Live from the Front Lines

I honestly wish those of you who are reading this could have a studio right next door to mine. Then I could call you up and say, "Hey, come on over and talk with me about this." In lieu of that, I'd love for you to share your thoughts and comments as you watch the progression of this piece. I even promise to answer all comments if you do. If some of you disagree with me or each other, even better -- it could make for a good discussion!

First things first. I am wildly in love with the top third of this. I'm envisioning adding an accent or two of a rust/red tone along an edge, but that is all here. If you strongly disagree, here is your opportunity to tell me so.


So now we move down to the bottom. This is the newly steamed, washed and ironed fabric with the additions of rusty orange and a brownish green. I'm liking the colors. They can grow softer and lighter as they move up the surface of this piece. But now I have to decide how much and where to add the additional color and whether or not the letterforms add anything to the composition. Part of me likes the textures, lines and colors on the piece so much that the letters seem overkill.

The other part of me (I'm a Libra, these internal debates go on continually, what can I say) says that the whole IDEA of this piece is ancient letterforms, so I can't very well throw them overboard. Maybe the answer is to add them selectively and very sparingly to the surface rather than use as many as there are here in this sample area.

Since the test area for the orange and dark green is at the very bottom edge of this super long piece of cloth, I folded and pinned the bottom part up closer to the top on my design wall and took this picture. This gives me an idea of what these colors and textures will look like more towards the middle of the composition.

I'll sit here munching my apple, staring at the images on my computer screen and holding this debate in my head for a bit. Maybe I'll have an insight into what I want to do next.

I really am thinking I want to decrease both the amount and shape of the lightest areas in the lower half of the piece. I might sponge some resist on the surface and screen over those areas to soften the value shift and reduce the amount of that very lightest color. That could create a softer transition from the darkest areas at the bottom to the lightest areas on top. Or I can have hard edges in some places and softer transitions in others.

Or maybe a whole new idea will emerge. The day is young! If you have any thoughts about these options, yes I know it's the weekend and you're busy, but please know you are invited to comment!

Informing the Work

Linen wrapping with Etruscan writing from the Mummy of Zagreb

When you read about an artist's work that "X's work is informed by thus-and-such" or "references such-and-such", have you ever wondered WHY artists do research and how it contributes to the development of their work?

When I took a master class with Michael James in 2007 and told him I wanted to begin to explore language imagery, he advised strongly that I research and study more about art and language to "inform" my work. I took his words to heart and have been researching and learning ever since.

What do research and exploring references do for our art work?

When I selected one language, Etruscan, two weeks ago, to explore for six months, I was a bit worried. There are few surviving samples of this written language other than funerary inscriptions of names. Because of this, experts can decipher individual names and words and phrases but don't completely understand the meanings.

One of the largest surviving Etruscan texts I've discovered is a great stimulation to my imagination. Five linen wrappings on the mummified remains of what scientists have identified as an approximately 30 year old woman from between 150 and 100 BC are covered with 1200 legible words written in ink that appear to be a sacred, religious text. They call her the Mummy of Zagreb.

The images of these mummified remains and the fragments of sacred texts and names of gods and goddesses written on the wrappings are new images in my thoughts as I practice writing Etruscan language fragments daily with a variety of tools, paints and inks. While there is no full translation of the writing on these burial cloths, my imagination creates its own stories and explanations.



Each day as my writing practice with the Etruscan alphabet evolves through the assignments in my correspondence class with Laurie Doctor, I feel the act of writing more. I am becoming more attentive to the movement of my whole body in the act of writing, how similar it is to drawing and how the marks I make reveal much about my state of mind each day, whether I am present and relaxed, tense or distracted.

Slowing down and feeling the instrument in my hand, relaxing the grip and giving my full attention to the process are helping me connect more deeply with the gestural act of writing. Even while I don't know what impact this practice will have on my new work, I can sense a shift in my approach to working.

Exciting New Venue for My Work

Photo from SOFA Chicago exhibition in 2006; this is a shot of the Jane Sauer Gallery booth

Works from my Parables series will be on display at SOFA Chicago (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art) beginning November 6-8,2009, represented by Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery. Maria contacted me in November; we've finalized arrangements and it's official.

SOFA is a "field of dreams" for fine craft lovers and collectors; patrons come to purchase new works to add to their private, corporate or museum collections. On view are some of the most beautiful contemporary craft pieces in every medium that I've ever seen.

And my work will be there among them.

Artists never know how or when an opportunity will arise or what it will ultimately mean for their work. Whatever outcome there may be in exhibiting my work in this venue, the opportunity provides a strong focus for my intentions for this year.

Because of this commitment, I took teaching off my website. Although I'm honoring my existing workshops for this year, I'm not taking on any new ones. I'm also not taking on any new writing projects. This allows me to focus on the vision and new work for this series.

Since I made this decision, I've experienced a gamut of emotions -- from panic and fear of totally failing to an incredible confidence that I'm ready and equal to the opportunity.

None of us can do more than greet any new life opportunity by giving it our absolute best. That's what I intend to do for exhibiting my work at SOFA.

This New Year is unfolding filled with hope and concerns for us as a nation. My anxieties may spike, I may have times of doubt and elation, but I also trust that the universe has brought this to me because I'm ready. I have a strong inner compass; it says this is right for me.

I've always been willing to try and fail in any artistic endeavor. Now it's time to be equally gracious about accepting visibility and the potential for collectors investing in my work. Whatever this may lead to for my career, I already possess a love of creating and joy in being a maker. That is my touchstone.

Anchors and Sails

The idea of anchors and sails popped into my head this morning in relation to my artistic process. What makes these images a good metaphor for artists?

Anchors are those artistic practices we engage in daily. Whether we journal, draw, stitch, carve or throw pots on a wheel, practice builds an instinctual connection with our tools and subject. Draw a tree over and over; with each enounter the eye will see more clearly and the hand will respond more intuitively.

Our awareness grows through attention and repetition.

This year I'm making a commitment to a six-month correspondence course with Laurie Doctor to help refine my own work with language imagery. One of the anchors for this study is choosing one language to work with over the next six months. I chose Etruscan and learning about this language is an added bonus (more about that another time):


Each day I prop up a sample of Etruscan writing in front of me, open a sketchbook and take a pencil in hand. Then, without looking at the page, I draw the letters onto it.


Although I've only been doing this exercise for three days, I am noticing that every day the practice evolves and I engage in it more mindfully. The act of drawing blind opens me to feel my movements, see each individual shape and consider the relationships in spacing and lines.

Shutting off one sense intensifies others amazingly quickly. In this case it particularly increases my awareness of my movements (flowing or constricted,spontaneous or deliberate,calm or impatient). Even after engaging in this practice for only three days, my senses and concentration on the forms and shapes are heightening, much as I grow more aware of an object in a blind contour drawing exercise.

An intuitive urging led me to contact Laurie about working with her; some part of me sensed a need for a structure to my investigations that I hadn't been able to create for myself. Laurie's immediate response with a very limited set of variables and daily practices is informing me in new ways. It fills me with excitement and anticipation for how this study is going to translate to my body of work.

Even as I anchor myself to repeating this practice each day, I feel sails unfurling and billowing.

What holds us steady in one place is intricately connected to what propels us forward.


"Seeds of Change",42"w x 44"h, silk habotai, monoprinted, layered, stitched.

This piece, almost complete, relates well to my growing understanding of the merits of repetition. The elements repeat -- and yet they are also unique and individual.

What used to repel me about repetition -- the idea of sameness -- now engages me, because the smallest variations stand out and draw the eye.

Choosing a Word for 2009

Statue in Siena, Tuscany of Romulus and Remus being fed by a she-wolf

We can thank Christine Kane for spurring thousands of us who read her wonderful blog posts to set aside making New Year's Resolutions and instead choose a theme word for attracting desired outcomes in the New Year.

In 2008, I chose the word "fruition" and the images it generated were excellent tools to help me focus and identify specific desires. As the year ended, I listed my accomplishments and am proud of them.

With new opportunities already presenting themselves for 2009, I wanted to choose a theme word that encompasses my clearest intentions.

Confidence is one choice, the desire to feel at my very core that I am worthy and wonderful. Feeling confident about the quality and merit of my work will shine through my applications for new exhibition opportunities. Being confident and self-assured will assist me in meeting new people and networking professionally.

Being confident will increase my commitment to taking care of myself with exercise and healthy, nourishing foods. Possessing confidence will erase the fears that surface when a new work isn't going well that my work isn't "good enough."

In the past I've been able to move forward with bravado and tons of hard work, but now I desire genuine self-esteem to help attract wonderful outcomes. So "confidence" is indeed an important quality, one I wish to make an integral part of my being in 2009.

However, confidence alone doesn't seem quite encompassing enough for what I desire for 2009. Being confident is an attitude, an emotional preparation and mindset but not an outcome. Alone, it doesn't generate images of my desired results.

So I am also choosing a second word to pair with it -- "flourish". The dictionary descriptions of this word are heady and exactly what I desire to actualize in the coming year --"a luxuriant growth or profusion" ..."to reach a height of development or influence"..."to achieve success." The two words bridge my inner and outer worlds; they're a perfect fit, like a pair of comfortable new walking shoes.

So I am entering 2009 holding "confidence" and "flourish" in my heart; like Romulus and Remus,the legendary twins who founded Rome, I envision these two words growing up to build a shining new city for my artistic life in 2009 (minus all the slewing and slaying that go along with Roman myths, of course!).

Interestingly, one of the definitions of "flourish" also is "an ornamental stroke in writing or printing", so the word even relates to my body of work that is evolving through my fascination with letterforms and language imagery.

I love the layers of meaning and intention in choosing these two words, in linking them visually with the twins Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf (my wild woman self?!)and how strong and powerful the images are that these two words generate together inside me. The New Year is underway; may the power of "confidence" and "flourish" manifest in wonderful ways as 2009 unfolds!