weathered heights

Prrrrrrrrrrrr. . . .

2012-01-31T21:25:00.000-05:00

3D Design: Spring 2012

2012-01-31T21:22:00.000-05:00

Design and construct a structure comprised of 100 identical white paper units.

- Construct a 3D unit using only 8.5"x11" copier paper. You may fold, cut, crinkle, tear, bend or otherwise manipulate your material.

- Replicate the unit 100 times.

- Construct a structure comprised of all 100 units, and only these 100 units. Consider notches, slots, folds and tabs as some of the ways of joining the units. You may NOT use any adhesives, staples or non-paper material.

What is the relationship between the units and the overall structure?
What design decisions are apparent?
Is there unity?
Tension?
Symmetry?
Asymmetry?
Are the lines horizontal?
Vertical?
Diagonal?
How does the structure support itself?
Is there a relationship between the unit, the overall structure, and the means of joining all 100 units? In spite of the lightness of your given material, does your structure communicate a sense of mass?

What decisions did you make?
What strategies did you employ?

Man

2012-01-31T21:11:00.000-05:00

I have never before photo-stalked someone,

but this man cut such an old fashioned profile, I had to:

Gift

2012-01-16T13:36:00.001-05:00

For Amanda's new baby, due next Monday. . .

(there is something knitted inside).

Sword in the Pumpkin

2012-01-10T04:54:00.001-05:00

LSCTS

2012-01-01T12:37:00.005-05:00

For more :
All the Gentle Ladies
(Tshirts, mugs, etc.)

Progress Update

2011-12-26T10:54:00.004-05:00

Last winter, I unwisely took in three semi-feral foster puppies. The last holdout for adoption was this little girl:

As she was completely uninterested in humans, I called my most amazing and fearless friend, Lynne. Lynne is a human, but she has a large pack of animals on her nature reserve in Henry County and I thought that maybemaybemaybe, "Little Girl" would de-stress in the company of other dogs while learning to trust the human presence (Lynne). I am sooooooo smart. Here's "Lello" now - front and center:

By the by, that is just part of the pack.

Aaaahhhhh. . . .

2011-12-24T11:05:00.002-05:00

Rossana Martinez, See the World in Orange and Blue, 2011

Alexander McQueen

2011-12-18T22:31:00.005-05:00

Savage Beauty, a posthumous retrospective;
just came in the mail.

It's so, so good.

Not necessarily taken from the book:

Christmas Came Early

2011-12-18T10:55:00.003-05:00

Thanks Sarah!

The Little Loom House

2011-12-18T09:43:00.001-05:00

Saturday at the Little Loom House was lovely. I am in a mad rush to complete a final bolt before our last class Tuesday evening. Here is a brief tour and a look at the fabric I am working on (I am using the 50/50 alpaca/merino for sale in the etsy shop):

F101 - 3D: Final Projects

2011-12-16T14:56:00.001-05:00

Questionnaire

2011-12-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

Name: Adrienne Callander

How many children do you have and what are their ages?
One boy, 5 years old.

Psychological Impact (Mind): How did you perceive your artistic identity before kid(s)?
Nomadic, dematerialized, lexical, clever.

How do you perceive you artistic Identity now, post kid(s)?
Let's say "with kid(s)"; "post-kid(s)" upsets my superstitions! With kiddo: Concrete, colorful, warm-blooded, historical.

Physical Space and Time (Body): What was your studio routine before children and how has your art-making schedule/routine changed after children?
I was self-centered (rightfully so!), my day was my own, there were pillows of time; now I squeeze making into every available crevice. I make more now, but I have less time to reflect.

Has your studio space changed to accommodate your children in terms of time, financials, and safety concerns?
I used to have a studio; now I have the dining room. As much as I would like to go to a separate space, I do not want to be away from home. God willing and the river don't rise, my son will grow up healthy and strong and will need to connect with me less often throughout the day - that day will come soon enough and I will have my separate space again. For now, the lack of alone time is a welcome sign that I have a young child.

Has becoming a parent affected your physical art-making as well as the materials you use? Are there processes you have discovered or given up now that you have children?
Of course, with a home studio, I do not handle any toxins; but I am also much more portable - I often make things that I can tuck into a bag and take with me. Moving to Kentucky from New York has also influenced me greatly. I have ventured out into the realms of agricultural and textiles in the past five years and there is no place that I go for my work that I cannot also bring my son. Finn comes with me to the sheep farm and the mill; he draws while I learn to knit and turns my spinning wheel into a space ship. Six years ago, I could not imagine having a son or a spinning wheel.

Spirit(Heart): Please describe your core content and conceptual concentration pre-kid(s).
For my graduate thesis, I painted the gallery walls a whiter white as high as I could reach; I meant it less as a comment on exhibition and the gallery-driven art market then as an exercise in transformation with minimal intervention. I was interested in spaces - public, architectural, mnemonic. My palette was muted; my products, while sculptural, were primarily visual. I wanted to do as much as possible with as little as possible. I recirculated dollar bills after erasing George Washington's mouth. I painted mosquitoes on the wall with calamine lotion. I made a series of stovetop prints by placing large sheets of paper over active burners. I was after the "little feat."

How has becoming a parent affected your imagery, content and ideation?
I suspect that I am currently mid-arc, that my deep investment in fibers over the past four years will eventually connect with my previous interest in the "little feat." At the moment, I am exploring the intersection of ancient craft (weaving) and digital information and building a framework for public interaction with both modes of making. Since moving to Kentucky, I have allowed my hands to lead, instead of my intellect. It may be that teaching takes the intellect out of me and so my new mode of making is blissfully void of (pre)concept. That is a lovely parallel, come to think of it: I used to think that I could determine the outcome, and now I prefer not to - why not let my life lead me instead of the other way around? Why not follow a material instead of bending it to my will? Why not have this baby? I chase less and welcome more.

Me and a Mack Truck

2011-12-08T14:14:00.005-05:00

Monday, December 5, 2011

I65N, slowing to avoid a pick-up sliding sideways into my lane.

Can You Spot the 3D Student?

2011-12-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

Enjoy!

2011-12-05T23:08:00.003-05:00

Click:
Swinging Bulldogs

For Sale!

2011-12-05T08:45:00.002-05:00

Newly posted

to the Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/theweatheruphere

or

http://www.etsy.com

just search by "shop"

for theweatheruphere

Tell me what you think!

What else would you like to see in the shop?

I will post handspun yarns

as soon as the rain stops

and I can get some decent light for the images.

Happy Holidays!

State of the Studio Address: December, 2011

2011-12-04T13:33:00.001-05:00

It's getting crowded in here.

All indications are, I have become a fiber artist.

Aside from the whites and wood tones,

I see little trace of my former minimalist self.

Still, I am not yet self-realized in this medium.

I have yet to gather craft with concept.

Day at the Races

2011-11-28T11:42:00.001-05:00

A Thanksgiving tradition for us:

Halloween: Mom

2011-11-06T19:20:00.001-05:00

The Lion Tamer

Cremaster

2011-11-06T19:13:00.002-05:00

Was the Cremaster Cycle born 50 years ago?

John D. Graham, Apotheosis, 1955-57

Matthew Barney, Cremaster Cycle, 1994-2002

Today at The Farm

2011-11-06T19:01:00.002-05:00

New Work

2011-11-06T12:11:00.003-05:00

New work on adriennecallander.blogspot.com

Nurse

Glenda Joyce Hape. . .

2011-11-05T10:02:00.002-04:00

. . .Harvests Flax in Golden Gate Park.

(Maori method.)

Art Scarves Fall 2011

2011-11-05T09:59:00.000-04:00

3D Design: Latest Batch

Ties, ballerinas, cables & cords,

Christmas, party favors, newspaper,

gummy bears and a whore house.

Kimonos

2011-10-28T13:34:00.000-04:00

On exhibit at the Art Institute,

these modern and contemporary kimonos:

Coming soon:

2011-10-28T13:26:00.002-04:00

A Hat Undone

2011-10-28T13:25:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of wool and the gang

2011-10-26T11:02:00.002-04:00

I basically transferred all of my etsy favorites

to some brand spankin' new Pinterest boards.

If you do not yet have a Pinterest account. . .
(I spent all morning on it).

For Aaron

2011-10-19T10:06:00.000-04:00

A Beckmann for Lubrick

His and Hers

2011-10-19T09:51:00.002-04:00

Picasso

Balthus

Balthus with gallery glare

Blue Ballpoint Pen

2011-10-19T09:35:00.001-04:00

Alighiero e Boetti

All by Himself

2011-10-19T09:32:00.000-04:00

Philip Guston

More Paint

2011-10-18T15:54:00.020-04:00

Redon (detail)
Gauguin
Pollock
More Pollock (details)
Twombly
Johns (detail)

Paint

2011-10-18T14:51:00.004-04:00

Paintings and painting parts from
the Art Institute of Chicago this past weekend.
(Weaving class at the Little Loom House this evening.)

De Chirico
Denis
Beckmann
Caillebotte (detail)
Van Gogh
Hockney
More Van Gogh

I would post pictures of the Occupy Chicago march and protest,

but I stayed so much in the moment that I never pulled out the camera.

Small Collection

2011-10-13T13:10:00.000-04:00

Set Design

2011-10-11T20:48:00.004-04:00

Cardboard Architecture: 3D Fundamentals

Creature

2011-10-07T10:16:00.002-04:00

Theo Jansen

(Click to see this new life form.)

Reminiscing

2011-10-05T10:53:00.001-04:00

Had the chance to see Ben Sollee and Jordan Ellis perform

Saturday night at the Bourbon Bash.

Here is a clip of them playing

at Fulton Ave. (part of the Subway Series):

Ben Sollee and Jordan Ellis, Pt.1

and at the Andrew Edlin Gallery

on 10th Avenue in NYC:

Ben Sollee and Jordan Ellis Pt.2

Speaking to Jordan at the Bourbon Bash reminded me

of that special impromptu performance last fall

at the Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe

in Frankfort, KY:

Who Are These Guys?

If you know, let me know.

Art of Domesticity: Chapter Gazillion, Paragraph Fourteen

2011-09-30T20:24:00.001-04:00

12-hour slow-cooked Apple Butter

Carin Rodenborn

2011-09-30T20:21:00.001-04:00

More: Constellation Overlap

Care Package

2011-09-29T12:48:00.003-04:00

Tsahai knew last week was a hard one and so, she baked a big batch of cookies and sent them on over. So kind! And the cookies are really good. It's the thought that counts, but it helps if the thought accompanies some really good cookies. Thank you Tsahai!

Homemade cookies in a baker's box.
D-lightful.

Finn and Mommy-Mommy

2011-09-28T07:54:00.002-04:00

Adorableness

2011-09-28T07:43:00.001-04:00

Welcome!

Family Portrait

Fairy House

Workbook

Hand Carved Bowl

Fabulous Kindergarten Teacher

Nest of Nests

Neil and Finn with Wyatt

State of the Studio Address

2011-09-26T11:41:00.011-04:00

Studio light, 11:18am.

I was going to post an image of the orange canvas tote

with undyed cotton webbing handles

that I sewed yesterday (all by myself!),

but,

wait for it,

Finn asked to use it as his school bag this morning

and carried it off to kindergarten.

How cool is that?

Here are some material shots at least of Sunday's projects

(you might notice that the studio table is filling up again. . .).

The "Diminishing Rib Cardigan" and leftover tote bag materials.

Hand spun for the "Diminishing Rib Cardigan".

Chaos a'creeping:

Wood Blocks

2011-09-25T09:19:00.001-04:00

Daniel Chaffin, a maker of exquisitely beautiful and wholesome furniture here in Louisville posted to facebook the other day that there was a pile of scrap wood (hardwoods!) on the alley side of his shop, free for the taking. With visions of fighting a horde, I zoomed to the alley side of his shop and found this gorgeous sight (no horde):

I took a small batch home and asked my lovely husband:

(the miter saw is in his studio) if he would cut the wood down

in to block sizes for Finn:

and he said yes, just mark the cuts.

So, here is the wood,

marked and ready for transport to the studio:

Next Thursday, when the lovely Jenna:

is over to watch Finn, she said she will help to sand the blocks so that they are safe for play.

Guardians of the Sheep: Great Pyrenees

2011-09-21T09:14:00.000-04:00

Farm dogs and sheep guards. Sid:

And Suzy:

Our own Pyrenees-mix, Han. More alarm clock than guard dog:

More on Mobley

2011-09-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

The Sorceress's cache:

Her Dragon in my herb garden:

Saturday

2011-09-17T19:15:00.004-04:00

Today was Shearing Day at Sweet Home Spun - and the launch for a project I have been working on for the last four years. A long, long, long time ago, I wanted to knit a sweater for a sheep. Specifically, I wanted to transform a sheep's fleece into a sweater for that same sheep.

First, I had to learn how to knit:

As I headed down that road, I came to know some special master craftspeople. First, I met Angie. Angie Mobley.

She was our teacher for Parent-Child classes at the Waldorf school here in Louisville, Kentucky. (I think she might be a sorceress. She passes her hands over any given material and suddenly: a bit of magic. Here is the link to her blog: The Indigo Rabbit.) She led me into the world of wool and handwork. I love her so, so much.

Then I met Kristen. Kristen Matly-Dennis.

She owned and operated the famed Knit Nook for five years until her MFA in writing, a new baby and a rotten economy led her to shut its doors. I spent forever hours in her shop learning the craft of knitting. Now she is my good friend. We were supposed to go to the Yellow Springs Fiber Festival: A Wool Gathering tomorrow, but she just drove 2500 miles to Massachusetts and back and is unable to gear up for another road trip just yet. I will have to post photos for her.

Next, I met JoAnn. JoAnn Adams:

JoAnn taught me to spin.

It is an ongoing process, of course.

I met JoAnn at the fiber festival in Corydon, IN and over the past three years, have become her most avid student and a most appreciative friend. So avid and appreciative, I suspect she expects to find me hiding out on her property some day. I love her dogs, her sheep, her Low-Dutch Meeting House, and her. If I get within 5 miles of her farm, I break out in a twang and start talkin' 'bout the holler.

Last year, JoAnn and her husband, Sam, decided to "give" me a sheep. I say "give," because I do not have any place to put a sheep, and so, she lives at Sweet Home Spun, is cared for, bred and shorn at Sweet Home Spun. Basically, I get to dream about her. We call her "Baa". We are never sure exactly which one is Baa. Whichever one comes when we call is, in that moment, "Baa". TODAY, Baa's identity became very specific. TODAY is the day that Baa was shorn for the first time and her fleece designated as the one that I would spin and return to her as a sweater. Meet Baa:

Here are her before and after poses for the day:

My job this shearing day was to assist in skirting the fleeces. To skirt a fleece is to pull all the vegetation, dried excrement and matted clumps from the edges and to shake out what will fall. The lanolin coats your hands and your clothing develops a general dinge - great, great fun. Here's a fleece on the skirting table:

And here are few links for the day:

SHEARING

SHORN

SKIRTING

After the fleece is washed, carded and spun, I can begin to knit.

THE QUESTION REMAINS:

WHAT TO KNIT?

100 Units

2011-09-15T08:10:00.001-04:00

Context

2011-09-11T21:48:00.001-04:00

Here is where my yarns live and where I sit as I type this to you:

Shelves

2011-09-11T21:45:00.001-04:00

Part of the process of absorbing the chaos of my table involved addressing the content of my shelves. I wound all the yarn that was already in a ball, freed the many colorways and weights from the baskets that hid them. Ahhhhh.

Appropriated Self-Portrait

2011-09-11T21:33:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Max Ernst

The Tottering Woman

The Entire City

Tonya Says. . .

2011-09-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

. . .know all your dairy cows:

Guernsey

Ayrshire

Getting Started

2011-09-11T10:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 11, 2001

2011-09-11T10:18:00.003-04:00

At first, it was such an ordinary day.

Recap

2011-09-11T10:17:00.002-04:00

The challenge was to not simply relocate the chaos, but to absorb it.

Know Your Cows

2011-09-10T16:07:00.001-04:00

Jersey, Swiss and Holstein. I learned a lot today.

Dent #3

2011-09-09T19:32:00.000-04:00

Zanthe Taylor, Miranda Hope, Mike Ladd, Ronna Lebo

2011-09-09T13:22:00.001-04:00

I am very much in to the creative output of distant friends these days. Here are the most recent acquisitions and reads:

And, via Pyschology Today an article by Zanthe Taylor on the "Anti-Tiger Mother":

Ordinary Moments

Farm Dresses

2011-09-08T23:21:00.000-04:00

Or, what I mean when I talk about my burning desire to learn how to sew one (successfully):

malphi

bayousalvage

(Ok, it is not a farm dress - but it is sooooo lovely.)

smallearthvintage

eyeforvintage

badbabyvintage

(Also, not a farm dress, but too great to not consider.)

Dent #2

2011-09-08T22:55:00.002-04:00

Dent #1

2011-09-08T00:21:00.000-04:00

A bit of headway was made. A tiny bit:

Crisis

2011-09-05T16:34:00.001-04:00

I do not want to make anything. I just want to hike.

From The Impossible Question:

Questioner: Is it not natural to seek power?

Krishnamurti: Of course it is so-called natural. So is the dog seeking power over other dogs. But we are supposed to be cultured, educated. intelligent. Apparently after millenia we have not learnt to live without power.

Enoughness

2011-09-04T13:45:00.001-04:00

I have been madwoman-double-knitting handspun pillows for a project that I cannot yet envision fully (thus, the previously stated need for clarity). I am building a mountain. Some early stones:

I think they want to get out of the rectangle. Because they are double-knit, I can morph the shape as I go. Dear God, It's me, Adrienne.

Sunday Morning

2011-09-04T13:39:00.000-04:00

Daily Special

2011-09-04T13:36:00.001-04:00

Here's the deal: I need clarity and I lack the empty space in which to search for it. I need, today, to turn this:

into this:

Blood Meridian

2011-08-30T22:02:00.006-04:00

Carin Rodenborn

2011-08-21T21:42:00.005-04:00

http://dimeandhoney.blogspot.com/

Carin and Me

2011-08-21T21:39:00.002-04:00

Adrienne Callander to Carin Rodenborn:

Tell me that you understand! (My last five blogs have been somewhat confessional. . .)
xxoo

Carin Rodenborn to Adrienne Callander:

totally!!!

adrienne, it would be easy for me to say don't be scared, but that doesn't mean it would be easy for you to not be scared. at least among my close artist friends (mostly women), i have heard this fear of making and putting the work out in the world countless times. and i definitely struggle with it. it can be downright frightening! it's not talked about much publicly though, because the field is full of competition and facade. but, what are you scared of? it can't be that your sculptures will hate you! although they are very much like babies, then children, then teenagers, then older than us somehow. my hope (and fear that it won't happen) is that they grow old gracefully. but usually they end up in storage. but, let me say, that's not a reason not to make them!

i sublet my studio in may, for financial reasons, and i thought i would be dying to get back in there by now, but i'm not. the heat definitely has something to do with it, but i don't think that's the only reason. and it's not that i'm lacking for ideas of things to make. i have them, but i'm not quite ready to buckle down and realize them. could it be this fear? for me the fear is that they will have nowhere to go when they are birthed and ready to enter the world. and then that fear turns into thinking that maybe the work is not good enough, interesting enough, smart enough. (i hear an al franken saturday night live skit in my head!) then i look at other work and know that mine can play alongside the art that is out there.

i've never been one to constantly be in the studio making. i have long and short stretches of active making, and long and short stretches of unproductive time. but of course it's not really unproductive. i'm just not producing an object or an image. i used to feel bad about the down time, but i've come to think of that time between as essential for research and relaxing. much needed for me to sustain the next round of making. that's where i'm at now. though i did try to make some drawings yesterday at the kitchen table and that was nice.

what kind of sculptures do you have in mind? i'm excited for you!

i haven't read anything by rebecca solnit yet. but she's on my list now! have you read Centering in Pottery, Poetry and the Person by m.c. richards? sarah sent it to me and i'm reading it right now. i think you might appreciate it.

i love kiki smith BECAUSE she just makes stuff. i often think of her fearlessness in making and wish that i could hold some of it for my own making. of course, you have inspired me in this way too, so i think you are already onto something. :)

xoxox c.

Adrienne Callander to Carin Rodenborn:

Oh, Carin, thanks for REALLY writing back. I have been trying to trust process, but it is so difficult. When Kiki Smith led our printmaking workshop, she yelled at us for not making enough - she said our hands should always be moving. And my hands HAVE been in constant motion the last four years, knitting, felting, now sewing and papermaking. No problem. No stress. Now craft (noble craft, not decoupage) has run its course, and feels empty, not so relaxing anymore and this tells me that it is time again for IDEAS. But, now that I want it all to serve some greater purpose (product vs. process), I am so discouraged. I cannot get the gallery space out of my head (the ideal of it - I do not have one in particular in mind); it oppresses me - so do finances. I am carrying Alice Neel and Agnes Martin in my head - but neither were any good at family life. Neel painted no matter what, right through the impoverishment and beatings of her children and Martin advocated against civic engagement. Neel was selfish and Martin was a hermit, but they had a studio life because they rejected outside pressures. I have a family and a demanding job, but the outside pressure is in my head. My mother suggested that I am too considerate of authority. True! Authority in the form of art history. How to leave it all behind. . .I take courage from the image of you at your kitchen table drawing.

So, to report, I have spent the last 48 hours building myself a wet press for my basement studio. I had the best time talking to two old timers at Home Depot and Woodcraft - talking to guys in the trades, walking into a metal yard or a welder's shop always compels me. Sam at Home Depot called his buddy, John, to discuss the construction of my press and they sent me to Jim at Woodcraft, who called John to further discuss. I love that form of education. I also caught a tip that the public school system's adult education program is the place for me and I am totally going to take Basic Sewing, Carpentry I and Grant Writing (one at a time, I suppose).

(Fear creeps in that I have spent too much time outside the studio, prepping can turn into an endless activity.)

Back in my studio, I am prepping to make paper the wrong way - screen door mesh, quarter round, and staples for my deckle, no dry press. My plan is to use papermaking to produce a raw material.

I had a babysitter when I was very little who quit culinary school the day that none of her 12 loaves rose; I think that the unrisen is as interesting as the risen. I bet Kiki Smith thinks everything she does is worthwhile.

Ok, now writing to Carin is supplanting time in the studio, facing myself.

Love you lots.

Adrienne

Carin Rodenborn to Adrienne Callander:

your press and papermaking plans are exciting! i totally want to take sewing and carpentry. lack of skills in both of these areas has held me back from an idea on more than one occasion. time to remedy that, i believe.

neel and martin are often in my head too. it can be easy to romanticize their dedication, despite knowing of their abandonments. elizabeth murray is a good mom/artist role model i think. i love her on art 21 when she brings her daughters into the studio to critique a painting she is working on... she invites her kids to participate in the process! i bet you do that already, even though finn is still a little guy. :)

the fear is the part of the process that lets me know that my ideas are worth making. without it, i might not be interested enough to pursue them. really, there is no way you can fail, adrienne. like you said, "the unrisen is as interesting as the risen." !!!

can't wait to see what you make!
much love, c.

Manifesto for an Intimate Art

2011-08-21T10:14:00.003-04:00

In lieu of the clever, I propose a return to the heartfelt (and maybe, also, the handheld).

Intimate Art

2011-08-21T10:13:00.000-04:00

Xemme's addition to my wall gallery - I have loved this embroidered ladder for years. I held her sneakers hostage for two months and finally negotiated a trade for this piece. When you have no money, you have to be especially shrewd.

Kindergarten: First Day

2011-08-21T10:10:00.001-04:00

Tiny Chairs

2011-08-10T18:28:00.002-04:00

Maybe my problem is scale.

Attending to weather

2011-08-10T18:15:00.002-04:00

Lee Bontecou makes capital "S" sculptures. I am afraid to make my sculptures. They are going to occupy space and stare back at me. I yelled at my mother when I was in high school: "Why did you have me?! Why did you bother? Why did you try so hard? Look at me! I'm hideous! My clothes are disgusting. I'm ugly. I hate you." This is what the sculptures will say to me. They are going to HATE me. And still, I am going to have them. Idiot.

"There's an art of attending to weather, to the route you take, to the landmarks along the way, to how if you turn around you can see how different the journey back looks from the journey out, to reading the sun and moon and stars to orient yourself, to the direction of running water, to the thousand things that make the wild a text that can be read by the literate. The lost are often illiterate in this language that is the language of the earth itself. . ." - Rebecca Solnit, A Field guide to Getting Lost.

Darkness

2011-08-10T18:05:00.004-04:00

"I was never lost in the woods in my whole life, though once I was confused for three days."

- Daniel Boone

I can, I will, I will, I can.

2011-08-10T09:02:00.003-04:00

Studio

2011-08-10T08:55:00.001-04:00

Dear Studio, I am afraid of you.

Domestic Scenery

2011-08-08T12:30:00.000-04:00

In other news of art and domesticity, the wall to a secret hidden fort sprang up at breakfast and blocks me from my studio today.

Art of Domesticity

2011-08-08T12:17:00.001-04:00

Kiki Smith has me wondering and wandering. Speaking of wandering, have you read any Rebecca Solnit? "A Field Guide to Getting Lost" or "Wanderlust: A History of Walking"? So lovely. Required reading for my advanced studio classes.

So, back to Kiki Smith. I am having difficulty as I re-enter studio life thinning the barrier between what I want to make (stuff) and what my over-educated brain tells me I should make (which is nothing, because what is there to SAY?!) I think Kiki Smith makes stuff. Ahhhh.

Hat Forms. . .

2011-07-27T22:38:00.002-04:00

. . .from Crazy Daisy.

Utility.
Beauty.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

2011-07-27T22:27:00.005-04:00

This satisfies me not only as an object, but also as a project.
I imagine it was so gratifying to come into the studio each day to continue work on it.
And the moment of stepping back to see it, complete - sigh.

Self-analysis: Patient exhibits profound desire to make all the pieces fit.

Charley

2011-07-27T18:34:00.005-04:00

I have to post this boy. I just have to do it.
(Courtesy of fiberfarm).

In other news, Finn spent another Sunday afternoon with Grandma Dale (Mommy-Mommy).

Wait. What?

2011-07-20T07:45:00.001-04:00

It's too hot today, but some day soon, I am going to peacefully interfere with something.

Contemporary

2011-07-20T07:44:00.001-04:00

Ah, a beef jerky dress:

A Kiki Smith felt:

Potatoes, or amputations?

Native American. . .

2011-07-19T18:05:00.000-04:00

Japanese Warrior Garb

2011-07-19T16:10:00.001-04:00

African Textiles

2011-07-19T16:06:00.001-04:00

Last month, at the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Neil and I wandered around separately through room after room of ancient as well as modern and contemporary workmanship from Africa, Asia and North America. Here is a selection of African textiles. Asia to follow!

I am participating in a knitting swap next month - up next, we should hold a "charm" swap:

Look! Tiny presents sewn on all over!

I would definitely wear this:

Or this:

The Sword in the Silly Putty

2011-07-15T10:39:00.002-04:00

Sigh

2011-07-11T21:58:00.002-04:00

At the Walker

2011-07-10T19:06:00.000-04:00

The flooding of a McDonald's.

More from Minneapolis

2011-07-08T13:10:00.001-04:00

Tea House

2011-07-07T21:09:00.005-04:00

The Minneapolis Museum of Art installed a traditional tea house in its Japan wing.

An artist or artisan searches for a workspace separate from the job, from the family, from friends. A visitor is appreciated now and then, but the space is ultimately unshared. Everything in it relates to the artist as the artist relates to to everything in it. All is within reach, ready to affect and be affected.

Everyone should have such a space.

Do you? Please send me an image - a desk in the corner counts if it is where you go to be with yourself. Ditto for the car for music or the bathtub for reading.

Where do you go when you need to hear from you?

Blankness

2011-07-04T13:37:00.001-04:00

John Cage writes of meditation as the lack of intention. Here are some sayings of his that help to orient me to the act of making, of taking in and putting out, of flow:

"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all."

"There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot."

"Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?"

"All great art is a form of complaint."

"I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I'm doing."

For Amanda

2011-07-04T13:21:00.000-04:00

Some oldies from the Minneapolis Museum of Art.

Mid-century design: nothing beats it.

The Anthropologist

2011-06-23T20:30:00.002-04:00

I was more excited about this before I discovered that the site is an extension of the store, Anthropologie (only because I thought I had discovered something Scandinavian and obscure), but the story and images are worth the finger trip:

For more:

Urnatur

The Word of the Day

2011-06-20T11:58:00.002-04:00

Stockpile.

A growing mountain of handspun.

Wooden spools and rag yarn.

Scarves, half-scarves and various experiments.

Feltings.

Needles and and jars.

Woven baskets from Ikea hide the occasional stockpile.

So Excited!

2011-06-19T17:20:00.002-04:00

I won a lovely prize via Angie's blog:

The Indigo Rabbit

The prize:

Yippee!!!

My Collection

2011-06-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

I have an art collection. It grows; it rotates. It creeps across my studio walls.

Some from Finn.

Another by Meredith Passabet.

My own.

Another by Finn.

A pregnant frog.

A Chip Allen.

A Ronna Lebo.

A John Bent.

I'm a big fan of Finn's work.

A grad school acquaintance.

A Tiffany Calvert.

My mom's drawing of Ruby.

An old advertisement featuring my grandmother.

My mom's drawing of our house.

Drying bouquets.

Day at the Zoo

2011-06-15T13:47:00.002-04:00