Red Thread Studio

New Post on Textile, Pattern, and Surface Design Books

Hi all - I posted an overview of some of the books I've collected on textile, pattern, and surface design on my art blog. I still haven't found an ideal blogging format or a way to reach out to all my audiences - I miss blogging here, and maybe I'll revisit my decision to stop posting here. But meanwhile, if you love books about textile and pattern design, take a look. I'll tackle my books on quilting, sewing, embroidery, paper arts in forthcoming posts. 

 

 

 

Staying Connected

Looking for new posts? I don't foresee new posts on this blog right now, other than a possible wrap-up/farewell thoughts post, but the archives will remain up. For current posts and information, please visit my professional communications/writing/editing site and my evolving elainelipsonart.com for painting and textiles. I invite you to like my Facebook Slow Cloth page as well.  If you've enjoyed this blog, let me know what you've found most interesting in the comments or by email. Thank you all, enormously.

 

Sonia Delauney Textile Designs at Cooper-Hewitt

I would love to see this show.

Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delauney opens at the Cooper-Hewitt on March 18.

 

MoreCloth.com Site and Blog

I've been meaning to post a link to this for some time -- MoreCloth.com is a very cool site with a color portal that allows you to find fabrics on Etsy or Glorious Fabrics. They also have an excellent blog on textile design and printing. The fabric selector works like this; you click somewhere on a color strip:

And it takes you to a selection of available fabrics in that color range:

 

Top: 100% Cotton Japanese Fabric

Bottom: Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit

And then you click on the swatch you like to go straight to the Etsy listing or Glorious Color listing (Glorious Color is headquarters for Kaffe Fassett fabrics). 

This is a fantastic tool; the blog is interesting and fun, and the color strips alone would be inspiring if they didn't awesomely find fabrics for you. I know it's sacrilegeous to say this, but I find Etsy to be not the most useful or compelling interface, so I appreciate this highly visual and colorful way of navigating its fabric options.

How We Talk About What We Do

It seems that the conversation about how we talk about what we do is getting louder, and more insistent: We're just not happy with the available words as we identify ourselves as creators, and we want something that is neither limiting nor misleading. Joanne Mattera has written a provocative post about not using an adjective in front of artist; i.e., don't call yourself a fiber artist or an art quilter or a ceramicist, just call yourself an artist, and then live up to it.

In Joanne's view, this helps artists to avoid getting trapped in the fiber/craft ghetto and opens up more opportunity and I think she's right about that. I still think it's unfortunate that being a quilter or stitcher seems to have as many liabilities as benefits. Her choice of a Gee's Bend quilt image is interesting, because as far as I know, they did call themselves quilters; it was a farsighted curator who put them in a context that eliminated that label. And part of the visibility of the pieces was the whole, "Think these are modern art? Think again! They're just quilts! By women! Fooled you!" line.

So I reiterate that labeling is more for others than yourself, but it does seem to matter. There are great comments on the maker post about this.

I have a language pet peeve too, and I've resisted writing about this because it seems a little or a lot on the curmudgeonly side, but I hate when women talk about being "fiber addicts" or "bead junkies" or otherwise using the language of addiction to refer to their interest in and love of materials. Why? Because, just like calling yourself a shoe junkie or a shopping addict, it's a way of abdicating responsibility and choice. "I can't help it, I'm an addict." I can say for sure that this is not the way to advance your interests as an artist. I have never, ever heard a man refer to the materials and tools that he uses in that way. They're the things he needs to support his creative will, not an addiction.

Now, lest you send me a message that I should "lighten up," know that I'm lecturing myself as much as anyone else in the words that follow. If you love textiles, paint, fabric, yarn, beads, stitching, sewing, color, texture, photography, books, workshops, whatever it may be, own it. Declare that it's what you love and it's how you choose to spend your time, money, and mental energy. Don't cop out as a junkie who can't control herself. If you're an artist, you deserve good tools and supplies and inspiration.

We use a lot of war words and violence language in our culture. We also use a lot of addiction language. If our words create our future, then let's choose to do a better job on both fronts.

Now, just one link for a little fun: Printsource New York, the textile design trade show, has a new blog on print and pattern in fashion and textiles.

Here, There and Everywhere

A few quick links -- sorry to send you all over the Web, but all of these require linking back rather than posting images.

• Since we've been considering Indonesian batik, head over to the Textile Museum's photostream on Flickr. There's a wonderful collection of photographs from their gala celebrating the exhibition of Barack Obama's mother's textiles from that country. The gala featured gorgeous contemporary fashions made with traditional batik and ikat fabrics. 
• Fans of now-defunct Domino magazine will be happy to know that some of its most creative staff have launched Lonny, an online home design magazine. I don't love the electronic format on a laptop screen, but it's better than no magazine at all, and it's free to viewers.
• Dijanne, the intrepid textile itinerant, has posted photos of her newest Traveler's Blanket, in blue. I love the look, intention and spirit of these textiles. This spectacular piece is for sale, so I hope an enthusiastic collector finds it. The work of Dijanne, like that of Jude, truly embodies the idea of soul cloth or authentic cloth. 
• StyleCourt has posted a wonderful inspiration board that is a mosaic of artist's palettes. I'd love to have this as a big  -- giant -- print. 
• If you're interested in Spoonflower or other online digital textile printing services, but need someone to walk you through the use of Illustrator or Photoshop to do this, here's a tutorial that looks very helpful.

I Lost the Thread

Dear readers,

I know I've been gone too long. I find it's much easier to write a blog post when I'm posting every day or every few days. When I've been absent for a while, there's a mental bottleneck. I've lost the thread.

I lost the thread, I lost the map
It's not a feeling, it's a fact
I had it once, I was on track
Why won't it stay? I want it back.
                    - shawn colvin, I Want It Back

It's partly that I keep waiting for my cup to fill up a little. Autumn got off to a gray, wet, cold start here that doesn't really bode well for the winter. As I look back over the summer,  I'm discouraged and disappointed in how things have gone. I had many possibilities and seeds in the spring, and somehow the decisions I made haven't yielded a fruitful harvest. I look down this path I somehow ended up on, and I'm not seeing a lot of potential for joy or creativity.

Yeah, I know that's abstract. I really can't say any more.

So. It is what it is, all of it. Where is the love? Here are a few textile-related things that have made me smile with interest, inspiration and delight:

• If you haven't seen the fabulous NY Times story about the fabric made from spider silk, and the amazing efforts of the two textile experts who have spent years searching for the rare golden orb spiders in Madagascar, it's a must-read.
• The Colour Lovers blog has a gorgeous post on The Colorful Art of Batik.
• The Victoria & Albert Museum has a stunning selection of prints for sale, many of them textile designs ancient or modern, wallpaper, fashion photography, costumes, quilts . . . you can order them small or large, as art prints or on less expensive paper. Below, I've posted a few of the many hundreds available.
• More V&A: Over at StyleCourt, a lovely post about uses for a small book of Indian floral designs from the V&A pattern book library with CD of images for noncommercial use. The book is available in the U.S. here.

From the V&A print shop -- cintamani! More of their lovely prints:

This last print is so gorgeous, with the loose, bright watercolor spots, that it does lift my spirits. I hope it lifts yours too! Back soon, I hope, with a more optimistic heart.

xo Lainie

Summer Solstice, and Mind Like a Sieve

My mind feels a bit sieve-like these days. A huge amount of interesting stuff flows through it every day but I don't seem to be capturing much, let alone getting it down on blog. Everything is okay, but the adjustment to out-of-house gainful employment is taking most of the energy I have right now; I don't know what to let go of or where all of my other projects and ideas and plans are going now.

But links, I've got links!

• The cool people at Contemporary Cloth have launched a new shop and blog called Modern Marks. The new site sells original works on paper and fabric, including original textiles by Jane Dunnewold. 
• I came across Elin Noble's beautiful work and Web site last week. It looks as if there will be threads and fabric for sale soon, and more gallery images. 
• Garment sewers will appreciate The Luxurious Vagabond's blog.
• And you'll also like the online collection at the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum.
• Do you live in a city or town that could use some revitalization and more space for artists? Artspace USA is a real estate developer for artists' spaces. They can do site assessments for communities interested in renovating or developing buildings as studios, and they have a downloadable report on the ways that art and culture can stimulate state economic development. 
• Beautiful handprinted fabrics at Publisher Textiles:

The news from Iran has been intense. I have an old Dover book of Persian designs and motifs that I've just rediscovered; I don't know why I bought it, or where, but it's been on my shelf a long time. Persia/Iran is an ancient and beautiful culture, and the people there deserve freedom and safety, especially the women. I've heard wonderful reviews of Reading Lolita in Tehran, so I'm going to read it soon. Here's a little watercolor I painted this afternoon from a Persian floral pattern from the Safavid era, 1502-1736. I used the paints I had on hand, but I'm dying to buy a whole new set of acrylic inks  . . . see? My mind is all over the place.

This week we've got a new moon, summer solstice, venus and mars in a beautiful tango in the skies . . . let's see what the week brings. Onward we go.

SDA Conference: Speaker Highlights

Well, so much for posting updates from the road. Now I'm sitting in the airport, homeward bound.

This was my first Surface Design Association conference, though I've been a member for many years. It's been both helpful and challenging, giving me information, exposing me to some wonderful art (including, in addition to all the amazing textile work, a fantastic photography show at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) and connecting me to people whose names I've known for years but never met until now. It's also pushed me up against all my own internal issues about art and craft and textiles, where I fit in, the level of work and commitment that I've had or have not had, and where I'm going from here. Some highlights.

• Harmony Susalla was the opening keynote speaker, and she gave a fluent and entertaining talk about her own history as a textile designer and her path of creating the first viable all-organic print fabric company. I didn't know that Harmony had designed a fabric that is to this day the best-selling Wal-Mart bedding line. If the crowd of people who sought her out to talk more with her was an indication, organic cotton has a bright future yet -- and it couldn't have a more sincere and shining spokesperson.
• Gerhardt Knodel gave a rollicking, practiced speech on identifying your own neighborhood of concepts, motivations and connections through a treehouse metaphor. I'll write more on this. Opinions were divided on this talk, but I liked it. As I was looking online for more information about him for you, I came across Worn Through, a blog/journal that looks well worth exploring if you're interested in a scholarly approach to apparel and dress (probably due its own post in the near future). It's published and edited by Monika Sklar. 
• Victoria K. Rivers gave an awesome overview of her life (so far) as a textilian, a word I wish I'd invented. She's a global textile explorer of the first order, an artist, a professor, and a warm, generous spirit. While her accomplishments are dazzling, she's not even a little bit intimidating. I've written a few times about Victoria's work with mirrors, metal and beads and her book The Shining Cloth, and it was really a delight to finally hear her speak and get to talk with her for a moment. I'm always struggling with the current pressure to clear all clutter, when what I really want is an environment rich and dense with beautiful, satisfying and meaningful objects, so I liked that Victoria declared that it's okay to be accumulative; you don't have to live in a space of Zen emptiness.
• Jane Dunnewold's talk was inspiring in every way. She said: Stop taking workshops and get to work; keep working through times when inspiration seems out of reach; and take the time to do things well. Art or craft? Don't worry about it; call yourself a mixed-media artist and let the details of that be somebody else's problem to figure out -- just do your work. She wove beautiful poems through her talk, showed a visual feast of her work and process, and was so accessible yet clearly setting a high standard. I bought her book Finding Your Own Visual Language and I'll report on my experience with the exercises in the book. She also has a DVD on edging and finishing for textile pieces that's on my wish list. After meeting her it's even more clear why she's one of the most sought-after teacher/speaker/authors in the textile art world.

There you have a few speaker highlights. I'll talk more about the people, the textile art and some of the things that the conference stirred up for me later this week. Tomorrow my new job starts, so onward we go.

A Weaver and a Gardener

Aimee Fitpatrick Martin is the author of "At Home with Jack Lenor Larsen," a story in the Southampton Press about LongHouse Reserve, the sanctuary Larsen founded "to exemplify living with art in all forms." Larsen is one of the best-known and most revered textile designers and craft advocates of the 20th century, now in his eighties and continuing to influence the 21st century. From the LongHouse site:

Through its arboretum, sculpture gardens, and educational programs, LongHouse brings together art and nature, aesthetics and spirit, with a strong conviction that the arts are central to living wholly and creatively. Dedicated to quality and integrity, LongHouse programs encourage a broad concept of learning. The art focus at LongHouse is ethnographic and handcrafts -- both areas of collecting with aspects for every purse. Some of these functions, at least on occasion; most merely lift the heart and expand the imagination.

Martin's article describes the residence at LongHouse and many of the artifacts, textiles and furnishings that Larsen selected. It's a fascinating look into the workings of a brilliant designer's process of creating a vision in the material world, in partnership with nature and in celebration of the handmade.

Larsen, with an astonishing list of international accomplishments and awards, says, “I am a weaver and a gardener. Both are slow and require much patience.” This struck me as remarkable; we're all trying to inflate our resumes and our titles, and he's opted for the most reductive description possible. Of course, that's easier when the world has already recognized that you matter, but it's so damn refreshing.

I was also taken by the article's opening quote, from Larsen's memoir: “I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t seeking identity through a sense of place.” In that sentence I feel like he articulated something I've been trying to do for 50 years and have never expressed so succintly -- seeking identity through a sense of place. It explains a lot. I need to ponder that for a while.

I went looking for an image of a Larsen textile to share and, as is the Way of the Web, came across another intriguing site. Craft in America is a nonprofit with a mission "to document and advance original handcrafted work through programs in all media, accessible to all. We are dedicated to the exploration, preservation and celebration of craft, the work of the hand, and their impact on our nation’s cultural heritage." Check it out -- there are about 300 pages of content at the site. Here is their page on Larsen.

And here is a living archive of Jack Lenor Larsen fabrics at the Minneapolis Institute for the Arts. From the archive:

Larsen Design Studio
Conquistador, 1966
Collection: Andean
Materials: Cotton
Classification: Surface Ornamentation- Dyed

99.1.188

Conquistador, introduced as part of the 1967 Andean Collection, was particularly successful and soon became one of the signature cloths of the company. In a note in the company archive Larsen writes that “Conquistador is my concept of how an Inca might handle a baroque motif. That is, flatly and without the robust movement typical in Europe. More like the stone walls of Peru.” For some of the colorways the cloth was dyed twice for a contrapuntal vibration of close value colors such as bronze and amethyst, or amber and brown to suggest a tortoise shell. The Spanish Colonial motif was scaled to fit upholstery cushioning and the total impact is one of great antiquitiy.



In addition to the initial four colorways (wild honey, tortoise, crimson and bronzed amethyst) Topaz, Blue Blood and Pigeon Blood were added at a later date. In 1977 Wild Honey was discontinued, but Tortoise and Pigeon Blood remained in production until 1985 when the company ceased batik production.
(Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Larsen archive)