Convergence Knoxville 2021: Exhibits with my work

I had no idea where to start with my posts about Convergence this year so I'm breaking posts down into subjects that I'm able to organize better.  This post is about my work shown in 3 of the Exhibits at HGA.

The drive down to Knoxville from Lansing was blue skies and fluffy clouds the whole way!

Convergence is just that, Fiber Art people from all over the world (mostly US and Canada) meet in a city chosen by HGA and we take over their Convention Center, Hotels, Classrooms, Galleries, and anywhere that will exhibit, show fiber work, or let us sit and weave/knit/spin/meet.  HGA themselves host a number of Juried Exhibits along with the local guild exhibits and often local galleries present something fiber-themed. We Converge together and you can tell where your people are by their name tags and the fact that 90% of them are wearing some sort of beautiful handwoven scarf around in July.

Even the Marriott where I was staying had great artwork throughout.

It didn't really hit me completely until I was there telling other convergence attendees that I had pieces in 3 of HGA's exhibits. That's the most I've ever had shown at once at a Convergence Conference, so that's really exciting for me. They were all from the same series: Leaf Me Alone.

I'll be honest, this Leaf Me Alone theme began with my divorce, or need to get divorced back in 2013/2014. With the pandemic, being left alone rose to another level and it became Leaf Me Alone's time to shine. Introverts like myself and Bryan were really cozy not having to do anything but go to work and come home and do our thing. I didn't realized how much I felt being pressured to be busy and social all of the time, pandemic-time was a much-needed reset. I had started making masks during that quiet and the Leaf Me Alone Mask became an obvious, somewhat time-sensitive art piece. It was accepted into the Small Expressions Exhibit.

I had an older, smaller version of Leaf Me Alone (2) in the Leader's Exhibit.  I had shown it at the Michigan League of Handweaver's Conference a few years ago when Cameron Taylor-Brown with the juror. She commented that these smaller ones (10in W x 14.5 L) looked like maquettes, which is true... I do think my word pieces translate much better on a large scale. I also love that word she used, maquette. I had warped for these small Leaf Me Alone pieces to get back in the groove of double weave pickup, and I did have Small Expressions on the brain when I started them. I still have 1 more small one to finish.

Last but definitely not least... Leaf Me Alone (the large version) came into being at the beginning of this year. It's really part of the larger word pieces that I'm picking away at and a sister piece to She Can't See the Forest through the Trees. I was so happy to have this not only finished to submit this year, but it also won an Honorable Mention.  I went to the juror's talk and she said that she felt this piece was "relaxing" which I hadn't really heard of my work before, but I'll take it.

This is also the first time I've won an award exhibiting with HGA, I'm never sure I'll win an award, there are so many amazing weavers and fiber artists in HGA!  I am so honored just to be showing with them.

I started my first full day in Knoxville meeting with Clara who I know from the Lansing Weaver's Guild and has since moved to Florida, it was so good to catch up with her while we perused the exhibits at the Knoxville Convention Center. 

I was going to blog more about the various exhibits and a few of my favorite pieces that I took quick photos of but I started to feel too overwhelmed and will never get these posted if I overthink it. Maybe I'll get to that, maybe I won't, I have a lot going on this year.

Other post subjects on my time at Convergence will hopefully be coming: 
Finish and Exhibit that Piece! (the seminar I presented)
Leader Booth/Sales (and all the awesome people I met)

My Artwork at HGA Convergence Conference 2016, Milwaukee

If you had told 17-year-old me that I would have had two of my pieces of artwork in city Art Museums before I turn 35, I would have blown you off.  I was hoping to just go to college and get a general business degree and try to get a 9-5 job that would pay for my beading and weaving "hobbies"

Fortunately, when it came down to actually looking at and thinking about colleges, I had (and still do have) many people in my life who saw my potential and nudged me toward following my passion.  I said yes to many opportunities along the way, and my first Small Expressions exhibit through the Handweavers Guild of America was hosted the Long Beach Museum of Art.  I was ecstatic to get in, and to boot, the Museum used the image of my Bamboozled Bangle on their website for the show.

The Milwaukee Museum of Art is currently hosting the Small Expressions 2016 show, and what an amazing museum (pictured behind me).  I'm still just amazing that Gypsy Leaf is spending a few months in the same building as Rembrandts, Warhols, Chihuly, Nick Cave....   I also really appreciate how the curator positioned my piece, only one pearl clasped and the bottom flared out.  I will definitely be getting better photos of it displayed like that.

I add to my excitement, I am very pleased to announce that Gypsy Leaf also received the Edith Whiteman Award.  This is the first time one of my pieces has won an award at an HGA exhibit.  If you happen to be close, I not only encourage you to check out the museum and Small Expressions, but the retrospective that they have on Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood is really amazing.

Uprooted 2 also took a short trip over to Milwaukee for the exhibits helding during Convergence.  It was accepted into the all-media exhibit: "Mixed Bag"

Outside the Milwaukee Museum of Art

Interior overlooking Lake Michigan

Upper entrance bridge walking up to the museum.