Breaking the Silence

This blog has been idle, but I haven't! I'm finally getting past the writer's block that had me stopped in my tracks.

I've been busy chairing a gallery committee in the Stutz Business Center in Indianapolis where I have my studio. It is an old car  factory that is home to 70-80 artists and many businesses. 

Not only that, but I have been not only printing and working with fiber, but I'm doing WATERCOLOR!!! Who knew? Never thought I'd see the day.

The piece above is 6"x8" and is in the show 'Heart" at the StutzArtSpace Gallery.

I've also finished two print editions for 2 different print exchanges. More on that later.

January Retreat

Well, I started my January retreat a few weeks late. My goal, as it is every January, is to watch Paw Paw Lake freeze-anything else is gravy. I am LOVING the solitude, bird watching, journaling, and generally chilling out. 

This is the second year here in Watervliet, MI and I have added friends and a cooperative art gallery-Chartreuse Coop in St. Joseph, MI to my experience. On tuesday, two of my new art friends came over to play with gelatin plate printmaking. I was having way too much fun to take pictures, then suddenly everyone was gone. So here are the after pictures. Until my 'studio' across the street is insulated enough to heat in the winter, I 'm using the little cottage next to the house to do my messy work in. It is also inhabited by my adoptive cat, Chloe, who helped us with our projects by demanding attention regularly, and swiping glasses when she couldn't get our attention.

Well, I'm not sure how to reorganize my photos, but here they are. The gelatin plate prints that I did were on paper and interfacing-the later are the ones in the picture.

New work-prints on fabric

My first upload with my new Mac- I wasn't sure I would be able to do it.

These are some of the works that I created for my solo show in August at the Indianapolis Art Center, 2007. I am printing collagraphs on fabric, then quilting and embellishing them. The printing plates were made with pizza cardboard rounds and acrylic medium and various textures. My family ate lots of pizza until I realized I could buy the cardboard in the cake decorating section of craft store.

Tree clip art for Liz N.

Here is some of the clip art that shows bare trees from the top. These are scanned out of the book, "Entourage: a tracing files for Architecture and Interior Design Drawing" There is permission in the front of the book to copy, trace or transfer however you choose to use the images. They sure make some neat patterns.

January Retreat in Michigan

I've been hanging out in Michigan for the month of January. I've been looking forward to this month-long retreat forever, it seems. In August, we bought a home overlooking Paw Paw Lake in SW Michigan. The town of Watervliet is a short drive from Benton Harbor and Lake Michigan. My only stated goal, this month, was to watch the lake freeze. Don't know if it will, but I'm having a great time watching the birds and the lake. Here is a picture from earlier this month. It's the view out of my window, where we have a living room/dining room/studio(don't let my DH see that last description!)

Today brings snow flurries and a large area of white ?slush on the lake. I've been mostly indulging myself, sleeping and eating and working whenever I choose. Also exploring and taking pictures. I've been journaling and looking for a calm center to begin working from. Just today, the inspiration seems to finally coming.

I was interested to see on the quiltart list June Underwood's description of a long series of work with the focus of a particular landscape. I also watched a PBS documentary on Cezanne and how he focused on the landscape of Provance. Enviously, I searched my mind for a focus that I could use to work on-and realized that I already have a focus, it's just not the same. I have been working with circles and shrines since the tsunami two years ago, and realize that these are really my focus. I can build on my own personal imagery rather than feeling like I need to choose something concrete like landscape. Perhaps it is more difficult to measure success of work when it does not have a concrete beginning, or a recognizable framework. But I'm feeling really buzzed now that I have settled on this realization. So it's off on a long series for me. I'm already feeling like I need to get back to Indy and my printing press and do some serious printing on fabric-to create the fiber pieces that are beginning to dance in my head. This is good!

Time Flies If You're Having Fun- OR NOT

Oh my goodness, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on this blog. It has been a long and deep artistic slump, and now I'm surfacing in time for the chaos of the holiday season. It seems that I run around in a manic, inspired way, and then fall silent into the inner workings of the pscyhe. I would think that spring would be the season of renewal, but for me it seems to be fall. I love to see the bare trees and wonderful grasses that I consider the 'bones' of the world.

I also have yet another (but wonderful) complication of a year round lake house in southwestern Michigan. I plan to stay up there for the month of January and my goal is to watch Paw Paw Lake freeze! It has been chaotic to try and work between home, lake home, home studio, and Indianapolis Art Center studio. Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it.

I also curate shows in the building where I have studio space- Next week I will be hanging a show by the members of Fiber Revolution. I will post more information in a day or two, and hopefully some installation pictures. Right now the art quilts are starting to be delivered to the Art Center's main desk, so I have some packages to pick up.

Do look at the Gallery North on the Square website for some new pictures of newer work. And I will post some pictures soon! For now, I've broken the silence and I'm waiting for the flood.