Working with Fiber

Here's the type of fiber work I've been doing lately. It's my tomato trellis, executed in Sisal. I suppose I could call it an installation. I bought a humongous spool of sisal twine, 1450 glorious feet of it, and I've been busy tying up shrubs flattened by the heavy snows, corralling wayward clematis, bunching up the ripening daffodil foliage, and many other pleasant tasks made possible by an abundance of good twine. Due to circumstances partly beyond my control, the garden was a bit shaggy and semi-neglected for the past several years, but this spring I am on track to getting it all under control and manicured to the level I prefer. And the asparagus is coming in heavy right now, which really makes life worth living.

So I'm not in the studio a lot at present, but as I'm playing with twine and shoveling mulch I'm doing a lot of deep thinking about my nascent works in progress. This is the type of quality time that is so hard to quantify when asked "how long did that piece take you?" But of course it's the most essential type of engagement in the artwork--I can't make anything until I've figured out what it is I want to express.

I did take some time to make a few prints when the weather was congenial. Here's a detail of locust leaves, that will be part of the Squirrel quilt:

And here's a detail of a garlic mustard print on silk--I am very excited about this one, it's really lovely in person.

I'm waiting for more congenial weather in order to make more prints, it's much too brisk and chilly at present.