Budget Deviation: An Improved Hanging Technique

My original plan for hanging the fabric pieces was to stretch them on canvas frames.   The grant budget reflects $338 for thirty eight 30" x 30" canvas frames.   I've stretched fabric before, own tacking spray and swing a mean electric staple gun.   It was a workable solution.

Happily, I've found an even better method for my purposes.   Recently, Jane Dunnewold produced an Interweave Press video titled  "Felt-Backed Textiles: A Contemporary Finishing and Hanging Technique with Jane Dunnewold Video Download".   The surface designed fabrics that I create will be hung as part of a museum exhibit, then be sewn into tote bags to donate to the museum store.   Jane's solution is especially useful in this case where the fabric needs to be unmounted.

If I use the canvas hanging method, then I'll need to mount the fabric onto the canvas, take the fabric off of the canvas and figure out what to do with thirty eight large empty canvases when the grant is completed.   Think of all that staple picking...  Yes, I'm actually thinking ahead!  

If I use Jane Dunnewold's method, then life is simpler.  The fabric will be backed with felt before hanging which will get me one step closer to creating the tote bags.   It will be far easier to mount the fabric on the supporting bars than to stretch fabric on canvas.   Removing the support bars takes less than 30 seconds and no staple picker required.   The bars that support the fabric are thin and will store much more compactly than canvases once the project is done.   Also, the bars can be cut smaller, so have more potential for reuse.   I'll be saving time, effort and storage space.   The trade-off is money.  I estimate an additional $100 for the aluminum bar, felt and other supplies.   I've decided that it's worth it for the convenience.  

Collaged and Stitched Practice Pieces a la Christopher Alexander

Artists create sketches and practice pieces to internalize subject matter and audition ideas.   I am enjoying the exploration of Christopher Alexander's 15 properties of wholeness one small stitched collage at a time.  After reading up on each property I get to create something.   Two sources inspired me...

One source is a guild member who shared her embroidery class samples in hot pink and golden shades.  Yum!   The colors were cheerful and energizing.   They stuck with me.

The second inspiration is an ongoing project by my design group.  We're working thru Gwen Hedley's book "Drawn to Stitch:  Line, Drawing and Mark- Making in Textile Art."   Hedley's use of common papers as collage fodder has led to trying many different materials.   Printed tissue papers are a favorite.  Look for the Totes umbrella logo below.   I love the design group because the viewpoints from different artists using different media add up to broader critiques...in a very safe space.   I'm looking forward to sharing my takes on these properties of wholeness by Christopher Alexander soon:

        

Levels of Scale

Roughness

The Void

I've been thinking about each of the properties separately, but once I started stitching the lines between them blurred.   The Levels of Scale piece was first.  It was straight forward.  However, once I read about Roughness I realized that the first piece represented Roughness too..   I eyeballed the scale of each flower which shows the "hand of the maker" clearly.   There is Roughness in everything I make by hand.   The Void piece was created third and incorporated Roughness and Levels of Scale.  I'm sensing a pattern.

Shortly after my revelation, I received an e-mail from an inquisitive guild member asking how my one-property-at-a-time approach was working out...   Her understanding was that things of beauty incorporated multiple properties or perhaps all of them.   Having fellow guild members guide you on the path to wholeness is beautiful too!   A guild is a powerful tool for learning and sharing.

Klout = Being Home Schooled on Blogging

I am fortunate to have a daughter majoring in communications and economics.   She gave my blog a critical review...and now I'm being home schooled.   She asked about my bounce rate and Klout score.   Color me clueless!   I don't have enough data for a bounce rate yet.   My Klout score started at a 10 out of 100, but went all the way up to 22 today.   The average Klout score is 40 according to several on-line sources.   Once you join Klout, they start sending you helpful, *short* bites of advice on improving your social media skills.   Before you race off to check your Klout score, consider these two helpful articles "Klout Uses This Trick to Make You Feel Bad About Yourself Don't Let it Ruin Your Life" from Forbes Magazine and "What Your Klout Score Really Means"  from Wired Magazine.  They give very different takes on Klout!

Additional feedback from my daughter is that my posts are too long - I'm allowed no more than 300 words per post.   Also, I should move the grant application (of 10 pages...) from a post to it's own page to improve the blog structure.

I need more photos for visual appeal too.  What?  No selfies?  Is that me in the photo pondering the age gap and my Klout score?  

I have failed to comport myself as an expert on the subject of grant writing, museum research and being an artist.   Well, yeah...!   The premise of this blog is sharing the learning experience on all those topics...including blogging.

Am I out of words yet?  Blogging is not for the chatty after all.   Thank goodness I didn't ask her to assign a letter grade!
 

What to Pack for Museum Research

The first day of researching at the museum I brought the following equipment:

• laptop
• SLR camera
• color scanner
• lighting setup + tripod
• notebook for sketching

I realized after the first day that I needed a few more things...

• serge protector/extension cord for scanner + laptop so the cords weren't straining to reach the outlet.
• window cleaner and a rag to clean the scanner as some artifacts are crumbly
• white poster board to photograph artifacts on for better contrast
• loose copy paper to cover objects on the scanner bed that shouldn't be squished by the scanner lid
• dark paper for contrast against white objects on the scanner since I'm looking to grab shapes/silhouettes of artifacts.
• bring lunch, so that you can share a quick meal with the friendly resident artists
• water bottle with tight closing lid (I can't drink it in the library, but have it tucked into my carry bag to take out into the hall when the dust chokes me up.)
• 
  

It's not a perfect setup yet.  I'm still struggling with the lighting in the library for photography.  The big lighting kit and tripod are not compatible with the shared library space, so they've been staying in the minivan.   I have built a small  foam core light box, but it's performance was less than stellar.   I need to take another stab at balancing lighting within the light box to eliminate shadows.  This is one of the tasks I established in the grant.   You'll hear a big "Woo Hoo" when I finally get it right!   For now, I am working on themes for my fabric pieces.  I will work on doing my best quality photography work when I get a list of artifacts that requires the effort. 

One more adjustment gets made to the equipment in my working space...  I sat on the black wooden Windsor chair the first day and was so excited to be researching that I hardly noticed how darned hard the seat was...until I got up.   Now the wooden Windsor chair is placed to block folks from tripping on the power cords and I borrow a cushy leather chair to sit in instead!   Be good to yourself!

Crack Researcher Discovers Gold

Here is my first box of artifacts - a collection of projectile points.  It's just what you'd expect to find in a museum.

 

You can see the white tag with a mysterious number penciled on it.   This object id is a primary search field in the collections database file and has 4 parts:

• first number:  the year the artifact was acquired by the museum
• second number:  donations are given sequential numbers in a given year
• third number:  items in a donation are given sequential numbers
• fourth number:  if there are multiple parts to an artifact, then a designation of letters or numbers may be made to differentiate the parts...and sometimes not.   Data entry has been done by many hands since the collection began in 1984 and practices varied amongst the staffers and dedicated volunteers.

So, this box of projectile points, 87.23.5-14, was given to the museum in 1978, it was the 23rd donation made that year and the individual arrowheads were designated as numbers 5 thru 14.  

Someone has tucked in a note specifying the arrowheads as being for small game hunting - birds, fish, etc...

Many of the local projectile points from the sources I viewed were made out of the same type of rock.  I guessed that it was white quartz.  I based this guess on a children's educational plastic placemat of rocks and minerals from our kitchen.   Never pass up a chance to impart knowledge.   I tried researching white quartz deposits to find a local source and came up with a jackpot.   It turns out that Sandy Spring sits on the Piedmont Plateau containing gold bearing quartz veins running all the way from New York to South Carolina. Visit the Maryland Geologic Survey webpage for more details.  The webpage write up on gold was attributed to Karen R. Kuff who wrote a book on the subject, "Gold in Maryland" in 1987.    http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/minerals_energy_resources/gold.html  

Some interesting facts from Ms Kuff were that gold was first found in Maryland in 1849 on Sam Ellicott's farm near Brookville, MD, but no production was recorded.  Also, a Civil War soldier discovered gold in the Potomac River while stationed in Washington, D.C..  He was detailed to wash skillets at the time of the discovery.  If times get tougher, we can all go panning in the Potomac!   I was quite satisfied to have discovered gold.  I mentioned it excitedly to the museum's operations director, Diane.  She laughed and asked if I'd ever passed by GOLD MINE ROAD!   ...well...um...yes...now that you mention it...many times...  I wonder how many other not so subtle clues to the past I've been dismissing.   So, that's me.  Diana Guenther, Crack Researcher!

On a Personal Note...Quaker Roots

I remember being told as a kid that there were strong Quaker roots in my family history.   It was interesting to discover 3 of my grandparent's surnames, Fisher, Cook and Moore in this 1926 Quaker directory tucked into a Grange treasurer's strongbox..  This discovery makes the project feel even more personal.   You'll notice below that it was a heavily used volume!   Many of the surnames in the book show up around the museum.

The Dreaded Theme Dilemma Beaten into Submission

The Potomac Fiber Arts Guild hired Andrea Graham as a speaker and workshop teacher last month.   She was very well received.  Andrea is a wonderful role model for other  artists.  She spoke with passion about her art and lifestyle which are integral to each other.   Her work was technically excellent pairing her organic subject matter perfectly with the felting medium.  A series of funky felted sculpture characters showed off her fun side.   She has used her artwork to make political statements that push for change.  Her work has a backstory.  I'm really glad I was able to hear her talk about her art journey.   She imbues her work with ideas that matter to her.  Her work has a presence that makes you stop and acknowledge it.  Talk about setting the bar high!

With Andrea's talk in my mind, I realize that I want my work to be as intentional and authentic as hers.  I want my work to engage the viewer.  I've decided to approach the grant project on three different levels.  The overarching theme that ties the exhibit together will be a timeline that gives the viewer a logical progression through the two display halls.  Each surface design piece will be a slice of history to contemplate while the viewer is challenged to work back and forth between the museum artifacts to see how they were used in the fabric they inspired.  A second layer of interest will be incorporating Christopher Alexander's 15 properties of wholeness/life as the compositional element.

 The museum director suggested building the exhibit with a target audience in mind, so that advertising can be directed.   I initially found this to be very difficult without knowledge of the archive's contents or a preexisting agenda.  The closest I could come to envisioning what I wanted my work to be was a series of stories collaged from the artifacts, photos and documents in the collection.  As an example, I loved the synergy of items like the silhouette of a glass milk bottle, a rubbing of the dairy information from the raised lettering on the bottle, a picture of a local dairy farm, a map of the dairy location, a hand written inventory of the dairy property, the shape from the rim of a cow bell, a picture of an old fashioned ice cream churn and the wire mesh design from a calf weaning snaffle (muzzle) to build a visual image of dairy farming in the past.   Who would want to come see it?

...insert fabulous completed artwork here...

It makes sense from a marketing perspective to select a target audience, but I've never had to think that way before.  Now I know two aspects of a museum director's job - guiding volunteers and marketing their museum's products.

“It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.” 

  - Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own"

My theme needs to address two distinctly different goals.  Sandy Spring Museum wants to get their collections into the public eye by increasing foot traffic at the museum.  Goal number two is using the grant as a vehicle for enhancing my art education.  I believe that building a timeline of vignettes of Sandy Spring's history will appeal to the local population in general.   I plan to direct my marketing to the local schools and  historical societies especially.  In addition, showcasing Christopher Alexander's 15 properties of wholeness/life will appeal to fellow artists, art students and exhibit goers doubling the marketability of the exhibit.  If you can think of other target audiences, then please leave me a comment.  I'll be grateful!

I will say that it's taken me 6 months to reach this point.  I'd feel worse about it except for watching the Jan Beaney/Jean Littlejohn "In Action" DVD where these consummate embroiderers discuss their working practices.  They divulged that they often spend 2 years researching for a series.  Heck, that puts me on the fast track!

My initial scan of the collections archive database back in January found items such as 11 pairs of eye glasses, 5 cameras and 8 button hooks.   I wasn't able to identify a single type of item that interested me as a scintillating theme candidate.  I attempted to broaden my focus.  One theme that came to mind was to use all of the glass objects in the collection and show how plastics have supplanted glass in our modern society.  Another idea was to use obsolete items like untreated copper cookware, chamber pots and calling cards to show cultural changes.  I eventually realized that I wanted to tell a story with each piece of fabric.  One of my artistic goals is to add depth and meaning to my pieces.  So, the new question became how to tie the individual stories together.  Enter the timeline...

The timeline was an obvious solution in retrospect.  Having the timeline solves two more challenges.  As I find enough related elements to create pieces for the exhibit I can slot them into the timeline.  The pieces can be worked on in any order.  The other challenge was a preconceived notion of mine that museums only contain *really* old stuff.   Yes, I can see you rolling your eyes now.   Seriously, 1968 was not that long ago.  I laughed as I unwrapped a pack of Old Maid cards I played with as a kid.  s  A timeline will account for the variable ages of artifacts found in the collection.  Please leave a consoling comment if you played with this card deck too!