Thinking in Stitches

This past few weeks I have been thinking in stitches. I have also been airing my collection of wool threads and fabrics, freshening storage places with herbal sachets to discourage moths, and getting my studio and materials back into order. I even moved furniture and vacuumed behind it.

I am sharing a few phone snaps of some sampling work I have done, visual meandering, playing with texture, color and materials.

I have also put up a new gallery with the Recollected and Gathered In works. This morning brought some desperately needed rain and I took the time to do some basic updates to my website and CV. Over a year ago, Jen Broemel asked if I would do an interview for her Art of Improv blog. I met Jen at Quilt National in 2019, a fellow Hoosier, and was delighted to be asked. The interview appeared on Jen’s blog during April of 2020, and like so much else during the first months of the pandemic, it slipped through the cracks for me. So, you can still read the interview by clicking the link above, and can also browse through the many other interesting interviews with so many talented artists that Jen has posted over the past couple of years.

What I am Reading:

Here are a few titles: Early Morning Riser, by Katherine Heiny; The Office of Historical Corrections, by Danielle Evans; Troubled Blood, by Robert Galbraith; The Children’s Blizzard, by Melanie Benjamin; Vera, by Carol Edgarian; and Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler.

The Children’s Blizzard opened up a whole new chapter of thinking for my westward expansion series, Territorial Road. I ordered more books for research.

Night Watch at VAM

My pandemic quilt, Anxiety Shield: Night Watch, has been accepted for the Visions Art Museum exhibit, Visions: Interpretations. The dates are October 16 2021, through January 2, 2022. I wonder how many other artists in the exhibit will have found their inspiration in the uncertain year we have just lived through? I have gotten both my vaccine doses and I feel a lightening of spirit. Being able to be outside more helps too. Today I met at a friend’s house and dug up some prairie dropseed, a native grass. I am trying to move toward native varieties of plants. Later, I tore out invading periwinkles in my front garden bed with gusto.

Anxiety Shield: Night Watch (2021) 48 x 34 “ Cotton. wool. buttons, hand embroidered and stitched.

A little about this piece— I was given a beautiful, Japanese-style indigo dyed jacket a few years ago. I stitched all over it with a constellation of white thread and then put it away. I didn’t think I wanted to show it as a garment, so I deconstructed it and just lived with the pieces for awhile. When I started to think about the anxiety shield series I pulled out those pieces and started working with other layers to begin to develop the surface and the image. The pinkish layer is maybe a receiving blanket with unfinished (and inexpert) embroidery clouds or some such, unearthed in the family basement and of unknown provenance. I solar-dyed that in quarters, mixing sepia with red for that unusual color. The maroon cotton layer is a disassembled junior choir robe—the short kind that goes over a white cassock—also reclaimed from the family basement (there must have been a lot of robes, because I have a lot of this cloth). The backing is pieced woven wool, a very nice substrate for stitching. The uneven edge at the bottom appealed to me, and I continued that element in all three of the pieces in the series. The stitches suggest the circular thoughts of sleepless nights, the low-level anxiety of incoming worries. Interestingly, I found the actual process of doing that much hand stitching to be very centering. Who knew?

Threads of Connection

Over the past years I have encountered so many wonderful needlewomen who have shared their knowledge and wisdom with me. My latest Wisdom Cloak is a tribute to the generations of women who have passed on their creativity and skill, and have formed communities with stitches. Think about the eleventh century makers of the Bayeux Tapestry—telling the story of the Norman conquest in 230 feet of embroidery! Here are a few details-in-progress from this piece, on a wool blanket, with wool and cotton embroidery (and a little needle-felting) with linen backing. I still have some things to work out in this cloak, but I am enjoying the pleasure of hand-stitching and creating the surface as I go. This will be the last for the season. I would like to stitch two more in the fall. Wool is lovely to stitch, but not so much in the summertime.

What I am Reading

Here are a few titles from my recent reading list: In the Woods and Likeness, by Tana French; Dangerous Women, by Hope Adams; We Begin at the End, by Chris Whitaker and Miss Benson’s Beetle, by Rachel Joyce.

Wisdom Cloak: The Needlewomen (details-in-progress)

Archivist of Small Wonders

I thought I would share one of my earlier Wisdom Cloaks called Archivist of Small Wonders.

Wisdom Cloak: Archivist of Small Wonders (2020), 54 x 58”, wool, cotton, found objects, hand stitched. (Photo by Kay Westhues)

Spring always calls small wonders to mind as I search the ground for blooming snowdrops, nesting birds and crocus in the lawn. March brings joy in the everyday discoveries of a world awakening again. This piece began with a length of lightweight wool that a friend had given me and I later dyed with a walnut vat I was experimenting with. The color ended up more beige than a rich walnut, but I thought it would make a good backdrop for a collection of stitches and found objects. I used a fabric paint to spray one edge with a reddish brown and backed the piece with an indigo-dyed wool blanket that is peeking out around the edges. This wool sandwich was a delight to hand-stitch. The wisdom of finding wonder in small things, and collecting and celebrating those moments is not lost on me. In our time of pandemic and other upheavals I want to hold fast to that wisdom.

Books I have read:

Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami; Afterlife, by Julia Alvarez; At the Edge of the Haight, by Katherine Seligman; In the Woods, by Tana French.

Breathing Room

It feels pretty good to know I don’t need to be checking my news outlets throughout the day, and I can enjoy the peace of knowing that there is a plan, and the people in charge have experience and a commitment to a healthy and just future for everyone.

Anxiety Shield: Force Field (48 x 34”), Cotton, buttons, hand embroidered and stitched.

I made three of these Anxiety Shield quilts during the period between late October 2020 and mid-January 2021. A weight has lifted and I am moving on to more Wisdom Cloaks in the cold months ahead (I added a new website gallery of some of these today). I also added a gallery of the Women’s PPE series that I made this summer.

I will be teaching a week-long workshop at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts June 6-11, 2021. Registration opens February 1. Click the link to learn more.

Here are a few titles from my recent reading list:

Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; Good Morning Midnight, by Lily Brooks Dalton; Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; and Feast Your Eyes, by Myla Goldberg.

Be well. Be hopeful.

Winter Begins

Wisdom Cloak: Grounded, wool embroidery on wool felt (detail)

We have a cold sunny day here for the winter solstice. It will begin getting dark at about 4:30 in the afternoon. A good day for soup. I had thought that Grounded was finished last spring, but I had a hard time getting the light and color just right when I took photos, and the more I looked, the more I felt I needed to rethink the design. Rethinking has been my theme for 2020, so I am ending the year with a newly envisioned cloak, covered with wool stitches, inspired by the lavishly abundant embroidery of Eastern Europe. I was remembering the dark stories set in a winter wood, with wolves, witches, and wise women inhabiting a strange and mysteriously powerful forest place.

A couple of good books I have read recently: Uprooted, by Naomi Novik (this is where my interest in the magical woods started); Disappearing Earth, by Julia Phillips; Circe, by Madeline Miller; The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makaii (I loved this book, set in Chicago); and The World in Half, by Cristina Henriquez.

After a difficult year, I am ending 2020 with a hopeful heart. Our family will be zooming in for Christmas, looking forward to being together again in 2021.

BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND A JOYFUL NEW YEAR!

Thankful Thoughts

For as difficult as 2020 has been, I have much to be thankful for and will strive to be mindful of that in the challenging days ahead. We had a whole week of sunny, warm weather, and I was able to put the gardens to bed for the winter, plant a few bulbs and enjoy hikes in some of the lovely natural places we have nearby. Dramatically rising COVID numbers are limiting holiday plans, but my teaching year has ended on a successful note and I look forward to lots of time in the studio. When I say “studio” I really mean my 7 x 10’ mini-bedroom, outfitted with a dresser filled with sewing supplies and a repurposed wood dining table. This room has four full-size windows with a southeast exposure and provides beautiful natural light, which I prefer any day. There is also a closet that stores part of my collection of fabrics and domestic textiles on inset shelves (overstuffed at the moment.) My laptop plays my latest audiobook, and the cats enjoy sleeping on the single bed (also a staging area for the palette of fabrics I am using). I have baskets of yarn and thread on the floor, and a very cool Romanian sewing box for more thread. I have a display wall and ironing board set up in an adjoining room, where I can pin up the piece I am working on and take a good long look. This will be my domain for the winter months, and I am so thankful for this place.

Wisdom Cloak: The Sibyl (For Rachel Carson) was made specifically for entry in SAQA Global Traveling Exhibit Primal Forces: Earth. This exhibit will be premiering at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah KY, and I am so pleased to have The Sibyl selected. Details to come.

Here is what I have been reading:

The Pull of the Stars, by Emma Donoghue—this book is set during a three day period in a Dublin hospital during the 1918 flu epidemic. Timely and very moving. The Red Lotus, by Chris Bohjalian; The Devil and the Dark Water, by Stuart Turton; and Magic Lessons, by Alice Hoffman.

Thankful thoughts from me.

Faux ancient needles, made from epoxy clay then glazed with oil paint. These appear in the Wisdom Cloaks series. I made a fresh batch this week with more cloaks in my future work plans.

Find the needle in this detail from Wisdom Cloak: The Sibyl (For Rachel Carson).

Armor for the Days Ahead

COVID rising, elections less than two weeks out, wild fires still burning, mass evictions looming and kids struggling to learn on screens…I feel like I need an armor of fortitude for the days ahead.

Women’s PPE: Domestic Chainmail

Fall has arrived in Northern Indiana, and with it darker days and chillier temperatures. I cut the last of the zinnias to enjoy indoors, and harvested a few stray tomatoes that may or may not ripen. I have some artwork out in the world. PERSIST and Reimagine continues online for another month with two of my Women’s PPE Series on view. What She Carried: Hussifs will appear in Old Myths, New Stories, a WCA exhibit opening November 7 in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and I am delighted that Wisdom Cloak: Mender of Rifts has been selected for Quilt National 2021.

I pulled these two breastplates off the form this week. Women’s PPE: Wound Care 1 and 2. These will be the last before the elections. Now I am starting a series of anxiety shields. Who knew what a rich vein of images a pandemic could generate?

I have limited my news intake significantly, so I have been reading a lot of audio books and a few in paper form too. The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John’s Mandel; The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett; The Last Great Road Bum, by Hector Tobar; The Searcher, by Tana French; and The Boy in the Field, by Margot Livesey. Our library, the St. Joseph County Library, has been a lifesaver during the pandemic.

Be well.

Cloth Constructions

I have the honor to have work included in the exhibit Cloth Constructions, at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. Installation views of the exhibit can be viewed by clicking the link. David Hornung curated this collection of smaller works by eleven artists and gave a very interesting Textile Talk about the exhibit and artists that you can listen to by clicking. The exhibit opened September 4 and continues until January 30, 2021. The collection is work by some very accomplished textile artists and I am humbled to be counted among them. Here is a detail from one of my pieces on display:

A History of Toil: The Roost (detail)

The faded blue houndstooth fabric is from a deconstructed apron of unknown provenance. You can see the full view in my History of Toil gallery on this site.

I am enjoying the cool fallish weather, even if I don’t have much gardening energy at this time of year. The yard seems wild, yet very beautiful in its untidiness. Many visits from butterflies and birds, and a giant mantis on the garage. I don’t want to think about when we can’t be outside as much as the cold and dark move in to stay. We have had a smokey haze from the western fires these past few days and I think of my friends and colleagues in the path of the fire and in the middle of the smoke with concern and wishes for safety and a break from the punishing weather and wind. I am hoping for many things to change.

PERSIST

PERSIST opened online on August 31 at the Women’s Work Art Gallery. Click here to see the artworks. Two pieces from my Women’s PPE series were selected for this WCA online exhibit and one is featured in the photo below.

I’m still working on PPE, experimenting with different materials and techniques. Using PVA glue to stiffen the fabric was simply not satisfactory, it had the texture of oilcloth, so I am back to a commercial fabric stiffener. I’m going to stop when the nested pile reaches the top of a Rubbermaid tub.

I have been reading a lot, here are a few top picks:

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk. This one really spoke to me. The book is translated from the Polish and I listened to the audio version. Wonderful reader, had all the difficult-to-pronounce names and places right and told this amazing story so well. This is a 5 star review!

Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward. The recurring bone theme was accidental, but this harrowing story, told over a time during and after Hurricane Katrina, was a page turner, and beautifully written—no surprise it was National Book Award winner.

A Children’s Bible, by Lydia Millet. This dystopian story, also set during and after a huge storm, was suspenseful and sometimes chilling.

Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernardine Evaristo. Written with not much punctuation, this book weaves together stories of women of the African diaspora over time and place. I loved it.

This was a pretty weighty reading list, I mixed in a few mysteries and light reads for fun too. Lots of sewing, lots of reading, lots of delicious heirloom tomatoes, and a new grandbaby expected in early March. Life is good.