What's happening in the Studio?

So what have I been up to in the first half of 2017? For starters I took some time off to relax, be with family, and enjoy the sunshine in Florida. I've realized that the sun energizes me and so my time in Florida is alway a wonderful time to be inspired.

To help that process I enrolled in an on-line class called "Creative Strength Training" led by Jane Dunnewold and her daughter, Zenna. This course is jam packed full of ideas, processes, fun, and serious contemplation. I am enjoying it to the "nth" degree! Since I've been going through serious re-evaluation of where my work is going, this is exactly what I need. Questions like, do I want to continue doing shows, do I want to continue making production items to sell, what will give me satisfaction in the work I do, how will I continue creating with physical ailments increasing, and most of all am I having fun and enjoying what I do, have been an on-going conversation with myself for a couple of years.

 So as that process continues, I am discovering some things.

1. My work needs to change. I work at a slower pace and am excited about creating new work that challenges me.

2. Learning and playing with new techniques is energizing.

3. Production work is not satisfying any more. It was a good run but it is time to move on.

4. I need to connect with artists of all mediums to explore and discuss new possibilities. The CST class has a wonderful Facebook Group with which to share insights, discoveries, and new learnings.

As I explore and move through this process I'd like to share some new work I'm developing. I've been working with this technique for about a year and I am enjoying the fact that it is an off loom technique. That has given my body some time to heal from all the years of weaving on a loom to produce for sales. It also gives me a sense of excitement to see how each piece turns out.

detail of 4" scarves

I started working with the technique by making silk scarves, both infinity and loose hanging. I just recently worked on a narrow version. I am selling these but they are limited in production. Each one, since the dye patterns are not duplicated, is truly one of a kind. As I explore I try to create new ways of weaving them.

4'' scarves

5" scarves

My CST on-line course is definitely an influence as I work on who I am as an artist and what I am meant to do and be. I have new ideas running around my head. Hopefully the ideas will emerge into something new, exciting, and wonderful. It's a challenge but, oh, am I having fun! Stay tuned!

Weaving an Advent Art Journey

What does weaving have to do with an Advent art journey?  As an artist and a person of faith, I believe that a God who created humans in his/her image would also give each and everyone of us the ability to create.  I know what you're thinking, "I don't have a creative bone in my body! What is she talking about!" Too often I hear this from people as they admire my woven work or quickly respond to my suggestion that they might be creative also. However, I believe that everyone has this ability.  You may not be able to do what I do, but somewhere in the depths of your being there is a creative spot.  It just needs to be brought out.  That's where community comes in.

One very important community for me is within the church.  Several years ago as I sat in worship I thought about how art is used in churches. It seemed to be all visual, if there even was any art, and the design and implementation was relegated to the "Artists".  That bothered me and I began to think how art could be more than just something we look at while sitting in the pews.  So I developed what I call "Participatory Art in Worship".  At the church where I was a member at the time, the minister, music director, and myself formed a worship team. Together we led the worship attendees through a new creative involvement. It would be too lengthy to go into details in this post of the many installations we led but you can read more about them if you click on the side label Ecclesiastical Installations.  Here is one link but there are several others, http://studiojottings.blogspot.com/2010/03/ecclesiastical-installation.html. From these posts you can get an idea of how this art form developed over several years.

So that leads me to today and the work we are doing at Pilgrim Church in Duxbury, MA.  Advent is a time of preparation. Over the four weeks of Advent to help us prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child we are using participatory art as a way to "Prepare the Way for Hope, Peace, Joy and Love" in our lives and the world. We are weaving (get the connection?!) a journey through word, thought, music, and art.

The first Sunday in Advent was Sunday, November 30.  The theme for our Advent Journey is "Prepare the Way of the Lord".  During the service, we reflected on where we see signs of HOPE as we prepare the way for hope in our lives and the world. In preparation of the Christ Child's arrival we are building a manger as the centerpiece of our installation. Each person in worship was asked to write their reflective word or phrase on a paper log which later we added to the manger.  The children during the Children's Time brought  driftwood (since Duxbury is an ocean town) as a symbol of building the manger.

After worship during the coffee hour our paper logs were added to the manger frame.  These written reflective thoughts are prayers which are offered as part of the manger. All were welcome to help attach the logs and the driftwood to the manger frame.

Each week in Advent we will add to the installation as we think about preparing the way for Peace, Joy, and Love. The completion of the installation will be Christmas Eve. I'll share pictures of the process and each week's installation.  Keep checking back to my blog and follow along on your own journey of preparation. Better yet, if you live near Duxbury, MA come join us! http://pilgrimchurchofduxbury.org

Gallery Exhibit - Cranberry Country Weavers

Yesterday I spent the day helping to hang an exhibit of weaving done by the Cranberry Country Weaver's Guild members. The exhibit is at the West Bridgewater Library in West Bridgewater, MA where our guild meets once a month. www.cranberrycountryweavers.com.

It was a great collaborative effort to arrange and display the work so that no matter what the level of weaving each piece was presented with it's own special attention to detail and given it's own space.  This is the first time the CCW Guild has put on an exhibit. It was not juried which is a great tribute to how this guild works.  Everyone is treated equally and all weaving is appreciated. It's one of the things that makes this guild so special to me.  We are there to help and learn from each other and have fun along the way.

So here are some pictures of the exhibit. Of course if you live near W.Bridgewater, Ma I encourage you to go see this exhibit.  The work is great!

          Enjoy the exhibit!

Fiber Philadelphia

The most amazing thing happens in Philadelphia, PA every other year.  The "City of Brotherly Love" is host to everything and all things fiber art. It is a city wide event with forums and symposiums along with guest artist workshops and lectures.  The whole month of March is dedicated to this event.  All the galleries focus on fiber art exhibits with artists who enter the shows from all over the world.  It is an event that started about 10 years ago and has continued to grow since then. 

The Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers will have their own annual fiber art exhibit called "Celebration of Fibers". It opens March 23 and will be held at the Philadelphia Guild House in Manayunk. It is included in this great whirlwind of gallery hopping that occurs around the city.  I will be exhibiting 3 pieces in this show all of which are very different.  If you live in Philadelphia or have a chance to get to Philadelphia, I would encourage you to visit as many galleries as possible.  I know you will have a great time seeing all the wonderful creative work that the city is honoring. I don't know of any other city that does as great of job of focusing on Fiber Art as Philadelphia does.

Here are a few links that you might want to check out:
http://bit.ly/AjJv0c
http://bit.ly/zJ2d5C
http://www.pghw.org/

A Weaver's Picnic

Diligently weaving paper hearts at the CCW picnic!

So what do weaver's do on a picnic?  Enjoy delicious food, show and pass around our latest creations, and talk warp and weft! Today was my weaving guild's annual picnic. It's the last meeting until September when our new year of programing begins.  We met in one of our members home and sat on her lovely deck in her back yard.  it was a beautiful day and believe me, here in New England it couldn't have been more welcome!

It's always fun at this picnic to connect and see what wonderful creations people have made or are working on. We do a show and tell and pass the items around for all to see. It's fun to hear about others plans for the summer, and it is wonderful to share good food.  Did you know that weaver's are generally good cooks also?

Today, our host had a fun little project for us to do - weave a paper heart!  Now this might look like it would be an elementary process for a group of weaver's but it was interesting to see how challenged some of us were over a simple project.  We laughed, we joked, we felt silly, but all did complete their woven hearts. The hearts made a lovely little basket to put candy or "what nots" in.  So we all took home a picnic favor, joyful hearts, and warm memories of another year of weaving camaraderie.

I look forward to this group.  I am always inspired by the sharing that goes on. I'll look forward to seeing everyone again in September.  I'm sure there will many summer projects to see when we start again in the fall and I can't wait to see what other's have done.

What groups do you participate in that give meaning or inspiration to your work or living?  I encourage you to write about them in the comment section and share how important they are in your life.  Take a few moments to be grateful for their influence on  you.  Better yet let them know how important they are to you.

I know if I couldn't go to the Cranberry Country Weavers' meetings anymore, I would feel like something very important in my life was missing.  Besides they understand my language!!!!!

Visit http://www.cranberrycountryweavers.com/#anchor_10551 for more information and pictures about this group.

Weekend Inspiration

I am getting ready to go to the NEWS conference. NEWS is the New England Weavers' Seminar. It is held every other year and is put on by the weaving guilds in the New England area. It will be 4 days of workshops, lectures, exhibits, networking, meeting other weavers, spinners, and dyers, and of course the "shop till you drop" vendor hall! Yahooo00000!

I look forward to these events because it is always a wonderful source of inspiration to me to see what others are doing and to be a part of the great exchange of information that takes place. I am always amazed at the number of weavers, spinners, and dyers that are out there and we all converge for this long weekend. It is also a time to connect with friends I've met over the years and do not often see. We get caught up on each other's lives and what we are weaving now.

Discussions of warp and weft, loom brands, number of shafts, drafts, ends per inch will go on all weekend. It's like a secret coded language will be spoken! And I love every minute of it!!!

Hopefully I will have pictures to post when I get back.

Guild Day

Today was the Cranberry Country Weaver's Guild picnic. This is a wonderful group of weavers, spinners, and dyers who live anywhere from south of Boston to Cape Cod. We even have one member who comes from Rhode Island. We are a small group as guilds go but have a wonderful time together learning, sharing, and eating (!) together.

The last meeting of the year is always a picnic and sale. Everyone brings a dish to share and we meet at a member's home and share stories, weaving tales, and our lives. There are always lots of goodies (yarns, books, periodicals, used equipment) to buy that can be added to our already over abundant stash! There is no contest here. We are all going to die with more yarn than we can ever use! But we are happy!!!

I am thankful for this group. They keep me grounded in the joy and love of just being a weaver.

They are my source of inspiration and they are all my mentors.