Studio Series: Intuitive mark-making

Acrylic ink Lent drawing August 2014 © Karen Thiessen, 2014

For those who are new to this blog, I committed to a daily intuitive mark-making practice for Lent 2014: at least 15 minutes of drawing for 46 days. Lent came and went and I continue to make marks every day. It's been over 180 days and it continues to fully engage my imagination and curiosity. Every day I go to the studio to face a blank page and I allow myself to make ugly drawings. Some are, most aren't. The ugly drawings allow me to add layers and layers of marks because, after all, they are already failures. I have nothing to lose. Most of the ugly drawings become things of beauty. It's always a surprise when this happens.

Above is a surprise drawing: it's a sheet of sketch paper that I put down to protect my drafting table from inks.

And Still We Rise Quilt Exhibition III

Dawn Williams Boyd La Croix de Guerre; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations is an exhibition of contemporary quilts curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi. The quilts were made by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 by Dr. Mazloomi to promote inclusivity in African American quilt making. And Still We Rise was organized by the Cincinnati Museum Center and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. 

La Croix de Guerre (2010) by Dawn Williams Boyd of Atlanta, Georgia measures 70 by 47 inches. 

Materials: Assorted fabric, silk ribbon, found objects

Techniques: Machine piecing, appliqué, hand embroidery, hand embellishment

1918: The United States Army organizes two African American divisions, the 92nd and the 93rd, through which some forty thousand African American soldiers see combat. General John J. Pershing gives to the 16th Division of the French Army the troops of the 93rd Division, including the 369th Infantry Regiment, the "Harlem Hellfighters," under the command of Colonel William Hayward.

The Harlem Hellfighters fight at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood. They spend 191 days in combat, longer than any other American unit in the war, during which they neither surrender an inch of Allied territory nor lose a soldier to capture. The French government awards the entire regiment, plus 171 men and officers individually, either the Croix de Guerre or the Legion of Merit for their courage and valour.

No African American soldier will receive a World War I Congressional Medal of Honor, America's highest award for military heroism.

Boyd's La Croix de Guerre makes a memorable impression. The quilt is a complex, yet coherent, mix of fabrics and techniques. I don't know how Boyd does it: in lesser hands the combination would look like a mish-mash. The quilt is calm with its warm monochromatic colour scheme and has the feel of a sepia-toned photograph.

Dawn Williams Boyd La Croix de Guerre detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Since I saw this quilt in February, I've been thinking of the hand embroidered stars. Do you see what I mean?

Dawn Williams Boyd La Croix de Guerre detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Unlike most of the quilts that I've shared in the previous two posts, the machine quilting is not a prominent feature. Although I admire the phenomenal free-motion quilting of the other quilts, I'm pleased to see the hand embroidery come to the fore in Boyd's La Croix de Guerre. All of these patterns shouldn't work together, but they do with Boyd's careful arrangement.

Dawn Williams Boyd La Croix de Guerre detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

This detail highlights the graphic facial features, the hat... and another view of the stars.

Dawn Williams Boyd La Croix de Guerre detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Normally I'm not a fan of silk ribbon, but it works in this quilt. The stripy piecing with the mattress ticking fabric could be a quilt on its own. Take a close look at the hand embroidered leaves. La Croix de Guerre inspires me on many levels. It's a quilt that I will study closely and learn from.

And Still We Rise Quilt Exhibition at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio February 2014
Photos taken with permission.

Quotes: James Russell Lowell

"Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character." – James Russell Lowell, American poet, critic, and diplomat (1819-1891)

And Still We Rise Quilt Exhibition II

Helen Murrell We Are All Warmed by the Same Sun; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations is an exhibition of contemporary quilts curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi. The quilts were made by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 by Dr. Mazloomi to promote inclusivity in African American quilt making. And Still We Rise was organized by the Cincinnati Museum Center and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. 

We Are All Warmed by the Same Sun (2012) by Helen Murrell of Cleveland Heights, Ohio measures 53.5 by 54 inches. 

Materials: Hand-dyed linen, cotton scrim lining, cotton batting; cotton, linen, polyester and silk threads
Techniques: Hand embroidery, thread painting, free-motion machine quilting

1972: The U.S. Public Health Service's infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment, which studied 399 African American men in the late stages of syphilis, ends.

The forty-year study is described by news anchor Harry Reasoner as an undertaking that "used human beings as laboratory animals in a long and inefficient study of how long it takes syphilis to kill someone."

Once again, I am gobsmacked by the intricacy of the free-motion machine quilting. I hope Murrell had a masseuse on hand to soothe her tired muscles after machine-stitching all those lines. The didactic panel does not indicate whether the fabric was hand-dyed, but I do see evidence of resist-dyeing in the background fabric.

Helen Murrell We Are All Warmed by the Same Sun detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Murrell's hand embroidery is impressive. She has balanced the hand and machine stitching in a pleasing way. Normally machine-stitched lines read as hard and hand-stitched lines read as soft but Murrell has switched this perception around quite brilliantly. The mottled background fabric and the fluid quilted lines probably have something to do with this perceptual switcheroo.

Ife Felix Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Shirley Chisholm: Unbought and Unbossed (2012) by Ife Felix of New York, New York measures 49 X 51 inches. 
Materials: Cotton fabric, plastic, cotton string 
Techniques: Machine piecing, machine quilting 

1972: On January 25, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm becomes the first woman to run for the Democratic nomination for president and the first major-party African American candidate for president of the United States.

Felix's graphic quilt of red, whites, blues, and black is a stunner. Chisholm's collar appears to be three-dimensional. Unfortunately, I don't have detail photos to confirm this. Felix has captured Chisholm's power well. I'd vote for her.

Trish Williams And Still I Rise –– A. Philip Randolph; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

And Still I Rise–– A. Philip Randolph (2012) by Trish Williams of Peoria, Illinois measures 51 inches square.
Materials: Hand-dyed cotton fabric, commercial cotton fabric, silk, polyester, fiberglass screen, buttons
Techniques: Machine piecing, machine appliqué, machine quilting

1925: A. Philip Randolph organizes the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful African American trade union.

Williams' use of black and white striped fabric drew me to this quilt and I especially like the binding. The upper left panel with the blue sky is the strongest part of the quilt. Williams could have eliminated the right and lower panels and the buttons without watering down the message.

Patricia Montgomery The Scottsboro Boys –– The Arrest; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The Scottsboro Boys––The Arrest (2012) by Patricia Montgomery of Oakland, California measures 65 X 57.5 inches.
Materials: Batik, commercial cotton fabric, pastel, ink, cotton thread, rayon thread
Techniques: Fused collage, machine quilting

1931: Nine African American youths are indicted in Scottsboro, Alabama, on charges of having raped two white women. The jury sentences them to death on slim evidence.

The Supreme Court overturns the jury's convictions twice. Each time, Alabama retries the youths and finds them guilty.

In a third trial, four of the Scottsboro boys are freed, but five are sentenced to long prison terms.

I'm intrigued by Montgomery's use of pastels and ink in this irregularly shaped quilt. The background jungle pattern juxtaposed against prison uniforms conveys the wildness of the criminal justice system. 

Patricia Montgomery The Scottsboro Boys –– The Arrest detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Montgomery's shading with pastels and scribbly machine-quilting is another strong feature of this quilt.

And Still We Rise Quilt Exhibition at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio February 2014
Photos taken with permission.

And Still We Rise Quilt Exhibition I

Cynthia H. Catlin The Beginning of Social Justice; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations is an exhibition of contemporary quilts curated by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi. The quilts were made by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 by Dr. Mazloomi to promote inclusivity in African American quilt making. And Still We Rise was organized by the Cincinnati Museum Center and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. 

The Beginning of Social Justice (2012) by Cynthia Catlin of San Pedro, California is 35.5 X 35 inches. 

Materials: Hand-dyed cotton fabric, suede, wool batting, metallic thread, rayon thread

Techniques: Machine appliqué, machine quilting, free-motion machine quilting, embroidery

1863: President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

Catlin's use of line is astonishing.

Cynthia H. Catlin The Beginning of Social Justice detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The machine quilting is stunning with its complexity. I pity Catlin's neck and shoulders––free-motion machine quilting is not easy on the body.

Sharon Kerry-Harlan United; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

United (2012) by Sharon Kerry-Harlan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin measures 59.5 X 63 inches
Materials: Cotton fabric, cotton batting
Techniques: Discharge dyeing, machine quilting

1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded in New York by a group of prominent African American and white intellectuals led by W.E.B. Du Bois.

From my photograph it is difficult to tell whether the quilt is whole cloth or pieced. I suspect that it is pieced, but reads as one cloth. All that pattern works brilliantly with a simple two-colour (discharge) palette. Despite its busyness, the quilt is calm.

Sharon Kerry-Harlan United detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

United has the feel of Kuba cloth.

Valerie C. White Julett Miles at the River's Edge; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Julett Miles at the River's Edge (2008) by Valerie C. White of Denver, Colorado measures 32 X 50 inches.
Materials: Cotton fabric hand-dyed, fabric paint
Techniques: Drawing, hand painting, machine quilting

1858: Kentucky slave Julett Miles tries to escape to freedom by crossing the Ohio River with her five children and four grandchildren. 
Her attempt is discovered and she is sentenced to prison, where she will die in 1860.

I'm guessing that Julett Miles is a whole cloth quilt. White depicts Miles just before she attempts to escape and the tension is palpable. 

Valerie C. White Julett Miles at the River's Edge detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The patterns of the head scarf and dress are delights for the eye.

Why haven't I heard of these quilters before? Have their quilts been featured in Surface Design Journal and the now defunct Fiberarts and I just didn't notice? This work deserves more attention.

And Still We Rise Quilt Exhibition at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio February 2014
Photos taken with permission.

Quotes: Willa Cather

"Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is." – Willa Cather, Pulitzer prize winning American author (1873-1947)

Natural dyeing

Dye pot; Photo © Karen Thiessen 2013

This was my dye pot last fall. The drips are courtesy of a black walnut vat. I'm beginning to see the occasional black walnut on the sidewalk and in a month I expect to see more. I can't wait to start my next vat.

Dye pot detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen 2013

I had planned to start an indigo vat this summer but it just hasn't happened and probably won't. My husband has been cleaning out and organizing the garage and a vat would have prevented this minor miracle from happening. The good news is that there is a lot more space for dyeing and he's offered to install a proper clothes line in there for future indigo-dyed cloth to oxidize. By next week we'll have extra plugs and lights so I'll be able to plug in the hot plate without a 10 foot extension cord (and tripping hazard) snaking across the garage floor and up the steps. I may celebrate by treating myself to a new hot plate.

Studio Series: 8 Stripe 1 textile

8 Stripe 1 Textile © Karen Thiessen, 2014

In my work as a mixed media textile artist, I like to collage with paper images of my textiles and stitch my collages that I digitally print onto fabric. 8 Stripe 1 Textile is this collage printed onto fabric and then stitched.

8 Stripe 1 Textile detail © Karen Thiessen, 2014

A stitched circle completes the textile. It's now in the home of an art collector.

Quotes: Picasso

"A picture used to be the sum of additions. In my case it is the sum of destructions. I do a picture –– then I destroy it. In the end though, nothing is lost, the red I took away from one place turns up somewhere else." – Pablo Picasso

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys I & II

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys I & II; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

In February I was in Cincinnati, Ohio for a conference and I had a free afternoon. One of the conference organizers is a docent at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and he offered to give me and a small group a private guided tour. I love African American quilts and researched them in my student days, so I was pleased to see Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson's monumental textile Journeys I & II. 

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

To say that I was pleased is an understatement: I was blown away by the detail, colour and time commitment. Robinson (b. 1940) has been making this textile since 1968. That's 46 years.

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Robinson is now 74. Will she continue making this textile until the end of her days? 

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

The expressive stitching speaks to me.

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

I especially appreciate her colourful appliquéd text and the chunky stitching that attaches it to the textile.

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Paint, fabric, buttons, cowrie shells, graphite, and thread reside together to make this monumental textile. Does some of the fabric come from previously worn clothing? 

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys Text; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Journeys detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson textile 1968 to present at The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Photos taken with permission.

Quotes: Miriam Toews

"Now I'm learning something. Go into hard things quickly, eagerly, then retreat. It's the same for thinking, writing and life." – Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows, page 243

**Since I read All My Puny Sorrows in early June, it has not left me. I think about its humour, compassion and hope daily. When the book prizes come around, I hope that AMPS is among the winners.

Intuitive Mark-making update

Lent drawing July 2014 © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Summer is in full gear which means that time in the studio is fragmented by visits with friends and family. It's a good thing. I know that I will return to my full-time studio practice refreshed and inspired by time with so many of the wonderful people in my life. I've continued my daily intuitive mark-making practice that I began for Lent 2014. Today marks 150 days-in-a-row of mark-making and 1290 days-in-a-row of yoga.