State of Craft at Bennington Museum

Bennington Museum, Bennington, VT

I feel very fortunate to have one of my weavings, "House," be included in the current exhibition, State of Craft, at The Bennington Museum. The subtitle is Exploring the Studio Craft Movement in Vermont 1960-2010. Although I am new to Vermont, my tenure here is encompassed in those years, and the curators of the exhibition, Anne Majusiak and Jamie Franklin, felt my weaving of our Randolph home, with words superimposed on a street map of the town, appropriate for this exhibition.

Area with weaving by Bhakti Ziek and weavings by Elizabeth Billings; Mark Goodwin and Elizabeth Billings on the right

Anne came to my open studio last Memorial Day weekend. (I leave for Chicago during this year's Open Studios and couldn't participate, but I plan to next year. It is a wonderful chance to see artist's in their working environment. Here is a link to David Hurwitz's studio in Randolph, which is on the tour--and David also has a beautiful table in the Bennington exhibition.) Anyway, Anne came at the suggestion of Liz Billings, and when we arrived (Liz, Mark and me) and discovered our work was in the same area, I think we both were thrilled. Liz must be psychic, she dressed to match the wall behind our works. As you can see the opening (this was for the artists, trustees, and other people who have supported the exhibition and museum) was very lively and crowded. I will have to go back later in the summer and have a quiet look at all the work. The exhibition is open until October 31, 2010.

Sunsets in Vermont

Driving down and back to Bennington from our area (2.5 hours each way) has left my shoulder sore, not good since I have to sew all day with that arm, but it was so worthwhile to be part of the celebration, and then to see the Vermont sunset at the end of the day--which looked pure New Mexico to me.

Virtual Open Studio

Ideal breakfast nook

I came downstairs on Saturday morning to discover this beautiful vase of lilacs on the table. Our neighbor, Laura Morris, an avid and professional gardener/florist, put them there. They made this corner of display the ideal breakfast nook. I was too busy to sit and enjoy it myself. 81 people signed the guest book this weekend, but I think a few slipped in and out without signing. There was work shown on three floors, and each floor had a "host." Holly Walker greeted people on the first floor, my husband, Mark Goodwin, was on the second floor, and I was on the third floor demonstrating the TC-1 loom. I created a slideshow of the weekend (a Virtual Open Studio) on my Picasa site and if you want to see it, click HERE.

Map of First Floor Work, minus the labels

I made maps of each floor of the house, and labelled the art work and listed information such as size, date, materials, and price. I think only a handful of people noticed them, and maybe people didn't realize the work was for sale. I know our friends who visited from Utica weren't sure, and so I tried to place the maps in more prominent places on Sunday, but they still seemed to be invisible. Maybe our work was so brilliant the visitors didn't notice anything else. I prefer thinking that than entertaining the thought that nobody liked the work. Personally, I thought everything looked great.

Connie, Patty, Jane and Andy (left to right), four of the 81 visitors during the Open Studio Weekend (Jane and Andy are weavers themselves)

For the weaving demonstration, I had my Macintosh computer where I do my Photoshop work set up next to the PC which runs my TC-1 loom. Using the processes described in The Woven Pixel (yes, I did have a copy of the book out for visitors to see), I had four files open to show my guests--the original digital image of an Ottomon tile which I took in Turkey a number of years ago; the design file which had the tile reduced to three colors and a layer of descriptive words on top (something like "this is a demo during Vermont Open Studios by BZ in her beautiful Randolph studio with visitors watching"); the layered weave file where I could click pattern on and off to show people how pattern is placed over color; and the final bmp file which is brought to the PC computer. You can see these four files in the slideshow. I usually wove about ten picks each time I showed people how the loom worked, but it added up to a significant amount of weaving. You can see in the image below how much was woven, start and stop all the way, this weekend.

Demonstration weaving at the end of the Open Studio Sunday evening

Saturday afternoon I finally had a break and ran downstairs to offer Holly lunch. We both got bowls of yogurt, fruit and granola and sat out front. We were stunned to discover it was almost 5pm, and the lull was because Open Studio stopped at 5. Both days were busy, though Sunday morning started slow, with rain, but then became a glorious day and we had a steady stream of visitors. It was very exciting to have so many people interested in weaving. I even had a few visitors weave on the macomber loom I had set up in case anyone wanted to try.

Demonstration weaving finished today

This morning was another beautiful day in Vermont, so we took our dog for a ride and went to the book and plant sale in Tunbridge. We didn't get anything, but it was fun to walk down the street which was packed with people greeting one another. It was like that in our house this weekend too--it seemed like all our visitors knew one another, and perhaps in a few years we will know everyone in Randolph too. When we got home I went upstairs and finished the weaving. No visitors watching today.

Open Studio Preparation

Florence Cross-Sections above desk

Our house is in chaos as we try to get ready for Open Studios this weekend. I have to put out signs at the end of our street tomorrow evening or early Saturday morning. The other artists involved with the White River Craft Center will put out signs near the highway exit and other places in town, and if I am lucky, some people will come see my work. It has been fun to take work out and put it up on the walls. Florence Cross-Sections is shown in the image above, and Empire I is seen in the image below.

Entry room with Empire I hanging 

Across the room from Empire I, I have hung Creed 2 and Creed 1. They both say "textiles are my religion" which about sums it up for me.

Creed 2 on left and Creed 1 on right

On the second floor Mark has cleared out most of his work to let me hang weavings. You can see Mirror I on the left wall, and NM Scrolls 1, 2, and 4 (left to right) below. The box is one of Mark's new pieces.

Second floor studio: Mirror I on left wall, NM Scrolls 1, 3, 4 on right wall, 

box by Mark Goodwin on floor

Recently I ended my relationship with all galleries and organizations that were representing my work. I am very appreciative of their support but I wanted the ability to offer lower prices for my work from my studio, and did not feel I could do that while I had outside representation. Though I never expect that work is going to sell, I am always pleased when it does. At the Open Studio, I will be able to offer significant price reductions, and I am curious to see if it increases sales or not. If anyone reading this blog is interested in purchasing work, please email me for the new prices.

On the third floor, my studio, I will be demonstrating the TC-1 loom both days. I intended to show you an image of the studio in chaos (just to prove I am not always neat, though it is my preference) but Mali stopped me at the top of the steps and insisted I take her picture. She was quite annoyed that Dylan, her brother, got on the blog before her. I doubt if any of the visitors this weekend will get to see her or her brother--they have their secret hiding places.

Mali guarding the entrance to my studio