Saying too much too little

Today I received my evaluations and for the first time ever, a student stated, "She talks too much."

I am not sure how how to take that criticism. Certainly, like most criticisms I receive, I will likely experience a fit of self-doubt. Thus I am devoting the theme of this blogpost to saying too much and saying too little.

These two works are on the same theme of confluence--bringing together bodies of water, ideas, thoughts, experiences.  And although they are on the same theme each "says" what it must in order to communicate leaving me with the question of what must be present or absent to gain confluence? Of my own words and actions there can become a space in which to coalesce ideas.

Confluence/Tributary. Monoprint on cotton muslin. 6" x 6". 2013.

Confluence/Tributary. Monoprint on cotton muslin, embroidery. 6" x 6". 2013.

Typographies and Topographies

Two years ago exactly my collaborator Christina Gregor and I were putting together this epic installation called, "i'm thinking of changing my smile," covering half of the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Civil War era Dole Mansion in Crystal Lake, IL. 

Amongst many things, this exhibition has typography, topography (the landscape of a fantastic domestic space), and way-finding.

Typography. Seen below is the entry signage for the exhibition. As you pass between two curtains you walk below this free-hand machine-stitched (on muslin) fabric sign.  Very little planning, other than scale went into the free-form stitching. Loose threads, re-run sticthes, pseudo-ligatures, serifs and san serif fonts abound.

As for way-finding, even the map that we used to guide the audience around the installation appears to not take itself-seriously. How will wings feel against my face?

"i'm thinking of changing my smile" is about being comfortable in your own skin, in your own nest. If anything, as the work progressed into the installation it took on a life of its own as its creators' own abilities to differentiate between life and art or between a real-live domestic space and the illusion of an invented domestic space blurred the lines of dream, image, and reality.

Somehow we were left with images and the suggestion of images, objects and the suggestions of objects. The topography of the landscape was fantasy-filled and yet frighteningly real as we (the artists) pretended that we were not taking serious the very thing that had become poignant and real.

View in Mr. Dole's Billiard Room.

Back to Blog

My work has become so much more about the process than the end product in recent years--so why focus so much on the end product, why not find ways of honing in on the process?

So today's answer is to show some samplings of what I have been thinking about.

September Indigo Dying

Recently we relocated to a much sunnier state with a house and a back patio. A perfect combination for cloth dying. I tied fabric for days with the plan to do more refined shibori techniques first and then dye up looser combinations of patterns and  color depth.

Indigo Dying: Process (on the left) to Product.

I chose to dye some commercially made clothing as well as some pieces of cotton gauze. I overdyed the pink linen blouse by soaking it 3 times. The dress is a cotton commercially-made dress, soaked 3 times. The tank-top is of two grades of cotton providing some nice variation. The cotton gauze pieces are a mix--some are overdyed and some were dyed from white to blue. Days 1 and 2 provided excellent dye color, but Day 3 quickly turned out to be rather weak in color depth.

The scarves managed to come out in various shades of light blue as my dye bath was failing on Day 3.  They will be part of a line that I call, "Atmospheric Perspective", after the "bluing" effect of things seen at a distance. Three cheers for living in a valley surrounded by mountains.

June 2011 Collaborative Installation

Greetings! The first half of 2011 has been completely absorbed by "i'm thinking of changing my smile,"
 a collaborative installation with Christina Gregor at the Dole Mansion and Lakeside Legacy Arts Park in Crystal Lake, IL. Our blog can be viewed at: http://collaborateeccg.blogspot.com/

This installation is significant for its size (5 rooms and a large stairwell of an opulent 1860's mansion). The house was built by Charles Dole as an opulent summer home and is currently in great disrepair. As part of an experiment, Christina and I were invited to do a mixed-media installation that dialogues with the age and history of the mansion. And that is exactly what we did. More to come on our other blog.

Nearly December

I always find the end of the Fall to be a bittersweet time. The leaves are gone and the midwestern winter weather sets in early, and yet there are new things to look forward to. It will soon be the end of the fall semester and my students and colleagues will all receive much earned breaks. Then comes the holiday season--which two days after Thanksgiving it has already taken hold. It is oddly a time of ends and beginnings. My eldest niece was married this week: the end of single life and the beginning of married life. My second eldest niece passed her GED exam with flying colors: the end to childhood and the beginning of an adult academic life. etc...
As this year winds down I feel appreciative of all that I have learned, and yet I look forward to upcoming and new projects. Today I spoke with Christina Gregor, friend and colleague, and we are planning what is the beginning of an interesting collaboraration. I have found collaborations fruitful, and I think this one will be as well. If there is anything that I have learned during and since graduate school, it is that as artists we must be supporters and encouragers of each other--"A rising tide lifts all boats."

Spring is here!

Spring is here and I have been quite busy, between my jobs at the museum and at teaching Computer Arts and Graphics.

Unfortunately I have had little time to work at my etsy shop, however, since I last posted I have created a second etsy sight devoted entirely to hand-made items. I realized that my http://www.ecolemancruz.etsy.com/ shop had become full of as much vintage and patterns as it was handmade. I wanted a fresh start and decided on opening a second shop where you won't be distracted by vintage items.

My "deliberate creator" shop is at http://www.deliberatecreator.etsy.com/ and currently carries reusable coffee cup cozies, crochet plastic bag, tea travelettes, and hand-made cards. All of my items are primarily made of materials that are vintage, upcycled/recycled, or leftovers and remanants.

Mapping

Next week is my mother's birthday and out of the blue she called me up, as she does every 6 months or so just to say that she is more or less "in the neighborhood"--which means she is less than 2 hours away. So as my husband and I drove to meet my mom about 4o minutes away I began to contemplate what I have already been ruminating on: maps of geography and mapping the "inner" or "emotional" landscape of my self.

I looked for some good images on maps, from shops found on etsy--here are a few that interested me:

From http://www.hellobrowneyes.etsy.com/, a 1939 map of Africa. This interests me because I spent three months in Mali, in West Africa in 2000. It is fascinating how much the boundaries have changed post-colonialism.

In http://www.petitpoulailler.etsy.com/ 's shop, I found a NY State Map from 1935 of Autumn routes. Living in the Midwest I suspect I am missing out some incredible fall foliage!

From http://www.copperleafstudios.etsy.com/ I found a great image of a copper map of the Great Lakes. Very gorgeous and intense--and also very visceral.

I am also including an image of a work of sculpture of my own titled, "Tidal Self II" and is made of salt crystals grown onto cotton and maps an inner landscape. The salt water used symbolizes tears, and the tears represent the sea of emotion within.

Thanks to all whose items I have featured.

September--Back to School

This summer began really slow and quickly gained momentum. Over the month of August I had a birthday, my husband completed and passed his PhD exams and is on his way towards dissertating, my family had a weekend where we celebrated my father's 60th birthday, and school started.

After a hiatus from teaching I am at Mchenry County College teaching some very cool students and working with some extremely fun and knowledgeable faculty and staff. So life is good and I am gearing up for two upcoming exhibitions this fall. I am doing a performance art exhibition with my collaborator Bianca called the Merkeyna Coif Boutique--more to come of that later--at the Ravenswood Art Walk in the Ravenswood corridor in Chicago, the first weekend of October. I am also doing an exhibition of work at the Bethel College art gallery in Newton, KS in November. So I am quite busy to say the least.

It is my goal to keep up with my etsy shop--notice that I have added some really cool new vintage items!

New in July: Free Gifts and Gift-Certificates

I have already given away four gifts to four different Etsy customers during the month of July. Right now I have been giving away "Single Tea Travelettes"--just simple little pockets made from upcycled garments (t-shirts, blue-jeans, etc). Most of a small metal eyelet that attaches nicely to a keychain and fits one tea bag.

I also have begun to list Gift Certificates for purchase on my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27304005

Riding my gorgeous new bike to the Post Office means that I am at least reducing petroleum use by a teeny tiny minute percentage. aw yea.

July Etsy Giveaway

Join me in July to celebrate my one year anniversary on Etsy. I will include a free gift with all purchases starting now and during the entire month of July.

My first customer to receive a gift was Judi, from KY.

Tell all your friends.

(note that the image on the right does not represent what you will actually receive for free)

Celebration!

Sweltering Weather

Bleh. The temperatures have finally turned warm--to warm--and now every creative bone in my body feels drained. I started doing some embroidery and I had to force myself to stay engaged at least until the end of the thread I was using! Not a good sign.

Isn't it amazing all of the diversions that we can create for ourselves? What are your favorite diversions?
The computer seems to be one of mine...maybe I should be creating rather than blogging. I read today that as an artist I should be breathing in life since art is made entirely about everything else. Ah yes, another reminder.

love, e

Seven Days Until My One-Year Etsy Anniversary!

Yeah! this is my first blog ever. I know--its about time!

Over the next week will be the countdown to my One-Year Etsy Shop anniversary (http://www.ecolemancruz.etsy.com/). I hope to have some fun promotions up my sleeve.

A little about me and why you should join me in my blogging adventures: my appreciation for making art and curious objects from junk and recycled materials goes back to when I was a kid. I think I was always very deliberate in my choices to reuse something to make it into something new. I squirreled away pieces of jeans when we cut them into cut-off shorts and I would make purses for my friends when i was only 9 or 10 years old. Puffy t-shirt paint could transform any old t-shirt or canvas shoes into clothing fit for a queen. I learned from a very early age from my mother how by wielding a hot-glue gun you could be creatively empowered. I owe a lot to my mom for her careful savings of pennies: clipping coupons, collecting old and very used antiques, and hitting every garage sale, thrift store, clearance isle and craft store in her path. This instilled a desire in me to preserve, save and collect, and out of that my art making practice was born, and has since flourished (with some encouragement from mentors and academic training--I am also a certifiable nerd)!

So yeah, I am going to say it, "I liked to make recycled art way before it was even cool."

Yep!