Creatively Organized Spaces
Homing-an act of resistance in a fast-paced world.
What is home?
It a place where we can set our own pace.
What is home?
Homebodies make time and space to create a home through their senses.
What is home?
Home is the objects we carry with us.
What is home?
Ritual creates home-home is a relationship between bodies, spaces, and objects.
A collaborative video project between Heather K Powers & Sarah Kelly, created January 2020, Asheville NC during the MA Critical Craft Residency.
WARNING:::This post contains a dangerous dose of Inspiration! A little over a week ago I returned from TSA Crosscurrents, where I spent a week fully emersed in all kind of fiber goodness. The Textile Society of America conference is held every other year and when I heard they were going to be hosted by SCAD (my Alma Mater) I was quick sign up! I had to find a way to justify this trip since I no longer “work” in the textile field so I offered to volunteer. But any of you who know me have seen that my passion for fibers and textiles is life lasting and not going anywhere!
In conjunction with this Conference, SCAD put together several incredible Exhibitions including this work at the SCAD museum, If We Must Die by Ebony G Patterson (above) and Guests, Stranger and Interlopers by Subodh Gupta (below).
My former textile professor, Pamela Wiley had an incredible one-woman show, Now the Once with her stunningly surface embellished quilts (though I hate to even put them into a category)…works below.
This conference gave me the opportunity to personally meet (and Hang out with!) textile and fiber mentor’s such as Yoshiko Wada, Catharine Ellis, Roland Ricketts and Ana Lisa Headsrom. I have looked to these women’s blogs, artwork, books, DVD’s and more for both inspiration and knowledge over the many years since I stepped foot on this creative path. Yoshiko curated the show Arimatsu to Africa, a stunning sampling of shibori!
And Catharine curated Indigo and Beyond including incredible examples of contemporary works in fiber and indigo.
And, there were even more Exhibitions (5-6) showcasing innovative contemporary textile work!
Beyond the visual delights that seemed to be everywhere I turned, my head was spinning! The session panelists were all foremost curators, experts, archivists, researchers and educators in the museum and education fields. I was both out of my element and totally in it! Have you ever experienced that? I was especially interested in panel’s having anything to do with indigo, natural dye, archiving, organizing, legacy of artists…and I was so excited to learn resources (which I will be sharing in future posts) where my art and organizing worlds overlap!
My final treat of the week was returning to Ossabaw Island to assist Donna Hardy with a fresh leaf indigo workshop. Despite the horrid mosquito’s and the storm damage from Matthew, the weather and workshop were unforgettable as always (do GO if you ever have a chance-next year hopefully).
Feeling so blessed to be able to schedule this time out! Having been a part of TSA helps me feel like I am still connected to the textile and fibers world (which I am locally as well) and gives me a sense of perspective and excitement for my ideas and what’s happening in “the field”!
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Last week I took a Fiber Fieldtrip to Arrowmont…for an entirely necessary week of learning new creative skills in weaving and spinning. It was pretty incredible and began with my arrival to the smoky mountains after a few summer thunderstorms. I delighted in stopping on the overlooks and gazing at the storms, lightening and lingering clouds in the valley’s.
I live by the sea and I drink it up every chance I get but the mountains literally call to me.
Arriving in Gatlinburg, I ignored all the touristy nonsense and made a beeline to the campus, both isolated from town and right in the midst of it! I’ll just say that once I got there, I didn’t set foot off campus. My entire existence pretty much revolved around three locations, my room-where I slept, our studio-where I spent about 12 hrs a day (in bliss) and the dining room-for 3 great meals a day.
The moon and sunsets greeted us each evenings along with slides from the teachers, resident artists and
others artists at Arrowmont. Sadly there were too many clouds for gazing upon the perseids meteor shower.
Not having to worry about making or getting food was one of the highlights of my week! To say we were well fed is an understatement.
Class began with our teacher, Lynn Pollard, leading us in a mindful meditation on making paper yarn (called Shifu) out of traditional Japanese mulberry paper. The process included slicing the paper, dampening it, rolling it and finally spinning it. Once we learned the traditional process we were invited to explore variations using other materials. Though I enjoyed learning the traditional way, I went with every intention of learning how to spin and weave with the vintage nautical charts that I’ve been indigo dyeing for a few years. We had an indigo vat set up in the classroom and quickly became the “popular kids” with many other classes visiting us.
I didn’t get great photo’s of the spinning process but lets just say that I didn’t want to like it as much as I did. I’ve managed to be a fiber artist for 20 years without spinning and swore I didn’t need to learn another fiber craft skill. Just not possible I guess, I do love to learn new things and this class was an excellent example of traditional and non traditional materials and process. I came home and put a warp on my loom right away to get back to weaving! I’ll be exploring the possibilities of paper yarn in my future weaving’s and can’t wait to share them soon.
Finally I want to share a few highlights from the Instructor exhibit. I’ve even interviewed some of these instructors and have my sights on a few more! What you don’t see here are works by the Artist in Residence, but don’t worry…I’ve interviewed all of them and will be sharing their work and studio’s this fall!
There are so many incredible talented artists and teachers that have been ‘Cultivating your Capacity to be Creative‘ at Arrowmont and beyond! The most important take away (besides re-learning Lynn’s “Right way to warp a loom!”, hemstitching and spinning) is how important it is for me to cultivate my own creative capacity and this means setting aside time, both at home and away for creating and making, regardless of what the outcome is!
My ride home was leisurely and I spent the day exploring and soaking in the Smoky and Appalachian mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.
I’ll be spending a lot of my Saturday’s this summer in my new shared temporary studio, The Vat Shack. This project brings together 6 Indigo & textile artists for a summer of all things blue!
This project has been made possible by Charleston non profit, Enough Pie in partnership with Clemson’s architecture students (and others) who built this amazing temporary traveling “studio” for this specific purpose. The Den Mama’s and Enough Pie had regular meetings with the students and professors to share in the process of designing this space specifically for our needs. It was so fun to see it go from concept to reality, they did an amazing job and gave us just about everything on our “wish list”!
The Vat Shack set up
The Vat Shack storage
After the “shack” was delivered we came together to set up 3 types of Natural indigo vats, a Ferrous (Iron) vat, Fermentation vat and Hydrosulphate Vat. These three types of vats were selected to illustrate the evolution of this artform and craft throughout history (fermentation being the oldest type, Hydros the most “modern”). I was really in my element getting to set up the supplies and organize all the tools, shelving, space layout etc.
Den Mama’s setting up Indigo vats
Last Saturday this project was launched into the community with a public event Awakening:Indigo IV. All the Den Mama’s were there to share Indigo dyeing with the community. All afternoon we gave demonstrations of dyeing with indigo, shibori techniques and people added to the Community Rag Quilt (a Gullah Tradition being revived by the Gullah Lady).
Heather K Powers with Wire Hanger Mandala
Art installations (I created another one of my wire hanger mandala’s above) were onsite along with performances by story tellers (like my friend Sharon Cooper Murray-below) and a screening of the indigo documentary Blue Alchemy by Mary Lance who was in attendance and helped to create a lasting blue memories in Charleston!
Charleston community tries their had at Shibori
Mary Lance creates something blue to remember Charleston
Den mama’s will be spending time in the shack teaching workshops, camps and leading community dye days (first and third Saturday’s each month into October). This project is such an exciting way to bring together all different kinds of people in the Charleston community to learn about the art, craft, science and history of Indigo in the Lowcountry and around the world. I’m very proud to be a part of this and I hope to see you out there this summer!
All together in Blue! (L—>R Rachel Parris, Cathryn Zommer, Mary Lance, Arianne King Comer, Heather K Powers, Leigh Magar, Cara Earnst, Sharon Cooper Murrah and Kristy Bishop)
This month I’ve tied the two artist featured In the Studio together via location, Maine! Today we are In the Studio with Sarajo Karl Belvedere. It’s all about connections and I’ll be continuing in this manner to connect the artist via medium, location or some other thread each month in 2015. I happened across this Antique Asian Textile shop when a friend was showing us around the Portland arts district. I saw amazing textiles in the window (which my friend is also a huge fan of) and so we were pulled right into the vortex…and so glad we were! I was mesmerized by the incredible textile collection at Sarajo. After a few minutes looking around I spoke with the young man working in the gallery and learned that he was the conservator and that he did the work right in the back of the shop…so I boldly asked right there on the spot of I could take some photos and “Interview” him via email when I returned. Thankfully Glen agreed and I’m so happy to share not only his work space at Sarajo but also his home art studio.
HKPS::What age did you suspect or know you were an artist?
GM:: I was drawing before I can remember and by age ten was determined to be a comic artist.
HKPS::What mediums do you work with and are there specific tools or materials you find challenging to keep organized or locate when you need to use them?
GM:: At Sarajo I work primarily on antique textiles and use basic hand sewing tools. Aside from textiles, I’ve also repaired objects made of wood, ceramics, glass, paper, barkcloth, hair, bone, metal, feathers and the list goes on. Hence, there seems to be no end to the tools and materials that I use at work. Most of my sewing supplies are attached to my work table or in the closets behind me. I keep my trusty shears in a holster on my belt.
HKPS:: Where do you make your art, how big is your studio and how long have you been in this space?
GM:: I repair antiques in the back of the gallery. My workspace is roughly 400 square feet and I’ve been there six years.
HKPS::How many projects are you usually working on at once? Is this due to space constraints, creative process, organizing systems or other influences?
GM:: It varies somewhat, depending on how many antiques my boss has purchased at the time and how time-consuming whatever I’m working on is. On average, I’d say that I repair four or five objects at a time.
HKPS::When you began working in this space did you plan any systems for the overall set up or did you let things evolve organically? How did past studio spaces or systems influence this space?
GM:: The set up definitely evolved organically. I wasn’t completely sure what my job was going to be and my boss had never hired someone to specifically do conservation before. Each new assignment required a new procedure that had to be researched. As I read everything from textile conservation manuals to woodworking guides, I learned which tools I needed to purchase or make and hung them from hooks on my worktable, the wall or made shelf space.
HKPS:: Do you consider yourself to be an organized person? How or where have you learn your organizing habits and systems? Have you ever worked with another artist or gallery that you learned any organization from?
GM:: I would say that I’m organized even if it doesn’t always look like it. I’ve mostly learned to organize by trial and error, due to the fact that I need to work in a space for a while before I can really know where everything needs to be. That said, I’ve also learned to organize from previous jobs and art school. I was a shop tech for the printmaking department at Kansas University and my primary job was to keep the place neat and clean.
HKPS:: What tips can you offer regarding your use of schedules, systems, tools or processes that help you maintain organization in your studio? Do you purge, clean or de-clutter your supply stash and space on a regular basis?
GM:: I do purge the space of things like spare cardboard and fabric scraps every few months or so. For safety’s sake I always try to keep the the floor clean and first aid easily accessible.
HKPS:: Please describe how creative cycles of organization or dis-organization affect your creative process? Are there certain phases of projects that are more or less organized?
GM:: As I work on more than one project at a time, it’s hard to keep the space continually clean. It’s also important to have space to work, though, so I take short breaks throughout the process to clean up.
HKPS:: How much thought do you give to your artistic body of work in terms of historic value and the overall legacy you will leave behind? How do you store/archive your work or records?
GM:: I work on antiques, so I suppose the historic value is already established. My primary goal is always to assure that these things will last as long as possible. Most of the textiles are folded and stored in rolling shelves, behind glass. The more fragile ones are rolled on tubes as they cannot withstand folding.
My greatest wish is that through seeing how other artist work we can learn from one another. There is no ONE correct system or way of organizing. There are as many creative systems as their creative makers! My aim is to highlight these unique makers in each interview. A HUGE thank you to Glen for allowing me to intrude and put him on the spot in the shop! It was so inspiring to see both his conservation and his personal art studio. Thank you Glen (aka Karl) for sharing both spaces with all of us and how organizing affects his creative process in all of his creative work. I’m envious of his job and was amazed that he learned all his conservation skills while on the job! His work is truly amazing and speaks to the historic value and cultural legacy of textiles all over the world. I’m so grateful for companies like Sarajo and the talented conservators who work with them. It was such a delight to stumble across Sarajo last fall and I’ve been so excited to share this. Please check out their website (or go in person if you are in Portland) and the personal work of Karl Belvedere who is a really talented artist working in all sorts of mediums AND you can Ask Him Anything!
* Inside the Studio was my brainchild in 2011. There are a lot of popular studio features on the web and in magazines but I’m specifically interested in showing how organizational process influences the artists studio work. These photo’s are not styled and are typical of how the artists working studio looks. I request that each artist leave their space as it would be on a daily basis (just like I ask my clients). This series is meant to highlight how artist REALLY work rather than showing STYLED shots (popular in home and organizing magazines and blogs). I’m sure just like me, you are fascinated by the “behind the scenes” sneak peek into these artists working lives!
