Take your places and smile for the camera

Here's how the set up looks. I've used pins to hold the flag strings suspended from one side to another. I'm not sure how to place the flags right now, so I'll work on placing the figures first.
Somewhere the head of my tripod has been lost, so I have had to create a holder for my small Canon Elph camera. I used foam core board to create a slot just big enough for the bottom of my camera to fit in. I can easily pull it off the tripod if I need to photograph something else, or if I need to change the battery. I'm just your basic point and shoot photographer, but I think this set up should work for the purpose I need it for.

Here's what I'm looking at.

While they sit around waiting

The remembrance project, the name I'm beginning to think of for the quilt this blog is about, has been delayed. Not at a complete standstill, as these photos will attest. I've set up the drawing table and covered it with fabric. I've started setting up the pieces. And I've made strings of flags out of little rectangles of paper towels and string. I've also found a tripod and gotten my camera set up ready. 

Making strings of flags while

 the characters sit around waiting

Meanwhile, I've been busily working on gathering all my information together for a new website. I want to put my blog and gallery together, so only one address is needed. When I go to Athens, Ohio towards the end of May, I want to have my new site up and running. I'll be attending the opening of Quilt National 2013, where my latest work, "No One but You" has been selected to be in. This show is a big deal for art quilters, some liken it to the Holy Grail of the contemporary quilting world.

Quilt National is a biennial international juried exhibition of contemporary innovative quilts. The first Quilt National was shown in 1979. The eighteenth in the series of international juried competitions dedicated to promoting the contemporary quilt by serving as a showcase for NEW work (completed after September 1, 2010). The jurors will select works that represent unique approaches to the medium and demonstrate the breadth and diversity of contemporary expressions.

It's a tough show to get into - they even give an award for the person who has entered the most times before being accepted. There is usually a predominance of abstract work, and as my piece is a work of realism, I think it will really stand out.

I'll get a lot of exposure from the show, and that in itself warranted a sprucing up of my website. Although I like the site I have now (www.susanpolansky.com), the functionality of it is a bit antiquated.
I'm aiming for a bit more sophistication in this next go 'round. There have been many changes in the technical end of things, so I'm hoping for a better content managing system, so uploading new work will be easier. See, I'm planning for an artistically productive future!

yeah, I've got nothing...

I met with my critique group today. We are art quilters and call our group "New Wrinkle." The six of us have been meeting once a month (more or less) for many years. We each have different styles, but we are comfortable with each other enough to comment and critique each other's work. Occasionally we have put up group shows, like the one we recently did at the Audubon Broadmoor Wildlife Center in Natick, MA.
Today the others had work to show - finished quilts, work in progress, or ideas being stitched together. But I had nothing. At least, that's what it felt like. I didn't have anything in hand, but I talked about my idea. I had already shown the clay figures and set up that I had put together, so there was nothing new to bring to the table.
Yet did that mean I really had nothing? I've been busy with the development of my idea. Many times with creating art, there is nothing to show for all the obsession that goes on behind the scenes. The infinite amount of fidgeting with small changes can be a crucial to the outcome, but hardly noticeable on a daily basis. And add on to that the delays that life imposes; well, it does seem like nothing has been accomplished.

area to work in

Bet you're wondering how the scene is coming along. I've created enough clay people and made places for them to sit. I've also cut some pieces of foam core into small blocks, so I'll be able to use them as supports or to change the height of something. My work area is becoming a mess, but who's got time to clean up?

Not I have to create a staging area. I've lowered my drafting table into a horizontal position and set it up against my design wall. I put a big sheet of foam core board to make the area a little bigger, and it will also be suitable to pin something into if I need to secure anything. A mottled brown fabric will serve as the ground.  I've pinned gray fabric to the wall so it will read as background atmosphere, and I've put up some black boards on one side to create a contrast. The colors won't matter, it's just to add some dimensionality.

What's with the keys?

poster board keys I made for the mock up scene

What's with the keys? I've seen them used in all kinds of artwork. Keys are mundane items, yet so significant in our lives. How many times has life seemed to stop until we've found our keys? How empowering it is to get a key, how exasperating to lose one. I tried to think of instances where keys are used in a negative light, but to no avail. Keys to St. Peter's gate in heaven, keys to knowledge, keys to power, keys to your heart. Can you think of something? The closest I came was unlocking Pandora's Box unleashing a myriad of woes. Then there's "keying" someone's car to leave horrible scratches in the paint - but that's not specific to purpose, only use of instrument at hand.

Keys are not usually the most striking of items, however they are instantly recognizable. They enable us to grant or deny access to that which we possess and safeguard. We recognize the difference and importance of the ones we hold, but they mean nothing to anyone else.

That occurred to my family as we collected all the keys that my brother had left when he died. We wondered what they were attached to, what meaning did they hold? Our shock at Fred's untimely death was compounded by confusion. We stared and sifted through the collection - it was just a big box of questions for us. How do we begin? Fred had lived a private life so there were few readily available answers. His estate was complicated and entangled in many ways. He had amassed a hoarder's wealth of possessions, property and relationships. Before we could even begin to explore what he had left us, we needed to figure out his keys. We anxiously tried to find proper matches, having faith that we would be able to unlock some mysteries. My aged father would fumble through them, unwittingly mixing them up again and again. It was as if he was conveying the idea that it all didn't make sense to him.

Keys will appear on top of the monuments that will be in this quilt. I started thinking of the quilt after visiting Mexican cemeteries, where visions of crosses were omnipresent. I don't want the religious, but I do want the symbolic. Although religious symbols also can convey similar feelings of security and safe passage. We instantly understand their significance, yet how they fit with our beliefs is a matter that can be private or shared with others. I feel very comfortable substituting one with another. There's the thought again about having faith and unlocking mysteries. The keys in this quilt carry a lot of private meaning, but they also have a universal symbolism.

The use of keys for this quilt was unquestionable for me. Modern or skeleton? They must be recognizable yet initially unremarkable just as keys naturally are. They must fit in the setting. I think this is "do-able" as they can be the same visual weight as the crosses.

Serenading skeletons sing out to Sue

Sue with the Serenading Skeletons

Oaxaca, Mexico is an area where Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated. It occurs in late October as does Halloween here in the States, but it is a very different event. It is a time for remembering those who have left life before us. Over a period of a few days, individuals and families come together for a multitude of festivities. Parades, shows, picnics and candle lit vigils occur in the towns and surrounding areas, with many of the activities in the cemetery grounds, all accompanied by huge amounts of decorations and flowers.

Flower Merchants

Oaxaca, Mexico
photo by Susan Polansky, 2008

Chalk and Flower Street Painting

Oaxaca, Mexico

photo by Susan Polansky, 2008

You've probably seen dancing skeletons, or the shadow boxes of skeletons performing typical daily activities, or some other brightly colored portrayal of "happy" skeletons. They are there to remind people that death is a part of life, it is a fact of our human condition. So, get used to it, don't be scared - try to have some fun with it. And while you're at it, remember those who you've loved and lived with, and who now can not be with you. Instead of the somber, quite deserted landscape of monuments that I am used to, I saw a riot of color and activity at the cemeteries during these days. And the most astonishing thing was the number of people either wandering or gathered around, all there to actively honor memories of those important to them. It was so striking, and at the same time, so beautiful, to see gatherings of people talking, joking, crying, decorating, eating and drinking - all done to celebrate the lives of others. It was incredibly moving.

Untitled

Oaxaca, Mexico
photo by Hari Polansky, 2008

My husband, son and I visited Oaxaca in November, 2008. It's a beautiful and interesting place on it's own, with a concentration of artistic and craft producing communities, friendly people, fascinating history and architecture - I could go on about all the touristic merits. We specifically timed our visit to coincide with El Dia de los Muertos. It's odd how life works sometimes. There's many things we experience that help to prepare us for our next steps without us even knowing it. The following year I would plunge into an extremely dark period - where I lost an incredible number of loved ones. Brother, Father, Father in Law, 2 Brother in Laws, 2 uncles, friends - eleven people in two years. How hard that was! Through it all, I would occasionally think of what I had recently seen in Mexico. I wanted a way to remember and celebrate those lives with exuberance. I wanted to express my thankfulness that my life had been touched by them and was made greater by their presence. The germ of the idea for this piece that I work on now had been sown.

Building character(s)

I'm collecting quite a few pieces! The lumpy clay people are behaving nicely. I can position them easily as the armature of wire and tinfoil underneath the clay allows flexibility and stability. If i need them to sit, I can flatten the clay on their bottoms. If they refuse to stand, I can insist with a pin through their foot. I am ruthless! (Actually not - my middle name is Ruth!)

Tiny folding chairs are really difficult to make!

I've been referring to photos that I took in Oaxaca, Mexico as I work on the buildings. I look for the parts that intrigue me and that will fit with my idea. There are some alter/monuments that are interesting, and I realize that I don't have to keep the scale the same. Look at the photo below and see the monuments in the back - I've used the shapes for my foam core constructions. I've been making an assortment of shapes and sizes so I'll have the flexibility to make an interesting arrangement. Not sure which I'll use yet.

Cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico

Hari Polansky