GO AirTran Airways Inflight Magazine

Kate Merkel, Gallery Manager at Translations Gallery, just wrote to announce that an editor from GO, AirTran Airways' inflight magazine is writing an article on our May gallery show. Cassie Tondro initiated the idea that we do our own press release and make the most of the show. We worked together to come up with a name that fit both of our bodies of work. We finally settled on Ordinary Alchemy. It refers to the way we transform ordinary materials into extraordinary art. Cassie turns cast off paint into magical paintings and I change earth and plant material into vessels. Cassie did most of the work on the press release and developed a list of contacts which included airline magazines. Over Christmas break, I was able to meet Cassie in Santa Monica. It was wonderful to see her paintings and studio. I wish I had photos to share, but my family took the camera to Venice Beach while I met with Cassie.

Lanny Bergner

Lanny Bergner, a friend from grad school days at Tyler School of Art has an installation at the Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, Washington called Industrial Nature and the Big Bang. It is very ephemeral. I cannot quite get my mind around how Lanny manipulated materials to make an illusion of light beams. I continue to be amazed at Lanny's productivity. He recently made an installation in Korea and one in Philadelphia.

Check the link. This myartspace.com seems like a very good online community.

Inspiration from Grandma

My grandmother gave me this sewing basket when I was a young girl. I often think that her interest in sewing and crochet shaped my artistic decision to become a fiber artist. This basket, however, was an inspiration for my structures. A strong structure with looped reeds holds the basket up. The fabric walls hang from this structure. My fabric walls have become stiffer with my clay/fiber material, but nonetheless are dependent upon a structure.

Forked Branch Series

Yesterday, I finished one piece and redid the structure of a vessel that was not working. Both pieces use forked branches. Here is a quick picture of the finished piece taken in the light of a snow storm howling outside of the window.

I started the faulty vessel several months ago. I was trying to keep the lines of the structure simple. One curved branch formed the bottom edge. Of course it could not stand on this one branch. I planned to make it stand when I added the clay/fiber mixture. Generally, I adhere to the adage that the structure must be sound before starting the skin. This experience confirmed that the adage is dependable. I could not form the bottom with the clay and fiber without making a heavy, unsatisfactory form. Luckily, my materials can be reused. I added a second branch from pieces I found in my stash from a number of years ago. Now the structure stands and I am making a temporary skin in preparation for the clay/fiber mixture. Making the form balance was tricky because it is asymmetrical with a curved bottom. I have no quick and easy solutions for balancing my structures because the forms depend on the branches. I hope the form looks simple even though I labored to achieve it.