Studio Stuff

Wall of Scribbles
















I am learning to felt and making a hat! It is 1.5 times larger than it needs to be to fit my head in order to account for the shrinkage of the merino wool.


















Sea of acid dyed wool!



















This is the first layer of wool for the hat.














Did I metion it's going to be "wounded" hat?

















Upon unpaking, I discovered I have over 20 filled journals and sketchbooks from the last ten years. This is most of them.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Baby (‘Cause I have a feelin’ We’re Not In Greeley Anymore!)

Please consider the following a retro- post. I wrote it a the beginning of August...it just hasn't made it on to the blog until now.

I feel a narrative coming on so I figured I should start typing. It is hard to believe that I have been in Lawrence, Kansas for almost two weeks now! Three weeks ago I was sitting on the edge of Santa Elena in Venice by the water watching the vaporettos (water buses) pass by and gazing at the twinkling lights on the island of Lido. So between traveling, packing, cleaning, and then physically moving to a new state, I was in a haze for several day. Not to mention, I was pretty exhausted and I started a new job two days after arriving in Lawrence. In retrospect, coming out here two weeks early was advantageous. I am beginning to feel a little more grounded even though my studio looks more settled than my apartment. It will probably remain in this state until I cough up the money for actual furniture (hmmm...art supplies or a bookshelf?) Classes officially begin next week but I have been in and out of the studio tinkering with some sample pieces.I am making it a goal to write some every other week or at least once a month about studio happenings! In closing, your daily does of randomness (but even random is a pattern): I now live off of 19th Street instead of 18th Street. I decided any parking system that comes with a pamphlet titled “Campus Parking 101”and a PDF with 4 pages of rules (or something like that), is entirely too complicated. I will walk or take the bus thank you very much. I no longer live next to a railroad track but rather a fire department. I have discovered there are 2 apple trees in my “front yard” and a pear tree in front of the art building. I still live a a building that once had lead in the paint so I once again signed a waiver form saying I understand the risk. Lawrence is hot and humid and I am excited for autumn to arrive. Wells Fargo exists in many places all over the US...except Lawrence. Downtown Lawrence is a fabulous place to be and KU has a lovely campus! When requesting a large scanner, only a secretary for an art and design school will ask, “How large? One that you can make a body scan on?”

[Pil-oh]

I was about ready to
toss out an old pillow. It
sat in my living room a few days prior to attempted disposal next to a printer with no ink. The pillow out of its usual context became something other than a soft thing on which we sleep. I was overcome with the urge to tear into it with a sharp object. The intrigue continued as I cut, stitch, and melted that polyester pillow.And thus began this entire musing about pillows and thinking about the meaning and metaphor behind these objects. Some collage sketches accompany this post.

Sheds and Things

Shed...why can't I find a photo online of a weaving shed? 10 p.m. on Sunday night I was looking for an image of a shed, which is created by harnesses on a loom lifting a certain set of warp threads. The photo was needed for an art history paper that was due the following day. The only photo I could find was on Wikipedia . The teacher had warned the class (in true Chip fashion) if he saw Wikipedia listed as a source for our papers, he'd shred the report before reading it. I decided to not press my luck, even though this was just a photo. I ended up using a drawn diagram of a shed. To the left is a photo of a shed I took today...in case some poor art student out there finds him/herself in a similar predicament. You never know who needs a shed photo at 10 p.m!
The end of the my last semester at UNC draws closer and I am cramming for a final test and weaving (and enjoying the latter far more). I am quite content to end this semeseter within the same studio I began. I recall sitting in the fiber's studio two and a half years ago in a surface design class exchanging glances with the looms. They stared right back at me. A few may have even blinked! Ahh!...I hope we're not weaving! I thought to myself. Now look who's sitting at a loom!

Thread of Light

Those "three hard core days" of weaving over spring break entailed winding my warp onto the loom. I was in the studio alone in the sunny room as my phone rang and an unfamiliar number flashed across the screen. "Hello?" I asked. The inquisitive tone was genuine. "Hi, is this Raychelle?" "Yes." "This is ____ from The University of Kansas." "Hi." I said as the "H" got caught in the back of my throat. " I am sitting here looking at your portfolio and we're interested in having you join our program. Have you received other offers from any schools..." I can't quite recall everything he said after that because I thought I was dreaming! But I wasn't asleep nor was I dreaming. Last week I visited the beautiful KU campus and met some of the art department's amazing students and professors! All the art disciplines are in one building and the fibers rooms are on the 5th floor. Such a lovely view out the windows! I came back with new crackle recipes, some double weave patterns, a simplified method for ikat, and most importantly a renewed enthusiasm for the remainder of this semester. Studio 206 in Crabbe Hall will always be home to me but I know my time there is quickly slipping away and fading into a new chapter. Dare I say not just a new chapter but a new volume on the 5th floor.

Yarn dyed!

I am thrilled with the color of my painted warp! It took nearly two hours but I finally got all the dye rinsed out of my yarn. Hopefully it will be dry so I can start dressing the loom tomorrow! I am trying to squeeze in three days of hard-core weaving on spring break before leaving town (in addition to some reading and researching for a paper...)

Hot off the loom

I am now quite excited that this idea might just work! I pulled my weaving off of the loom on Thursday and I was so incredibly tired from a whirlwind trip to Seattle that I really didn't care. What you are looking at are two pieces of material joined together on the loom to make a tube structure (kind of like a pillowcase).

In between the two layers of fabric are segments of chicken wire that have been trimmed and sanded on a grinder to smooth out the edges as much as possible. The fabric now bends with the wire and holds its shape! I am not thoroughly thrilled with the combination of golden yellow and navy blue but the turquoise faux weft (I added most off the loom by hand) is improving the situation.

The next step is weaving a much larger piece using the same technique. Time for some math! One layer will be dark blue and the other layer will be dyed with some bright and juicy colors. I am not so sure what I will be using for the weft material though...I should have though that through when

I drove to Ft. Collins to purchase yarn! Sigh.

Hello afterthought! I'll figure something out. This will be done in time for submission to the student show in two weeks. I am determined! We know where I will be spending most of my spring break...

In this space...

She leads me to the gallery full of freshly hung work for the UNC Gala show that opens tomorrow. "You can get out but not back in to the room." she said. "Just turn the light off when you leave please." "Thank you so much!" I reply as the door closes behind her.

Alone in the gallery or space before a show opens is like climbing into a seed pod before it blossoms. I am surrounded by possibility, story, and process. Possibility that someone will engage with the art work. Stories told and stories perceived. Processes that have happened and will happen. I am left in the space and met with my five canvas on the cream colored carpeted wall. I open my box and pull out the skein of black perle cotton used to stitch on the canvas. There was little hesitation in that moment of time as I tie a knot to a piece of string already hanging from the fifth canvas (image to the)left and begin to unwind the skein. The yarn dances and loops around itself. It puddles on to floor just as I have imagined. Suddenly, I discover that the yarn has the ability to stick to carped wall. This variable is magic and I am drawing with yarn on the wall and floor! It bridges the space between the wall and floor, changing the overall dynamic of the pieces. The unknown has made the space full and the piece complete. Stop. Up until this minute, it was not finished.

Stop

Now it is complete

It exists for now

This work

On this wall

In this space

Inhale

Exhale

The ship has set sail

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will post pictures soon of the actual exhibit. Nothing beats seeing artwork in person though if you are able to do so! The University of Northern Colorado Gala is Saturday, February 12. The art show begins at 6:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The music and theatre performance is at 8:00 pm and is a ticketed event. Please visit http://www.arts.unco.edu/gala/index.html for more information. Hope to see you there!

Weaving! (at last)

The loom is dressed and ready to go!
This is the top layer of the double weave

This is the bottom layer of the double weave

I am still in the sampling stages of this process but I am quite excited to discover what can be done with double weave!

And we're back...

After some delay, I am back in the studio again. My head has been out of commission for the last two months between my exit portfolio for graduation, filling out graduate school applications, Christmas, and work. I spent this past Saturday milling around the studio and pulling some experimental screen prints. I am trying to find efficient ways of screen printing without a frame.

And after some technical complications with class registration and financial aid, my semester is officially underway with Weaving and Renaissance Art History (I sadly had to drop my Multi-Cultural Psychology class).

Weaving has been interesting so far because I've been helping people dress their looms and even taught one of the class sessions! I was worried that I'd forgotten how to weave but the aforementioned situations quickly refreshed my mind. I am working on a larger (much larger) loom this time, a beautiful Macomber to be exact. First project: Learning double weave. What does this mean? We will all know what it really entails (my self included) in a few weeks but the basic ideas is that two pieces of fabric can be woven at one time, one on top of the other. More to come!

Latest Series

How time slips away with the wind! Above are drawings from last semester. Thank you James and John Holden for the photographs!

The idea of phonetic spelling has launched a new series of images made up of screen prints and ghost prints with acrylic on canvas. Words such as life, death, and hate are spelled phonetically with yarn to create a resist before the print is pulled. The words are stitched with yarn and the leftover string hangs knotted at the bottom of the canvas in space. These rather serious words have lost some meaning in this culture and we are prone to using the words like “hate” or “love” so loosely. Upon suggestion from classmates, these “heavy” words are juxtaposed with “light” almost random words such as “cupcake”. There are currently nine pieces in and I plan to expand the series!

Art Show Photos

Remembering

Photo by Chuck Hanson

In Search of Catharsis

Photos by Jonathan HoldenRip, Stitch, Mend

Photos by Jonathan Holden

The Last of Summer’s Rain

Written August 7, 2010

My mind cannot help but wander
As I gaze across the barren desert
There in the distance
Blooming on the eternal horizon
A single cloud

Upon embrace
I realize how I have missed you
A silent piece of my world
There all along
Between the shifting shadows
And curtains of chiffon

In the heat of a summer’s day
I felt the swift rush
Of an evening storm
Through the tips of your fingers
My heart longed to be held captive
By your pouring rain

In that moment I felt electricity
Lightening grazing the earth
Illuminating the sky
And making my veins pulse with life
Still echoing in the canyons of my mind
As the sun peeks over the bluffs

Autumn Fire

My latest in progress project

Autumn sun and winter moon

The trees ablaze

The air alive
As I burn fabric on the back porch

I am working on 4 wooden frames, hinged together like an accordion book. The frames were once covered in old, off-white paint and sticky gunk. I cleaned, sanded, cleaned again, adjusted screws, and re-painted the wood. From these frames hang sheer, layered, polyester fabric ranging from black and gray to white. This fabric burns beautifully! The light gray fabric was somewhat difficult to find. I bought the remaining 3 1/2 yards from Denver fabric online. When my order finally arrived in the mail, I felt like I had the last pieces of gray sheer in world!

The burning stage of this process (hence the mask) has started. I am trying not to get carried away by torching the whole thing so I have been taking this project a little slower. After the holes finished, areas will be stitched and mended. We shall see where this piece of string ends!

Indigo!

I am currently having a love affair with indigo dye! A few friends and I dyed with indigo for the first time today. I prepped the dye vat yesterday with a few simple ingredients and instructions from Dharma Trading. Using the pre-reduced indigo crystals was far less complicated then making a dye bath from natural indigo. There is chemical magical in this process. The fabric is a yellow-green color for the first few seconds out of the dye bath;however, as the dye oxidizes, the blue begins to appear! Deep shades of blue are achieved by dipping the fabric into the dye multiple times. Photos are below. Hopefully more to come from this process!

At last...

Finished piece in the San Juan Gallery in Pueblo!

Skirt on temporary mannequin
Wire mannequin in progress

I think it is done she said to her self
In the muggy air of the hallway as
Sunlight at 5 p.m. poured through the arched window.
Enjoy the feeling
This afternoon
This moment of now
On the last day of empty quiet before the first day
Of my last semester
The stand for the hoop skirt is now finished
Like everything else, the integration of the two became
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is by far one of the most challenging things I have had to stitch. It was difficult to pin the material to the wire to keep it from puckering. Working with invisible thread made the challenge all the more delightful. As I was working, I found that the rusted silk was becoming a skin. Though rust can cause atrocious corrosion to metal, is has done nothing to the galvanized wire. Likewise, time has not done a whole lot of damage to certain structure and expectations found in a variety of places.

Art Show

I do suppose multiple projects will keep me out of life of crime...or at least keep life interesting. Details below about my upcoming show!

A Space In Between
An exploration of the interstice or space in between “here” and “there” through literal and conceptual deconstruction

August 31- September 23
San Juan Gallery at Pueblo Community College

Opening Reception
September 2, 2010
From 5 pm—7 pm

900 West Orman Avenue
Pueblo, Colorado 81004

Gallery Hours:
Monday– Friday 8 am– 3pm

Stop by if you can make it! Nothing beats seeing art (any art) in person. Now...to bed so I can awaken, go to a meeting, and then have energy to burn more umbrellas and stitch tulle to an armature with wire!

Printmaking

Taking a summer studio class in a month was intense. I spent at least five hours in the printmaking studio, five days a week. It was challenging to use new techniques and express ideas in effective ways in such a concentrated amount of time! But from such challenges comes growth!

I enjoyed monotypes ("mono" meaning one) much more than relief printmaking. I find something wonderful in not being able to reproduce an image using a medium that is typically used for duplication. Monotypes is a hybrid of drawing,painting, and typical printmaking. It lends itself well to spontaneity and mixed media techniques (monoprints: adding to a monotype print after it is on paper), which makes me happy! Here are a few of my favorites.

One Evening in Early July

At last, a moment to catch my breath, inhale deeply, and exhale slowly. Summer has been fast and busy between work, side project, and now a printmaking class (monotypes, which I am enjoying...it is intense to cram a semester of studio in one month though!). Hopefully, new pictures will follow soon. Meanwhile a scrap of poetry:

An Evening in Early July

I walked out that evening
Into the wind struck sky
Thoughts fade
Caught in the majesty
Of a stormy landscape
Light danced across the air
And music resounded
Though the corridors of nature
Clouds like wings, faces,
And pieces unknown
Jut fearlessly upward
Thrusting their soul into the atmosphere
I am lost
Lost in a fleeting second
As the light fades fast
Into the rush of trees
Night and glowing light
Shadows cascade across the open window
As a cross breeze fills my heart
It is like rediscovering ink and brush
To be in a moment
That a bottle cannot hold
And photos can only echo

These are the days...

These are the days you have to laugh and remind yourself of why you love being an artist.
Why... I wondered.
You would think by now I would have learned that "conventional"
saves time and money in the end.
Doing work on standard sized paper
Saves you a lot of headache when it comes time to frame
If I could just resist pastel...
...I'd need glass less often
If I could just work on canvas...
...I would not have to spend time looking for straight pieces of 1 x 2 wood
with which to cradle and mount the masonite
If I could just pick one main medium to work with
...I'd have less of an issue picking a concentration area for art school
But "If-I-could-just...__________" I may not be the kind of artist I am today
Sometimes what needs to be conveyed
Does not fit in the dimension of "conventional"
A lot of my work is "awkward" in terms of space and hanging
Sometimes art is not convenient
And it is most definitely not always simple
I don't have magic powers
A piece must become
There is a process
"Masterpieces" often being as "Mess-terpieces"
Ideas and techniques must be refined
I have days that I think
I have run out of ideas
And I have run out energy
Just like everyone else
Those are the times I must dig deeper
Reflect and think and pray