{Art Show} The Lincoln Theatre

The Lincoln Theatre is one of my favorite places in our valley. My history with this theatre goes way back.It was one of the original movies theaters in downtown Mount Vernon. I remember vividly going to see, On Golden Pond, Flash Dance, and Tootsie there back in the '80's.Now the Lincoln is a place to see plays, music, and indie films - it's been restored and didn't lose any of it's original charm. There is still an organ player that plays before the films start.

A really nice feature at the Lincoln is the Art Bar. It's here that artists get a chance to show their work and people can hang out and enjoy a beverage before and after the events that they attend. I'm lucky enough to be the featured artist for the month of February and we just had a reception for the exhibit this last weekend. The first image is a serigraph that I just made that was inspired by the Lincoln.It's my interpretation of the view from the stage of a seated crowd. I thought it would be nice to post some of the work that is in the show right now for those of you that can't attend. Most of the pieces are serigraphs that I've been working on within the last year. I'll walk you through the show... 

The imagery that you see in my work is originally drawn with thread on canvas using free-motion sewing and I included some of my first thread drawing portraits in the exhibit for reference. I really love the continuous line quality that I can get from the thread. When I am happy with an image, I then scan it and make a screen from it to use in the screen printing process. You can view my thread drawing process and more of my thread drawings here and here. 

I know I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say it again many times, but I'm really lucky to know, let alone be married to, Chris. We make a good creative team. He's a master at hanging shows and figuring out how to hang this whole show by utilizing picture molding on the uneven walls of an old building was a trick. He also proved to be a great bartender at the opening. The little details like the wine bottles and cans of flowers from our yard being covered by my prints - and my printed scarf used as a table cloth, was all him. I also like his signature look- a skinny tie with a hoodie. Chris is the whole package. 

Thanks for walking through the show with me. Have you seen anything noteworthy lately?

{Design} Just FABulous...

As you most likely know, I'm a bit of a design junkie. I love all things design and when I discovered Fab.com last year, (thanks to my friends at Ideal) I was in heaven. So, it's pretty darn cool that I was asked to have a KLTworks sale on Fab.com recently. I've been busily getting ready for it - printing more things at one time than I ever have and then photographing them! I've literally been buried in boxes & tees for the last few weeks. Not to mention, sewing tons of thread drawing plush pillows. 

But It  sure was exciting to see it go live on Valentine's Day - I've been busy ever since! I took the opportunity to debut new colors, styles & designs during the sale - all of the apparel is for adults, at a really great price. If you are a Fab.com fan, pop on over to check it out. The sale goes until Thursday.  In the meantime, I'll packing & shipping....

Hope you have a great week! 

Fab.com: KLTworks Sale

{shop update} a mobile menu...

Everyone has their own story to tell so I was really excited to create a "mobile menu" - a list of mobile characters, colors, & fabrics to create an individual & unique klt:works mobiles for every creative vision. You can find the custom mobile listing here. 

Speaking of mobiles, there is a giveaway over at bloesem kids - you can win a klt:works Friends of the Forest  mobile!  

If you would like a chance to win this mobile, you can stop by bloesem kids for a visit. They will chose a winner & post it on Wednesday. Good luck!  

Hope you had a great weekend!

{Hutch Demos} A thread drawing for you...

On November 5th, Chris & I both did demos at hutch studio. We spent the day working together in the same space- Chris worked on various whirligigs & I drew with thread by using free-motion on the sewing machine. My parents actually live on the other side of the fence from hutch studio & Sayer was hanging out with them while we were at the studio, but he did come over to watch a bit & was our first visitor. I know he really enjoys watching us work & being in that creative space. Maybe someday all three of us can do demos together. 

It was such a pretty, sunny day & I thoroughly enjoyed working next to Chris & chatting with the occasion visitor. There were two teenagers that hung out watching me for the longest time & I got a real kick out them. My brain usually works fast - plus I had consumed my share of coffee that afternoon & even I couldn't keep up with their constant banter. 

My friend Chantale edited some footage we had of the afternoon & gave me this video for an early Christmas gift (I know, she is the sweetest!). You can sort of get a feel of the space & the way that I create my drawings that I use for my klt:works tees & plushies. I hope you enjoy it! 

  

One of the things that Chris & I try to instill in Sayer is the importance of making things by hand & how special a drawing or piece of art is. He has been drawing like crazy lately & we are encouraging him to give everyone a special drawing for Christmas. With that in mind, I thought I would "walk the walk" & do a special giveaway that comes from my hands & my heart. I'm actually not really sure how it will be received, but I thought I would give it a whirl. It's not meant for any other reason than to say "thank you" for sharing your time & comments with me. So... during this demo at hutch, I did quite a few little owl drawings - they are fairly quick & on small pieces of canvas. I would love to give them away to people who would enjoy them. If you would like one, just leave me a comment (& a way to reach you). If necessary, I will draw names & announce it here on Friday. Thanks again for reading this blog & for reaching out. I truly value the connections & people I meet here!  Hope you are having a great week! Happy Holidays! 

{Thread Drawings} Tea, Thread, & Fabric...

I've been holed up in my studio the last few days working on a project. Chris & I were asked to be in an art exhibit at a local gallery for their holiday show again this year. So, I needed to squeeze in some time between filling orders & making "products"- to make "fine art". 

My favorite thing about making art vs. products is the exploration & process. I usually just dive in with reckless abandon when I'm in the studio. I got into the creative bubble & just worked & worked until my eyes crossed. I was happy with what I came up with- nothing like working up to the last minute to rev up the ol' creative adrenaline (old habits die hard). I used thread, black tea, fabric, & embroidery hoops for these pieces. The studio looks like a hurricane hit. 

Chris is delivering them to Smith & Vallee Gallery as I type. The show is called "Objectification 4" & the opening is Saturday night from 5-8pm - it's up from 12/03 -12/24. Chris & I have a "date night' without the kiddo & we will be able to mingle until our hearts content. So pop on down if you can. You can take a tour of the little town, gallery, & last year's submitted art pieces by clicking here. 

Now I have to clean up the studio & start making more mobiles & plush. This was sure a nice little break though....  How's your week going?

{Fun Event} whirligigs & thread...

Two years ago, Hutch Studio opened it's doors to the public. It was the Annual Arts Alive weekend in La Conner & Hutch Studio celebrated the opening with art demonstrations all day- I happened to have been one of them. Saturday, Hutch Studio is celebrating it's 2 year anniversary much in the same way. It's Arts Alive weekend again & Chris will be doing a whirligig demo from 12-2pm & I will do a demo in how I draw with thread, from 2-4pm

Thread Drawing from elSage on Vimeo.

If you are in the area, pop on by, we would love to see you! Chris has been working on some new pieces for a show that will be going on this weekend as well. Stop by Maple Hall in La Conner to view his new work (details here). The piece below is made with cardboard & is a peek into the world of Hutch Studio. 

If you aren't able to come visit us in person, you can enjoy free shipping all weekend at the Hutch Studio etsy shop! Just use "hutchfreeship" during checkout. Hope everyone has a creative weekend! 

{Fabric Friday} Mr Rabbit Rawlinson ...

I have a stack of special fabrics in my studio- the stack is reserved for just the right project. A lot of the stack consists of the hand printed textiles that Helen Rawlinson makes. I've posted about her gorgeous designs before I know, but you can never get too much of a good thing. When I was thinking about making my Rabbit Plushies, I knew right away what fabrics I wanted to use on their backs... three of my saved Helen fabrics (lime spot, fuchsia ABC, & charcoal pebble). 

I'm really drawn to the modern, vibrant, & clean aesthetic of Helen's work. As to not reinvent the wheel, I'm going to give you links to the other posts I've written about her designs too. I've been a fan for quite awhile now.

{Fabric Friday} From an Old Chocolate Factory in London

{mobiles} New Collection,

Fabric Friday (one of my first ones) , 

{Everyday Inspiration} Storytime

I love to work with handprinted fabrics particularly when I have a face to the name . So, these little Rabbits were extra fun to make- it's like they really did magically pop out of Cardboard Man's hat. Happy Fabric Friday! Have a great weekend! Do you have anything fun planned?

{Studio Update} New Drawings in Thread...

I've been busy playing around with making some more drawings with thread lately. After many attempts, here are my newest three - a rabbit, fox, & hedgehog. Do you have a favorite? I think I do, but I'm curious about yours. I will be printing some more tees with one of these right away, & have plans to make more letterpress prints & plush as well. I would love your input. For those that don't know what I mean by drawing with thread, here is a little video demo of my process. There isn't a drawing underneath, or a computer program that does this for me. It is all chance & a regular sewing machine with a quilter's foot. Sometimes the drawing juju is with me... & sometimes it isn't. Needless to say, many end up in the garbage. One of the things that I find interesting about this process is that it uses both parts of my brain. The right side is creating the drawing & the left side is making sure I don't run over my fingers with the needle. 

Thread Drawing from elSage on Vimeo.

Now there are 13 klt:thread characters/images (sandpiper, raven, nest, owl, owl  bride, owl groom, bulldog, german pointer, kitty, squirrel, hedgehog, fox, & rabbit) & so many projects & stories ahead....

{Night Out} From Junk to Art...

A night out on the town isn't the same as it used to be. Just like an art opening in a small town isn't at all like openings that we have both been to in NYC. Saturday night was date night without the kiddo and we had an adventure- one that I just had to share. And it all started at a favorite junk store. The gallery that we had our art show at, is in a little town called Edison. I think it's  smaller than La Conner,  the town I've talked a lot about. Both are about 20 minutes away from our house & both look like they are made from theater props. On the outskirts of  Edison (next to one of our favorite little restaurants) is a house full of junk/ store. We like to stop there when ever we are in the neighborhood. Last time we were there, we spotted a really cool old chair for $20 (that needed a serious face lift) and we wanted to see if it was still there.... it wasn't.

Oddly, this little town has more culture and cool stores than many big cities. City folks tend to gravitate there -along with real locals which makes for an interesting mix of people. You can buy $30 cheeses & truffle oil, art, handmade bread, or someones old bric-a-brac, all on the same street. Saturday night there was a blues band playing at one bar & and '80'sish,  something or other, sequin- short skirt wearing singer in the bar at the other end of the street. The buildings are also full of character & architectural interest. So it's a diverse town to say the least.

After dinner in Edison, we walked down to the end of the street to the art opening. Realizing during the walk that there were tons of stars out. The gallery is in an old restored school house and is the brainchild of  two woodworkers. The openings always bring in a crowd. Below are 4 pictures of the show taken before the opening - property of Smith/ Vallee Gallery.  Chris' piece is on in the left photo- mine is in the right. We are actually chatting it up in the last photo. I'm the one with the yellow bag & Chris has on his cool hat.

Now back to my pictures again... Here is another view of Chris' work. It's actually an interior look at our bathroom & hallway made from cardboard. Rather than have me explain his thoughts on the piece, you can read more about it here. You can also see the back of him chatting with our friend Wendy (she's the one sort of hidden), who made the black & white sgraffito ceramic place setting on the table. 

It was really fun to be in a show with Chris that wasn't a faculty show. Unfortunately our pieces  weren't near each other. Although we have really different styles of work, I love seeing it together. His studio is in the basement- mine is in the attic. My characters are made up- his spaces are reconstructions of our personal space. 

Even though we don't work together, I think our work compliments each other well. I sort of see it as me making people for his spaces. The first thing I did when I was finished with my figures, is place them by his piece. It just seemed right. They are looking into the hallway, up the stairs to my studio ... where they were made. Hope you enjoyed your little tour of a night at a small town art opening! 

{Thread Drawings} From Heads to Figures...

As if I wasn't busy enough, I took on a new project a few weeks ago. You may remember me mentioning awhile back in a post , that Chris & I were recently contacted about creating some new art pieces for an upcoming gallery show. The deadline was really tight but we both took on the challenge. The gallery opening is this weekend & Chris is dropping off our work today. I wanted to share a bit of the history behind what I ended up making... 

Back in 2005, I started fiddling around with drawing in thread on the sewing machine using free-motion sewing- relying on my ability to draw more than my ability to sew. The first images that I ever drew were people. They weren't people I knew, they were just made up characters. I ended up framing about 18 of them. Since then, they have been in different shows, I sold some and the rest ended up on our bedroom wall. I did start drawing birds, nests & other woodland creatures shortly after -which paved the way for my thread drawing tees, pillows, mobiles, & prints. You can see an example of how I draw in thread here. 

The gallery that contacted me was interested in my thread portraits, but also liked the  untraditional format of my screen of printed lino block portraits (on vintage patterns) too. I had been thinking about making figures in the same free-motion drawing method for some time so this gave me an opportunity to play around with that idea a bit.  One of the  tricky things, is that I don't draw things out on the canvas first. I can't really see it at that angle under that machine & I lose concentration in the actual drawing if  I try to follow lines. So, I really just go with the flow. For the figure, I needed to draw the head & the body separately. If I work with too much fabric, the drawing becomes even more difficult, not to mention, I can't judge perspective accurately from  where I am sitting behind the machine. I really had to cross my fingers that the bodies & head would work together. But then I gave myself another challenge- I decided to draw the backs of the figures too.....

To say that these characters are quirky, is an understatement. But I do like the way that they turned out. I really love how the two figures relate to each other too. I did them on different days and never intended for them to be displayed together. They ended up being, "Circus Lady" & "Circus Man" quite organically.  This process is really interesting for me because it uses the right side of my brain when I draw- but the left side of my brain to actually sew & make sure that I don't sew over my fingers. When I am done- I'm usually cross-eyed and 100% spent. I like the sculptural quality that the figures have & hope to continue to explore making more figures when I have time. I have to say, I've enjoyed making new "fine art". It was also really fun to have Chris & I both in studio mode into the wee hours. I would go to my studio (in the attic) & Chris would go to his (in the basement) every night. Last night we met in the kitchen at about 1:30am - bleary eyed & rummy - excitedly chatting about what we had made. Those are times I really enjoy & I'm grateful I married another artist. It's Sayer's morning wake up call at 6am that is a little tough. So that's what I've been up to (aside from filling KLT orders). I'll take my camera to the opening to see what I can capture. Oh, and l will definitely show you what Chris ended up making too. That's worthy of it's own post. Thanks to those of you that encouraged me in the last few weeks. I really appreciate it! I think I had better head to bed now... it is officially tomorrow.