Welcome 2014! Don’t sweep all your good luck away.

Detail of work in progress: “Scratch”

Happy New Year, everyone! How goes it, so far?

2013 held some great surprises and lessons in letting go and saying YES (and saying NO, too) for me. I’m looking forward to expanding those lessons by reaching out to interact, support and collaborate with others and enjoying the focus/blur of full, messy emersion even more this lap around the calendar. Here’s hoping 2014 will be full of inspiration and artful exploration for us all.

The holidays can really take it out of you. Doll Baby looks plum worn out.

This January I’m wrapping up several works in-progress for the SEED Collective group show opening next week (some images below) as well as prepping for a screen printing workshop I’ll be teaching at The Sawtooth Center in March on combining printing techniques and working experimentally with the medium. I’m also working on my 2014 Chinese zodiac card.  I have until January 31st–one reason why I like to go with the Chinese calendar for my holiday cards. This year is the year of the wooden, or green, horse–hopefully some ideas will come galloping by any minute.

The “streamers” in the studio are going back up, it’s time to dig back into making art.

Another detail shot of “Scratch”, in progress.

On a side note: I just came across this note on traditional China celebrations of the New Year and Spring Festival:

Families tend to clean their homes in the days leading up to the celebration but all dusts and brooms are hidden during holiday so that “good luck can not be swept away.” (via)

So, put away those thoughts of spring cleaning and take a moment to savor the freshness of a new year.

Taking the composition from large to small: NRB Cover Project Recap – Part 3

An overview of designing and printing book cloth for New River Breakdown,  Terry Kennedy‘s poetry collection from Unicorn Press . You can see the finished book covers from this project at Unicorn Press. Recap part one is here. Recap part two is here.

Taking a dip: Ready to Dye

With five layers of imagery printed and then washed (partially) away, it’s time for the most unpredictable part of this process—the dye bath.  A robin’s egg blue mixed with turquoise will take the edge off the brighter colors and solidify the concept of a riverbed patina.

A detail shot of the printed linen, washed and ready to dye.

The dyed linen, now a light blue.

Building the Patina: NRB Cover Project Recap – Part 2

An overview of designing and printing book cloth for New River Breakdown,  Terry Kennedy‘s poetry collection from Unicorn Press . You can see the finished book covers from this project at Unicorn Press. Recap Part one is here.

The Creation Process: Step 1 – Grabbing the bull by the horns

Armed with a concept to create riverbed patina, it’s time to roll up my sleeves and start the actual making. First the canvas for this creation–the 13 yards of linen–needs to be tamed. Meaning: washed, cut into smaller pieces, and hemmed to reduce fray during the process.

Cutting the linen into 7 panels ( 5 72″ x 54″ and 2 65″ x 54″ panels).

From written word to a puddle of bull: NRB Cover Project Recap – Part 1

An overview of designing and printing book cloth for New River Breakdown,  Terry Kennedy‘s poetry collection from Unicorn Press . You can see the finished book covers from this project at Unicorn Press.

Plain paper packages tied up with string.

The Invitation: One Book, Five Artists

When Tristin Miller initially described the project to me, I was intrigued. Five artists  interpret the same collection of poems by author Terry Kennedy in book-cover form. Each cover design will be produced as part of a set of hand-bound, limited edition books by a local publishing company. A project full of collaboration, exploring the overlap of art and design, all set in the local creative environment—sign me up!

The group met for a project briefing where Terry and Andrew Saulters of Unicorn Press explained their ideas and the project parameters. There were very few.  Terry described some key ideas and imagery in the book including his interest in the New River, an ancient river that runs North to South through North Carolina unlike others in the area. He enjoyed how nature can be counter intuitive and related this to how we discover many things work in unexpected ways when examined closely.  We artists were given a copy of Terry’s book, bound in plain black paper, and a deadline for final artwork.

The designer side of my brain was spinning at this point. Terry and Andrew didn’t expect to see concepts, vet artist ideas or provide feedback—either very brave or very insane.

My artist-brain was most excited about the fact the hardcover edition was bound in fabric, something that dovetailed perfectly with my current printing experiments on found-fabrics. Time to go read the book and see what this was all really about.

…

An Idea: A Riverbank Patina

It was mid May, the garden was lush and the weather was perfect for deck-sitting so I spent an afternoon with my toes in the sun and my head in Terry’s  book. There may have been a glass of wine. It’s a lovely book; very visual, very thoughtful. Wistful, hopeful and Southern.

The Epic Battle: Meet Raggedy Octopus

Thanks to everyone who made it out to The Epic Battle opening last Friday. It was a wonderful night full of great conversations and cool people. More photos and exhibit info after the jump. In the photo below, you can see Roboctopus over Raggedy Octopus‘s shoulders and one of Anna Marie Troupe‘s beautiful yarn-covered columns on the left.

The Epic Battle: The beginning – A bottle cap and a dream

It all started with a bottle of rum. So many things do. But isn’t it lovely, this bottle. Then there was some conversation. And more conversation.

Press: Delurk Gallery / To Cope

My latest installation piece at Delurk Gallery, There’s More Than One Way To Cope (with all this), got a mention in the paper today as “engaging, quirky“. (thanks!) The article is also (and mainly) an interesting overview by Tom Patterson of Kucharski’s current exhibit there. Read the article online here. Some pictures of the April exhibits at Delurk Gallery on flickr here. More photos of my piece after the jump and even more than you could ever want to see in progress and in final form on flickr here and some of Doll Baby #1’s adventures here and here.

“There’s More Than One Way To Cope (with all this)” at DELURK gallery

Tonight’s Delurk Gallerys Grand Opening – during the downtown Gallery Hop. Stop by from 7-10 tonight to check out great work including guest exhibits  featuring art by Shane Brumley-Ward and Dick Kuch, plus works by the founding co-op members Chad Beroth, Shanthony Exum, Patrick Harris, Jennifer O’Kelly, Cindy Taplin, Dane Walters and myself. My new  piece “There’s More Than One Way To Cope (with all this)” will be on display. (Previous post of this piece here and here. Some pix of the making process and install here on flickr.) The current exhibits will be up till the end of April, so stop by the gallery when you can and commune with the art.

Art House Co-op 4×6 Exchange

I’m mailing my submission for the 4×6 Exchange today. I did two art quilt options using fabric print remnants and other scraps and this is the one (below, on the right) I’m sending in for the exchange. I can’t wait to see what I get in return.

"Fresh Life" (on the left) and "Eye to Eye" (on the right)

I really love the thought behind the Art House Co-op and their collaborative projects. Having a creative deadline once in awhile encourages me to jump in and just MAKE. (I also participated in one of their Sketchbook Projects and you can see some posts about that here and here.) Plus, many of them are free. Browse their upcoming project list and sign up for one today!

Where I started – two pieces of fabric from a past project with hand painted lettering and silkscreened patterns. These were cut from a robe I did in a show a few years ago. Some more pictures of my 4×6 exchange piece in progress after the jump.

In Progress – There’s More Than One Way

A quick picture of where I am so far — it’s all starting to come together. Sorry for the crime scene-ish nature of this shot, but there’s not a really good way to sit her up, now that she has all these legs.  I’m sewing on the feet later today! Don’t you just love toe socks? I had to sacrifice a few pairs of mine for her feet.  (previous post on this project here)