Brave New world; Fiber Art in the 21st Century with Jenny Schu

This past weekend was the Reception for a very cool fiber exhibit that I was honored to be part of: Brave New World; Fiber Art in the 21st Century at the Adrian Center for the Arts. 

There were over 100 people through and although it was to be from 2pm-4pm it was already getting busy in the gallery space at 1:50pm.  The day flew by fast and it was nice to meet artists that I've only known through social media or by name but never gotten to talk to before. I'm always so grateful to be part of this amazing fiber community.

Thank you to all who made it out to celebrate with us. This is the first time Uprooted 1, 2 and 3 have shown in the same space outside of my home. 

"Uprooted 1, 2 and 3"

It was also wonderful seeing "She Can't See the Forest Through the Trees" next to her sister piece "Leaf Me Alone" 

"She Can't See the Forest Through The Trees"

"Leaf Me Alone"

I have some tiny details to fix on "Is There a Thing to Which Brings Us Less Joy Yet We Devote More Time" but I love how it turn out hanging in the middle of this space.  Being able to tell how light and drapey my weavings are is important to me if it can be shown off. I finished this one just before I needed to drop it off for the show!

Bryan and I with 

"Is there a Thing to Which Brings Us Less Joy Yet We Devote More Time"

I posted a partial walk-about of the gallery when it finally died down which is kinda fun: 

Going from an amazing vacation at the Supernova International Ska Festival to this Fiber Art Reception has made my heart want to burst wide open with all the love I'm feeling packed into a mere 10 days. Plus Bryan and I just celebrated our first year of being married which felt like it went by really fast. September has been wonderful.

Uprooted 2, Photos by Luke Anthony Photography

Although I finished Uprooted 2 at my residency in May, I just got great photos last week of this piece so I thought I'd share.

Photography by Luke Anthony Photography

Photography by Luke Anthony Photography

Photography by Luke Anthony Photography

Uprooted 3: Growth

I started Uprooted 3: Growth while at Blueberry View Artist's Retreat, and I have just finished it last week.  I love making the beaded tendrils and parts of the woodworking, but the sanding and finish work I tend to procrastinate on.  Lucky for me, Luke of Luke Anthony Photography could squeeze me in this week for professional photos of a few of my pieces.  This is the first of posting his awesome photos:

It's secondary name is "growth" because that word really represents my artwork from 3 years ago to now, lots of growth, in my work, as an artist and within myself.  I have had things come up in my life recently that have caused me extreme amounts of stress.  In the past few weeks I have had a lot of personal growth and it feels like a wave has washed over me.  I am calmer than I have been and I am getting my focus and excitement back and centered around my art.

The next two photos I took, because I thought it was unfair to do this post without showing that this piece can also hang on the wall.  When I had finished Uprooted 2: Big Ugly, I had wished that I could hang it on the wall.  I like it fine as a free-standing sculpture, but I always like options.  Uprooted 3 easily lent itself to hanging on the wall with it's flat bottom, so it wasn't a lot of extra work to consider making a small nail-hole.  

This particular piece wasn't growing on me very quickly at first, but I have to say, there was an immediate sense of satisfaction when I put it up on my living-room wall this morning.  I think I will be admiring it from here for a little bit.  It really comes out at you.

I need to thank everyone for their love and encouragement recently.  I know that sometimes posting to social media makes you feel like images and daily progress can go unnoticed, but between Instagram, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter I've had many lovely comments and encouragement to keep going and finish this (among other) pieces. Also a huge thanks to Luke for getting photos so quickly, my next few blog posts are going to be more beautiful with his eye behind the camera rather than mine.

Blueberry View Artists Retreat Final Notes

Uprooted 2: Big Ugly

So Uprooted 2: Big Ugly is the piece that I finished while at Blueberry View.  I was worried that these pieces would take so long I wouldn't get one done, but being away from home, distractions, office work etc made it possible to do such a feat!  This is part of my Uprooted Series, but it has the nickname "Big Ugly" because it comes from a tree-bush-thing that used to be in our front yard that Zack ever so fondly named "Big Ugly."  I turned out rather lovely I think.

While working on attaching the tendrils to the root, I found that the longest tendril could be used (I was worried about the weight and it not maintaining it's shape) with the support of a part of a branch that it conveniently warps around.  I was unsure how to attach it at first.  Glue would look icky, it dawned on me that I could drill holes to stitch it to the branch stub.  I am so excited that I found the tiniest of drill bits that went well with my beading needle:

This photo was hard to get, but you can see the thread between the wood and beads:

And...pulled tight!

I finished Uprooted 2 on Wednesday giving me Thursday to focus on Uprooted 3: Growth

I've still got plenty of work on finishing the roots and I'm on to the third tendril.  I was thinking this piece may have 3-5 tendrils, we'll see where it goes.

Uprooted 1, 2 and 3

Reception set up.

She Can't See the Forest through the Trees, on the wall. 

Not as impressive as how it's supposed to be hung, but its a good piece that shows the depth of my work. 

Janet and Mark hosted a lovely reception in the Studio/Apartment that I had been working in.  I was happy to talk to other artists in their area.  Also, my parents, brother and niece all came by too!  Thank you everyone who attended and have been following along with my work.  This weekend I will be continuing to bead tendrils, I haven't started a good set up for the sanding yet.  I'm thinking outside is a good spot though.

Blueberry View Artists Retreat Update: Day 9

I’m going to divide this post into two sections because I have been working on two different pieces for this series simultaneously.  First is Uprooted 2:

Uprooted 2: Big Ugly

I will be finishing this piece off while I’m here.  On day 4 I had figured out the position of the tendrils.  Since then I have had to move my sanding operations inside as it got cold and rainy at the end of last week.

I did get the remainder of it sanded the holes drilled for the beaded tendrils and today I put a coat of walnut oil on it for finishing.  I have also added the first larger bead detail within a space in the root where I removed a large part that had been burnt or charred at some point.

Bead detail

Before Walnut oil

After Walnut Oil

Uprooted 3: Growth

I'm not sure if I'll get this piece done in the next 3 days or not.  It's got a lot of detailed sanding to it, and I'm only half done with the second tendril.  I imagine this piece will have 4 + tendrils on it, so I'm working diligently.  I hope to at least have all of the sanding done and be ready to apply the walnut oil and wax to it for the reception on Thursday night.

Tendril 1

Tendril 2

Pre-sanding

Starting sanding

Blueberry View Artists Retreat Update: Day 4

I can't believe it's already been 4 days! I have mostly been beading and sanding my base pieces.  I got the really long tendril for Uprooted 2 finished on Tuesday (above photo) and got to start compiling the actual piece.  I took a ton of photos of different positions that I could apply to this sculpture.  I kept going back to the image below, so I think that has settled it for me.  I may end up beading one more smaller tendril for this piece, but I think it's going to be pretty strong with or without it.  I'm also wondering if I can make this piece stand on its own like the photo and also hang on the wall.  Lots of ideas rolling around in my head.

My sanding process was thwarted by rain yesterday.  I got a little bit done in the morning and then it started to dribble, which is not goo for use of power tools.  So I went to the beads for my focus for the day, hoping the rain would stop.  I did decide to look at the weather report and it's supposed to continue to be cold and rainy so I started to consider how to move my sanding into the studio without getting sawdust in my beads.  Mark has graciously offered me the use of his wood shop, but my hand starts feeling weird and vibrating after a half hour of sanding so I really like being able to go back and forth within the studio.  If I worked in the shop, I'd be running up and down stairs, and bundling up against the cold.

So I've started in on beading tendrils for Uprooted 3, I'm not sure if I'll have time to get this entire piece finished, but with beading all day yesterday and for two and half hours this morning I'm beyond half done and on to the straight part of it.  Not having to worry about beading around curvatures makes for much easier and faster beading.

Janet and Mark had me over for an amazing dinner on Tuesday evening.  I probably could have visited with them all night.  I learned a lot of their background and their inspiration for Blueberry View Artists Retreat.  The house they built is also amazing, such artwork and antiques that enrich their home!

If you're in the area or willing to drive, all are welcome to come out for my reception next Thursday evening, you'll get to see what I've been creating in person, meet Janet and Mark and see their amazing property with gardens and antiques.