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!

Studio Series: Two inch collages e

Two inch collages e © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Summer is officially here and with it I am experimenting with new rhythms. I'm stitching less and am mark-making and collaging more. I've learned to sit at the patio table on the back deck overlooking the tangled garden and feed my sketchbook. Normally, I enjoy nature by trying to tame my unwieldy garden. Sitting in nature is new to me. The weeds are still there and the daffodil bulbs still need to be divided, but I'm now almost able to ignore them. New rhythms are uncomfortable, but necessary. 

A few weeks ago I realized that I needed a vacation. This perplexed me. Vacations stress me out because they take me away from my work and my daily routine. So, I decided to take a vacation without going away: I am engaging in pattern disruption. One of my goals for this life experiment is to be mildly bored instead of being constantly over-stimulated and over-committed. It's working. It's uncomfortable but it's allowing me to play with smaller projects for which I might ordinarily not make time. If you aren't able to take a vacation this summer, try changing your routine. It might surprise you.

Studio Series: Mennonite series tags

Mennonite series tags; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Off and on, I've been playing with words and symbols of my Dutch German (Russian) Mennonite material culture for more than twenty years. Until I discovered the tag format I hadn't been able to pull it together. Above is a random assortment of the strongest tags pinned to my studio wall. I'll present them differently in a gallery setting with proper spacing, probably in a long line and I'll install them with specimen pins.

Mennonite series tags detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I have over fifty completed Mennonite material culture tags, but only thirty work well together. The collection now has a voice and an aesthetic has emerged.

Mennonite series detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

As of this week I have thirty textile tags set up for stitching. The collection is growing. It's about time.

Studio Series: material explorations

Pop tab sample © Karen Thiessen, 2016

On my long list of things to do in the studio this year is to make time for material explorations. As a textiles student at Sheridan College, I was expected to create all manner of samples: dye, print, stitch, and more. I made the pop tab sample for my Material Explorations class while I was a student. The textile pattern is my thumb print enlarged. I dyed the blue fabric and then screen printed my thumb print pattern with pigments. The stitched pop tabs followed. At the moment I'm in UFO (UnFinished Object) completion mode and I hope that I balance that with at least some material exploration–– I finished three textile projects since my last post!

Studio Series: B&W collage 5

BW Collage 5 © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I love colour but lately I've been playing with drawing, designing, and collaging in black-and-white. My studio flat file has a drawer dedicated to b&w photocopies of found images, my drawings, rubbings, and designs. It's ripe for the picking. Jane Hill, an esteemed potter, is a master of designing in b&w. About ten years ago, we took a collage class together and in the past few months her b&w influence has crept into my work, and I am glad for it. Many of my b&w collages will be translated into another format that will involve colour. I can't wait to see what works... and what doesn't.

Studio Series: Miscellanea collage

Miscellanea collage © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Above is an unintentional collage. It's a gathering place of tiny collages and a few images that I've collected and drawn over time. I'll likely use some of the motifs in future screen print designs.

Does it spark joy?

Asian leaf; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This leaf is twenty-years old, collected while I was living in Singapore. I found it nestled in an old address book while sorting through my dross during a Marie Kondo moment.

Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up entered my life in early 2015 and it has changed my life, but not in the way that Marie Kondo intended. Yes, I have a better curated bookshelf. I removed those books that didn't "spark joy" and replaced them with new books that do. I've managed to keep one space in my office clear of paper clutter to balance the messy areas. Unlike Kondo, I love paper and books and notebooks and sketchbooks. They hold ideas and knowledge. Claudia from Proper Tension and I have had several conversations about stuff and Marie Kondo. We are both makers and need a certain about of material to work with. Going Zen and minimalist will not work for what I do, but too much clutter is a liability. It's a fine balance not easily achieved in my work spaces. 

Read Austin Kleon's response to the book here.

Studio Series: still life

Still life; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

While I was overcoming resistance, I channelled my inner Camilla Engman and played with photographing a few vignettes. Camilla makes it look so easy. It's not.

Studio Series: Slides collograph

 Slides collograph on Shoji paper © Karen Thiessen, 2015

My grandparents were avid photographers. Grandpa documented family gatherings and travels with their Airstream trailer. Grandma documented flowers... thousands of them. They died six months apart, in 2007, and once my uncle scanned Grandpa and Grandma's slides, they came to me. Over a few Christmases I had slide show marathons, viewing several thousand slides. I then set out to edit and organize the collection, only keeping the best. I tossed over 2000 slides (yes, I really did count the discards), many of them flower photos, over and under exposed images, duplicates, etc. The slides are from the 1950s to the 1990s and the oldest slides have beautiful cardboard mounts with nicely rounded corners. I kept these. One day I'll collage with them. I took a handful and glued them to an illustration board mount and created this collograph. It is beautiful in its simplicity. As a bonus, I only had success making this print. Could it have been grandparent karma?

Studio Series: Tea packet collograph

Tea packet collograph on Shoji paper © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Every day I drink a few mugs of tea. Two of the teas are packaged in sealed plastic-lined paper pouches. I save the torn tops in a bowl and they add up. I glued an assortment to illustration board, inked it up, and ran it through a press. My first several attempts were failures, so I had to make another plate. Thank goodness I have lots of tea packet tops on hand. This is my only successful print. Patience and persistence pay off!

Studio Series: work in progress

Mennonite material culture series in progress © Karen Thiessen, 2015

While I've been moving my Poetic Memory series forward (well over 200 tags are complete!), another series has been almost making itself. Yup, Mennonite elves toil away in the studio when I'm not looking. Well, it seems that way. 

Each body of work that I make has its own rhythm and personality. Some are neat and tidy and emerge on schedule, like a small miracle. One was stubborn and had its own sense of time (the Shadow series). I started playing with making a Mennonite series about fifteen years ago. It wasn't ready. While I was working long hours for my 2013 solo show Unit(y), naturally the Menno series started elbowing its way into my awareness. It's a sneaky beast. 

Above is a random selection of 41 of the Mennonite material culture tags that I've made so far. They aren't optimally arranged or installed. The series needs a better title and I need to triple the amount of work before I have a sense of what it wants to be and where it wants to go. With this series it seems that as long as I'm working on something else, it gets made. 

Cliff Eyland @ Halifax Central Library

Cliff Eyland, Library Cards, 2014; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Summer isn't complete without a visit to Halifax where my husband and I reconnect with good friends and spent time in a city that we love. One highlight of our visit was spending time in the new Halifax Central Library. We've been watching its progress for many years. Cliff Eyland's installation of 5000 "tiny paintings" graced a long wall on the main floor and an upper wall on the top floor. A few months ago I stumbled across his work when I was looking for information about Aganetha Dyck and I wrote about him here.

Cliff Eyland, Library Cards, 2014; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with modules?

Cliff Eyland, Library Cards detail, 2014; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Eyland (pronounced eeland) has worked in the 3" X 5" index/recipe/library card format since 1981. I wonder if he ever deviates from this format. Thirty-four years is a significant commitment to one size. It's like a good marriage.

Cliff Eyland, Library Cards detail, 2014; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Before the advent of computers, one had to search for library books at a cabinet containing multiple drawers filled with cards. Unless the cards were typed with information, they looked a bit like the card in the above image, sans the Letraset dot inclusion.

Cliff Eyland, Library Cards, 2014; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

In December 2014, Nora Young interviewed Eyland for her Spark program on CBC Radio.

Cliff Eyland, Library Cards, 2014; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2015

This group of modules was on the upper wall of the upper floor of the library. The space had the feel of a classy living room with leather club chairs and sofas. The three directional view was spectacular regardless of the weather. When the fog rolled in, it felt like you were floating in a cloud. 

On a practical level, I'm curious to see how these Cliff Eyland modules will age when exposed to so much light. I'm also curious to see how the library maintains them: next summer will I see them encrusted with dust and cobwebs?

If you visit Halifax, Nova Scotia, do explore the Halifax Central Library. How often are libraries tourist attractions?

Postcards: Yoonhee Choi @ Blackfish Gallery, PDX

Yoonhee Choi 2013 exhibition postcard; Image credit: Karen Thiessen, 2015

Yoonhee Choi's exhibition, Trawling (June 2015), at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon was over by the time I visited, but I was able to see three framed artworks that were hanging in the gallery office. The above postcard is from an exhibition in 2013. 

Yoonhee Choi is a Korean-born artist who trained as a city planner and architect before turning her attention to fine art. She uses found objects and obsolete planning and architect supplies in her artworks. I am smitten with her two inch collages (framed size is 11'' square) and installations. Yoonhee Choi is a faculty member in the School of Architecture at Portland State University. 

1000ish

This is the 1000th post that I have written, but between 2012 and 2014 I deleted 26 posts from my early days. So, this is simultaneously #974 and #1000. Cool, eh?

Of Note

1. Titles of books noticed in a San Francisco Airport bookstore in December 2014: Blink, Bounce, Choke, Nudge, Sway.

2. Tea bags are made from Abaca hemp, a very strong fibre from the Banana family.

3. Cliff Eyland (b. 1954), is a Canadian painter who has been making art in the 3" X 5" (index card) format since 1981. That's 34 years for those who are mathematically challenged. He's from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and currently lives in balmy Winnipeg, Manitoba. His work is permanently on view in the new Halifax Central Library: 5000 paintings! He's a graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where he began his index card-sized work.

4. Claire Cameron, Canadian author, writes Notebook pages (part of her blog). They are collages of images and text taped onto lined paper. Visually, they are nothing fancy, but they are definitely thought-provoking. She's a cousin of food writer/stylist/broadcaster Lindsay Cameron Wilson. Story-telling runs in the genes.

Studio Series: Mixed Media tags

Mixed media tags © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Since January, I've been on a tag making, collaging, painting, stitching, and varnishing blitz. So far, I've completed about 165 collage tags. I haven't counted the completed textile tags since they are a different studio process and I keep them separate. The top photo shows a selection of the 165, all that could fit on my 1960s family room wet bar. The pink tags in the foreground are a significant shift in colour palette for me.

Mixed media tags © Karen Thiessen, 2015

Working with #6 shipping tags has been a gargantuan learning experience. I've learned plenty of what doesn't work and with a lot of persistent trial and error I've learned what does. As you can see, I've incorporated my screen printed and intuitive mark-making papers.

Mixed media tags © Karen Thiessen, 2015

After making the first batch of tags that I exhibited in my 2013 solo show Unit(y), I learned that acrylic medium never cures. This means that if a pile of collage tags are stored together, they stick. Not good. While reviewing old sketchbooks I learned that Fran Skiles varnishes all her completed work with Golden acrylic polymer varnish. I bought some in January. Resistance (a.k.a fear) kicked in so I made a lot more tags before I finally had the courage to learn how to use it and complete all that I had started. The Golden varnish was easy to use and very forgiving. Now that I have the hang of it, I complete tags in batches of fifteen, versus waiting until I have 120+ tags in limbo. Now it's time to start applying for shows.

Studio Series: Poetic Memory visual research II

Poetic Memory visual research © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The new body of work, tentatively called Poetic Memory, is finally dropping hints about how it wants to look. My colour palette is about to change in a big way.

Scanner collage

Collage with my scanner © Karen Thiessen, 2014

I like how the objects in this scanner collage seem to float. 

The annual New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale was on Saturday and I have a few pictures of quilts in the process of being auctioned to share. This year I was too busy visiting with friends and family to get a good look at the quilts before they were auctioned, so I have no detail pictures. The day was sunny and warm, perfect for a good turnout and a sunburn.

Meghan Macdonald @ Hard Twist 2014

Meghan Macdonald What Remains in the Drawer, 2012-2014;
Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2014

Meghan Macdonald's free-motion embroidered ephemera was a major discovery at Hard Twist 2014. Since her eponymous website is now defunct, I had to do some online sleuthing. I learned that Macdonald is now involved with Calica art and design studio and writes the Milk and Bread Vintage blog. Through her blog I discovered that she is a graduate of both the Sheridan College (2010) and NSCAD (2012) Textiles programs and had residencies at Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design in 2011 and at Elsewhere in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2012

Based on her blog I surmise that What Remains in the Drawer is an ongoing development of her NSCAD graduation exhibition What Remains in 2012. According to her blog, What Remains is "based on the life of a mysterious recluse. Rumoured to be a multi-millionaire freemason with a mean streak and boasting three ex-wives and three estranged daughters, these objects piece together his intimate world left behind after his passing."

Meghan Macdonald What Remains in the Drawer detail, 2012-2014;
Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2014

I'm a sucker for the stitched tags.

Meghan Macdonald What Remains in the Drawer detail, 2012-2014;
Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2014

Her ability to stitch the fine details is impressive. Free-motion embroidery requires a great deal of practice, skill, and thread. It is accomplished using a sewing machine with the feed dogs dropped and a special foot, lots of thread, and dissolvable stabilizer. Amanda McCavour is another practitioner of the electric needle arts.

Meghan Macdonald What Remains in the Drawer detail, 2012-2014;
Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2014

What Remains in the Drawer: Free-motion embroidery on dissolvable stabilizer, gouache, watercolour, ink and pencil on paper. Various dimensions. Meghan Macdonald.

Studio Series: Poetic Memory visual research

Poetic Memory visual research © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The new series that announced itself to me on January 1 finally has a working name: Poetic Memory. It is from a quote from Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being that I stumbled across on the Art Propelled tumblr site: "The brain appears to possess a special area which we might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that makes our lives beautiful (Kundera, p. 208)" The quote fit the feel of the new series like a glove, so I read the book to learn its context. 

Poetic Memory visual research © Karen Thiessen, 2014

This new Poetic Memory series is emerging in unfamiliar ways. It has called me to read poetry, create a soundtrack, and to make my first book to record my research and insights – all firsts for any series that I have made. I am reading the poetry of Mary Oliver, Jean Janzen, Karen Enns, and John Terpstra and am listening to Rachel Zeffira, Woodpigeon, and Rebecca Pidgeon and others.

By the time this series is made, resolved, and exhibited it will look very different from its starting point. I am wandering in the wilderness and I have never felt more alive.