Gallery Submissions

The folded circles

I've spent the better part of the past two weeks working on a couple of submissions for The Morgan's inaugural juried exhibition. Pieces had to either be done on paper or consist of at least 50% paper. Each of my pieces were made of paper attached to canvas, and while they were made of the same material, the two couldn't be more different.

The first piece is called Blank Botanical #1. I folded many hundreds of these small paper circles and strung them onto linen bookbinding thread, and then I sewed the strands onto a plain white, 2ft by 2ft canvas. The result is overwhelmingly sculptural. The more strands I sewed onto the canvas, the more textured and layered it became. And although the pieces that I attached were all white, I used different shades of white to get a variety of tones in the piece.

A detail of the finished Blank Botanical #1 piece

The strips all prepped and ready to be attached to the canvas

The second piece consisted of hundreds of little strips of paper. I drew repetitive lines all over these pieces and then glued them onto a long, narrow white canvas in rows. The shape of the canvas itself is similar to the shape of the pieces of paper, and also to the shape of the lines I drew on the paper. I call it Line Study #3 and it's a design I've been working with for quite a while now and plan on continuing with. As you can see, a lot of my work deals with repetition and my techniques tend to be pretty labor intensive. The Blank Botanical piece took somewhere around 40 hours of work and I estimate my Line Study piece took about 15 hours. I often joke that I don't like to work on anything that's not obsessive. Most people who see me work on these things just think I'm nuts because, to them, that kind of tedious task would drive them crazy. But it's just the opposite for me. I find the work to be meditative, and for this reason I find the method to be as important as the final result.

Anyway, after all that I hope at least one of the pieces gets into the show. I love The Morgan and it's because of them that I work so much with paper lately. It would be a real honor to have a piece of mine included in their first juried show and, let's be honest, the exposure would be great. I'll keep my fingers crossed. 

On Being a Photographer

 I made the decision last week to include some of my photography in my Etsy shop. I was hesitant to do so, simply because I thought it would give my shop a less cohesive look; it seemed odd to add photographs to a shop that specializes in book and paper arts. However, I came to the conclusion that the shop is not just about the products I'm making to sell, it's about me as an artist. If that makes my shop seem scattered and unfocused, it's because my career as an artist has been such, and I embrace and celebrate that. It's not that I don't stick to my projects, it's that I'm always wanting to expand my skills and knowledge and I find learning about new techniques and tools really sparks my creativity. Every time I take a workshop or class, my work moves forward in a new direction and I grow as an artist. In short, my work is eclectic and mixed media.

As for the photography, I feel it's a really big part of my body of work that almost no one gets to see because I don't put it out there. I've been a photographer for over 15 years now (how the time has flown!), have a Bachelor's degree in the subject, and it's something I still really love doing, even if doing my serious work is generally relegated to vacation time. Traveling to new places is inspiring and I'm always sure to dust off the camera and shoot like it's going out of style when I'm on the road, but rarely do I do so at home. Perhaps posting my prints on Etsy will encourage me to bust out the camera (the real camera, not just the one on my iphone) and shoot close to home instead of waiting to travel to do so.

I think one reason I haven't shown my photographs to very many people or made any attempt to show my
photographic work in a gallery is because it seems everyone thinks they're a photographer now. With the

advent of digital cameras and smart phones putting cameras at every person's fingertips, the role of the professional photographer has been diminished. It's great that we all have the means to document the world around us but I don't think that should discount the fact that some people have a natural eye for framing a shot or picking out an interesting scene. In any case, it's not stopping me from shooting and now, here I am, putting it out there.

Open for Business

It took me a long time, almost two years, in fact, to finally take this handy little Zutter binding machine out of its box and learn how to use it. I don't know what I was waiting for. I mean, it's pink. And tiny. How intimidating could it be? But I thought it might be difficult and frustrating to learn how to use it, so I just didn't use it at all. It couldn't have been easier, though. I just watched the brief instructional DVD it came with and I was almost immediately spiral binding like a pro.


Learning how to use the binding machine coincided with finally re-opening my Etsy shop. It's been closed since my back surgery a year and a half ago. I was thinking about re-opening it for quite some and I was racking my brain trying to think of new product ideas to re-launch with. But instead of holding out for theoretical new products, I decided to just start where I was, and I reopened the shop with the remaining inventory I had kicking around from when I shut it down in January of 2012. The re-opening of my shop proved to be inspiring, hence digging out the binding machine. I got to work making a bunch of these adorable mini spiral bound notebooks, which you can snap up in my shop for a mere $10. More designs and sizes are soon to come.

I'm Back

A lot has happened since my last post. Despite my silence here I've actually been more productive than I have been in a long time, possibly ever. Last summer I took several workshops at the Morgan Conservatory and I just completed another last month. They taught me lots of new skills and transformed my work, which is the reason I keep going back there year after year for these workshops. I don't know where I'd be without these workshops and without the Morgan.

Encaustic Lines (portfolio piece)

I also had work in two different shows. The first show was the Morgan's annual open house and silent auction. I have to say, it was the event of the year. Not only did I get to see my work in a gallery for the first time in too many years, but there was great food, music, and people. I also participated in Cleveland State University's annual People's Art Show. Since the show wasn't juried, there were hundreds of entries and everyone who applied got in. The art was displayed literally from floor to ceiling, covering every inch of bare wall. It was interesting to see the variety of work and there was a great turnout at the opening. I expect to do both of these shows next time around.

In other news, my husband and I bought a house and moved in January. I've never properly settled in anywhere we've lived before because I never saw the point in getting too comfortable when we would inevitably move again. I always joked that I was probably the only artist around who had bare walls. But now that we have our own place I have settled quickly and completely, the urge to nest has taken me over. There's plenty of art on the walls, there's a place for everything, and I feel so safe and comfortable there. As soon as we looked at the place I knew we had to buy it. It just felt right. Not only did it seem like a miracle to get out of our previous living situation, having a place of our own has been really good for my creativity. Now that I've got a permanent, comfortable place for my studio, I feel there's no stopping me.

Home Sweet Home

 In addition to buying my first home, which is a milestone in its own right, I also applied to graduate school. Although I already have my Master's degree in Library and Information Science, I always said that some day I wanted to go back and get my Master's of Fine Arts. Dissatisfaction with my job and a perpetual lack of other opportunities made me decide that there was no time like the present. So, in the midst of packing and moving from our apartment, I was able to somehow get my act together and submit a portfolio and application to Kent State. And luckily, they liked what I had to show them. I was accepted into their Textiles program for this coming Fall, which is equal parts exciting and terrifying. It's going to be a struggle financially and I'm going to be insanely busy with both school and work, and it's going to take forever, since I can only afford to go part time (more student loan debt is NOT an option) but I know it's going to be worth it. It's become so clear to me that the right thing to do is follow my passion.

Abaca Fiber Horn (portfolio piece)

If there's anything the last six months or so have taught me is that things can change so quickly. A year ago I was miserable. I hated my job, I couldn't stand my living situation, and I was clinically depressed. But now I have a home of my own, I have graduate school to look forward to, and I'm happier now than I've ever been. I still hate my job but with school starting in just under two months, my focus has shifted and I've become more mindful of all the positive things in my life. I think this is the start of many good things.