"Process Goes Public" and the beginning of a new body of work

From December through January, I was invited to participate in an exhibition at the Mills Gallery with 8 other artists from my studio building. The show was a bit unusual as it meant to show the creative process of each artist instead of finished work. I was reluctant to participate at first; I thought that one can be in a rather vulnerable place when creating and to put yourself on the public square at that time could be a bit scary and inhibiting. On the other hand, Debra Olin, who curated the show, convinced me that I would enjoy an empty space, away from my leather work and I welcomed the opportunity to dedicate time to work on something new. Had I not committed to the show, I would have started designing a spring collection of bags, so it felt like a treat to move into a brand new space, empty of anything but what I chose to bring down to work on. 

Here are some pics of what happened during that month..

 

I started from these soft sculptures I made a couple of years back, thinking it would be cool to make some big ones that would transform the space. For some reason, I felt compelled to weave so I made yarn out of used t-shirts.

 

It quickly became obvious that it would take time to finish even one.. luckily, some of the BCA interns were keen to help out. Here, Helen started building the second piece while I kept weaving on the first one.

As time went, I was weaving tighter and tighter (when do you stop???), and it took a life of its own. 

The second one is much wider and might not be totally finished yet, but I like all the empty space, maybe in reaction to the first one that is woven so tight:

I

 

Et voila.. I like the shadows they projected on the wall - a life of their own too. 

I'm now looking forward to make a few more, see where they go.. Stay tuned!

 

A new year, and a great video of Ann Hamilton Event of Thread installation

It's been so long since I've last posted here, but it is one of my resolutions for this year to start blogging again, at least a couple times a month. I've been pinning a lot, but there is something numbing about the mass of images you find on Pinterest and I feel that I need to take the time to isolate what truly inspires me, and that is what this blog was supposed to be about. So here I am again.. And now that I've put it out there, there is no going back :)
You might have already seen this video of Ann Hamilton's installation at the Armory in NY last month, but it's so beautiful it's still worth posting.

You can read Hamilton's beautifully done statement here.

Constantin Brancusi's photos at Silverstein Gallery in NY

Beautiful photographs by Brancusi (1876-1957) of his work in his studio are on show at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in Chelsea. I think of him as a modern icon and it's a bit surprising to see that he was born in 1876! But I guess "modern" is old now...

I've always liked a lot of his sculptures but seeing them in his studio makes them look even better.

So beautiful.. I never realized he had studied shortly with Rodin, and was introduced to photography by Steichen and Man Ray. You can read more about him here.

 And he was pretty good looking too, wasn't he?

The show is on til 6/23.

All photos courtesy of the Bruce Silverstein Gallery website.

New Sheila Hicks Exhibition at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. - Apr 20 - May 25, 2012

Another trip to New York seems to be de rigueur for this newly opened exhibition of Sheila Hicks at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in Chelsea, on view through May 25, 2012. It seems there will be some of her newer pieces that were not included in her retrospective last year, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what she's been up to.

You can read more about the show here and let me know if you get to see it before I do!

Simon Shubert: Folded Paper

I have been into whites lately - not that I want to see any snow though...

German artist Simon Schubert made an edition of 100 views of a historic villa (in Germany? not sure as I can't read German but see here), folding paper:

all photos (c) Simon Schubert
found via the French Etsy blog here

Now that I think about it, may be he didn't fold the paper - could it be pressure from the back? Anybody speaks German out there? Help... Anyhow, pretty impressive no matter what.

Pod Brookline & Regine Ramseier Dandelion Installation

So many good things at once.. Last week I had the great suprise to be contacted by Julie of Pod, one of my top top top favorite shops EVER... to show her some of my leather accessories. If you ever come to the Boston area, you must pay her shop a visit, it's really one of the most pleasant shopping experience around. Be warned, you will be tempted to buy the store, from Fog Linen towels

to slightly glittery thigh high's

to lavender filled kantha pillows

and now some Stitch and Tickle clutches which picture would go

there

if I hadn't forgotten the camera at the studio :(

To follow soon...

Well,  not only is the shop fabulous, but Julie also has a most inspiring blog where I found this other German artist, Regine Ramseier:

Yep... I can't tell you much more because I don't speak a word of German but you can see more images on Regine's website  here.. And while you are at it, check her whimsical  bra/bug installation there...

Less than a week til Berlin..

2 Weeks later..

Oh my... Hard to believe it's been over two weeks since I last posted on this blog..where did the time go? Here's a random update:

We went back to beautiful Truro for last week end:

I think it's my favorite time of the year to go there, there's hardly anybody and the light and colors are beautiful.  The weather was so gorgeous we were even able to do some kayaking on the Pamet. Lovely..

I finished a group of bags and smaller leather accessories to bring to the beautiful Michelle Willey store in the South End:

This group is made using reclaimed upholstery leather - super soft!

In my continuing search for German artists, I found this beautiful painting by Ulriche Panhorst (b. 1965 in Germany, lives in Holland) on Art Propelled:

 Found via ArtPropelled:  Ulrike Panhorst; “no 325 watcher and watched

It reminds me of Cy Twombly.

A huge thanks to  Kathryn Clark for showing my indigo  teabag panel in her article on Boros on Handful of Salt:

Make sure to read her article there and to visit her blog regularly if you aren't a regular follower yet; she always finds great fiber artists.

Have a good week everyone!

Sati Zech (German, b. 1958)

I have my mind on Berlin because we decided to go around Thanksgiving (yippeee..), so what better time to post about artist Sati Zech, who I found somehow in blogland (via the Visual Influence blog?)..

“The thick, viscous red-hued paint shaped and scrapped upon strips of naked cloth emanates feelings of femaleness: her power and passion, her cycles and repetitions. The layering, the gluing, tearing and sewing all gives rise to the idea of labor specifically woman’s labor, a kind of thoughtful, painstaking never-ending work that manifests itself in tactile visions of strength, beauty, necessity, serendipity.

The objects are very much themselves, independent and unbeholden to any specific tradition, yet they contain the emotional dynamism of Louis Burgeois, the semantic materiality of Joseph Beuys, the subtle tactility of Eva Hesse and the symbolic charge of African art. "

Source: Howard Scott Gallery

I unfortunately can't read (or speak) German so I can't share much more, but the Howard Scott Gallery is representing her in New York and has some beautiful works on paper:

I find her work so lose and powerful. I've been so focused on making things for the Stich and Tickle store, I don't think I realized how much I miss making art. How beautiful they are..

See more of her work on her website here or at Howard Scott's gallery website there... Way too beautiful for words.


And if you can recommend anything good to see in Berlin or London in November, let me know!

Lari Washburn: Daily Drawing - The Gallery at Spencer Lofts, Chelsea, MA

I'm delighted & very excited to have Lari Washburn's first solo show here at the Gallery at Spencer Lofts. Over a year ago, Lari started planning for this show setting out to make a drawing a day. This exhibition shows  a selection of the body of work she produced during this past year, adhering to that routine.  Her work evolved significantly from sketchbook doodles, whimsical monkey drawings to large abstact paintings.  You can read more about her process on her blog here, under Drawing Project.

The show  looks amazing: come see it, it opens this Saturday, September 10, 2011, from 6-8pm.
Directions here. 

Oooooooooohhh - and.. the thing about Tumblr..

Just found that picture of this amazing installation on Tumblr at Design is for Living. I love the airiness / bubbliness of it all.. BUT was totally unable to find who it's by... That's the thing about Tumblr... I started using it (see the Stitch and Tickle Tumblr page here) because it's an amazing (mindblowing?) database of images that allows you to re-post so easily BUT (again), it's so easy that often you can't find where it's coming from - and two hours later, you've lost two perfectly good hours in Tumblrland... instead of making / creating  something...

Anyhow, check it out (click here to scroll down or there for the archive) and let me know what you think. Where do you look for inspiration? Do you prefer Pinterest? Wishpot? What do you use the most? Would love to hear from you. I also need to plan some advertising for the store on various blogs and websites this fall - which do you like the most or think would be the best fit?  I could really use your input!

From Denim to Hyperventilation...

Ok, indigo lovers.. get ready to gasp... This Denim exhibition seems to die for:

All above work by Julie Floersch

Renilde De Peuter from At Swim Two Birds

Nigerian Adgaba (robe)

Cyanometer via Denim 

Need I say more? Visit the exhibition website here, it looks like they keep updating it with the artists in the show and that have great information about these Nigerian cloths.. It's at Mr Kitly in Brunswick, Australia - anyone has a private jet? I'm in.

Found through the delightful At Swim Two Birds blog (Renilde De Peuter's, who has a piece in that show).

Just because... Weaving by Brooke from Newov.com

I don't know much about the artist but the work speaks for itself..  From the website: "I like using silks of two different weights for the warp to create depth and movement. Or use a sticky, slubby silk for the warp and contrast it with soft, uneven handspun alpaca for the weft. Every part of weaving, from preparing the loom to finally sitting down and throwing the shuttle, is a meditative act. Threads interact, weaving their own story as the fabric is created. I anticipate taking the work off the loom and gathering it in my hands, watching how the materials play, fold and move."

Visit Newov for more images.