A Funeral and a Wedding, Remembering Peter Gomes

I'm going to a funeral tomorrow. I know this is an odd title for one of my posts but I lost a dear friend last week.  It was sudden in that everyone expected him to recover from the stroke he had in December.  That was not to be; so today I remember my dear friend Peter Gomes.  I've only know him for 5 short years but he wormed his way into my heart with that "twinkle in his eye" that made you know there was more to the story. I know that countless others around the world are missing him too as he was known and loved around the world.  One of my early encounters with Peter was when he shared the paint color for his kitchen with me.  That color became the color in my office and one wall of the studio.  Check out the blog post http://studiojottings.blogspot.com/2006/09/day-80.html#comments.  I talked a little about painting the studio Pusey Room Red in that post.  Every time I look at the paint in my studio I will think of Peter and smile! I remember wandering around his basement to find the paint can so I could take it to the hardware store and have them figure out the formula for me.  Now if you knew Peter, you know that wandering around his basement was not something he normally did and painting was definitely not something he did. As he said to me when he first said I could use the paint, "Have your man talk to my man to get the formula".  I replied, "Peter, I am the man!"  That led to the wandering in the basement!  But we found the paint and I got the formula and the studio office was painted "Pusey Room Red". Peter stated that he and I would be the only people in Plymouth to have this color in their house! 

There are so many Peter stories. We had the great pleasure of having him officiate at our son's wedding this past July.  It was a glorious event in Newport, RI and Peter did such a wonderful job. He was all decked out in what he called his "God" clothes, a beautiful red robe.  He kept telling Jeff and me what a great couple they were and how much he enjoyed working with them on the wedding.  WOW!  The added bonus was that  they both graduated from Bates College, his alma mater.  Peter loved to do Bates Weddings! I will always cherish the wonderful time we had with him at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. 

He was quite a loveable character.  While he loved working at Harvard, Plymouth was his home and First Baptist was his church.

So, Peter has come home, not only to Plymouth where his church family will celebrate his life and mourn his passing  but also to the God that he loved so much and the Word that he shared all around the world.  Well done, good and faithful servant!  You are loved and will be greatly missed. I know God will love hearing all your wonderful stories and seeing that "twinkle in your eye"!

   

Simplicity

I'm trying to take this quiet selling season time to get caught up on my journal reading. As I was looking over my June/July 2010 issue of American Craft (I'm really behind!) I came across an article on "The Cult of Simplicity" by Akiko Busch.  I was struck by the idea presented in this article that things seem more simple than they really are.  You have to go beyond the obvious to discover the complexities. It made me think about the triangular shawls I have been weaving.  They are based on very simple weave structures, that of plain weave, basket, or twill.  In my case I have only been using plain weave which is a simple over/under weave. (Remember when you made pot holders as a child.  This is a simple over/under weave.) The equipment used to weave these shawls is very simple in design. And the actual weaving is not all that complicated.  However if you go beyond the obvious you begin to see the complexity of yarn choice, the color choice, the design possibilities, and the finishing techniques.  When you begin to push on these elements such as doubling the yarn or adding beads or embellishments you increase the complexity and decision making.  What started out as simple is now a thought process of complexity in motion.  How many yards of a yarn do I need?  How will these colors work together? When will I change the color pattern? What length will the fringe be?  Can that yarn hold up over repeated washings or dry cleanings?  Will the finished piece drape appropriately for the use?  And so on and so on and so on! 

My 4th shawl in the series is finished.  In an earlier post, Beads, Beads, Beads on February 5th, I showed pictures of the yarns I was going to weave.  I doubled up the wool and silk yarns with the rayon boucle yarn.  This created a thicker yarn but also added the movement of the variegated colors to the piece.  The shawl is very light weight and lacy looking.  The silk/wool yarn feels very soft to the touch.  It's another lovely shawl on a cool summer night or just to wrap up in by the fireplace in winter. Here are some pictures:

Cutting the fringe



Close up

I'm finding that same simple/complex factor in working with the Habitat project.  There is so much more than simply weaving strips of aprons into the grids to form a simple design.  As I spend time deconstructing the aprons and thinking about which ones will work and which will not, I am also thinking about the end product and how it will be hung. The hanging is the last step but needs to be thought about at the beginning. It may affect how I construct the piece. I've decided to paint the grids black so they will recede into the piece and not show as much. This is another beginning process that affects the end look. Painting will be my next step along with sorting the apron color strips that I am cutting.  Then I will begin to work with the hanging system as I decided that needed to be done first.  I'm thinking of using the knobs as part of the hanging system.  Not only do I need to think about how this will look and be applied but I also need to think about the weight of the piece and how it will be safe to hang on the wall.  This is my thought process so far.  There is more to come.

Here are a few more aprons I have received:

I encourage you to look at the things around you that seem so simple.  Begin to think about the process that went into that item and the complexity to make it seem simple.  How about your I-phone for starters or that GPS that you just plug in the address and the voice that leads you along your way!  Where does that woman live anyway?!!!! Comments welcomed!  

The Journey of an Apron

I woke up very early this morning.  Believe me that is unusual!  I am not a morning person.  I started thinking about the Habitat project and my mind began to race.  I decided to get back to writing my Morning Pages.  Those of you who have read "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron know what morning pages are.  They are the first thoughts you have when you wake up in the morning.  You write continuously until you fill up 3 pages of a notebook.  These are the thoughts that you address as soon as you wake.  You get them out there and then they do not hang over you for the rest of the day.  Sometimes it is just plain therapy to get them out there.  Sometimes it is creative inspiration to get them out there.  And sometimes it is just waking your thoughts up for the day and making lists.  

Today I made lists.  I began to think about the process of working with these aprons. My list went like this:

1. Draw out design.
2.Wash all aprons.
3. Deconstruct aprons.
4. Possibly dye some of the aprons or use fabric markers, fabric crayons, and/or Shiva paint sticks.  Play with these ideas.
5. Cut aprons into strips.

And that's as far as I went today.  I'm sure there will be more steps but this is as far as my thought process went today.  It's a beginning.

This listing the process helps me organize what needs to be done and begin to alot the time needed. This is the first part of the journey.

When you have a project you are working on, what is your process?  Do you make lists?  Do you organize your thoughts and work time in any special way? Or do you just plunge in and hope for the best? I'd love to hear how others begin their creative journey.  I welcome you to pass this post on and share your thoughts in the comment section.

Here are a few more pictures of aprons that have come in:

"Habitat for Humanity" Project

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Since today is Valentine's Day and everyone talks about Hearts, I thought I would like to tell you
about the "Habitat for Humanity" Project I am working on.  "Habitat for Humanity" invited artists
in the Plymouth area to go to the Habitat Restore and choose an item to re-purpose into an art
piece.  This piece will be auctioned off to raise money for Habitat.  The project is called 
"Warm HeARTS, Warm Homes Celebration".  The auction will take place April 30 at The
Plymouth Center for the Arts in Plymouth, MA.  We were invited to recycle, re-purpose, beautify, and have fun!  So I took the challenge.

I went to the restore which is a great place to explore and chose an item, actually several, to work with.  Here's what I chose:

Grids and knobs


I began to think about that phrase, "Warm HeARTS, Warm Homes", and the thought that came to me was APRONS!  Aprons represent a bygone error of home cooked meals, families sitting around a table, and mom or grandma enjoying creating  some culinary delight.  OK, so that was the bygone era!  To bring it up to speed and be PC correct, aprons today may be somewhat of a dinosaur but I think they still represent a time when someone, male or female, takes the time to bake or cook something for another person. There is a nice warm, cozy feeling that happens around a good meal or a favorite pastry that is enjoyed by the whole family or that someone special.  So, I have asked friends and family to search their closets and maybe attics for their used old aprons (or maybe grandma's used old apron) and I will re-purpose them into a piece that Habitat will auction off.  I have an idea in mind and will be working on it over the next couple of weeks.  I'm still a little curious myself as to how this is going to turn out!

Aprons are starting to arrive.  It is fun to see all the different kinds. I decided to document them and will post pictures from time to time of what has been sent to me.  If you have sent me an apron, thank you, and keep checking back to see your apron and how it is transformed into a piece that will raise money to help house a family in need.

Here are a few of the aprons I have received so far:

Look for more pictures in another post.  I'll keep blogging about the process of making this project.

                

Beads, Beads, Beads!

Our local bead shop closed this week.  As a result, I couldn't resist the deep discounts and now own more beads than I thought I would ever have or need!  Beads are candy for the eye and my "bead" tooth was salivating! So now that I have all these beads the next step is to use them, not just look at them!  This is the bigger challenge.

I'm on my way though.  I just finished another triangular shawl and guess what?  It has beads in it!  There are 300 beads woven into and attached to the fringe.

It was a bit of a challenge weaving with the beads and then placing them but it worked.  Here's the third shawl in my triangular loom series.

Now on to the next shawl.  What will I experiment with next?  I've already begun to design.  Here are the yarns I will be using. Stay tuned!

The fibers are wool/silk blend, rayon boucle, and rayon ribbon

"Weavette" Loom

I finished another triangular shawl.  After completing the weaving I decided to add an embellishment to it.  It just CRIED out for more!!!!!!  So I pulled out my little "Weavette" loom and wove some square pieces made out of the ribbon yarn I used in the shawl.  I then made the woven squares into flowers which I have done before on my hats (refer back to blog post of November 20,2010).  I added a bead and the shawl took on a very elegant look.  Perfect for a night out on the town!


Woven Flowers Close Up 



"Weavette" loom used to make flowers

All of these shawls are "one of a kind".  If you want to visit my studio and see how they are made go to my website, http://www.judyconnorjones.com/ and e-mail me for an appointment. If you are interested in purchasing, please contact me for pricing.

Finished Shawl

Here's a picture of the finished triangular shawl.  It is very light, lacy, and airy!  A perfect wrap for a cool summer night.

Close up view: 

I'm working on another triangular shawl.  I've pulled a beautiful black with cherry nubs wool boucle from my shelves and paired it with a cherry glace ribbon.  As long as the triangular loom is up, I'll keep scouring my shelves for the right combination of yarns and make as many of these one of a kind shawls until I get bored and have to move on! I'm on a roll!

Triangular Loom

I pulled out the triangular loom that I have and set it up this week.  I decided that part of my exploring, playing, and rediscovering would be to develop ideas that I have had brewing for a while.  I had bought on sale, about 2 years ago, a number of balls of yarn that I thought would look great woven into a shawl.  My intention was to weave with them on the triangular loom.  The yarn is a very lacy looking yarn made out of linen binder threads and a beautiful cotton variegated yarn in pastel green, mauve, and gold.  The cotton yarn is actually woven through the linen threads in a snake like fashion.  Along with this yarn I went to my stash and found some rayon ribbon ("Glace" for those weavers reading this) in colors that would work with this yarn palette. So here are some pictures of the yarn and the weaving process.  With a triangular loom you are weaving the warp and weft at the same time.

Yarns are chosen



Beginning planning chart - 1/2 the design

Weaving in progress

The sheet is just there to let you see the weaving as it is a very open structure.



Close up

"Body of Work"

"Body of Work" is a phrase that is often used in the art world, but what does it mean?  Last night I watched a program on "American Masters".  It was about Jeff Bridges, the actor. I have always been fascinated by the Bridges family but have not seen many of Jeff Bridges movies.  (I did see "Crazy Heart" and he definitely deserved the Oscar for that!)  It was interesting to discover the varied and interesting characters he has played over the years. As he and other actors talked about Jeff's process for  making a character real, I learned how much creative study goes into playing a part.  For one of his movies he actually studied the moments of birds in order to play the part of "Starman".  From the clip you could see how he used the tiny slow jerky movements of a baby bird, who is just learning about the world around him, and applied these movements to the character he played. This is definitely a creative adventure into playing a part. So, getting back to "Body of Work", here was a body of work presented that showed how over time and many films, Jeff Bridges could transform to play a number of different personalities by creative study.  A "Body of Work" always presents the creative mind in motion.  Sometimes it takes making time for yourself to discover the next thing.  Sometimes it takes looking at your environment to discover the next thing.  Sometimes it takes being part of a group of people who support and encourage even your craziest idea!

I feel like I am on a journey with my work.  Right now I am feeling the need to do some exploring and playing with new possibilities.  My journey is leading me into other avenues.  I'm not sure where I will end up but I feel like I need to re-evaluate how I create my work along with how I sell my work.  Is this a "Body of Work" in movement?  Is there value in taking this time?  The fine art world has always looked at a person's "Body of Work" as a growth and maturity factor in understanding one's message or style.  The retail world of fine craft has not always been as concerned with this.  The bottom line, especially for high end shows, is usually consistency of work.  Are the two mutually compatible?

As I journey, I will post from time to time my progress and thinking.  As part of a wider community, I'd love to have a dialogue on-going in the comments section.  I'd love for you to be a part of my creative process to discovering what is next for me and my work.

Liturgical Stole

For a long time I have entertained the idea of weaving Liturgical pieces.  This is quite astonishing since I come from a non-liturgical denomination where the church liturgical calendar and liturgy was never a priority. Over the last 20 -25 years I have learned the colors for the various seasons and am interested in how these colors are used in the church calendar. I am also interested in how textiles play such an important part in the whole ecclesiastical environment.

In the previous post I talked about the participatory art installation that I worked on for Advent.  Along with this I designed a stole for my husband for the Advent season. I had painted a warp over a year ago with the idea that I would make a stole. I used a combination of blue and red dyes so that the colorway goes from blue to purple throughout the stole.  This combines the traditional  Advent color of purple with the new color of blue.The warp was woven and then FEAR and PROCRASTINATION set in!  It wasn't until this year that I pushed myself to explore new territory. I forged ahead sewing the stole and hoped that it would lie flat and stay where it was supposed to stay.  It did!  My husband loved it and wore it throughout Advent. 

So here is the finished stole on my husband.  What do you think?

Ecclesiastical Installation

Its now the Christmas season in the liturgical calendar.  During the advent season I worked once again with my church on a participatory art installation.  During the four weeks in Advent a new piece of the installation was added with the last piece installed on Christmas Eve.

Working in a large scale format has been something I have been learning to do over the last couple of years.  It is so totally different from my "women's wearable" work and so challenging that  I am always amazed at how it turns out! I am committed to these ecclesiastical projects being not just observed but participatory.  So in the planning many points of varied participation are built in.  The process goes sort of like this:

Themes for the season, based on biblical passages, are developed by the persons responsible for worship.  Sometimes it is a committee but more times it is my husband who happens to be the minister of First Baptist Church in Plymouth. We usually discuss various ways the theme will be played out in worship, I put on my thinking cap (usually in the shower!), and after much dreaming and envisioning come up with a basic idea.  At that point other people are brought into the planning process and ideas begin to come together. Many times the idea evolves more fully as the piece evolves.  Any artist will tell you, its an ever ongoing process!!!!! 

The theme for this advent was Being/Becoming a People of Hope, Peace, Justice, and Faith.  Each week in advent one of these themes would be the focus of worship. We chose to make banners out of silk which had these words stenciled on them, one word for each week, four banners in all. 

So planning was the first point of participation involving members of the congregation. The second point of involvement  was in the actual making of the piece.  We had a total of 14 people involved at some point in the making and installing of the piece. This involved preparing the banners by sewing hems, making the stencils, and stenciling the words onto the banners.

The installation was another challenge as we decided to install the banners in the round at the front of the pulpit area.  I am so thankful that we have one man in our church who can always figure out how to do this.  I just have to say to him, Mike, this is what we want to do and how can we do it and he comes up with the idea!  I call him my "Install Guy".  "He's The Man" and I couldn't do it without him!!!!!!

So now we have two points of participation or connection.  The third point happens each week as people enter the church and see the addition for that day's worship theme.  We also had an insert in the bulletin each week which asked reflective questions so the worshiper was drawn into the piece in a way other than simply viewing it.

As each person entered the sanctuary they were given a white dove cut out of cardstock. At one point in the worship service they were asked to write on the dove the answer to the following question, where do you see signs of ........ (Hope, Peace, Justice, Faith)?  The doves were collected to be used on Christmas Eve. This was point four of participation.
 

The final installation was on Christmas Eve when all the doves were installed in a descending manner in the center to celebrate the coming of Christ to the World. This created the fifth point of connection as all could view the final installment and celebrate that "Christ has Come"!

Since the Christmas season has just begun in the liturgical calendar the installation will be up for a few weeks.  You can see more pictures on the church's website at http://www.fbc-plymouth.org/. If you live in Plymouth, stop by on a Sunday and you too can experience "this thing which has come to pass". 

 "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory."

Christ has come! Hallelujah!  

First Snow Fall

The first snowfall of the season happened today and is still happening as I write!  The wind is blowing and the snow is coming down.  It looks so beautiful with all the Christmas lights lit on the houses along our street.

I was finishing up an order for a customer today and it was so nice to be warm inside looking out on the beautiful sight as I worked.  there is a peacefulness about falling snow.

Here are a few pictures from my studio window taken this morning.

Later this afternoon I took this picture from our kitchen, looking out our back deck.  You can see the snow flakes.



So it's really "beginning to look a lot like Christmas"!  Just in time for my family from Florida to arrive!

 Wishing you the Peacefulness of New Fallen Snow!

Annual Holiday Studio Open House

                                          
My last show of the year is always in my studio.  The looms are pushed back, the fiber dust bunnies are gone (or at least most of them), and I arrange the studio to look like a shop.  You can see all my equipment (looms, warping boards, shuttles, sewing machines, etc) and the many types and colors of yarns that I use.  It's a chance for you to see where and how I work with the added bonus of holiday shopping in a relaxed atmosphere and purchasing that special gift for someone on your Christmas list.

I also serve a wonderful Wassail punch along with some of my Christmas cookie favorites! Wassail for those of you who are now saying, "What is that!", is an Ancient English custom where the master of the English household (sorry for the not so politically correct gender reference) drank to the health of those present with spiced ale.  The phrase Wass Hael or Be Well was repeated as each drank a cup from the bowl of Wassail.

If you are near Plymouth, stop by the studio on Saturday, drink a cup of Wassail, do some Holiday shopping, and sign up to win the door prize.  I haven't decided yet what it will be but I'm leaning towards one of my $85 chenille scarves. 



Time to go make the cookies!
Wassail!!!!



                                                         

Mini Loop Scarves and Tassle Hats

I designed some new items a few weeks ago for the Duxbury Show.  Using the loop scarf idea I created a mini loop scarf that when worn looks like a rufled collar or very fancy wrapped scarf.

The technique uses differential shrinkage to create the ruffles.  The principle is based on the fact that different yarns shrink at different rates.  Wool shrinks at a faster rate than silk or tencel. Having that knowledge gives me a wealth of design possibilities.  So how does it begin?

I first make a sample weaving.  This tells me how close to sett the yarn and where to place the yarns that I want to shrink.  It gives me a chance to play around with different color possibilites and to observe what happens when the yarns are woven and then washed.

 

Woven Sampler


From the sampler I make adjustments to the warp on the loom and decide what colors I will use in the weft. Then the piece is woven.

After twisting the fringe and washing, the scarf is ready for someone to wear.



Finished Mini Loop Scarf

Another new item for me is my Tassle Hat.  When I went into my stash of extra woven fabric, I played around with it to make a more informal hat than my beret style hat.  I added a spiral tassle and a handwoven flower and VOILA, a hat is born!

  

 These hats have lots of additude for the fun loving person.

If you are in the Plymouth, MA area you can see both of these items at my Holiday Studio Open House on Saturday, December 4.  Check my website for details, http://www.judyconnorjones.com/.   

I love to hear your comments about my work especially new pieces so leave a comment and tell me what you think. You can also help others know about my work by passing on this blog for them to read and comment.

"Here's looking at you kid"! (I just saw Cassablanca the other night and couldn't resist using the quote.  That's a great movie!)