Doesn't Everyone Want a 10' x 10' Pro Panel Booth in the Living Room?

(Above:  The truck delivering the 10' x 10' Pro Panel "Flex" booth pulls up to Mouse House.  Click on any image in this post to enlarge.)

Great big, sixteen wheel trucks have been delivering packages to Mouse House for over two decades.  One wouldn't think I'd be excited to see one pull up yesterday, but I was more than anxious!  This one wasn't bringing picture frame moulding or even a new piece of equipment.  It was bringing the 10' x 10' Pro Panel "Flex" booth plus a fancy lighting system.  I grabbed my camera!



It took the delivery guy several minutes to load the four big, flat boxes onto a fancy, wide pull cart.  The entire contraption was lowered to street level on a rear mounted, hydraulic lift.  He wheeled the boxes across Park Street ...



... almost to our front door.  Of course, there is no forklift-like elevator for the four steps onto the porch.  I have no idea how he thought that small hand-cart was going to be used!  Together, he and I picked up the boxes ...

 

... and pulled them inside the front door.  Right in the middle of the foyer!  These boxes could absolutely NOT remain in this place.  Something had to happen ... and I was DYING to see my new booth!

Well, there's only one place in our entire business/home in which these panels could be assembled ... THE LIVING ROOM!  For the remainder of yesterday afternoon, I unloaded the boxes, cut down the corrugated into manageable pieces, hauled the panels upstairs, and then set up a booth!  I didn't tackle the lighting system though.  I'll wait until next week ... and Steve's assistance.  Why?  Well ... Steve is already in England.  He left before the booth was delivered.  (Won't he be pleased with my room rearrangement!)  I leave for England tomorrow.  We are going to see our elder son Mathias in his first "princely" role with Birmingham Royal Ballet.  He's Cinderella's man on Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening.  Steve will see both performances.  I'll see one ... but "someone" had to be here at Mouse House to accept this important delivery!  This is my booth for the upcoming, trade-only wholesale Buyers Market show in Philadelphia from February 16 - 18th.  I'm nervous and excited.  My work is also a finalist for a Niche Award that weekend at the show.

UPDATE

 
(Above:  Mathias Dingman and Maureya Lebowitz, aka The Prince and Cinderella, as seen during Birmingham Royal Ballet's matinee performance on Wednesday, December 5th!)

This blog post has been updated from our hotel room in Birmingham, England.  Steve was stunned with pride and excitement after the Wednesday matinee performance ... featuring OUR SON THE PRINCE and his beautiful partner Maureya Lebowitz.  Mathias posted the photo on Facebook.  At the time of this update, I've got just a few more hours until I witness this show ... nail biting time!  The post is also being linked to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Friday" blog post featuring fiber art works in progress.
    

More Wooden Spools

(Above:  Ancestor spools in progress.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Although I've finished several pieces using old, wooden spools, I'm constantly working on these tiny gems.  They are fun to wrap with wool yarn and fun to stitch with assorted embroidery threads.  They are my favorite project while riding in the car on trips. 

(Above:  Ancestral Cradle, 17" x 24" x 18".  Click on image to enlarge.)

My first grouping of spools included thumbnail reproductions from family photo albums.  I put them into fiber vessels and called them Ancestors I and II.  I made so many wrapped & stitched spools that they filled two vessels.  There was a time when these two works were both in national juried shows ... at the same time ... in different parts of the country!

Later, I decided to wrap a couple hundred spools without adding the family photos.  Why?  Well, I love the old paper thread labels.  The first grouping covered up all the labels ... all the "vintage" letters and ancient price tags.  No one would really know that these were, in fact, OLD wooden spools.  So, I created Spool Cradle and then Spool Cradle II and finally Spool Cradle III.  All these were stuffed with wrapped and stitched wooden spools that still sported vintage ends.
 

(Above:  Ancestral Cradle, detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Once you start a project like this, people start to know about it.  Generosity kicks in.  Donations are made, and I end up with dozens more wooden spools on which to work.  Lately, I decided to turn the newest batch of wrapped & stitched spools in more "ancestors".  One of the reasons for this is the fact that I now have about three thousand more digital images from my Grandpa Baker's slides, 1953 - 1968.  Thus, I have plenty of material for thumbnail photos.


(Above:  Ancestral Cradle, detail.  Click on image to enlarge.)

So I decided to make enough new spools to fill one of my cradles.  This piece and Bundles Of ... have been submitted to curator Joetta Maue's for her upcoming exhibit Down to Sleep.  I hope she likes them!

(Above:  Fiber vessels filled with wrapped and stitched wooden spools.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm continuing to make even more of these spools.  I've got at least another one hundred to go!  Although the cradles are in "storage", the wooden spools actually sit inside fiber vessels here at Mouse House.  I am linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays" blog featuring other "works in progress".


(Above:  The Cemetery, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt.  Click on image to enlarge.)

One more thing!  The Cemetery was accepted into the 34th Annual Contemporary Crafts national juried exhibition at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa, AZ. Jan. 25 - Mar. 31, 2013. I'm excited!

Thanksgiving Weekend

(Above:  Shadow and me ... ready for the big Ohio State game.)

Generally this blog is for my artistic endeavors.  Yet, every once in a while, I like to throw in a post about "the rest of my life".  This is such a post!  The photo above was taken yesterday morning, the day of the big Ohio State vs. arch-rival Michigan football game.  Most people don't know that Steve and I met during my second week at Ohio State (fall 1977) in Block O, the student cheering section at the Ohio State home football games.  I headed this rowdy group of 1500 raving fans the following year.  Steve headed Block O's basketball cheering section.  We were married in 1981 ... on the first home football game Saturday.  Our colors were OSU's, scarlet and gray.  I don't think Shadow cared about any of this.  She simply hated the little hat that my sister Sonya sent for the occasion!  (Ohio State won!)

 

 (Above:  Steve, a 48-inch metal ruler, super oversized foam-centered board, and part of two giant frames.)

On Bastille Day 2001, Steve and began to forcibly down-size Mouse House, our custom picture framing business.  At the time, we had fourteen on payroll and worked ALL THE TIME.  I wanted to become a professional artist (despite lack of formal art training or any real background in art!)  It took a couple of years to find jobs for most of the employees, finish up long term commitments, and for me to figure out how and what I wanted to make artistically.  It was quite a journey!

Mouse House is still the first floor of our historic, downtown home in Columbia, South Carolina.  Steve and I still do very limited custom picture framing.  Occasionally, we take on a job that is almost unbelievable.  We took on this one!  The diptych is by Richard Serra, an artist internationally known for his monumental metal sheet assemblages and sculptures.  He's also created very large and extremely rare works on paper that sport textural black surfaces that are remarkably like his metal finishes.

 
 (Above:  Me with one of the Richard Serra prints after accomplishing the pass-through hinges that attach the rag paper artwork to the rag super-sized mat board.)

The frames (inner measurement) are 93 1/2" x 51 1/2".  This allowed two inches of mat board to show all around the heavy paper artwork.  Pass-through hinges went through the super-sized mat board ... allowing the artwork to "float" on top of the mat.  These are NOT the largest things I've ever framed.  I've framed bigger oil paintings.  They are, however, the largest works of art on paper that I've ever framed!


(Above:  Diptych by Richard Serra ... FINISHED!)

Steve and I were really happy when we were finished (although I still don't like the fact that these paper pieces are open to the air.  In "proper" framing, all works of paper must be behind some sort of protective glazing ... like Plexiglas or UV filtering Lexan ... but this is how Richard Serra's gallery presents the work ... so ... WHATEVER!)  Steve and I positioned giant pieces of corrugated in front of the art and released the angry cats from the bathroom.  The cats were NOT permitted near these big, valuable works during the entire morning!  Yes, the cats had it rough ... but they did get some turkey on Thanksgiving Day!

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!)

Aylah, Decision Portrait Series

(Above:  Aylah, Decision Portrait Series.  25" x 19".  Xylene photo transfer on tea-stained muslin with seat belt, beads and hand embroidery.  Some of the beads are very special ... ostrich eggshells ... as a symbol of life's fragile nature.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Although it had been just over two years since stitching the last Decision Portrait, I fell right into a rhythm with this newest piece in the series ... which now numbers 108.  I brought the transferred image, seat belt, white acrylic felt, a stash of beads and threads, and the Thai Stucco paper background with me to Houston.  I stitched the piece during the four day run of the International Quilt Festival ... in my solo exhibition at the George R. Brown Convention Center.  I blogged about it HERE. 


(Above:  Me stitching Aylah at the International Quilt Festival in Houston.)

The plan to stitch in public went perfectly.  It allowed interested people to ask about the series concept, touch the various layers of unique material, and ask about the photo transfer process.  Everyone was deeply touched.  Many brushed away tears.


(Above:  A class of fifteen year old girls from a nearby private school ... looking at Aylah's portrait after I gave a brief tour of my work.  Click on image to enlarge.)

One of the most wonderful parts of stitching in public was the chance to talk with visiting school groups.  On the third day an all-girls school class of fifteen-year-olds came by my exhibit.  The IQF tour guide asked me to speak.  I talked about being an artist, the series, and ended with Aylah, a beautiful high school sophomore and competitive team cheerleader and member of the school's popular step team.  I talked about her unfortunate, last decision.  Aylah didn't buckle up.  She accepted a ride from a teacher who didn't buckle up.  The distracted driver ran a stop sign ... and both were killed.  One other step team member did buckle up and walked away from a horrific accident.
 

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

While most of the people at the IQF looked at this piece as a "daughter or granddaughter", this school group had a totally different expression.  To them, Aylah was obviously a peer ... could have been a friend, a sister, or even themselves.  They all promised to remember ... to buckle up ... every time ... and to make sure they never accept a ride from a driver who isn't also wearing a seat belt.  For all I know, Aylah saved a life that day.  I hope she did.

 

(Above:  Nicholl Ransom, Aylah's mother, with the finished portrait.  Click on image to enlarge.)

I finished the portrait before the end of the IQF show but didn't blog about it until now.  Why?  Well, the first person I wanted to share it with was the fantastic person who made it all possible.  That person is Nicholl Ransom, Aylah's mother and a quilter!  We met at the Threads of Time Quilt Guild.  I gave a trunk show on my Grave Rubbing Art Quilt Series.  This work truly resonated with Nicholl.  She totally understood the powerful sense of remembrance in final resting places.  On her cell phone, she had photos of Aylah's grave and we talked about the tragedy.  I asked if she'd sign a model's release for her daughter's portrait and decision to become part of the series.  Nicholl answered "yes" right away.  I had the images and paperwork within forty-eight hours. 

(Above:  Aylah's grave.  Aylah (pronouced like Kayla but without the "K") was born on July 24, 1991 at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.  Her favorite color was baby blue.  Her school colors were serendipitously black and gold ... just like the beads on her portrait. The car accident occurred on November 30th, 2006 near East Dublin, GA where Aylah attended East Laurens High School.  Aylah lost her fight for life on December 6th ... donating her organs the next day.  Aylah's Facebook page is still active ... as an important way of remembering this special girl.)

In the past, I asked two other mothers of deceased, beloved children who also "didn't buckle up" if they'd be willing to have me stitch such a portrait.  Both earlier times, I was turned down nicely.  Neither mother wanted their child remembered this way.  Nicholl, however, is on a mission.  She said that if only one family was spared the nightmare from which she can never wake up, she wanted me to stitch Aylah's portrait and share it.  She wants to bring more awareness and prevent future tragedies.  

 

(Above:  The back side of the bench at Aylah's grave.  The stop sign is important.  The teacher driving the vehicle never even paused.  A distracted driver is not a safe one.  There were many decisions going on that fateful day ... and Aylah's final resting place is a monument to remembrance with the hope that others will be spared this tragedy.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Nicholl's Facebook timeline includes an important page ... with her very important message:

TIPS TO KEEP YOUR TEEN PASSENGER ALIVE

Insist on seat belts.

Set a good example.  Don't drink and drive.  Obey the speed limit.

Discuss what's helpful or distracting to the driver.

Monitor your teen's travel.

Know and trust the driver. 

(Above:  The Smithsonian American Museum of Art and Portrait Gallery.)

I shared Alyah's portrait with Nicholl yesterday.  We chatted about quilting, art, and life.  I would have shared it earlier ... but ... Steve and I have been very, very busy with Vista Lights and other commitments ... including a weekend trip to Washington, DC.  We dropped off a car load of antiquarian and used books at a specialty auction house in Falls Church, saw San Francisco Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet (including Shane Wuertner as Paris ... one of Mathias' Kirov Academy classmates), and checked out Pro Panel booths at the Washington Craft Show.  Why?  Well, I've earned a merit award for booth rent at the upcoming Buyer's Market of American Craft wholesale show this coming February in Philadelphia.  Today we ordered "the booth".  (Oh ... we also really enjoyed all the high-end fine crafts on display too!).  We went to the National Museum of Women in the Arts to see High Fiber, a cutting edge show of six artist's fiber work and to the Smithsonian Museum of Art and Portrait Gallery ... which we always love! 

 

I saw this bumper sticker in a parking lot during the trip.  Now ... back to work!

New, large Faux Stained Glass pieces under construction

(Above: There should be some catchy caption for this photo ... something like "Fiber Arts Has Gone to the Dogs" or "Dog tired in the Studio".  Click on any image in this blog post to enlarge.)

This is Buster.  Buster's owner, my friend Jeff Donovan, has a studio across the atrium at Gallery 80808/Vistsa Studios from mine.  He and Nugget, Jeff's other dog, often spend the weekends "helping" us.  Perhaps our love of these two "mutts" contributed to our willingness to collaborate on a recent piece.


(Above:  Collaboration by Jeff Donovan and Susan Lenz.)

It is now on my circular pedestal in the atrium ... between our two studios.  The attached clipboards will allow people to suggest a title or to "vote" for their favorite of the two we suggested:  #1  A Day's Catch and #2 Unexplored Territories.  (There's voting on Facebook too!)  Tomorrow evening is Vista Lights, an annual art crawl in downtown Columbia.  The resident artists (all 13 of us) always have our group art reception during Vista Lights.  Galleries stay open from 5 - 9, the streets are closed for pedestrian traffic, the neighborhood Christmas tree is lit, etc.  At 8:45 Jeff and I will tally the votes and announce the official title ... christening our vessel with a couple bottles of cheap champagne.  It will be fun.



(Above:  Healthcare in America is Broke as seen at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios for Vista Lights 2012.)

Not far from the vessel is Healthcare in America is Broke.  (This piece was broken on Tuesday and transformed into the cube.  The video is HERE or HERE.)  All the artists at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios sign up for tasks in order to make our show a success.  We are ready ... as a group.  Individually, most of us are still straightening up our studios.  Right now, I'm most definitely NOT ready.  My studio is a DISASTER AREA!  I'm hoping to finish up the construction of three, large stained glass fiber pieces by the end of today ... and clean up before 5:00 tomorrow.  If I can get them to the "stitching phase", I'll be okay! 

(Above:  Large, faux-stained glass fiber piece stapled to stretcher bars and ready to be subjected to a soldering iron and a heat gun!)

Actually, one of the three is already stitched and is now stapled to stretcher bars, ready for me to poke holes in it with my soldering iron and melt it with a heat gun.  How did it get to this point?  Below is a progression!



First, I position my "to scale" sketch alongside my recycled black acrylic felt.  A layer of Wonder Under (Bond-a-Web) is ironed onto the felt.  (This felt used to be the packaging material for a kayak or canoe being shipped from a North Carolina manufacturer to River Runner, the local outdoors shop.  The owner has been donating it to me for years!  I'm very lucky!)



I try to follow my sketch ... but I freely make changes.  If you enlarge the photo above, you'll notice that the top isn't the same!  The shapes are cut from my stash of polyester stretch velvets.  All this material has Wonder Under already ironed to the reverse.  It sits in piles all over my studio floor ... giving me a good view to my "palette" and providing a nice bed for Buster, the dog!  This also accounts for the disaster area in my studio.  Very little of the floor is actually visible!



After I have the felt covered with a "lower" level" of polyester velvet shapes, I iron more Wonder Under over the entire surface ... but not just ordinary Wonder Under!  I paint bolts of Wonder Under with significantly watered down acrylic paints and inks.  The pigment stuck in the heat-activate glue transfers to the velvet ... distressing the garish color and surface of this cheap fabric.  (The photo above shows only some of the backing sheet of the previously painted Wonder Under removed from the surface.)



Some times the Wonder Under doesn't adhere completely.  I simply "patch" it with more Wonder Under.  This photo above shows places where I've put orange painted Wonder Under over "holes" in the first layer of Wonder Under.



Next comes touches of metallic foil.  The foil I'm currently using was also donated to me.  It was the leftovers from a bookbinder who uses the foil to stamp volume titles in metallic.  (Think "Holy Bible" on almost every edition ... metallic gold foil stamped into simulated or real leather!)



Then, I add more shapes of polyester stretch velvet ... layer upon layer ... adding the details.  Next comes more Wonder Under.  Why?



Well, the last thing I do to construct the faux-stained glass pieces is to add scraps of chiffon scarves.  The chiffon will only stick if there's an adhesive ... Wonder Under!  I like the chiffon for several reasons.  First, it adds a complexity to the coloring, subtly changing the way the rows of similar shapes look.  Second, it provides a smooth, non-plastic feeling surface to the top.  This allows my sewing machine to easily glide over the surface while doing the free motion machine embroidery.  Once the chiffon is on, I'm ready to stitch!



Running out of painted Wonder Under is a frequent problem.  I can't roll out a 20 yard bolt down the hallway at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios once the Vista Lights show opens ... so, I had to "stop everything" a few days ago to accomplish this task.



The Wonder Under likes to "curl up" ... which isn't really a problem ... but I like to keep it flat and fold it after it is dried.  Since the floor is only painted plywood, I can staple it every few feet directly to the floor while it dries. 



So ... in anticipation of "cleaning up" my studio for the art reception, I decided to construct two more pieces before stitching any of them.  Above is the next one ... more geometric than some of my others.  It was especially constructed in order that it could be hung as a horizontal.  I'm told that this orientation is popular with art consultants.  I guess I'll see at the upcoming Buyers Market of American Craft wholesale show in February.  That's where these pieces are headed.

Following the same basic steps, I got this geometric piece to this stage ... and then added the chiffon.  I set it aside.
 


I'm now working on this piece.  As soon as I've got it completely constructed and covered in a layer of chiffon scarf scraps, I'll clean up my "palette" and tidy my studio.  This MUST happen before 5:00 PM tomorrow, the opening reception for Vista Lights.  By 6:00 PM tomorrow, Steve will be manning my CLEAN studio.  I'll be up the street at City Art for the official announcement of the Jasper Magazine 2012 Artists of the Year.  I'm up for the "visual artist" award!  Thanks to everyone who voted last month!

I'm linking this post to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Fridays" ... a blog showing various fiber works in progress!