What Am I? Chopped Liver?

My goal is to be filthy rich:

Rich in knowledge,

Rich in adventure,

Rich in laughter,

Rich in health,

Rich in family,

Rich in love.

-Anonymous

I have been extremely lucky lately with getting into gallery shows. My latest was Fantastic Fibers at the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Kentucky (runs until June 17). More than 300 artist entered and 38 were accepted including me. My piece Gathering Stillness was my entry. It was the 30th anniversary of the show so I decided to attend the opening (April 22). It was a nearly 7 hour drive. I am thankful that I had handwork to do in the car and that my husband agreed to go with me. The weather was rainy and cold. There was not much going on since quilt festival did not begin until the 26. We arrived a little early and I identified myself as one of the artists and the person's reaction was, "Oh, then I don't need to tell you anything." Okay, not the reaction I was expecting, but I was there to see the art and hopefully meet people. I kept trying to figure out if there were any other artists present when Pat Owoc approached me. We had a delightful conversation then went looking for other artists. Pat expressed exactly what I was feeling, "Why don't we have name tags?" Once we connected with the other artists present, they too had the same thought. Marianne Williamson  had traveled all the way from Miami, Anita Cooke (won an award) from New Orleans and Roxanne Lasky drove from South Carolina. Roxanne took lots of photos so do check out her website. I bought the catalog because I always feel funny about taking photos where there is one. Silly me. Anyway, I have been to five openings this year where I have had work in the show and only one (Tall Grass Gallery) has had name tags and purposely acknowledged and encouraged the people attending to interact with the artists present. I do not get it. I love talking to artists. I want to know all about the work that they created and why. I was touched when Pat said, "Please tell me about your piece." I bought the catalog so that I could read the artist statements. Most of the galleries did not even have artist statements available. So my question is, don't you want to met the artists? Would meeting the artist have any impact on your purchasing the work? 

And don't get me wrong, I am thankful that I went. 

ReEntry: Life is Good!

Life is so ironic, it takes sadness to know what happiness is, noise to appreciate silence and absence to value presence.

I thought I was done. I would hang out with my family, play in my garden and make art that I wanted to make without any thought to entering or even what I would do with it. The universe thought otherwise. Suddenly I was inundated with requests to lecture and even more wonderful, teach! My youngest son started pushing me about getting back out there and selling my wares.  So I have jumped back in with both feet after some major surgery. I entered "Gathering Stillness" in Burning Bush Gallery's show "The Inner Journey" and it got in! This small gallery is in an old 1890 (216 Main Street) house in Wheaton, IL. The opening was on Sunday and I left feeling so good that I danced to my car. The people were wonderful and the artwork incredible. I got many much needed hugs. The show is up until November 20 and is well worth the trip. The gallery is open Sundays from 1- am - 12:30 pm, Monday through Friday 9 am - 4 pm and by appointment (708.705.8669). Looking forward to sharing more good news with you!

Gathering Stillness: An Exciting New Direction

 "In order to accomplish an experience, you have to have a chance to dance with it. You have to have a chance to play, to explore. Then each style of exploration that takes place is a different manifestation, we could say. Nevertheless, it is all part of one big game." -- Chogyam Trungpa



It actually hangs on the wall! Not perfect but I am so happy.  The final touch was earrings I made using wire, a hand charm and two beads. It feels good to be learning, stretching and growing. Now I can't wait to make "Gathering Joy."

This piece is a combination of ceramics and fiber. It is part of a series that I am creating. It is 52" h x 12" w.  It was created to hang on the wall. Next in the series is "Gathering Grief." These pieces represent some of my goals (stillness) and what is happening in my life (loss and joy).

My contribution to Off the Wall Fridays!

Gathering Stillness

What does gathering stillness look like to you? It took me a while to figure it out and while doing so I created a huge mess in my studio and went for lots of walks around the block. It wasn't until I started playing with lines and circles on a piece of paper that my idea came together.

The circles are dupioni silk that I dyed. The large one is hand appliqued, the smaller ones are fused. About half way through cutting out the circles, I had a "what was I thinking" moment. I am happy I kept cutting them out. The quilt is 27" w x 44" h. It will slightly overlap when sewed to the clay part.

I have also dipped the clay piece in the indigo vat a couple more times to get her bluer. In the photograph, she is sitting on a piece of light brown raw silk that I over dyed. I can't believe that I was able to make the silk such a great color blue without doing anything to it. It was dipped twice.

The next step will be sewing the quilt onto the clay piece then seeing if it can hang for a wall. I am also going to create a stand because it might be too difficult to hang in the gallery.

"Gathering Grief" is next. The clay part is dry enough to to be fired in the kiln. I have an idea for the quilt and am anxious to get working on it. The head part came out larger. Sculpting it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Looking forward to also creating "Gathering Joy." What are you gathering in your life?

This is also my Off the Wall Fridays post. I do love seeing what other people have done with their week.