Quotes: Eric Booth

"Learning theorists now argue for the importance of non-productive play as a critical component of productive advancement. Play is one of the few universal ways in which we test what we know."

–– Eric Booth, American actor, teacher, and author 

Source: Eric Booth. The Everyday Work of Art. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, 1997; p. 143.

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 190. 

For the past three years, I have maintained a daily sketchbook practice. It's a durational art practice and the purpose of it is for creative self-care and to see how I and the practice develop over time. In these dedicated sketchbooks (I have now filled 13), I go through phases of collage, drawing, painting, printmaking. Each day I play. Each day I "see and respond."

Quotes: Sandra Brownlee

"You have to be comfortable with uncertainty. You keep going and it becomes clear." 

–– Sandra Brownlee (b. 1948), Canadian visual artist, educator, and winner of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, 2014

via: Sketchbook 23, 2014, p. 44.

Sandra Brownlee Tactile Notebooks samples

Sandra Brownlee class samples; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

As I was cleaning out my blog photo files, I stumbled across two images from Sandra Brownlee's Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word workshop.

Sandra Brownlee class sample; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

The cut paper is a beauty. Enjoy!

Sandra Brownlee + string-making *updated 24/08/16*

Sandra Brownlee teaches how to make string; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In July, Sandra Brownlee taught Susie Brandt and me how to make string, a technique that Sandra learned from India Flint, who learned it from Australian visual artist Nalda Searles. Earlier that week, Susie Brandt taught me how to make rope (more about that in a future post). 

Sandra Brownlee's string ball for Warren Seelig; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Sandra is making this ball of string for Warren Seelig. He wants it to be B I G.

Once home from Nova Scotia, I practiced making string while standing at my kitchen counter. I cut up several tea bags and got to work, making a fine string. It took a few tries before I found my rhythm. While cleaning out my studio, I found fabric strips leftover from a rug-hooking project that I undertook while I was a Sheridan student. The results are similar weight to that of the above ball. I am grateful to Nalda, India, and Sandra for passing on this skill.

Woad!

Woad plant; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of touring textile artist and natural dye expert Thea Haines' natural dye garden. She grows all manner of colour-yielding plants. Of particular interest to me was this large clump of woad. The leaves yield an indigo blue dye.

Woad seeds; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Thea has already collected the seeds for future woad crops. I look forward to seeing what depth of blue her plants yield.

In addition to natural dye plants, she is also growing a test plot of flax for an Upper Canada Fibreshed initiative. The goal is that the flax will be processed into fibre, and the UC Fibreshed is still working out the details of how to do this as there are no processing plants here in Canada. A few years ago, one of Sandra Brownlee's NSCAD textiles students grew a plot of flax in Sandra's Dartmouth garden. Naturally, Sandra crafted a beautiful low wattle fence to encircle it. I believe that the test plot was for the same initiative that Thea is involved in.

Of Note

Here are a few things on my radar right now:

1. Is Mending the New Shopping? via Surface Design Association eNews

2. Angela Holland's collages!

3. Design Matters Podcast with illustrator extraordinaire Maira Kalman.

4. I just finished reading Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical novel Dandelion Wine (because of Sandra Brownlee's textile that I photographed in May 2014). It's a book about twelve-year old Douglas Spaulding's summer of 1928 when he woke up to the world around him. Basically, it's a book about wonder, awareness, and taking notice.

Sandra Brownlee @ David Kaye Gallery 2

Sandra Brownlee textile 1a; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Sandra Brownlee's long woven textile hangs in the window of the David Kaye Gallery for her solo show The Word Made Physical: drawing, writing, weaving, stitching. I'm in awe of how Brownlee transforms humble black and white sewing thread into exquisite artworks. Over the years, her woven imagery has become more meditative. 

Sandra Brownlee textile 1b; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Here's a link to images of her early work where she poured her energies into each line of weaving. The new work conveys a confidence and calmness, yet is as strong as the early work.

Sandra Brownlee textiles; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The above textiles are the inclusions for her Deluxe Edition catalogue, Departures and Returns.

Sandra Brownlee textile; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

This textile is further evidence of the broadening of Brownlee's textile practice. In August 2011 she took a eco-dye workshop with India Flint. Naturally, Brownlee has taken what she has learned and has made it her own.

Sandra Brownlee textile; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The above text comes from Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical book Dandelion Wine. When I read Wikipedia's analysis and themes of the book, I realized that they summed up much of Brownlee's approach to life: elevating the mundane to a valuable possession (a weed made into wine), the magic and wonders of childhood, and working with one's hands and nature. 

Sandra Brownlee wire text; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

This is a detail of Brownlee's homosote studio wall that she shipped from Nova Scotia to David's gallery. Sandra is now working with a new "fibre" to make the word physical: wire. If one were to spend time with this piece, one would find actual words.

Sandra Brownlee: The Word Made Physical: drawing, writing, weaving, stitching

May 1 - 25, 2014 at David Kaye Gallery in Toronto, Ontario.

Sandra Brownlee @ David Kaye Gallery 1

Sandra Brownlee exhibition photo; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Sandra Brownlee's exhibition The Word Made Physical: drawing, writing, weaving, stitching at David Kaye Gallery in Toronto is up until Sunday May 25. The show is a mix of the textile work for which she is renowned, and newer mixed media work. It's the textile work that draws me in.

Sandra Brownlee exhibition photo; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Sandra shipped her actual (homosote) studio wall from Nova Scotia to Toronto. It's the large piece on the left in the above image.

Sandra Brownlee exhibition photo; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Above are framed tactile notebook "pages" excised from a larger book (left) and hand-stitched text (right).

Sandra Brownlee exhibition photo; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

These pieces exemplify the title of this show and Brownlee's kinaesthetic nature: they are words made physical, words deeply felt in Brownlee's body as she slowly couched the words onto cloth. Couching the words is a lot more work than embroidering them with a back-stitch or chain-stitch. Brownlee is truly committed to a slow and painstaking process of internalizing her chosen words.  The textiles on the outer edges are new. I wrote about the middle two textiles here and here. The small rust-coloured textile on the far left and Morning Ritual in the image below are evidence of Brownlee's time with India Flint.

Sandra Brownlee textile; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Does the "C" stand for coffee or candle? I guess that "Q" is for quiet, "P" is for plump, and "R" is for ritual.

Sandra Brownlee textile; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

If you were to commit to slowly stitching a text, what would you choose? As I spent time with this Ratnaguna text, I wondered what text I would want to deeply internalize.

Sandra Brownlee, weaver/notebook keeper video

A video by the Canada Council for the Arts.

Sandra Brownlee wins G.G. (Saidye Bronfman) award!

I have big news! Sandra Brownlee is the winner of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. She joins such textile luminaries as Kai Chan, Dorothy Caldwell, and Susan Warner Keene in winning this prestigious award, formerly known as the Saidye Bronfman award. An exhibition featuring five of her major pieces opens at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario on March 27.

Those living in the Toronto area, will have an opportunity to take in a solo exhibition of her work at the David Kaye Gallery from May 1 to 25, 2014, and the opening is on Saturday May 3 from 2 to 4 pm. 

Sandra will also teach her Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word workshop at the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-operative from May 5 to 9, 2014. Space is limited to 12 participants. I took this workshop in 2011 and it transformed my studio practice. This is an opportunity not to be missed. For more information contact info@textilestudio.ca.

Studio Series: Notebook

Notebook © Karen Thiessen, 2013 

In 2011 I was thrilled to take Sandra Brownlee's Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word workshop at the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-op in Toronto. One of the first things that Sandra asked us to do was to cover our notebooks so that they would be a pleasure to hold. I brought two stitched textiles to cover my book. The base fabric was pieced with fabrics that I dyed with onion skins and then hand-stitched. The patch was fabric from a favourite shirt that I bought while in university and then densely hand-stitched. Prior to stitching, I over-dyed this fabric in an onion skin dye bath.

Notebook © Karen Thiessen, 2013 

 The shirt has stories to tell, but my lips are sealed.

Notebook © Karen Thiessen, 2013 

 The notebook feels good in the hand and is a pleasure to use.

Notebook © Karen Thiessen, 2013 

On one day of the workshop we were asked to record our walking motions in our notebooks and then to stitch the results. I walked slowly down the 401 Richmond staircase with a black Tombow marker in hand, traced my motion onto linen fabric and then couched the tracing with red embroidery floss. 

Notebook © Karen Thiessen, 2013 

On another day we mixed PVA glue with sieved soil that we had brought from home and then coated notebook pages with our fingers. We added marks with gesso. The soil painted pages feel a bit like sandpaper.

Notebook © Karen Thiessen, 2013 

Another exercise was to coat pages with sumi ink. Sumi ink has a particular smell and if you add several coats, the page shimmers with a beautiful sheen. When I  got home I decided to keep the notebook in my kitchen where I continue to keep a record of fruit and vegetable stickers.

Sandra Brownlee meets India Flint: Notebook

Sandra Brownlee Notebook; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

In August 2011 Sandra Brownlee braved hurricane Irene and scurried down to Haystack to take a workshop with India Flint. 

Sandra Brownlee Notebook; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Sandra made an accordion book with fabrics that she dyed during the workshop. The off-white pieced fabrics with subtle impressions of leaves are beautiful.

Sandra Brownlee Notebook; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

I don't know if the other workshop participants sewed the used plant material into their sketchbooks, but to me this is a true "Sandra approach." Here is the front of the notebook page with the plant material. Lovely isn't it? 

Sandra Brownlee Notebook; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

On the back of the page we see the fabric that was bundled and dyed with the plant material.

Sandra Brownlee Studio Visit II

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Last week I shared part one of my studio visit to Sandra Brownlee's studio. Above is a vignette of blue that Sandra intends to show her students. The boro are beautiful. 

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Looking at artists' inspiration walls is the equivalent of scanning people's bookcases: it's like slipping into their heads. Do you ever check out folks' bookcases when you are visiting them? I'm always curious to see what people read or hope to read.

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

B stands for Brownlee. The woven textile may be from Sandra's Unusual Animals Series. On the right window sill are bundles from an India Flint workshop that Sandra took at Haystack in August 2011. In another post I'll share images of the results of Sandra's workshop with India.

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Before my August studio visit I'd only seen GRRRHHHH: a study of social patterns, a book collaboration between Sandra Brownlee, Warren Lehrer, and Dennis Bernstein, on the web. It's way beyond my budget. I donned white gloves to look at it. One day I'd like to spend more time looking through it.

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Here's a close up of a weaving pinned up on her inspiration wall. I'm guessing that it is about 6 inches by 12 inches.

Sandra Brownlee Studio Visit I

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Have you ever been given the opportunity of a lifetime? In August a studio visit to Sandra Brownlee's studio was a dream come true. I had visited her studio in 2010, but this time she let me wander, look, and photograph while she prepared supper. I took my time to take in the colours, textures, and shapes. Above is a small loom on which Sandra is weaving a sample for a blanket that is to be a wedding gift. 

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

This is her main loom on which she weaves her exquisite drawings. It looks like she is just starting a new project. Through the window you can see her back deck over which she constructed a lattice of twigs. One day it will be covered in vines that will filter out the sun. Do you see the famous polka dot curtains to the right of the window? At least one has been sacrificed for Sandra's Deluxe Edition catalogues.

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Her storage tins add colour to the space. 

Sandra Brownlee Studio; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

This was a red and gold themed shelf.

Winnie; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Winnie is Sandra's studio mascot. She keeps an eye on things when she's not napping on the sunlit armchair.

Lobster with Sandra Brownlee

Supper table @ Sandra Brownlee's; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

One highlight of my 2012 Nova Scotia trip was a studio visit with Sandra Brownlee. She showed me what she was working on in her studio and then she let me explore it on my own and photograph whatever I wanted while she prepared a lobster supper for us. In a future post I'll share images of her studio. Isn't Sandra's supper table beautiful?

Supper table with lobsters @ Sandra Brownlee's; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

I love all the colourful textiles that adorn the chairs and table. 

Lobster @ Sandra Brownlee's; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Another highlight of my trip was eating lobster for the first time since I was eight years old. Lobster prices are very affordable this year. Sandra showed my hubby and me how to eat them. Without her instructions, we would have been lost. We wore huge vintage embroidered French linens as bibs, but we still got soaked from the lobster juices. The lobster meal was delicious and fun. How sad that my hubby and I lived in Halifax four years and not once ate lobster.

Sandra Brownlee: Shifu

Sandra Brownlee Departures & Returns Deluxe; Photo credit: Jack Ramsdale

A highlight of Sandra Brownlee's Departures and Returns Deluxe Edition was a six panel pull-out page with an image of her Shifu. Shifu is a Japanese technique of weaving cloth with threads of spun paper. In 1995 Sandra took a paper-spinning class at Arrowmont where she spun paper strips cut from photocopies of her notebook pages into thread. When she returned to her studio in Philadelphia, she wove the paper thread and unspun paper strips into a sample. She included her trademark supplementary weft and some tapestry weaving into the piece. Although the sample is black and white like her fine woven images, it has its own feel and character. Sandra's Shifu is visually complex and the more you look at it, the more you see. Spend some time with the bottom image and you'll see what I mean.

Sandra's Shifu holds my attention. That she has woven a textile with slivers of notebook pages spun into thread inspires me to look at my own cultural production and consider how to reinterpret copies of my textiles and sketchbook pages into new forms. This Shifu is embedded with meaning and mystery. What feelings, words and images are buried into this textile? Was weaving with coarse materials a big shift for Sandra, considering that she normally weaves fine images? Seeing this sample makes me want to see how Sandra would develop and integrate this technique further into her weaving practice. More, please.

In my post Sandra Brownlee: 3. The Present 2005-2011, I wrote:

When I asked her during a telephone interview if she intends to combine her weaving, stitching, notebook and collecting practices into one form, Brownlee replied that "weaving is a pure form, not material-oriented, and very graphic" and thus she intends to keep these practices separate. Well, sort of. On a visit to her studio last August she showed me one of her new projects: paper spinning. She has started to spin photocopies of her notebook pages into thread that she intends to weave with. Brownlee now has a desire to work more coarsely: notebook plus handwriting plus weaving in a more direct, stream-of-conscious way. I can't wait to see the results.

If the stars align this summer, I'll arrange a studio visit with Sandra and see if she's woven any Shifu recently. India Flint spun thread from Twinings tea bags. Check it out here.

Sandra Brownlee Shifu; Photo credit: Jack Ramsdale

Sandra Brownlee: Departures & Returns Deluxe 4

* This is part four of a multi-part essay about Sandra Brownlee's Deluxe Edition catalogue, Departures and Returns, and my experience with it. I've written the context in plain text and my experience in italics. Read part one here, part two here, and part three here.

Departures & Returns Deluxe Edition by Sandra Brownlee; Photo credit: Jack Ramsdale

Sandra dedicated the Departures and Returns exhibition to her mother Vivian Brownlee and her father Marshall Brownlee. Inserted between the photos of her parents and her dedication essay is a special inclusion of red dot fabric cut from her Dartmouth studio curtains. This is a generous gift, a tactile link between the viewer and Sandra's studio, where she spins straw into gold, or rather, transforms ordinary cotton sewing thread into exquisite woven worlds.


When I visited Sandra's studio in the summer of 2010, I noticed a bare window in the ell of curtains. The studio, located in a former sunroom, is lined with windows on two sides. With the Deluxe Edition in my hands, I am free to touch Sandra's curtain pages. Are they a talisman of her energy that flows freely to unsuspecting viewers? Seeing the lovely curtains on her windows and in this book are one thing, the element of touch is quite another. To my surprise the opaque red dots are flocked and the texture is very pleasurable and comforting. I imagine that the dots form shadows on Sandra's studio walls and floor when the light is right.

Departures & Returns Deluxe Edition by Sandra Brownlee; Photo credit: Jack Ramsdale

A final gift to the fortunate owner of the Departures and Returns Deluxe Edition is a folio containing a distinct one-of-a-kind textile woven by Sandra. Each 5.5" X 7" weaving is a subtle variation on a theme. Some of the owners have framed their weavings, others have left them in the book. Sandra sees them as part of the book. A reminder: 30 Deluxe Editions equals about 20' of weaving (taking into account the thin hand-stitched hems). The woven textiles are an over-the-top act of generosity.


I'm embarrassed to admit that when Sandra loaned me the Deluxe Edition, I assumed that the folio would be empty. Although I slowly and carefully looked through the artist book several times, I didn't open the folio until I was curious about how the folds held it shut. When I gingerly opened it, I gasped. Tucked inside was an original weaving. With profound guilt and pleasure, I held it in my hands. The textile was much stiffer than I expected, it was like a page in itself. The warp and weft were off-white cotton sewing thread with black supplemental weft. To an untrained eye the black lines looked like fine hand embroidery. Being a textile person, I turned it over and looked at the back. In the lower left corner was embroidered the number 717. The top and bottom edges were neat with 1/4" hems that were done in a different weave from the body of the textile. My heart hammered as I contemplated this work of art. I knew that holding a work of Sandra Brownlee's art was a rare opportunity.

Departures & Returns Deluxe Edition by Sandra Brownlee; Photo credit: Jack Ramsdale

Reviewing Sandra Brownlee's Departures and Returns Deluxe Edition was an experiential education with Sandra and her Deluxe Edition as the teacher and me as the student. I took my time to go through it at a glacial pace and reflected on what I saw and felt at each page and inclusion, scribbling notes in the process. During a phone interview, Sandra told the story of each inclusion and this enriched my experience of the book. When I took the Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word workshop from Sandra in June 2011, she taught us to "see and respond." This multi-part essay is evidence that I saw and responded.

Sketchbook Review I

Template Drawing & Collage © Karen Thiessen 2012

Drawing & Collage © Karen Thiessen 2012

A post by Judy Martin reminded me of the importance of reviewing my old sketchbooks. This spring, I've been going through my 8 inch X 8 inch sketchbooks and recording the ideas, notes, and images that jump out at me in my current sketchbook. Writing about Sandra Brownlee's Deluxe Edition catalogue also inspired me to do a review. The above two images incorporate template drawings and collage.