2014 in Review – a tiny bit late

This year has been one of the most active of what now feels like a career as an artist. SO MANY amazing firsts happened this year, and all of them were linked to an amazing group of colleagues and friends, so to ALL OF YOU – thank you so much!

It is hard to know where to begin so I am going to start with collaborations and then go to some personal milestones. I curated or helped put together some exhibitions including the women create biennial with my amazing enabler Jennifer Schlick!

Then March became April and my hometown was invaded by two waves of British artists in an event we called Colonize, with an exhibition across two galleries, workshops, lectures and lots of community building. None of which would have happened without help from Wendy (SCI) & Bruce (Basement Arts Project) and all the artists involved. Not only did we get to be on the radio – we also became video stars and front page news!

we made the FRONT PAGE of the local newspaper!!

I also put together this exhibit for the Dykeman Young Gallery – and then I was asked to become a part time curator at the 3rd on 3rd Gallery, and created these two shows to round out the year.

I’m looking forward to playing with new artists in the gallery in the coming year!

I was also able to share my work through workshops, here in my own studio and at a few other places, like WNYBAC, The Morgan Conservatory and CBA in NYC. To everyone who signed up to take a class with me – an enormous THANK YOU for giving me the opportunity to travel and share my work and meet such amazing artists!! I REALLY hope next year provides some similar experiences for me!

Of course I did also manage to squeeze in (not enough) work of my own. It seems this year has been a bit bogged down in large slow projects, but of course I made plenty of books, some beautiful commissions, and got to play in my art journal frequently.

just learned this french stitch – so pretty!

my table at WNYBAC’s bookfest

OH and I was completely sidetracked by sewing on all manner of things and learning how to put needlelace on leaves – I am pretty sure there is more of THAT to come

magnolia leaf with needle lace bars

photo by Jennifer Schlick

I exhibited a bit, and I also managed to fit a small solo show in, along with many trips to hospitals and doctors as members of my immediate family struggled with health problems.

Thank you for indulging my trip down memory lane, here’s to a very happy super healthy art-filled new year for us all!

bittersweet

This has been a busy week, the Women Create exhibit and month of events is drawing to a close, the last salon was last night, the closing is Saturday, on SWAN Day, when once again there will be an art market full of amazing women artists and a free drop-in mini zine workshop with Wendy Williams and Jean McEwan from the UK. Then a final private reception for the artists and their guests, and its over, the show comes down and a new chapter begins.

The reason I am so busy is I am also the “next chapter”, coordinating an exhibit with over 20 European artists from SCIBase, a group I am also a member of. April will be another whirlwind month of lectures, workshops, performances and a house full of visiting artists. The exhibit is so large it will span two galleries in Jamestown! I’m feeling a little anxious, I hope the artists will enjoy their time here and make some fruitful connections for their work. And I hope I am not too grumpy a hostess for their stay! You can see all about our goings on by going to the colonize page on this blog, here

It has been hard to fit in much time in the studio, I have been trying to get caught up on both my marking and my spring cleaning before April begins, but of course I have managed to squeeze a little time in. A new set of wings is finished and I have been steadily sewing on any leaf that presents itself. So one little peek…

 

an opening and a few experiments

Women Create opened this past Saturday, to an enormous crowd of well wishers. You can see some great pictures from the opening here. There was such a crush I was rather anxious for my map of hours, the paper if quite sturdy but probably wouldn’t hold up to being trodden on! Here it is at the opening

map of hours

close up of the top of the map

As the map is on display again, I have switched gears and started a few experiments. I have been longing to make something with embroidered wings after seeing this beautiful work of Michelle Carrager who did the costumes for the Game of Thrones. I have had this whimsical idea of creating an colony of little insects from old computer keyboards. Old technology come to life. Here’s my first attempt

And then there is a little text & yarn experiment, I am not sure where this is going but it is fun just to play.

I have a thought about this one, but i am keeping it under my hat for a bit.

 

 

a new show goes up

I’ve been looking at a lot of art in the last week, but only a little of it is mine. I am co-director of a women’s art biennial created to coincide with SWAN Day celebrations around the globe. Today I finished helping Colin (our gallery genius) install the show. Deciding where everything should go is SUCH a challenge – and without his help I would still be there doing sums and moving things around, his experience is invaluable in actually getting the show on the walls. When I saw the juror’s selections I knew it would be a great show, but getting it up on the walls is so much work! It is really rewarding to be able to look around once everything is up. It IS a great show – I hope the juror will approve of our curatorial decisions, and I am looking forward to celebrating with the artists on Saturday night! If you are in the neighborhood I hope you’ll come take a look too.

rollercoaster

wow! well THAT was a weekend. First a big thank you to everyone who supported the Routes to Art open studio tour. I had a great time talking to people about my work and I even had time to finish up some bindings as I chatted. Then, in the middle of it all Saturday night, my daughter’s fiancé ended up being rushed to hospital and spending a few days in ICU – turns out he has type 1 diabetes – just what those poor kids needed, chronic disease and hospital bills right before their wedding – send as many good thoughts as you like their way!! All prayers gratefully accepted.

Monday I started back at the print shop for the summer – since I have been teaching I have scrimped and saved to be able to take the summer of to work in the studio, but this summer it is just not going to happen, too many major expenses, two kids in college and the wedding! I am feeling lucky that they were busy enough to take me back part time and that I have a skill to fall back on. Oh and the shop is within walking distance of my house so I can walk to work and back. Of course I am a little sad to give up my full days in the studio – so I guess I will just have to work harder and smarter when I am there.

Things are ticking over in the studio, ideas are still flooding out – most of what I worked on last week was functional stuff for the sale – hopefully soon I’ll have some more new fancy bindings to share, and perhaps some work for my upcoming show in August. (let’s hope so anyway). So I really need to get back to work. I hope I’ll have time to fill you in every now and then in the coming weeks.

One last thing, the Women Create project is still on display at CCAC on Main Street in Allegany, NY. We are having a reception on Friday night, so come on by and have a cupcake on us as we continue to celebrate the creativity of women in our community!

lying down for a bit

great upholstery fabric scraps become journal covers

Regular readers may have noticed it has been a bit quiet around here. I have been a bit under the weather with some still as yet undiagnosed heath issues. Yesterday I spent my rather meager energies in the studio, but I have been so tired lately I am having a hard time focusing and getting anything done. I spent yesterday getting a lot of scrap fabric journal covers sewn, so I guess my poor intern will be cutting paper again this week!I fiddled with a few other things but I didn’t feel up to measuring or any big projects – so really not much to show for my day’s work.  Hoping my energy returns and the mystery is diagnosed so I can get back to work.

I am sure Jen will take a better picture!

Today I went with Jen to hang the Women Create book installation at the Art on Main Gallery (at the CCAC). I never cease to be amazed how the repetition of objects can create such a wonderful visual effect. The books look great. As May is such a crazy month for both of us so the reception won’t be until May 25th, but if you are in the vicinity you can see the show for the entire month.

books, and more books

What a busy book-filled weekend I have had! Saturday I was at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair. There is really just something magical about hanging out with 100’s of other bookish nerds that words cannot explain. I had a fabulous day, and enjoyed sharing my new bindings with an appreciative audience. I was on cloud nine when I finally got home. (oh and don’t tell my hubby but I had only been there about 5 minutes before I bought MORE PAPER!!). Everyone at the WNYBAC and all the organizers should give themselves a huge pat on the back. If I ever win the lottery I am sending some money your way!

Sunday was back to work after all that fun. Jen and I installed the final part of the Women Create exhibit – the flag book installation. Neither of us likes ladders, which made for a slightly anxious afternoon, but when we were all done the final result is not too shabby! I am posting my fairly awful pictures here, but as soon as Jen processes hers I’ll add a link to her much superior ones.

Today I had to come back down to earth, lots of exams to grade and an interview. I hate interviewing, I spend the rest of the day uselessly repaying my answers critically in my head. There are times when I definitely wish I could let things go. Oh well, if it is meant to be it will, I have given it my best shot!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too – I am off to my studio to make another new binding – all those book people have me all revved up and my head is full of complicated new ideas – woot!!

freebie

My great friend Jen took all these amazing shots of the papers from yesterday’s Women Create  workshop. Some of you mixed media digital artists might want to take a look!

home again, home again

I am back! Wow that was a whirlwind – I need to decompress for a bit – but I have many thoughts and images left to share from my trip. For now I am happy just to be back in my studio, and back at work. Next up?  Tomorrow I am giving a brief talk about my trip to Sweden and the work I created for that trip as part of the Women Create salon series, then this weekend we finally begin working on the flag books for the installation – if you live nearby head over to the website to sign up for a spot – this is a FREE class! Then I need to really get cracking to finish up the book for “bound” so it arrives in Leeds in time for its debut! First though – an early night! My poor body is still stuck in between time zones and I am exhausted!!

busy, busy, busy!!

Yes – college is back in session, and I am busy!! I have very engaged enthusiastic students (right now) – so I am eagerly expecting a great semester of learning and growing together. It really fills me with energy when I have great students! Woot!!

The Stockholm project is finally taking shape and I have finished sewing all the tiny boxes and am finishing up the little books to go in them all. They look so amazing, worth the work after all. It looks as if I am going to be able to go to Stockholm for the weekend so I am nervous and exited about that. It seems like such a big scary step, to rub shoulders with all those real artists and curators. I hope I am up to the challenge. If any of you have advice to offer on places to stay in Stockholm, or things to do, where to eat etc, I’d love some insider info!

The Women Create project is slowly unfolding. The show is curated, the artists have been notified and as Jen is such a wonderful organizer, so far everything is going well.It was fun to use my neglected design skills to make this postcard for the show, I haven’t done much design work since I quit my day job, so it was nice to stretch my mind a bit!! Next stop – posters and workshop flyers – wow! I am going to need more hours in the day!! LOL!

I am still working on those blackwork embroidery bindings, they are slow, slow going, but I get such an enormous rush from completing one. It is a puzzle to figure out how  embroidery pattern can become a binding that will work, and then I am so happy when I put in the last stitch. I just keep thinking of more and more ways to explore the possibilities of this!! I am just brimming to the top with inspiration right now!

Lastly,  head on over to Seth’s blog the Altered Page for this weeks edition of the Master Class. You can find out which artist I would love to take a class with!! Although I don’t think you will be too surprised by my choice. I am really enjoying this “chapter” of the Pulse – it is fascinating to see who other artists would pick to study with.