Seattle for Two Weeks, Part 1

Jaume Plensa’s 46-foot-tall Echo at Olympic Sculpture Park,

first time seeing this, love the powerful visual illusion at work here

I spent two wonderful weeks in my old haunt, Seattle, spending time with friends, visiting favorite places, and eating really good food. The weather was killer: bright sun, blue sky, light breeze. It was cloudy only a few days and rained once, and even those days were lovely. The city looked more beautiful than ever in full bloom of spring. Here are some of my daily observations from favorite places and artists:

Frank Gehry's EMP

Heron in Flight by Eras MFK and Doc Rot

Something Like This Design, another unexpected new favorite

from The New Frontier: Young Designer-Makers in the Pacific Northwest, Bellevue Arts Museum

Richard Serra's Wake, Olympic Sculpture Park,

an "old" favorite I never tire of spending time with

Thanks for reading.

Silence and Ambient Sound

low tide in the western part of Reykjavík

I've been in Reykjavík for a few weeks now and have been taking my walks and visiting my favorite places. I'm always thrilled with the chance to see something again, something that I love. I guess there is a part of me that knows I may not see certain things again, so an opportunity to return always feels special. Many of the places I've been revisiting I revel in because of their inherent silence and accompanying ambient sound: the old cemetery, Hólavallagarður, the outdoor sculpture, "Þúfa," by Ólöf Nordal, the coastline along the western part of the city, Grótta lighthouse. I have made pilgrimage-like walks to these places, taking in what I see and what I hear, and don't hear. All of these places have a silence to them that I crave and also include sounds like snow falling, wind in the trees, seabirds, and rippling water that add subtle textures to the experience.

a child's grave at Hólavallagarður 

"Þúfa" by Ólöf Nordal

dunes near Grótta

Thanks for reading.

Texílsetur Íslands

Currently, I'm living and working at Texílsetur Íslands, the Icelandic Textile Center, in Blönduós, Northwest Iceland. Texílsetur is housed in Kvennaskólinn, a former women's school, situated at the estuary of the Blanda River and Húnaflói Bay. It occupies the top two floors where there are private rooms and two large shared studios. I have a private room and studio and feel very fortunate to be making my work in such a special place, a transitional place, where the river meets the sea. I have long been fascinated by estuaries and brackish water, and given my most current work, In Between, which is about transition, being here at Texílsetur seems very, very appropriate. I'm also curious about the history of the school and like thinking about the years of women who lived and learned here, too.

I will be here for a month and will be creating a black version of "Island of 14,264 Days," something I've been wanting to do since I first made that piece in May, 2013. I came up with the idea then, to make a companion during the darkness of winter, the opposite of when I made the white version. I began working yesterday and will complete the piece by the end of the month. Other plans include walking and documenting my observations outside, but also studying the interior of this building and taking pictures of what I see inside. I also have a lot of reading to do.

the view from my room on my first day

Thanks for reading.

Things I Like: California, Again

I walked the Golden Gate Bridge, 

something I've wanted to do for years

I wasn't able to walk as much as I usually do while I was in California, but I did manage a few miles here and there. Here are a few favorite observations:

I revisited some graffiti sites in San Jose 

(see a picture from last year here)

I spent time in Golden Gate Park

I saw the Pacific

I viewed the permanent collection at the De Young Museum

and discovered this incredible still-life by Alexander Pope

 I looked at details

I went to see @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz… 

the exhibition was beautiful and the space alone was inspiring

If you like the images you see here, please find me on Instagram!

Or, see more images on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

Now I am Here, #7

I took a walk through Golden Gate Park the other day and loved watching the interplay of light through the trees in relation to my own movements and distance.

Thanks for reading.

So What Am I Doing Here?

the Sím studios and apartments

my studio is that little window at the top

I have been in Iceland for nearly a month now and so much has happened! I've been reading a lot in my studio, mostly about artists I admire and don't know very much about. I'm also thinking a lot and doing a little bit of drawing. I go for walks every day and take pictures and meditate on questions I have about my work. It feels luxurious to read all day about art and go for long walks and it feels much needed and important. I've been taking in a lot of galleries and exhibitions, too, and went on an incredible four-day road trip all along the south coast. I'll tell you about all of that soon! For now, here are some photos from my daily walking…and, as always, I have posted more on Facebook and on Flickr.

in my neighborhood - three walls by my friend, Guido Van Helten

nets and ropes in the harbor very close to my apartment and studio

Viðey Island, largest island of the Kollafjørður Bay, 

a short boat ride from the city

Grótta lighthouse in Seltjarnarnes, the town right next to Reykjavík 

and a 30 minute walk from where I live

 Thanks for reading.

Moving Forward

walking in Vrångö

Yesterday I went island hopping and visited four different islands in Gothenburg's southern archipelago. It couldn't have been a better day--beautiful sunny weather, low-key travel with no problems, peaceful ferry rides, long walks along tiny streets. I visited Brännö, Styrsö, Donsö and Vrångö, taking ferries between each except for Styrsö and Donsö. I walked across a bridge between these two, which I just loved. I ate my lunch of cheese, bread and apples in the graveyard of a church built in the 1790s, drank coffee in a small cafe where no one else was and sat on rocks while listening to the birds. I also collected a number of things I found lying on the ground and thought a lot about my work.

my collection from yesterday's island trip

Today I walked along the Göta älv to the Älvsborg Bridge which spans the river and also marks the area where the river meets the sea. This transitional point is a favorite phenomenon of mine. Just under the bridge is Röda Sten konsthall, a contemporary art museum where I saw a retrospective of Adrian Paci and a collaborative project by Merete Lassen and Mimmi Andersson. I also saw lots of graffiti as the exterior of the building is covered with it. Then inside I saw two works by one of my favorite artists, Swoon. It was a very inspiring trip and felt like one of those "right place, right time" moments.

Swoon

Adrian Paci, The Last Gestures

Merete Lassen and Mimmi Andersson, House of Opposites 

As I said yesterday, I am moving around thoughts of islands and connections, and after today's long walk and the work I saw at the museum, I add bridges and ending points. I'm thinking more about moments and about capturing them in the form of objects, as well as opposites… all concepts I've been using in my work for awhile. I'm thinking about rope, too…

rope on Brännö

Älvsborg Bridge 

Thanks for reading.

Hello, Sweden

Sweden from above

I flew to Gothenburg, Sweden yesterday…and today, I begin working on the final piece for my exhibition, "I Live Here Now," which opens next Friday, April 4. This piece will be about my "Outerland," which I define as the home I find wherever I am. I will begin by taking one of my long walks, and as I walk, I will be thinking and collecting pictures. Up until yesterday, I did not think about this piece much at all--I wanted to come here without any preconceived ideas or attitudes so that I might be open to any and all possibilities. I barely researched Gothenburg, too, deliberately keeping myself from learning about this place in advance, again, in an effort to keep myself open. I like discovering a new place as I wander about and experience the culture first hand. I find this informs my work in a wonderful and unexpected ways, which is exactly what I want. Now that I am here, my mind is racing... I know today's walk will serve as a way to begin my process, but it will also be the perfect way to settle my mind, even if only a little bit. I am terribly jet lagged, too, and know being out in the sun will help me acclimate. 

cloud installation at the Gothenburg airport

my work unpacked at the gallery

roof line near my hostel

Thanks for reading.

Looking In

a hidden space 

I'm still walking around town as much as I can and I'm spending a lot of time thinking. I'm remembering things I did here, places I liked to visit, how I felt… I often have these flashes of memory: a vision of a moment or a feeling, appearing suddenly in my mind, one that could only happen because I am physically in this place. As I walk and look, I see things that trigger memories, some clear and some rather hazy. I notice things I've seen a million times and other things I have never seen before. I recall sounds and smells and music I listened to. On one of my first walks I simultaneously felt as though I knew the whole town perfectly and like I had never been here before. It was a strange feeling. I realize now just how little I actually know of individual streets and where they lead. This is interesting to me. I feel as if I am an outsider looking in on a place I have only read about.

my parents lived here when they first moved to town…I was not born yet

the dime store where my brother and I used to buy candy

the facade of a metal building on a street I walked down for the first time recently

...and I never noticed these until last winter. They are on Main Street. 

A field down a road that leads to a lake. This road seemed magical to me as a child. 

I've added lots of photos to Flickr and to Facebook.

Thanks for reading.

enameling part 2

on tuesday we went for another walk and collected more objects and pictures. this time around, i definitely collected more visuals than objects. these walks have given me a chance to take pictures of many of the things i love seeing every day at penland. when we got back to the studio we laid all of our collected bits on a table including what we had found the day before. helen asked us to make 10-20 mark making tools in the two hours before lunch. then she made a beautiful arrangement of all the tools on a big sheet of butcher paper. next we shared the tools and made marks with them on another giant sheet of butcher paper using black paint. the remainder of the afternoon was ours to experiment with the tools in our sketchbooks. the top image is a detail of some marks i made in my sketchbook using bamboo.

i really enjoyed the first two days of class. i got to do some things i normally wouldn't take the time to do like taking long walks, taking pictures, and experimental drawing. it was good to be out of my element--drawing and mark making can be awkward for me. i felt pretty relaxed in class, though, so it was more fun than anything else.

more on flickr.

thanks for reading.