Wind Moon

Hare Moon, Seed Moon, Moon of budding Trees,
Let fertile magic sprout within me,
Kali, Hathor, Ishtar, Bast,
This abundant, creative cycle now be cast.
-Dallas Jennifer Cobb

Living in the DC Metro area, there is one thing that you just cannot escape from in the early part of April – the Cherry Blossoms.  The delicate, ephemeral quality of these of these blooms attracts me…I don’t know what it is about ephemera, but I love it.  Maybe it’s just the sound of the word itself…I wrote a post a while back in my personal blog all about my love of ephemera…when I have a little time and some patience, I will sort through those posts and link to it here.  But anyway, I digress.  In early April this year, in the DC Metro area, when we were firmly in the grip of the Cherry Blossom frenzy, that is when the full moon fell.  Known as the Wind Moon or the Pink Moon it wasn’t just apropos that the idea for this quilt include cherry blossoms.  They are the herald of spring for us, after a very long spell of cold, dry, brown grass and barren trees and things stirring IN the Earth, but very little on the surface of the Earth that we can see.  The cherry blossoms are an explosion and a celebration of life after the winter has ended.

Wind Moon detail
Originally uploaded by alyson_olander

I quilted this piece with the swoops and swirls and spirals that you would see if wind were visible, then used thread painting techniques to create the tree branch that passes in front of the moon.  I clustered beads together on the branch as they would appear on an actual cherry tree and added swirls of beads flying from the tree as the flower petals get caught up in the wind.  The beads are a combination of small and large seed beads purchased from the craft store; and small & large Swarovski crystals and sequins, purchased from Accessories of Old in Bethesda, MD.

Storm Moon (Working Title)

Seed Moon, Plow Moon, Moon of Winds,
Illusion ends as true growth begins,
Hecate, Athene, Astarte, Morrigan,
In pure inspiration the cycle begins again.
-Dallas Jennifer Cobb

Once again, I was left in the dark; clouds filled the sky on the night of the full moon and there was nothing for me to gaze at in order to find my inspiration.  I had to imagine it all. 

I find that I am generally fascinated by water color quilts & the idea of taking the traditional quilting methods and weaving them into an art piece.  I love that I can create a piece from tiny little squares of fabric that give you the impression of texture.  Have you ever looked at a stormy sky?  At first glance, it seems like it is all one color, but there are shadows and tints and shades hiding in those clouds.  The same goes for the moon, it is not one solid color either.  That is the idea that I am attempting to convey by piecing both the sky and the moon with tiny 1 inch squares, the texture of a stormy sky and the true face of the full moon.

The piece is quilted using three colors of thread in a style usually used to convey the impression of water – here it is also used to convey water, just in a different form.

Quickening Moon: Seedling Ambition

Hunger Moon, Wild Moon, Ice Moon stealth,
in quiet preparation I love my self,
Brigit, Persephone, Diana, Kuan Yin,
Help to cleanse and heal what’s within.
-Dallas Jennifer Cobb

In February, I watched for the moon for days before and days after the after the actual full moon event, to no avail.  The sky, for days, was completely shrouded in clouds; not even a peek at a star could be seen.  I imagine before the modern days of electric lights or even the earlier gas powered lights, these nights would have been very, truely black.

The Quickening is when tree sap begins to flow again and the Earth starts to awaken.  Each year, there are seeds that sprout too early while their brothers and sisters sleep just a little deeper down in the dirt.  This quilt is about those ambitious seeds, dreaming of the coming growing season, and jumping the gun, awakening too early.

Three little seeds (apple) are nestled within their own little full moons, but one has jumped the gun, so excited by his ambitious dreams that he popped out a little bit too early. I machine embroidered the tiny seedling onto its moon first, then attached each of the 3 moons to the quilt.  I free motion quilted the piece being careful not to let the quilting lines touch the seeds that were still ‘sleeping’.  Finally, I attached the seeds and tiny glass seed beads to give the impression of stars in the sky.

This piece will be shown at Artomatic 2009, but will not be offered for sale on Etsy—it has already found a permanent home.

I’ve been keeping myself quite busy for the past few weeks with preparations for Artomatic, and now the show is finally upon us!  Walls have been painted, lettering has been added, postcards printed, paint touched-up and, most importantly, art has been made and HUNG!  Even though I completed my installation on Sunday, there is still a nagging voice in my head saying “What on Earth did I get myself in for?” and “Isn’t there more that I can do?” I can’t wait until 10pm tonight—the last minute of installation.  After that, the building will be “hermetically sealed” for staff to clean and finish prepping things like lounges, bars, and classrooms.  So as of 10 pm, I can’t do any more, even if I wanted to.  The show opening is this Friday, May 29th—I will be there as soon as I can be after work.

My Artomatic Wall, from the side
Originally uploaded by alyson_olander

I’m showing two different sets of work—4 pieces of each series.  The Full Moon series that I started at the beginning of the year includes Wolf Moon, Quickening Moon: Seedling Ambition, Storm Moon, and Wind Moon.  I realize that I haven’t made blog posts about any but Wolf Moon; I am going to try to get them together and post this week or in the first week of the show, in case folks come here wanting to know more.  The second is a series that I began over a year ago which I’m calling Water & Stones. I pieced the large quilt many moons ago as a study of patterns and lines and colors and just got stuck.  I pulled it back out and quilted it just recently in time for Artomatic.  The small quilts that run along side it were fun little variations on the theme.  There is a fourth, but 3 is a better number for display purposes.  My current description of them starts out with “if Andy Goldsworthy were a quilter…”  Once again, I realize that I haven’t made a blog post about any of these.  Just like with the full moon series, I am planning to post something descriptive up this week or next.  If you want to see more pictures and details of the quilts, check out my set of Artomatic pictures on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyson_olander/sets/72157618608512307/ .  Once Artomatic opens, I will be posting (almost) all of the pieces on etsy for purchase: http://wonderlandquilts.etsy.com .

Me & my wall
Originally uploaded by alyson_olander

Here’s the oh-so-important plug and show information:

55 M Street, SE (Navy Yard Metro, Nationals Stadium Exit)
Washington, DC 20003
My work be found on the 4th floor, near the education area

May 29-July 5, 2009
Fri-Sat: Noon-1 am
Sun, Wed, Thu: Noon-10 pm
Meet the artists night: June 13th (I’ll be there!)

More Information: http://www.artomatic.org/

Snow Moon, Cold Moon, Quiet Moon abide,
Let protection and strength grow inside,
Inanna, Sarasvati, Hera, and Sinn,
Sew new beginnings deep within.
—Dallas Jennifer Cobb

In my research about the Wolf Moon, this rite struck me as just perfect to begin my year long full moon journal quilting adventure.

The full moon on the night in question was shrouded in clouds, but the moon shown through, creating these amazing rings of color around herself. This is represented by both layers of fabric and of thread – 8 different fabrics and 4 different threads. The clouds seemed the carry the glow of the moon far beyond what we would normally see. Also, that night, the moon was huge, the largest we will see all year; as she passed on her closest path to the earth.

In years past, this was the time of year when families huddled together for safety and warmth, with wolves howling outside – it was the most difficult time of year, the winter was in full swing; food was beginning to run low; the wolves were particularly fierce in their own hunger.

Originally, I was planning to place a heart, to represent the family, swaddled and protected by the layers of the moon, but it seemed too trite in the end. I liked the starkness of this image, it leaves the story open for interpretation.

Take from it what you will.

There is a continuation of the journal quilt project going on. It’ll be an online exhibit only. And since my plan is already to make journal quilts, why not enter them? But here’s the dilemma. The journal quilts are going back to the old format of 8.5″ x 11″, vertical orientation. And I had already decided on 12″ x 12″. In fact, I’d already started creating a quilt for the series in 12″ x 12″. I could cut it smaller. I have little to no problems doing that. But I’m not sure that I want to do it, just to get the quilts into a show. I could just finish this one and complete the rest in the smaller format and just not enter this one as one of the three in the show, but I kind of wanted them all to be the same size to tie them all together. I’d like to make the decision before I start quilting the piece, so that I don’t have to quilt unnecessarily. Free-motioning is a lot of work, dontchaknow, and especially when you are working in a small format, every stitch counts.

In addition to that dilemma, I feel like the quilt I’m working on needs more, and I was thinking about putting in a snowy landscape below the moon, but I really didn’t want these quilts to be quite so…literal. It changes the whole perspective of the quilt and it would be changing the point of it almost completely and I’m not happy about that either. But you can’t force art and I am feelin’ the landscape. If only I can make it look as good as it does in my mind.

So anyway…didn’t work on it yesterday because a) I was tired and b) dilemmas.

Any thoughts?

So last night, the fabulous K came over and brought all of her arty supplies with her, for the purpose of making wee little shrines. I made two & she left me with stuff to make more.

The stamps are from junque‘s “Little Altars Everywhere” set.

Oh hooray! Now I have MORE crafty craziness to make!

For more pics, start here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyson_olander/3189403179/

Here’s the Prompt:

Ghosts of a Chance Assignment #3
submission – full
Originally uploaded by alyson_olander

Create a replica of something you desire but know you cannot have.

An ordinary con man might substitute such a replica for its model, but your replica will be more real than the original object of desire; we invite you to be a con artist.

Is it a prop, or a partial representation? A functional stand-in that will, in time, yield its position to a more authentic desideratum? Or is this, rather, a copy indistinguishable from the original? Should such a perfect replica be celebrated or feared? Your replica may aspire to answer these questions. It is more likely to pose others.

Here’s the Prompt:

Ghosts of a Chance Assignment #2
submission – full
Originally uploaded by alyson_olander

Searching for Guidance? Every Man (and Woman) knows the value of a good Prediction. It’s the hunch you feel, usually registering in your Gut, and if you’d only followed that hunch you’d be living up the hill. Why not learn the tricks of Wall Street Bankers, Generals and Statesmen whose livelihoods depend on knowing what Imminent Doom the future holds. The problem was that few could afford such Predictors. We have been fortunate enough to make terms with Manufacturers of the best Predictors to enable us to sell them to you for only $2.00. The same quality, the same assurance as with more expensive models. Made from the purest Elements from forests in Paraguay and Guiana. Usually sold for $5.00. Yours for $2.00. If by mail, postage extra, 2 cents.

I want a device that predicts the future, and the imminent doom it holds. Find and modify an already-existing one or create one of your own.

-Daisy Fortunis

I can’t wait to see everything exhibited, in person, on October 25th!

The first prompt was the “Necklace of the Subaltern Betrayer”:

Ghosts of a Chance Assignment #1
submission – full
Originally uploaded by alyson_olander

She’s a girl from another time, she blushes and rustles as she passes, taffeta skirt buoyed by crinolines. She has taught herself to fling her burnished curls with just a turn of her head; she and her sister practiced for hours in front of an oval mirror. At twenty, she is poised but not on the brink; she understands her value; her next great adventure awaits her. A mate. Travel. Domesticity – which involves a love of gardening, cleanliness and the proper care of servants.

As she rustles, and blushes, and tosses her curls, her scent insinuates itself in the air between you – Lilies of the Valley. Her eyes are the color of good sapphires, with royal-blue flecks at their core. Her hair is the color of bottled honey. Her neck is alabaster.

The frills and accessories that constitute the bureaucracy of her wardrobe make her power seem abstract.

The Necklace I want should fit perfectly around her neck, but remain there only long enough for me to steal it right off again.

-Daniel Libbe

My response was chosen as the favorite so far…it can be viewed in the following locations and in person at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on October 25, 2008:

• “Eye Level” (SAAM Blog):
  http://eyelevel.si.edu/2008/09/ghosts-of-a-cha.html
• Luce Foundation Center for American Art Collection:
  http://americanart.si.edu/luce/object.cfm?key=338&artistmedia=0&subkey=224095
• Ghosts of a Chance website:
  http://www.ghostsofachance.com/index.php?p=object&id=1

Now I wait and see how artifact #2 fares…