Trip to Washington, DC

(Above:  The South Carolina Tree, one over fifty trees surrounding the large, highly illuminated National Christmas tree. Click on any image to enlarge.)

A week ago Steve and I headed north to Washington, DC for the National Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration. It was an exciting trip.  Over fifty small trees surround the one very, very large National Tree that is covered in LED lights.  There's a pedestrian walkway, professional signs, and a great view to both the Washington Monument and the holiday decorated White House.  The official "lighting ceremony" was on Thursday night.  President Obama and his entire family were in attendance.  He threw the switch that turned on all the lights.  The entertainment was grand. Television cameras on long, swirling arms zoomed in on the audience (but not where we were sitting), and the weather was spectacular. Michele Obama read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with Miss Piggy ... and the resulting television show is being broadcast throughout the month on PBS.

 
(Above:  The twelve ornaments I created for the National Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration.)

I've receive all sorts of press on this opportunity and yesterday was interviewed for a local television news episode!  I'm not sure when it will air but am thrilled nonetheless. 

 
(Above:  The reverse of all the ornaments.)

This year's theme for the National Christmas Tree ornaments was the National Parks.  2016 marks the National Park's centennial. 

 

So ... here's the view Steve and I had for the evening's celebration:  tree, the stage, and the light display.

 

Here's the First Family ... behind bulletproof glass ...

... and here's me the next day on the fenced walkway around the National Tree, beside the South Carolina tree.

(Above:  White House Gingerbread at the Decatur House.)

Of course Steve and I LOVE Washington, DC.  We visited all sorts of places over the weekend, including the Decatur House which serves as the White House Historical Association and featured a gingerbread creation by a former White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier.  

Marzipan is something I'd never eat but enjoy looking at ... especially when shaped like former White House pets.  Who exactly owned the raccoon in front is a mystery! LOL!

(Above:  The Textile Museum on the George Washington campus.)

We also visited the Textile Museum's new location on the George Washington campus.  On the elevator, we bumped into a nice young man who works installing the art.  I introduced myself as one of the artists whose work will be shown in the upcoming Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora.  Because my piece, Cotton: Triangular Trade, is an installation that will be delivered via our car, I asked about the loading dock.  He showed me exactly where we'd pull into the facility.  So ... I'm totally ready!  Totally excited!

 

(Above:  The circular staircase at the Textile Museum.)

I have no idea where the curators plan to install my work and it doesn't matter to me!  The entire place is fabulous!

(Above:  The Textile Museum, as seen from the circular staircase.)

Steve and I also visited the National Gallery of Art to see recent photographic acquisitions and an exhibit called The Serial Impulse which featured works created at Gemini G.E.L. by artists like Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Serra, and Robert Rauschenburg.  Yet, the most wonderful museum experience was at the Renwick Gallery, an exhibit called Wonder.

(Above:  Janet Echelman's ethereal woven sculpture undulating above the sea inspired carpet.)

Janet Echelman's work is generally displayed outdoors, suspended between tall buildings.  Her work needs lots of space but the grand salon is gigantic!  Bean bag chairs were placed on the specially woven carpet for viewers to use in order to stare upwards.  The lighting changed colors.  It was amazing!

(Janet Echelman's installation seen through the door from the red-carpeted staircase.)

The work was a response to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan.  There really was an outdoor feel to space.

(Above:  John Grades Middle Fork.)

John Grade and his cast of assistants cast a 150 year old hemlock tree (without harming it) and then used the cast in order to mold a half million wooden segments into a replica of the original tree.  The tree was selected because it was roughly the same age as the Renwick!  This exhibit runs through July 2016 at which time the artwork will be transported back to the forest, beside the original tree, and allowed to gradually return to the earth.

(Above:  Looking down the trunk of John Grade's artwork.)


(Above:  Steve inside on of Patrick Doughtery's willow formations.)

In all, there are nine stellar installations filling all the exhibition space at the Renwick.  Each one is terrific.  After being closed for a two-year renovation, these installations are a perfect inaugural exhibit to invite the public back into the space.  I couldn't believe how many people were there ... especially in Patrick Doughtery's willow installation.  It really is a perfect spot for photos!


(Above:  Tara Donovan's Untitled installation.)

One small room showed a rotating series of videos ... one for each of the nine installations.  Most included clips or time-action shots of the laborious process of installing the work.  Some were interviews on inspiration and studio practices.  I particularly liked learning about Tara Donovan.


(Above:  Tara Donovan's installation.)

Believe it or not, these stalagmite formations were formed by millions of index cards.  Alone, an index card has little spatial possibilities unless folded into a shape ... or, as in Tara Donovan's hands, piled to enormous heights.


(Above:  Detail of Jennifer Angus' In the Midnight Garden.)

Yet it was Jennifer Angus' installation that truly captured my imagination.  The bright pink walls were the result of using cochineal insects.  To this surface, Jennifer Angus pins thousands of preserved insect bodies in geometric arrangements.  The insects are all real.  Their coloring is all natural.  The artist stores the insects on foam-centered board and reuses them in future installations. 



I'd seen Jennifer Angus' work in magazines but never in person.  I can't imagine how many hours it must take for a team to pin this many insects to the wall.  Wow!  It got both Steve and me thinking.  After all, I'm very compulsive.  Despite the number of hours involved, I'd do something like this!  That's when Steve said, "Why don't you do something with your wrapped, rusted nails? You have thousands of those!"  Now ... I hate copying anyone else's ideas.  I almost resisted this idea ... but why? Why does it matter that a famous installation artist has pinned insects to the wall?  Why would the mechanics of her installation dictate to me that I can't pin wrapped nails to a wall ... in some other formation? 

Well ... one of the reasons why this blog post wasn't written earlier in the week is because I decided to give this idea a go!  Stay tuned to my blog!


(Above:  An antique wooden cabinet in the middle of Jennifer Angus' installation.)

So ... Jennifer Angus' insects have inspired me, but that's not what I expected at all.  I expected to be in some sort of emotion turmoil over the cabinet in the middle of the installation.  I'd seen a thumbnail photo of it on-line before going to the Renwick.  My heart leaped and then sunk to the pit of my stomach.  Why?  Well, I was excited to see something that I really liked and horrified that I was already in the process of making something similar.


(Above:  Jennifer Angus' insect cabinet, detail.)

My ideas seem very close to Jennifer Angus' work ... and yet aren't both our impulses equally inspired by drawers and display cabinets in natural history museums all over the world?  I'm not copying her.  I never saw her work until my project was underway.  Isn't it possible that we are both truly excited by many of the same things and approach work in a similar fashion? 

I once made a piece called The Archeology Project. The idea was to create a giant collection of faux-artifacts, as if some obscure great uncle had traveled the world and collected rare, exotic fragments and odd relics, scraps of paper with indecipherable foreign text, trinkets without known associations, and the stuff one might expect from a yesteryear's traveling circus show.  I stored it all in three vintage suitcase ... the kind of containers that evoked mystery, history, and a sense of wonder.  Isn't that what Jennifer Angus' antique chest of drawers does, evoke curiosity ... borrow images from natural history museum? 



My ideas are the same.  My inspirations are likely similar ... adopting museum-like furniture and filling it with fantasy objects.  Jennifer Angus' cabinet is a real antique.  She filled some of the drawers with insect vignettes.  My project is different.  It will use a unique piece of furniture to showcase a collection of "curiosities" which I started making last summer.  (Blogged HERE and HERE.)


(Above:  The Cabinet of Curiosities, in progress.)

My piece of furniture is also not an antique.  It is in the process of being built ... well ... at least it is in the process of me playing with a collection of drawers, an old clothes drying rack, and odd lumber.  This is how it looked before I went to Washington, DC.  I've been collecting clock cases, cigar boxes, and other "containers" to attach to shelving units within the collection of drawers.  (I have more drawers too!)  I also plan as much "open space" as possible, fewer "drawers" and more interesting nooks and crannies. Stay tuned ... as The Cabinet of Curiosities will be developing over the coming weeks and months.  I don't have team to help me.  I'm just one artist and I still have a full time job outside my studio practice!


(Above:  Lancet Window LXIV.)

Before leaving for Washington, DC, I also finished another Lancet Window.  Seven more are under construction!

Georgia Agriculture Museum and New Work

(Above: Detail of Large Stained Glass LVII. Click on any image in this blog post to enlarge.)

I started this blog post over a week ago.  I meant to return to it, finish it, and publish it ... but Thanksgiving in Slippery Rock, PA with my parents, sister Sonya, brother-in-law Vipin, nephew Vinnie, my Grandma (who will turn 97 in a matter of weeks), and my nephew Tony's new wife Mara managed to delay things.  (Where was my nephew Tony?  Well ... as assistant defensive coach for Duquesne, he went with the team to the play offs!  They unfortunately lost ... but we were all very excited!)

(Above:  The art gallery at the Georgia Agriculture Museum and Historic Village.)

It's been over a week since Steve and I drove dozens of back roads through the Georgia countryside.  We started at 6 AM and went to Tifton, GA to check out the Georgia Agriculture Museum and Historic Village.  Why?  Well, this is the site for my solo show next April!

I will be mounting Last Words but in a new way.  The space is very flexible, accessible, and the director is open to all sorts of new ways in which to present artwork.  As a result, I'll be bringing The Canopy!

 (Above:  The Canopy as seen at ArtFields  in Lake City, SC ... with me stitching on a grave rubbing art quilt.)

For me, this is VERY exciting because it will be so unlike how it looked at ArtFields in an extremely large space.  It will be much more intimate and obviously in relationship to the other work under and around it.  This upcoming opportunity will blend the final words and motifs of my grave rubbings with the concept of keeping memories alive through the love and use of vintage textiles.  I plan to make it rather obvious that caring for family textile treasures is important and a legacy worth pursuing.

(Above:  Polly Huff, Georgia Agriculture Museum gallery director and curator, inside one of the textile storage rooms)

Best of all, Polly Huff, the gallery director and curator, is allowing me to construct an installation using the many (often yet-to-be-cataloged) items in the collection!  I plan a public response component as well.

(Above: Lancet Window LX.  Framed:  31 1/4" x 11 1/4". $395 plus tax and shipping.)

From Tifton, GA Steve and I drove to Douglasville, GA to take down my solo show there. By the time we arrived back in Columbia it was after 9 PM.  It was a long day ... but it was followed by STUDIO TIME!  I've recently finished several new Lancet Windows!   

(Above: Lancet Window LXI. Framed:  31 1/4" x 11 1/4". $395 plus tax and shipping.)

I got them finished just in time to deliver to the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville.  We went on our way north for Thanksgiving.  I have eight more under construction!

(Above: Lancet Window LXII. Framed:  31 1/4" x 11 1/4". $395 plus tax and shipping.)

I'm always happy when the Grovewood Gallery asks for "new work"!  It means there's a check coming in the mail for what recently sold!  Plus, it's a good excuse to figure out a few new designs.  Several of the new pieces borrow on older ideas but more of them are totally new!

(Above: Lancet Window LXIII. Framed:  31 1/4" x 11 1/4". $395 plus tax and shipping.)

Since returning from Pennsylvania I've managed to submit a proposal for a public art project slated for one of the Richland County Public Libraries, applied for a couple art residencies, uploaded images for a national juried show, custom framed several holiday orders (day job), and accepted a cool commission that I'll blog about later.  It's been a busy time!

(Above: Large Stained Glass Window LVII.  62 1/2" x 22 1/2". $1200 plus tax and shipping.  Due to the size of these pieces, a crate is required for shipping and the cost starts at $150 but these pieces are well worth it!)

Despite the hustle and bustle of the season, I also finished another "Large Stained Glass Window".  My plan is to have four new, large pieces ready to go to the ACC (American Craft Council) Baltimore and Atlanta shows (Feb. and March.)  It's a lot of work but I love making them.

 

Other news includes the fact that my episode on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims recently aired.  For the next few days there's a link to WATCH FOR FREE.  Also, Steve and I are off traveling again!  This time we are headed to Washington, DC for the National Tree Lighting Celebration.  I was selected to create the twelve ornaments representing the National Parks (this year's theme) in South Carolina!  What an honor!

PLAYA Series and what I've been up to recently

(Above:  Five of the ten pieces in my PLAYA SERIES ... framed and on the wall at Mouse House.  Click on any image in this post to enlarge.)

Being at PLAYA, an art residency in remote Oregon, was quiet, emotionally happy, and quite productive.  I wish I was still there, but I've returned to Columbia, South Carolina and all the deadlines, custom picture framing, and busy-ness/business that is otherwise my normal life. Blogging, like several other things, has been pushed further and further back on my "to do" list.  Thus, this is going to be a long post because much of what I've been doing is art related!


(Above:  Playa I.  Four soil samples from PLAYA mixed with pond water, "painted" onto Wonder Under, ironed onto cotton rag paper, fused to fabric, free motion stitched and hand embroidered.  Unframed: 8" x 22 1/2". Framed: 15 1/4"x 29 1/4". $250 framed.)

During last week I finished a series started during the residency ... and totally about the experience of being there in nature, walking across the dried lake bed, and falling in love with the very soil of the place.


(Above:  Four soil samples from PLAYA.)

I started by collecting four different types of soil ... One of the samples came from the mowed grass paths.  One came from the salty crust of the playa.  One came from the grey sand that blows into eddy in the late autumn heat, and the final sample of cinnamon brown soil was dug up from just under the cracked, sere lake bed in areas that are able to sustain some plant growth.


(Above:  Soil samples painted on Wonder Under in my studio at PLAYA.)

I mixed each sample with pond water and "painted" each "color" onto the only piece of Wonder Under I had.  This was done using a wadded up piece of paper because I had no paint brush. Each color was allowed to dry before the next was added. This prevented the samples from becoming "mud" ... literally.  When totally dry, I brushed off most of the dirt ... allowing only a thin layer/color to remain.  This was then ironed onto 100% cotton rag paper.  I had enough to create eight, long pieces and two smaller ones.  I shipped them home with my sewing machine.


(Above:  The ten pieces on top of my dry mount press ... after being coated with matte medium.)

Last week I applied matte medium to each piece.  This was done to seal the soil and Wonder Under to the cotton paper. 



Once dry, I fused the paper to pieces of vintage damask.  Why vintage damask?  Well, that's what I have on hand.  My "stash" of fabric is almost entirely old, household linens!  I use a custom picture framing product called Fusion 4000.  It looks like ordinary plastic wrap but under heat and pressure, it fuses fabric to a substrata.  In this case, it fused the damask to the reverse of my artwork.  Later, I carefully cut away all the excess fabric. 


(Above:  Playa II.)

Next, I free motion stitched long, running lines on the lower third of almost every piece.  This was done to suggest a horizon line ... to give the impression of PLAYA.  It went quickly, but I was less than satisfied with the results.  Something was missing. The top and bottom wasn't balanced.  For two days I thought about the problem before coming up with a solution. 
    

(Above: Playa IV.)

The top needed "something" to balance out the free-motion stitching and to suggest the vast sky above the dried lake bed.  The solution became scattered cross-stitches ... almost like the twinkling stars that made each night at PLAYA so fantastic.  I used my favorite, subtly variegated King Tut cotton thread ... shades of brown.


(Above:  Playa V.)

Finally, I mounted each piece on a piece of mat board.  How?  Well, I stitched straight through the mat board and the piece ... at least four cross-stitches across the top!


(Above:  Playa VI.)

At first, I wasn't going to frame them.  In a sense, these are only the results of a successful experiment.  Most artists (even those who own custom picture framing businesses!) can't frame everything.  Yet, these pieces are special.  They really do reflect the landscape, the strong horizon line, and the very soil of a truly special place ... PLAYA.


(Above:  Playa VII.)

Steve selected the frame.  It's a nice, rustic styled white wood with enough depth to keep the glass from coming into contact with the artwork. 


(Above:  Playa VIII.)

I rearranged several walls at Mouse House in order to hang the work in close proximity to each other.  I really like looking at them.  They remind me of such a wonderful month and such a magical place. I have no other plans for showing these fine pieces.  It is a hard problem. So much of my work is now in storage, sitting on shelves, never seen by anyone or seen only by a few people who happen to come by Mouse House.
 

(Above:  Playa III.  This is the only one without the free-motion machine horizon line.  While at PLAYA I added a few stems of the high desert plant life.)

I've asked a couple professional artist how this situation affects them.  One honestly said that this reality is depressing and undermines his self esteem.  I quite agree.  Like him, it makes me doubt my talent ... doubt my creativity, craftsmanship, originality, and value ... until there's almost no confidence left.  We both admitted certain insecurities due to our prolific output.  We both have more art than we will ever show or sell.  We both work full-time jobs to make ends meet, and neither of us (no matter what) is going to stop the creative process.  It is an obsession.  The joy is in the making.  The sadness is in the issue of "storage".  We will deal with it ... one potential masterpiece at a time.


(Above:  Playa IX.  The two last pieces are smaller.  Unframed: 8" x 11"; Framed: 13 1/4" x 17 1/4". Each $175.)

The last two in the series are smaller.  They were from the end of the Wonder Under and reflect the creases and wrinkles in this surface ... which ended up looking like skeletal leaves!


(Above:  Playa X.)

Of course, working with this series wasn't the only thing I did last week.  I was able to attend the Ladies Luncheon at the Columbia Museum of Art where my piece, Ready for Burial, hangs in the show called Independent Spirits.  This show coordinates with the show Georgia O'Keeffe: Her Carolina Story.  In fact, the two shows flow easily one into the other ... basically as if one exhibit!  Imagine!  I'm hanging with Georgia O'Keeffe! 


(Above:  Ready for Burial, a grave rubbing art quilt now hanging in Independent Spirits at the Columbia Museum of Art.  69" x 42". Crayon on fabric grave rubbings, heat set; vintage dress and bed covering; hand and free motion embroidery.)

There are lots of activities and lectures associated with the exhibit including a "Salon Talk" at noon on December 11 when I'll share the podium with Kathleen Robbins and Mary Robinson.  There's a catalog and an audio tour too!  It is super cool to watch a complete stranger walk up to my work, push 211 (the number for the audio tour), and stand listening to Wim Roefs, owner of if Art Gallery, talk about my work ethic. (The audio clips are also on the museum's website ... HERE!)  There is also a great video made by Drew Baron, the museum's media staff person, that shows me making grave rubbings in Randolf Cemetery while talking about my process and concepts!  (The video is also on U Tube ... HERE!)


(Above:  Terry Jarrard-Dimond and her piece, Joy and Sorrow, in the Independent Spirits exhibit.)

The luncheon was a wonderful event.  Wil South, the Columbia Museum of Art's chief curator, gave a brief lecture on Georgia O'Keeffe's year at Columbia College and how influential that time in isolation was toward the development of her mature style.  There was time to walk through the show with professional women and with several of the other artists ... including Terry Jarrard-Dimond whose art quilts I've always admired.

(Above:  Five Points Pavement V.  Digital image transfer on fabric with both free-motion and hand embroidery.  Unframed:  9 1/4" x 12 1/2". Framed:  21" x 25". $300 Framed or $200 just matted.)

During the week I finished several of the "extra" images of Five Points pavement.  Five Points is a popular area of Columbia ... a place with independent restaurants and unique shops and plenty of bars frequented by college students.  The Five Points Association commissioned a piece of mine for an upcoming charity event (which will be held on December 3rd).  I created a diptych ... but I also had several smaller images transferred to fabric.  I've been stitching them up ever since.

(Above:  Five Points Pavement VI.  Image: 12" x 9. Matted and shrink-wrapped, 20" x 16" for $200.)

It's been fun bringing out the colors and textures of the pavement by both hand and machine embroidery.

(Above:  Five Points Pavement VII.  Image 9 1/4" x 12 1/2". Matted and shrink-wrapped, 16" x 20" for $200.)

Until this project, I never really paid attention to sidewalks, crosswalks, man-hole covers, and other surfaces underfoot!

(Above:  Five Point Pavement VIII.  Image: 8 1/2" x 11 3/8". Matted and shrink-wrapped, 16" x 20" for $200.)

I have one more, larger piece to finish.  I'm enjoying it in the evening while watching television.  I have one more artsy event to share.  It happened just over a week ago ... on a Saturday afternoon ... just outside my studio door.  In fact, I stayed in my studio!  I stood on my work table and watched from over the top of the wall separating my space from the atrium at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. 

A large crowd gathered.  It was time for two Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery of Atlanta, Georgia to sweep away the sand mandela they'd created earlier in the week.  It was awesome to watch the complicated patterns swept into a swirl of sand ... a lesson on the impermanence of this world, even our art!  Powerful, spiritual, and hopefully something I can mentally add to my own sadness when putting more and more artwork into storage.  Maybe ... it just doesn't matter.  Maybe ... it is all about process and nothing about produce.
 

(Above:  The swirls of colored sand that once were a mandela.)

I made a video of the dispersal.  It is HERE on U Tube.