Though Jeff's show project gutenberg project continues, and people do come by to see it, my time has been consumed with saving the building!
Carolyn Halliday loves process. She emailed me last week about how much fun she was having in the studio, knitting trees, getting ready. Of course, that was before the usual pre-show panic that all of us artists experience....the sense of running out of time, the self doubt, the tired body, weird dreams.Susan Hensel Gallery is open on Mondays, 10-5. Other days it is wise to call ahead and make an appointment.
The gallery will also be open Thursday, June 9, 10-5.
Open Now: My Father's Religion June 4- July 12 Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm
shown in conjunction with:
When did yo learn to knit?
My mom taught me the basics of knitting when I was 8. I don't remember knitting particulars, other than a sweater of sorts for the cat, who preferred not to wear it. As a girl, I was expected to learn the domestic arts, and I did and wanted to learn them all, although I was always pretty imperfect in my skills. In JH home ec, I was told I knit wrong, and relearned knitting. Being left handed, I apparently developed a left handed way to knit (which is now handy to use) but I ripped out the whole sweater that I was working on for the school assignment, so I could re-knit it "correctly".
I saw someone spinning for the first time when I was 17, and I thought it was sheer magic. I was smitten with the idea of making thread from a scrap of fluff. But I didn't see anyone spin again until I learned to spin around 1978, and began using my hand spun for knitting and weaving. (I learned to weave around the same time, in the Portland Parks and Recreation Dept---they offered weaving!) Around 1988, I made a teddy bear of my hand spun for a pregnant friend, and got interested in dimensional knitting. So I started doing other animals, especially fueled by my son, who would tell me, "Now make a cow." I made a few different animals and dolls of hand spun and started to sell them at craft shows, like St Cate's. I should mention that when I moved back to Mpls in December of 1981, I immediately joined the Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, and have been forever grateful for the welcoming community and many classes and opportunities that grounded my early artistic attempts. Through the Weaver's Guild of Minnesota, and then the Textile Center, I learned much about dying, surface design, spinning, felting, paper making.
Opening Soon:
My Father's Religion
June 4- July 12
Opening Reception: June 17, 7-9pm
On day one of the installation, the sun is shining brightly...finally! And the shirts await their solution. Libbie told me that the "unmended" shirts began when she was keeping her mother company through months of medical waiting.
