I'm very excited to be this year's Artist-in-Residence at Catcotin Mountain National Park outside Thurmont, Maryland. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and will be here until September 28th. Inside of the first forty-eight hours, I was on the Visitor Center porch sharing my embroidery skills on four blocks of an antique crazy quilt. Prior to coming, I assembled the four on batting backed with a section of a vintage damask tablecloth. The presentation was a nice, relaxed conversation about types of quilting, crazy quilts, and how textiles make up the largest percentage of waste in this country's landfills. If only more people repurposed some of their household textiles more like those Victorian era women did when piecing a crazy quilt! I'll write more about this particular crazy quilt later ... after the presentations in the Thurmont Regional Library this coming Saturday and Sunday!
My intention for this blog post is to share where I'm at and one of the things I'm doing! So ... above is a photo of the chestnut log cabin here at Misty Mount campground. I'm living here for the next couple of weeks. Amazingly, there are three bedrooms with a total of seven simple cots. There's a bathroom and a very spartan kitchen. (I only have a microwave and a mini fridge. No burner. No oven. No plates or utensils ... but I really don't enjoy cooking and I brought everything I need to nuke prepared meals!)
The smallest bedroom is at the front of the cabin. I unpacked my sheets and Great Aunt Janet's quilt there.
Just inside the front door is the main living space which is absolutely ideal as an ideal studio! In no time at all, I set up my Bernina on one end of the heavy wood table and the crazy quilt on the side. My plan is to hike in the morning; stitch fiber vessels in the afternoon; and work on the crazy quilt every evening. I have a mobile hotspot for emails and a view to a lush green outdoors. For more than half the time I've been here, it's been raining. I love the sound. It is so relaxing to stitch in a cozy cabin while listening to the pitter-patter of weather just a few feet away.
So ... my plan started on Wednesday afternoon after moving into the cabin. Anxious to start, the first fiber vessel was created! All the cording I zigzag stitched at the Rensing Center outside Pickens will hopefully be transformed into these bowls. These pieces are headed to November's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, November 11 - 13.
Each fiber vessel is unique. Even though I will be able to create two or three from a single ball of cording, no two are alike because I used different colored thread when stitching the vessels. For example, the photo above shows a ball of mostly slate blue and tan cording.
Several hours later, I have stitched these two fiber vessels from that ball of cording. One was stitched with a variegated blue thread. The other was stitched with a variegated brown. Obviously, the shapes are different too!
In one of the otherwise unneeded bedrooms, I set up the fiber vessels made on a cot. From left to right, I have my production from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Yesterday it rained all day. I didn't hike. I managed to stitch a lot more of them!
It wasn't pouring on Saturday. I took my first hike ... just over five miles. Today, I hiked another five miles. Above and below are some of the photos I took. Enjoy!
7 comments:
Your days sound idyllic! It makes me think that I should pretend I'm an artist in residence and structure my days accordingly.
Hi Susan! LOVE this post! It's my dream residency! I just shared it with Goldie, the Parks Canada person who was responsible for herding the cats (artists) at my Glacier Nat'l Park (British Columbia edition) residency in the summer. Something for Parks Canada and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre to think about.
P.S. Did you receive a 45-minute talk on how to use bear spray so you could hike safely in that beautiful place? Just curious...
Like stepping back in time! Thanks for letting us vicariously enjoy this working retreat.
Some great photos, Susan! The fiber vessels are lovely. Are you using anyt yarn in your cording or is it fabric-covered cotton cording? Enjoy your special retreat time and soak in all the nature inspiration!
Enjoyed the post and your photos. Have always wanted to do an artist in residency. Have a wonderful and relaxing time.
I love your busyness and of the nature, the fungi - intriguing how the layering works - thanks as usual for sharing your artist's journey
Thank you all for these wonderful comments. As for going on an art residency ... research the opportunities and apply! You, too, could be experiencing a transformative few weeks in nature! I apply to many with hopes of an acceptance here and there. So don't just apply to one! Apply, apply, apply! Now ... about the cording! There is no rope, just strands of yarn over which I zigzag stitched. All the yarn came from yard sales, thrift shops, and auction. None of it was purchased new by me. All the thread used to zigzag the yarn into cording was also "not new to me". The thread used to actually stitch the fiber vessels is newly purchased by me! I have to have enough ... as in "a lot" of the same, new thread. If you are interested in the cording, I blogged about it here: http://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/2022/07/a-week-stitching-cording.html
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