Sunrise

 

Artist Support Grant

I recently received an Artist Support Grant through NC Arts Council and Yadkin Arts Council. 

 

 

I truly enjoyed having time to work through just the one thing, from drawings to watercolor to thread and dye and fabric upon structure.

The finished project is a short series of dyed and woven pieces that are based on a brilliant sunrise. The colors are mixed, as watercolor, and are bright against night sky then bright against a morning sky.  I liked to use a narrower fabric width that would wrap the sunrise colors side by side, showing the consistency and magic of ordinary days. I decided to line up the sunrise, loop the nights at top and bottom and frame the days with the brilliant colors centered as a celebration, as the birds sing to welcome the day. 

As my residency contracts were cancelled in March of 2020, I worked entirely from home. 

 I live in an urban setting and the connection of days in a grounded location away from packing and driving has given me enlightened perspectives for what I want to explore, breaking the previous routines that were, for the most part, wearing.

  Often, I am weaving for festivals, shows and retail project that are functional and wearable. I sometimes don’t have the time it takes to develop something that I’ve started from an idea, a drawing, a complete draft of a project that I can exhibit and I feel that I miss out on a lot of participation because I am using my art and fine craft for personal business income. 

The ASG and the time I had to invest due to quarantine situations has been an opportunity for me to follow through on the idea of days that loop into nights into days, as color can transition from warm and bright to dark and subtle. When I first began weaving, non-functional art was my inspiration. These materials and time have given me a body of work with story, color, structure and an opportunity to exhibit non-functional work. 

I look forward to exhibiting this work. And I still have a few ideas on how to continue the project, too.

Meanwhile, there is more coming as far as exhibits, as workshops and other fun and yarny things. 

Art Camps at the Arts Center in Carrboro, June through August (specific times through these dates)

New work in City Gallery, Galax, VA (and in time for Fiddlers Convention!)

Story Cloth exhibit at Art in the Garden, August-September

Creative Sewing workshops with Art in the Garden, Reidsville, NC

Adult Art Camp at Reynolds Homestead, Critz, VA