Notions

This summer I have been a handworking fool, putting together some new work for a show called Notions at Antfarm on October’s First Friday.    The work is a series of  bricolage pieces that I created using old sewing notions such as button cards and installation (still under works) using seam binding and it’s packaging.   For me this work is both a form of relic keeping and upcycling.  Below is a detail from one of the works.

The show is open October 1, 6-9pm.   The other Antfarmers will be showing work as well.  There will be wine/beer, and often there is a great burger truck next door!   Come by if you can!

At the studio

Findings

This piece grew out of my poetry and letterpress work at Penland in April.  There I wrote a catalog poem of old stuff I have collected and admired such as vintage buttons, a sad iron and a box of pre-wound bobbins.  In the studio I have arranged the objects cataloged on a child’s toy ironing board.  Hanging above are the poem printed on a vintage towel, my grandmother Eva’s persimmon pudding recipe, and the block printed persimmon image on found paper.

Evelyn and Charles

This pair is hand-sewn paper collage.  Evelyn and Charles are my grandparents.  They both have inspired my creative endeavors by example.  Charles built impeccable furniture and houses and grew great veggies.  He always got me to eat corn by telling me it would make my cheeks rosy. Evelyn makes baskets and knits and crochets most every day.  She’s 88 and in tip top mental and physical shape.  I am going to attribute that to her crafting.

Work in progress

I have been playing around with these images I found in an old sewing guide.  The images are of different female body types: “Large hips”, “short”, “small bust” etc.  I created a silk screen with the image and have printed them on paper and just about any surface in reach.  I have played with layering the images and then erasing them with paint and tea.

More sewn assemblage

hooray for art camp

Just returning from a week at Penland: my favorite haven for art nerds (like me).  I took an amazing and  intense letterpress and poetry workshop with Lisa Beth Robinson and Gary Hawkins.  They both rock. We wrote poetry, which I never thought I could do, and learned to set type, which was also a mystery to me.  The week culminated with a collaborative chap book of poetry and imagery in print.

One foggy morning from my housing aptly called “Heaven’s Above”

It was hard to focus in such a dazzling setting, especially when you are easily distracted by shiny objects!

We watched in awe as Lisa Beth unveiled to us the magical process of setting type

Womaning the press in my ruffled apron.

Two letterpress works on found paper and found linen created at the workshop

The hand-bound chap book titled, Shiny Objects Lay in Lead

lauren kennedy