Homemade Artist Retreat--Part II

We decided to sleep in a little on Sunday since we'd stayed up late chatting, but we got to work after enjoying leftover scones and some Darjeeling. This earlier art journal entry by Lynda was my inspiration:

Great journal page by Lynda. Isn't her script gorgeous?!
Check out her process here: Step One, Step Two, Step Three, Step Four.

I had a hard time with the process. Laying down the initial colors was easy. Coming up with a concept was easy. Making a rich work of art was a lot harder. We each gave the other one of our gelli prints to incorporate, which was a fun challenge.

My print on the left.
Lynda's print on the right.
I immediately knew I wanted to use the spiral stamp on the left side of the page as a clock face.

Lynda went in beautiful directions with her pages and it was a lot of fun to see her creative process in action. Her challenge was that she chose paper from me that had a lot of red in it. It’s funny—she uses a lot of pink, but red, even the idea of red, gives her mental hives. I think she proved to herself, though, that red is definitely a color she should use—or at least she proved it to me! J

After working all day (with a quick break for grilled cheese with excellent ripe tomatoes) I had accomplished this in my handmade journal and had a slightly desperate feeling in my stomach:

I was done but it wasn't really finished.

Then we went out for an al fresco supper at in Providence, ate (in my case) a lovely seafood pasta dish while listening to live big band music, went for a little walk, made some goofy selfies, and topped it off with sublime lime tart and iced mocha.

We also spent some time while waiting for our food capturing what we’d done and felt so far. And that was the key for me.

My concept was about letting go of time every once in a while and how that’s uplifting and it was based on my stay with Lynda. When we got home and I saw my work from across the room I knew what was missing: all the experiences I was having. So I added text about that in the background along with some marks to separate concepts . . . and a circular stamp to mirror the clock face . . . and a square stamp to mimic the shape of the clock. And then I got out the Antique Linen Distress Ink, and that pulled it all together.

It unified everything and toned it all down a little and did some other indefinable thing, but I came to the conclusion that

Another page in my little Moleskine.

Time and space sometimes are the key,

and in the end I was really satisfied with my first foray into art journaling.

Homemade Artist Retreat--Part I

We can see from the length of time between my last post and this one that neither New Year's Resolutions nor public shaming have a tremendous effect on my posting behavior. Inspiration does, though,

My family and I recently spent several exciting days in New York City.

From Roosevelt Island toward Manhattan on the 4th of July.

Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline.

One World Trade Center behind the South Tower Pool.

Tibetan street party including folk dancing to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday.

From the High Line in Chelsea.

The Guggenheim.

 Along 5th Ave. on the Upper East side.

Glass bamboo forest in the Met.

The vestibule in the iconic NY Public Library building.

The sky the morning I left NYC.

Then they drove back to Tennessee while I took a train to visit my dear friend Lynda for three days of nonstop art, great food, and stimulating conversation and I’d like to share a bit of that.

Preview--a little piece of paper that looked like a landscape at the bottom of my Moleskine journal page.

Lynda does beautiful art journaling and I thought this might be a good opportunity to learn to let go in my art, to be free and spontaneous, to not work things to death. And it was, but it was not always easy. 

I’m really glad Lynda was willing to take the lead and teach me—it’s good to be a student every once in a while and she is a patient, enthusiastic, creative teacher.

The day I got there we had a lovely dinner on the ocean with her daughter—it was lovely to catch up with a delightful young woman I’ve known for so many years and to hear about some of her future plans.

Madeleine and me chatting at dinner, manipulated by Lynda.

I woke up the first full day to smell scones, Lynda's homemade sour cream scones! 

We enjoyed a little feast of scones with blueberry jam and clotted cream and Assam tea, and then we got to work. In the morning we gessoed, I pages for my hand-stitched art journal and we pages in Moleskine notebooks we used to document our time together.

After walking to Gregory's in Douglas for yummy calzones Lynda explained how to sew my journal together then we gelli printed all afternoon. 

The table before we started.

Printing well underway.

I’ve gelatin printed before, and though I do miss the gradual breakdown of the gelatin plate and the artifacts that leaves, I do love not having to make a plate and skim the air bubbles off and I certainly like the fact that it’s always ready and doesn’t mold. I will definitely be getting at least one—just have to decide what size/s and shape/s.

We took turns creating prints and passed the gelli plate back and forth, leaving the ghost images from earlier prints so there were artifacts of Lynda’s choices in my prints and artifacts of my choices in hers. Interesting how each of us is distinct despite that in color and pattern. We made 41 prints altogether. Had a great time creating secondary patterns with the way we applied the paint.

Lynda's prints

My prints

We also began our little Moleskines.

Paper towel bits from our work surface, paper resists, and a stamp made out of a foam food container plus leftover ink from the brayer.

That evening she took me to Minado, a fantastic Japanese buffet in Natick, MA. First of all, the food was amazing.

First trip to the sushi/sashimi bar.

Second of all, the variety was stunning.

1/3 of the Salad Bar

Steak and salmon tataki, etc.

1/4 of he hot bar

Third of all, Jen and Tom Wahlund I got you a gift certificate as a housewarming present. It’s a bit of a drive from South Hadley but you won’t be sorry I made you drive there.

1/4 to 1/6 of the sushi bar

Fourth, conversation all day, while driving, and during dinner was lovely, by turns deep or light-hearted, absent or heartfelt, practical or whimsical, and it was all good.

New Year's Resolution

All righty--my new year's resolution is to post at least once a week. There--right out there where folks can see it.

Currently I'm on the last step (well, second to last if you include finishing the edges) of my all-by-hand commission. It has taken longer than I expected, but I am pretty pleased with the results. However, Sharon gets to see it first, so no spoilers here.

I'm also working on sketching an idea a day. Unfortunately, I sketched my first idea four days ago and my second idea two days ago, hence "working on." The sketches are very small (a little bigger than a trading card) and will eventually become whole-cloth quilts of various sizes. This will allow me to focus on the sculptural aspects of the quilting--and make a number of affordable works that will help me refine my technique even more.

I hope to offer Quilting Basics at Heavenly Stitches again this late winter/spring--I'm just having trouble finding a day of the week that I have free for 8 weeks (the duration of the class). I'm on it, though!

Next post: sketch photos and perhaps a little peek at the commission and, hopefully, class dates.

What I Wish I'd Just Experienced

I wish I could say I've just visited this exhibit, but I haven't. However, they have a pretty good online trailer:

I love the internet--I can visit galleries even when I can't and get inspired at any hour of the day or night.

Progress (though outdated) on my commission

Well, I keep meaning to take and send photos right away, but something always happens. So these photos are a little out of date for me, but certainly progress for you.

 

And here's what it looked like when I first basted it. Right now I am adding dimension color, and secret messages all over it with the quilting. Soooooo much fun!

Words to Live By

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

 --T.S. Elliot

Facing Ourselves

There's a really interesting exhibit at the Main Art Center in the Downtown Kingsport Association right now called "Facing Ourselves" Here are the artists who are involved:

And here is the description of the show:

The Challenge: 15 photographs of 15 artists who create 15 portraits. Any media. Any style. Six by six inches. Period.

The Result:Facing Ourselves, an exhibit of nearly 225 portraits.

Viewing the Exhibit:

• The source photograph of each artist hangs by the portraits of that artist.
• Each position in a grid of portraits corresponds to the same artist in all grids.
• These positions correspond with the placement of  the photos above.

And here's my self-portrait:

(c) 2011 "Cindi Huss" by Cindi Huss

But I don't do faces. I'm not good at them. They're hard and people get cranky when you portray them badly. So you might ask why on earth I committed to make a whole bunch of portraits. Well, you see, like most other things that are good for me, I lay the blame squarely at my mother's feet.

Eating my lima beans and Brussel sprouts. Her.

Cleaning my room. Her.

Taking a shower once a week as a kid whether I needed it or not. Well, OK, that was mostly Dad.

So, fine. My folks were all about bringing me up right and teaching me to do what was good for me whether I liked it or not.

And that's why I took on this crazy project. I learned a lot including that I can, indeed, do faces. I still find it to be a, shall we say, character-building exercise, however.

I also used conte crayon for the first time since elementary school and really enjoyed it and learned that I still have plenty of room for imporvement, but most folks weren't to cranky, so . . .

The installation is difficult to photograph due to the gloss sealer on some of the paintings and the plastic bags on some of the pastels and charcoals. However, you can visit the exhibit on the 2nd floor of the Downtown Kingsport Association (140 W. Main St., Kingsport, TN) through July 28 or see the rest of my portraits and the original photographs we all worked from on my website.

Valley Fiber Life

 

Two or three years ago the talented and lovely Marcia Young started a bit of a blog, Valley Fiber Life, about fiber art and artists in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and I was lucky enough as a just barely expat of the Valley, to be one of her first interviews. Today Valley Fiber Life has several regular contributors and a broad umbrella for articles about great artists near and far, cool fiber-related videos, fantastic book recommendations, and a whole slew of other resources, including a wonderful free guide for offering critiques by art fabric legend Jane Dunnewold, which started me off on this post.

So the next time you need a hit of fiber fabulousness or a little inspiration to shake of your creative block, drop by Valley Fiber Life.

No animals were harmed and no fiber artists (including me) were paid for the production of this post.

Life Rolls Along

My husband always says there aren't as many hours in the day as I think there are. I don't know if that's true--I think the hours just aren't as long as they should be! :-)

I've been working on a commission for a wall hanging. I'm combining traditional applique with shisha mirror embroidery and ralli quilting styles and including motifs that represent everyday life for the family it's going to (as they do in Afghani rugs and embroidery from around the world.

So far I've drafted the pattern: 

 

dyed all the fabric and sorted and sanded the mirrors:

and finished the applique:

Now I'm sewing on the shisha mirrors. Had to check with the client to make sure she wasn't averse to the number 13 since that's how many mirrors my modified design requires.

I've also had a wonderful time teaching Quilting Basics at Heavenly Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Kingsport. By class this Saturday the students will have created all the main corner blocks in this sampler:

(c) Cindi Huss

This Saturday we tackle the middle block and the fan blades.

I have a great, enthusiastic class and we're having a lot of fun. This is the first time I've used this format (two classes each Sat. with a half-hour lunch in between so the class is 10-2:30 for only four weeks) and it seems to be working out well. I'm glad because the older my kids get the harder it is to find eight consecutive weeks free on any given day of the week!

I believe the next classes on offer will be my Finishing School class and Paper Foundation Piecing, so keep your eyes peeled!

Quilting Basics Class

There's a new quilt shop in Kingsport, folks: Heavenly Stitches. They're new, but they've doubled their fabric selection since November and they have great variety, including orientals, batiks, country, kitsch, traditional, blenders, etc., and they sell and service sewing machines. They also are developing a great selection of notions and batting and I WANT one of their large free-standing design walls that folds up to fit in a 3" x 3" x 15" bag (dimensions from approx. memory, so don't shoot if I'm wrong).

Anyhow, as you can see I'm excited that Kingsport has what is shaping up to be a fabulous independent quilt shop. They also have an amazing classroom . . . where I'll be teaching. So . . .

Quilting Basics
April 16, 23, 30; May 7
10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (we'll take half an hour at noon for lunch)
The fee is $100 for all four 4-hour sessions, a total of 16 class hours

Boot camp for quilters—but so much more fun! Whether you’ve never quilted before or you want to become more accurate, this is the class for you. Get comfortable with hand and machine piecing and appliqué techniques, paper foundations, rotary cutting, mitered corners, drafting, and templates. Perhaps most important, learn how to troubleshoot and compensate for human error. Do your homework and you’ll leave class with a completed sampler top.

During the course of these four sessions we will cover:

• Hand piecing.
• Machine piecing.
• Basic applique.
• Paper foundation piecing.
• Set-in pieces—and how to avoid them.
• Mitered corners/sashing.
• Lapped borders/sashing.
• Block-corner borders/sashing.
• Triangles and bias.
• Rotary cutting.
• Templates—hand vs. machine.
• Tying vs. quilting.
• Easing in.
• Drafting designs, drafting templates.
• Pinning—when, where, how often.
• Butting seams.
• The “swirly.”

You can see my supply list and bio and register here. Hope to see you there!

The Art of Education

I volunteered for the Ellis island simulation at my youngest's elementary school yesterday. This simulation was for the 4th and 5th grade classes.

For a week they have been doing in-class simulations of a European immigrant's journey to the United States in the late 1800s - early 1900s. A small group of 5 students per class (15 total) were randomly selected to be 1st class, another 5 second class, and the rest were steerage passengers.

During the simulation the teachers were wonderfully solicitous of the 1st class passengers, helping them move their things, allowing them to talk as much as they wanted while everyone was moving in to place, etc. 2nd class passengers were allowed to whisper quietly among themselves if necessary and had to move their own things and got slightly less comfy chairs. The teachers gruffly told the steerage passengers to hurry up and sit on the floor with no talking at all. My youngest said, "all the steerage passengers hate us because of our privileges." Pretty real, but luckily the "hate" ended with the simulation.

Of course they spoke about this all beforehand so the students knew not to take it personally.

Well, after a week of dealing with fake illness and death, money and food shortages, etc., they "arrived" at "Ellis Island" yesterday to be processed. Their documents all had to be in order, then they had to pass a number of tests. If they didn't walk a straight line or jump rope they got a dot rather than a star. Or perhaps the "medical examiner" detected a rash or a cough--off to quarantine they went. They had to present letters of recommendation, be able to sign their names, have their spelling homework completed to show they would be good workers, etc.

Today they find out who got enough stars to enter America.

The kids have been learning that ships were required to take back rejected immigrants to their original ports, but not anyone else in their family. As a result, a sick child might be sent on the ship while the parent stayed in America because he or she could not afford the return fare, or vice versa. They also heard about the sometimes arbitrary nature of judgments pronounced on hopeful immigrants.

However, they didn't really feel it until yesterday.

This school, Washington Elementary in Kingsport, TN, also has run simulations of colonial settlers that involved students making a list of their 20 favorite people then finding out that those people might be "injured" or "sick" or might even "die" during the course of the simulation as they strove against time limits to "build" houses, "plant" crops, and "survive" the voyage and their first winter. My youngest lost an uncle and an adult friend.

The Underground Railroad simulation earlier this year involved groups with a leader physically trying to sneak by "bounty hunters" from safe house to safe house (some of which had been raided and were no longer safe) and, at the end, trying to run through the remaining hunters to reach "Canada." Only 7 children out of 65 made it, and they really felt the unfairness of it all.

This is education as art. These teachers literally bring history to life and help the children feel empathy for those who struggled in difficult situations.

And this is why standardized testing is not the answer to our education woes.

Standardized testing has led to our teachers being given less and less freedom to creatively engage their students. It has led to minute-by-minute structuring of the school day.

If we retain excellent teachers and retrain or let go indifferent or uninspired teachers, we bring up children who are engaged and curious and actively seek learning opportunities.

The current environment leads to spoon-fed students with little inclination or training for independent study. That loss of initiative and independence is detrimental to their future success, to their ability to innovate and advance when they are adults.

I'm just saying . . .

I'm on TV!

I joined Morgan King in the studio of Johnson City (TN) channel 11's Daytime Tri-Cities today this morning and had a great time. I met P. Buckley Moss, savored some exquisite truffles from Jan Charles the Thrillbilly Gourmet, listened to the dulcet tones of a barbershop quartet from Appalachian Express (they couldn't have chosen a better song), and gave an interview re: my artwork.



It was good fun, particularly since Morgan gave himself a chocolate handlebar mustache partway through the show (after he had touched the quilts, thankfully!). Everyone was very friendly and helpful and next time I'll remember not to turn completely sideways!   :-)   Oops, there I go being sideways again!   :-)   Dang--did it again!

Sushi with a friend for lunch afterwards, and looking forward to collaborating on a piece with P. Buckley Moss, and then doing a little more quilting on the piece I'm working on topped off this fabulous day