Michigan League of Handweavers Workshop with Mary Sue Fenner

 

 

I would like to start off by saying that when I take workshops I am usually going for learning technique, not usually finishing a project.  So I threw together a bunch of fabric from my stash, a handwoven I had just pulled off the loom and headed to Mary Sue's 3 day jacket workshop.  I'm so impressed that I not only finished my jacket, but I love it and will wear it.

 

 

Mary Sue gave us a lot of helpful demos throughout the class.  Due to the fact everyone was working on their own jacket, with fabrics of all kinds, every jacket required things slightly different.  This was great because we learned many different techniques that may or may not have applied to the project we were currently working on, but can use in the future. The above photo is Mary Sue beginning to explain to us how to put in tailor's tacks from the pattern with thread and using a silicone to make the thread easier to work with.

 

 

Stitching Stitching... I learned even better ways to clean my machine and that I need to do it much more frequently than I usually do.  

 

 

Discussion about interfacing.  We used a very thin interfacing and if one wanted it thicker, you just layer on more. Also, in order to strengthen handwoven fabrics, you put a small strip of interfacing in a turned seam and it keeps he handwoven from dropping.  What a great tips for using interfacing!

 

When the pieces were all cut and I could layer it up, the excitement really started to build for me.  I had to cut my Friday class a little short to meet for the fashion show, which was really fun.

 

(Photo by Jeanne Sarna)

 

Mary Sue couldn't say enough how lovely this blue dress that Helen Welford made was on me.  Helen won 3rd prize in the Fashion Exhibit for "Allison's Honeymoon Gown" which I was also honored to model.

 

I finally found the perfect buttons in my bead stash, I picked up a bunch of vintage glass buttons from Lamb's Gate Antiques a while back and picked out two different kinds for the collar clasp. The pattern calls for snaps, but I wanted to be able to wear the jacket open without the snaps showing, so with a little troubleshooting I made it work and it's done.

 

I feel that I have to make something else from a pattern soon, just so I don't forget everything I learned.  On the other hand, that's part of the reason I blog.

 

Ludington Fiber Art Invitational Press Release

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

Woven Panel Detail

 

Fiber Art Exhibit at Ludington Arts Center for the Arts

     Fiber Invitational ’13 is an exhibit of two and three dimensional works by more than fifteen artists and will open September 10, 2013 at the Ludington Center for the Arts. More than thirty pieces made of silk, hand-dyed yarns, handmade paper, and quilted and woven fabrics will compose the display.

     Kris Campbell, organizer of the fall fiber events at LACA says, “We’re really honored to have this talented group of artists exhibit at the art center.  Artists of accomplished skill and award winners from state and national competitions will be represented.”

     LACA, located at 107 South Harrison, Ludington, MI, is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5:30. Call 231-845-2787 or email visualarts@ludingtonartscenter.org for information.


I have 3 pieces heading up to Ludington for this show, including "She Can't See the Forest Through the Trees" which recently won the Best of Show and People's Choice Awards at the Michigan League of Handweavers Conference. 

I am also available to teach a class on September 14th, 2013 in the afternoon. Details here: http://www.ludingtonartscenter.org/Visual_Arts/workshops

Michigan League of Handweavers Conference 2013: My Awards

I can't thank the Michigan League of Handweavers enough for the awards that I won this year in the Conference Exhibits.  I received awards from not only 2 different jurors, but also the People's Choice Award for the Fiber Art Exhibit.  This has been such a great group to be part of, and to have my talent recognized within the group is such a great honor.

The awards I won are as follows:

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

 

Best of Show for Fiber Art

People's Choice Award for Fiber Art

"Bamboozled Bangle"

 

2nd Place Fashion Accessories Exhibit

 

 

"Chevron Bangle"

Judge's Choice Award

 

 

I am also especially grateful to the people who hung the Fiber Art Exhibit.  "She Can't See the Forest Through the Trees" is a pain in the butt to hang.  For my exhibit that was in March/April, we hung it from the ceiling at Grove Gallery, and I knew that it wouldn't be able to hang that way when I was entering it for the MLH Conference.  They managed to use the display boards to make a tunnel and set the dowels along the tops on either side.  Also placing it right in front of the door so you didn't miss it when you walked in.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

Art Deco Bangle and Earrings

 

 

I've been thinking a lot about where I started with my beadweaving and the designs I used to draft.  When I was making amulet purses, I used a lot of inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright.  When I think about it now, I was just hitting the tip of the iceberg on where I could have gone with the geometric lines and stained glass imagery.  The size of my work has also gotten much bigger since those days, which allows me to play even more with color and the size of lines.

 

 Art Deco Bangle  $200.00

 

I decided to start simple with this 1.75 inch wide bangle.  I love how it turned out and had to make a pair of earrings to match.

 

Art Deco Earrings $55.00

 

The earrings I decided to make pointed on either end to mimic the points on the bangle.  I rarely use uneven-count peyote stitch, but it was the best way to make the points.  I was reminded why I don't use uneven-count. The back-tracking through the beads to get this shape just usually isn't worth the time it takes!  But I do feel it's a solid design, so I'll be making more of these in different colors.

  

In progress:

I had a lot of fantastic feedback from this image I posted on Facebook and Instagram! 

Thanks everyone! 

2013 Alumni Exhibition: Transition

 My Alma mater, the University of Michigan School of Art and Design (now re-named the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design, but I have a hard time switching it over in my head) puts on a fantastic exhibit every year inviting its alumni for submissions.

 

This year's theme was "Transition."  I felt that "In Progress" suited this idea well.  

 

 

Here's the write-up for my title card:

 

In Progress relates to my thought process as I am creating. I get my hands and mind set in progress, a production‐type mode, but then my ideas will spiral off and become distracted from progress. It's how I've come to work, transitioning back and forth from weaving and beading production-mode to being inspired with new ideas. www.jennyschu.com

They always have this exhibit during the Ann Arbor Art Fair, so it was my first stop on my way to hat-shopping.  The exhibit is split between the Art School's Exhibition space WORK on State Street in downtown and the Slusser Gallery on North Campus at the Art School.  I feel that it's an honor to get into WORK, as it is a smaller space and has the most traffic.  I was delighted to see that  my weaving made it to WORK on the main floor toward the back.

 

Thank you so much to the Art School and Alumni to work so hard to put this show together.  Info on this show is on the Art School's blog is HERE.  This show is wrapping up this weekend, so if you're in Ann Arbor, make sure to stop into both spaces.

Gallery Representation

Recently Art Biz Blog did a post on "Why Artists Should Embrace Galleries" and there was a counterpoint on The Abundant Artist on "Why Artists Should Avoid Gallery Representation."  I posted a rather long comment on Art Big Blog (and a shorter one on The Abundant Artist) in support of Art Galleries and felt that I should do a post on why I love the galleries that are representing my work.

I bounced around to different states for a while after graduating art school.  I was working full-time and it was difficult to dig in and promote myself to galleries (or even have much stock), so the world of gallery representation is somewhat new to me in the past few years.

Grove Gallery
I landed here through some connections and applications.  I was part of the original group that was accepted into this Gallery/Artist's Cooperative.  It has been a long haul and we have shuffled members in and out and has been a great connection to the City of East Lansing.  Gaining understanding what it's like having a local walk-in style gallery has been an eye-opener for all of us.  Helping start up and run Grove Gallery has given me a huge appreciation for galleries and why we pay them a commission.

The major pros for Grove Gallery for me is that I am in there normally at least once a week.  I can move work in and out of there as I please.  I can even open it during closed hours by appointments or friend people in town visiting.  The flexibility is wonderful and also, I have been there for over 5 years now so my clientele knows where I am.

Lansing Art Gallery
I ended up working with Lansing Art Gallery through my application for the Individual Artist's Grant.  I have no idea why I was so nervous to contact LAG. The director is a pleasure to work with and her staff has been/are artists within the community.  Although this Gallery is a mere 4 miles away from Grove Gallery, it gets the downtown "lunch crowd" and is just plain easier for some of my customers to pop in and get a pair of earrings or bracelet while buzzing between meetings.

The quality of exhibits that Lansing Art Gallery brings in it fantastic and they do a wonderful job holding events and working with artists.  Their gallery shop is also filled with local art, of which everyone at the gallery can speak to or get in contact with the artist.  Through LAG I have held an artist's talk about my grant project which included a trunk show of my stock that I had on hand. They have also sent beading repairs my way for their customers and I am a go-to instructor for their Girl Scouts jewelry-badge class. 

Synchronicity
This gallery approached me via email in the fall last year for their 2013 season.  I was wary at first, but they had contacted me through my website saying that they were looking for Michigan artists and specifically what pieces they liked on my website.  They were excellent at communicating and I checked out their website and noticed that they did (or had) represented a few fiber artists that I know.  So I asked around and they sounded like a good gallery to work with.  Glen Arbor is a hot summer vacation spot for Michiganders and Synchronicity is only open for that season May-October.  I have never had my work in this area of the state before and I like that I'll have jewelry stock back in my hands just before holiday sales get rolling.

Upon driving up to deliver my work and meet the gallery owners in person, I walked in and had a flash back to some summer in middle or high school.  I had been in this gallery before with my family and I remember being impressed and really enjoying the work.  The owners were wonderful and we had a look around.  I recognized some other Lansing artist's work there and am honored to be represented with such a high quality of artwork.

Angelwood Gallery
I entered 3 of my pieces into a juried show called Fibers577 this year and all three were accepted.  The exhibition held at the 577 Foundation was only for a weekend, then the artists had the option to have their pieces move with the exhibit to Angelwood Gallery in Grand Rapids, OH.  The owner of the Angelwood Gallery sent out a very detailed email to all of the artists, keeping us informed as to how the transfer of work would go, exhibit details and she mentioned that it would still be set up with other artwork with a price point for moving sales.  I replied to her e-mail and offered that my beaded jewelry correlates to my 3-D work that would be in the show if she was interested I could send some more sell-able pieces along to her.

She was excited to have my work in her gallery via email and I did meet her at the private artist's reception for the Fibers577 show.  I love meeting business owners who know the area and are extremely professional.  The owner of Angelwood Gallery was on her game and I'm happy to be supplying my beadwork to her and plan on staying on as a jewelry artist with them.


As I typed out this blog, the most common theme for me being comfortable with working with any gallery or business is communication and organization.  I have had a few situations that were lacking in these qualities, so I make sure to ask as many questions as possible before signing on and expect all of my questions to be answered if they want to represent my artwork.  I also want to meet the owners and people selling my work, and it's fantastic that they're making it easy on me, by approaching me (I'm not as driven to set up meetings and schlep my work around, just to meet with someone who isn't interested or doesn't care to understand what I do).

I just swapped out some jewelry at the Lansing Art Gallery today with Sara.  She organizes a lot with the gallery shop and gave me back pieces that were older, and kept some pieces that people had recently been interested in potentially purchasing. All of these galleries put in a lot of work to display my pieces, connect with me and their other artists.  It's great to have my work out there for people to enjoy rather than sitting around at my studio, waiting for the next exhibit or booth.  My jewelry in particular is meant to be tried on, touched and sparkle under the light of a display cabinet, not sitting in my jewelry box at home.  I'm also happy to report that I received checks from 3 of these 4 galleries for June sales, which I think gives even more credit to the work that these galleries put in.

Spike Bangle

 

Sometimes I'm searching for an exact color of seed bead which can be hard to order online.  I've had a hard time ordering what I call "cream" or "off white" from Fire Mountain Gems.  They all come in looking pink-ish to me.

 

So I went down to Findings in Ann Arbor to get some exact color-matches.  That store is like crack for me.  Rows and rows of seed beads, and that is pretty much the only thing I get there.  However, the woman ringing me up asked if I was aware of two new types of beads to hit their store.  The first one was a double-hole small bead, which I'm not that interested in, and then there were these cute little glass spikes.

 

 

They reminded me of the days of the Flint Local, punk rock prom and when I used to put spikes on more formal-looking things (I have a spike dress-choker that I made).  Having no clue what i was going to do with them, I purchased some of these copper-y ones and black ones. I just wanted simple, spikes.

 

My initial thought was to make two tiny bangles and have the spikes "floating" between the two of them.  Much like this style bangle.  I didn't want the spikes to twist around though.  So I made this solid bangle and stitched them on top.  It seemed kind-of boring to me, but since it's been finished, I love to wear it!  This is a smaller bangle and is $75.00.

 

Look out for some other spike ideas too!