inspiration – Page 4

The Wednesday Group

October 7, 2013 | 2 Comments

A perfect first week of October…. it started with the beautiful drive to Archie Brennan and Susan Martin Maffei’s studio along the Hudson River. The drive takes me north into Massachusetts and then west through the Berkshires. And although it was barely October the color was already reaching peak along parts of this drive! This month the Wednesday Group was quite large, 10 of us in all. That can be a challenging number to fit into Archie and Susan’s studio, large as it is! They have a generous enclosed porch that overlooks the Hudson, probably 40′ long with a wall of windows along that whole length. The views are amazing and distracting! Large ships bearing gravel power by throughout the day and night, and there is pleasure boat traffic as well.

A couple of us are very lucky to stay right nearby at the house of a friend. Doing this means we get to have home cooked meals at night and can bring homemade lunches to class. We eat like royalty and enjoy evenings sitting out on the terrace watching life on the river amongst the herb garden and fruit trees. This week the weather was warm and one evening, while having wine and cheese on the terrace we were entertained (and I was amazed!) by the loon-like call of a screech owl…..over and over… it was idyllic!

In spite of our numbers in class, we all seem to have gotten some good work done this month. It’s great to be together, and a larger group ensures that there is plenty of inspiration and good vibes flowing. I came home ready to get down to work!

….but WHAT work? I am working on a sample for some lengthy text, an excerpt from the Robert Frost poem, “Mowing.” This poem ends with: The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

And I’m thinking about a photographic image that Christopher took from the passenger seat of our new car while facing backwards. The photo was taken at dusk with with the fading light in the distance while cars are zooming along into the night, away from the light. The image has a lot of motion and light and dark in it….it intrigues me.

The Height of Summer

August 13, 2013 | Leave a Comment

…and what a summer it has been! The heat of July is long forgotten, along with that stifling dorm room at NEWS. In addition to the best summer weather any New Englander could possibly hope for, I spent two days at my monthly tapestry class with Archie and Susan, and I spent almost five days with two other members of the Wednesday Group.

We looked at and critiqued each other’s works, and I got tremendous input and inspiration from these friends. We ate well and enjoyed amazing views of the Hudson from our host’s house. Tugs and barges floated by, going both north and south, day and night, breaking the bucolic spell of this rural area with such a contradiction of noise and spectacle!

We spent an entire day driving to and from Auburn, to see the exhibit Innovators and Legends: Generations in Textile and Fiber at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center.

This exhibit is traveling around from Michigan to Auburn, New York, then to University of Kansas in Lexington, and finally to Fort Collins, Colorado. It was curated by Geary Jones, with works from well known artists and newcomers…75 works that span several decades of fiber arts and offered a trip down retro lane as well as powerful new ideas. We all loved it!

The one piece that has intrigued me since leaving the exhibit is Piper Shepard’s “Dome.” Although we could not take photos of anything in the exhibit, and I was not impressed with the photos in the catalog (which was sold out anyway and had to be ordered from Muskegan Museum), I have enjoyed reading about Ms. Shepard’s work online. Her piece titled “Dome” was made from a large sheet of muslin fabric that had been treated with gesso and graphite to have a very dark surface. She then cut out tiny shapes in the manner of cut paper, like Scherenschnitte. She displays these works as if they are made of heavy metal, hanging from sturdy steel brakets that hold them out from the wall. Light creates marvelous shadows, and any breath of air gets the large work to undulate, giving the viewer the realization that this is a very light and fragile material. It’s a beautiful blend of bold, fragile, delicate and large all at once!

My drive home took me through wonderful parts of New York state and Connecticut. After dropping off one friend at the Hudson train station…

…my GPS directed me home entirely on back roads! I usually get to this area of New York by taking Rte 90 through the Berkshires, which is quite scenic, but this route of Rte. 23 from Hudson to Sheffield, then Rte 7 down into Canaan, Connecticut, and Rte. 44 through western Connecticut just can’t be equalled!

In Avon, I stopped at a local bead store and got some crystals to add to the hem of one of my recently finished silk scarves. The bead store is on the right of this lovely building.

Back in the studio, I am on the home stretch on my sunset tapestry!

Putting Inspiration to Use

June 29, 2013 | Leave a Comment

Today I am working on the warping assignment for my upcoming class at NEWS (New England Weavers’ Seminar). The class is called “Freedom of Expression,” and it will be taught by Sarah Saulson from Syracuse, NY.

Here is the class description from the NEWS catalogue:
“In this dyeing and weaving workshop, we will have lots of spontaneous fun painting warps with fiber reactive dyes, after the loom is warped. This wonderful technique allows weavers to work with color and pattern in a loose, free, expressive way, creating large-scale abstract forms and opens the door to a variety of surface pattern techniques, including stamping and stenciling. We will paint enough warp to explore the possibilities of the technique, and for a scarf. We will learn how to mix our own colors working from primary colors/hues.”

The class materials include bringing an image to serve as the cartoon, or at least as the inspiration, for our warp painting. I am having trouble narrowing down my images to one or two.

I have been taking lots of photos of my garden recently, but I would NEVER think roses should be my design inspiration. All that pink and green would surely set my teeth on edge….far too cloyingly sweet for a handwoven fabric! Then I happened to see this fabric on Cally Booker’s blog. Just goes to show that I should never say ‘never.’

Here are some of the images that I may try to explore in dyeing a warp.

A Kasuri dyed panel that I’ve had for years

A large painted plate

Several wood block prints, including the nasturtiums I’ve been playing around with for a tapestry design

It might be quite nice to have bright blue and dull blue/green mixed with saturated oranges and golds. But what would I use for weft??

The purples, greens and golds in this image really appeal to me.

Clearly, I’m intrigued with the possibility of combining blues with a range of orange/golds.

My warp is a natural colored silk from my stash. It is has a beautiful sheen and a slight slub, and it is somewhat finer that 20/2 silk. I am hoping that 30 epi will be a good sett for it. If not, well….. I may have an unfortunate experience. There is not time to sample!….and I realize that is a BIG risk.

I was not able to get good lighting in my studio when I took this photo. The silk is not this golden.

I am taking a break at the half way point in making the warp. Now I can get back to it.

Summer Solstice

June 26, 2013 | Leave a Comment

When inspiration strikes it bombards us in many forms and from any direction. …

The past couple of weeks have been full of inspiration for me, starting with the beautiful full moon on the summer solstice, which rose just shortly after dark. It may not have been quite as amazing as this moonrise, but almost.

The heat is on now and my garden is flourishing. My roses are at their peak…the subtly changing colors as the light shifts through the day keeps delighting me and distracting me from weaving! There are green tomatoes and plenty of nasturtiums to stuff with cream cheese and herbs or to garnish salads. These are the salad days.

I was on hold this morning with customer service for a publication and the ‘muzak’ was classical piano. I think I was listening to Brahms….a piece that is so famous, if only I could remember what it is. It is haunting me with its beautiful melody, and I don’t know how to identify it…

Also this morning a friend of mine shared some links to the works of contemporary mosaicists. Wow! For years I’ve had my mind on a couple of mosaics from classical Rome with some ideas brewing for interpreting them into tapestry. These newer works are off the charts! If mosaics inspire you, take a look at Mia Tavonatti. Her work gets my pulse racing…

So today I have been working on my last pear hoping I can finish and move on to more exciting projects.

In Full Swing

June 12, 2013 | Leave a Comment

Everything seems in full swing now…. I am making progress on projects I missed all fall and winter, and at last (!!) I’ve connected with the interest groups in my new area: weavers, knitters, dyers, and lace makers! It’s all very exciting and inspiring to me.

Earlier this week I met my oldest friend at the Lyme Art Association while she was dropping of her sculpture “Daughter” that will be on display as part of the upcoming exhibit by the Hudson Valley Art Association. Right nearby was a bronze bust of Robert Frost done by Jose Bascaglia. Exciting works! My friend also has a piece in the National Sculpture Society’s exhibit that is traveling this summer (Lea Ann’s piece is “Virga,” the first image on the page).

It was a soft green drizzly day , and LeaAnn and I decided to walk through the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum where the gardens were in soft focus.

On my daily walks I pass a certain fence that is about 100 feet long and bedecked in this lovely candy striped rose.

Later in the summer this same fence will serve as support for about a million sunflowers. The sunflower seedlings are already up! And to add to the ambience there is a huge lawn just beyond this fence border that is home to a beautiful yellow barn and two Weimaraners who are often out frolicking on the lawn. There is always something beautiful to see at this spot along my walk!

And in my own garden this summer I have a passion flower vine growing in a pot. The first flower opened this morning!

Surrounded by so many flowers, it’s no wonder I’m thinking about them for my next tapestry. I am halfway through the final pear in my ‘Trail of Pears,’ so I’ve been designing the next tapestry. I’m intrigued by a still life based on a woodcut of nasturtiums in a bowl.

I am enjoying taking this pot of nasturtiums and putting it into an environment….perhaps with a window behind and some curtains, the edge of a table…. we’ll see.