The languishing Artifcraft blog and my new project BlockLab Studio

Times change, projects change. And this blog has been neglected ... and it's moving! More on that in a few. This past year has been a doozy. I'm honestly glad it's over, too much illness and shake ups (literally too with the Napa earthquake)! However, I've done a lot of great things over the past year, mostly a lot of thinking, pondering and exploring. And it's finally all come together this past January. I have several big projects going on at once right now, all excellent!

Washington DC Foreclosure Quilt top, 2015 by Kathryn Clark.

My biggest piece is my latest foreclosure quilt of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington DC. It's definitely been the most challenging research and piecing I've ever dealt with. As charming as Pierre L'Enfant's angled streets may be, translating a scaled road plan to pieced fabric has been a nightmare. Let's just say I have mastered measuring and assembling angled quilt pieces.

Correlated Inhibition, 2014. 18" x 24" by Kathryn Clark

Next up was a piece I completed in December for a show at Rare Device in San Francisco entitled Dead of Winter. It was curated by my friend Tiffanie Turner and included some great work including beautiful pieces by my friend Sonya Philip. The piece addresses the chemical transfiguration that occurs within a plant's cell structure. I plan to make more of these soft sculptures this year. It sort of keeps my toes dipped in the fine art world and I love the freedom the medium brings me.

And finally, my biggest project has been the development of BlockLab Studio. I'm in the process of building a new website (and blog!) to house the whole idea. Head over to see what that's all about. I'll also be teaching workshops in conjunction throughout this year, including a quilt block design class at Arrowmont school of arts & crafts in Tennessee.

If you want to see what I'm up to these days, head over to my Instagram feed to see my process and check out my new blog for BlockLab Studio. My website is still going full swing with lots of updates on shows. And I'm still sending newsletters with the latest info. Email me at kathrynatkathrynclarkdotcom to be added to the newsletter list. It's been a long great ride on the blog and it's not over, it's just in a different place with a bit of a different direction!

In the new studio

Having a new studio has been a bit liberating, giving me the freedom to play a bit. 

Somehow I always end up starting with quilt blocks. But this time, the
blocks inspired a completely new series that is not a quilt.

The freedom has brought new ideas, including what I think(hope!) will be a good series. Yes, it's fiber. I'm so in love with the medium.

It started with the desire to make a few pieces of clothing that I actually liked this summer, just a little breather from the deeply conceptual work I've been making over the past two years. Anyone else disgusted with the cheap clothing available in stores? And when I do find clothes I love, they cost a fortune, in the $300+ range. Which makes sense, since they're all handmade. So why couldn't I just make my own? I know how to sew. It also doesn't hurt to have a friend, Sonya Philip, who practices this mantra every day.

I started with the most simple pattern there is. Perfect for the hot summer days we've been having in Sonoma.

Once I hung the clothes on the wall, they no longer looked like clothing but more like soft sculpture. Hmmm, the ideas started flowing. In the interim, more peach preserving happening here, I think a total harvest of 70 pounds this year!

Flint Foreclosure Quilt

I finished the Flint Foreclosure Quilt a few weeks ago and shipped it off to it's new owner,  the Michigan State University Museum. They commissioned the quilt for their permanent collection.  They have a growing collection of quilts connected to human rights issues and thought one of the foreclosure quilts would be a wonderful addition. It was such an honor to make this for them. It will also be a part of the Quilt Index, which is a fabulous resource for any artist. It was a challenge determining just which neighborhood in Flint should be represented. Ultimately, the museum chose a neighborhood right in between two vacant GM plants. But really, there are so many other blighted neighborhoods in Flint that are suffering as well.

Flint Foreclosure Quilt, 2013. Cheesecloth, linen, cotton and quilting thread, 26" x 46"

What really inspired me while making this quilt was reading so many stories about residents who have gone through so much and are doing everything to rebuild their communities. It seems there has been outreach from the national and local governments, but I see so much more that could be done. The question is how and who? It's an overwhelming issue and there are so many other factors that come into play, economic, social, etc.

Flint Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2013. Cheesecloth, linen, cotton and quilting thread, 26" x 46"

The sad fact is even though foreclosure rates have fallen in the past year, there's a hidden story behind the lower numbers. In a lot of these neighborhoods where you look at a mapped list and see few listings, it's not because the neighborhood is bouncing back, it's often because the homes are just abandoned, or worse yet, demolished. That is the case with much of Flint.

Flint Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2013. Cheesecloth, linen, cotton and quilting thread, 26" x 46"

And I'm now discovering as I do more research using aerial imagery, there are plenty of these demolished homes all across the US. Some cities openly discuss it, like Cleveland and Detroit, but there are others where I can't find any written data to back up what I see from the air. I keep digging in the hopes I can share the next chapter with you. I plan two more quilts and I hope these will express the new reality. What a can of worms I've opened ...

Upcoming Show : Selections by Naomi Beckwith at Pro Arts Gallery

This is coming up fast so for those of you in the Bay Area, I hope you can squeeze it into your already crazy holiday calendar! My Riverside Foreclosure Quilt was chosen to be in Selections by Naomi Beckwith at Pro Arts Gallery in Oakland, CA.

It is such an honor to have my work chosen by Ms. Beckwith, Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. As soon as I know the other artists chosen, I'll update this post with links to their websites.

Riverside Foreclosure Quilt, 2012. 34" x 46"

The exhibition opens this Friday, December 7th with an Artists' Reception from 6-8 pm.  I will be there! The exhibit runs through January 11th. There will be an Artists' Talk on Friday, January 4th at 6:30 which I plan on attending as well. For more information on Pro Arts Gallery and the exhibit, see their website. They should be updating it with more info in the next few days so stay tuned. I hope to see some of you at the opening this Friday!

Artist : Suzanne Sullivan

There are so many talented and creative ceramicists out there these days. Back in March, Paula Greif emailed me with a list of some great talent and introduced me to Suzanne Sullivan's work. Thank you, Paula!

I instantly fell in love with all of Suzanne's work. The simple geometric patterns contrast beautifully with the rough, hand formed surfaces. And look, she has an addiction to spoons too! Why do we love them so? Her's are wonderful. I wish I had one of these when I was enjoying my red kuri soup the other day. The dark pieces would have played off wonderfully with the bright orange.

Here are some recent pieces that came out of Suzanne's kiln in May. All stunners.

Paula mentioned that Suzanne also makes quilts. She knows what I love. Suzanne's partner, the writer Robert Sullivan, published a book entitled "My American Revolution". Suzanne responded to his writing by making historical quilts that reflect his words.

From what I can see, they are stunning. I love imagining the creative conversations between the two while the works were being created. Collaborations are beautiful things to witness, aren't they?

To see more of Suzanne's work, visit her visual blog The Wide Prospect. A Public Space printed Robert's writings and Suzanne's quilts in an article entitled "Almanac" here. You can find Suzanne's work at Mociun in Brooklyn.

Foreclosure Quilt : Southern Chase

I finished a new foreclosure quilt last week, this one is located in Concord, North Carolina in the Southern Chase neighborhood. I was commissioned to make the piece for a journalist, Binyamin Appelbaum, who co-wrote a series of articles in the Charlotte Observer on the unusually high rate of foreclosures seen among one particular builder, Beazer Homes.

Southern Chase Foreclosure Quilt, 2012. 23" x 30"
Linen, cotton, cotton voile, string and embroidery thread.

Beazer created the Southern Chase neighborhood to specifically provide low cost homes to low income families. One out of every five homes ended up in foreclosure. There were numerous red flags with their practices but one alarming one was that they arranged mortgage loans for  two-third's of the buyers. The idea that builders can arrange mortgage loans just seems like a bad idea to me.

Southern Chase Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 23" x 30"
Linen, cotton, cotton voile, string and embroidery thread.

Beazer Homes was accused of violating federal lending laws in 2009, and reached a settlement which you can read about here.

Southern Chase Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 23" x 30"
Linen, cotton, cotton voile, string and embroidery thread.

The list is long of investigations, one of them was worth $50,000,000 for Mortgage and Accounting Fraud with United States. Needless to say, Beazer is still busy building homes throughout the US. Please view the entire series of articles via this link written by Binyamin Appelbaum, Lisa Hammersly Munn and Ted Mellnik. I wonder what would have happened with Beazer Homes had these journalists not written the articles. We need more people like them!

Phoenix Foreclosure Quilt

Finally!! I can share with you the Phoenix Foreclosure quilt that I finished last month. First, the sunny weather got in the way of photographing it and then, surprise, I lost a crucial part of my tripod, grrr. I put it down somewhere in my studio telling myself I would find it easily here ... well, obviously my brain wasn't capable of remembering.

Phoenix Foreclosure Quilt, 2012. 22" x 52"
Shot cotton, cheesecloth, linen, yarn and embroidery thread.

So, this morning I rigged up a ladder and pinned the piece on the exterior of my new studio wall. It's not perfect but at least you get the gist. There are foreclosures all over Phoenix. It was hard to narrow down an area, I could do many pieces here. For now, I zoomed in on what looked to be a thriving neighborhood with a well-functioning K-8 school (the blue rectangle on the right). What must it be like for these kids to walk through this neighborhood?

Phoenix Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 22" x 52"
Shot cotton, cheesecloth, linen, yarn and embroidery thread.

I chose shot cotton for this piece. Red seemed appropriate for Phoenix as well as the dire aspect of the crisis these days. I also used the cheesecloth again as an interior fabric, similar to Detroit. The cheesecloth continues to deteriorate each time I handle the piece, which is part of the point.

Phoenix Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 22" x 52"
Shot cotton, cheesecloth, linen, yarn and embroidery thread.

I am almost finished with the Riverside quilt of which you had a peek here last week, just another week or two. It's shaping up to be one of my favorites.

Foreclosure Quilt : Cleveland, OH

After a lengthy summer away from the studio, I jumped right back in and finished Cleveland over the holiday weekend. This is my largest piece yet at 60" high.

Cleveland Foreclosure Quilt, 2011. 25" x 60"
Voile, cotton, linen, denim and embroidery thread.

This was a challenging quilt to make for some reason. Perhaps it was the broad scale of the neighborhood that I chose to include or simply just a larger size than my others. And yes, there was a lot of cutting and sewing to be done here.

What is interesting about Cleveland's foreclosure development is they are ahead of other cities in dealing with this crisis. They say this is ground zero, it started here in 1997. What this provides us is a look of how other communities might evolve over time.

And there is a glimmer of hope here. At least 200 for-profit community gardens have popped up all over the city, planted on top of abandoned lots in neighborhoods struggling to rebuild.

The Forest Hill neighborhood has at least four of these gardens, some are quite large as seen above. Some are simply residential lots that have been turned into smaller gardens.

Having these has certainly created a sense of community for those residents who thought there was no hope for their neighborhoods. These are my interpretations of community gardens in embroidery and applique.

Does it look like a thriving garden to you? And can you tell I had fun making these? Learn more about Cleveland's gardens here and here. Data for the quilt was provided by Google Earth, NEO CANDO and Summer Sprout Community Garden program in Cleveland.

Artist : Barbara Wisnoski

I'm constantly reminded what a small world this is. About a month ago, I came across Barbara Wisnoski's stunning wall hangings. I printed one of them for my inspiration wall and intended to share her work here.

Platonic Target, Barbara Wisnoski 81x162 cm

My friend Myrna was visiting my studio a few weeks ago and I showed her the picture. It ends up that Myrna had met Barbara recently in an airport coming back from the Fiberart International opening where both of thier work was featured.

White Rag Quilt, Barbara Wisnoski. 170x195 cm

Myrna called me this week to tell me that Barbara was coming out for the opening of Scrap ART at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles this weekend. A chance to meet Barbara and see her amazing artwork in person? An opportunity I wouldn't miss.

White Rag Quilt detail, Barbara Wisnoski. 170x195 cm

A lot of her pieces seem to reference the landscape, a subject you know I'm always drawn to. They remind me of aerial photos of fields. Sure enough, I find a piece entitled Field.

Field, Barbara Wisnoski. 165x229 cm

What I really love about these pieces are how differently they look up close. The detail is incredibly intricate. I can't wait to ask her how long it takes to make each work and how she pieces them together. I'll let you know what I find out.

Field detail, Barbara Wisnoski. 165x229 cm

Barbara sums up the approach to her work as this:

"As maniacally repetitive process, (these pieces) embody the meaning I derive from textiles and ritual, and carry contradictory connotations of repetition’s beauty and innate absurdity."

Platonic Landscape detail, Barbara Wisnoski. 145x81 cm

"I am interested in the relationship between texture and time. The process of building a piece, whereby a fabric loses its singular quality and becomes part of the whole, reminds me of how time washes a harmonious patina over objects and memories. The prospect of decay is key to the work: seeing how pieces done long ago have changed over time reminds me that they were made from living fibres and, like us, evolve and deteriorate. Also like us, these pieces become more themselves, therefore more beautiful, with age."

Barbara Wisnoski

Evening, Barbara Wisnoski. 145x165 cm

 Please check out all of Barbara's work on her website here. I hope some of you can make it to the opening and the show who live nearby. The opening is this Sunday, the 21st from 2 to 4 at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. The show runs through October 16th. If you plan to come to the opening, let me know. It would be great to meet some of you in person!

work table : Finally! Cleveland Foreclosure Quilt

I'm back in the studio this week after a month of travel and family staying in my studio. I always have a hard time jumping back into my work but I certainly knew what I had to do this week, make some serious progress on the Cleveland Foreclosure quilt.

It was so nice to jump right in and I'm really looking forward to finishing this one. I showed it to my friend Myrna over the weekend who used to live in Cleveland and it was fascinating to hear her and her husband's stories about driving those very streets I've sewn.

These are my reference guides, maps with layers of tracing paper over them highlighting foreclosed and empty lots. The red lots are new foreclosures since I started working in this two months ago. It shows that there is no sign of the mortgage crisis ending soon, unfortunately. Some of these houses sold for $2,000.00. Seriously.

I always save the cut out lots. It's sad watching them pile up. I'm not sure what I will do with all of them. I have them from every piece I've made so far.

The quilt is almost finished. I made a patchwork backing this time to emphasize the random nature of these foreclosures. It adds a bit of complexity to the piece as the varying shades of navy blue and black poke through. I was thinking about black holes here.

Here's a close up detail of several lots. The mottled blue fabric underneath was an old botched dyeing remnant I couldn't part with.

My next step is to add the community gardens that have been created throughout this neighborhood. There are four at my last count; hopefully even more since I started. Myrna told me about this recent article in The New York Times on Cleveland's vacant lots. It gives you a little window into what's going on here on these very lots I'm cutting apart ...

Artist : Denim quilts by Julie Floersch

Thanks to Sophie for reminding about the new Denim exhibition at Mr. Kitly in Brunswick, Australia, featuring the work of Renilde de Peuter and several other talented artists. It was here that I discovered Julie Floersch's denim quilts. I had to know more!

Denim Quilt by Julie Floersch

She had been interested in making quilts but thought she would pick it up when she was older but couldn't get the thought out of her head. This was her first quilt she made. That girl can sure make a complicated plan!

first quilt by Julie Floersch

I think I like the back just as much as the front.

Here's an article about her quiltmaking and her tumbler site. She now makes quilt accessories like earings, necklaces and purses under the company name of KWILTI.

Purse by Julie Floersch

I hope we see more of her quilts in the future. She's truly gifted.

work table : patchwork crazy

I've been stealing bits of creative time all summer since my daughter isn't in school. I'm spending more time out of my studio in my house noticing all the little improvements I can make. Here are some I finished last week.

Of course it takes a little deadline like family coming to stay to get one in gear to actually finish all those projects around the house. I swapped out my oh so dull beige carpet tiles with these funky ones I had been using in my office. Zoe LOVES playing hopscotch down the hall now.

I have loved Henry Road fabrics for quite awhile and found a great use for their little remnant bags you can order online. I ordered one pack for each of my four Heywood Wakefield chairs that were also covered in oh so dull beige. You really get your money's worth with these packs. I have SO much fabric left over.

And now that summer is here, it means VACATION! We're off to Sonoma for two weeks and this is my pile of sewing I plan to take with me for my remote studio. I just have to remember to bring the thread!