So What's It About?

These new embroidered works will explore opposites and duality, landscape and travel, both literally and figuratively. I will create islands or continents, imaginary places born of things that I experienced in reality. As I intuitively build abstract compositions with needle and thread, I will contemplate ideas of internal and external landscapes as well as maps, all based on actual travel and also emotional or metaphysical travel.

satellite images of places I have been

Greece, France, Belgium, Britain, Italy, Iceland

I am working with white to reference the snow of Iceland, honesty, and the beginning of something new. I am using an embroidered knot for its inherent texture, pattern, and layering possibilities, to reference lichen and other similar Icelandic plant life, and to symbolize the act of not forgetting. I am using only one type of stitch, the Colonial knot, as a way to focus and add to the meditative or contemplative process.

This is what I am able articulate at this early stage in the process. As I work each day, the meaning will become more clear to me and I will be sure to share it with you.

To chart the first week's progress, please visit Flickr. I have posted images from each day of week one and next week I will add more.

Thanks for reading.

The New Work

the piece at the start of week 2

So what exactly am I doing here at the Nes Artist Residency? I'm embroidering! The first month I will be stitching a large piece to hang on the wall. Most of the pieces I have made in the past are jewelry-sized, maybe 3" long and 2" wide. Now I am trying to go as big as I can. I started my first day (May 1) and stitch about six or seven hours each day, but not in one sitting. I do 1-3 hours at a time and take breaks in between. I also walk every day not only to explore where I live, but also to look at things from a distance. I feel this is good balance for my eyes.

The piece will be all white. I have a number of different threads in white and shades of off-white in cotton, linen, and wool. Most are from the U.S. but I did find some additional wool thread here in Iceland. I am working intuitively, just stitching away, changing color and texture and shifting directions each time I finish one thread and add another. I am also using one stitch: the Colonial knot, my favorite kind of knot:

how to make a Colonial knot

So far I have worked nearly 60 hours. I am monitoring my progress each day so at the end of the month the piece will be done. Then in the second month I will be making stitched jewelry. My initial plan was to incorporate stitching with my metalwork, but now I plan to eliminate metal pretty much entirely and only make work with fabric and thread. I like this limitation and, in fact, don't see it as a hinderance at all. I am really excited about just focusing on textiles!

the piece at the end of day 1

More about the idea tomorrow...

I will post a photo every week to show you my progress. 

Thanks for reading.

New Sources

One more thing before I share the new piece I'm working on and explain my Nes residency project--I want to share more about my new sources. I admire natural forms, of course. I have a collection several years in the making of seed pods, branches, and other similar objects back in the U.S. I usually say I'm inspired by the formal qualities of these pieces--I see shape, line, pattern, and so on. But, it was not until now that I am truly looking to the natural world for inspiration. I am not surprised...from images I have seen of Iceland before I got here, I knew. When I read there are over 700 kinds of lichen, I knew. Now that I am here, how can I not be influenced? I went for a long walk the other day along the cliffs and began collecting images with my digital camera. Between these forms, the landscape, and the weather, I have much to look to.

Tomorrow I will show you the piece I am working on!

See more pics on Facebook and Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

My New Studio

that long building there...that's Nes, perched right on the water

Here are a few images of my studio-by-the-sea...

 Nes studio, my space is just to the left of those glass doors. I love that I can easily look out at the sea whenever I want. I also love just knowing it is there.

 the studio where all the artists will work, my bench is in the foreground

 my linen, my favorite fabric to stitch on

 my white threads, my primary palette for this project

Thanks for reading.

Scenes from Skagaströnd

Before I begin explaining my plans for my residency I want to introduce the place I am living: Skagaströnd in northwest Iceland, population about 550. It is situated right on the sea with a backdrop of snow-covered mountains. Right now it is cold here (32ish degrees) and very, very windy. It has snowed everyday, except today, and has also been very sunny, except today. Today it rained. It has the gorgeous winter palette I love--white, yellow, brown, gray, and slate blue--and it feels both familiar and completely foreign, like another planet, all at once. More pictures on Facebook and Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

Iceland from a Bus Window

standing on a cliff near the studio

I started my residency yesterday...here are a few pics of the setting as taken from the bus as I rode from Reykjavik north to Skagaströnd. Just as I suspected, I believe the landscape and the weather will be my major guides as I make my work. More tomorrow.

 church

 volcanic rock covered in ash and snow

 mountain, perhaps a volcano?

 clouds and sun

Thanks for reading.

Iceland! At Last!

view of the city from the tower of Hallgrímskirkja

Flying into Iceland was like flying onto another planet. I flew from Oslo, Norway (best looking airport ever!) and the eastern part of this tiny island was covered in snow. I could see mountains and rivers and lakes in strange patterns and shapes. Then as we got closer to Reykjavik, the landscape changed to grey-black and what I imagine to be lava fields and volcanic rock formations. I listened to Bjork the entire flight. It was amazing! I spent the next two days wandering around Reykjavik, taking in stark architecture, small streets, wonderful food, lots of fantastic graffiti, a monolithic church, ducks that howl, and contemporary art, and jewelry, all set to the backdrop of the mountains and the sea. Incredible! Icelandic people are also some of the loveliest, most helpful people I have encountered in my travels and I love listening to them talk. The language sounds like birds chattering. Here are some highlights...with lots more pictures on Facebook and Flickr.

(All the pictures of contemporary art are by graduating BA students from Iceland Academy of the Arts at Reykjavik Art Museum.)

Hallgrímskirkja

inside Harpa, the concert a hall...The building is constructed of glass, prism-like shapes making for an incredible display of light and shadow and sparkle inside.

"Uppbrot" by Guðný Pálsdóttir

"Verndarbauger" by Elín Bríta Sigvaldadóttir

necklace by Sara Arnarsdóttir

clothing by another graduating BA student from IAA

(Unfortunately, I did not write her name down. 

I was so taken with that turquoise dress I forgot!)

a boat under renovation at the harbor 

graffiti at a city park that is covered wall-to-wall

Thanks for reading.