And I’m back!

Yes, the waters in my art studio have long since receded.  The combination of busy summer art fairs and travel took me out of the blog-writing routine, but I’m going to try my best to get back into a rhythm that lets me write.  I’m also at a point where I’m excited about creating a whole new body of work that I’ll write about here.  First, let’s do a little catching up to set the stage.

Saturday night was the last performance of Sounds of South’s Guys and Dolls.  I did the costumes and props for the show, all while enjoying the efforts of the kids who put together an outstanding set of performances.  I like creating more whimsical costumes, which I got to do in Hello Dolly, Pippin, and Beauty and the Beast, but I pushed myself into a completely different approach for this one.  I decided to do the opening scene, called Runyonland, all in sepia tones to capture a historical feel.  It gave a warm aura to the movement of background actors who set the tone for the play.  I did the male leads in plaids and the females in polka dots and bright colors. 

The kids really embraced their roles and each performance was wonderful—you never would guess it was a high school production.  Several people, including Uncle Tim visiting from New Mexico and Steve Scott, Jacob’s martial arts instructor, proclaimed it to be the best show of the performances I costumed.  Jacob was charming in his dancing and acting roles, so everything came together Nicely Nicely. 

My most recent art directions have developed around transitions in my life and in the world, especially with regard to places and cultures.  My family emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1968, which brought me to Ontario.  Science brought me to Indiana and the United States, but art and my family have rooted me here. 

I think I’m especially sensitive to migrations and the life transitions they embody, and my latest body of work will be called ‘Where have you been and what have you seen?’  

Some trips are such a part of my being that I can’t imagine not doing it, which makes me think about monarchs and warblers traveling thousands of miles and crossing the international boundaries without noticing or caring.  And of course the human contrast is the single life-changing migrations, such as my family coming here from Europe, or people from South America trying to migrate north to seek asylum.  Each individual has to make a profoundly life-changing decision to commit to uprooting and attempt to re-establish in a completely different environment. 

They each bring their own histories, traditions and experiences to their new home.  

In addition to large scale migrations, I’ve been thinking a lot about the routine travels we make beyond our locale, which might mean our annual vacation to the coast of North Carolina or an unplanned day jaunt to Indianapolis to investigate an art installation site and visit a new restaurant.

I got to thinking about the shorter trips to various places life takes me, such as my trips to art fairs in different states, or just traveling to Indianapolis for a day to explore galleries and restaurants.  Our extreme mobility lets us move hundreds of miles to a place where we don’t know anyone, confident in our security and ability to discover new people and events.  That’s more of a whimsical migration, but we bring our interests and experiences and temporarily plant ourselves in a new place just for fun.  I’m creating work that speaks to each of those ideas about migration, movement, and the transitions that occur along the way. 

Over the past summer I was thinking about the barriers to the life changing single events that exist for humans but not birds or insects. I created a piece called border patrol as I merged the two worlds in my mind.  More recently, having just returned from a day trip to Indianapolis with Dawn Adams, I realized that those shorter, whimsical migrations really make a huge difference in one’s disposition and outlook on life.  A piece that I was working on as individual components suddenly came together as a cohesive composition. 

I’m going to create a piece called Tree Concert Trio.  It touches on the amazing singing that the Sounds of South students have been doing, and I think that somewhere the polka dotted costumes started appearing in the markings for my whimsical bird singers that will populate the piece.  I’m imagining them singing together on purple branches with green leaves.  It’s a happy, feel good piece about my life.   

I have also had some pretty big changes in our family life.  We dropped Tommie off at Oberlin College, or perhaps better said he packed the van, drove us all there, and assumed a new life full of study, Rugby and Aikido in his spare time.  That means the house is a little quieter as we tend to the last bird in the nest.  We did visit him a few weeks ago, and he led me to a big haul of black walnuts on the ground that I scooped up for dyeing.  When I got home, I husked them, broke the husks into one inch pieces and filled my dye pot with them and water to simmer on the veranda.  I didn’t know how the smell would be.  

After an hour boil and overnight steep I pulled out the husks and added a pound of washed, white fleece.  After another boil and steep I pulled out an absolutely scrumptious warm brown fleece, more beautiful than I could have imagined.  I moved on to overdyeing some green, red and teal cottons and wools to great effect, and I’m hoping to do a couple more rounds of dying.  Jim always said you have to embrace the spectrum of browns if you want to be a true Midwesterner!  I’m getting closer.   

I hope you’re not surprised to hear that I’ve had a few pies since I last wrote.  In prime raspberry season, we brought home two pints from Mark at the farmer’s market each week and I had a fresh pie for five straight weeks.  Jim was working on perfecting his tapioca filling technique, and I tried to tell him this was just too many pies for me.  I waited until he was off at work, of course, so he didn’t really hear me....  

We even had a raspberry pie from frozen farmer’s market berries that we got to share with our family members Dave and Martha from Mississippi when they were here for Guys and Dolls last Saturday.  Sadly, the raspberries are now out of season after the frosts, and I’m not much of an apple pie person.  Like in my art career, I guess I just have to wonder what’s coming next!

Until next week, if the creek don’t rise,

--> Martina Celerin

More Fall Stew

I’m still working on my Fall Stew composition.  This week I made a lot of progress on the carrots and tomatoes.  I’ve also created he wool bases for the peas and potatoes.  I also stretched out my willow piece this week.  I completed the base for the water, but now I need to add the surface of the water, the peninsula, and add the willow to the composition.  It feels like I should be farther along, but I just haven’t had quite as much sit and wait time as I expected this week due to the hustle and bustle of preparations for winter festivities.   

I had to do some simple, less creative tasks such as repairing Frosty’s costume ahead of the Winter Concert by Sounds of South.  Frosty’s Velcro seal, which in Czech we’d call a dry zipper, was matted with the fuzzy fabric from his costume.  Frosty definitely needed a little love to keep him from melting, so I replaced the Velcro with a substantial, big-toothed zipper.  It’s fabulous having my own costume studio, packed with everything I need to fix things up as needed.  Monday the 7^th is the performance, so come by to see it if you’re in the area.  I’ve heard the Hallelujah chorus in rehearsals and it’s amazing!

Speaking of Frosty and the holiday spirit, we’ve started to decorate our house.  Tommie initiated the festivities by converting the dining room into a winter wonderland by cutting out snowflakes to hang from the ceiling.  I gave him the usual praises because they were indeed far superior to the ones he did as a little kid.  Now he’s reached the point where they are beautifully elaborate—

he says it’s like practical geometry to him (go school!).  He’s even enticed me into participation.  I love love love cutting shapes out of folded paper to enjoy my surprise at the transformation.  This afternoon the Exacto knives come out for a little more detail, so let’s hope that a trip to the hospital isn’t in the offing. 

Speaking of geometry, I’m pretty excited to visit an exhibit at the Peeler Art Gallery in DePauw tomorrow with my friend Dawn.  It’s a fiber art exhibit that marries art and science.  There are images of the three-dimensional sculptural work with images online if you’re interested.  Having the freedom to take off on an adventure is one more reminder that I gave myself December off from doing art fairs.  This is allowing me to regenerate and get re-motivated to connect with the art world and create something fresh for myself.

On the family front, Saturday night came with a trip to the IU basketball night with Tommie.  We got sugared up with some Sour Patch Kids candies and yelled for the Hoosiers.  All season IU has had great offense, but last night they discovered the importance of defense.  My fingers are crossed that they remember last night when they play Wisconsin in early January! 

Thankfully, Thursday was a pie day for me.  My deep dish pan was filled with a delightful raspberry pie, which I’m still enjoying for breakfast.  Last for this week, Jacob began expressing his creativity in pancakes again this morning.  We didn’t get a lot of pictures, but we did have some interesting creations to munch on for breakfast. 

He and Tommie are now off creating a candy house base to decorate sometime soon.  It’s a busy time of year!

Until next week,

Martina Celerin 

Weave and ye shall receive!

I spent a delightful evening Friday at the reception for my ‘Looking at Water’ exhibition.  The Convention Center set out an amazing display of hors d’oeuvres to snack on, including butternut soup, gouda mac and cheese, and pumpkin tartlets.  Elegant servers whisked through the well-attended show with glasses of red and white wine on platters.  There was even a harpist, which provided a beautiful complement to my visual art.  We decided that the harp was perfect because of the connection between the strings in the instrument, the warps in the weavings, and the collection of yarns and wires comprising the pieces.  The subtle intonations of the harp are reminiscent of rippling water, creating a beautiful atmosphere.  I’m very grateful for how much effort that Patti Russo, Talisha Coppock and the Convention Center personnel invested in making the reception and show a wonderful event! 

The show itself marks another turning point for me.  It felt great to have all the water pieces completed and hanging.  It gave me closure to that body of work.  The highlight was all the delightful conversations I was able to have with people at the reception.  Many were new to my work, but it was great to bond with long-term supporters I have in the town.  Many picked up on the new techniques and subtleties in composition that were developed for the water-based exhibition.  It was heartwarming to share my sense of pride in accomplishment as we talked about the cohesiveness in the show and distinctive features in each piece. 

The life of an artist, sadly, isn’t all receptions and celebration.  With so much time invested in creating pieces for the exhibit, much that is mundane was pushed to the back burner.  I spent most of this week trying to restore some order in my life.  I fixed the vacuum cleaner and ran it over much of the house.  I processed a mountain of laundry and generally cleaned the rest of the house.  I even devoted some time to creating the last of the props for the Sounds of South performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera.’  

 I created an elaborate jewelry box for Carlotta and trays of beer steins for the cast members in the ‘Don Juan’ scene.  I made it out to Long’s Landing, and the supportive crew there donated large foam pieces for the phantom’s armchair.  I did just dip my toes back into the art world at the end of the week by adding colorful flowers along the walkway of my large-format commissioned piece.  I need some green yarn for a third commission in my cue, which will require dyeing various textured yarns.  

 I wound skeins of yarns in preparation for the big dyeing project.  I even did a little needle felting for a second commission in the cue, creating mushrooms and olives for the piece.  Last, I’m gearing up to make some more sweater petals for the holiday season at By Hand Gallery, as well as the upcoming Artisan Guilds ofBloomington show this fall.   

This year the three Guilds (Spinners and Weavers, Glass, and Pottery) will combine to show at the Convention Center on November 14^th and 15^th.  My ‘Looking at Water’ exhibit will still be there in the Rogers room, so stop in to visit both!

Of course family events are still proceeding at full steam.  The boys are both heavy into rehearsals (two nights a week) for Phantom of the Opera.  Tommie will be on stage, while Jacob was tapped to handle the lighting for the show.  It’s amazing to see how far they have come since the first rehearsals I saw in late summer, so now I’m looking forward to seeing the final, polished version on October 18^th.  Parents have been charged with ramping up advertising, meaning putting out yard signs, posters, magnets for cars, and anything else we can come up with.  Tickets are available on line, and we hope to see you there!   

Still, the best part of the week might have been the raspberry pie that appeared last Sunday morning after Saturday’s farmer’s market.  I had a slice each morning this past week, finishing the last one this morning with espresso.  The weather turned cold, but I’m looking forward to the first fire in the fireplace of the season tonight!  I hope you stay warm too!

Until next week,

Martina Celerin 

And the leaves keep falling.

My intensive weaving season continued over the past two weeks as I moved forward on several commissions that came in over the summer.  I completed the background on another piece that features a path through the woods.  I picked out all of the yarn colors for my pepper piece and warped the loom I’ll need.  I also made more felted balls for my ‘lemons’ piece—I feel like all of those projects are moving along nicely.  I also completed a piece that wasn’t a commission, but one that I started just before the Fourth Street Festival.   

The chaos that the weather brought to this year’s event kept me from completing it before the show.  I probably had the time, but I just couldn’t focus on art creation.  Waiting to complete the piece turned out to be a good thing.  When Grandma was here two weeks ago we collected some gravel from a creek bed that turned out to be perfect in the piece.   

The rocks had been beaten up a little and the edges smoothed by running water in the creek.  The smoothness and the weathering made them perfect for the rocky tip of the peninsula in the piece I was finishing.  If you’d like to see some of my most recent work, come to the first fall show of the season, the Spinner’s and Weaver’s Guild show opens on November 9^th. 

The business side of my life kept me busy too.  Toward the end of the week I got Tom Bertolacini, my photographer, to drop by and capture images of many of my newer pieces.  It had been a very busy summer, and I just didn’t have a chance to capture images of many of my newer pieces.  Some of them sold before I could get a picture, but I’ve resigned myself to that eventuality when the crunch before a show comes. 

 I also negotiated with Bloomingfoods East to display my sweater petals.  The barrier to expanding my display there has always been the expanded footprint in an already packed store.  I had an epiphany when I turned the problem over in my brain—I would just extend my card rack up one story!  The lower level will continue to display cards while the upper story will house the sweater petals.  I built the display out of mostly all reclaimed and recycled materials, except for the dowel I bought new at Kleindorfer’s Hardware.  I’m hoping that the weather cooperates just a little bit to give me a window to paint my creation black to match the rack.  With any luck it will be at Bloomingfood’s East early in the week. 

And yes, the season also features Halloween.  This year Tommie wanted to be a Zombie and buy a Zombie costume.  I usually encourage making costumes (I’m pretty handy with fabric, it turns out).  But he really wanted the costume, so I decided it would be a reward for his excellent first term grades.  Jacob also had a clear idea in mind, taken from one of his favorite books.  He wanted to be the Ranger’s Apprentice.  Fortunately or unfortunately, he came with a clear vision of exactly what the costume should look like.   

He rejected all the green materials in my huge collection for the cloak.  We ended up in the fabric store to find just what he needed.  I sewed the material into the cloak, and he found a button that was perfect as a clasp to define the hood.  He needed a quiver and decided that black leather was the way to go.  I’m actually quite proud of what we were able to create together.  For the arrows, Jacob and Jim went into the garden and cut down dried lily stalks.  They needed sharper points, he decided, so he’s been using Sculptey, an oven bakeable clay, to create them.  They also cut down a curved branch from the maple tree in front for the bow.  He’s been doing some whittling to get the shape right.  I, on the other hand, found the perfect costume on a trip to the Recycle Center.  I can’t wait to wear my cow costume!   

Mary at the Recycle Center suggested that I might want to put a ring through one of the teats, but I could see Jim wincing at the visual.  I’ll have my fun on Wednesday and take it back on Thursday.  It was good that I didn’t upset Jim too much, because he made us a fresh raspberry pie this morning!  We found the last of the season’s berries at the Farmer’s Market.  One batch went into the freezer for a winter pie and one went into a crust this morning.  I had fresh, warm pie with a second cup of espresso!  Perfect!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

Fall is here!

Now that traveling to summer art fairs is behind me and the weather is cooling off, I know it must be fall.  The kids are back in school too!  My art studio is a much quieter place, which means I can put my full energies into weaving again.  Last week I wove and wove and wove on my giant commission piece.  I was able to complete the background weaving and crocheting.  The flat background that fills the frame came first, after which I released the piece from the loom and stretch it into the frame that Tom Bertolacini built for me.  Then I started to build the foreground soil by crocheting forward, building up in layers away from the woven background.  I used my yarns in beige, sand and taupe shades to create the path, and I used random greens that I tend not to use as the base for the forest floor.  It’s a great way to use up the blue-greens and Christmassy greens that rarely work in my pieces.   

They serve as a placeholder yarn that I’ll cover over using my grasses and plant materials.  The goal is to create a realistic forest understory adjacent to the path that moves through the trees.  When I step back and look at it, I realize that the piece that has consumed an amazing amount of yarn.  I’m estimating that I consumed close to a twelve-gallon tub of yarn scraps just to finish the base for the trees.  That’s a good thing, because now I can close the lids on my storage tubs and they fit in my wall racks again!  To finish the base, I picked out the exact sand, taupe and cream colors I wanted to use for the path and layered them on top of the crocheted yarn.  I then needle felted the components together to get the mottled look I wanted.  It was very satisfying to see it all completed.  With the background in the frame, I moved on to creating the tree trunks and forest canopy.  I finished needle felting the free-standing tree trunks, so they’re ready to plant.  This week I’ll extend the trees by constructing the branches and launch into making the leaf clumps.  After my last round of dyeing, I have plenty of the crunchy greens available to create the leaves.  It’s a huge project, but I’m delighted to see it coming together. 

 

My life is never quite as simple as it should be, so lots of other things are going on as I weave.  I’m deep in the throes of writing a grant to help support advertising for the Fourth Street Festival.  It isn’t glamorous work, but it has to get done before the October first deadline.  It helps make the show better by drawing in crowds from accessible markets such as Cincinnatti, so I know it’s worth the effort.  On the home front, Jacob is finally emerging from a long and nasty respiratory illness.  It’s something like whooping cough, but it didn’t test positive for the actual disease.  He sure has the ‘whoop’, though.  After three trips to the doctor and a messed-up digestive system from all the antibiotics he’s finally looking like Jacob again.  It’s so good to have him back!  Friday night turned out to be a big night for the family too.  We left the boys to guard the house (OK, to play Minecraft all evening as their treat) while Jim surprised me with an elegant dinner at Finch’s Brasserie.  I had the grilled swordfish, which was excellent, and a wonderful calamari appetizer. 

 Jim planned it so we could have a bottle of wine and walk over to the opera afterward on a pleasant fall evening.  We had excellent seats, right down in front with all the long-time subscribers, to see DonGiovanni.  I’ve seen it many times, and I really enjoy a lot of the music.  Of course the production was excellent, so it turned out to be a wonderful evening.  It was a dry walk back to the car, but we missed a torrential downpour while we were watching the statue claim Don Giovanni.  The boys were sleeping in bed (for how long I don’t know) when we got home so all turned out perfectly.  Saturday brought the farmer’s market, which meant lots more tomatoes for sauces, cucumbers for lunches, raspberries for pies, and hot chocolate (or espresso for me!) along the way.  I should also mention that with the cooler weather my enthusiasm for baking came back.  I made babovka (a traditional Czech cake), muffins (with healthy stuff packed in) and “co dum da” cookies (which translates into ‘what the house will give’).  This week the house gave a few chocolate chips, white chocolate chunks, some peanuts, oatmeal, wheat germ and ground flax seed.  Fortunately, the kids only noticed the chocolate.  I even made my famous cheese filled slugs on Friday!  All that baking took a lot of effort, but I think I inspired Jim to make another raspberry pie.  Hooray!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin