Montana Art Residency ... so far!

(Above:  Another strand for my Lace Forest, under construction.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

It's been almost two weeks since I've been here in Hamilton, Montana enjoying a one-month art residency through Open Air.  I've already blogged about the embellished wooden thread spool ornament workshop that I conducted last week but I haven't shared yet any of my own projects or the things I've been doing!This post will cover some of the ways I've been spending my time!

(Above:  A large box crammed with lace!

After taking Steve to the airport ... (he'll fly back at the end of the month to drive me home!) ... I went to an absolutely amazing non-profit called GAM ... which stands for Giving Art to Missoula. This place has very limited hours but is a fabulous resource for any creative person looking for art materials and supplies. Inside the very clean and extremely organized space, I found everything from paint to books, from jewelry supplies to pipe cleaners, from yarn to scrapbook stamps, from embroidery floss to tracing paper, from buttons to bolts of fabric ... but NOTHING WAS PRICED.  Then I saw the sign.  Everything was available for any level of donation (or even free for the taking!) My heart rate jumped immediately.  For several "small items", the suggested donation was a buck.  For several medium sized items, five dollars. Large items for ten.  The last line read:  If you really like us, how about fifty dollars.  I resisted almost everything (because I am lucky to have a giant stash!0 but I couldn't leave without the lace!  I removed the small amount of non-white and non-off-white lace from this big box and left a fifty dollar bill.  It was SO WORTH IT. There were miles and miles of lace in that box!  For the next several day, I stitched up five new strands for The Lace Forest.  There are now 51 strands, one more than my initial wish, a number pulled out of thin air but my personal goal.  I still have plenty of lace left but I've temporarily run out of the upholstery cord on which I stitch the strips of lace.  (I think I know where I can find more!)

(Above:  The Cook + Book Club potluck for October.)

Last week I was invited to the monthly meeting of the Cook + Book Club.  This group is one of the book clubs organized by the local bookshop, Chapter One.  Members of the book club buy, read, and then prepared one of the recipes which is shared at the next meeting,  Did I get lucky ... especially since I no longer cook, bake, or even do the grocery shopping?  Oh yes I did!

(Above: The Art of Pie by Kate McDermott.)

 

Every member raved about the recipes but also about the writing style. They were all quite impressed with the stories in the book ... and they got to tell the author their compliments over a Zoom meeting!  Kate McDermott herself logged on to talk to the book club!  

 

(Above:  Cutting the honeyberry pie.)

 

As for the potluck ... well ... not only was there a classic apple pie but there was a chocolate pie in a ground nut crust, a chicken pot pie, and a honeyberry/haksap berry (which substituted the recipe's call for blueberries by using the local fruit ... and it was definitely my favorite of the evening!) 

 

(Above:  A Ratatouille pie!)

 

As a non-baker, I learned plenty about various ingredients, gluten free substitutions, and how Kate McDermott secured a publishing deal.  But, I also was introduced to a ratatouille pie.  I'd never tasted one!

 

(Above:  A stone floor mat ... made by me!)

 

Later, I was invited to visit Jennifer Clothier, an extremely talented mosaic artist who creates artwork in tile, glass, and stone.  Her stone mats are incredibly unusual and most can be used outside.  She lives on a mountain top in a most glorious house overlooking the nearby, now snow frosted ridge.  The driveway is a series of hairpin curves off a hard-packed road.  Driving up let me know I was really in MONTANA, a wild western place where the outline of hills resemble a child's drawing and the fall colors are those on printed calendars.  She invited me to make a stone mat in her well appointed studio.

 

(Above:  Jennifer and her stone storage/sorting area.)

 

Before arriving, I assumed I would be making a little thing, perhaps measuring 12" x 12" or likely smaller.  I was stunned when she pulled out such a large mat.  It was quite fun but also a lot more difficult to master!  

 

(Above: Jennifer holding up the stone mat I made on an industrial metal tray.)

 

For a beginner, she said I did very well but it would take me a long, long time to approach the intricacy and detail she manages to put together!  

 

(Above:  Jennifer holding one of her glass mosaic animal skulls.)

 

Jennifer is an avid bicyclist and hiker.  On her mountain top walks, she often finds animal bones.  These are bleached and incorporated into mosaic masterpieces.

 

(Above:  Another skull mosaic.)

 

There's no doubt that nature and art collide in this artwork.  The wild landscape of Montana likely accounts for many of the styles and choices made by the area artists.  I'm excited to next be off to a natural dyeing workshop ... again, a nature inspired approach.  So check back to this blog!  I'll be posting again soon!