Pie in the art studio!

Yes, I enjoyed a beautiful slice of warm blackberry pie with my family in my usual working space.  Tom Bertolacini, my frame maker and photographer, dropped off fourteen oak frames, including one for my next piece of a non-traditional size.  It will be a re-interpretation of my ‘Tap Water” piece for a patron in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Tom also left behind some giant cucumbers, zucchini, squash, two generous quarts of blackberries, and one tomato that Patty was willing to part with.  

 Jim transformed the berries into an awesome pie.  On Monday evening the boys brought the creation down to the art studio and we all feasted before dinner.  I was on my way to the annual BloomMagazine reception, and although there was food I couldn’t possible go without trying the pie!  Dawn Adams and I had a wonderful time.  I got to see the most recent issue of Bloom and I was delighted to see a large photo of me from the local artist showcase event that Bloom puts on in the winter.  If that wasn’t enough, the ad for the Fourth Street Festival also features a giant image of one of my pieces, Summer Salad.  It was a good evening for me!

With the annual Fourth Street event coming up over the Labor Day weekend, I’ve been trying to spend as much time in the art studio as humanly possible.  I even make the sacrifice of eating pie for breakfast (with espresso) in my art studio!  

 I’m currently working on a northern pond piece, which is really the home for my loon.  I have completed the background, the cattails and the accompanying leaves.  I made them out of used paperclips that I straightened out and wrapped with yarn.  I found a nice brown chenille to make the actual cattail heads.   

They recall a warm, fuzzy memory for me, since in Czech the word for cattail is ‘cigar’.  I remember as a child trying unsuccessfully to light them.  I’m also working on tomatoes for a piece, and I am eight tomatoes shy of the completed work.  I still have to make some of the stems and leaves, but I have several meetings ahead of me.  That translates into plenty of tomato poking time.  I hope to have the piece completed by Labor Day.

I got to work on the components of the Tomato piece because we made one last trip to Grandma’s before school began on Wednesday.  We had a delightful trip, and in addition to making tomatoes on the drive, I made progress on a number of other fronts.  I had been thinking about making more underground pieces.  I was looking for memorable and rusted objects that evoke an emotional response.  Pieces that trigger a memory of something forgotten that used to be a regular part of your life.  While Jim and Tommie were off fishing, Grandma, Jacob and I went off to an antique mall across the street from our lunch spot.  I found a tintype photograph of two army officers that I knew I wanted to incorporate into a weaving.  I also found rusted old metal cars and a rusty fishing lure, among other treasures.  Grandma said she had plenty of those old rusty lures out in Grandpa’s pole barn.  Sure enough I found plenty of those, as well as a trove of other rusted treasures.  While I was there, Grandma’s neighbor Kathey Gibson came over and saw what I was doing.  That brought on an invitation from Ben Gibson to dig through his garage.  He had years of rusty history in his garage!  I found old keys, antique welding goggles, rusted tools, and treasures of all sorts.  I have two big bags to sort through some quiet day this winter. 

As I sit to recount my memories of the past few weeks, I realize how jam packed the whole time has been.  We brought back two big bags of transparent apples from Grandma’s prized tree.  They became three freezer pies, uncounted tupperwares of frozen chunks for muffins, and a big bowl of applesauce.   

The boys wanted to go on one last kayaking adventure, so we went to find the place Cindy Creek, the boy’s first grade teacher who got us started on kayaking, called Crinoid Beach.  We paddled across the lake to find the ‘beach’ – they are really more of limestone outcroppings.  I’m not sure that we landed on Crinoid Beach but we landed on a beach with lots of rocks with holes in them – perfect for incorporating into weavings, so for me it’s now the Rocks-with-Holes-in-them Beach.   

The boys got to swim and we all had lots of fun splashing around and having our lunch.    

And on Friday night, Jim tested (and passed!) his test for half-red, half-black belt in Taekwondo.  We’re so proud of him! 

Until next week,

Martina Celerin

Re-shirt week.

This week I pulled out my trusty Jeans Machine sewing machine that Grandma gave me and spent the whole week sewing!  I first converted the dining room into a sewing room.  After the Unitarian Universalist Art Fair in December I was secure in the knowledge that my new Re-Shirt designs were well-received.  Around that time I had cut out some fabric for the next batch of Re-Shirts.  If you haven’t seen them, they’re artsy tank tops with tuxedo tails made out of fabrics that have had a previous life.  That means that old shirts, skirts, tablecloths and curtains are all fair game.  When I think of curtain fabrics, all I can think of is the great Carol Burnett and her parody of "Gone With the Wind."

My friend Ruth has been wonderful about giving me all kinds of fabric scraps, including batiks and embroidered pieces that I think came out of a jacket.  I even ‘retire’ a few shirts from my husband’s closets that he shouldn’t be wearing any more.  The process of creating shirts itself is a lot like making soup—what goes in depends on what you have on hand and what color palate strikes my fancy.  Just as I was finishing up this week, the tension on the sewing machine went wonky and it got stuck in reverse !?! And so the sewing was over.  ugh.  It now sits at Klaiber’s Sewing Center awaiting some care and attention.   

In hindsight, it probably would have been a good idea to give it a little oil every now and again instead of plowing through several show’s worth of Re-Shirts.  I mentioned to my friend Karen Cherrington that my machine would be down for two weeks, and she generously loaned me her sewing machine as a replacement.  She bought it in 1984 and the machine never made it out of the box.  It looks like a really solid machine, but I’m guessing it’s going to need a little oil.  I should be chugging along again by the beginning of the week.  Basically I’m gearing up for the Bloom show, which will be this coming Sunday, February 24^th from 12 to 5:30 at the Bloomington Convention Center.  

 I’ll be in booth #60 if I’m not talking or laughing loud enough for you to hear me when you come in.  I have seen a lot of advertising for it, including in this morning’s Herald-Times, so I’m expecting a good turnout. 

On the home front, we celebrated Valentine’s Day with special chocolate.  It wasn’t homemade pie, but instead I picked up a mousse cake from Angel B’s bakery in town.  It went nicely with the 2010 Molllydooker shiraz.  Yum!  On Friday night the whole crew went out to see ‘Traces’ at the IU Auditorium.  It was an amazing show!  The upper body strength and athletic ability of the performers was outstanding.  We saw individuals who could hold their rigid bodies at an angle of 90 degrees from a standing pole, or climb a pole while spinning around it without using their feet or bodies.  It’s truly a cross between circus acrobatics and modern dance.  It had a few dramatic choreographed falls and dramatic recoveries that freaked out Jim a little, but otherwise we all had a great time.  On Saturday morning I slipped off to the Bollywood dance class at Panache.  Darrelyn runs the class, and basically it’s a huge sweat fest.  She’s an enthusiastic ball of energy that inspires the thirty or forty participants to dance their hearts out.  I may not be exceptionally coordinated, but I really enjoy the class.  And finally, between everything else, I’ve had a chance to slip into my art studio and do a little weaving.  I have idea for another Garden Walk piece.  It involves a stone path turning thorough a white picket fence that guards the flowers on the inside yard.  I’m hoping to make some good progress on that piece this week.  I’ll just have to see what else life sends my way!

Until next week,

Martina Celerin

Lemons in the Snow

When life gives you lemons, mail them to Massachusetts!  According to the UPS, the lemon piece has touched down in Massachusetts at its new home.  As promised, here’s the image of the final piece.  Every end turns into a new beginning, or at least a reminder that it’s time to get back to the other projects you’ve ignored along the way.  To that end I’ve been chugging away at my Winter Birches commission.  I’m pleased to report that I have all of the tree trunks made for the piece, as well as the branches. 

 If all goes well this coming week I should assemble the piece and send it off to its new home in Chicago.  The caveat stems from fact that my weekly schedule was rather disjointed because Tommie was sick.  I think it’s that stinking flu going around.  He’s much better now and was able to go back to school on Thursday.  Fortunately, the illness was isolated to Tommie, at least so far. 

Unfortunately, it meant that my art making was a little of this and a little of that.  I did launch into another piece for the garden show.  It’s the fifth piece I have in progress at one time, which is a record for me.  The piece will be titled “Washing the Harvest” and will feature an outstretched hand holding a radish under a water faucet emerging from a stone wall.  This week I managed to weave the wall and I got a good start on the hand. 

 I have a thumb and one finger, perfect for picking things up.  My hope is to add more fingers this evening during the IU-Michigan game, but I’m worried that it’s going to be too exciting.  I just can’t safely poke with a needle when I have to keep looking up at the game.  When I transitioned into art, I never imagined that college basketball games would slow down progress. 

 

 My goal for the upcoming week is to keep making progress on weavings, but the following week I will pull out the sewing machine to make Re-Shirts.  They were well received at the Unitarian Universalist Art Fair in December of last year, and I promised people that I would make more for this event.  They were so popular that I sold the one I was wearing three times, so I need to make myself one as well!  The Bloom Artists’ Showcase is coming up on Sunday February 24^th, and will run from noon to 5:30 at the Bloomington Convention Center. I found this pic from last year's event on Bloom's web site.  Fortunately, I spent a little time over the holidays cutting out the actual Re-Shirt fabrics, which come from old clothing, curtains, tablecloths and random fabric scraps.  That means I’m ready to put Grandma’s sewing machine into high gear for about a week.  It’s called the Jeans Machine, and it’s a real workhorse.  On my old machine the zigzags would skip a few stitches when I put the petal to the metal, but this machine just hums along perfectly, even at “Interstate speed.”  I like that.  

 

After a long week of poor sleep and tired days, last night we celebrated with a delightful fish dinner.  Jim prepared his now famous orange-ginger-glazed salmon and jasmine rice.  The dish was accompanied by steamed broccoli, for which Jacob requested a cheese sauce - so out came my trusty old Fanny Farmer.  That sauce increased his broccoli consumption about five-fold, so I plan to make that again.  The adults added a delightful bottle of wine—the tempranillo with the pig on the label.  It’s actually a super inexpensive wine from Trader Joe’s, but when you just need a reliable tipple it does a fine job.  I wonder how it goes with peach pie.  Is anybody listening? 

Until next week,

Martina Celerin

Bloom and brains but still no pie

The Bloom magazine’s Local Artist Showcase was the focal point of my art week. Malcolm Abrams, the editor and publisher of Bloom, and his group put together an excellent event. I was especially pleased by how well promoted and attended the show was. We had the perfect convergence of events on Saturday. The weather was mild enough to get everyone out of the house, and the crowds were ready to see some fresh art after a long winter. Gosh, I haven’t gotten to chitty-chatty like that since the Unitarian Universalist show last year in December! I sure hope this becomes an annual event! I even found a lovely scarf from a Martinsville artist. By wearing it I think I managed to get two more sales for her after a city meeting last night.

Of course my other projects had to keep moving along. I had Tom Bertolacini, my photographer, come by to capture images of my recently completed weavings. I’m hoping to translate some of the images into a new set of note cards. I think my ‘Flowers for Mom’ piece and some of my bike-themed pieces are good choices.

I also spent part of the week finishing my Trashion/Refashion outfits. This year my son Jacob is participating too. He designed an outfit that I’m helping him put together. I don’t want to ruin the surprise with pictures, but after the images are submitted for jurying Thursday I’ll include them in my blog.

Last, my giant brain project is advancing. I found a bunch of Valentines Day decorations that were on sale (90% off) so I snapped them up and spray-painted the hearts black. I know that that sounds creepy – and it is. I also searched through my collection of found objects and pulled out some other appropriate objects to paint black, including an old watch and a doll. It’s moving a little slowly because I can only deal with the happy objects turned black for an hour or two each day. So much life is drained out of the objects when you paint them black, and that just isn’t who I am. To balance things out I spent some time working on butterflies for the euphoric side of the brain. They will be suspended over the enormous flower garden on the right side of the brain. I have until April seventh and I feel good about what I’ve gotten accomplished so far. It’s really nice working at Stone Belt because I get to interact with other artists. When I’m in my art studio I only have my own thoughts to keep me moving along. I’m very productive, but it isn’t as much fun as being surrounded by a group of supportive artist friends.

Let’s see, what else isn’t happening in my life that should, and very soon. I’m thinking pie! Aren’t there apples in the freezer, ready to go? Some of those really nice, big Mutsus from the fall Farmer’s market?

Jim?

Until next week…

Martina Celerin

More art, less brain and my third anniversary.

I buckled down this week and focused on studio art. This Saturday (February 25^th) is Bloom magazine’s Local Artists Showcase at the Convention Center. The show will run from 11 am – 5 pm and I plan to have some brand new pieces to display. I laid down a layer of skin on my hand this week –my felted hand, that is - and called it complete. I added the dandelion bouquet and attached the hand to the background piece. As often happens, when I saw it all together I realized it needed a little something more. I wanted to convey the sense of the hand and dandelions breaking through a background of more traditional bouquet flowers, so I created and added a few more background flowers behind the hand. As I looked at the completed piece I decided that I knew its name: Flowers for Mom. I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I also worked on a nature piece that’s been coming together in my mind. It will include some summer birches by a lake, and probably bicycling to the lake to sit and watch the water. I’ve been weaving the background and crocheting leaf clumps out of the mohair boucle I dyed a couple of weeks ago. I wrapped some old shoelaces, string and cord with yarn to create the birch bark tree trunks. To create the smaller branches I’ve used some grey alpaca from Cathy Crosson. I’m close to finishing the bike piece, but I’m still waiting for it to tell me its name.

Of course my brain at Stone Belt is never far from my conscious thought these days. I visited to attach some spray painted letters to the dark side this week. WTIU, our local public television station, came to videotape the work in progress, so I put in an appearance when they filmed. This week the Louisville examiner is coming to town to do some interviews so interest in the project is starting to spread beyond Bloomington.

My big adventure this week was a trip to Indianapolis to be fingerprinted by the naturalization people. Jim came with me for moral support, applying a stern eye to the humorless guard on duty. The interaction with him would have gone better if I didn’t bring my Swiss army knife in my purse. Much like the airports, weapons are frowned upon in federal buildings. Jim ran it back to the car while I was admitted to wait. Even though we came an hour early they took me right away and I breezed through the process. It was all remarkably painless. They gave me a big brochure with information to study for the next stage of the process, the civics test - one hundred questions about American history, government and geography. At least once a day Tommie pulls it out and asks if I want to try the test. I think I started out at about seventy five percent accuracy (sixty percent is a pass). I do better every time I try and I still haven’t read the booklet! All I know is that there will be a big party when it’s all over (right Jim?)!

On a final note, this is the third anniversary of the blog. The first two visitors came by on February 17, 2009. Since then, the blog has had around seven thousand visits from 106 countries and all fifty states! Thanks to everyone for stopping by.

Until next week…

Martina Celerin