…With a Little Help

tying and trying and tying with Elle

I had not just a little help while I was in California, but a lot, and it's my pleasure to share this today. When I installed "I Live Here Now," Nikki Coupee, who works at the gallery, helped me all day. It was our first time meeting and I loved spending time with her.

getting helpful thoughts from Nikki while installing

 "I Live Here Now"

The 1000 bows that formed "Intuition" were made by my CCA students. I did make a bunch, but my lovely assistants did the majority of the work. I had a group of 13 people help me over the course of three days and they cut more than 400 pieces in the first day alone. It was fun to have them in my studio and gave me a chance to get to know them better. 

During the installation of "In Between" I had seven people helping me: some students and an instructor from CCA, a friend's daughter and gallery staff. They tied short lengths of monofilament to hundreds and hundreds of bows for hours. My friend, Elle, helped me on Friday and on Saturday, too. She stood on a ladder for hours and tied monofilament, she ran errands for me and gave me rides to and from the gallery. Her presence was a comfort.

And then there's my fabulous gallerist, Mike Holmes, who was a daredevil as he hung the first lengths of monofilament from the skylight. He helped me with the engineering and gave me many words of encouragement, along with keeping me fed and caffeinated. Most importantly, though, he gave me a chance by offering the VdaV elevator for this piece.

Finally, there was this one moment in particular on the first day of the "In Between" install in which I was tying monofilament and thinking about my helpers that day, and those at school. They were working so hard and they were helping ME. I was humbled and amazed and it brought tears to my eyes. These wonderful people assisted with the labor, but the true help was their interest, enthusiasm and faith in me. Their support was priceless. It gave me confidence and energy, while also helping me relax and stay focused. There is no way I could have done what I did without them. I am grateful to each and every one of them:

Devon Matlock, Trevi Pendro, Katie Edgerton, Briatta Bell,
Martina Miguens, Marilyn da Silva, Irene Huh, Enya Chuang,
Sheri Novak, Alice Son, Curtis Arima, Zeeta Yang, Winston Wang, 

Jo-Ann Donivan, Stella Barackov, Elle Sharifpour

and the wonderful staff at Velvet da Vinci:

Diane Komater, Sienna Freeman, Nikki Coupee and Mike Holmes

Thank you.

Trevi, Katie and Devon, my first helpers

Irene and Enya, day two

 Curtis, Winston, Alice and Enya on day three

selfie with Elle 

Thanks for reading.