Studio 39

I mentioned in the last post that I had gotten a studio space in the late summer. Since then I have been busy painting the floor, building shelves and painting old furniture to set up the space for sewing, natural dyeing, weaving (winter goal!) and painting.  The building I am in, Screwball Spaces, has almost 100 resident artists and 80 studio spaces and a gallery. So far I have really enjoyed the community it has provided. Last week the building held a holiday sale and a group show in our gallery so I opened my studio and had a studio warming party.

 

 

The turnout was great and it was so nice to share what I had been up to all of these months. Along with working on the space, I have been experimenting with working on designing a pattern for a cloth doll. I have been really interested in heirloom toys and the idea of creating something special that can be passed down through generations. After months of tweaking and experimenting I finished my first prototype. She is made of natural linen, stuffed with Lancaster wool and hand embroidered with linen and silk thread. Her hair is made of wool and her clothes are a combination of new Japanese cotton, antique buttons, an old wool sweater and antique lace. Her arms and legs are button jointed using wooden buttons from this great website based out of Vermont, Compostable Goods .  They sell some natural yarns and notions as well as eco-friendly household products, toys and even bio-compostable golf tees! :-) I stained the buttons with black walnut and attached them using a strong upholstery thread. I have already started my next one and am looking forward to really diving into it after the holidays.

Do any of you have a special toy that has been passed down through your family?

Um...hello.

Yes, I am alive and well.... but writing to you with my tail between my legs since it has been (as you can clearly see).... 6 months since my last post.

Time seems to be moving so quickly lately! Over the summer I moved into a studio space in Red Hook, Brooklyn -more on that later. I travelled to Portland, Oregon to visit my mom and to Seattle for a good friends wedding. Then came September,  I was so absorbed and enjoying Fall that I didn't even notice the months flying by. It was a perfect well rounded Fall that involved The Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival, alpaca farms and exploring the most lovely Hudson Valley. I was working on the studio and some freelance projects and eating anything and everything pumpkin. Then, all of a sudden, it was somehow Thanksgiving and now here we are - 2 weeks before Christmas and heading into winter (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere). Since winter is (I think), the best time for hunkering down with a cup of tea and a handmade project,  I thought, you know what.... I am going to brush the dust off of this blog that is still so young and spend the winter with you all chatting about art, crafts and delicious libations and edibles.

I would love to see what all of you are making this December!

Happy Summer Solstice!

"In the midst of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
~ Albert Camus

Merry Summer Solstice (to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere)! I hope everyone is having a magical day filled with creativity and midsummer celebrating. The summer solstice to me brings to mind bonfires, dancing, eating delicious food the summer has to offer and flower head wreaths. I think this pretty video by The Honey Trees is a lovely solstice-y kind of day song. The beautiful headpiece towards the end was made by wedding accessory extraordinaire Myra Kim of Twigs and Honey.

What are your plans on this summer eve?

On the Road...

Apologies for the dry spell my dear and faithful readers. I have been traveling through the south and midwest collecting treasures and visiting loved ones. Stay tuned for regular posts next week!

Unfortunately I am not traveling in this much style, but here are some dreamy photographs to inspire you and get you ready for summer travels....

Bog Berry Dryer Balls

Spring is here and along with garden planting, cute cotton dresses and being able to drink iced coffee comes spring cleaning. Bog Berry Dryer Balls can help you out with checking "live more green" off of your spring to-do list. These beautiful wool balls are handmade from freshly carded locally sourced wool from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

(wool that has been needle felted, before wet felting)

The colored sets come in your choice of bright or earthy shades and are made with wool purchased from an eco-friendly company in Maine.

set of ocean wool dryer balls

Not only are dryer balls functional but they look beautiful in a jar or a bowl when they are not being used. When they are being used, these eco-friendly balls will cut your dryer time down and you will never need to buy dryer sheets again! Functional, beautiful and handmade. Doesn't get much better than that. The best part about dryer balls from Bog Berry that sets them apart from other dryer balls, is that they are not made from yarn like most balls out there in dryer ball land. BB Balls are lovingly needle felted with 100% wool and then wet felted. This process takes longer to make, but what you end up with is a beautiful quality handmade product that will last forever (unless your dog is like mine and steals and hides them - but they will turn up eventually). Luckily, you get a set of 6 per order.
A perfect gift for Mothers Day (AND Fathers Day!). While you are shopping you can also pick up a tin of herbal tea, a set of seed bombs, a hand-carved necklace and even an elf cloak for the wee ones in your life! Sounds like a one stop shop.

http://www.bogberrydryerballs.com/

star seed bombs

Hillary Fayle's Embroidered Leaves

I received the Spring 2012 issue of Fiber Art Now in the mail the other day. I was so excited to see the photo of Hillary Fayle's embroidered leaves gracing the cover and couldn't wait to find out more about these beautiful works of art. Fayle studied embroidery at the Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester, England. Passionate for environmental conservation, she began working with leaves after being surrounded and inspired by the beauty of nature at a summer camp she was working at shortly after returning home from her studies in England.

" I generally try to use renewable, sustainable and environmentally friendly materials for my art, so this was an obvious choice. I feel that the delicate yet elaborate stitching reflects the intricate patterns and incredible detail found in the natural world."

The leaves are coated in a non-toxic preservative so they are protected and are able to be stitched on without tearing, as well as retaining their color. Her stitches are inspired by traditional methods of joinery that she adapts and makes variations of, as well as using the actual traditional stitches.

She also makes these incredible leaf cuttings utilizing a more illustrative approach:

Aren't these amazing?

I would love a collection of these delicate and beautiful leaves behind glass. I am excited to see more of Hillary's work and where else it takes her.

For more information and photographs visit http://hillaryfayle.wordpress.com/lovestitching/

*All photographs on this post are from http://hillaryfayle.wordpress.com/lovestitching/

Dekalb Market

Today we took a nice long stroll to check out Dekalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn. The market is constructed of salvaged shipping containers turned into storefronts. The markets brings together artists, artisans, eateries, an incubator farm and a performance venue creating a community for creative entrepreneurs. Today was the opening weekend of the market for the season and there was a huge turnout.  I love to see so many people supporting local and handmade goods and I think using shipping containers as storefronts is such a brilliant idea.

 

Also, the market is dog friendly. Nigel approves!

Cosy Up the World

I am loving these bowls I just saw on freshly found via pinterest:

There is something about creating a cosy onto objects that makes them feel so special and loved. I love when I walk around my neighborhood and see a tree or pole wearing a sweater. Pretty much any inanimate with a sweater on it makes me happy. How can it not? There is a scientific term for this "cosying up" (another scientific term) of objects. It is Yarn Bombing or Yarn Storming (I kind of like that one). There are a half a million pictures that come up when you Google yarn bombing, from a bus in Philadelphia to a parking meter in Vancouver. There are some pretty amazing yarn bombed objects out there.

 

Even a gas station?!

 I am headed to Philadelphia next week to catch the tail end of FiberPhiladelphia. One of the exhibits I am going to check out is Yarn Bombing 101. 

Rocky Statue in Philadelphia

One artist that crochets the world is Agata Olek. Her work blows my mind. I missed her show in New York last year and would have loved to see this in person.

photo: agataolek.com

photo: agataolek.com

However, for the record I am not calling her artwork yarn bombing. Olek was quoted in the New York Times in 2011 saying:

"I don't yarn bomb, I make art. If someone calls my bull a yarn bomb, I get really upset. Lots of people have aunts or grandmas who paint. Do you want to see that work in the galleries? No. The street is an extension of the gallery. Not everyone’s work deserves to be in public."

Got it. However, since this is a post about covering inanimate objects with yarn, a mention of Agata Olek needs to be made. There are some pretty spectacular yarn bombs out there and I am sure the same arguments can be made about graffiti as art and yarn bombing as art but maybe we will save that debate for another day.

Either way, I like it. Yarn bombing, urban knitting, art. I love the softness it creates and how an everyday object covered in yarn can make an everyday moment feel whimsical. The feeling that someone has given so much attention to an object that we would otherwise not think too much about, except for the particular function it serves. It just makes everything seem... cared for.

Did anyone read the article that Etsy put out on April Fools? (spoiler alert: it's not true). The article ends with: 

"Subsequent phases of the plan call for outfitting Portland’s homes with knitted “sweaters” to reduce heating costs, designing a rotating seasonal wardrobe for the city’s signature 34-foot-tall Portlandia statue, and reverse-engineering brick-and-mortar restaurants into hemp-powered food trucks."             

We won't talk about the fact that I actually believed this article to be true from start to finish and was so blown away by the idea of actually making sweaters for houses, that my heart completely sank when I read the editors note. It took me a good while to really think it was a cute and funny article because I was so sad and disappointed that it wasn't true. Why can't we have knitted house sweaters? Now I can't stop hoping I will wake up one day and my apartment building will be wearing a sweater.


Although, Agata Olek does live nearby...... so maybe one day.

photo: phantomgalleries