Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Really Pleased....

Layout...2 sides of last and largest piece for this installation.
close up..wool, silk
cat
one side wet out, resist in place next side ready to carefully fold open and wet out


handfelted, resist out...fulling begins (takes a couple of hours from here)

still fulling...
Ahhh, rinsed, spun to damp, ironed and hanging to complete drying

the pieces hanging together
(out of order! this is it ready to hand rub to felt)

After procrastinating and agonizing over a statement (thanks to a patient curator)...I have finished the pieces for "Vessels" for the show "I Am Water". They will be delivered and installed in a couple of weeks and I look forward to seeing them in their final space (however, I love them with the orange in my studio) I am very pleased.

they are so simple and they really speak to me in so many ways. I think this is why the statement was such a struggle. It can mean so many things, but a statement was required for a book on the show and the planned events around the cause of the Lake Ontario Waterkeepers...a wonderful cause which I am only beginning to educate myself about. Water, we take to for granted, don't we?

Sometimes with a series of pieces, I anticipate the final one, knowing I am almost done. With these, every one felt special and I enjoyed all the way to fulling the last large one. A wonderful journey for which I am grateful in an unexpected way. Perhaps because I had time to work on them and other work happened in between...or, I prefer to think, just because they are special.

With piece like these, it is unlikely they will find a home other than touring to a couple of places and ending up in storage, but I really wish they would find a permanent home. Maybe that will happen or maybe the permanent home will be with me. Time will tell. In the meantime, I look forward to the installation and I will certainly post images from the gallery and the opening. I may even be brave and make a special fascinator for the occasion.

Visit my site www.andrea-graham.com

11 comments:

Kerry O'Gorman said...

I like the transitions...kitty surf board...mini kayak...lovely art!
Your vessels are supreme. Thanks for the inspiration.

Mobifilz said...

Die sind ja wieder schön geworden. Ich bewundere deinen Fleiß, dass muss ja mal wieder Tage gedauert haben :-)

Liebste Grüße Jessi

Siets Osinga said...

The installation is wonderful, Andrea. Self I visit often Vlieland, an island in the Wadden Sea. The sea there gives me much inspiration for my felt work.

Unknown said...

Lovely! I can't wait to see these pieces installed, Andrea.

Struggling with artist statements seems to be a recurring theme for many, especially when the work itself requires no words to be made or shown.

A dear friend of mine suggested that the artist statement be an extension of the art-making process. It can be poetic and flowing and blossoming, rather than a cold explanation of something sublime.

Andrea Graham-Artist said...

Lol, I was thinking kitty surf board, too! :o)

Andrea Graham-Artist said...

Yes, Shana...I cam up with a brief and abstract statement that left enough space for some pondering for the viewer!

nessa said...

Nice to see the transitional stages of your collection, very beautiful, Hope they dont end up in storage!!

Nessa

makefelt.com

KerryFelter said...

How do you press the pods so they aren't wrinkled from rinse? Hard to shape and press a 3-d item....

Andrea Graham-Artist said...

No so difficult if it is fulled very hard. They are steamed (hot iron) with my hand/arm inside, shaping, stretching. Keep in mind, these are felted stiff!

Becky Utecht said...

I love these Andrea. The color, the size, wonderful!

dogbaker said...

the colors are so perfect,I wish I could see these in person

time to relax

time to relax
Liberatio Captivus