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!

Video: Lucius Born Again Teen

Lucius' Born Again Teen has been keeping me company in the studio. 

completion and new messes

UFO hexagons textiles © Karen Thiessen, 2016

January and February are my favourite months of the year. It is a time of cold weather and new beginnings. It is a time to dream, write, make lists, assess, think about the big picture, review, and build momentum for the year ahead. There's lots to do. My lists are taking shape and one list is dedicated to unfinished projects. It's a long list of personal and studio projects and I am determined to complete most of them in 2016. Completing UFO's frees up my energy and builds momentum. It's a form of tidying up so that I have mental space to make new messes. Since I learned English paper piecing in 2013, I've made piles of pieced textiles and, until recently, I'd only finished one. 2016 is the year of completion and new messes.

Quotes: Ai Weiwei

"Art is a tool to set up new questions." – Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) Chinese contemporary artist and activist

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.

Quotes: Lisel Mueller

"How swiftly the strained honey
of afternoon light
flows into darkness

and the closed bud shrugs off
its special mystery
in order to break into blossom:

as if what exists, exists
so that it can be lost
and become precious."

–– Lisel Mueller (b. 1924), German-born, American poet, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1997.
* Source: valerieroybal.tumblr.com

Studio Series: B&W collage

BW Collage 2 © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In my quest to reduce my paper glut and tame at least one area of my office, I went through files and purged most of my craft history course packs from my NSCAD days (I did a major in textiles and a minor in art history). Naturally, many of the photocopied pages had beautifully degraded images that I could use in my collages. My office filing cabinet now has wiggle room but my studio flat file is bulging with new collage materials. Marie Kondo would not approve.