On the Road Again

Claudette Gamache, pastel painter, shares some her techniques with us during the MFA Weekend Seminar at Heartwood College of Art.
Photo by Bonnie Faulkner

It's amazing to see a pastel painting from the beginning (note red/orange base layer in previous photo) to the near finished creation. What a transformation!
Above: Pastel Landscape by Claudette Gamache.

Photo by Bonnie Faulkner

Back in Lubec in my own studio, I have begun encaustic painting on the surface of my "chakra pods". This six-part sculpture is far from done....Check back later on for the finished work!

While packing sake sets for a gallery, Bouli thought it might good idea to pack herself in a box.

New gallery, IRONBOUND, located at 37 Bayview Street, Camden, will be carrying my pottery work. It's an amazing two-floor space and I am excited to be on board! (due to open Spring 2012)

IRONBOUND owner, Joy Armbrust, shows off her enthusiasm for power tools and the remodeling process in her new Camden gallery. I think you can tell from this picture that she exudes much optimism, gratitude and "joy" for this new adventure.


ANNOUNCEMENT
Lubec Arts Alive
A short film by noted filmmaker Jon Wing Lum
depicting a community-inspired week of art

Mural painted during Lubec Arts Alive 2009 under the direction of Natasha Mayers, located at the Lubec Historical Society. Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine Arts Commission. Photo by Goodman/Van Riper Photography.

Featuring
Union of Maine Visual Artists and the People of Lubec

Tune in to watch it on ABC TV
Sunday, March 25th, 3:00 PM
Airing on WVII out of Bangor
Warner Brothers Channel 8, Dish or Satellite Channel 7
Viewing area Rockport to E. Millinocket / Oakland to Machias

This 36 minute film documents the one week residency of thirteen artists in Lubec, Maine to "art-up" the town. Artists including Robert Shetterly, Natasha Mayers, and Kenny Cole, Rose Marasco, and Richard Brown Lethem joined Lubec community members to create a history mural and installation art for businesses. Over thirty portraits of local personalities were created and oral histories documented.

"Lum's film is a poignant portrayal of artists, art making, and sense of place in a small town during the summer of 2009."

I missed a week of blogging and am now "on the road again" trying to sneak in an hour or so to get my thoughts down on paper. Well, not paper. Keyboard and screen more like it. The past two weeks have flown by with lots of excitement but at the same time, have offered me some peaceful and relaxing moments. I am attempting to bring more non-work time into my life. It is a challenge, but am learning that pacing the self will work best in the end. The rabbit and the hare, right?

This weekend I am enjoying two nights at the Samoset Resort in Rockland. Things are hopping here with the annual Fisherman's Forum. I am not here for the forum, but the lively energy is all around us. Last night Chris and I peeked our heads into the ballroom where an auction was in progress. Not the typical auction, mind you. Rain gear and lobster traps were the coveted items, complete with an auctioneer who boasted a thick downeast Maine accent!

This morning I delivered work to a new gallery that is opening later this spring. IRONBOUND, housed in a gorgeous brick building in downtown Camden, will be a primarily sculpture space. The owner, Joy Armbrust, is a real pleasure to work with. It is evident that she is passionate about art and her journey has been an interesting one for sure. I look forward to this new adventure and partnership.

Last weekend I was in Kennebunk for our MFA weekend seminar at Heartwood College of Art. These weekend residencies fill the soul. I am fortunate to move along in a pod with a group of other women artists/teachers who are passionate about art and the art process. The roundtable conversations are deep and inspiring, the food filling, and the hands-on workshops offer up lots of great techniques that can be transferred to both the studio and the classroom. I feel so incredibly honored to be in the midst of such strong and focused women.

This semester we had the privilege of learning under pastel painter Claudette Gamache. Her talent with pastels and her patient, nurturing, and intuitive teaching style made for a wonderful first-pastel experience for me. I love to draw and am quite comfortable with oil pastel, charcoal, pencil, and conte, but the color and soft powdery, lush, sticks of pigment were a new experience and I feel a bit more comfortable with the material than I did before the workshop. There is much more to the process than one would expect - but those steps that I had never seen demonstrated before made handling of the material a much more confident experience.

The next three months will go by quickly as I juggle a myriad of projects. I am in production for the spring season and preparing to have my pottery at three or four new venues this summer. Teaching at school gets wild in the spring, too. Projects' Night is just over two months away and there is lots to be accomplished in the classroom before the big student art show goes up. A new website is in the works, too, and requires a hefty amount of rewriting and photo shoots.

I am in the process of researching the factory industry in Lubec and find myself enthralled by all the old photos and the images of huge buildings and a bustling downtown. These factories, for the most part, do not exist anymore. Barely any evidence other than remnant foundations or photos. I am creating an installation sculpture based on the factories, planned to show in June 2012. It will be months of work for about three weeks of display, but I am excited since this will be my first installation-type piece. I have been thinking about it for the past few months and the physical part of the project is just beginning. I have easily a couple hundred hours of work ahead of me and know the clock is ticking. I still am trying to get my head around the "how-to". There is some compromise between what I would like to do and what is feasible. But, this is a beginning, and in every new process, I learn a bit more to take to the next project. I have always had some sort of connection to buildings and feel incredibly sad when I see a building heading toward its demise. I am in a way sensing the pain and loss of our community for these buildings that once existed. Not only was a means of employment and stability lost, but also a sense of identity. My installation sculpture will touch on just one tiny detail in a two-hundred year history.

Tonight we wine and dine Mom amidst birthday cheer. I am not even sure how old she is. We kind of lose track of the numbers as we get older. I am expecting lots of laughter tonight and some majorly satisfied salivary glands. Soon Chris and I trek back to Lubec to sequester ourselves into our respective creative spaces. The cats will no doubt be bent out of shape over our two night disappearance. Hopefully some tuna and catnip will remedy the situation in a timely manner.

Comfort in Repetition

Greenware stacking up:
items on slab roller get "trimmed and handled" later this morning.

Tea bowls trimmed, chopped and drying for the next bisque fire later this week.

Kiln loaded to the brim.

Working out ideas with paper and pen trying to problem-solve technicalities. Back to the sketching again today with an updated plan. I think need a carpenter on board. No. I KNOW I need a carpenter on board!!!! Volunteers? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

"Most inner-oriented artists share a common characteristic, a certain quality of obsession."
(Kenneth Coutts-Smith)

Yesterday I began a deep-clean in the downstairs of the house. The floor hasn't looked so good in a long time, waxed and shiny. This kind of spur-of-the-moment, labor-intensive cleaning activity is pretty much ritual when my mind is overloaded and trying to work through ideas for a new project.

I am dragging my feet on a sculpture. This is not to say that it has not been on my mind most every waking moment, most every day, for the past few weeks. Even when I am potting or puttering around with other activities, this project looms in a distant room in my mind. I keep asking "how am I going to make this work?" The concept seems simple enough, the sketches are simple, too, but....there are the hidden technicalities that no one else sees or thinks of that need to be tended to.

I have a back-up plan. I should maybe just go with that. And I might. But, I am still toggling back and forth to find common ground between what is my most ideal scenario (which includes immense amounts of time, expensive resources, and no doubt a multitude of frustrating glitches) versus what would be completely acceptable, still get the idea across, and look great. I mean, no one else would lament the loss of the original idea if only seeing the second, right? No one but me, anyway.

So, even though hours have been spent in the intellectual realm, rather than the physical, lots has been accomplished. Yet, nothing has manifested in the form of the tangible. This is a bit disconcerting since I am working against a deadline. I am trying to remain calm. Traditionally, once I settle on a plan, the physical part of the project starts to roll at a good pace. This project, though, includes well over...well...I don't even want to speculate the number of hours. I know that once the building of it begins, I am in deep, and there is no such thing as "end of the work day". Somehow, things get accomplished, albeit leaving the artist a wee bit bedraggled, insane, and in need of vacation in some far-off exotic and remote location.

This project, like many other sculptures and tapestries that I have created the past few years, will include lots of repetition.

I have been thinking about this repetition. Maybe it comes, in part, from the pottery background. When the ware shelves are empty, I sometimes feel a bit tense, worried about what needs to be done. But when the greenware starts to roll off the wheel and stack up into patterns of bowls, cups, or (in the case of my sculptural work) grenades, I feel a sense of calm. I love seeing multiples line the shelves, tables, floors. I think I have before likened it to the squirrel who stores nuts for winter. There is a calm in knowing that there is some form of security. I guess for some people, they get that feeling with stocks and bonds. Me....it's mounds of aesthetically formed clumps of gooey dirt. To each his own, I suppose.

In the past four weeks, I have created 212 of these formed clumps of gooey dirt called pots with a few handbuilt sculptural pieces tossed into that equation. The more I see stack-up, the more I more calm I feel, and the more I want to do. I guess artists (me anyway!) have just enough obsessive/compulsive behavior to keep the ideas and projects flowing.

Art is addictive. Crazy as that sounds, it is true. There are times I go without creating, but when that craving hits, and you get into that zone, it is hard to pull away from the temptations of the clay, fiber, or paint, or whichever alluring substance is sifting through your fingers at that moment.

Today, the clay is calling. The cave is warming up at this moment. I am trying to pace myself so that I can fit several activities into one day (rather than just ten hours of say, only mugs!!!). I will attach handles to 18 items and call it good, then jump back into sketching. I had a glimpse upon waking this morning, in mind's eye, a possible solution to the the sculpture issues, so after lunch, it's back to the drawing board for me, literally.

Lots of excitement is unfolding. Tune in next week....

Sake Sets for Your favorite Valentine

Sake Sets
by Shanna Wheelock of Cobscook Pottery

Just in time for Valentine's Day!
Give your sweetie a unique gift this year:
A handmade stoneware sake set by the easternmost potter in the United States! Better yet, include a bottle of Sake and a gift certificate to his or her favorite Japanese restaurant.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cobscookpottery

Sake Set in Mossy Forest glaze
$65

Sake Set in Northern Lights Glaze: CAT NOT INCLUDED

She's just our over-zealous, extremely curious, feline product model
$65

Sake Set in Barley glaze
$65

Sake Set in Seafoam glaze
$65

Homage to Ai Weiwei

"I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product."
Ai Weiwei (Ai Weiwei Speaks, 2011, pg. 87)

PBS Documentary
"Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favor"

As I type this, Occupy protesters all over the U.S. are facing eviction from parks where they have set-up camp. I listen to voices on both sides of the debate about whether or not what they are doing is futile or even justified. From my own personal perspective, I am proud of the commitment that they have exhibited and the inspiration and voice that they have provided for others. Whether or not someone agrees with what the Occupy protesters are fighting for, I think that most of us can agree on one thing: that freedom of expression is critical to our survival as a society.

Imagine if you will the opposite. Rather than being able to voice discontent, that our words and ideas were squashed, and even more frightening, that we were punished, sometimes to the point of death, for speaking out against what we feel must change.

Artists and writers have for centuries taken on the role of the dissident. It isn't an easy road for these philosophical warriors. They are often scorned for their honesty and outcasted from their communities. But without these movements, change and progress does not occur for the betterment of the whole.

Where would women be today if the suffrage movement was not successful? What if the Civil Rights Movement had not occurred? What conditions would workers be exposed to without the Labor Movement? Certainly, rational, caring beings would not condone such inhumane injustices and inequalities. Born in the latter part of the 20th century, the fights that others have fought is just a story in a history book. Without living through the situation, it is sometimes difficult to empathize or fathom a time when certain rights for people did not exist.

That I am able (or allowed) to write this blog is a right that I or many others take for granted. Other than a bit of self-censorship in the name of sensitivity, I know that I may freely voice my concerns and opinions without fear of major retribution. I know that I can make a statement about the shortcomings of our government or those in power and that other than a few disgruntled readers there will be no major backlash. At this point in my life, in this country, within this venue, I feel fairly confident that no one will force me to stop speaking my view.

This was not the case for Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. A child born shortly before China's Cultural Revolution, he grew up surrounded by censorship. His father, famous poet Ai Qing, was exiled to the far reaches of the remote Gobi Desert when Weiwei was only one year old. For sixteen years, Weiwei's studies consisted only of Chairman Mao propaganda and the occasional but hidden references to art and poetry. He was discouraged to learn to read, and books were nearly non-existent after they were all burned. To be a well-read, well-informed intellectual was to put the self at risk for imprisonment or worse. To us, this is a contradictory life - to be born to an artist and an intellectual - but to not be exposed to those riches of the mind.

Weiwei left China in 1981 and moved to New York City, a place he considered to be the center of the contemporary art movement. He had already begun schooling in Bejing, but did not complete his studies. In NYC, he studied art at Parsons School of Design, originally was a painter and drawer, but soon took to sculpture and photography. He was also a master Blackjack player frequenting the casinos of Atlantic City, and surrounded himself with poets and intellectuals. In the PBS video posted above, Weiwei speaks of the 1988 riots in Tompkins Square where liberals, artists, poets, musicians, homeless, and poor people congregated. Upon trying to impose a curfew for the park, a movement against government and police brutality commenced. Weiwei documented the event through photography and found inspiration in the uprising of the people, perhaps offering a glimmer of hope for his own oppressed home country.

Weiwei returned to Bejing in 1993. From 1994-1997, he worked on a series of three books called The Black Book, The White Book, and The Gray Book. The Black Book was purely written words by artists. He was concerned with ideas and concepts more so than actual visual images. The following books included images that were provocative in post-Cultural Revolution China. The books were picked up by a publisher in Hong Kong and considered to be illegal and "underground". This was perhaps the beginning of Weiwei discovering the power of his own voice within the oppression of his home country. Although China proclaimed to be a different place than it was in years previous, freedom of expression still did not, in Weiwei's eyes, exist.

In 2006, Weiwei was pretty much forced to begin a blog as China worked to improve its reputation, to prove that it was a more open and free society. Weiwei was nervous at first being that he did not consider himself a good writer. But soon he found this venue as his greatest form of self-expression. He wrote freely about government, culture, politics, art, and the human and social condition.

"The techniques of the Internet have become a major way of liberating humans from old values and systems, something that has never been possible until today"
Ai Weiwei (Ai Weiwei Speaks, 2011, pg. 6)

This new found freedom was of utmost importance and provided immense satisfaction. Weiwei contemplated whether or not he would someday be able to give up everything else and only write blogs. He posted sometimes as many as 100 photos a day, and when his blog was shut-down by the government in 2009, he had written over 200 entries and accrued millions of readers.

The entries preceding the shut-down of his blog pertained to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake where several school buildings had collapsed killing thousands of students. Ironically, many of the surrounding buildings remained standing, eluding to shoddy construction of the educational structures. Weiwei accused that the government was shirking its responsibility and his political blog entries roused feathers of government officials. They did their best to silence him.

His sculptural and architectural works are steeped in political innuendo - an outcry against injustice. Influenced by the artist Marcel Duchamp and compared to German artist Joseph Beuys, Weiwei uses everyday objects that already carry with them personal familiarity to a wide population, and reconfigures or destroys them to make his statement. For instance, In reference to the Sichuan earthquake, Weiwei collected nine thousand children's backpacks to create an installation that spelled out the words of a grieving mother "She lived happily in this world for seven years." In other artworks, "Dropping the Urn" and "Colored Vases", Weiwei drops or dips in paint historical ceramic artifacts. To many, the act is a jaw-dropper, witnessing the destruction of something that is to the greater population considered highly valuable. Weiwei challenges our perception of value and how and why we make such judgments.

Weiwei's artistic popularity and esteem has earned him several awards and placement in various countries' biennials. Within his own home country of China, he was solicited to design the 2008 Summer Olympic stadium known as the "Bird's Nest". Later, Weiwei spoke out against the Olympic event and stated that the Chinese government used the event as propaganda to try to be seen in a positive light to the rest of the world, when in fact, it is a highly oppressive country where freedom of speech still does not exist. He refused to have photos of himself taken with the stadium.

The stadium is only one of many architectural projects by Ai Weiwei. His first inspiration was a book that he found in New York bookstore about a house that the philosopher Wittgenstein had built for his sister. He was taken with the intricate details of the structure and returned home determined to build a studio home for himself.

Weiwei discovered eventually that his artistic projects would require the hands of many. He had concepts but not enough time to see the ideas to fruition by himself. He once organized 100 architects to collaborate. Another time, for the Kassel, Germany biennial Documenta 12, he conceived and facilitated 1,001 Chinese tourists to visit the exhibit, providing them clothing, lodging, housing, and sightseeing opportunities in what he calls "Fairytale."

Perhaps one of his most widely recognized and recent works was at Tate Modern in London in 2010, titled "Sunflower Seeds."

Video of Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seed project

In Sunflower Seeds, Weiwei solicited the help of 1,600 Jingdezhen residents to cast and paint 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds. Jingdezhen was once a bustling porcelain factory town but no longer exists as such with many out of work. Over the course of two years, the sunflower seeds were created and then installed at Tate Modern. The symbolism of the sunflower seeds is directly related to the Cultural Revolution and Chairman Mao, who saw himself as the sun and his followers as the sunflowers. But there is also a dual meaning. For Weiwei, sunflower seeds were shared and eaten amongst people - a symbol of nourishment, friendship and nostalgia.

The sunflower project is particularly interesting to me. On one level, I connect with it because I am a potter. I know the process and I can easily imagine the painstaking work involved to make so many intricate items. Interest was also piqued because of the number 1,600. Here in Lubec, that is our approximate summer population. I imagined the whole of our town being involved with one single project, one single goal. That led me to thoughts about the once thriving canning factory industry that employed so many people here, and the huge negative economic impact it had on the families when the factories closed. I understand that it was not just a loss of money, but also a loss of personal identity.

Weiwei's work moves me. Critics lean mostly in favor of his work, commending him for not only exquisite details and craftsmanship, but also for his social/political statements. These commendations come, perhaps, more so from critics outside China. Within China, there seems to be those who disdain his vocalizations and consider him more of a showman, or in some cases, a threat. I view it as an artist using his gifts to grab the attention of viewers so that he may educate and inspire. Would I ever go to such lengths? My own artwork is often political, but I have not given in, not yet anyway, to the idea of spending time in jail or putting my life on the line for my values. That's not to say that I have not contemplated civil disobedience, but for now, I prefer to do my work from outside a jail cell. I do, however, have the utmost respect and admiration for Weiwei's perseverance and passion. Having thought about my own role as an artist, the following quote resonated with me:

"If artists betray the social conscience and the basic principles of being human, where does art stand then?
Ai Weiwei (Ai Weiwei Speaks, 2011, pg. 27)

Weiwei's discontent with the Chinese government has landed him in a quite precarious position. He has been beaten by police to the point of suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. His studio in Bejing was demolished by the government citing that he did not have proper permission to build. He was recently (April 2011) detained by authorities and held for two months without an official charge. When later released, it was announced that he owes nearly two million dollars in back taxes and fines, all of which Weiwei denies.

What draws me most to Weiwei is his smile. I think of all these obstacles that he faced and still faces, obstacles which would kill the spirit of most human beings, offering nothing more than a sense of defeat. Yet, I see interviews and photos of him...smiling.

There is a flood of articles and videos out there. He is an addictive sort to study, myself spending many hours perusing the Internet for anything Weiwei. I recommend starting with a google image search. Begin with the powerful images then move onto the reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the quick read "Ai Weiwei Speaks: with Hans Ulrich Obrist" (Penguin Books, 2011). The book was captivating for me because it was in Weiwei's own voice. Next on my list, the translated blogs. The PBS video "Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favor" is definitely worth a watch.

I leave you with one last quote - and perhaps a hope that you will think about the Occupy Movement here in our own country - not merely as a group of people whining about their conditions, but as a movement that by the very nature of being vocal is helping to protect all our rights and freedoms associated with personal expression.

"A nation that will not search for its own past and not be critical of it is a shameless nation."
Ai Weiwei (Ai Weiwei Speaks, 2011, pg. 14)

Waiting on Irene

When Chris went outside to secure the grill in case of heavy winds, the rain had quelled to a smattering of drops. Once he began the task, however, a torrential downpour stirred. Yes...I thought it was funny....and....I told him he could NOT come inside until I got a good picture for the blog!

Set of four tall tumblers.
An official Cobscook Pottery website is in the works, but in the meantime, I will continue to post a few items on Etsy.

Bouli thought that she should help with the photo shoot for the Etsy site.
The mug is sold "sans Bouli".

I guess it takes a storm to bring on a day of relaxation! Quiche, peanut butter cookies, blueberry muffins, and zucchini-carrot bread have been baked. The house is clean and smells like warm toasty cinnamon. It all feels pretty mellow and homey. Yesterday was quite a few hours of prep including cleaning out the barn so that the car could be put away safe. I think that Chris has gone into "survival mode". Yesterday he cooked and dehydrated a huge batch of "Sierra Pasta" which he proudly packaged and stored away in the freezer this morning.

The impending storm has been the impetus to get a few things done around here. I even got into the garden to pluck the ripened goodies which are now washed and drying on the kitchen counter. If the storm hits, we have good food. If it doesn't, we still have good food! The cats are hunkering down with us, null in the begging department for outdoor activity. So far, we have had torrential downpours and thunder much of the late morning into early afternoon, but the "tropical storm" is not expected to hit until later this evening. Talk about a dramatic re-entry into the school year!

This past week felt most like vacation than any other week this past summer. Like most teachers, I have a summer job that keeps me preoccupied. The shop has been busy with customers visiting from all reaches of the country, Canada, and even Europe. Between tending shop and pottery production, I was hoppin', but this past week was a bit of an exhale as we had the blueberry festival vending behind us and we had slotted in some enjoyable activities. After a day of Chris and I basically sitting around in a comatose state from exhaustion, we recuperated enough to visit Geer and Pat for homemade waffles (I admit it, we beg them for these waffles every year!). It's always good to catch-up and participate in lively conversation. After our stomach-bulging brunch, Chris and I headed into Machias for a kayak excursion. There is a stream that we hadn't tried in a couple years so we gave that a whirl. It proved to be quite enjoyable and perhaps is now on my list of top fave kayak locations. We ventured off on an inlet and came upon a clay bed which was fascinating. There were plenty of tiny fish, and a few larger ones jumping, as well as a frog or two near the waterlilies. The dragonflies were flitting about and the geese, though slightly annoyed by us, didn't budge much at all as we floated by. We even saw a beaver slink down into the water and found plenty of smaller trees that had succumbed to its teeth-carving carpentry.

I spent the middle of the week cleaning the pottery cave (as much as it can be cleaned!) and then set-up the photo tent to get images of recent pottery work. My hope is that an official Cobscook Pottery website will be up and running this fall, but decided that in the meantime I would upload a few items to my Etsy site which has been void of pottery for some months now. I might try to snap a few more shots of work this week to upload, though I suspect I will have my hands full with setting up my classroom and welcoming students back.

My job teaching job changes dramatically this year. I will return to school as a half-time art teacher. This is a huge change for me as I have been teaching full-time for the past fourteen years. I am embracing the extra time to dive into my sculptural work and to grow the pottery business. I spent a lot of time this summer working out the details and game plan of how to proceed forward in my life as an artist. There is no time like the present to go after your dreams!

I hope that all my readers on the east coast have fared well and safe throughout the storm. And for those still awaiting Irene's arrival....take care!

Encaustics, Kayaking, and American Craft Magazine

Exploring Dimensionality with Wax
Workshop with artist Kim Bernard, North Berwick, Maine

An encaustic painting that I made during Kim's workshop.
Beeswax, copper, and wood

I made a clay form then casted it with plaster. The plaster mold was then used to make beeswax impressions which I will later use for a high relief encaustic painting.

Kayaking on the Kennebec, under the Bond Brook Bridge in Augusta.
Photo by Joe Phelan

The bridge area that Chris has been wanting to kayak.
It looked kinda close (bridge in far-off distance)....but...those darn currents were fierce!
Did we make it?
Read the blog entry below to find out!

Bouli the traveling cat, nestled in Chris' lap for four hours while driving to central Maine.

As far as birthdays go, I have to say, this was one of the tops. Several days of fun with art, friends, family, and kayaking concluded as we arrived home yesterday to find the August/September 2011 issue of American Craft magazine in the the mailbox. This little event was like the cherry on top of the sundae....bright, sweet, and oh so yummy. After months of emails and proofing, photo shoots, and labeling, I got to see the finished product. I feel incredibly blessed and appreciative that the magazine included an article about my work, titled "Remote Revival." Janet Wallace did a great job with the writing of the piece, and Leslie Bowman with the photography of my sculptures. Thank you Janet, Leslie, and American Craft!

Click here to link to the article in American Craft: "Remote Revival"
It's a great magazine - you may just want to visit their site and subscribe. It's only $25 for the year and the images are inspiring!!!!

Chris provided me with an awesome birthday gift this year which was a spot in one of Kim Bernard's encaustic workshops. Kim is a phenomenal teacher and artist and I am fortunate to work under her mentorship during the Heartwood College of Art MFA program. Kim is a sculptor who has experience with ceramics and the encaustics process. All these skills combined make for an interesting learning opportunity for all her students. The particular workshop that I participated in last weekend was "Exploring Dimensionality in Wax". It was two full days of mold-making and tips and tricks in embedding items into wax. The participants were a focused and serious art-making group who hailed from various parts of the globe with interesting stories and art-making experiences. Kim has more workshops slated for August and September. If you have an interest, her intro to encaustics workshop is being offered August 6-7. Limited spaces go quickly, so best check into it soon.

I spent time with family as well and we feasted on lobster and strawberry shortcake, laughed, did a bit of swimming and relaxed. It was a respite from my normally hectic schedule. Monday was a day of kayaking and hanging out with our friend Joe. Chris had been wanting to paddle a particular spot on the Kennebec that we saw each time we passed over the new bridge on route 3. We launched our kayaks down by Fort Western and began our trek upriver. We could see the goal and it seemed like things were going along smoothly. We ventured around old granite foundations and under the Bond Brook Bridge, saw ducks, and watched eagles soar overhead. About halfway to our destination, fierce currents kicked in. As Joe described, it was like a treadmill version for kayaking; we paddled madly while not moving forward one iota. Adrenaline kicked into high gear and we eventually broke through to smoother waters. Then, just when we were feeling confident, the current battled us again. We went through this scenario about four times, but eventually made it to the destination. The ride back was super easy - with those strong currents flowing us back to the boat ramp.

Bouli traveled with us this time around. She's still too young and needy to leave behind and seems to do pretty well adapting to new environments. She is amazing in the car. After about fifteen minutes, she settled into one of our laps and slept pretty much the entire way. Those moments, when not climbing screens or harassing Bello, are precious.

We returned home last night fearful that the heatwave and no rain wreaked havoc on the garden - but it was just the opposite. We have peas! There are a few tiny green beans starting to grow and we are ready to harvest basil for some fresh pesto this weekend. I ate the first tiny, ripe, sun gold cherry tomato on my actual birthday, July 22. The garden is doing well so far this year. We seem to be behind more southern areas of Maine, but things are coming along and seem hearty enough. Tomorrow we will share a meal with friends that will include freshly harvested lettuce, basil, sage, parsley, thyme, swiss chard, and peas.

Today it is back to the usual routine of pottery business and tending shop. I still have lots to unpack, including new supplies for encaustic painting. The kiln has been loaded and will fire tomorrow and a new run of production will begin.

Speaking of tending shop - when I say that the most interesting people visit my little space, I mean it! Last week, a couple from New Hampshire visited who were related to the person who "invented" the hole in the doughnut. Not the doughnut hole (this is quite different!) but the idea to cut the middle out of the doughnut. Hah! I wonder what eccentricities this week will bring.

Opening for the Season

Newly painted sign will be posted at end of drive

We will be OPEN this Memorial weekend!
Saturday 12-5
Sunday 11-5
Monday 10-5

Interior of the shop showing one of my tapestries and some pottery, my sister's jewelry (The Indigo Iris), and landscapes by my brother-in law Neal McPartlin.

Fresh out of the kiln!

Long overdue....I repainted the floor!

My sister's jewelry and my little oil paintings and a tapestry. Love this birch stand made by Alan Mead (his work is at Orange River Arts and Laughing Raven Gift Shop downtown.)

I'm a bit late to blogging and this will be brief. It's memorial Weekend coming up and that means it's time to get Cobscook Pottery and Fiber Arts open for the season. It's been a flurry of activity between painting, making a new sign, throwing pots, ordering supplies and getting the paperwork in order.

I'm excited about this season - my fourth summer of being open. Lubec has become quite the tourist destination (seemingly overnight!) and new small businesses are opening, the restaurants are packed, and I love seeing the energy all around. It's been super rainy this spring; perhaps that means that this summer will be just as sunny, warm, and gorgeous as last summer. Though, warm is all relative I guess. I grew up in central Maine and we would migrate to the coast for respite on those scorching days. The summer months here feel....perfect. Just the right amount of heat with the added benefit of the beautiful ocean.

I hear that the B&B's, cottages, and motels are booking up quick (if not already). It's best to get your reservations made soon. And don;t forget to stop and say hi to me when you are in town!

Other than prep for opening weekend, I will report that the student art show last week was fabulous. One of our 7th grade students played piano (beautiful performance!) and the 3rd and 4th graders were on stage with a percussion ensemble with the doumbek, a gathering drum, and all kinds of fun instruments like shakers, the triangle, and rainstick. The performance was preceded by a 4th grader playing the congas. He definitely has a future as a professional drummer. I'm so proud of my students! I've been teaching music this year (a first for me!) and even though it was a daunting challenge at first, I must say, that it grew on me. The drumming has been particularly fun.

Chris has been turning the earth for the garden that we hope to begin planting this coming weekend. I have been preparing seedlings and planning the plots. It won;t be too big and we will plant what we knew to grow last year. A co-worker is providing us with some horse manure which will make the soil much richer than last year. Chris has been gathering gardening tips fomr our friend Dick who seems to be quite successful in primarily raised beds. He has great mulching and planting tips.

The rest of the yard is in need of TLC and there is always a list of things to get done. It's nearing the end of the school year so the classroom requires lots of attention. Student artwork goes to the lighthouse gallery over the summer and grades will need to be presented. We will be participating in a schoolwide theater project the next to last week of school that ends with a community performance. I'm really looking forward to that!

Busy end to the week with appointments and a Lubec Arts Alive meeting. John McMurray emailed last night that the welding on the herring sculpture is complete and the steel fish will be delivered this weekend! Our committee still has a lot of prep work to do before the big event.

Scheduling everything (teaching, Lubec Arts Alive, Cobscook Pottery, garden....) it's like a well-choreographed dance!

Cobscook Pottery and Fiber Arts will be open this holiday weekend:
Saturday: 12-5, Sunday: 11-5, and Monday 10-5.

Other than that, it is by chance or appointment. Look for the open sign or give us a call. Look up Cobscook Pottery on facebook and
like" us - I'll try to keep current with posting weekly hours at that site.

Fish and Power Tools

Herring sculpture for Lubec Arts Alive 2011 in the beginning stages with templates

Jean Bookman using the Jigsaw to cut fish from the large board
(photo by John McMurray)

Sheryl Denbo beginning stage 1 of the fine-tuning with a Bandsaw

Shanna Wheelock using a Scroll Saw for the precision work

Shanna cleaning up the edges of the fish with a power sander
(photo by John McMurray)

Jean Bookman drilling holes through the fish

John McMurray, Sheryl Denbo, and Jean Bookman working on placement of the "school of fish" within the larger steel structure.

John and Jean consult about whether or not to "rough-up" the steel herring frame, or polish it to a shimmer.

One of John McMurrary's many sculptures at his home in Addison.

Men have traditionally had the market on jobs with power tools. We are inundated with Home Depot and Sears commercials at Christmas-time showing the male species making their wish list for Santa: bandsaws and drills, shop vacs, routers, planers, and tool kits. Surely machinery that whirs and sputters and makes such loud noises, that is perched on grandiose pedestals of steel and sports masculine streamline designs in red, orange, and black is untouchable by the dainty hand of a lady. We revere the carpenter "knight-in-shining-armor" who saunters into our space and with a push of a red "ON" button slices through wood like butter to create beautiful and functional cabinetry and walls.

Women just don't know what they're missing.

Yesterday I, along with two other Lubec Arts Alive committee members, traveled down the coast to Addison, Maine where we worked alongside sculptor John McMurray to prep for this summers Lubec Arts Alive event.

John graciously welcomed us into his studio where he taught us how to properly use the power tools to cut and refine the smaller components of a large kinetic sculpture. Brave man!

The project, a 10' wide steel herring with an interior kinetic school of fish, was designed on paper by Jean Bookman for this year's Lubec Arts Alive event (July 5-8). The LAA committee consulted with longtime accomplished kinetic artist John McMurray who is versed in working with metals. John hails from an interesting and impressive background, having spent much of his youth in Africa then adulthood as an arts and physics instructor for a private school.

Prior to our Addisson adventure yesterday, John fabricated the steel fish frame and "attempted to neaten" his overflowing studio space in the barn for his mentoring duties. Walking into his work space is like a tour through a tornado-struck eclectic museum of tools and whirly-gigs. Around every tiny bend of the slender floor path there are delights of flying machines, antique tools, and remnants of sculptures that never made it onto the wooded art-walk. Classical music fills the space, as well as copious amounts of floating dust, walls of photos, and piles of metal and wood scraps. To an assemblage artist such as John, all junk and scrap is sacred and brimming with potential.

Jean, Sheryl, and I were a bit hesitant at first to pick up the first tool and begin the cutting. But once we got started, we were ripping through the board at a good pace and each of us found our groove shortly after lunch. No fingers were lost and the sculpture is looking incredible!

We ended our day with a walk on the grounds: a beautiful seaside outdoor gallery filled with the aesthetic delights of nature and sculpture.

If you are looking for something fun to do this summer, definitely consider visiting Lubec Maine during our bicentennial celebration. Festivities begin a few days before July 4th, and Lubec Arts Alive will occur between July 5-8. The first two days of the LAA event we invite all to join us in painting the small fish that will reside inside the large steel herring sculpture. The fish will be mounted inside the steel frame and will twirl and flutter in the wind. The sculpture will be permanently housed downtown, outdoors at Lubec landmarks near the skinning shed museum.

I'll be updating the Lubec Arts Alive website soon - so be sure to check back there for event info.
http://lubecartsalive.blogspot.com/

And other info if visiting Lubec this summer...
http://www.visitlubecmaine.com/

http://www.lubecme.govoffice2.com/

The pottery cave is heating up as I type. My Cobscook Pottery shop will open for the season on memorial weekend - and there is lots to be done! I haven't thrown in months and am looking forward to my time at the wheel.

In the meantime, I have left a tool catalog for Santa. I know it is a bit premature, but you know, the holidays do sneak upon us. That scroll saw and band saw sure would look mighty nice in my studio!

THANK YOU to this year's main sponsors of Lubec Arts Alive: Bar Harbor Bank and Trust and the Regional Medical Center at Lubec. We are fortunate, also, to have on board photographers Judith Goodman and Frank van Riper, who will photograph the event as they have so beautifully done each year past. Without community support, these projects would not be possible! Our sponsorship campaign just kicked-off. Thank you in advance to all the wonderful financial donors and volunteers! We couldn't do it without you!

To donate, send checks made out to Lubec Arts Alive at:
Lubec Arts Alive
c/o Jean Bookman
473 South Lubec Rd.
Lubec, ME 04652

Trying on Some New Genes

These illustrations are by my great-grandmother Sarah.

"The Book of Grasses: An Illustrated Guide to the Common Grasses, and the Most Common of Rushes and Sedges"
Written by Mary Evans Franics, Illustrated by HH Knight, Arthur G. Eldredge, and Sarah Francis Dorrance
1912, Doubleday, Page and Company, Garden City, New York.
(1920 reprint has the author listed as Mary Francis Baker?)

This is the only photo that my mother has of Sarah.
I'm not sure what year this was taken, or of her age in the photo.

Bello has found a new spot to sleep while I am weaving.
Yes, he's a big boy!

Smaller components of a larger work in progress, wool and copper wire. Sarah's photo is pinned to the wall for inspiration.




I had an epiphanic moment about two weeks ago, and my thoughts have been consumed since by a desire to dig deep into family roots and to find answers that have been missing for years.

For weeks I have been lacking inspiration for a weaving project. I had been obsessed with the factory sculpture and a deadline for some sort of tapestry was looming. Each day that passed, anxiety built because I just couldn't come up with something new that would be different than what I had done in the past.

On a snowy April Fool's morning, due to school cancellation, I had the luxury to move at a slower-than-normal pace. I eventually sauntered out of bed and when I looked in the mirror I felt that I was looking at a stranger, though the face felt quite familiar. I thought I resembled someone who might have lived in the 1920's. Then it came to me that I was "looking" at my great-grandmother Sarah.

Sarah has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. We knew very little of her life and over the years have pieced together the tiniest tidbits of information. The family story is long and complex but I will try to explain in simplified form, and in a respectful manner, why we know so little of her.

Sarah is my maternal great-grandmother. She was the mother of my mother's father, whom I called Grampa Sam. Grampa Sam was only eighteen when his parents died. Sarah and my great-grandfather Henry's car was struck by a train in Plainfield, Connecticut, in 1924. Only a few months before, Sarah's sixteen year old daughter, Amy, had drown, and in 1912 her one-year-old baby Sarah had died. The eldest sibling, Joanna, lived until the early 1960's, never married or with child.

Over the years, Grampa Sam told my mother stories that he remembered of his mother, but they were few. When he was a sick child and quarantined, Sarah, who loved nature, found a way to sneak him out into the gardens. She was an artist: a painter and a jewelry designer who worked for Tiffany's of New York. Her father was a minister, and she had an intense interest in genealogy. She was on return from a genealogy conference in Boston, where she was a speaker, when Henry had just picked her up from the train station shortly before they collided with a train.

When my grandfather died in the mid 1990's, we went to Connecticut for his burial. At that time, we first met Merle, a distant cousin to Grampa Sam's father. Merle's family, as I understand, sort of watched over my grandfather after his parents died. During this brief visit, Merle gave me a simple tall, thin, clear handblown glass that Sarah had once kept her paintbrushes in, telling me that Sarah would want me to have it as I too was an artist.

I have held on to that glass for years. In fact, that morning I looked in the mirror and saw Sarah in my own face, I had just moments before taken one of my own paintbrushes out of Sarah's glass to use for a project.

The last time I tried to research Sarah was in the mid 1990's after my grandfather's passing. I wrote a letter to Tiffany's & Co. to see if they kept record of their designers. A response came back to me that a search would cost a few hundred dollars. I didn't have that kind of money and let it go. I always held onto, though, that my great grandmother was an artist and perhaps that is in part why I am as well. Maybe, I thought, it was in the family genes.

But I always felt a bit of a disconnect in that I really wasn't a painter. My mom is a painter, and my sister a jeweler, so that made sense, as I had always heard Sarah described as a painter and jewelry designer. But where was my connection?

Even though it seemed a longshot, I decided to do an internet search for info about my great-grandmother. I was surprised that her name did indeed show-up. She was listed as an illustrator for a book about grasses. Without hesitation, I ordered the 1912 book sight unseen and listed as "condition unknown."

I continued the search and to my surprise, once more, I found her in a 1904 New York Times article in the Modern Arts and Crafts section - Objects of Applied Arts by American and Foreign Artisans.

"An interesting vein is being worked in textiles by Mrs. Sarah Francis Dorrance, who is known for her quiet, tasteful work in basketry. She uses native grasses to weave designs on crash, and produces individual work of a gentle, unobtrusive kind."

A weaver. Sarah was a weaver.

I finally found my connection. Is this why I was so taken with weaving from the first moment I held a loom?

Everything changed for me in that moment. Inspiration returned at the thought of Sarah trying something new with her weaving. And from there, a flood of other questions. Did she spend time in New York? Where did she grow up? When was her birthday? Was she also a potter? Which artists did she admire? Did she weave tapestries? What is her ancestry?

My mother told me that she thought I looked like Sarah, though Grampa Sam used to say that I reminded him of his sister Amy who had drown and who he was very close to. Either way, I now have another connection in that I physically resemble my ancestors.

is this what it is like for someone who is adopted? To feel that desire to know their biological roots? To wonder who they look like, or why they have a certain unexplained habit or fondness for a particular art, music, or some other talent?

I have continued my search, and found a second NYT article from 1900 that mentions Sarah as showing her baskets in a show under the Arts and Crafts Guild of New York. I also hold dear the book of grasses that finally arrived in the mail. Each drawing a piece of my great-grandmother. I also find myself amused that she signs each of her drawings with her initials in a manner that resembles the chop signature that I use on my clay pieces.

The search continues, feeling a sudden passion for genealogy, as Sarah once had.

I will close with a quote from the introduction of the book, so beautifully and poetically written that it brought me to tears as I read it yesterday. I am not sure how exactly Mary Evans Francis is related, but I am sure that she must be, sharing the maiden name of my great-grandmother. I am filled with anticipation as I "climb" the family tree searching for answers.

"Grasses yield us the earliest intimations of spring, as a faint flush of green, in harmony with the soft colours of the April woods, tinges the brown hillsides before snows have ceased. The first grasses are more delicately coloured than are those of midsummer when the sun burns red and purple into the tiny flowers. The green spikelets of many spring grasses depend for colour upon their lightly poised anthers of lavender and gold."

"The Book of Grasses: An Illustrated Guide to the Common Grasses, and the Most Common of Rushes and Sedges" Written by Mary Evans Franics, Illustrated by HH Knight, Arthur G. Eldredge, and Sarah Francis Dorrance, 1912, Doubleday, Page and Company, Garden City, New York.

Update: The inscription in the book reads "To S.E.F.D." (Sarah Evans Francis Dorrance) So the new line of thought is that the author, Mary Evans Francis, is either a mother, aunt, or sister to my great-grandmother Sarah.