Playing with Light

I've been working on a new project lately.  Actually, no, I've been OBSESSING over a new project lately.  Something a bit crazy, but completely magical.  A bit out there, but completely fantastic. A bit... well... illuminated.

It started with a project at school - paper mache - and seeing students use balloons to make their forms gave me an idea.  Why not blow up a balloon around my own forms so they can be hollow? Then I can put a light inside!

I gave it a try and after trying a couple of different yarn weights, decided that a lace/fingering was the right pick for this project.  After coating in a glue and water mixture, I popped the balloon and the form held! 

Now, the possibilities were endless. I could make a bunch of these and hang them from the ceiling! Or make free standing sculptures with more balls attached! Or change the color of the light! So many fun things were ahead. 

I decided to knit smaller balls and attach them, to create "cell-like" forms that (to me) represent memories and dreams.  

As I shared on social media, more people began to give me ideas, many of which were that I should make them hang from the ceiling.  I ordered some hanging fixtures and gave that a try with my colored lights. 

I liked it, but it didn't feel right.  Somehow, the freestanding just worked better for me and my ideas. 

Another friend suggested mirrors one day, saying that they could work well with my ideas of space, dreams and surrealism.  I thought about it and got intrigued.  Enough to go buy mirror tiles at the hardware store and give it a try.

I fell in love and knew that that this was the route to take for awhile.  I built more forms and began playing with multiple mirrors, until finally I got something that I am extremely proud of.  Proud enough to enter in a major fiber show in Houston.  Proud enough to share with you all.  Proud enough to keep making more.

The above photos are the final results and I am so happy with them.  The way the light plays with the reflections and the way the forms all glow from within.  Something is happening and I cannot wait to explore more.  

The next step is to do some research.  Learn about dream cycles and memory.  Make these forms truly represent our dreams and emotions, through size and stitch pattern.

This has been fun!

~Lisa 

On My Needles and In My Studio

Well, 2018 hasn't been a fantastic year for blogging, but that doesn't mean I don't at least think about it.  I will try and get better, but when there is little progress from week to week it's hard to think of topics to discuss.

Luckily I have some things going on right now that I can share!

First up is a FO in the form of socks for my friend Jayde.  Finished the week of March 26th, they have reached their recipient safely and fit well.  I love the pattern - Hermoine's Everyday Socks - as it is just subtle enough to show off the stripes but also add interest, and the yarn is definitely a favorite.  I wish I had more (time to stash hunt on Ravelry!)

Shown with original artwork by Jayde Archebold. 
Check out her site and shop if you like what you see :)

As soon as the socks went off, a new project went on.  This lovely shawl is for a friend who is moving to London at the end of the summer.  I think the weight and size will work well for her over there, and the pattern - Madeleine Shawl from Vintage Modern Knits - is knitting up so quick that I am already on the decreases!

The yarn is worsted, single ply from the UK titled Mapuche.  I don't really have any other info, as it was a gift and the tag was bare bones. 

The other knit project currently consuming my mind is this fantastically interesting knitted sculpture project.  I came up with the idea a few months ago and have been obsessed since.  I am creating ball sculptures that, to me, represent fallen memories and dreams, and are completely hollow (thanks to balloons and glue) and have a light inside! They started out as standing, table top pieces, but I recently acquired some hanging fixtures and have been playing with hanging them.  I can't decide which I like more, but I do know that I am going to keep making these!

Shown with a yellow "bug light" bulb inside.

Finally, I have been developing a few new colors of yarn! Although I haven't been able to dedicate a good chunk of time to dying full skeins, I do have a few minis I created as tests for color.  My plan right now is to roll out a new "series" of colorways based off my EnchantKnit Forest paintings, with the first two being in the purple family.  

Frozen Summer Harvest is on the pale purple and blue side with pops of pink and green, while Sleeping Moon Ice is on the darker side, with indigo and navy showing through.  When I finally get full skeins I bet they would knit together really well!

Sleeping Moon Ice

Frozen Summer Harvest

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Is it summer yet? I know spring just started, but I am really ready for a break from school! April has many many events happening and I am trying to take it one day at a time and also get some knitting in.  I hope I can make that happen!

~Lisa 

Drifting Off

Every time I turn around I have a new art project to share with you guys, it's a wonder I even sleep.

Remember the little woven paintings I discussed last month? While I enjoyed making them and thought they were a good solution to my "what is fiber art?" question, I ultimately decided I needed to try something that fit in better with my current paintings.

A trip to Houston and all the galleries that I love there got me back to thinking about making puddles again, but this time I came up with a better idea, partially due to seeing the works of Paul Flemming and Harumi Shimazu.  With Paul's works, while hard to see in the photos, he creates little ceramic basins that he then fills with a colored resin.  As for Harumi, her installation of the wax petals and floating orbs really made me want to try similar.

Paul Flemmings

Harumi Shimazu

My recent paintings have been branded (by me...) as "Tide Pools", despite the fact that are representative of more than just floating forms in water.  To me, they are a representation of thoughts, ideas and memories and how we are always gaining new ones while old ones just sink and float away.  But that's a discussion for another day.  Where am I going with this?  Well I decided I needed to push the envelope for that show here in town and propose a small installation.

Trying to achieve the idea of water before seemed hard, as creating free form puddles wasn't working with any material I tried.  But seeing Paul Flemmings' works reminded me that I don't have to have free-flowing puddles.  They can be contained.  Well, one thing led to another and the next thing I knew I had this:

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present my first physical tide pool! Created using paper mache as a base and filled with a polyester (and really strong smelling) resin to represent the water, I think this could really be the installation step I've been needing.  While my other installations have been fun and simple, this really is unique and interesting.  

This project was a complete experiment for me.  While I have used paper mache before, this was a whole new realm of sculpture.  Building up the pool and filling it with resin got messy and smelly, not to mention expensive.  I wish I could have added more resin to fill it up, but I just couldn't afford it this time around.  Playing with the placement of the knitted forms within the pool was also an experience.   As usual for me, I left the whole thing white, so that I can shine colored lights on it and play around with the mood.  

Photographing these with random lights was so much fun.  I am sad to say, though, that the light is not this prominent in real life, or at least not in a daylight setting.  Can you imagine these at night?? 

The plan is to have this in a gallery setting, with more balls hanging from the ceiling at various heights to represent new forms falling in.  It was really hard to photograph that in my apartment, so I don't have that yet.  

I am really really proud of this and want to make more when my budget allows.  I really hope it gets into that fiber show!

I hope you all had a great week.  See you next time.  ;)

~Lisa

Moving Forward

Wow. Once again it has been longer than I would have liked between my last blog post and now. How does that always seem to happen?

We had our Art Open House at my residency this past weekend, so maybe that was it. All the stress of preparing for that.  But because it has finally come and gone, I am excited to share all of my completed art with you all! And some new knit adventures as well.

"Dust" Gouache on Paper, 18x24

Frozen Summer Harvest, Oil on Canvas, 40x50

 

My giant paper mache tree. I think he's about 4.5 feet. I am so happy that he's finally done :)

 

 

Knit wise I finished that tank I was working on. I had to re-start it once and ended up having to do some crochet doctoring. Right now this is my best photo, which was taken at open house by the lady who BOUGHT this painting! (and is also an amazing fellow knitter)

 

So I started a lacy shawl, from the same pattern collection as the tank. It's with Alpha B sock yarn that Ivy gave me for my birthday last year.

Poseidon's Oyster, playfully called as such because it was started while watching "The Poseidon Adventure" on TV. It's a shop sample Bad Oyster shawl for my LYS.

I LOVE THIS PATTERN.

First bobbin of colored spinning on my wheel. It's taking some getting used to but it's going well. The tension is constantly giving me grief.

 

 

And because I haven't done this in a while:
Weekly inspirations:

 

Knitting:
Probably about half of my knitting group is working on this project right now, but I have yet to jump on the bandwagon. What do you think?
Art:
The city of College Station, where the Arts Council is at, does a summer student residency program. Their new artist for this year has some pretty intense work!
Food:
I made Beer Butt chicken last week, thanks to Rachael Ray. I may have made too much though, as I am still eating on it this week. I hope it's still good....
Life:

Well, I am going to be a busy beaver for awhile. I get to spend all this week working in an antique shop, all next week teaching summer camp and then the end of June traveling home. Will there be time for art making? I sure hope so!



~Lisa