Dialogue 1 - Compost Cloth

As part of my studies I am working with different ways the natural environment can leave its mark on textiles. I am calling each of these attempts - dialogues.

The first dialogue is a quickie - with the compost. I put a length of unbleached cotton in the compost, undisturbed for a month. This was the result.

Here is the textile out in the understory of a maple.

Looks pretty decayed and stained...

...but when I washed it most of the dark staining came out. There is some left so the cloth has changed colour.

The soft decayed edges are the best parts.

I have a desire to preserve this textile so I am researching darning and patching methods and will next do some sampling.

ANDREA GRAHAM - Feltmaker

ANDREA GRAHAM - Feltmaker Friend, Linda Wallace (tapestry weaver, stitcher, spinner etc) put me on to this inspiring feltmaker. She moves effortlessly from 2D to 3D and back. I feel aligned with her when she talks about sustainable craft/art and nurturing the planet.

Check out her blog and her unique web site that is full of surprises - I think she designed that too.

Thanks Linda, for the find.

Books Books Books

As with all modules of work in this BA(Hons) Embroidered Textiles programme, there is lots of reading.
I do like having to read because there is no guilt in settling down with a book and looking up to see most of the day has passed, which does tend to happen to me when I get hooked on a good one.
There have been several books this semester that have been most influential in my work.
I devoured Nalini Nadkarni's book on trees.
Even though she is a scientist and professor with a doctorate in tropical canopies, this book is very personal about her own connection with trees and her family life, which makes it easy to relate to.
It is a great example of someone with the ability to link art, science and life.

This book has lots of provocative ideas about what we need to do to survive and thrive on the planet for the next millenia.
It is a book of essays written by experts. There are lots of statistics to back up their arguments and I found it very readable.
However, there is a big problem with the case they present.
Unlike Nalini's approach where she covered all the bases in a loving dissertation on trees, this book thinks it did the same by looking at the role of governments, education, religion, media etc in bringing about a global shift from being a consumer society to sustainable one BUT it completely and totally left out the role of the artist and art as an agent of change.
Art history shows time and time again how art has led the way with what is new in ways of thinking and viewing and doing.
I checked the index, there is no mention of 'art', 'artist,' 'beauty' ... so its not a balanced view.
Makes me wonder what else they left out.

These 2 books have been great references to dip into while I am developing my ideas.
For example, when I am contemplating using a symbol in my work I check it out in one of these books to find out the history and multiple meanings it might have. I then follow these leads with web searches.

Phew, I have been wordy this post.
It is probably because all I have been doing this past week is pecking at my key board putting together 2 art proposals - Assignment C.

Textiles in the Environment

Another of my projects where I am getting very little interaction is this one where I put a length of unbleached cotton in the pond.

It has submerged and moved around a bit, probably been moved by the Canada geese that have returned and use this spot to waddle in and out of the pond.

After a couple of months, the cloth has become brown and a little green but I am sure this isn't the staining I was hoping for and it will wash off when I throw it in the washing machine. In fact, I think the clear spring water is preserving the cloth.

The best part of this experiment has been the lovely photos of layers and reflections I have been able to capture at different times of the day and in different weather.

Once again, I will lift this cloth when I need it for the next 'brilliant' idea I think of.

Wrapped Trees

As part of a project for my studies, I wrapped 4 different types of trees, each in a length of unbleached cotton tied with jute string.

For weeks now I have been looking for some interaction with the cloth.

but there has been nothing, except that the cloth is beginning to fall off the tree, which is just gravity at work.

Some animal has been running up and down the left hand trunk of this cedar and left dirt marks but the tree has not left its mark.

We are nearing the end of the rainy season here so I'm not expecting anything more to happen to these cloths but I will leave them up until I need them for some other 'brilliant' idea.

When I walk past these wrapped trees, I am reminded every time of the many trees in Northern India with 5 foot wide painted bands around the lower part of the trunk. For the 3 weeks we were travelling in India, I couldn't work out why the people did this.

Dialogue with Cedar

One of the trees I have been working with is the Western Red Cedar.

I found this burnt stump......

... and rubbed my sketchbook over it.

The tree has wonderfully suggestive textural bark.

The drawing the cedar did on a breezy day.

Tree Drawings

This semester with my BA (Hons) studies I am taking the Personal Specialism module, which is all about learning how to write a proposal for an art project, 2 of them actually and to show how the art work would change to suit the different sites.

My first proposal is for my work to be placed out in our garden as a dialogue between the trees and myself. I am exploring the intimate human connection with the natural environment so I am starting by exploring my own relationship with our garden.

These are some images of drawings made by trees. I waited for a windy day then went outside with my sketchbook and a bottle of ink. I dipped a leaf/needle that was still on the tree in the ink then held the sketchbook up so the page just touched the inky leaf.

It is very interesting to see how each tree produced its own distinctive marks.
The idea for tree drawings came from Nalini Nadkarni's book 'Between Earth and Sky', a very good read for those interested in trees.

'Regression'

Here are some close up images of the other half of the dip-tych. This part is called Regression. It just needs the finishing touches and it will be finished.

I am now in the process of hunting down a photographer to get professional quality images of the work I have done this past year. I am looking for an art photographer and I would prefer to use someone who has experience in photographing textiles. Textiles need to be skilfully captured to keep them looking textural and alive. They are quite different from other traditional art mediums such as watercolour on paper and oils on canvas when it comes to capturing images of them.

When I lived in Calgary John Dean photographed my work and did a wonderful job. He is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art + Design and photographs a lot of the instructors' work. He has a lot of experience with a full range of media. Now I am looking for a 'John Dean' in Victoria.

'Succession'

Here's an update post on the work I am making for the Articulation 'Standing Relations' body of work. It is called 'Succession'.

This is as far into the process as I can show you because the work will be in the Articulation exhibition at the Canadian Quilters Association conference in Calgary (April 2010). It will be in the section on new work where all of the work will be seen in the public for the first time. Articulation members haven't even seen each other's work yet because it is all still in our studios across the country, from coast to coast to coast.

Here is a hint of what the work is about.

I am putting the finishing stitches on an accompanying work called 'Regression', so I guess it is a dip-tych.

Knitting and the Olympics

What a great combination. With all of the Olympic coverage on TV, I have been doing a lot of knitting. I just finished a pair of mittens from a kit a friend brought back for me after her summer trip through Nova Scotia a few summers ago.

The simple slip stitch pattern is easy to do while watching the screen so I started another pair using wool from New Zealand this time - a soft 10 ply fine merino with an variegated 8 ply wool. The colours are in short lengths so when used to make large textile pieces as for a sweater the colours look spotty. But the short lengths of colour are ideal for slip stitch patterns.

This winter I have been wearing these fingerless gloves. Yes, the winters are that mild here in Victoria. I bought them in 'Hands of the World', a very interesting store in Pike Place Market in Seattle. The owner, Cynthia Hope, has a great eye for quality hand made items that she sources from all over the world.

When visiting Seattle I got a bit caught out with the cold windy weather and having not brought a warm enough jacket with me. So I bought the mittens and a bright red Indian silk scarf in the store and they kept me warm during our days in Seattle.

Maltwood Exhibition - Not!

Here are some drawings in my sketchbook from the time Articulation did a study of the forest ecosystems on Vancouver Island.

We were all very excited about getting a booking in the University of Victoria's Maltwood Gallery for our work that resulted from our studies.

The exhibition was booked for April 2010. We were all working feverishly in our studios across the country to produce a body of work we have called 'Standing Relations' when....

...we got dumped!!! 2 months out from the exhibition date. The reason given for the cancellation was the building is to have seismic upgrading work done on it during the time of our booked exhibition.

We have been told to contact the gallery in 6 months. That's it. No suggestions or help finding an alternative space. As you can imagine, we were all shocked because we were all so into producing the work. Once we got over the shock, most of us felt as though we had lost our momentum to keep going to finish the works. I know my large work stopped dead. Remember, I was making regular posts on its progress.

But now our next booked exhibition is fast approaching, the Canadian Quilt Association's biennial conference, to be held in Calgary this year, at the end of April beginning of May. I may just get back into working on my 'Standing Relations' work. Will keep you posted.

Findings

The other day I came across a magnificent growth of fungus on a row of tree stumps.
They appear to me to have so much potential to be interpreted in fibre - short row knitting, couching, applique, . . . .