Georgia on my mind

Hambidge Center

I’m off to Georgia! I will be at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA this month for a 2 week residency. I am SO excited and pleased to have this opportunity!

Installation materials

As I travel south I will stop for a one day workshop at The Bancroft School in Worcester, MA. Working with the Middle School, I will guide the creation of an installation for the school entryway portico. We will use marine buoy flags, ribbons with messages, wire, zip ties and markers to create a colorful and positive way to greet everyone as they enter The Bancroft School campus.Then I will drive south taking 4 days to travel to Northern Georgia. While down there I will be working on the series “Now” Letters By Hand”. This past month I wove ten yards of white linen to mount this alphabet on to. I also plan to hike, draw and just be available for new ideas and fresh insights. This is truly a gift of time and space.I almost to forgot to announce – I have been selected as a finalist for the NH Charitable Foundation’s Artist Advancement Award. Feeling happy and pleased!

eight woven, two to go

ten yards off loom

Putting it out there

My current artist statement:

The rhythm of hand weaving soothes me.

The meditative, rhythmical process of weaving unlocks my dreams, dissolving boundaries and opening my eyes to a wider vision. On a plain weave grid combined with hand stitching and brocade inlayed threads, my work explores the notion that we are simultaneously alone and part of a larger picture. I use hand dyed indigo colored linen warp threads as a foundation that contrasts with brilliantly dyed rayon weft threads. After drawing or writing on Japanese Kozo (mulberry) paper, I hand spin it into thread and then I weave or embroider it into the foundation fabric. While my process is methodical and measured, my message is open-ended with layers of questions and discovery.The imagery of house/home maintains a strong presence in my work, referencing safety, refuge, comfort and a nurturing environment. These pieces include a body shape within the house. Upon closer inspection, the body is actually a negative or empty space, implying our transient status on earth. Through metaphor and imagery, I attempt to comprehend and illustrate impermanence and loss, an inevitable part of our human livesThread by thread, weaving and embroidery move at the pace of my breath: supporting my desire to be more mindful of the present and sustaining my ability to make art that investigates collective longing and universal struggles.

Pride and progress

Bridgeport Neighborhoods

detail – Bridgeport neighborhoods

Hands at work

Bridgeport shoreline

This week I was artist in residence with the two 5th grades at Classical Studies Magnet School in Bridgeport, CT. We completed two tapestries that illustrate two of the wonderful features of this small CT city – the shore line and the many diverse neighborhoods. I loved working with these energetic and happy students! They have much to be proud of in their work and their community.In my portable studio work I have completed two more embroideries from “Now: Letters by Hand” Letter V and W. I’m closing in on the end of this series!!

Letter V

Letter W

Warmer days, bluer skies

Snow piled up above the windows!

In my last post, I spoke of the blizzard…and in case you haven’t heard, we just exited the snowiest February on record here in York. For about three weeks the snow just piling up and piling up. We’ve had the roof shoveled and the drive way piles are over ten feet tall now! Today is bright ans sunny, so there is the sweet sound of melting, gutters running with water and even a few birds singing a happy tune.  All of this snow time gave me the opportunity to be grounded in the studio – no complaints from this happy weaver! I am one of the few people who loves winter weather – I love to x-ski and I love how snow storms create a giant pause in my busy life.I have added a new piece to the gallery from my “Unhinged” series – check it out!

Woven Mandala

The winter residency at Lewiston Middle School is completed. I am quite pleased with the drawn and woven mandalas that these students created in the after school program.

Personal drawn mandala

My own work is progressing – a new piece in the “Unhinged” series almost ready to be off loom for the embroidery. And speaking of embroidery, I have completed Letter U in my project “Now: Letters by Hand”.I will be traveling for 3 weeks leaving March 12…heading to a warm island in the Caribbean, Bequia. I’ll have email – so feel free to keep in touch – I love hearing from you!

Letter U – “Letters by Hand”

Rhythm and blues, new work in progress.

Fresh start

Studio post blizzard

We survived the “epic” blizzard of January 2015 – 24″of snow. Not all that bad – there have been worse storms – and the power never even blinked! The best thing about this storm was that I was hunkered down in the stdio – with heat and power – and I was able to get four new blog posts on my Macomber Looms and Me blog. These new posts include many photos of installing new parts to old looms as well as a few maintenance tricks. Check them out!So now that these posts are off my “to-do” list I can concentrate on weaving! I have completed the third in my series “Unhinged” and I’m off the photographers tomorrow to get it shot. Here’s a preview – but the professional will do a much better job!

Inlay at work.

Unhinged #2 – detail

This month I am artist in residence at a Middle School in Lewiston ME. I’m working in an after-school program through LA ARTS. Working in collaboration with the math teacher, we are doing drawn and then woven Mandalas.

Drawing Mandalas

Summer sun, summer moon

Summer moon rise

Summer sun setting towards So. Freeport, ME

I am home for a couple of weeks after a two week shake down cruise on our “new” sail boat. We left Rockland, ME on July 1st heading West towards Tentants Harbor down the Mussel Ridge Channel. Well it was certainly a shake down adventure! We had engine trouble and then we lost our brand new prop somewhere between Christmas Cove and  Boothbay Harbor.

Independence flies high in Boothbay Harbor!

Thankfully we were near the Paul Luke Yard who specialize in propeller installation. With a brand new prop we left Lewis Cove and headed further west ending up at Brewers Yard in South Freeport with more engine issues. Phew….hours and dollars later, we have a smooth running engine. But best of all…we had many hours of AMAZING sailing. Witness sails like a beauty, balanced and graceful. We feel blessed to be the new owners of this boat, in spite of the trials of this first cruise.While out on the boat, I brought an embroidery project that I’ve been working on called “Now ~ An alphabet by hand” to keep my hands busy and satisfy my need to create. I am working on letter N inspired by the mating White Admiral butterflies that visited us for a lengthy time in Port Clyde on the 4th of July. You can see other embroidered letters in a previous post.In honor of tonight’s full moon here is a moon rise from The Goslings near Harpswell, ME.

Paul Luke yard inspecting our propeller empty shaft.

Sketch of mating butterflies for embroidery

Summer moon rise

Winding and dyeing warps

Skeins ready for dye sampling.

Warps wound, chained and ready to dye.

I’ve had the luxury of studio time this fall and have been working since November to set up the “Mother” loom, my 56″ 16H (but currently only using 8H). This is a long, labor intensive process that begins with winding two warps – one is the ground warp and the other is the supplementary warp. The warps for this new series of art works is 49″ wide by 9 yards long,  24 epi for the ground warp and 12 epi for the supplementary warp.Next I want to test how this warp thread will dye, so I wind small skeins to test color mix and intensity. This is all done by weight ratio, so I use a scale and a calculator to figure out how much dye for each skein. I also keep track of each dye bath, saving a small piece for my records.Once I am satisfied with the color I dye the warps, usually only putting one warp at a time in a bucket. This allows me to make sure that the dye is applied evenly to all the warp ends.

Warps are all dyed and drying on the rack.

Test skeins in dye pot.

In my next post, I’ll share how I wind long and wide warps on my loom.

Summer 2013 Gallery

This summer I decided that my front woods was a perfect place to hang a show. So I started making “post cards” of gratitude using fabric and plastic marine flags. Each flag has a fabric collage on one side a message on the other. They still look lovely hanging in the woods for all the world to see as they drive by my roadside gallery.

Along side my own projects, I have taught several workshops and done a few residencies since spring. here’s a gallery of images, from Mandalas to Paper Prayer Flags.

Close to Home

The horrific events that happened this week in Sandy Hook Elementary School have hit close to home for many of us. As an artist who works in schools across New England I find myself asking the same questions that many are….”why”. I also wonder what I would have done. Would I have been as brave as the teachers at Sandy Hook?  I do know that my first reaction was to get in the car and go to try to lend help, to offer solace and to reach out to this devastated community. But Sunday as I sat in church I realized that here, close to home there is a need for love, solace, and healing. So right now, I will remain close to home, using my skills, my love and my energy to bring just a little bit more love and healing to this community.What a beautiful, loving world this would be if we all did that.

Making Art Count

Journal entry November 2012

It’s been awhile since I have posted here. No big excuses, just preoccupied.There is definitely a shift going on within my studio and my art. My journal has always been a laboratory for learning and exploring, but I now journal daily and plan/sketch out ideas for new works. My loom is where I create work that requires a deeper commitment.There are also several ideas for out door installations for temporary art.

Studio ~ November 2012

This piece on the big loom has been an image that has been on my mind and heart since early summer.I have given myself a challenge: for the next three months I will hyper focus on producing art work. Now that my master’s degree is complete and the Woven Voices project is at rest, it is time to make art count!

Inlay technique on the loom

Journal entry, art work sketch