Lisa Solomon : Migratory Patterns

My friend Lisa Solomon currently has an incredible solo show at Walter Maciel Gallery in LA called Migratory Patterns. I paid a little visit to Lisa's studio a few months ago and was able to see the work in progress. Amazing.

danne san [husband], 2012 by Lisa Solomon
graphite, acrylic, colored pencil, felt, pins, machine stitching on paper and duralar
20 ½ x 28 ¼ inches framed

Like me, Lisa thinks every element through. Every string, every stitch must have a purpose in her work. Seeing all the pieces together in these photos makes it even more compelling than just the beautiful snippits I saw on her studio wall.

All of these works relate to each other and this is the first time she says she has been able to combine the personal with the political in her work. The pieces describe her family's migration from Japan and throughout the US. But they also show Fukishima radiation's migratory patterns. The timing and the personal connection to the crisis makes perfect sense that it should turn up in her work. We had a great conversation about Fukishima. I had wanted to address it somehow in my own work but couldn't find a way to make it successful in what I was doing at the time. She's succeeded here.

Installlation view at Walter Maciel Gallery.

Head over to Lisa's incredibly thought provoking blog to see Part I of the photos of her show. Details of the show can be found at Walter Maciel Gallery. The show runs through May 26th. If you're near, be sure to check it out!

Foreclosure Quilt : Riverside, CA

I finished another foreclosure quilt last month and am finally sharing it with you! I have to say things have been quite busy for me the past month but it's all been good. I have numerous projects under way in the studio that I'll share soon enough. But I've also been busy in the garden. I'm trying to grow most of our own food this year, which ties into my concerns about global farming and the land grab. But back to the foreclosures ... Riverside, CA.

Riverside Foreclosure Quilt, 2012. 34" x 46"
Tea stained voile, cotton, linen, yarn and embroidery thread.

Southern California has been hit as hard as other areas in the US. As many of you know, SoCal is a very large swath of housing that just seems to go on and on. Zooming in on a particular area was quite a challenge.

Riverside Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 34" x 46"
Tea stained voile, cotton, linen, yarn and embroidery thread.

I chose Riverside because it seemed there was no neighborhood in the city that was immune to foreclosures. I wish I could wander around the city to appreciate it more. One thing that was apparent is a lot of these homes that were foreclosed on in the past couple of years have been fixed up and flipped. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad? On the one hand, it's great that they are being spruced up and helping improve the neighborhood. But, who is behind the fixing up and flipping? A reputable company or someone out to make some quick money?

Riverside Foreclosure Quilt detail, 2012. 34" x 46"
Tea stained voile, cotton, linen, yarn and embroidery thread.

I heard an story today on NPR about companies that are buying up the foreclosures, fixing them up and renting them out. It works if it's a small business who is managing a few properties. But are companies biting off more than they can chew? It sounds like even renters need to do their due diligence before the sign a contract these days. Here we go ... into the next phase of the messy 'clean up'. Who knows where this will lead?

Work It: Artists Address Labor and Unemployment at Rochester Contemporary

Four of my Foreclosure Quilts will be part of a group exhibition entitled Work It: Artists Address Labor and Unemployment. The show opens tonight at Rochester Contemporary in Rochester, NY. The reception is tonight from 6-10pm. The other participating artists are Clarke Conde, Morgan Craig and Jonathan Stewart. From what I've seen of their work, it will be an excellent show.

There will be an artist's talk on April 8th at 1 PM and on April 21st at 1 PM there will be a poetry reading entitled The Rise and Fall of the Middle Class. The reading will be with BOA author Christopher Kennedy as part of CITY Newspaper's Culture Crawl 2012. 

Albuquerque Foreclosure Quilt, 2011. 35" x 47"

The exhibition runs through May 13th. See here for more info. I wish I could make it to the show, but if you stop by, let me know what you think! Thanks for your support!

Article in The Atlantic Cities : How Quilting Can Explain the Foreclosure Crisis

An interview about my foreclosure quilts came out this week in The Atlantic Cities. Let's just say I was quite surprised and amazed when Sarah DeWeerdt contacted me last week. I was already familiar with Sarah's writing so it was quite a treat to talk to her in person.

It was one of the first interviews that really delved into the planning and economic issues that I address in my work. She asked some wonderful questions. Head over to The Atlantic to read the article.

Modesto Foreclosure Quilt, 2011.

Within an hour, one of my former coworkers at Calthorpe Associates had just happened to open the site at work and was shocked to see a picture of me there. I thought my days in the planning world were far gone but I guess I just can't stay away!

work table : Landgrabbing series

I spent much of last week finalizing a foreclosure quilt (pics soon!) and experimenting with ideas for the landgrabbing series. My studio is about to become a temporary hotel for family so I'm trying to get as much work done as possible before next Wednesday.

I've been thinking about how to best depict global landgrabbing, which is when other nations and corporations purchase or lease vast hectaires of land inside other countries to grow food for their own people. There are so many things that are wrong with this scenario that's rapidly unfolding.

This new evolution of massive food production is estimated to cause up to 50% of global emissions. The small farmers are being forcibly removed from their land to allow the better soil to go to the large farming corporations. The vast majority of these farming projects are a monoculture, which depletes the soil as well as the surrounding natural resources. There are so many other global impacts this is causing which I delve deeper into as the story unfolds.

At the moment, I'm exploring an idea to use national flags to depict the countries where landgrabbing is occuring. This could be the new Australian flag. As land is sold off to other countries, the flag will evolve to incorporate those new land owners.

Australia has twenty-two large scale farming investments from other countries. I've integrated their flags onto a land map of Australia which will be appliqued on top of Australia's national flag. My next step is to piece all of these random flag bits together (I can't tell you how many pins are up there!) and reveal the land map.

I listened to this program while I worked and just realized I need to just start making, even if this isn't the solution to the series. It also doesn't hurt to get some good feedback from another artist, who said "Just start cutting!" So I did. At least I'm taking a step forward. Who knows if this will be the ultimate solution. In the meantime, look here and here to learn more about global landgrabbing.

Artist : Richard Tuttle

He's at it again, Richard Tuttle. If you all must know, he's right on up there at the top of my list of favorite artists. And of course, I left him out of this list (and Eva Hesse! what was I thinking?!) I've been an admirer of Tuttle's work for years. He says in an interview, "about 1 in 10 people get my work". But, if you give yourself over to it, you'll be hooked. Watch this clip from Art21 about his practice. You can see the entire episode here.

Now here's the catch. He has new work that I would LOVE to share with you but those NY galleries have some express rights to sharing Tuttle's images. I'm wary to get myself into trouble as it doesn't look like anyone else has shared these images with the public but ... head over to Joni Moisant Weyl to check out his latest tile pieces. Here's something that seemed 'safe' to share.

W-Shaped Yellow Canvas, 1967 by Richard Tuttle. Collection of SFMOMA

There's a certain whimsy to Tuttle's work yet he is so serious about what he does. He lives that life that I aspire to live. He's grounded about his practice and just gets on with it.

If you have the chance, you must get hold of a copy of the video about him. It's on Netflix or just buy the darn thing so you can watch it countless times, like myself.

Artist : Altoon Sultan

Ah, life has been busy my friends! It's always like this when I'm developing a new series, I have to focus my mind on the matter at hand, which means my blog has been neglected lately! But no more! I couldn't wait to share this artist's work with you. Altoon Sultan. What a beautiful name and what beautiful work.

Triangles and Bar, 2011 by Altoon Sultan. 10" x 10"

My friend, artist Bernadette Frank, a gifted artist in her own right, mentioned that I should acquant myself with her friend's textiles.

 Three of the Empty Center series, by Altoon Sultan.

Altoon lives in Vermont which happens to be my favorite state in the US. An artist who lives in Vermont has a certain aura about them, I think. An appreciation for beauty and nature yet a toughness to survive those harsh and isolating winters.

Nestled in Snow, 2012 by Altoon Sultan.

After a few moments of pouring through her textiles, paintings and photographs, I realized that Altoon has this appreciation in spades.

Black and White, 2012 by Altoon Sultan. 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" egg tempura

I first fell in love with her textiles but then I began to read her blog and discovered she was creative in so many ways. Her egg tempera paintings remind me of Charles Sheeler's work but with a softer, more elegant approach.

Six spider lines, window 2012 by Altoon Sultan.

She is one of those people who can see the beauty in the ordinary. Many people have this ability but there are far fewer who can capture it for the less inclined.

Resting, 2010 by Altoon Sultan. 10" x 15"

Hooked Rug 02 by Altoon Sultan.

Altoon has made many works, please go and marvel through her website and her blog. You won't be disappointed!

work table : landgrabbing series

I've had a few days between deadlines and thought I'd work on developing my new series a bit more. I like to spend a few hard core days working on a new idea, put it down for a week and then pick it up again once I figure out how to resolve certain issues.

This series will be on global landgrabbing. I won't get into the story behind it just now except to say that we are heading towards a global environmental disaster if we don't start regulating this now. The pieces will be larger in scale compared to the foreclosure quilts. Don't worry, I'm still making the quilts! But, there are some other issues popping up in the world that I can't ignore any longer.

There's a lot of research I've been doing on the series. Someone mentioned today that I seem to like to torture myself with all the data that I pour through. I was reading a sixty page data set just published by Grain, listing all of the land deals that have occurred since 2006. What a resource! I could hug them! I also spent some time reading through my books on fabric manipulation.

I spent some of the day researching and then some of it experimenting. I'm so glad I've saved even the tiniest scraps from my projects, they came in use today.

I had a few breakthroughs over the past few days that make me think I'm not wasting my time heading in the completely wrong direction.

I can't wait to get back into the studio tomorrow!

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.

Featured : Poppytalk and New American Paintings

I had the wonderful honor of being interviewed for two great websites last week, Poppytalk Handmade and the New American Paintings blog.

Lisa Solomon paid a visit to my studio last week and took some great photos of my space for the Poppytalk : In the studio feature, including a few wide angle shots which I've always wanted but didn't have the right lens. Thanks, Lisa!

Studio in February 2012. Image courtesy of Lisa Solomon

She asked some great questions as you'll see in the interview. I visited her studio a few months ago so we had some great conversations about our workspaces. We also have plans for trading some artwork, I'm so excited about that! Head over to the Poppytalk site for more images of the studio and a few more of my home.

Just before Lisa came over, New American Paintings blog contributor Ellen Caldwell interviewed me for their site.

Although we couldn't arrange a studio visit, we were able to have a great interview through email. Ellen's questions are wonderful and thought-provoking. Definitely spend some time looking back through her past interviews, great reads.

Work wall in January.

Besides all of this, I have been hard at work in my studio. I haven't been able to take any final images of my new finished piece, Phoenix for several reasons. Along with the sunny days, which make it impossible to photograph textiles, I lost a crucial part of my tripod! I put it down the other day and can't remember where! But, here is a glimpse of the finished Phoenix as well as the work in progress image of Riverside. Thanks to Lisa, you have some images!

Phoenix on the right, Riverside in progress in the center,
a Fog Linen Work runner in progress on the right. Image courtesy of Lisa Solomon

I'll keep you posted with some new images soon! In the meantime, enjoy the interviews!

In another life perhaps ... my passion for CERAMICS

I'm a hopeless romantic. Ever since I saw pictures of Diana Fayt's bay area studio, I've been infatuated with the life of ceramicists.

Diana Fayt's studio. Courtesy of DesignSponge.

Their work amazes me. Diana's is quite beautiful and ever evolving. Sometimes it's muted, sometimes bold.

Diana Fayt. Courtesy of www.dianafayt.blogspot.com.

The materials and tools they have lying around are gorgeous. All those subtly toned tile samples lined up in all of their studios appeal to my sense of order and love of color. And then there are those amazing photos of the artist at work.

Laura Stasser. Courtesy of www.laurastasser.com.

They make it look so blissful and easy. Well, I know it's not! Actually, I'm sure it's pretty damn hard to make something turn out how you want it to. And even then you have to be open to surprises. I'm sure, like any artist, it takes years to find your voice in the medium and then years to hone it. Here are some that have certainly honed it.

Sara Paloma's vessels. Courtesy of www.sarapaloma.com.

Erin McGuiness. Courtesy of www.erinmcguiness.com.

I love that the pieces are functional but also pure art. And often, they're more appreciated than the fine art hanging on the walls in people's homes. Which is fine, I understand that. When I go into someone's house and see they have one of Rae Dunn's pieces, we have an instant connection. A love of fine craft and a wonderful story to tell about how each piece was chosen.

Rae Dunn salt cellars. Courtesy of www.raedunn.com.

Check out all of their work. And let me know of any ceramic artists that you admire. I'd love to know more.

Diana Fayt

Laura Strasser

Sara Paloma

Erin McGuiness

Rae Dunn

Uppercase Journal and a view of my work table

I mentioned last month that the latest issue of Uppercase Journal would include my work. I'd been hearing everyone ooh and aah over their copies in the last week. I swear I had subscribed but perhaps I was dreaming. Finally, impatient enough, I walked around in downtown San Francisco one morning searching for a place that carried them. I gave up, went home and realized later that Anthropologie had them the whole time. How did I get my copy? My friend Myrna heard my angst and gave it to me as a present last Friday when I went to her studio. So sweet of her! My friend Claire Brewster's work is also featured. Be sure to grab a copy, now at Anthropologie!

I realized it's due time for another work table posting. It's been so busy around here that when I could finally photograph my latest finished quilt, Phoenix, I missed my chance. Frankly I can't complain, it's been sunny and summery here in San Francisco. I need a dry, cloudy day to photograph outside. It will happen soon! In the meantime, here's my work table (with a tiny sneak peek of Phoenix in red on the wall).

I became downright angry Thursday night. Angry because, still, little is being done about foreclosures. Yes, Obama did unveil his new mortgage task force last week but really, what he did before did little to stem the crisis. I actually pulled out my marremekko fabrics with the thought of making a 'scream in your face' quilt full of bright colors next to deep, dark blacks. It ended up looking a little scary and realized I needed to calm down. What I needed to make was a real scrap quilt.  To go back to those original depression era quilts that inspired me. I yanked out all of my depressing blue and grey remnants and started to make one.

This will be the inner sandwich piece of the next quilt. Which I'm thinking will be Riverside, California. I discovered just one of many blocks where pretty much all of the 64 lots had been foreclosed on in the past three years. It's downright depressing.

A lot of this inner sandwich will be exposed on this quilt. I'm randomly placing the pieces together and I'm still not sure what the top layer will be. It will likely become obvious once this panel is finished. I plan to spend my weekend gardening, thinking positive thoughts!

Artist : Marian Bijlenga

I debated about calling this post Conversations on Flikr. We'll call it a subtitle and I'll get to that topic in a moment. I did discover Marian's work through flikr some time ago and was completely drawn in. She's based in Amsterdam and this piece certainly reminds me of a map of the water city.

Untitled by Marian Bijlenda, 2011. Horsehair, fabric,
machine embroidery. 43 x 43 cm

Today as I was doing my usual monthly gasping session perusing BrownGrotta's website rather than doing actual work, I came across Marian's work again. BrownGrotta representation, what a dream!


Untitled by Marian Bijlenda, 2011. Horsehair,
machine embroidery. 46 x 45 cm

Marian is a talented and very prolific artist. Her work is truly hers, unique and clearly all her own. The works are so delicate yet have a strong tie back to nature, using materials such as horsehair and fish scales. Fish scales?

Untitled by Marian Bijlenda, 2010. Fish scales.

There's a lot in that series. All stunning. Her flikr site offers lots more of her work and is well organized. And that gets me to Flikr. Some of my friends refuse to use it, some say it's a tad old but Marian uses it in a unique and beneficial way. As an open dialogue among other artists. The comments become a back and forth visual conversation that evolves and inspires. Go check it out and see what I mean. Thought provoking.



Sampler by Marian Bijlenda, 2011.

Marian Bijlenga's website can be found here. Her flikr page is here. Enjoy the tour!