Goings on …

in the studio

I’m getting back into the studio finally after starting a new job this
fall. I thought these (below) were going to be napkins for the household
(estate sale vintage linen damask) but they are turning into something
far more interesting – don’t know what yet. Started with ecoprint
bundles around my favorite fall leaves simmered in madder; then painted
some natural pigments on that … followed by a rice paste layer of my
water stencil, using some thin tracing paper as a mask. More pigment
layers and curing to come.

My daily walks along the shore frequently appear into my work.

From December 6 – January 15th I will be in a 3-person show in a pop-up/window gallery in downtown Minneapolis. You can find the details of the show by clicking the postcard image, below.

Current Show – Project Art for Nature

Last week I dropped off two new pieces of work at the new Project Art for Nature show at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, WI. It is a beautiful show that includes a wide range of artistic media as well as approaches to the natural sites observed by each participating artist.

Places Between, Species Within: Project Art for Nature’s fourth cycle unfurls with a show of new works, by both new and renewing artists, at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin. Exhibit Dates:  19 Aug – 25 Sep 2011; Opening Reception, 26 Aug, 6:30-8:30 pm. Round Table Discussion with Exhibiting Artists, 25 Sep 2011, 2:00-4:00 pm.  Check the Phipps website for gallery hours, www.ThePhipps.org. For more information about Project Art for Nature and participating artists, please visit www.projectartfornature.org.

This is one of the two pieces I have in the show, and one of four pieces I made using the new stencils described in this post.

Please join us for the opening reception, this coming Friday evening from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.!

Inspiring raw materials, plus Loring Park Art Festival

This week I bought a piece of handmade Japanese Kozo, cut it up into 10 pieces and then made my own momigami, or “strong paper.” This is done by coating the sheets with konnyaku starch, which comes from the Devil’s Tongue root. It’s a powder you mix with water, brush on both sides of the paper and then crumple the paper into a loose ball.

While the paper is still damp you crumple it more and work the surfaces together. The more you work with it, the more like cloth it becomes. Then spread each sheet out to dry flat on a table.

This treatment makes it receptive to dyes, and easy to stitch. I get my kozo and konnyaku from Wet Paint Art in St. Paul, and they get it from the Japanese Paper Place in Toronto. (Check my Resources Links.)

I wanted it flat (not perfectly) so I could mount my silk pieces to it, so I ironed it. I really like the wrinkled surface and the color of the kozo. And it’s a dream to hand stitch.

This Saturday and Sunday I’ll be at Loring Park Art Festival.