Friday 26 June 2009

futzing about in Ohio

as you may have gathered i'm in Columbus, Ohio seeing how things are "on the other side". nope, haven't passed over [contrary to what you might think after earlier posts] but am relishing being a student in a seven-day intensive workshop led by Canadian artist Dorothy Caldwell 

it's an interesting class with some 21 participants all working in quite different ways within the broad scope of textile-based art practice 

this is a situation i haven't been in since i finished grad school in 2001. i'm thinking everyone who teaches [no matter what the field] should regularly put themselves on the receiving end... 


each day after class i wander about in the late summer evening


blue stains remind me of the blue booby



Felis catus soaking up the last of the day's solar energy


lovely Rudbeckia purpurea blooming along the sidewalk, nurtured by some thoughtful Columbus resident


and finally the fore and aft views of some of this week's gentle work



11 comments:

  1. i am not a teacher persay, but i can imagine relishing the moment of just taking a back seat and letting someone else drive must be rather nice

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  2. Hey - thanks for visiting my blog. I loved your pictures.

    I have to admit that i wasn't sure what to think initially when you said "textiles", but i really liked your finished works

    Hope the course continued well

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  3. Taking a workshop yourself must be very refreshing. Hope you enjoy it.
    I'm of to France now in search for linnen.
    XXXm

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  4. So beautiful, all of it. As a teacher of children I'm required to be a student on a regular basis. It is a wise thing....

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  5. India--This stuff is right up my alley! I clicked on the Dorothy Caldwell piece in your sidebar and I am blown away at her stuff. I wish that I could see it close up. Does she sew threads on with machine, by hand, quilting?? And your stuff is incredible too. I need to know more!!

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  6. Methinks you and she may have something talk about? Repairs and threads on a journey. Your fabric, is that from the samples we saw bundled earlier?

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  7. These fabric squares are really stunning - the colors, the lines, the visual softness.

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  8. Sitting her in my studio down under, thinking how your inner teacher and student are working together and if as a result of the Ohio experience your work is going through a big change. Anyway, if we are able to take the changes easy, life could be a buzz.

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  9. am gonna take a wander over to view her work. Its an interesting experience to hear about your interesting experience as a student when it's usually me raving about being your student.

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  10. thank you everyone for your thoughts.

    this change has been a long time coming but it's a bit of a spiral loop back to re-investigate some earlier paths and simplify my work. just needed time away from the usual haunts to give some air to it

    i've been working with the silks i dyed in San Francisco, a rather more gentle palette than usual and continuing the windfall dye baths each evening - firing up the portable cauldron in the hotel bathroom

    the workshop has centred on a series of discussions about work practice and philosophy based around a set text : "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott - in the spaces between conversations each person has been working on their self directed project in their own personal style.

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  11. it is a very poetic scene you are showing here - like a never ending story.... xDorie

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