Author Archives: Colleen Kole

Back in Action: Slower Stitching

 
  I jumped back into the stream last weekend attending a retreat about 45 minutes away from Grand Rapids at the Maranatha Center which is on Lake Michigan. It was beautiful setting and I never knew it was hidden away there.  I left Thursday and came back on Saturday night. A very large table, meals made and lots of snacks. Add to that friendly faces and lots of laughs and you have a great time.

    I chose to try to make some charity doll quilts for the Santa Claus girls and I attempted to make some small bags for my daughters’ friends.  I had never put in zippers before and foolishly thought it  was easy. Well, seven attempts later I finally have the right bag with a respectable zipper.

     After spending time with the traditional precision quilters, I have a newfound admiration for their work. And their very clean work spaces. Wow, I am a slob but that is just how my mind works!

In a Fog

     For the past few weeks  after my workshop, I came home and have felt like I am in a fog. Dragging around  trying to kick myself into gear. I finally gave up on the “in gear” part, got more sleep and read a few fiction books.

      Then I took a few long walks.

 And  then I went to see some art.

      Finally feel like I am ready to sew again. I started with learning how to put a zipper in. I had never done that before. 🙂 It was really effortless to play. When did I start to make it work?

 It  is work though if you want to make progress. Made a list after I read this post by Robert Genn and now back to the studio.  But I added the return to play to my list, too.

A Whirlwind Catch Up

     I have all these grandiose plans to write a separate blog post for all the fun things I have been doing. But it just seems like old news. So I will give you the abbreviated whirlwind catch up:

1. Attended a day long workshop by Susan Brubaker Knapp at the WMQG on Thread Sketching. I didn’t take the class but was just a classroom volunteer. She is a very good teacher and  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her for a workshop.

2.After two weeks of Artprize, I loaded up the car and went to the Barn for Sets and Variables #3.    Really intense assignments given by Nancy but I loved it. I , of course, came home with lots of pieces and parts not sewn together but I understood the concepts and am loving fine lines.  Lots of ideas swirling around in my head from this class. I need no reminder to know what a privilege it is to study with Nancy Crow each  and every time I take another workshop from her.

3. More press: Jennifer’s nice article about me

4. The Saturday I drove home from the Barn  I squeezed in a quick  90 minute trip to our West Michigan Quilt Guild  which was held at the Deltaplex Oct 3-5th. I was surprised to have won three ribbons for some of my work.

I was proud of our guild and the quality of the work shown.

4. I over-dyed about 40 yards of medium valued fabrics as I used up lots of my darks at the Barn.  I used an electric blanket under my plastic containers to maintain some warmth overnight. More blotchy than usual but not bad! The dye studio has been packed up and placed down the basement ready for next summer.

5. Yardwork, housework, more yardwork  and more housework in a major catchup mode. ( I did very little around here in the month of September).

6. A week of jury duty where they chose me to sit on the jury. At least it was an interesting case=bad boys in big bad trucks being very bad. A business case.

7. And Lucy , my Bernese Mountain Dog,  who had an anterior cruciate ligament repair at MSU vet school. Looks like a 3 month rehab process.

Oh geez….life just goes round and round, doesn’t it?  I always have hopes of life slowing down but that is not the case. I am just going to embrace it.

I hope to regain a studio schedule on Monday and am looking forward to it.

Artprize Recap # 2/ Fiber Related

 I was lucky enough to sneak in to some of the very busy venues in the first few days of Artprize. I was anxious to see this piece by the lovely Lynn Krawczyk. Lynn had a prime spot at the BOB and I am sure many, many people were able to see it. It fit this spot between two windows on this brick wall perfectly.

“Remnants Collage #17, Lynn Krawczyk

“Remnants Collage #17, Lynn Krawczyk
Details on “Remnants 17”, Lynn Krawcyzk

Nice piece Lynn and I loved being able to see your work up close and personal.  The texture is really superb!  Next to her piece  on the other side of the window was a nice compliment of acrylic on wood.

“Tidal Waves “, Steve Pleva

Back to fiber….

Circles  4 12, Ellen Stuckey

I took a class with Ellen a few years ago.  Nice to see her piece here again.

 The next exhibit was at the GRAM. I could have looked for a long time at all the embroidery.  It is titled – Along the Lekksenne by Eames Demetrios.

So much to see in so little time. One more post left to wrap things up.

Artprize Recap #1

   I thought  I would share with you some interesting pieces from Artprize 2012.( I credited the artists  by placing their name cards following the piece. )

I watched the artist one afternoon on this installation. I was fascinated by how the light hit this variegateted string/thread.

This  next installation  “The Land Up North” by Jared Cherewski was at the new Kendall College building which had been restored. Over 4000 pieces of clothing had been borrowed from Goodwill. I loved the rainbow of colors against the floor and white walls.

Recovery Mode

   

      I looked at the date on my last post and it was September 20th. I can believe how quickly the time has gone this fall. I have done two weeks of Artprize, a week at the Barn for a class last week and now I have a week of jury duty. And I was, of course, chosen for the trial.

    I have unpacked my stuff from the Barn (kind of) , cleaned off my desk from the busyness of Artprize (kind of) and felt my whole body just relax. I am in no way caught up. But I feel this huge sigh of relief that I made it through both things and had a great time. Pictures processed next and I will share!

Opening Night

       Yesterday was the official opening of Artprize 2012.  But the venue I was participating in, Cathedral Square  had an artist’s opening on Tuesday night and it was a great time to meet other artists.  I had a hard time taking photos but another fiber artist, Elizabeth Brandt,  found some great pictures here: Cathedral Square -the facebook album for our venue. The curators are standing in front of my piece. Very fun!

     I have had the privilege of walking this journey with a friend, Elizabeth. We have known each other  two years after meeting at the Crow Barn. Elizabeth and I are first time Artprize artists and we were chosen for the same venue as well as her talented husband Blair Rieckman, a sculptor. Our moments of panic, our hard work and just the joy of participating certainly was made sweeter by doing it with friends! I really cherish this time with them and their help. Blair provided my hanging rod and Elizabeth used her marvelous graphic design skills to design my cards.

Elizabeth Brandt, “Instructions for Living”

Viewers enjoying Elizabeth Brandt’s piece

     Make sure you look at her Artprize profile as it shows the time-consuming and amazing process she used to create her piece. I loved seeing this piece develop over the past few months and love her! Great job, Elizabeth. 

Blair Rieckman, Cuneiform

   Just met Blair a short time ago.  I loved the shadows this sculpture made on the wall as did  my son.

Great job Blair and thanks for letting me take a picture( he was initially an unwilling subject ) and for your help.
  

Rooflines #6, Colleen Kole 2012
A happy artist!

   
I am having a great time meeting people, artists and answering questions! I hope to see some art too over the next few days. 

Dear Little Home

Dear little home in Vermont,

     I knew from the first time I stepped foot in your doors, that you had good “bones”. The kind of bones that would wrap your arms around my family and just love us to death. From your drafty windows and even the river running through the dirt floor basement 8 years ago, I still knew you should be ours. And you miraculously were.

      I always walked in after a long trip  to get there and just felt more at home there than I did in any of the other homes that I came from. You have lovely, amazing sunsets for us. The radiator heat is just what we love on a cold February morning and you worked even after the dog pulled part of you off the wall. And I love all the country noises from cows across the street to the peepers in the pond in the spring. And your barn is just the best thing-truly.

     Please do not be offended but I need to tell you that you will have a for sale sign in your front yard soon.  You have to know that I have I have cried puddles of unexpected tears about this decision.  Just rivers of tears and I feel as if I am losing one of my best friends. But you are just so far away. It is getting so hard to actually spend time there. I am logically thinking and knowing this is a good thing that you might have someone who can be there more than us. But my heart is breaking and I have really had a rough time for the past few weeks being home. I wish I was closer but I am not. That’s the cold hard facts my friend. One thousand miles is just a long ways away.

    Forgive me – you have been really good to us and I will miss you. I hope that another family will buy you and know how special you have been too. You have been around for for 130 years so I am sure you  have lots to tell them.

Artprize Piece Done, Done, Done…!

Rooflines# 6,  74×80, ©2012  Colleen Kole
Details of Rooflines #6

and more details of Rooflines# 6

Statement:

My composition, Rooflines # 6 , is a contemporary art quilt. This Rooflines series celebrates my fascination with the architecture of the Frederik Meijer Gardens here in Grand Rapids. The steel beams juxtaposed with the glass windows against the sky and the varying colors of nature contained within the conservatory building provide for a rich study of line, color and shape. I have utilized my hand dyed fabrics as my paint and the free hand cutting of shapes and lines to create this piece. Dense machine quilting adds texture and another dimension for the viewer.

I am done and it is a relief. A few more pieces of paper and then I can celebrate. Artprize starts September 19th and I am very excited to be one of a handful of textile artists to be accepted.

I Must Learn to Shout

     The recent issue of the Grand Rapids Magazine had an article in it about the American Quilt Society Show coming to our city August 22-25th. And back in July, they interviewed little old me and my friend Terri Watson for this article.

   
     Very nice to have been interviewed and I didn’t say anything too embarrassing!

      Be sure to enjoy upcoming show next week. I can hardly wait and am volunteering a few shifts. They still need volunteers and a short shift will allow you a free daily admittance.