Convergence 2010 Day 2

July 21 Wednesday

I didn’t sign up for anything for this day. My new friend Jean, started her 3 day workshop with Robin Spayde, whose binder of notes were the most spectacular we have ever seen for a workshop. Robin is a very thorough, organized and knowledgeable teacher and Jean highly recommends her. Bobbie was still trying to recupe so Cynthia and I took the light rail train to Santa Fe and visited the Georgia O’Keefe Museum which had of course, an exhibition of her work. The museum shown here is a good example of the adobe style homes that are the norm in New Mexico. Cynthia had gone on the Ghost Ranch Tour on Monday, organized by Convergence. Ghost Ranch is where Georgia O’Keefe lived and painted for many years before she died. I love Georgia’s spirit and who she was as a person.

We ventured up Canyon road where all the galleries are in Santa Fe. We didn't venture to far into them simply because we had to rush to get the shuttle that would take us to the light rail transit. I've already planned to come back to Canyon Road next week and make a day of it in Santa Fe before heading to Taos.

For dinner we took the bus to Old Town Albuquerque which is reminiscent of European squares found in cities and towns, albeit certainly not quite as attractive, yet has some charm.

The Walk In Beauty fashion show was held this evening. I ran into Ingrid Boesel (Fibreworks Software). Some of my favourite pieces were the nuno jacket, with silk rust organza by Susan Bowman; Sarah Fortin & Catherine Pritchett’s collaboration – a brown rust coat in shadow weave; Catherine Pritchett’s woven patches and felted garment; Inge Dam’s skirt made with strips of tablet weaving; and Stephanie Abelson’s window screen bird jacket. Its worth getting a catalogue of all garments exhibited at the show.

An exhibition of double weave wall hangings many of them created by Jennifer Moore at a gallery on Central Ave in Alubquerque.

The same gallery with more current doubleweave hangings by Jennifer Moore.

The coming days promises much more!

Convergence 2010 Albuquerque: Day one - July 20

I was up at 6:00 a.m. and went for breakfast in the hotel. As I arrived in the dining room and was about to be seated, another conference participant, Bobbie (Roberta) Goering, asked me to join her table for breakfast. She had already asked 2 other women who were attending the conference on their own, Cynthia Miller and Jean Weems. We talked animatedly, our eagerness to be there apparent and vital. We quickly became ‘a group’ hanging out together at various times over the week that the conference took place.

left to right: Jean Weems, Cynthia Miller, Ann Bergeron and Bobbie Goering

At 7:30 a.m. we all checked into the conference and the tour we had signed up to take that morning. While I was there, I overheard a woman introduce herself as Nancy Harvey to the check-in personnel for the conference. It was the Nancy Harvey who wrote the tapestry book. I asked her if she’d take her picture with me for us folks here in Canada! She willingly obliged.

The Santa Fe Opera House was utterly divine. It was lodged in an outdoor space, with a panoramic view. Though it had a remarkable arched wood ceiling the sides were open to the elements. On one side of the stage area are wind and rain baffles. We were given a tour of the costume shop, where not only are the costumes themselves often made, but at times, also the shoes, wigs and hats. There are 65 people employed in this section during the summer months. Out of 900 applicants for technical apprenticeships, 78 are selected. The costumes have a great amount of technical detail. There is an ample storage area, where costumes are stored not only from the current operas, but from past operas. The frequently rent out costumes for productions of other operas around the country. Costumes are created with large seam allowances and no lining to allow them to be taken in or enlarged depending on the performer. We were shown the understage area and props. We were served a delicious lunch where we invited Ann Bergeron to join a new friends group and then it was off to visit 3 studios of local area fiber artists.

The first studio we stopped was Rebecca Bluestone. This gave us an introduction to the kind of architecture that is dominant in New Mexico, the adobe style house. They are very charming, cool in the summer, and warm in the cooler months. She does warped faced hand dyed silk wallhangings on a Cranbook Loom with a sectional warp beam and an epi of 8 using a 12/6 swedish cotton for the warp. She likes to weave with a temple because silk is rigid and does not have the give and amplitude of wool, thus its rigidity causes draw-in. Her wallhangings are quite large and to maintain such a straight edge is definitely technically challenging.

James Koehler’s studio was next, shown above. James creates handwoven tapestries with his hand dyed wool yarn. He mounts his tapestries with Velcro on frames so that they appear more like canvases than wallhangings. He has a number of apprentices and in exchange for work done for him, he trades them hours of instruction. He also uses a Cranbrook loom and works in the ‘bas lisse’ manner. He did say that he was looking into getting a gobelin style loom for he was beginning to find that always working on the Cranbrook loom was more challenging physically. A gobelin style would give him the option of also working upright and perhaps more comfortably. One thing that James did differently in setting up tapestries on looms is, instead of using lease sticks at the back to maintain threads in a more orderly way, he opted for using another reed at the back of the loom between the heddles and back beam. James also sells hand dyed yarns for tapestry. He has a new book available about his work and life available through mail order.

Jennifer Moore’s studio was our last stop for the day. The picture are at the top of the page. She creates double weave wall hangings, scarves and shawls. Jennifer’s book on double weave has just come out, and she also sells dvd’s on the technique. I acquired a copy of the book and asked her to sign it! Jennifer’s studio may be small, but she also is incredibly prolific.

I regrouped with my new friends after the tour. Bobbie was fading because she had come directly to Albuquerque from a trip to France, so she didn’t join us for dinner. Jean, Cynthia and I took the bus to Old Town Albuquerque, where shops and restaurants were organized around a very European looking square. We had dinner at one of the restaurants (Mexican). We faded quickly after that.

Attendance at this conference made possible by the support of the Ontario Arts Council.

Upcoming Exhibitions

I was very excited when I was contacted by the American Tapestry Bienniale letting me know that my tapestry Joy was accepted in their 8th Biannual exhibition, which will open at Eider Gallery in Lincoln Nebraska between September 20 to November 15 2010 and will coincide with the meeting of the Textile Society of America. It will then go on to the American Textile Museum in Lowell Massachusetts between January 21 to May 2011.

Ontario Craft 09

I was very happy when my tapestry Joy was accepted into this juried show organized by the Ontario Craft Council. I was even more surprised that my fibre construction called Wave was accepted as well. I was especially delighted to see it on the wall at the gallery, where I had stretched it out with long nails on all four corners, allowing Wave to be displayed about 2" away from the wall. This created a very exciting shadow, making a secondary artistic effect. This was not something I had initially planned but the idea evolved into what it became. This is so much what the creative process is about. Those moments where you allow yourself to not know what the outcome may be. Allowing yourself to stumble in the dark feeling and intuiting your way there, whereever there is. It requires faith. Faith that somehow, it will all come together.

I attended the opening reception on November 13. My friend Scott Ford met me there. There were lots of people. I was thrilled Wave sold while I was at the reception. The piece was sold to Jane Alderdice, herself an artist and who also works at the University of Toronto.

48th Annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit 2009

As always doing the Toronto Outdoor Art Show is always an adventure, and a highly social event. Many people come back year after year and seek an artist/craftsperson out to see what's new. This is a view of the back wall of my display, which are predominantly the 'art pieces'. The sides of the booth are where I have scarves and shawls for sale. For the most part the weather was mostly cooperative except for the occasional gusts of wind, and a torrential downpour before the show opened at 10:30 on Saturday morning. I was greatful I arrived just as it was happening because pools of water can make the canopy very heavy and cause it to break, and then torrents of water come cascading in your booth. The challenges of nature!

Some people in the art world are critical of doing these kinds of shows, but I feel its important to get the work 'out there' to the general public, maybe even the public who may never attend a gallery. I feel it's important to make art accessible to everyone. One should question the assumptions we might make about others, what they do, and why they do it. You'll likely be surprised to discover that what one has assumed is completely incorrect! I'm discovering this all the time. Another reason I like doing a show like this is that I find it generates a lot of new ideas, and lots of inspiration. However, it is also very humbling, because there are many talented and gifted people participating and sometimes I find it hard to muster up my confidence.
A friend whose work I greatly admire is Judith Fielder and I cherish her friendship. She is an inspiration to many of us. A few other OCAD people went by me in a blur - William Hodge, Robert Wylie, Barb Hilts....

Jane Miliciewicz, an avid weaver and volunteer at the Museum for Textiles also visits me regularly at these shows. She's an opera buff and often does 'opera trips' in Europe. Way to live Jane!

Khadija Chatar for L'Express newspaper, a French paper in Toronto, came by to take photos and a stament so to speak.

Emily Bruusgaard, who once worked at the Textile Musuem of Canada, and who now continues her research in textiles, also stopped by for a visit.

Other friends, like Kathleen Boyle Hatcher, come by to say hello and chat a bit.

Miriam Grasby, the first person to buy one of my tapestries at the TOAE also stopped by. It was delightful to see her after 8 years I think!

The studio always is in chaos, laundry undone, house cleaning fallen to the wayside, before each show. Now its back to try to get order back in my life. The big priority is cleaning the studio and organizing it the way I want. After each show, it changes more and more to suit what I feel my needs are, but mostly within what I can afford, which isn't spectacular! All the same, I just feel lucky that I have room to work, that I enjoy being in my studio, and look forward to it.