Systems and Classification

The other night I got a phone call from a friend, and I was very rude, very distracted. I was busy trying to figure out the system behind the PBS Art 21 series—how was it organized? Did each season have the same thematic words as the principal of organization? I had just started writing down the words when the phone rang, and I just could not shake myself out of my pondering, so I hung up quickly. This ability, or obsession, with focusing, sorting, cataloging and making connections between things that are sometimes correct (and, as my husband likes to point out, often bizarre and very far off the mark), helps me to understand the world.

Finally I had an ah-ha moment and realized that each program had its own word (theme) and this was divided into four segments (artists). So far there have been five seasons, every other year since 2001. Four programs per year means five times four times four equals eighty artists categorized by twenty words.

The twenty themes have been:

Place

Identity

Spirituality

Consumption

Stories

Loss and Desire

Time

Humor

Power

Memory

Structures

Play

Romance

Protest

Ecology

Paradox

Compassion

Fantasy

Transformation

Systems

After I got that sorted out, I made a list of all the artists in each segment that we have seen so far. Eventually we will get to them all. Sometimes the categorization is self-evident, but more often it seems arbitrary, or at least just one part of the puzzle. I guess that is the more accurate description—since most artists or people in general are multi-faceted and could be placed in different categories. That is the fallacy of any system of division—whether it is horoscopes or numerology or whether you prefer vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream—we all have shades of the variables within us. Nevertheless, I sent an email to several friends and asked them to place themselves, and the rest of us in one of the Art 21 categories. I think it was an interesting exercise. It certainly made me think about myself and my work, and five other artists and their work, in a concentrated manner. I found certain words were easily eliminated and some seemed to cluster. Some topics could have worked for any of us (is that why we are all friends?) but in the end I made individual decisions for each of these people, as they did for the rest of us. No one had just one attribute, though there was similar choices made—which must show that we each have some consistency or clarity that is being expressed.

Now I am thinking about visual ways to express categorization or systems of being.

Art Talk

Entrance to MassMOCA

Last week brought our last fall visitors, Anne Lindberg and Marcie Miller Gross, who came from Kansas City to take down Anne's work in the H2O Film on Water exhibit at Newport Mill in New Hampshire. Marcie requested that we go to MassMOCA so we drove to North Adams last Friday. You can see how happy we were to be together--passionate talk by passionate artists--all art talk all day could have been our slogan. Though Marcie and Anne did not overlap at Cranbrook, Liz and I shared time with both of them--Anne being second year to our first year, and Marcie being first year to our second year. These connections are truly deep, and deepen every time we get together and share experiences like this one among the Sol LeWitt wall murals.

Talking, Laughing, Photographing the Sol LeWitt murals at MassMOCA

The space of MassMOCA is as inspiring as the work. We all talked about what our work would look like there, which room we would chose. Thinking about my TC1, which is set up to weave a 14-inch width right now, it seems ludicrous to consider these vast spaces for my work. But ambition has no bounds, so consider it I did. All things seem possible around these friends who work hard, really hard, to make their ideas become reality. Internally I feel shaken up, like the floor of the Kiefer piece shown below, but hopefully all this agitation and excitement will lead to something cohesive and interesting in my studio this winter.

Standing next to Anselm Keifer sculpture at MassMOCA

On Sunday we went to Newport to take down Anne's piece. She had hung thousands of threads in a wave pattern from the ceiling, and our task was to get it crated so it can be shown again in the future. We worked together as if we do this every day as a team. Of course, we did have some past experience--Liz helped Anne with her final work at Cranbrook and Marcie helped me with mine.

One of the conversations we had was about the PBS series, Art 21. Mark, Marcie and Anne all knew about it, have watched these incredible interviews, but it was news to Liz and me. The last few nights Mark and I have been watching some of the programs on our computer. So far we have seen 14 artist segments. I am realizing how out of touch I am with the contemporary art scene, and that I miss going to New York galleries. Most of the artists we watched so far are people who do the kind of monolithic work that fit spaces like MassMOCA--and most of them work with teams of young people who execute the work. It seems foreign to me, I have always worked alone, yet the history of art is all about masters and apprentices; the Angers Tapestries wouldn't exist if only one person had made them. After watching the programs on Julie Mehretu and Doris Salcedo, I realized I had just encountered two new forces of inspiration--women, like my friends, who are passionate about their art.

Anne Lindberg in front of her piece at Newport Mill

Team Work

Reading, Architecture and Holloween

Architecture 2051 at Vermont Technical College

(top left to right: Holly Walker at her house; Erin Fajins; James Vincent;

center left to right: Michael Wilson; Professor Paul Hartmann and Jamison Cook; Jamison Cook;

bottom left to right: Jess Mosman; Majken Thomas; Ashley Fernandes

I just finished reading The Women by T.C. Boyle, about the wives and mistresses of Frank Lloyd Wright, a novel that vividly brings all the contradictions of Wright's personality and creativity to life, and filled me with images of the horror of love and divorce one hundred years ago. One hundred years ago--that sounds like a long time, doesn't it? Yet Wright is still seen by most people as a contemporary architect and visionary. Just this summer my brother, a long time fan, went on about Wright's attempts to marry buildings with landscape. I remember reacting with a slightly bored, jaded attitude--but reading this book has rekindled my curiosity about him, getting me to take another look at images of his buildings.

Coincidentally to my reading, Holly Walker and Geof Finkels invited us to attend the presentations of the students in Professor Paul Hartmann's Architecture 2051 class at Vermont Technical College. The students had come to their house to see the site, and were making proposals for a pottery studio for Holly. When I was a teacher, I sometimes had projects where students made proposals for real sites, and I know how working this way makes a project really tangible for them. There were actually two classes, and two days of presentations. Almost all of the students took the project very seriously and made clear presentations of their ideas. It seems as if they fell into three categories: an addition to the west, connecting the garage and the house with a studio, or a separate building to the east. After the second critique, I walked around the property with Holly, offering my own suggestions, trying to consider her needs as well as the feasibility of construction by Geof. On Saturday Mark and I went back and all four of us walked around, standing in different spots so Holly could go inside and see if a building where we stood would affect their views.

I love architecture and building, probably inherited from my mother, though I never considered it for myself (though my sister became an architect). Of course the reading and discussions has made me think about buying land and starting over--really getting it right this time. I don't think we are going to move any time soon, but it has to be sooner than later if we are going to do it in our lifetimes. Going into a classroom full of young people coming into their own strengths and ideas was so invigorating. It did make me miss being a teacher and how vital it is for everyone involved (teacher and students) in a studio where questioning is encouraged, and all ideas are allowed expression.

Now I am reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It focuses more on Mamah Borthwick than Frank Lloyd Wright, fleshes her out in a different way than in T.C. Boyle's book, makes her dilemma about leaving husband and children for a married man seem more complex than in his book. She was an early feminist, a creative force who couldn't quite find the right outlet for her own intelligence. I feel that Horan has captured many of my own frustrations through her character. Again, this is a novel based on historical figures. Many known facts are accurate, but it is Horan who supplies the angst and internal conversations. Mamah's frustration about how to use her intelligence is hitting me hard, as I see myself spinning my wheels instead of going to my studio. Good books do this, don't they--make you think about your own life and what you are doing with the gift of time.

Well, Holloween came and went in Randolph along with a fierce rain storm. We live in an area where children and parents from all the surrounding villages, as well as our own town, come to say "Trick or Treat!" I was prepared with too much candy, knowing I could bring back unopened packages to the supermarket. Last year we had between 300 and 400 visitors, this year I gave out about 250 pieces of candy. The rain became a deluge just when I was at the bottom of the bowl. I could open another package, knowing I would end up eating most of it since parents and children were running to their cars to get out of the rain, or blow out the pumpkin and turn off the lights. I choose the later (can you see my halo?). Many of the parents, as well as all the children, were in costume. I remember going out with siblings and friends on Holloween--we were allowed to expand our circle wider than just our known neighbors, so I didn't mind giving candy to all these strangers. Plus I got to take alot of nice pictures.

Trick or Treaters--top picks

More Trick or Treaters

Friends from The Netherlands

Mark, Anne Mieke Kooper and Hugo Poelstra at BigTown Gallery

We have had a wonderful week with our friends, Anne Mieke Kooper and Hugo Poelstra, from Amsterdam. Anne Mieke and Hugo have visited us in every place we have lived since 1984 except two places. We met when Anne Mieke and I were both working for Jack Lenor Larsen in NYC in 1984. It was fun sitting around last night comparing our Philadelphia artists' loft spaces, our Brooklyn apartments, the NM straw bale, and our present Victorian beauty. Each had their own good points and we concluded that we are happy to have experienced them all. We share a love of art, and went to see the current Wood Show at BigTown Gallery in Rochester. It is a good exhibition, and looking at the space, they felt it is going to be a good venue for our work. Hugo was a city planner for Amsterdam, at one point in charge of bicycle traffic planning, so of course we went next door to Green Mountain Bikes. The owner, Doon, was so helpful and informative (when was the last time I owned a bicycle? I think 1979 in Lawrence, KS). We will probably get one for Mark in the near future, then one for me, after I try his and if I like it.

I just added a few more images to my Picasa web album of available weavings. I have a closet upstairs where everything is stored, and while I was in Indiana, Mark taped, spackled, and painted it so it is now the perfect storage space for important items. I plan to take digital images of all the weavings so I have a complete record of what is available. It seems easier than trying to get digital images made from slides. Below is one of the weavings I just added, Lampasso for Fra Angelico. There isn't that much written about lampas (we have a good chapter in The Woven Pixel), but John Becker wrote about it in Pattern and Loom. That book, published in 1986, almost went out of print as quickly as it came on the market, and currently used copies sell for exorbitant prices. I was one of the lucky people who bought a copy in 1987. Today Wendy Weiss sent me a link to a site where Donald Wagner has posted the book so people can have it as a free download. Click here to get it. It should be in every weaver's library (as should be The Woven Pixel).

Lampasso for Fra Angelico by Bhakti Ziek

While I am pointing out other web sites, I thought I would send you to the MAIWA post about the unfortunate decision by the Canadian government to deny Ashoke Chatterjee permission to come to a MAIWA symposium. In response, MAIWA organized a video conference, which shows both their commitment to artisans associated with their organization, as well as their ingenuity. A few years ago I had the pleasure of speaking at one of their symposiums, and I left with admiration for everyone involved with MAIWA, as well as envy for the population that lives near them in Vancouver and can attend their fabulous events.

It's so nice to go down to breakfast and see Anne Mieke and Hugo at our table drinking tea (coffee comes later), but I almost missed them the other day because my new alarm clock, the roofers, didn't go off. They are almost done, as you can see below, but had to go somewhere else that morning. We had a fierce rain yesterday, sort of a proofing of the roof--everything dry inside.

Two views of house with its new metal roof

Mark putting up new shingles on dormers

Colloquy 2009 and a Visit to New Harmony

Images from Colloquy 2009

I had a wonderful week in Indiana, first at Colloquy, then visiting Laura Foster Nicholson in New Harmony. The gathering at St. Meinrad's Guest House has been happening each year for about 14 years, and is a continuation of the gathering that used to happen in Mineral Springs, WI at Ken Colwell's place, The Looms. I was not the only new comer this year, but most of the participants have known each other for years, and this is like a yearly family reunion. Everyone was welcoming and enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about looms and weaving. My talks were well received, and I was able to hear some presentations by others. Brother Kim, who organized the event with the help of Kathy O'Neal (seen above wearing her lovely deflected double cloth scarf), is such a lively person it was hard to get images of him not in motion. He brought a group of us to the Abbey to see some of the vestments. They include some amazing velvets, embroideries, and contemporary woven and constructed garments. I was getting confused between labels such as chasuble and cope, and just focused on the cloth. Brother Kim has woven and sewn some of the garments he showed us, and Murlea Everson, one of the participants, weaves the Bettencourt Collection for Meyer-Vogelpohl.

Seeing some of the vestments at St. Meinrad's Archabby

While we were looking at vestments, some of the others were setting up a three-shaft loom in Brother Kim's studio. His studio has a range of looms that include a computerized dobby and a drawloom. I think visits to other artist's studios are one of my favorite things to do. I also love listening to people talk about their research, especially when they are excited about it. I got to hear Teena Tuenga make a presentation on the weaving she has done exploring color and weave, using parameters presented by George Best during a previous Colloquy. Her presentation really explained why these people gather each year--for friendship, yes--but because they encourage and inspire each other to explore their interests in weaving further. I felt very honored to be asked to talk to them, and to be able to share Colloquy 2009 with them. Plus I feel like I have a dozen new friends.

Brother Kim's weaving studio

Teena Tuenga making a presentation of her research

New Harmony is close to St. Meinrads, so my friend Laura Nicholson, who lives there, came to get me and we had our own form of reunion and textile inspiring discussions. I visited her two years ago, and seriously considering moving there, and once again I found this small modern community built on the memory and ruins of a Utopian community quite fascinating. Main Street, where Laura has her LFN Textile Studio, could be main street in almost any small town USA, except Docey Lewis has her design studio right across the street from Laura's--and how many main streets can boast two brilliant textile designers? When you visit the Harmonist buildings, the Visitors Center/Atheneum is a Richard Meier building, and the Roofless Church is a Philip Johnson building. So you see homage to both the past and the present sitting side by side.

Images of New Harmony, IN

Of course, for me, Laura's studio is the most interesting place in New Harmony. The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art is housed in the same building and all the works in the current print exhibition are shown on their current webpage. Below you see Laura standing in front of her edition of 20 pin cases (I bought two--one for me and one for a friend). You can also see her in her studio. She didn't really want me to take that picture but I love the activity that so clearly shows on her table. She is a force of creativity, and definitely one of my heroes. I also came home with one of her eye sachets--she said I should put it on my eyes and it will help me relax and sleep (it is full of flax and lavender, I think)--but really just looking at it is a feast for my eyes and will bring me much happiness. You can see all the souvenirs I came home with in the final picture. Interesting that Kathy O'Neal gave me an old ribbon loom shuttle (from Henry Riehl and Sons of Philadelphia) and then I bought my most recent additions to my LFN ribbon collection. I never make anything with these ribbons, just keep amassing them--I want one of every design--and always I bring them to show students. Aren't they beautiful?

Laura Foster Nicholson in front of her printed pin case on left and with her ribbons on right

Souvenirs of my trip include LFN ribbons and a ribbon shuttle

Peak Leaves

We have passed peak leaves here in Vermont, though everywhere you look it is still pretty. I have been reading books on peak oil over the last few months, and it is much more fun to think and talk about peak leaves. About peak oil, I just want to hide my head in a pile of leaves and ignore it, but that would not be fair to the future generations (being optimistic here and assuming generations). I have no answers to the dilemma of what to do, but am sure that living in a town where I don't have to use my car every day is on the right track. If nothing else, walking my dog and taking pictures, and thinking about my weaving, about what I want to weave, brings me back from despair. In this moment ("be here now") everything is perfect. The daily changes of the red leaf pathway, turning dusty brown but still lots of color, brings my attention to the moment.

In preparation for one of the lectures I hope to do at Colloquy, I prepared this image of slices from this morning. If I weave it I will call it Leaf Walk. Just now, I worked through all the steps of going from image to weaving. Below the initial collage you see the same image reduced to 10 colors--which is what I will need to do if I am weaving a weft-backed cloth with four wefts (wefts 1-4 alone, 1&2, 1&3, 1&4, 2&3, 2&4, 3&4 add up to 10 color possibilities). I will do a live demo of my process for Colloquy, but wanted to run through it first so I don't forget steps. I don't know how many of the attendees own The Woven Pixel, but the process is well-documented there.

Potential weaving design

Yesterday Mark and I had studio visits by Anni MacKay, owner of BigTown Gallery in Rochester, VT. She is going to put my work into her Holiday Show that runs November 25-January 31. I am thrilled!! I think she has the best gallery in Vermont. Rochester is a small town--it is where I went to pick berries for my jam this summer--and it surprised us to discover her wonderful gallery when we were exploring the area in summer of 2007. We always stop and see the exhibits, and always are impressed with the quality of work she shows. It will be an honor to have my work shown there. She is also interested in figuring out something with Mark for a future show. Mark says I am his biggest fan--but that is just because I get to see all his work. If more people saw it, I know he would have a big following. After Anni's visit, I felt more hopeful about Mark and I as artists and our future in Vermont. I was wondering if I had already passed peak art--but now I can say, not yet.

Mark Goodwin in his studio with Anni MacKay of BigTown Gallery

Works on Paper by Mark Goodwin

Works on Paper by Mark Goodwin

Double Rainbow

Images from Sheep & Wool Festival, Tunbridge, VT

Mark and I went to the Sheep & Wool Festival at the Tunbridge Fair Grounds on Sunday. First we saw Jim McRae give a demo on sheep shearing, then attended Sheep 101--a very informative lecture by Chet Parsons. We visited all the animals, looked at all the vendors, and, of course, ate some food. The day before we had rain, but this was a perfect fall day.

That evening our friend Chris Allen-Wickler came in from Crafts at Rhinebeck, where she was selling the T-shirts she and Roger make. If you follow my blog, you saw Chris and her eldest daughter Zoe here in the summer, when they came to see me in Chicago. Besides t-shirts, Chris runs a program for children to learn animation called The Art Space in Traverse City, MI, and both her girls are award-winning animators. Her good news was that Zoe has been selected to go to India in November to report on a children's film festival in Hydrabad. I don't have children but I feel so proud of my friends' children and their accomplishments.

Are you suppose to wish on a rainbow? I remember something about a pot of gold--maybe a double rainbow is like double happiness. It was a glorious one that filled the sky the other day. Perfect back drop for portraits.

Chris Allen-Wickler on left, Bhakti Ziek on right, double rainbow/double happiness

Of course Chris' visit was the occasion for delicious meals and get-togethers. She had a 16 hour drive home on Tuesday, so I had to cancel the planned dinner, but Marianne and Liz came for breakfast instead. Here we are, smiling and happy; another mini-Cranbrook reunion. Even when we don't see each other for years (Mark and Chris hadn't seen each other for almost 20 years), there is such ease because of the force of those experiences in graduate school--for us as well as our partners. Naturally I tried to talk Chris into moving to Vermont. When her husband Roger visited us in New Mexico, we tried to get him to consider moving with us to Vermont too. I guess we have to get both of them together to work on them here.

Four Friends--Marianne, Liz (bottom row); Chris, Bhakti (top row)

December at end of our wood pile

I had to check Chris' car as she left, to make sure our cats and dog hadn't jumped in with her. She is such a loving person, and our animals didn't want to leave her side.

Yurt, full image and detail, weaving by Bhakti Ziek

Just in case you forgot, or I forget, I am still a weaver. Probably won't get to the loom again until end of October, but am doing things related. Today I put some work up to show someone who is making a studio visit tomorrow to see my work and Mark's. I don't want to say to much--don't want to jinx it--but I am putting some effort into trying to get my work seen again. Also, still preparing the presentations for Colloquy. I leave Sunday and look forward to this gathering of weavers.