I arrived at Wormfarm Institute on Monday afternoon, after teaching a two-day workshop at the Craft Alliance in St. Louis. (I'll blog about that great experience later.) I had all day Tuesday to get acquainted with the place, set up my studio, and get to work. Yesterday, Wednesday, was my first day to work a couple hours in the garden. I did so again today. The experience of planting crops on a farm is part of the deal at this program. Since I've never done anything like this (even basic gardening), this is an adventure! I'm up for a good adventure!
First, let me take you on a tour of the place. This is the entrance to the barn. The window looks into my bedroom.
Barns are massive. Inside there's a stage area on one end ...
... and a view to the partitioned areas that serve as bedrooms and studios. Please note the staircase to the lower level. My bedroom is just to the right of this doorway.
In fact, my bedroom is behind the open door to the staircase ... right near one of the two barn cats, Crooks and Spike. The cats are friendly ... but they are really just trying to convince people to let them in the bedrooms and studios because they aren't allowed in these spaces. This is the view to the entrance door. It slides open.
This is the view in the opposite direction. I haven't even looked to see if this door opens!
So ... this is my studio area. It is screened in and has a blue plastic tarp overhead ... to keep Spike and Crooks out. (One tried unsuccessfully to walk on the tarp. It was hilarious!)
I've already constructed and stitched eight small "In Box" series pieces (melted four of them) and two Lancet Windows. So ... I'm working!
There are four bedrooms ... all named. There's the "Egg" and the "Cloud" which are currently empty but a printmaker from Oregon is supposed to arrive by the end of the month. The "Truck" bedroom is occupied by the studio manager, Betsy, a writer from nearby Madison, Wisconsin. I'm in the "Worm" ... which I selected because I like the "loft" bed and especially the name "Worm" since I'm at a place named for them. Thankfully, I was provided with a down comforter and an electric blanket. The first two nights had a low temperature of 37 degrees. I think I would have died without the electric blanket.
As I mentioned before, the stairs (and hence my "loft" styled bed) are beside my bedroom door. They lead down to the kitchen door ... another "pet free" zone and hence a screen door.
This is the kitchen. Just off the kitchen area is the former milk house. After all, this was once a barn for cows. Cows are milked.
Now the milk house is a bathroom with a sink and a nice, claw-footed tub. No toilet. I'll get to that later!
The rest of the lower level is filled with tools, an area with three ceramic kilns, a place for bicycle repairs, and a back section that appears still to be for cows.
This is the doorway out the lower level. Yes ... the barn is built on a hill and thus there are ground level doors on both levels. Please note the small greenhouse. That's where seedlings are raised.
Here's the view of the greenhouse ... and a very special area just to its right! This is a welding area! Soon I'll be using some of the scrap metal to rust vintage garments and fabric. Today I set up my soldering irons and industrial heat gun and melted four of my "In Box" series pieces in this space ...
... while surveying all the rusty farm implements ...
... which are certainly in abundance ...
... with great patina ...
... and some awesome shapes ...
... in all sorts of sizes!
Next to the welding area is one of two "hoop" houses for plants.
Inside is a cool irrigation system ... and I already have permission to see what this algae might do to fabric!
As I mentioned before, the other side of the barn includes the former milk house ...
... which is very near the old silo, granary, and the outhouse!
Yes ... this is the outhouse!
A little further is the tractor shed ... which doubles as a place to park cars. There's a very old corn crib there which is totally falling over ...
... and another shed with fantastic patina ...
... and a bunch of this green drums by the tractor shed ... which I have no idea what are ... but then again, I have no idea about a lot of this. It's a farm. This is really the first time I've lived more than a weekend on a farm. (The only farm I've ever really been to was my Aunt Janet and Uncle Howard's in Barboursville, WV ... and that was decades ago!) This is all very new to me!
... past the chicken coup ...
... past one of the traveling stands that Wormfarm uses for various local events ...
... and into the pole building ... which is used to package crops ...
... and has a back area that was once a foundry. One of the co-owners used to cast bronze here.
It is full of all sorts of things ... including more rusty metal!
Next is the garage (right), guest house (left), and the main house.
This is the Main House from the side that is generally used for coming and going.
This is probably the original "front" of the house. It faces the Briar Bluff Road and overlooks several other beds in the garden ...
... including these beds. The beds have several slightly raised rows for planting. Each row is 36" in width. There are 18" between the rows.
On the first day I planted white and purple scallions!
Today I helped trellis peas ...
... and went to other beds nearer the tractor shed ...
... where I planted lettuce and rutabaga.
So ... that's where I'm at. Here are just a few more detail images from my walks on the property!
I am linking this blog post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays", a site for sharing fiber artwork.
2 comments:
That's quite some venue for a residency! I was having trouble getting my head round how come a residency on a farm until I read that one of the owners had worked with bronze. I used to spend my school vacations on a farm between the ages of 9 and 18 and loved every minute of it. There is so much potential in all that rusty equipment,especially in the fabulous shapes! Enjoy! (I hope you don't have to wander outside to that outhouse at night).
What a fascinating place to spend your residency.
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