Swedish Weaving: My Trip Through Life

Once again, my mom steals the show. My Trip Through Life is a baby afghan that my mom made to commemorate all the vehicles in a man's life. Mom used the Cars and Trucks pattern by Cindy Young and Lisa Clark as her guide.

My Trip Through Life reads from right to left. On the far right is the car that brought the boy home from the hospital when he was born. The pickup is the first vehicle he learned to drive, then the truck (it looks like a 10 wheeler to me) and then when he retired from trucking he bought a camper trailer and travelled all over North America.

Mom and dad ran a transportation company before they sold it and retired. Dad started with a 10 wheeler and eventually moved up to a fleet of 18 wheelers. 

When they retired they bought a camper trailer and now travel around North America like my grandparents did before them.

Quotes: Albert Einstein

Einstein quote illustrated by Karen Thiessen, 2012 on Diamond overlay pattern

Week 45: Adobe Illustrator

Diamond Totems © Karen Thiessen, 2012

Despite my cold I managed to practice Illustrator this week. Unless I take a week off for Christmas I'll practice AI 48 weeks in 2012. When I started this project in January, I assumed that I'd know all of the basics by now, but I don't. This year-long project will stretch into 2013 and I hope by December 2013 I'll have mastered the basics and more. Pattern continues to be my passion and text has captured my attention. It's fun pulling them together for my Monday quotes posts.

TOAE 2012: Amanda McCavour

Amanda McCavour Floating Garden; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

In 2011 I wrote about Amanda's installation Scribble at the 2011 TOAE. The mass of cheerful orange textile spirographs moved in the warm breeze. Scribble grabbed your attention from long distances and invited you to check it out. This year Amanda McCavour installed a Floating Garden at the 2012 TOAE. The work itself was strong but suffered from a less-than-ideal setting, as you can see from my photos. The hanging devices and weights got in the way of seeing the work properly. For a better installation photo go to her website. Can you see this series floating over wall-to-wall astroturf?

Amanda McCavour Floating Garden; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Yesterday I received my Fall 2012 Surface Design Journal and was pleased to see an article highlighting McCavour's work. This fall she moved to Philadelphia to pursue an MFA in Fibers and Material Studies at Tyler School of Art. I am curious to see how her work will evolve.

Amanda McCavour installation Scribble at the TOAE 2011; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen

Here are two images of her 2011 installation. Wow! Right?

Amanda McCavour installation Scribble at the TOAE 2011; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen

Studio Series: tags study

tags study; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Beginning in October, I set about to pierce, punch, score, fold, cut, bend, curl, freeze, bake, soak, ink, and wreck a whack of #6 tags in order to loosen up. My ploy worked and now I have food for thought.

Sick

Soup for a sick gal; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2011

It's been 19 months since my last cold. That much luck is bound to run out and it finally did. Since last week I've been nourishing myself with gallons of soup, tea, and green smoothies. Between naps I manage to get some studio work done and that makes me especially happy (being sick is boring). Since I am too tired to work my usual long days, I have an excuse to indulge in some fiction. Over several evenings I read Maggie O'Farrell's The Hand That First Held Mine, a story about artists and writers in 1950s and present-day London, that has stayed with me days after I finished reading it.

Quotes: Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel quote illustrated by Karen Thiessen; Rough stripes pattern © Karen Thiessen, 2012