Full Circle

 Come see the project on display! Read the journals, handle the towels and soak up the 12' weaving. George Marshall Gallery, Lindsay Road, York ME. 

   

Well Used, Well Loved at George Marshall Gallery, York, ME until July8, 2018.

The Eight Journals on display and available to be read.

The 8 towels and journals.

Towel III caretakers Andrew and Bethie.

"Well Used, Well Loved" in the spotlight!!

After two years of designing, organizing, guiding and working on "Well Used, Well Loved, " -- I have the opportunity to exhibit the entire project at a lovely gallery right here in town.

Here are the details:
Where: George Marshall Gallery 
104 Lindsay Road, York ME 03909
When: May 26 - July 8, 2018
Opening: May 26th, 5-7
Artist talk: Sunday June 24th 3 PM

On exhibit ~ the four panel piece woven from the hand-spun papers with participants text, the well used and loved handwoven dishtowels and the participants journals.

Detail of center panels

I hope many of you will be able to come witness the power of community art.

Heartfelt gratitude for all the households who participated in this project ~

Sarah

Well done!

Well almost....!
I have completed the four panels that highlight the handspun shifu papers from the over 30 WUWL households. The entire piece is so big that when I had it photographed last week -- we had to shoot it in two sections!

Panels in my studio

Here is a preview of the work in my studio. Note that the red thread is just pinned in place.

I will post the professional shot images of the completed work soon!

Off the loom!

The end of the warp!

The two center panels for the "Well Used, Well Loved" piece are off the loom. I have tentatively titled this piece "With these hands."

The next few steps include sewing the edges, fringing the bottom and finally adding the embroidered and couched hands. I've sketched out a new design.

I wil be an artist in residence at Hewnoaks in Lovell, ME from September 16 - 22. While there I hope to get a great deal accomplished on these panels. The big effort of getting these panels dyed and woven has been done.

I am super excited to see the images finally take shape! I'll be sure to post with progress reports.

Sketched layout for "With these Hands"

Soak, breathe, dip and nosh

Quan Yin, my studio Goddess

Summer. Ah-h-h. A time to slow down and breathe deeply. To soak up the heat, the water and the times with friends and family. Summer here in Maine is so darn brief that it is important to take advantage of every minute as best you can.

I am in and out of the studio.  I am weaving the final two panels for Well Used, Well Loved. The fabric is a plain weave 40" wide by 6 yards long. I will embroider and couch the Shifu thread on this surface when it is all woven.

Here's to a happy summer - eat, read, nap, swim and enjoy!

Yardage on the loom

Panel #2 Off Loom

Panel #2 is off the loom!
It is just as amazingly vibrant with line, color and simple repetitive pattern as Panel #1.

Now it is onward to set up the loom for the two large center panels. These panels will have embroidered hands - which harkens back to the series I did "Now:Letters by hand."

It all seems to turn back on itself doesn't it?

My progress has been challenged by a new puppy -- Frieda! She is a joy -- and a challenge! I TOTALLY forgot how much work (and love) a puppy can be!

Frieda prefers paper collage.

A long, slow gestation

   Spring is taking her sweet time here in Maine. It's May 10th, the heat is on in my studio, the

Dyed warp threads beamed and ready to thread

daffodils are slowly opening, the lilacs are just small beads of deep purple and the oaks leaves are a lacy light green.
   If you have been following my rumination over how to present the beautiful Shifu threads - you know that I've played with different ways to honor and share these threads spun from your heartfelt text.  I've listened to what others think, considered my own visions and done a number of samples.
  A few weeks ago I made the decision to weave a simple dark blue-black ground cloth on which to "float" these threads.

My sketch 

  I have designed a 4 panel piece. The two outside panels will be 72" by 24" and have Shifu threads stitched down by a supplementary warp, placed in horizontal lines—as though in a letter. The two center panels will be 72" by 40" with Shifu threads couched on to the surface. The design will be a hand gesture or mudra. The warps are dyed, one loom is ready to thread.  Of course all of this is still open to change -- that's how art seems to evolve.

Shifu threads are all spun

Shifu in the shrubbery

 Yesterday I spun the last sheet of Kozo paper into thread. As some of you know I have the good fortune to be south in a warm place for the month of March. While here in the Bahamas I am not idle - I have been spinning, drawing, writing and continually contemplating how best to honor these threads.

  It was often a challenge to spin here -- as the wind can sweep away my bundle of cut paper - making it dance like a ghost.

  Today I took them all to the beach for a photo shoot. A few days ago I photographed a skein in the garden shrubbery.

  I rather like the threads wound in these small skeins. But I can't seem to let go of the idea of weaving them onto a black linen cloth - just a simple way to mount them.

  Obviously I am still figuring this last piece of the project out! But for now -- all the Shifu has been spun. Thanks to everyone for your patience and encouragement.

Shifu in the sand

"I'm my cat's dishtowel"

I am digging in to each of the 8 Journals - reading each one - selecting favorite passages to copy on to Kozo paper for spinning as well as transcribing these passages to my lap top for future reference.

Here are some beautiful words from journal #III.

"I feel no moment slows down enough to become well-loved. My things grow well-used without my noticing them. Is that a form of love? Trusting a thing to be there for you without acknowledging or thanks? That trust, that faith, is a way to love?”“Maybe it’s a way we allow children or pets to love us. I’m sure that’s how my cat feel about me. She loves me by allowing me to work thanklessly for her. I’m my cat’s dishtowel.”

Honestly - if I had the time and energy -- I'd copy every word and illustration in each journal. I feel so honored to be able to step inside your head and hearts as I sit with your responses to the prompts. 

Happy birthday "Well Used, Well Loved"

Happy birthday "Well Used, Well Loved"

     One year ago I launched "Well Used, Well Loved". From an open invitation to participate, I received about 50 requests from a wide variety of households.
     I selected 8 households to adopt a hand-woven dish towel and journal. This group became the Linen Team. Since I wanted as many people to participate as possible -- I created an additional leg of the project. This second group became the Paper Team. The exact details of the project can be discovered in previous blog posts.
     In September I began to gather the used towels, the journals and the papers from the project participants. I also collected feedback via a project exit survey.
     This Sunday I will be heading to The Vermont Studio Center in Johnson VT for a month. I received a partial fellowship to continue my work on "Well Used, Well Loved".
    In preparation for this retreat I have been organizing and packing for a few days. One of the things I am bringing is the 8 journals from the Linen Team. My plan is to read the journals and select passages that inspire me. These passages will then be hand transcribed on to Kozo paper (similar the Paper Team) and then spun into thread. This Shifu spun text will supplement the Paper Team threads.

Journals and threads going to VT

     I have a rough idea of what I will be creating with these Shifu threads -- and over my retreat I will design and begin work on this final project of "Well Used, Well Loved." I will continue to post my progress from VT.
    I feel much gratitude for the gift of support from my community to continue this important and collaborative work. Thank you -- we have much to celebrate.
   

Patience and perseverence.

    Today the last towel and journal from the Linen Team arrived back here in York. It was worth the wait.

Towel #V hard at work.

      Towel #V spent 8 months being well used and loved in a Navajo Nation school in Arizona. Journal #V is busting at the binding with life, text, images, beads, drawings, art, memories and stories.
    As I flip through the pages of this journal my heart feels so full with gratitude. THANK YOU Mrs. Wilson's art students!!

Towel #V has arrived back in York.

Worth the wait.

    Now that all the journals and towels have been returned, I am still hopeful that a few more of you Paper Team folks will send me your papers. I will happily spin whatever you have to offer me.
    During these dark months ahead I will design and create a piece that incorporates these spun papers.
    Now more than ever I believe in the metaphor of weaving as an illustration of community - and specifically of a balanced plain weave as an illustration of democracy. We are all part of the same cloth.
   I am still seeking a location to install the completed project.
With much gratitude ~ Sarah

Gathering, Reflecting

    For those people who make art -- you know this time period.
If I were a hen -- I'd be sitting on my eggs.
Contemplating, keeping them warm, inspecting them every new and then.

Well Used, Well Loved - Journals and towels

    Well -- here I am -- exhibiting hen-like behavior. Not actually sitting on this stuff I gathered from "Well Used, Well Loved" - but contemplating it.
     Examining it, reviewing it. I am inspired by the stack of journals that were so lovingly created by the linen team households.
     I am awestruck by the depth of thoughtful writing and drawing that the paper team created. The Shifu spun threads from these kozo papers are seeped with spirit.

A response to Prompt #9 "Soft Matter"

     Entering into these dark winter months ahead, I feel the poignant potential of these materials.
    This time of waiting, sitting, listening and reflecting is a critical step in the art making process.
So like a hen,  I'll just sit here for now.


    Thanks for waiting with me.


Shifu spun threads waiting to be woven.

From text to thread

SHIFU is the process of spinning Japanese paper into threads. This ancient technique of making thread allowed Well Used, Well Loved participants a way to safely and secretly share their responses to the project prompts.

beautifully decorated kozo paper

Fold and Cut

The process begins with the writing and drawing on kozo paper.

The paper is folded and cut into thin strips. Then it is torn at alternating ends to create one long, continuous strip of paper.

Kozo paper is all cut

Each place where this continuous strip makes a turn needs to be pre-spun. Using a little moistness on my fingers, I give this corner a little twist to make the spinning process more smooth. This turning juncture in the paper strip makes a small "seed" and gives Shifu threads their unique character.

Tearing the edges to make a long continuous strip

Once all the seeds have been pre-twisted I begin to spin the paper into thread - either with a drop spindle or on the spinning wheel.

I will upload a video of spinning in the next blog posting! Happy Shifu!!

From paper to thread

The list of prompts

WELL USED, WELL LOVED

A Community art project that explores age and beauty

Through the vehicle of a physical object (a hand-woven towel, a journal and kozo paper) over 30 households explored questions of age, beauty, value and attachment.

From later January to late September 2016, we explored together and alone the following questions. Some of us wrote in journals while others wrote on kozo paper.

HERE IS OUR ENTIRE LIST OF PROMPTS

 

Prompt #1 on kozo paper

Prompt #1 - Hello

Introduce yourself and your household.

 

Prompt #2 - Old and beautiful

As you look around your life and home -

What or who do you perceive of as "old"?

What/who do you perceive as "beautiful"?

Do you have possessions that feel too precious or special to use?

 

Prompt #3 - Will I be loved?

What connections do you see between being attractive/beautiful and being loved?

If I feel beautiful/attractive/appealing to others - will this mean I will be loved?

 

Prompt #4 -  Demonstrating Love

What actions, words, or attitudes demonstrate love?

 

Prompt #5 - Sorting

Prompt #5 on kozo paper

Spring cleaning: Attachment to objects, people, attitudes.

How do you sort, let go of these thing/ people that are no longer serving you?

How do you evaluate the need/desire to keep stuff?

 

Response to prompt #6

Prompt #6   Absorption

The materials for this project are handwoven linen and Kozo paper. Both of these are created from a plant material, a bast fiber - both known for its absorption qualities. 

Your towel, your paper has absorbed much in the last two months you've been together. Absorption can also been seen as dissolving boundaries, union.

In that light I wonder what parallels or connection you observe between your own ability to absorb, to soak up, to feel to empathize? What reflections do you perceive  between your materials (linen, paper) and the action of union, of dissolving boundaries of connection? What value do these actions have today?

 

Prompt #7     The Dark Side

For two months we have examined and reflected on different aspects of using and loving.

This week I would like to explore what might be considered the dark side of this topic. It’s a place that some might shy away from – with all good reason.  And yet, to know and understand something – we must be aware of its opposite.  In this case, what might be the opposite of “Well Used, Well Loved”?

In yoga class, sometimes my teacher will have us exaggerate the opposite of a pose – for example if she wants us to relax and drop our shoulders – she asks us to shrug them up, way up to our ears.  And then we dip our shoulders back down with new awareness of both positions. As many philosophers query – how can we know sunshine without knowing shadow?

These opposites are an integral part of Yin/Yang philosophy, Bali Hinduism and many other spiritual traditions.  Perhaps the deeper we explore both sides, the less obvious is the line between “black and white".

Prompt #7 in a journal

 

PROMPT #7

Do you see an opposite to Well Used, Well Loved?

Do you want to explore this opposite side?

If so, what do you see is the opposite of Well Used, Well Loved?

 As always – there are NO right answers to these prompts. And they are very personal.

To share them is your choice – not a requirement.



Prompt #3 response in journal

 

Prompt #8  Beauty, Economics, Well Being

Beauty is temporary - right??

You pick a beautiful flower and know it will fade, wither and die.

 

How is it then that I struggle to accept this?

How is it that I resist the inevitable aging process of my own body?

This is a normal, natural process.

 

For over 15 years I have colored my hair (in reaction to school children commenting that I reminded them of grandma.) I did not want to be like grandma while in my late 40s. So I took to coloring my hair.

 

Just this month I made the decision to "go gray".  In sharing this decision with a friend who is still active in her career  ~ she remarked  she could not choose this option. She feels obligated to keep coloring her hair while she is actively employed. "It's just a fact" she said  "To be valued in the work place you must appear vital and youthful. Gray hair does not fit."

 

My mind quickly queried about the connection between economic survival and our cultural attachment to beauty. Thus Prompt #8 is ~

 

• What connection do you see in your own life between your economic survival/well being and your age/beauty?? Are you in a profession that requires a certain maintenance of image/beauty?
• What connections do you see in our culture between economic survival/well being and age//beauty?

 

Prompt #9

Soft matter: vulnerability and love

Both our towel and our Kozo paper are soft materials - allowing them to show evidence of wear and tear - or use and love. Our physical bodies are similar.

• Examine your hands - what signs of use and love do they illustrate?
• What connections to your perceive between soft materials, vulnerability and love?
  

  
  

  
  

  

  Playing with color and language on kozo paper

  
  

 

Prompt #10 "Saying Goodbye"

 

My most successful public workshop is the Mandala Community Weaving. To introduce this project I sit and talk with students about Mandalas - especially ones of sand  made by the Tibetan Buddhist Monks. I guide them thru the story of how the Monks take a long time (a  week or so) to make these Mandalas, using colored grains of sand that just lie on top of an outline.

I talk to the students about how the monks make the Mandalas over and over again -  as a practice and a lesson. I show them photos to show how after spending days working on the Mandala, the Monks sweep it up into a brass bowl and then with great ceremony they pour the sand into the closest body of natural water.

 

After sharing this story I ask them: "Why do you think the Monks spend a long time making something beautiful and then pouring it into the water? What lesson do you think the Monks are trying to learn?"

 

I have asked this question to hundreds of young people - and invariably I get an array of beautiful answers. The most memorable response was from an 8 year old in Maryland last spring.  He said "I think that they are trying to learn how to say good bye to something that they love."

 

Yes, exactly.

Isn't this the most difficult lesson we as human beings must learn. Whether it is a beloved flannel shirt that is just too tattered to wear anymore or your elderly mother who is frail and failing - it is very hard to say good bye.

Letting go and saying good bye is hard.

This will be my last official prompt for the project - we will be saying good bye to this effort in a month.

 

Prompt #10 - How do you say good bye to something or someone that you love?  Do you have a ritual for saying good bye? Can you share a story?

Beginning from this end

handspun kozo paper from the mountains of CO

 "What we call the beginning is often the end.

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

The end is where we start from"

       T.S. Eliot from The Four Quartets

And here we are - the end of the first phase of "Well Used, Well Loved" our community art project where we have explored age, beauty, loss and love. It is, however, just the beginning of unraveling, examining and reflection on what transpired over the past nine months.

Towels, journals and papers return to the studio

Our well used and loved towels are arriving back here in the studio.

Our creatively expressed papers have come back as well. Some kozo papers arrived in spun paper form and others await my hands to turn them into thread.

My own summer was rather eventful - as you might note from my last blog posting. Add to the loss of my own well loved Mother - the addition of a new daughter-in-law in a big family wedding in our back yard.

Kozo spinning lesson

I am blessed to live a creative and busy life - filled with loving family. And now it is time to pour this love back into "Well Used, Well Loved."

Beginnings and celebrations

Our connective tissue

Towel II cools with the bread.

As a weaver and thread enthusiast, I am well aware of all the metaphors that underlie my work.  One of my current passions is thread as connective tissue between living organisms - the element that binds you to me, binds cultures throughout history, binds seemingly disparate tribes. Sort of gluten perhaps?

And yet sometimes our threads do not connect - we have different points of view on the same issue. This is where conflict could arise. But what if rather than conflict we simply nodded our head - and agreed to disagree? Then the connective tissue that binds us together is unbroken.

"Well Used, Well Loved" has a closed Face Book group - where we share our thoughts, response to the prompts and the photos. This is a safe place for our participants to be vulnerable and share ideas, opinions - each one unique. I, for one, have had my eyes opened to feelings that are quite different than my own. 

We are on Prompt #7 "The Dark Side"

For two months we have examined and reflected on different aspects of using and loving.

This week I would like to explore what might be considered the dark side of this topic. It’s a place that some might shy away from – with all good reason.  And yet, to know and understand something – we must be aware of its opposite.  In this case, what might be the opposite of “Well Used, Well Loved”?

Towel VII helps with Easter eggs

In yoga class, sometimes my teacher will have us exaggerate the opposite of a pose – for example if she wants us to relax and drop our shoulders – she asks us to shrug them up, way up to our ears.  And then we dip our shoulders back down with new awareness of both positions. As many philosophers query – how can we know sunshine without knowing shadow?

These opposites are an integral part of Yin/Yang philosophy, Bali Hinduism and many other spiritual traditions.  Perhaps the deeper we explore both sides, the less obvious is the line between “black and white". 

PROMPT #7

• Do you see an opposite to Well Used, Well Loved?
• Do you want to explore this opposite side? 
• If so, what do you see is the opposite of Well Used, Well Loved? 

 As always – there are NO right answers to these prompts. And they are very personal. 

To share them is your choice – not a requirement.

I am so very grateful for your companionship on this journey of inquiry.

Here are two responses: one visual, one written ~

Visual response to Prompt #7

"I can't seem to shake the last prompt regarding opposites, darkness and light... it follows me through my day and even seems to be stalking me in my sleep. Clearly something, I have not given enough consideration to, is seeking my focus and attention. As I sat staring at VIII on my kitchen counter this morning I wondered... is she a continuation of VII and all the woven and numbered towels before her? Cut from the same cloth, but with her own unique sewn and stitched edges. That's when it hit me.... the idea and nature of EDGES is what has been insistently prodding me. Edges, transitions and the nature and power of something to be itself and at some point (visible/invisible/tangible/intangible) become/express something else. It's time to grab some paints and stay tuned to what is bubbling up from the edges and transitions of the dark woods I am about to wander through."

So many threads

Towel V gets wet and messy with a ceramics class.

    I've been away from home for a spell - and there are so many photos and stories that I want to share about what's gone on in this project!! I will be breaking it up into a few blog posts.
    Our 8 Well used, loved towels are out in the world - living large with individuals and families, a classroom and households from England to Arizona and Oregon.
    Our 38 paper team folks had their spinning workshop

kozo paper before it becomes thread

this week. Soon I will have a tutorial for those who could not join our workshop.
   I am in the thick of writing a grant to fund this project for deeper exploration. All is well - I just need to catch up on some news here!

Towel II helps clean up.

    Many of you are contributing the our closed FB group - and I am delighted to see that the threads of connectivity are weaving a tight web.

   That's it for today - back to grant work!

I'll do my best to keep posting your images and stories.

Peace, Sarah

Towel VII helps with birthday confections!