Nearing the end

Last week was a full week of excitement, anticipation and exhaustion!  We had our end of the semester Works in Progress Open House with all of us 1st years and 2nd years showcasing what we've been working on.  Since its a new program we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to build our own space to showcase our work (sarcasm).  We were our own curators and builders!  It was a lot of hard work (exhaustion) but we all came together and made it work.  And even though I was so tired I thought I was going to fall asleep in my rocking chair, I had a great time chatting with people and seeing everyone's work come together.

Here are some photos of some of the amazing people I have been working with this year

Katherine Bradshaw - invisible childhood memories

Ali Gradisher - wooden bench and table

Amber Roelfs - compost paper lanterns

Sheri Earnhart - stage model for a play

Selja Ojanne - Fiber games, swing and woven rug

Billy Rueck - wool parasol, sheeps wool yarn, wooden tools

And in addition I attended my first Columbia Fiber Arts Guild meeting, which was full of so many amazing and talented Fiber Artists.  I actually got to meet the amazing art quilter (and book writer) Ann Johnston!  Who I just so happened to discover at the Northwest Quilt Expo, and wrote about right here on my very blog:)  I felt so star struck I barely knew what to say, but I did get a chance to tell her she inspired me to make my first whole cloth quilt, which I showcased at our Open House.

And here are some photos of my installation with my work.

whole cloth quilt, and embroidered photos printed on fabric

whole cloth quilt front - hand dyed, batiked, painted, and stitched

whole cloth quilt back

embroidered photos printed on cotton fabric

And I made this fancy hexagonal wooden frame, with the help of my wonderful man:)

It was a great week that I am sure I wont forget!

The Whirlwind!

Boy has this ever been a whirlwind of the past couple of months.  With 4 or 5 visiting artist lectures, making fluffy wool clouds for a window display, weaving, workshops, reading for classes, writing papers (its been a long time), and diving head first into dying fabrics and making art quilts, the first half of this semester has FLOWN by!
So here it is the middle of November and I am just getting around to sharing what I've been working on here in Portland:)

So here is a little taste of what I have been working on so far...

Starting with the dying, this is one of the larger pieces I did.  It was first painted with dye in a gradient of 2 colors, batiked, then thrown into another dye bath.

This is a piece I made in the Jane Lackey workshop I took.  It was a 2 day course at OCAC, where we were challenged to take everyday found materials and create a piece using 56 points and connect them in some way.

Here are some shots of the weaving I've been doing.  So far I only have pics of the loom set up, since we just started weaving last week.  It took about 12hrs just to set up the loom!

This is a shot of my very first attempt at an art quilt.

And these are some current shots of what I am working on now, which I am really excited about!
These are photographs that I have taken and printed out on fabric.

 

Yay!  Stay tuned as I will be posting some finished projects quite soon.  And after this weekend I will have some photos of the fluffy wool clouds I made with one of my classmates for a window display:)

Leave a comment I would love to hear what you think!

Welcome to Portland!

So I've been a bit busy between moving to Portland and starting school, that I have neglected my poor little bloggy blog:(  But worry no more for I will be continually documenting my journey through school, and my new life here in Portland!

For those of you that dont know I moved to Portland at the end of August to go back to school to earn my Masters of Fine Arts in Applied Craft and Design, (a joint program between PNCA and OCAC)... You may say what the heck does that mean?  Well to be honest we are all learning the history of the terms right now in our classes so none of us are really sure the literal translation.  But basically we are getting an MFA in Designing and Making our own work/products.  Its an incredible opportunity as this is a one-of-a-kind degree that is unlike any other out there, and I must say I am proud and excited to be a part of a new revolution in higher education!  Still confused?  Dont worry I will be describing the program in further detail as I go along in future posts.

For now I will share some photos of our first group project that we are working on called the Design Build.  This is a two week (10 day) intensive project where we as classmates design and BUILD a space for a revolutionary condo complex called Eco-Flats.  This is designed into the curriculum as a team building exercise for the class as a way for us to become closer and really get to know one another and our skills.  And a chance to learn some new techniques that we might never have been exposed to.

Here is the layout of the complex.  We are building on the area labeled Stormwater Basin

Site visit to hear from the Developers Jean-Pierre Veillet and Doug Shapiro

A view of the site from the second story of the complex

After the site visit it was back to the studio to brainstorm and build models of our ideas to present to the Developers.

Brainstorming and Building models

Near the end of the Design process we broke up into 2 groups to build on our ideas and presented 2 options to the Developers.

Group 1 - living green wall with a secret garden canopy

Group 1 model side view

Group 2 model top view - a beautiful corner deck with mobile green wall panels

Group 2 model side view

So a decision was reached and we are now building a Living Green Wall and a wooden walkway over the 580 sqft storm water basin.

We just finished our 7th day in the process and are well on our way to completing the project by Wed 9/22:)

I think that is a good introduction so far, stay tuned for more photos of the process and more insight to this brand new program!