New Thoughts, Old Poems

Earlier today I had an absolutely wonderful and insightful conversation with friend and fellow staff member Stephanie about the work I do in weaving and the work we both do in poetry. The first thing that really struck me on her end of the conversation that I wanted to share was the idea that cloth today is not as precious as in the past because of mass production. Case in point: most people never think about how the cloth they buy in the fabric store is made (it doesn’t just grow on trees!). It’s something I’ve never really thought of before, and we talked extensively about the art of living a “slow” life, the idea that taking the time to do tasks that are otherwise provided for us in a mass produced society does not equate to laziness, but instead reflects an ability to focus and share an appreciation of hard, processed work. Re-reading that, it makes little sense, but maybe it’ll make you think of something similar. I guess what we were saying is that removing yourself from the modern pace of society, to some extent, to revisit crafts and skills that have been forgotten or discarded in favor of an easier production can be an honorable thing. Trust me, our conversation was much more eloquent than my fatigued thoughts. (I’m going on my last day of TARC training for the MICA pre-college program and it’s been intense).

The other thing we talked about was writing (because I mentioned the connection I draw between weaving and writing) and something we talked about was being proud of what you write, and taking ownership of it. And blurring the lines between private and public work. Out of that conversation came some inspiration for me to share some more of my own work on this blog, especially since I’m always talking about how important interdisciplinary work is, and emphasizing both my writing and my weaving at the same time.

The following works come from my book from my second semester poetry class entitled You & Me. The rest of the poems after the jump.

1.
We make ourselves known
through richly paneled walls, chocolate drawn drapes
and the pronounced silence of hiding from essence
foot-forwardness

twice
Lady Victorian Dreamer and Level Headed Modernist have met
and she’s not supposed to be here, aware-
how the long, bone cigarette holder dangling from her careless lips
reminds him of her legs, reminds him of progress

she coughs, a mouse in hiding and he notices
and the thing is, some how-do-you dos simply get lost in
the theories of lipstick and gin

Sweet (Sweet!) Hair Piece

Like all pictures of me presenting my work, very awkward.

So, I don’t want to beat the rosette to death, but this was just a small weekend project of mine, making sweet, vintage-y, wearable hair pieces. Easy to make and looks great with full skirts and 50s hair.

Baltimore- Pile of Craft

If you’re in Baltimore today, and haven’t yet made plans, then you might want to head down to St. Paul street for Pile of Craft! The handmade craft show features a bunch of great artists and crafters, including a personal fave, Miss Carly Goss of Baltimore weaving fame. The show is open till 5pm, so stop being on a computer and hurry down and stock up on gifts for family and friends!

Rosettes Are The Way To Go

I’ve had this afghan for about two million years, the fringe is falling apart and there’s a solid rectangle of fabric that has disintegrated in one corner.  But I absolutely love it, with its alphabet farming theme that I will never quite understand. And the falling apart didn’t bother me, but the paint stains sure did, so I went ahead and whipped up some small, whaddyacallits, and now my blanket has some sweet fabric bling. Each little…er…rosette…was made using a CD for the circle template with a running stitch around the edge, pulled tight and cinched in, and voila! A quick and easy fix-up for many fabric mishaps. Not to mention I used an old pillowcase for the fabric. Recycled fabrics are the way to go! Just ask Sweet Pepita clothing.

Step by Step

Step One

Start by measuring out your circle. Using a CD for a template, I wound up with a rosette that had a diameter of approximately 2″.

Step Two

You can hem or fray check the edges if you want. Sew a running stitch around the entire circumference of the circle.

Step Three

Gently pull on the thread to gather the fabric in, press flat with the opening at the center, and tightly knot off your stitches!

Memory Cloth

I never got around to posting a nice photograph of my unwrinkled weaving final, so here it is. Initially, I was not pleased with how this piece came out, but more and more, as I’ve looked at it without the projection, and run it through my hands, I have come to accept it and call it beautiful. There isn’t a thing I would change about it–if only I could find a way to have everyone on the internet touch it. If I’ve learned one thing through the process of creating this cloth, it’s just how important and powerful the sense of touch is to this craft.

Memory Cloth, 2009, Tencel and Bamboo, 14" x 29"

I submitted this piece, along with two others, to the Fiberarts Magazine call for student entries. Below is the statement that accompanied my submission, and I think it does a good job of summing up the nature of my work and why I create in this way:

My work is an opportunity to tell stories through experimentation in variations of color and pattern to create imagery and impressions of memory.  I see weaving as a way to evoke the essence of my stories in tactile narratives with a focus on cultural and personal folklore. For me, I see importance in the cultural and historical relevance of handmade cloth, with each piece acting as a public heirloom upon which personal memories may be projected.

To see more of the work in my portfolio, please visit my flickr account.

Summer Love

There’s a lot going on at the moment, between summer cleaning, locating my loom under a pile of mother-donated fabric, and a million projects that are blooming in my mind. Not a lot to update with currently, so I leave you for now with some of my favorite shots from the annual Pungo Strawberry Festival.

Reflecting on Professional Development in Art

Experience in Professional Development

I believe that part of self-educating yourself involves taking advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. You never know what kind of asset an experience is going to be to your search for knowledge and wisdom–or for your resume. There can be many benefits to one opportunity that may not be evident from the beginning: working for Carly, I benefited from getting a look into the business of craft, practicing my weaving technique, receiving school credit, and making a friend while learning how to network with artists in Baltimore and beyond. I have high hopes for my summer job as a TA and RA for MICA’s Pre-College Program; not only will the teaching experience look great on my resume, but it too is a chance to network within the school and explore my options as an artist. Something I’ve learned is that you have to take your career into your own hands, even if you are uncertain of what that may be, and the earlier you start, the better.

Fist Print, Spring 2008

Contests and Calls for Entries

Part of building professional development outside of the workplace is respecting yourself enough as an artist to put your work out for the public to see. This is something that I feel a lot of artists struggle with–finding the confidence to say that my work is good enough to hang on gallery walls and be printed in magazines. I’m lucky enough that I have an excellent support system that is always kicking me in the butt to take risks and apply myself. Last year, I submitted the above print along with some other miscellaneous pieces to the Fiberarts Magazine’s annual call for student submissions. Even though I didn’t have a cohesive portfolio at that point, I’m glad I submitted my work because it was practice for this year’s competition, and I’m busy ironing, photographing, and formatting my very fluid body of work–my weaving–this weekend.

For those of you who are also looking to exhibit your work, an excellent opportunity that has recently come to my attention is a call for entries at the Textile Museum in D.C. with a deadling of January 2010–so you have plenty of time! I say go for it, you never know what may come your way in the future;  the best thing you can do for youself is keep your eyes open to possibilities.

Can Someone Just Pay Me To Weave Beautiful Cloth? (Please)

Otherwise titled: “What am I supposed to do with a degree in fiber arts, and do I really need to keep going to an expensive, though prestigious, art school in order to pursue my dreams? Thanks biased American culture, thanks.”

Apron based on vintage pattern, Fall 2008

Ok guys, I don’t know what to do. I am not a designer. More specifically, I’m not a fashion designer, nor do I have any desire to be one. And while making the above apron was so extremely satisfying (as my first piece of clothing, I think it’s pretty awesome, let’s be honest), I know that making clothes is not going to be satisfying for me as a career. I enjoy setting up my dress-makers mannequin in my room as a creepy presence; doing anything more with it just doesn’t make sense to me. Taking costume design in the fall is going to be good for me, something to fall back on, but it’s not what I want to do and I have a feeling that class is going to find me hugging my mannequin, the two of us swaddled in layers of muslin, and me feeling extremely lost. Nor do I want to design industrial fabrics, home decor, or be the person who operates the embroidery machine in those sportswear embellishment shops. Nor do I really want my weavings to do anything; they don’t need to be dishcloths or towels or table runners. Or scarves for that matter. It’s just not me.

And, as I previously mentioned, I have an old and beautiful copy of A Dress Maker’s Pattern Book sitting on my shelf, do I really need to still be in school to continue the things I’ve already learned how to do?  A good artist can admit that there are always things to learn, but do I need to learn those things in the small perspective nook that is MICA’s fiber department? I can’t afford to study abroad, and now that I’ve invested this much time (and dough) in MICA, I can’t very well leave now. Not that I really want to, but it does seem silly to me that if all I want to do is just weave beautiful cloth, what am I doing here? The way I see it, most people don’t do anything with their college degrees, but as long as they have one they are good to go in today’s career world. But higher education is more of a business than anything else, and I kind of hate the fact that I’m playing in to it. I have a loom, I have the basic skills, and I’ve always been self-educating, yet I keep on giving MICA more money to not challenge me.

Someone get me out of here!

Coming soon: “The Quest for Professional Development in a Really Hilariously Strange Art Medium”

Weaving: Finished Product, No Sewing

This is a small change purse I wove for my grandmother’s birthday. The really neat thing about it? There was no sewing involved. The entire purse was woven in doublecloth: for the main body of the piece, the cloth was woven with two seams, one on the right and one on the left, creating a pocket in the center. For the last inch, I switched up the treadling sequence to weave two separate planes of cloth, as seen in the top right photograph. This way, when the cloth is separated, one side can be tucked in and the other folded over as a loose closure, seen top left. What makes this piece cool for me is that it’s a fully functional piece made from one, solid and unbroken piece of cloth. Hand twisted ends, tencel and linen.

A Loom Without an Apron

- Is a naked loom. Which is why I spent my evening hand crafting two simple yet sturdy aprons for my front and back beams. Having aprons cuts down on thread waste- something my boys didn’t know about when they built me my loom. I measured each apron (measure twice, cut once!), hemmed the sides and the top using a zig-zag stitch, and cut the notches at the top, complete with fray check just like Carly taught me. I have to say, I’ve got myself a pretty nice loom- the complete package- hand crafted from top to bottom.

For the next month all of my photos will feature the bad lighting and awful carpet background of my bedroom! Aren’t you lucky.

Now that my loom is back in order, I can start weaving again:

Note the cones of yarn sharing space with my books in the background

A lovely linen and cotton warp for a rag rug. But first, I must weave something for my grandmother’s birthday on Sunday. Any suggestions? Bryan’s ideas were very compelling:

“hmm i dunno, change purse, collar, cuff, shawl type thing, hair wrap thing, waist thing?”

- but I’m still brainstorming. That’s a project for tomorrow. My goal is to have the warp for the rag rug woven off by the end of next week. Happy weaving!