A sleepy John Hensel, just after arriving from Michigan on an AMTRAK bus.
The opening was a blast. Many people braved the cold, slippery roads and the 
ubiquitous holiday parties to welcome John "home" and to celebrate his achievements as a photographer.
A new exhibit at Susan Hensel Gallery
Dec 1, 2010-Jan. 1, 2011
reception on Friday, December 17, 7-10pm
The object is yarn. The subject is war.
Color of Conflict, opening at Susan Hensel Gallery December 1, is a collaboration with photographer John Hensel, my son
Always a multimedia artist who seeks narrative, I brought the world of fiber into my studio practice. Color of Conflict is a show of photographs that wrest the meaning from a series of yarns spun during my sabbatical. These yarns, containing army toys and the colors and forms of armed conflict, can be knitted. But their true horror is revealed in the photographic display.
In the art world, one talks about transgression. Transgression can be loosely defined as breaking expected boundaries or expectations. Yarn is expected to be soft, warm, useful, at times even life saving. It is often associated with leisure, craft and women's work. Rarely is it thought of as an object, a material or a subject of fine art. In this project, yarn paradoxically uses its traditional softness to express a hard/harsh/violent reality. It uses its allusions to its life saving properties( warmth, padding, protecting) as a field of discussion about war and death. It uses a "women's art" to discuss a "man's pursuit."
This body of work was completed during a six month sabbatical from gallery life. I took the risk of closing Susan Hensel Gallery for six months in order to return to studio practice and research. During the sabbatical I spent much time exploring the narrative capabilities of fiber. I have become part of the artyarn movement, a radical group of spinners who push the idea of what yarn can be to its maximum. Usually, it is a lighthearted game, spinning Christmas baubles and Halloween eyeballs into fluffy masses of wool. It’s mostly about process and fun. I love process as much as the next person, but process alone does not satisfy me in the long-run. I have been adding, multiplying, accreting and inserting meaning wherever I can in handspun yarn.
There will be a reception for the us on Friday, December 17, 7-10pm. Come see the yarn. Come meet the photographer.
And then, Dean Ebben's show will open in January. Dean is a local guy who moved on to New York. He comes back every year to see family and to teach at Minnesota Center for Book Arts. On January 14 he will open IN THE HOUSE OF THE MINNERAL SPIRITS at Susan Hensel Gallery with an installation and a performance. Stay tuned!
The South Minneapolis Wild Wool Market was, once again, well attended and so much fun. Even if no one came, I think we would enjoy ourselves! What's not to enjoy about people engaged with fiber?
This darling little one finished her fiber day with Grandma at our place. She had started the day by making fairies at the Fiber Studio and ended by making a Wild Batt with me.
Her hand can be seen somewhere in this fluffy, curly single made from loose locks. I spun 3 skeins during the day, totaling nearly 300 yards..JPG)
(Leslie D., Martha B.,Deb G.,Fran N., me, Adrienne Sloane)
It was a power-packed class. The lists and the bulletin boards barely cover the intensity. We sampled, sampled and sampled, technique after technique, stretching our knitting concepts and forms into three dimensional space.
In the end, yarn bombing happened. Leslie, with the help of Martha, knit a garter for a baluster outside of Yudof Hall. Other bombs were sprinkled through McNeil Hall.
One of those tiny dots is the curator, Jon Coffelt.
Performance artist Julia Babb speaking with Susan. Julia will have a performance at the Pillsbury House on March 31 and April 1. I was a very short person lost in the sea of people. That's me, clutching my camera.
I could not get shots much above people's navels! 
That's Zach gesturing in the gloves.
The party closed down after midnight. Stay tuned. On Monday we will have more photos from Zach.
Jodi Reeb-Meyers with her miraculous floating book!
Steven Berg of Steven Be, a Yarn Garage Workshop.
I have the unexpected pleasure of meeting Sara Christensen Blair this weekend, and so will you!
The opening was filled with people who had never been to the gallery before...the fiber people came out. It was kind of a quiet opening, but I think fiber does that to a person. It is soothing. You should come be soothed as well.
