The Orange Hat Project

A detail of the community weaving

Inspired by the tour I took when I first arrived here almost a month ago, we were warned that it was hunting season and that we should wear bright orange while walking through the woods for our own safety.... the Orange Hat Project began....and now it is complete.

Thank you to all the residents here at the Vermont Studio Center that took the time to participate in this exchange. I love how the project have evolved from orange hats to scarfs, mittens, shirts, pants, etc... 33 people participated in this project and created the community weaving pictured below.

Thank you. This project would not have been a success without all of you... Stay safe everyone!

1. Cathy

2. Daphne

3. Anne

4. Sebastian

5. Virgina

6. Melissa

7. Dara

8. Lesley

9. Sabrina

10. Fran

11. Claudette

12. Madelyne

13. Heather

14. Laura

15. Arnie

16. Kristyn

17. George

18. Keke

19. Kara

20. Andrey

21. Krista

22. Dayna

23. Heather

24. Mike

25. Marie

26. Beth

27. Paola

28. Beijing Charlie

29. Megan

30. Soren

31. Katherine

32. Ken

33. Christi

Yesterday's Screams

The results of the election were not what we were all expecting. They were actually quite devastating... The presidency is actually going to that awful, hateful, dangerous and unprepared man.

I woke up on Wednesday morning and posted on FB, " What a different feeling than yesterday... I never though that this would happen. It makes me sick. I am sad, embarrassed for our country and afraid for a future like this...."

In response a friend of mine responded, " Wonder if your art will take a very dark turn today"
Not having even pulled myself out of bed just yet, I replied, " I wonder if I can even make art today.."
Another friend replies, "Art heals right? "

Wrapped in the safety of my down comforter, I began to think...if there was a day to embrace the political in my art, it would be today. What should I do? What can I do? All I want to do is scream.
Then the idea came to me, weaving screams using the interlocking technique that looks kind of like sound bites. I would need to come out of my studio. I don't want to be alone in a white cube behind a white door forcing myself to plug along with my art making today anyway.... I should go outside. Yes, this is what got me out of bed and ready to work.

Silently Screaming

Then I looked out the window at the grey sky and they misty wetness in the air and the weather felt like the mood of the day. Working outside in the wet grass was not such a great idea after all.... so I packed up the loom and rolled it over to the Red Mill building. Thinking that we all have to come out and eat there today, try to refuel and be together as a group even though the tension was thick and the energy was low...

I set up the loom in the gallery there and decided that it would be a great place to work. It was for me, it was for others, it was welcoming, open to hands willing to help, emotions to be expressed and conversations to be had. I began weaving and was actually working quite fast. At this pace, I would be done with this warp in no time. I was working off of some nervous emotional energy and silently screaming into the fabric.

Krista Weaving Screams

Andrey Weaving Screams

 My screams were being heard by those around me.  I slowed down and listened. They came in to share their feelings, their stories, hugs and weave their voices in the fabric as well. Thank you to all that came in yesterday. I hope this project helped you as much as it helped me. I wove from about 10 am until about 5:30 or so, taking only a break for lunch. This light piece of fabric is actually quite heavy and carries the weight of the day. I ran out of strings right before dinner and the piece was complete.

A Collective Scream
November 9th, 2016

No one thought this was going to happen
sadness
No one thought this was going to happen
some people say he is not so bad
No one thought
No one thought this was going to happen
Something will be done

Vermont Studio Center (The First Half)

I arrived at The Vermont Studio Center On Sunday, October 23rd. I unpacked my stuffed car and settled into my studio and living space for the next month. Outside my studio window construction workers dressed in their flannel wool jackets are working on building the foundation for the new building,  as I begin to build a foundation for my new work.

My studio space, day #1

The view from my window

I took a tour of the grounds here at VSC and we were told that it is the beginning of hunting season and that if we decide to walk in the woods we should wear bright orange hats for our safety. I also explored the town a bit and found the Johnson Mills, a family run business that has been manufacturing woven woolen cloth since 1842. I bought some scraps from the remnants room and planned to use them into my work.

I began working on a clasped warp that I had recently made with Mihoko. I cut the woolen strips smaller and wove them onto my fabric.

My first clasped warp

I ended up using this fabric to embellish hats...

Thinking about those ugly orange hats and my growing interested in the realm of social practice, I decided that this would be a great place to try out an exchange. Participants could come visit my studio with an orange hat and I will embellish that hat with some of my woven fabric in exchange for their labor and conversation. In the end, everyone that participates works together to create a community weaving and leaves with an orange hat that is not as ugly... Really, it's all for your own safety...

Cathy was my first participant.

So far, fifteen people have done this. Here are some photos to illustrate the process...

Daphne

Daphne's weaving contribution

Anne

Anne's weaving contribution

Dara

Dara's Weaving contribution

When the exchange is complete, I ask each participant to sign my book and write a comment if they would like about the process. This is what Dara wrote,

" A loom is a brain, and wool becomes words woven in unexpected ways, together creating a tunnel that becomes story, and the time it takes to make becomes the way we choose to live our lives- like jazz, like a symphony or like a solo voice singing in the woods visible only as a bobbing head of the brightest orange, adorned with your beautiful weaving. Thank you thank you!! Dara"

The community fabric so far...

In between working on the Orange Hat project, I cut may piece of this shape from the wool from the Johnson mill and from other woven piece of fabric that I had brought with me and began to collage them into new beginnings...

The orange shapes are from a community weaving I did years ago at the Danforth.

I used the scraps to make miniature pieces

When it was time to add painted color, I tried it out first on the smaller pieces...

 

 

Thank you to Jenny and Thayer for helping me out and allowing me to experiment in the print shop.

 

I look forward to what happens in the second half of my experience here at the Studio Center.

Is it finished?