Smelly but beautiful

 My Stitch and Surface class tried out bleach gel pens for their surface design technique this semester. First we dyed fabrics black and navy. Then this week we all brought clorox gel pens to experiment with bleaching.

 We opened up the windows and I set up a fan to ventilate, but it was a cold night for that!! Some people drew directly with the pen-tip built into the bottle design. Other brought along sponge and rubber stamps to try printing with the bleach gel.

The variety of colors and marks were interesting. One has to work a bit fast with bleach gel, because it should be neutralized shortly after the color begins to change.
I wonder what these marks and fabrics will lead to over the rest of the semester!

Cold... but warm

 

This winter is so long and dark. Despite my northern ancestry, my blood longs for the Mediterranean.

I had a beautiful morning tessellating patterns for block printing with my adult students at Fleisher. The snowy afternoon chased away my teens, and only 2 showed up for class. But that's special too- having a chance to connect one-one-one with young people who would normally speak barely 2 words to an adult. I wonder if my elementary students connect to their classroom teachers the same way as they do with me in art. Is it art? Is it me? I seem to get their smiles and hugs and best behavior more often than not. It's a privilege to share their joy and creativity and growth.
Yesterday morning after we said the pledge all together in the cafeteria at school, a first grader took my hand and held it as we walked up the stairs with her class. In the evening I went shopping at Old Navy and one of my (sometimes challenging) 3rd graders was there. He rushed over to hug me, and I got to tell his mother how wonderful he'd been doing in class that morning. She looked so happy and relieved- I don't think she hears good things very often from his classroom teacher. I have so many moments like these that fill me up.

I get impatient sometimes for my studio, my needle and thread and cloth and paint and dye. But what's the most effective means of making a better, more beautiful world ? Filling it with beautiful objects that may last beyond my lifetime fills me with some satisfaction of eternity.. or at least longevity. But being a positive element in children's and people's lives, connecting them with creativity, helping them be better communicators of ideas, encouraging them to be empathetic, attentive, and careful may have greater reach in the world.
But I still have to stitch and draw and paint and print.

Sketches from Montana

There is no way I'm ready yet to distill my experiences of traveling cross-country on my way to Montana. But I've been away from home for a week now, and am becoming saturated with beauty and fresh air. I miss my family and environment back home, but I'm having a great time just making art and absorbing new inspiration out here. Here's a sneak peak at my sketches from the past few days:

 The retreat is on a property surrounded by fir trees and stumps leftover from clearing the overgrowth. Our host mentioned an idea to personify the trees, and suddenly all these stumps became symbols of people intertwined by root systems just as we are connected in social relationships.

 Today we drove out to Glacier National Park and I sketched the entire time- I love to do "snapshot" sketches when on road-trips to capture the fleeting landscape. The Rockies are immense and scary and breathtaking and awe-some in it's true sense. We kept saying "Wow!" which does not express the overwhelming awe of seeing the peaks rise straight up from the valleys, and waterfalls gushing down rock faces, and narrow roads that wind up and over along the cliffs with a mere stone wall separating you from a precipice.

When you see such incredible vistas you wonder why you waste life in a tiny row-home in a crowded, littered city neighborhood....
I will enjoy the present, the landscape, and the time to be with other creative people doing what I love.

Animal sketches and some play

 My horse skull sculpture caused a sleepless night last week- I kept dreaming about how to fit all the planes together. The interaction of the jaw joint and eye sockets is very intricate. I'm hoping to find it all fired and ready for me to see tomorrow night.

 Another nightmarish night brought some bears to my door. I dreamed of moving into a new house near Fairmount park, and bears were crawling all around the wraparound porch. I've always wanted a porch- but could do without bears.

Last week there were 2 lifeless fish to sculpt in class, but I wasn't very interested.
Today was the first day I really had off and totally to myself since I don't know when- so I spent it in the studio. I kept hearing somebody clumping around on the top floor, and it got my imagination going. Since my mind wasn't on my embroidery hoop I pricked my fingers, and suddenly had an idea for a short stop motion animation. I played a bit and put this rough video sketch together. I think it could turn in to something more:

View from the studio

 On this last day of Spring Break, I spent a beautiful 3 hours in the studio. It was a balmy 63 degrees finally- no need to bundle up! My "wall" got another inch of running stitch. I also spent about an hour up on the 5th floor drawing the skyline in water soluble marker on a 6 inch by 6 foot length of white cotton. The 5th floor is really nice- no dividing walls, just the full expanse of wooden floor, 16 foot wooden beamed ceilings, and windows running the length of both sides of the building for an almost 360 degree view of Philadelphia. My panorama covers only the northeast to southeast view over Port Richmond and Fishtown, from Tacony bridge down to the Ben Franklin. Eventually I'll stitch it up for a nice line drawing. Maybe when I get sick of running stitch on the wall I can shift over and do some backstitch on the drawing.

*sigh* back to school in the morning. Just 10 more weeks till Summer vacation.

Spring Break

I am soaking up every last drop of Spring Break free time doing everything I love and recharging my creative batteries. First off, I've spent lots of time with family, who I feel like I barely ever see with our crazy everyday schedules.

 We visited Laurel Hill Cemetery for the first time, where there is an awesome view of the Schuylkill River as well as some fascinating funerary sculpture and architecture. It's a strange city within a city.

 We visited the Philadelphia Art Museum, partly to see the Peale painting my daughter is currently researching for a school project. But I loved seeing some new works hanging in the Prints and Works on Paper hall, especially this panoramic charcoal drawing by Mei-Ling Hom. We also went through the Outsider art exhibition and I snapped this charming bird collage by James Castle:

I've spent some time in the studio every day. (oh blessed, beautiful, quiet studio- I've missed you) I'm working on a large "wall" piece with lots of patterned running stitch to fuse the applique layers together, so my fingers are starting to get calloused again from pushing the needle. Today, I took a little stitching break and sketched the odd cast iron shapes of my sewing table legs:

 Tomorrow our adventures will continue, but I'm most excited about Friday's Stations of the Cross exhibition at Norris Square, 3 pm. I'm looking forward to sharing this piece with the crowd:

The great perks of teaching are the lovely breaks. But believe me, these breaks are very well deserved and crucial to the well-being of teachers. Teaching is both the most rewarding and the most stressful job I've ever had. I'm very thankful for this week off to relax, renew my creative spirit, and refresh my inspiration. I will be totally ready to meet the challenges of the last few months of school!

How to pass the time

I have a new sketchbook. On Sundays my daughter has a 3 hour language lesson, and I stick around to socialize with the other parents. On our way in today she told me I should write and draw pictures in it for a story. I asked her what it should be about, and she said, "The fox who stole winter". I asked her to elaborate a little, and she proceeded to spin a tale of a fox who worried about skinny rabbits, and who wanted it to always be warm and sunny so the rabbits would come out and fatten themselves up on the grass. So I sat and drew this for the first half hour:

I think it would make a good myth- how the fox got his white-tipped tail... trying to sweep up the snow.

The brain is an amazing thing. Where do such ideas come from? What made her think of foxes? How did this image spring from my imagination and pen? How lucky I am to share a creative spirit with my child!



A School of Fish

 Today my daughter and I went to one of my favorite places in Philadelphia- the Wagner Free Institute of Science. It's a natural history museum that was founded in the Victorian era, and which has retained its original design and layout of specimens for over 100 years. It's like stepping back into time, and yet also absolutely timeless and relevant.

 Specimens range from minerals, insects, fossils, crustaceans, various sea life, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Some are taxidermied, some are skeletal. All are a visual feast for an artist like me. Today I focused on drawing fish, as I have a glimmer of an idea for a bulletin board I want to  do for my art room to kick off the year. It's the best place to find things to draw!

I miss drawing. I'm pretty good at it, but I feel a little rusty. It's funny seeing these 3 pictures together all about the same size and proportion. In actuality the top fish is a 6.5 foot long Tarpon that's about as big as me, the middle porcupine fish is about 15 inches in diameter, and the little trunkfish at the bottom are only about 5 inches long!

The Wagner has education programs during the school year for classes that want a field trip. I actually like it better than taking kids to the Academy of Natural Sciences because it's just full of specimens and has very little text around. At the Academy the experience is very directed and there's a lot of information to read. There's something wonderful about just having access to their incredible collection with minimal direction- it fosters curiosity and exploration.

summer art camp II

Finished up another week of summer camp at Fleisher teaching Painting and Drawing for 11-13 year olds. Here's some of our fanciness:

Group mark-making value scale

surreal still life objects

our completed grid enlargement of a coral reef

It was a good week with some very quiet young adolescents. I'm also halfway finished an artist-in-residence at a community center in South Philly where I'm painting a mural with about 15 teens.

a sneak peek at the mural-in-progress at th Houston Center

After all the busy-ness of summer art camps, I spent Saturday up in New Hope/Lambertville criss-crossing the Delaware. We came home with a new musical treasure- a ukulele!

my contemplative girl looking over the Delaware

I hope all the goodness of this past week and weekend spills over into this coming week...

Teaching, teaching, sewing

I don't have a lot to say lately. It's been incredibly hot here. At least I get to spend most of my time making art with young and old in blessed air conditioning. Here's a glimpse into the studios this week:

my 11-13 year olds are doing a grid enlargement of a coral reef

my adults are doing expressive self-portraits



realistic self-portraits are a challenge

 Not much personal artwork going on- today I cut and started assembling a linen wrap tunic. I wish I had someone to help me pin and fit it- I think I did alright, but it's hard to wear something and pin it yourself. I'm working loosely off a shirt pattern, so the cut wasn't perfect. Some pin tucks, darts, and pleats helped shape it a bit. I was disappointed with how much fabric the sleeves ate up- I was hoping for the tunic length to be nearly knee-length, and it's just a little past hip-length. I also wasn't able to do as deep a wrap over the front. But perhaps I could find a contrasting fabric to make an extension. Ah well. It's still fun just making something for me.
Stay cool........... stay creative.

Get your creativity on! Summer classes available!

Summer is an excellent time to give yourself a creative vacation! Summer classes for adults at Fleisher include 6-week classes that meet once a week and one-week long intensives that meet 5 days in a row.

I'm offering both options this summer and the best thing is classes are truly affordable! Here's a sneak peak at some things you can learn with me:

SHIBORI DYEING: this 6-week long class will cover several techniques for resist-dyeing cloth inspired by Japanese traditions. Techniques will include binding, stitching, clamping, and pole-wrapping to get various marks on fabric.You can dye yardage, make motif fabric panels, or dye your own clothing such as scarves and shirts. If time allows we will also learn a few sashiko quilting patterns to combine our shibori-dyed fabrics into a functional or artistic quilt! This class meets Mondays from 6:30-9:30 pm. July 9th-Aug 13.

EXPERIMENTS WITH SELF-PORTRAITURE: this 6-week long class meets Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30 July 11-Aug 15. This mixed media class will explore many forms of self-portraiture, from traditional compositions to symbolic representations to help creative individuals learn more about themselves through art-making.  We will look through the lenses of family, history, emotion, and daily experience to express our perceptions of the self. Media may include drawing, painting (water-based media), and collage depending on your personal preferences.

STITCH AND SURFACE: this one week intensive meets Monday-Friday 10 am to 1 pm August 6th-10th. We will expand our stitch vocabulary with a doodle sampler, experiment with frottage for getting color/texture on fabric, and create an embroidered image with the theme of Memory/Memorial.

Registration is open online at http://www.fleisher.org/workshops/adults.php Sign up soon to ensure that classes will run! Invite a friend or relative to take a class with you!



Some drawings

 Stopped on a long solo hike along the Wissahickon to sketch. I pulled out my paint set, but alas! had no brushes or water. What's the survivalist artist to do? I found some pine needles at my feet and fashioned them into a brush, then poured the remains of my coffee into the lid of my cup, and painted some coffee brown into the trees.

 Later on at a diner, with an interminable wait for service, I sketched out some "Sprouts" drawings. My daughter showed the game to me- start with 9 dots, connect 2 dots and add a new dot on the new line, dots can only have 3 lines touching them, lines cannot cross. I was trying to figure out if there was a maximum number of moves. I think it might be 26. Then I was thinking about exponents, fibonacci series, and fractals for an upcoming residency project....

I accidentally shmeared some ketchup on the placemat while I was drawing. Napkins and placemats are the best place to draw.

What do hopscotch and abstract art have in common?

On Thursday afternoon before teaching class I happened upon an unusual sight. At first I saw what appeared to be a regular hopscotch board drawn in chalk on the sidewalk. But instead of a regular 1-10 hopscotch board, it stretched halfway down the block, and upon closer inspection I saw it was numbered from 1 up to 60!! I loved this glimpse of game creativity in the middle of the city block. Why not change a game to make it more interesting or last longer?! Why should hopscotch stop at 10? After a quick glance around to make sure nobody was watching, my inner 10 year old squealed in glee and I hopped down the block.

 So what does this have to do with abstract art? Well, the whole idea behind abstraction is that something is "Abstracted"- made less concrete or literal and removed from its original meaning or source. Perhaps, like the epic hopscotch board, and idea is pushed past its boundaries or altered from its original purpose.
On Friday night I went out to the "West Philly Abstraction" exhibit at the University City Arts League for the opening reception. It was, of course, great to meet and speak with some familiar artists, but equally great to see some intriguing work.

 Marina Barker's stained glass pieces were an interesting contrast of order and sprawl. She shifts the attention of traditional stained glass from focusing on the color of the glass to exploring the line potential of the leading inbetween the panes. I like how the top piece seems like an exploded or mushroomed version of the lower one. (kind of like that huge hopscotch board!)

 Tremain Smith had 2 pieces in the exhibit.  I liked this one for its extreme complementary contrast. Tremain seems to be really pushing her color relationships lately- for a long time I remember her work having either analogous or pastel colors- much softer. This one vibrates in its intensity. I've been hearing the phrase "sacred geometry" a lot lately- Tremain certainly considers sacred geometry in her compositions, but these singing colors also touch that intuitively mathematical part of our brains that immediately recognizes pattern and balance.

 Caroline Letham Santa  had a large wall piece that pushed our perception of material and surface. It's almost a trompe l'oeil, tricking the casual observer into seeing a crumpled and flattened metal sheet. It's just a grey square mounted on a diagonal, right? Up close you can see how richly worked the surface is. The paper is creased, crumpled, torn, stained (purposeful? happy accidents?), and graphite is rubbed, drawn, erased to create a moonscape of texture on the surface. It's so subtle from afar, but it's one of those kinds of pieces that I could never tire of looking at and exploring.

If you have a chance to get out to University City, it's worth it. check out all the artists here. If you can't, then think about what you could abstract, push, transform, expand, or vibrate.

Fading color

my sample strip with dots and stripes. I didn't leave the bleach gel on too long, and I've got subtle pink left behind

 Last night was so much fun! I had my Stitch and Surface students experiment with rust dyeing and bleaching. The previous week we dyed a piece of fabric using the low-immersion method in multi colors, so there's a range of color there. Then last night I asked everyone to bring a Clorox bleach gel pen to see if we could get some bleached out drawings on our fabric. We're starting an abstract pattern project, so this will be a great first layer to work with.

I really like Shelby's experiment with a variety of morphing patterns

There's a diiferent effect when you drizzle vs. scrape the gel on. These were left longer and there's yellowish color left behind

Oh that Havana Brown dye!!!! Bleached to a greenish yellow.

Here's the wall of everyone's results. If you try this at home, make sure you are in a well-ventilated area and wear gloves to protect your hands. Use this on cotton- no silk- and work on a  protected surface that won't be damaged by the bleach. Normally when bleaching fabric you'd want to dilute the bleach- and this was definitely NOT diluted and it was a very FAST bleach-out. It only took a few minutes for the color to leach away and we immediately rinsed off the bleach gel in water. This effect worked best on darker fabrics for high contrast results. Commercially dyed or printed fabrics took a little longer- the hand-dyed was best.

Unfortunately it's kind of an expensive process- the bleach gel pen cost me $2.99 and only covered about a yard of fabric before being used up. However, the instant drawing tool aspect of it being a PEN with dual size tips, made it very interesting to work with. And the fact that it was in gel form, not liquid made the results have more definitive edges.

A bold black line

I've been stitching up a storm over here ever since I was informed of an exhibition opportunity for February. I'll be having a solo show at the Shipley School's gallery, and I want to have new work for the show. My past 2 years of grad school have been more focused on education than studio work, and the studio classes have projects that aren't always related to my preferred focus of medium or subject matter.

So to that end, I've begun at least 2 new pieces- both long, narrow cloths. One will be a vertical river-like strip, and this one will be a horizontal panorama. I've been quite enamored by a spool of black tatting-weight thread lately, and have been enjoying drawing with it on cloth.

 This skewed view is a night's worth of whipped backstitch to draw the Ben Franklin bridge and Camden waterfront onto some red silk I cut off my wall piece. The whole piece will be about 3 ft long and only 4 inches wide. I pieced together the panorama from various screen shots from Google street view, traced it onto vellum as a pattern, but forgot my transfer paper, so have been free-handing it. I really like line drawing in thread, and a whipped backstitch makes such a lovely line.

For the past week I've been teaching a morning intensive Stitch and Surface class, and the black thread was brilliant on this yellow arashi linen. This is my demonstration sampler which built up as I showed students individual stitches. The bits of color are either Shisha embroidery or reverse applique pieces. I love, love, love reverse applique....

The spool of black thread is nearly exhausted. I'm going to have to run out for more soon. I wonder sometimes how many miles of thread I've stitched in my lifetime...

Some more right brain drawing

In moments of waiting for other things to happen I've managed to squeeze in some more drawing exercises following the "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" book. I'm working on the "negative spaces" drawing section. You're supposed to close one eye to flatten your view and look for the space created by the negative spaces around an object rather than the form of the object itself. It's supposed to bypass our literal tendency to recognize, name, and symbolize things.

I had more than a few minutes in the car waiting for the Philadelphia parking authority to become helpful. Thus I explored the spaces around the barbed wire fence (above). The drawing method felt a little stiff to me, so I also did a version in my usual sketching manner (below).

 There was quite a long wait at the salon waiting for my daughter's hair to get cut, so I pulled out my sketchbook to draw an empty chair. This one really felt more like the "puzzle pieces" of negative spaces to assemble. The book recommends using a viewfinder to frame the scene. I found drawing a format rather than using the full page to be similarly helpful. 

 With all this negative space drawing, I altered one of the exercises that's recommended. The author tells us to cut a figure out of a magazine page and glue the background pieces to a black board. This results in a silhouette showing how the negative space meets right up with the positive space. Yin and Yang in a way.
I thought this might be a good exercise for helping students recognize how objects can be broken down or made up through geometric shapes. So I found an interestingly-posed figure, cut her out of the picture, glued the background to my sketchbook, and filled the positive space with various sized forms which make up the figure.

I have a lot of students who say "I can't draw!" I wonder if an exercise like this one might help them see the building blocks. What if this figure was made, then a second, mirror image figure was drawn copying the shapes, then fleshed out?