The past week

(Above: Me with Jasper Magazine editor Cindi Boiter.  Presentation of the 2012 Jasper Magazine Visual Artist of the Year at City Art Gallery.)

The past week has been a whirlwind of activity. Several recent blog posts seemed to be leading up to Vista Lights, the annual art crawl here in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.  This year was busier than ever ... especially after the hilarious disaster and resurrection of one of my pieces. (By the way Healthcare in America is Broke did receive a positive mention in the newspaper review!  It was called a poetic disaster that turned out better than originally conceived!)


(Above:  Messy studio ... the day before Artista Vista. Click on image to inspect just how bad it was!)

I was also pressed for time ... trying to get to a place where I could stop production of new faux-stained glass fiber pieces and clean up for the art reception. My studio was more of a disaster than the broken artwork.  It looked like the photos above.


(Above:  Clean studio ... 24-hours later ... in time for Artista Vista's art reception! Click on image to inspect that fact that the floor is even swept!)

Well ... I made it!  The piece on which I was working was under the sewing machine. The reception started at 5 PM. By 6 PM I was up the street accepting the 2012 Jasper Visual Artist of the Year Award.  Thank you to everyone who voted. These awards were distributed along with the newest issue of the magazine ... including a brief article on me!  (The magazine is available on-line! I'm on page 20.)  I'm humbled by the words and honored with the award.  There's even a video of me accepting the award.  It's on the Jasper Facebook page.) By 7 PM I was back in my studio getting ready to christen the vessel on which my friend Jeff Donovan and I made.


(Above: Collaborative with Jeff Donovan.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Jeff and I created a Facebook event to name this vessel. We planned to christening it with cheap champagne at 8:45 PM during the Artista Vista reception.  The press release for the group exhibit included the information. It made the newspaper.  We suggested two titles:  Unexplored Territories and A Day's Catch.  We also provided a clip board for people to suggest other titles.  I added all the voting and suggested titles from my blog and Facebook ... but at 8:45 Jeff was no where to be found.  We had exactly the same number of votes for both suggested titles ... only twenty each.  We also had over two full pages of written suggestions.  People were still writing new, potential titles.  By 9 PM, Jeff was still a "no show".  I cracked open two bottles of champagne and announced the official name as Yet To Be Determined.  Everyone laughed.

Later Jeff explained.  He got caught in another artist's studio in a deep discussion with an ex-Protestant minister from New England about the merits of paper clay ... losing total track of time.  Jeff also said that since the voting was a dead even tie, we ought to "form a committee to break into sub-committees and investigate the ballots, the procedures, and the accuracy of the electoral process in order to determine a rightful title".  He said this should take about a year.  We both laughed.  We both thank everyone who voted and suggested a title.  Many of the titles are truly wonderful and will likely inspire future work.

 
  (Bundles of ... Click on image to enlarge.)

The collaboration with Jeff is easily broken apart into "his boat" and "my fibers".  I've already snapped photos of another way to show the tiny, tied scrolls of vintage and new linens and lace.  


(Above:  Bundles of ..., detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

The strangest thing about this transfer of materials into a vintage doll cradle is the fact that I don't like the title!  I scoured the pages of suggested titles ... when the fabric was inside the boat ... and none seemed right.  So, if anyone reading is inclined to suggest yet another name ... leave me a comment!


(Above:  Bundles of ..., detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I sort of like the "bundle" part of this title but I don't want to limit the way it is viewed by expressing an emotion, as in "bundle of joy" ... though, obviously, that's the phrase on which I was thinking.  I'm open to suggestions!

So ... now that I've made it through Vista Lights, gone to Washington, DC for a brief weekend, had Thanksgiving ... I'm back in my studio again.


(Above:  Stained Glass XXX ready to be melted with In Box XCIII.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I've already finished Stained Glass XXX. I framed In Box XCIII.  I've got Stained Glass XXXI finished too and Stained Glass XXXII in the process of being melted and Stained Glass XXXIII being stitched.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have all the work properly photographed! 


(Above:  Detail of In Box XCIII.  Click on image to enlarge.)


(Above:  In Box XCIII, framed.  Click on image to enlarge.)


(Above:  My studio ... getting messy again.  This is my palette of polyester stretch velvets waiting to be made into more faux-stained glass!)