Insectile Duality

If you happen to find yourself in northern Michigan, I hope you'll consider visiting a very special (at least to me!) exhibition at Three Pines Studio in Cross Village.



This little beaded caterpillar (more about him here) was the inspiration for this project and show - my husband and I each choose six insects,twelve total,  and interpreted them in our separate types of media. Robin used three different types of printing techniques; linoleum block, white line and reduction. I worked in a mixed media style, starting with painted canvases and adding all types of fiber techniques including, embroidery, beading, applique, needle felting and more.




This was Robin's first show and it was a joy to be able to share it with him.

In the gallery, each of our pieces hung side by side.

Those of you familiar with my work might notice that the pieces are a littler looser and more whimsical  than is typical for my work - I'm not really sure why, it just moved in that direction and I decided to follow.

This is my favorite of Robin's pieces, an inchworm done using the reduction printing method, with eight layers of color.

Joann and Gene, the owners of the gallery, our delightful to work with and they have displayed our work beautifully - at the opening reception there was even these super cute "ladybug" bites!

North of 45 Opening - 2015

We were able to attend the opening of this years North of 45 and  I loved the placement of "Our History: On the Table - right near the front, sure to be seen!

I spent quite a bit of time talking to attendees, and was pleasantly surprised at the reception the piece received - it's certainly not a mainstream example of art, but people really seemed to enjoy seeing history shared in an alternative manner.

I had encouraged fellow Mackinac Island artist Jamie Andress to enter - he did and had TWO pieces accepted!

And he sold one - congratulations Jamie!

North of 45 - 2015

The North of the 45th is an annual juried exhibition of artists living in the geographical area north of the 45th parallel in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This line is known as the halfway point between the equator and the north pole, and crossing this line from the south is often associated with being "up north." This exhibition showcases the breadth and depth of artists living in this upper Midwest region from both rural and urban areas. Each year a different juror is asked to select pieces for the exhibition from an open call for entries.


Currently Curator of Exhibitions at the Racine Art Museum, where she oversees the production and implementation of 10-15 exhibitions per year, juror Lena Vigna has a particular interest in the contemporary fields of adornment, sculpture, fiber, and installation. Lena has curated numerous solo and group exhibitions and written several essays that explore issues relevant to contemporary art and society.


A Juror's Choice award will be selected by the juror, with a prize of $500. An Audience Choice award in the amount of $250 will be given at the close of the exhibition, based onvotes by visitors to the exhibition.


Featuring work by: Will Agar, Kjellgren Alkire, Jamie Andress, Ezra Asohan, Brendan Baylor, Julie Benda, Kimberly Benson, Gregg Bruff, Tomas Co, Eileen Cohen, Samantha Corbett, Debbie Covart, Melissa Davidson, Dominic M. Davis, Andy Delany and Lauren Flynn, Gretchen Dorian, Kelly Dorman, Pete Driessen, Michael Eble, Jonathon Engelien, Kiera Faber, Nina Fiorucci, Jessie Fleury, Cynthia Foley, Michael Friend, Stacy Giroux, Greg Green, Mike Hainstock, Lindsy Halleckson, Lindsey Heiden, Matt Hirvonen, John Hubbard, Steven Hughes, Carol Irving, Dustin Johnson, Brian Kakas, Keith Kaziak, Reneé Kirchenwitz, Jim Krausman, Barret Lee, Scott Leipski, Christine Lenzen, Michael Letts, Alex Maier, John McCoy, John McKaig, Renee Michaud, Susan Mikutowski, Jessica Mongeon, Eric Mueller, Craig Neeson, Paul Nelson, Tilton + Oeler, Russell Prather, Kyle Rambatt, Amy Rice, Eileen Rieman-Schaut, Paul Rose, Patrick St. Germain, Alanna Stapleton, Holly Streekstra, M. Parker Stuart, Tracy Wascom, Lyz Wendland.

My piece is "Our History: On the Table; it's a history of the people of Mackinac Island, from the distant past to the present.

For a full explanation of the piece and many more photos, click HERE.

We'll be at the opening tomorrow evening and can't wait to see the entire show!

A Charming Reveal

Three Pines Studio, in Cross Village, Michigan, started the summer season with a show that had Emily Dickinson  and her "Gorgeous Nothings" as inspiration and have chosen to end the season with another poet as inspiration: Walt Whitman.

From the call for entry for I COLLAGE MYSELF: Contemporary portraits of Ourselves and Our Experiences. A Tribute to Walt Whitman:

 "Poetry is important...It continues to stand the test of time maintaining its relevance. Its readers during Florentines of Dante's time found its phrases just as enthralling as the hipsters of our time. Poetry paints, sings, whispers, tests and twitters. The poet, Walt Whitman, continues to offer us a portrait of ourselves within the words of Song of Myself. Whitman embraced an art of fragments that encouraged him to 'cut and paste' his lines into ever-evolving forms based on what he called 'spinal ideas.' It is this method that relates to our current everyday collaging of interests and opinions on social media such as Facebook. Walt Whitman created portraits of our collective self - slices of life, farmers, sailors, dock workers, soldiers, etc." 

"It was his creative process of collaging phrases that hinted of the work of visual artists (who used the same technique with paper collage) such as Matisse, Braque and Picasso; who like Whitman, communicated thoughts and ideas through simple visual forms of color and shape. Creating their works of art and speaking to the reader or viewer through the visual fragments collaged created a whole. It is with this in mind that we are inspired to create our won art and invite others to do the same."

"In our call for artists we don't necessarily mean a self portrait. We mean a portrait of our lives today. Portrait means a collaboration of parts that come together collectively in the expression of works - whether in objective landscapes, figurative work or no-objective abstractions. It is the synthesis of these creative parts that create the whole."

For my piece, "A Cautionary Tale", I chose to focus on the concept of "fragments making a whole".

The piece is a vastly over-sized "charm bracelet", with each charm representing a life experience, a mental attitude or  just a view point on how we should live our lives. Each has a very particular meaning for me, but I'd prefer not to reveal those personal meanings - you may see/feel something entirely different when viewing the charms, based on your own personal life experiences.

Each charm is made of found objects, some man-made, some natural and lots of beads. They are simply, even roughly attached to a wrought iron ring - life is NOT pristine or perfect!

The show runs through October 30th, do visit if you're in the area.

Too Late, Too Soon...

The Natural Resources Preservation Fund of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation is presenting a juried art exhibit July 3rd - July 29th. 

16 pieces, created by 12 artists were selected for the show.... and two of them are mine!

In my ongoing effort to use beads in non-traditional ways, I created two mixed media pieces. The first is titled "Beautifully Invasive: Hawksbeard". Right now this is a familiar scene on the Island, the darkness of cedar forests, blanketed in a carpet of bright yellow. I was surprised to learn that in Michigan, hawksbeard is only seen on Mackinac at such high concentrations.

I created the piece by using gel medium to create the tree trunks (lots of texture), painted the canvas and then beaded right through the canvas to emphasize the flowers.

The second piece, "Trillium" focuses more on the native flora and was started in a similar manner, using gel medium and paint, but the bead work was first completed and then added to the canvas.

The goal of the show is to be both visually pleasing and thought provoking - consider what may happen to any environment if invasive plants and/or animals overpower and destroy the native ecosystem. History shows many examples of what can happen and it is unfortunately becoming an increasing common problem in our modern world. 

History: On the Table

My work has been gradually moving in a more mixed media direction, but always with beads as the centerpiece. "History: On the Table" is my most ambitious example of this concept to date.

The piece was originally created for the 2013 contemporary exhibit at the Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum, this year's theme was "People of Mackinac". My intent was to represent ALL the people of Mackinac, from beginning to the present in a mandala form.

Alas, the piece was rejected by the juror!

But it WAS accepted for the 2013 Crooked Tree Art Center Juried Fine Art Exhibition - YAY!

The Island itself is represented at the center, by a piece of the brecciated limestone. It's held in place by a beaded "bezel", that extends up and over the stone.

An island is, of course, surrounded by water and so is my representation - I used over twenty different colors of beads in an attempt to capture the ever changing nature of the lake.

The first people to represented are literally the First People in this area, the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) Indian tribes were some of Mackinac Island's first known inhabitants, who considered the island to be the sacred home of the Gitche Manitou, or the "Great Spirit".

Originally, Native American beads were carved from natural materials like shells, coral, turquoise and other stones, copper and silver, wood, amber, ivory, and animal bones, horns, and teeth. Glass beads were not used until colonists brought them from Europe 500 years ago and were quickly became the the beads of choice.

The traditional motifs were curving, especially a double curve and often included abstract floral designs. I chose to not replicate an original design, but created my own pattern, keeping the established motifs in mind.

My design is stitched on black wool, using opaque size 15/0 beads.

The next people to be represented were the French fur trappers.

I used actual beaver fur, cut in scallops and also created my own fur trade silver pieces, using PMC.

The black wool and the silver crosses were also used to represent the Jesuit missionaries, who established the first mission on Mackinac in 1670.

The next ring in the mandala  depicts the British presence with red wool I purchased from a gentleman who constructs reproduction British redcoat uniforms as well as shiny military buttons (not in this picture).

Soon after the British lost  possession of Mackinac, the fur trade was over and the residents farmed and  especially fished - the waters surrounding Mackinac teemed with fish, particularly desirable whitefish. The wharfs, warehouses and workforce that so effectively served the fur trade were easily adapted to commercial fishing.

I created beaded nets for the next round:

And linked the nets with a school of image transferred whitefish.

As with furs, the fishing industry also crashed, due to over fishing. The residents of the Island needed a new industry and steamships and trains brought to them - the tourist trade!

Tourists have become a dominant people on Mackinac starting in the 1850's and continues to the present day.

I was at a bit of a loss on how to depict such a long range of time: 1850 - the present, but decided to emulate an old fashioned photo album. You might recall the style: black paper pages, photo corners and notes made with a white pencil.

A new question arose - how to display this assemblage?

The answer - more assemblage!

I had an old, broken Victorian era table that I've been hauling around for years, to my husband's dismay.

The table top was square, but we cut it into a circle, perfectly sized to hold the mandala. Then a beat-up metal wheel was inserted in place of the broken shelf, as a reference to the wheeled vehicles we use, bikes and buggies.

After placing the mandala on the table, all I could think of was a doily, albeit a rather eccentric doily. And doilies usually have an edging or fringe, so mine did too!

My fringe pulls together past and present, after all, the present is deeply rooted in our past - thus beaded roots with beaded mirrors, to make the viewer a part of the people of Mackinac.

Here's an overall view:

It's all there, the history of a place and the people who have made it: "Our History: On the Table".

Crooked Tree Art Center - Juried Fine Arts Exhibition 2013

I was thrilled to have TWO pieces accepted in to the 2013 Juried Fine Art Exhibition at the Crooked Tree Art Center!

The above photo is of "History: On the Table" - my most mixed media piece to date, but it still has beads. I will have a more detailed post about this piece soon.

Also accepted was "The Foundation or In the Beginning", AKA "Stumpy".

The show runs until November 8th, if you find yourself in the Petoskey area, consider dropping in - there's a couple other excellent shows up too.

Specimens - 2013 Bead Journal Project

I debated on participating in the Bead Journal Project this year - it tends to occupy a lot of time and I have many projects planned for this year, many with firm deadlines. But I really feel i came up with an interesting concept...and, well, I'm off to a late start, as usual!

My plan is to create a series of "bugs", each of which will have the name of an actual insect but won't necessarily accurately depict each insect - instead it will be my interpretation of the name and constructed in a large variety of techniques; I suspect many will be very mixed media, but always incorporating beads.

I have managed to obtain my "specimen jars" for displaying my bugs (and providing the uniform size that should be part of BJP - 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" sure seemed to be a reasonable size, but they seem very large in person. That's probably okay though, it gives me room to incorporate lots of detail.

I have actually started my first creature, but I currently have other projects with looming deadlines, so I'll have to work on him in bits and pieces.

I promise there will be more to see than an empty jar - soon I hope!

Self - December 2012 Bead Journal Project

A few days late, but 2012 is complete!

My December rune stone represents the force of self-knowledge; if we are willing to evaluate and embrace both our strengths and faults, we can become forces in our own future and lives.

My found object is a small beveled mirror, salvaged from an Edwardian purse - it is quite flawed, only allowing a true reflection in bits and pieces. Our self-knowledge is usually equally flawed, distorted and glimpsed in tiny, isolated portions.

Bands of peyote stitch bind the mirror to the stone - just as we are bound by our flawed perceptions.

2012 is complete, but I don't think I'm finished exploring this concept; expect more rune stones in the future.

A Multitude - November 2012 Bead Journal Project

"A Multitude" is my November rune stone; each stone has been intended to represent a force and this month's force is the power of mass or numbers.

Coral reefs are formed by the calcium carbonate exoskeletons of coral polyps - uncountable numbers of individual living creature in some cases; the Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space! The coral attract other creatures resulting in an elaborate ecosystem involving numerous species - all living together in careful balance.

Working with seed beads is a similar system - each bead is individual and complete, but not of much use in it's singularity. But combine a multitude of them together and the product is certainly more than a sum of the individual parts.

This month's stone is a bit different than previous stones, as the stone itself is the found object. This particular stone is a Petoskey stone, fossilized coral from the ancient reefs which once existed in the shallow seas that covered this part of Michigan. I intentionally left a large portion of the stone uncovered to show the distinctive mottled pattern. 

I tried to emulate this pattern with beads on the bottom of the stone.

The focal point is my representation of a single coral polyp in three dimensional beadwork.

Only one more month to go !!!

Sunshine on the North Shore

Summer's nearly over, we're quickly moving toward fall. But the colors of summer linger here and there, especially within this clump of  black eyed susans growing along the north shore, like a bit of sunshine caught on earth.

I really enjoy creating these mixed media pieces; the challenge of finding just the right thread, stitch or bead to enhance the image is endlessly satisfying!

Available for purchase here.