My BRAIN is done—it’s time to weave!

I’m done! I’m done! The BRAIN is finally finished! By Friday afternoon there was nothing left to do but pack up my art toys and go home. I glued, attached, tweaked and finally vacuumed, but only on the euphoric side. I intentionally left all the dust, glue strings and webbiness on the depressive side. I think of it as artistic patina. The emotions associated with completion are truly mixed. Packed in with all my other responsibilities, the brain project made for an intense and enjoyable few months. I feel like I’ve made some new friends and spent quality time with old ones. The most important thing for me was the experience itself, which changed my perspective on life. You become a product of your sum total of experiences, whatever they are, and I plan to translate some of the ideas that grew out of the conversations into new art pieces.

At the end of the project I cleaned up my bench and brought my toys home. I was very pleased with how the brain turned out, but cleaning up for me is always connected with starting something new. I guess that’s just part of my upbringing. Friday night I disappeared into my art studio, warped a loom and started a new weaving. That felt great after months away from my art studio. Part of my enthusiasm came from the good news that I had been accepted into two big summer art fairs: The Art Fair on the Square in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Loring Park show in Minneapolis Minnesota. The Madison show is truly one of my favorites, right up there with Fourth Street. I have a fantastic time in Madison, where the patrons are wonderful and enthusiastic. We even get to stay with our friends Wendy and Duane in their remote country retreat near Hollandale. After a long day at the fair Jim whisks me away to their house, past the two ferocious guard dogs. They take great care of me with nice dinners at the end of the day and coffee in the morning, but I suspect they might be playing during the day while I’m working. Loring Park will be new for me this year. It will be a little farther than we’ve traveled for a show, but the whole family stays together and we have a good time.

Every big celebration needs a pie.

On Saturday morning, Jim put together a pie from the last frozen apples from the fall season. Yum! The pie is great (it’s my breakfast, with espresso, for a few days), but the best news is that we’re eating the last freezer fruit means we’re ready to enter the spring rhubarb and berry season. More pies are in my future!

All is well.

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

The brain project comes to a head…

I was completely immersed in my Brain project this week. The good news is that I can see the end approaching! Early in the week I attached all of the butterflies on to the brain and secured the vines. With help from Joe LaMantia, I created an elaborate mechanism to anchor the vine’s main stem through a hole I drilled in the brain. Connection points for the branches and the brain were made with hot glue, and the overall structure is very robust and almost ready for travel and display. My work on the euphoric side gave me the mental fix I needed to move over to the dark side. I have been working on creating three lithium citrate structures to suspend over the depressive side, much like the butterflies float over the euphoric side. I got some excellent support from the Poynter Sheet Metal Center to bend metal rods to create the citric acid molecule. I can’t say enough about how helpful and constructive they have been in helping me on the project. I discussed my metalworking needs with them before I left for Michigan, and when I returned to Stone Belt on Monday the structure sat gleaming on my workbench. It was like Spring Break Santa made a delivery. I was envisioning using tennis balls as some of the atoms in the structure, which was another suggestion from Joe. Between my own supplies, and scouring Opportunity House, I managed to find all but a few of the balls I needed. In fact, the majority of my Brain is made with reclaimed and recycled materials, a fact that I feel very good about. I had been humming and hawing over how to paint the tennis balls white, and I ultimately decided to drill a hole in them and insert a brazing rod from Grandpa’s welding supplies. I used a two-part epoxy to glue the metal rod to the ball, then I dipped the balls in some old sealing paint that we had in storage. I took two coats, but even the blue balls looked white. I needed red paint for the Lithium, which burns red in a flame, so I went to Kleindorfer’s hardware. I figure that’s as close to reclaimed and recycled as you can get if you have to buy new stuff in Bloomington. I was trying to decide between Massey Ferguson Red and Pioneer Red (you’ve got to love the old red tractor colors!). After they were coated with pain, I let them dry like chocolate dipped lollipops on the veranda. When they were dry I spent a few days wrapping yarn around the brazing rod and the carbon backbone to get the color and feel I wanted, and now all three structures are attached. I just love the symmetry that is created between the floating lithium citrate structures on the dark side and the growing vines and floating butterflies on the green side. Many thanks to Robin Ripley, another Brain artist, for so many of the great pics!!

One of the great bits of fun at the end of my week was the Bloom Magazine photo shoot at Stone Belt on Friday. I was delighted to see Steve the photographer again, who did my photo shoot in the last issue of Bloom. He staged the brains to create the compositions he wanted for pictures. The three fiber artists were clustered together, but comically he wanted us to pick up paintbrushes and pretend to be discussing paint colours for the brains! That bit of silliness got us all going on a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon. The atmosphere bordered on giddy as we all laughed and talked, to the point where we were reprimanded for not staying on task. Everyone just had a good time. I shot a short movie of people milling about to give you a sense of what it was like. It reminded me of my days as a grad student when we’d all go to the Grad Club on Friday afternoons after an intense week of research to laugh, have a beer and just chill.

I promised last time to provide information about the brain project as it moves forward. I learned that all twenty-two brains will be together for one time only in the White Auditorium at Bloomington South High School on the 28^th of April. More details will follow, but I can’t wait to see all the pieces together. It’s just an amazing project. I had a chance to chat with Jill Bolte-Taylor, the person who conceived and organized the project, and we both marveled at the diversity of the brains. They’re all identical in size, but they’re as distinctive as the artist that created each one. The overall effect is otherworldly. I was also very pleased to see Malcolm Abrams, the editor of Bloom, enthusiastically participate in the shoot.

My other big project from the week involved the Girl Scouts. I had a dozen girls from a local troupe, plus a few siblings and a half-dozen parents or so, all jam-packed in my kitchen. The event had a lot of energy and it was such fun. It felt great (no pun intended) to be able to introduce them to a completely different medium that none of them had played with before. They made wet felted balls to begin with and transitioned into other shapes. They just ran with the idea, making cats and other creatures. I got my bead collection out along with some silk thread so they could embellish their creations. Along the way I had them dyeing with Kool-Aid. They were amazed by how effectively the wool exhausts the color in the dye pot. There was some concern about the dyes transferring to clothes, but once it’s in the wool it isn’t going anywhere. At the end of the day everyone went home happy with a bag of merino noils to make more art. It took a while, but when things got quiet again my two boys slowly emerged from some corner of the house where they were hiding and things returned to normal.

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

Giant butterflies in the garden…

This week carried me away from my brain and my weekly routine. My family and I spent a delightful week in Michigan, complete with a rhubarb pie (sorry, no picture—the camera was on holiday as well). The weather was unusually warm in Michigan so we got to do plenty of outdoor activities without ever needing our snow boots. Jacob did some archery and worked on training with his three-sectioned staff, while Tommie and Jim went fishing off the pier at Tawas. They came home with a cooler full of small perch that made a very tasty fish fry. Jacob, Gramma and I had a delightful afternoon scouring the local consignment shops for wool sweaters. I’m stocking up now for making sweater petals and other fall season art pieces, and I was fortunate enough to come home with eighteen sweaters over a range of colors. I felted them in the washing machine and put them into storage to discover again in the fall. We also got to do a plenty of family things, like bowling, ping pong and a nice dinner with the Gibsons and Aunt Lois.

While it’s true that I spent a week apart from my brain, that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t still chipping away at my art projects. If you’re not up to speed, I’m working on one of the 22 giant brains that will be part of the brain extravaganza project, spearheaded by Jill Bolte-Taylor. They will be on display around town before going on tour next year. I learned that mine, which depicts bipolarism, will be on display at the Herman Wells library on campus sometime after April 7^th. There will first be a big extravaganza where all the brains come together for a conference before splitting up. I don’t know where that will be, but I’ll post any new information on my blog and on Facebook when I know more. My brain is coming together nicely, and on the trip to Michigan I completed all the artwork for the euphoric side. On Monday I’ll head to Stone Belt and attach the new butterflies.

The drive home from Michigan was really amazing this year. With a week of unseasonably warm weather, we left winter behind and drove into spring. When we got to southern Indiana we started to see forsythia and magnolia trees in full blossom. Magnolias remind me of my father, who liked to say that they always bloomed (in the Czech Republic) on his birthday, which is April 30^th . The magnolias do have a certain flair for the dramatic and colorful, which fit his personality very well. While Jim drove us home I started working on couple of turtle shells that will find their way into my next weaving. I’m not sure if it will have a painted or a box turtle, so I made one shell of each shape. I’m planning on having elm branches hanging over the turtle, which might be because when we were in Michigan I was thinking about the emerald elm borer. I’ve also been thinking about mushrooms, which will make it into a weaving, but might not make it into the turtle piece. I do know it’s time to let go of the brain project and start making art pieces for the summer shows. With a week of eighty degree days ahead it should be easy to get into the spirit!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

Valentine’s Day: Pie, chocolate and brains

Yesterday morning was Valentine’s Day. I woke to the alarm and skipped off to my 6:30 a.m. Zumba class through an inch of fresh snow. When I came home I was in for a few surprises! Jim baked me a delightful pie using Mutsu apples. They were bought at the farmer’s market, sliced up and frozen away until now—a little bit of autumn in the winter. My boys made me Valentine’s Day cards too, with chocolate candies taped inside. They tell me I’m the best Mom ever! My day was off to a good start. After a day of art and housework I settled into the couch in front of a nice fire to warm my bones while I needle felted the final details on the hand that holds my bouquet of dandelions. Last week I described this in more detail, but basically the bouquet will stand out in front of a green background covered with colorful felted flowers. I finished the dandelions a few days ago and photographed them in a special vase from Kathey Gibson, a good friend from Kawkawlin, Michigan. I still need to add the layer of skin to the hand before I can assemble the parts, but I’m really pleased with the hand and how the piece is coming together.

I can’t talk about art these days without mentioning my giant fiberglass brain at Stone Belt. Last week I finished attaching all the flowers to the green side of the brain. I still need to create vines and butterflies to give that side of the piece more depth and movement. The green side is intended to showcase the eurphoric aspects of bipolarism. My understanding, and what I’m going for, is to create an information overload that goes beyond pretty valleys and images and creates an intense, palpable, almost overwhelming experience. I also started work on the dark side of depression and despair as I move the rest of the piece forward. I covered the left hemisphere with mottled sections using black felts. I started to attach a few black objects to the dark side as well, including broken watches and compasses (time stands still and direction is lost), empty liquor bottles, wine corks, and pill bottles painted black (alcohol and drug abuse). I’m working on creating more dark objects to include by spray painting roses, birds in cages (thanks Cappi!) and dark angels . I’m going to add a few words I’m creating from cardboard castoff letters (thanks IU Geology department!), also painted black. I’ll use helplessness, depression, darkness, anger, and anything else that contributes to the depths of despair. I also intend to include black electrical cords to add movement and balance the green vines on the euphoric side. I’ll make the dark side additions permanent using silicone adhesive, which seems to work best for the range of materials I want to use.

The brain project also brought me a few minutes of fame across the Midwest this week. The Bloomington Herald-Times newspaper came and took pictures of the brains. They interviewed Joe LaMantia and me to get a flavor for what’s going on, and the article was picked up by the Associated Press. I saw that the article made it to papers and TV websites in Indianapolis, Chicago (the Tribune!) and Louisville. It even made it to Terre Haute and Brazil (Indiana). My life is complete. The local public television affiliate, WTIU, is scheduled to visit Friday to get some footage for TV. We’ll have to see if my brain makes it onto the little screen.

Of course the rest of my art projects don’t rest, even as the brains expand. I’m trying to finish off a few pieces I’ve been working on for the Bloom artist showcase on February 25^th. I even took on a new commission this week, due by early June, so life is full. I do take a little time out for myself (and Jim) these days. We went to the Sunday matinee performance of “The Boy in the Bathroom” at the Bloomington Playwright’s Project. Chad Rabinovitz and the cast put together another amazing and moving performance. We’re extremely fortunate to have him running the BPP, bringing together both the artistic and business aspects of the venture together into a successful and vibrant home for new plays. I’m sure we’ll be back sometime soon!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

Dyeing and drying green…

It has been a very green week. Most people do spring cleaning when the weather gets nice—I do my annual green dyeing fest. It usually gives me enough green yarn to carry me through a year of verdant art. I pulled out my dye pots from Grandpa (thanks!) and filled them with greens I like. After the dyeing I drained the green yarns and spread them over a chair in the veranda. It looks very soft and inviting to sit in. When the weather turned cooler I moved everything downstairs to hang and dry more completely.

Speaking of turning things green, I spent a little quality time with my brain. If you aren’t up to speed on this project, I’m embellishing one of the 22 brains in Bloomington’s ‘Brain Extravaganza!’ It’s the brainchild of Jill Bolte-Taylor, pun intended. I met my brain at Stonebelt this week among a bunch of other brains. Mine is gong to represent my interpretation of bipolarism. The right hemisphere is now a lawn of green felt to be covered in flowers I created, and the theme is a floral euphoria. I spent a big block of time, at least when I wasn’t chatting with my friend Bonnie Gordon-Lucas working nearby, attaching felt to the right hemisphere of the brain. I’ve been collecting felt scraps for years, knowing I’d have a use for them someday, and now I do! I used up every last green scrap I had. I tested several glues along the way to see what works best to adhere the coarse resin brain surface to felt and discovered that good old white glue was the best. The good news, and bad news, is that I went through my entire collection of leftover white glue bottles. I started the project with two two-gallon bags full of partially used bottles of white glue; now I’m completely out. My husband thinks I’m going to stand outside the elementary school after classes and mug kids to get more. Have I said I’m big on reclaiming and recycling? The problem is that I don’t have enough glue to finish the dark side of my brain, so I see a trip to Pygmalion’s soon to pick up another gallon or so. If you can’t use recycled materials, buy them locally I say.

My own brain got to re-thinking my ‘Hilly Hundred’ piece this week. I decided that the green background I made isn’t persuasive enough to evoke the hilliness I want for the twelve bike wheels I just created. I need to play with some design ideas to make it more dimensional. I decided that the background I made would be perfect for a project I mentally composed about a year and a half ago. Of course I got sidetracked before completion, but now I’m back on the job. The vision is to have a hand holding a bouquet of dandelions above a diverse background of more traditional garden flowers. It speaks to the idea that things don’t need to be commercial or prized by society to have great value to a person. People think of dandelions as mundane weeds, but they provide the first real explosion of colors for the world in spring, whether you planted them or not. When my boys were little they would pick dandelions for me, which they saw as pretty. They just wanted to share flowers with me because they knew they made me happy. I still cherish the little yellow splashes of spring.

Art making never seems to completely fill my week. Thursday evening was the big grand re-opening of the Bloomington Playwright’s Project. Chad and Gabe and a whole bunch of volunteers have done an amazing job converting the theater from a dingy gray space into a warm inviting living room. It’s an accessible and inviting place to be. Part of the ceremony was the official unveiling of two art pieces that were intended to capture the spirit of the BPP and to be part of a permanent collection. Oliver Winery underwrote the commissions for two pieces (thanks Oliver!). Joel Washington, a terrific Bloomington artist, did one and the other was one of mine. I was delighted and honored to be included in the project and the re-opening ceremony. I’m very grateful to Chad for re-establishing the BPP as a Bloomington landmark and artistic treasure. His vision and energy were just what the place needed and demands.

And if that wasn’t enough for one week, on Friday night we were all off to Wonderlab for the aluminum pouring event. About a month ago my boys and I picked up sand molds and long nails for carving designs. The boys set to work almost immediately, scratching designs into the artificial sandstone medium. I put off my design until the day before the pour because I couldn’t decide on a subject. During my dyeing spree I went out into the veranda and the sun was shining, so I knew what I had to do! We watched them pour molten aluminum into the molds and buff the cooled products. While we waited, we had a nice macaroni and cheese dinner upstairs, care of Bloomingfoods, and did a little running around inside. The pieces turned out beautifully, and everyone involved was excited to participate in the process of creating the aluminum casts. It was a week of delightful experiences all around.

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

Flowers on my brain…

It has been a busy week of art creation this week, but not much on project completion. I took a few big steps forward on my ‘Hilly Hundred’ piece—I wove the entire green background. I wasn’t sure about the color palette that I wanted to develop for the bicycles, but while I was reading art magazines at bedtime I came across an image that solved my problem. It features a clock tower and a green pathway. I want to emulate the feel of the color combinations by featuring the green hills of southern Indiana and splashing on the colorful bicycle bodies. To create the bicycle wheels I’ve been collecting a bunch of old bangles from various garage sales and places such as Opportunity House. I’ll wrap these with silver yarn and wrap a black shoelace on the outside of the ring to create the bike tires. I like making bikes – it reminds me that spring is approaching!

On another front, I’m now fully committed to creating my ‘brain’ piece as part of the ‘brain art’ installment series around Bloomington. The project is being organized by Jill Bolte-Taylor and will feature embellished six-foot wide fiberglass brains at selected sites. I’ve been felting soft flowers for one side of the brain, and now I have four trays ready to attach. They’re all made out of scraps of wool and commercial felt bits that I’ve been collecting. I’m quite partial to a series of marigolds I’ve been creating and having fun with. I made a few of them at my art-associated meetings where my colleagues are used to watching my ‘voodoo’ art. That’s how they often describe my intense and incessant poking of small objects with felting needles. More recently I’ve been cutting fringes into strips of felt about a foot long. Then I roll them up to create the yellow marigolds. I always seem to learn something new when I start down a new road in art, and the marigolds are a fun offshoot of my ‘brain flowers’, and they blossomed from my holiday ‘Sweater Petals’ project.

The third piece that’s almost done now is my poppy weaving. I have been featuring the flower parts over the past few weeks (scroll down to see them) and I had hoped to complete it this week. My busy meeting schedule got in the way, however, so this week’s the charm for bringing the elements together.

In family news, my crew went to see Stomp! at the IU auditorium on Friday evening. It was wonderful to watch the boy’s reaction to the production. Tommie especially was engrossed by the percussion dance performance. He was bopping and tapping in his seat right beside me. And last night I was off to the ‘Art of Chocolate’ exhibit at the IU art museum. I juried two pieces into the show, so I got a free ticket to sample the special chocolate goodies they’ll have. I did manage to snag a few treats to bring home for the boys – Ooo, were they pleased !

Until next week…

Martina Celerin