’s head over the pot, inhaling deeply and exclaiming about Mother Nature’s wonderful gifts.
I’ll have to modify those to get greens, or dip in some indigo….
If you forage locally, know what you are gathering, and any potential toxicities. Also, check to see if *your* country has a Biodiversity databank. Canada has an excellent one. They do also mention other areas, in the US. http://www.cbif.gc.ca/…/canadian-poisonous-plants…/…
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***Please bear with me as i update shop offerings. I know it may be annoying to continually see posts of “GO TO MY SHOP AND BUY BUY BUY”, but as an artist, and a small business owner, this is the way i help keep the groceries on the table, animal food in the pantry for the assorted beasties, and the occasional “luxury” like new socks and underwear 🙂 My hardworking Greyman is very supportive of me, but i still have to pull my own weight, as an even partner in our marriage! I have only 3 avenues to promote my business: here, on my FB “biz” page, and on Instagram, so i have to take advantage of that. I don’t do craft fairs, though i may do the Contextural one this year, haven’t decided yet, so online is where my business is. Yes, it may seem pushy in a way to keep seeing these “ads”, but a Woman Has to Do What a Woman Has to Do, and the Gawdz know i ramble, rant and rite write about other stuff often enough in other posts, that i hope you will understand.
fool me once…….
HA! It took me TWELVE YEARS to figure out here was something wrong with this sketch. At the time, i was quite concerned that i get the valves and tubes all facing the right way, (there was an actual, real life cardiac surgeon on the QuiltArt list in those days, who helped a lot), but what about the hands???? Who holds a heart like that (pre-supposing one could, and not as part of some nasty ritual 🙂 ) ?
It’s not the intended Next Big Thing, but a smaller part of the whole, perhaps a new “series”. Either that or a very intense sampling 🙂 The hands are done on a potassium permanganate/rust/brazilwood cotton from a residency, with naturally dyed threads used for the embroidery.
I’ve done some dyeing now for this particular design, both “potperm’ and cochineal with iron (I want deep purple, not fuschia), and have some logwood dyed cotton as well for bits. I’m torn between using an indigo with potperm background, or just potperm–or something else entirely different!— and have to decide reasonably soon so i can commence the rest of the work.
paging inspiration, inspiration please come to the front desk
My sketchbooks would never be considered “art journals”, but that’s okay–they’re WORK books, not cheesed up multi media shows of virtuousity. (Yes, some of those are lovely, and for those who work primarily in painting/sketching/printmaking, perfect. Not so much however for those of us who “translate” to another medium!) And honestly, most of my notes, sketches etc, are actually loose sheets in an expandable folder from the dollar store. When i finish a project, i file them immediately. I have only once participated in a show where the “documentation” was intentionally part of the show. It’s interesting for some to see the process this way, but a lot of artists i’m sure would have a heck of a time “explaining” the linear progression of sketch to sample to work–because usually it’s all decidedly NOT linear 🙂
I have no desire to re-create precisely what is on the page. Work books are just that: lab samples, experiments, epiphanies and eurekas, cryptic notes and puzzled fumblings, shared only, and rarely, as part of the process, documentation that indeed, i did invent this. I have no need to pretty up the performance so i can wow somebody. Workbooks are gardens, the ideas are seeds in mysterious packets, and no one really knows what will pop up under the right–or wrong- conditions. My “back 40” is wild, unkempt, full of what others consider weeds, piles of branchy debris and bits i’m “saving”. (Much like the actual Back40 at The Stately Barr Manor……)
I think the planning for the “vision” for this one is going to take more work than normal. These are only snippets of ideas, like creating a mood board from scratch! Sometimes i do that, sometimes i don’t.
An old sketch that was used for two different pieces of work, has surfaced. (One and two.) This one has me quite fascinated again, not only that it helped create two totally different from each other works before, but that i can use it again, and it will be again completely unique to itself.
The river and sky colours keep attracting me, though i’m thinking of earth and a dusky sky now, rather than the clear blue of indigo. I have some logwood dyed fabrics that are astonishingly purple, but think i’m going to fire up some of the cochineal and iron again also, for the haremcloth.
I’m quite excited by the idea of this particular “hope it works, and hope it gets done” piece. I’m a bit scattered now, with Real Life issues that are Very Important to Deal with, but am planning some dedicated time with the whole process. I have no clear vision yet of the size, the whole, the techniques or the end result (!!!), but i know i AM on the right track.
(I have only ever ONCE taken sketch to textile interpretation “faithfully”, exactly as shown, pure luck that i had the fabrics to do it, and the stamp and stencil that started it. Heart stamp and crow stencil, my designs.)
Redux start
I know i’ve started when the printouts, and the plans for the plans begin. I write all my meanderings on my private blog, with wild flights of fancy, because hey, ya never know what will connect, then slap all that in a dedicated sketchbook, and start colouring in the lines, way out of the lines, adding “patterns”, shapes and technique notes, and even more scribbled why nots. So far there are elements of several previous (finished) projects (Mother’s Heart, Nightmare Interrupted, Ebb and Flow, The Difference Between A Plum, unused Leighton work) and seeing how the interpretations fit together is where the fun, and the serious work, begins. I have the notes from those previous endeavours as well, and will riffle through them, slotting them in and out and away, as needed or rejected. It also makes it impossible then to “COPY” myself, as now there are Frankensteiny mishmashes happening!
I even have a title, though that will wait until some definite work has started.
This little bit has been stored in one of my sampling/”component” boxes since Jan 2013. It’s not the “thingness” of it that draws me, but the potassium permanganate dyed cheesecloth, and that wild stitching on its peripheries.
Though that stitching was done by machine, i don’t want to use Lalage again, bitch that she is, because she *is* a bitch to work with. (One of THE worst machines i’ve ever had…) After the work i did on the figures for TM, i now know that it is possible to tame the harem cloth enough to stitch, by putting it in bondage on a tapestry style embroidery frame. (Never say never though…) I can do the stitching also pre or post dyeing, depending on the effect i want with the threads.
I’ve decided to start the intended Redux project with some sampling for hearts a la “Mother’s Heart”. Off to the potassium permanganate vat in the Dye Dungeon!
albedo too 
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