Fabric Friday

I absolutely love textiles.... everything about them. I buy little stashes of special fabrics that I immediately respond to visually, then save them for the perfect project. I buy almost all of my fabric that way. My fabric collection serves as my painter's palette. 

Recently, I have been really taken with buying handmade fabrics. I love that they were made by hand, but I also like the idea that I am sort of collaborating with these artists. I think because I generally work by myself, I am constantly trying to find ways to entertain my love of artistic collaboration. I have never met these artists that create my lovely fabric treasures, but I do have it in my mind that I want to do their fabrics proud with whatever I create. Twitter and Facebook have been amazing resources for both finding these great designers, but also connecting and sharing finished products with them. Helen Rawlinson is one of my favorite textile designers and it has been so much fun making critters with her fabrics. Some other recent discoveries have been Lucie Summers of Summersville & Lara Cameron and Tegan Rose of Ink and Spindle . So ladies, thanks for providing me with inspiration, I very much appreciate your work. 

In order :: Ink and Spindle, Helen Rawlinson, Summersville

Another inspiring couple...

This movie has been on my must see list ever since it hit the theaters. Finally, it arrived in our mailbox yesterday and Chris and I hunkered down and watched it last night. It definitely lived up to my expectations. From the years of teaching art at the local community college, we have watched our share of documentaries. This one falls into the list of stand outs (in the company of Hans Hoffman, Robert Rauschenberg, and Alexander Calder). Movies have always had the ability to generate lots of creative inspiration for me, but documentaries about unique, artistic, and gracious people give me goosebumps. As a complete sidenote :: I get particularly tickled when I am watching an art documentary and any of my art professors from grad school are interviewed or mentioned. In this case, Lucio Pozzi was interviewed for this documentary and he was one of my favorites. 

So what could I possibly say about the Vogels that hasn't been said? They are a one in a million couple that live with tremendous heart, by their own rules. You know the kind of people that I am talking about, right? The sort of characters that you could spend hours   chatting with only to leave the conversation with enough energy to give yourself the confidence to reach for the stars. This couple loves, lives, and breathes art authentically and in the process, has given the gift of a documented part of art history for everyone to enjoy at the National Gallery of Art.  All I can say is if you are an art lover, a hard worker, and someone that appreciates rewriting the rules, check out this movie. I think it will leave you feeling like you don't need a lot of money to make a difference, just a lot of heart. 
A big thumbs up!

HERB & DOROTHY Trailer from Herb & Dorothy on Vimeo.

Celebrating "scherenschnitte" at hutch studio

Inspiration is something that comes in all forms. I am really lucky that Chris and I are both artists.  We both like to push ourselves creatively and I find that quite inspiring. There are always evening conversations about new ideas, inspirations, and techniques. Our house seems to continuously buzz with the sounds of many hands making and music for dancing. Through hutch studio, Chris is able to explore avenues that he may not normally explore through his "fine art" however, there is a definite common thread. I truly enjoy seeing what he comes up with on a daily basis and thought that you may enjoy a peek. 

Scherenschnitte is the german art of scissor snipping and a favorite technique at hutch studio right now. From window cut outs that play with light and shadow, to birdhouse light boxes depicting nature scenes, Chris has created some beautiful things to look at while showcasing the scherenschnitte technique. To truly appreciate the scherenschnitte technique at it's most unique form, you should drive down Morris Street in La Conner, WA when it is dark out. The windows of hutch studio are all backlit and the window coverings are stunning! 

"Thread Drawing Demo" at hutch studio

I think that it is fitting to post this thread drawing video as my very first post- for a few reasons really. First of all, it sort of goes with the whole, "documenting the creative process" idea that made me want to start this blog. But on a practical note, it will make me figure out how to post a video and maybe make all other posts a piece of cake. (Boy, that was a pretty telling statement.)

About this video: My husband, Chris, is the director of a place called, "hutch studio". This studio celebrates everything handmade and is a creatively nurturing environment. Chris asked me if I would bring my sewing machine to hutch studio during it's opening weekend to do a demo of my thread drawing process. Of course I wanted to do that for him, however, I had never done one before. Like drawing with any other medium, drawing in thread is one of those things that you sort of need to be in the mood for- not really an "on command" or immediate process. Not everything I draw is considered something frame worthy or an image that I would use on a shirt. Believe it or not, my thread drawings sometimes end in up in the garbage can. So, I went into this demo with hopes that I would do something that people would find somewhat interesting or entertaining. My friend Phoebe agreed to make a little video of the process (which sort of put a little extra pressure on my already shaky hands). However, it all worked into a sweet little demo that shows how I go about a drawing in thread. Adding a Django Reinhardt soundtrack and speeding up time is always helpful...
Anyway, enjoy!

Thread Drawing from elSage on Vimeo.