I've moved!

I'm happy to report that my blog has moved to my shiny new website! 

www.karenanneglick.com

Thank you for your interest in my work - I hope you'll continue to follow me at my new home.

(This blog will maintained as an archive only.)

No new site yet...

Lordy. Ain't  nuthin' easy...

I thought that by now the new website would have been up for well over a week, but nooooo!

One problem after another. I've now got a straight line to Apple Senior Advisors. And to the same level at Epson. Trying to solve the problems had both groups working hard, but in the end I had to erase the hard drive on my iMac because it refused to cooperated with any of the "fixes". Once I reinstalled everything (well, mostly since my last backup to the external drive had been 10 days prior) sweet iMac refused to recognize my printer. Finally got things back on track, but it took more than a week.

Anyway, what to do when you feel way behind? Get right back at the task at hand? Heck no! You jump in and do some new work, right?

Ecstatic to have the printer working again I printed an image I took in September on our trip to Quebec; a closeup of a stainless steel panel on the ship we were on. Glorious, shimmering, silvery texture. Printed the 12 x 16 inch image in black and white and then added added circle of perforations. The resulting work is reminiscent of a quiet day at sea:

Felt so good to do something more creative than re-installing software. I can get back to the website tomorrow...

Hope you're all well and having a good summer. Thanks for your patience and for hanging in there with me!

May the Gods of Technology always be on your side,

: : Karen Anne

Moving on...

As you read this, I'm busy behind the scenes constructing my new website on Squarespace.

2015 greeted me with an overwhelming urge to simplify my life; to rid myself of clutter and embrace the quiet of solitude and open space in my physical environment, my relationships, and in my creative work. It seemed only right that my online presence should reflect the changes I have made thus far. The new site will have a fresh, new look and consolidate what I present online.

Here's what you'll see now if you go to my URL right now:

If you go to the page and click on the block reading "to be notified",  you'll be able to submit your email address so I can notify you when the new site goes live.

In the meantime, thank you for your interest in my work, and for following me on this Blogger page which I will maintain only to serve as an archive of past work and thoughts.

I look forward to welcoming you to my NEW home, and hope you will continue to follow me there.

Cheers,

: : Karen Anne

A Start...

As I've thought about the journey my grandparents and great-grandparents made when they stepped off the shores of Norway and headed to America, I've wondered about what they chose to bring and how they packed their few belongings.

I've moved 29 times and have packed more times than I care to dwell on. But their move...not at all sure I could have done it. (Truth to tell I do think about packing up and moving back to Norway, but that's a whole other post!)

Anyway, the idea of bundles kept surfacing in my thoughts.

I decided to revisit the work I made several years ago; small bundles constructed with window screening and rug canvas:

I've had trouble sourcing the super stiff rug canvas I used in the earlier work, so I decided to work with hardware cloth from Lowes. I like the durability of the material and the fact that it will take paint - if I choose to paint it - easily without loosing its form, and I like that it continues to the reference the warp and weft of textiles that is important in my work:

These trial pieces are 2, 3, and 4 inches respectively - with the grid measuring about 1/4". Hardware cloth can be purchased with larger grids, too, so I'm excited about the possibility to work larger if I need/want to. Combining materials - the hardware cloth with window screening and/or rug canvas - is an idea I'd like to explore, too. Experimenting with ideas of size, enclosing, stacking, hanging, etc. as well as incorporating other materials should keep me involved and busy.

I'm feeling encouraged and optimistic, and look forward to seeing where this start will lead and how the pieces will change as I go. 

: : Karen Anne

Defining/Refining...

Untitled. Embossing and graphite on Arches watercolor paper. 3.75 x 5.25 inches. 2014

In the quiet of the past months, I've had time to reflect on my work and think about the direction I want to take in the future. I came across this small piece the other day and it revealed so much to me; how my work over the past two years has become more subtle even as my vocabulary has become more defined. It's become easier to see the progression from one piece to the next; the connections are clearer. There is a consistency and maturity - and a focus that has been absent.

Today I reworked my Artist Statement - an exercise that is essential for me to do regularly so that I can more easily talk about my work:

My work explores the light, line, and texture of both inner and outer landscapes. It gives form to impressions and memories I have of people and places - near and far, past and present - that continue to inform my way of being.

I create two- and three-dimensional abstract works that unfold through a quiet, responsive dance with materials. The solitude and silence of my studio is reflected in work that expresses ideas distilled to their essence, devoid of decorative, superfluous elements. 

I employ a variety of techniques and materials. I sew, draw, print, sculpt, and paint, and capture moments with my camera. I make marks with thread and perforations as well as with pencil, ink, and paint. I use gloss and matte surfaces, color, embossing, layering, and the raw and torn edges of fabric and paper to define space and form.  I use real and implied references to stitching, quilting, weaving, and mending as metaphors for connecting the past with the present. 

I'm happy with it...

The "lulls" described in my last post continue, but I'm happy that my digital sketchbook is being filled and that I'm refining ideas in my mind for future work as I go about the day. I don't at all feel as though the time is being wasted. It feels rich with possibilities!

: : Karen Anne

The richness in lulls...

Lulls - those spaces of time when nothing much appears to be going on - are an important part of my creative practice.

I used to fear them.

Now I've lived and worked long enough that my fear of them is gone. I see them as another way of working. Just because I'm not working within the four walls of my studio doesn't mean I'm not working. I just work out of the Studio in My Mind...

Lulls give me important time. To think. To listen. To look. To question. To plan. To simply be...

* * *

                     
The garden has been beckoning to me to spend more time outdoors after the long winter we endured. I've been weeding and planting and cleaning things up. Yesterday I scrubbed down a table that had been sitting out the past few summers, and was delighted to discover the intricate tracks from snails on its underside:

 Snail Paths I

 Snail Paths II

 Snail Paths III

Snail Paths IV

If I had been up in my studio, I would have missed the beautiful lace paths the snails had created. I would not have "heard" this subtle confirmation of how important simple compositions rendered in a subtle palette are to me, or that, "yes", I need to continue to create them.

I spent the rest of the day working happily in the garden and my Mind Studio. Just as I add fertilizer to the plants to help them grow, these lulls help me grow as an artist. I develop ideas, I plan, I compose, I edit...

Eventually I'll climb back up the stairs to my real studio,  ready to get to work on realizing the ideas I've been developing; culled from the richness in these lulls...

: : Karen Anne

And so it goes...

It has been quite the past six months.

First, in November, our sweet Labradoodle, Jake, was diagnosed with a cervical herniation and could barely walk. That was followed by the discovery of cancer in one lobe of his lungs. After two major surgeries performed at one time, he is walking (and running!) and the cancer is gone.

Second, while we were tending to Jake, my brother-in-law was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He has had radiation and continues to have chemo every three weeks and is doing really well. He and my sister hope to take a trip to Scotland soon!

Third, my dear Mama died. Nine days after her 90th birthday. I will be forever grateful that I had driven to see her to help celebrate her milestone day. I even took pictures which I rarely do of family; I usually capture special moments in my memory instead of with a camera.

And fourth, we celebrated the marriage of our youngest daughter, Emily, to Brian Rabe on 11 April. We are overjoyed to have Brian in our family! We now have two of the best son-in-laws in the world; truly the sons we would have been proud to call our own had we not had our beautiful daughters.

So... life is to be lived and cherished. Even in the most difficult of times there are gifts and riches to be found. It's hard to get back to "normal" though. I get distracted by little things that need to be done... hesitant, I think, to find what the new "normal" will look like. It's odd. Can't quite put my finger on what it is...

But... today I found myself back in the studio; drawn by an urge I couldn't resist. I turned my back on all the "shoulds" that needed my attention and climbed the stairs to fill my soul with the joy that comes with creating.

The first thing I did was pure play; a wee sock doll to give to my little grandniece for her first birthday. We will both be celebrating our birthdays this Friday, so I wanted to make her a special gift just from me:

I purposely used exposed stitches and mismatched colors so the bear (I think it's a bear anyway!) wouldn't be too precious. It is meant to be played with, hugged, and thrown in the wash if need be!

* * *

Then I found a scrap of the fabric that always sends my thoughts back to the 18 months we lived in Japan. I machine sewed the scrap to watercolor paper and then machine sewed something like a flower. I picked up a micro ink pen and added some designs and more lines...and then cut the whole thing up when it looked overly stiff and trite. After a few more cuts and adjustments I glued the pieces within a rectangle I had embossed on another sheet of watercolor paper:

It reminds me of the ikebana arrangements that would grace our home in Yokosuka. Not nearly as simple or elegant as the arrangements, but it has the elements that my eye would trace when I looked at them. It is very much the way I see the world; in snippets of color and shape and line. Rarely as a whole at one time.

* * *

And then... I assembled what may be a brooch or, maybe, a part of a larger assembly of similar pieces. I started with a piece of laser cut felt - adding a layer of white linen sandwiched between the laser cut felt and a solid grey piece of felt. I added stitching and then backed the whole with fuchsia felt to cover the stitches. I covered the edges with a narrow strip of felt; all black except for a small fuchsia section at the bottom. It's about 2" square:

It was good to spend time in the studio today.

My heart was happy to just play and listen to the materials that called me to pick them up.

: : Karen Anne

a hello from 1968...

last week the apartments that adjoin our old (c. 1831) town house suffered a devastating fire. fortunately, even though the fire was shooting flames 20 feet into the air just on the other side of the wall from the storage area of my studio, the quick response of the fire department kept our home from going up in flames, too. best of all there was no loss of life, but, sadly 19 folks had to find a new place to live. we had some damage from water, but our insurance company (USAA) has been quick to respond and will have everything back to normal as soon as possible.

to fix the storage area, however, requires me moving everything out - a daunting task since all my fabrics and supplies are there. only the ceiling, the wall, and the insulation above the whole of that space and my studio were impacted, so i've been feeling grateful not to have to deal with wet fabric and supplies. i've also been grateful that temperatures are below freezing; what a mess if it was summer and mold started growing everywhere!

yesterday i decided that even though i had just gone through things several months ago, this was a great time to re-evaluate what i truly need to keep and what i can send on for someone else to use. i'm happy to say that i now have stacks of fabric that the Resource Center at the Mennonite Central Committee in Ephrata has assured me they will be overjoyed to receive! that makes it sooo much easier to decide to part with fabrics i really don't need; especially in light of how my work has been changing the past year.

one of the delights of going through things has been finding old work. i was particularly delighted to find this little lady (13" x 18") that i had stitched on canvas in 1968 (!):

a bit stained, she still makes me smile. i particularly like her little buttons.

: : karen anne

small dyings...

the present year dies in a matter of hours and the new one will begin.

each year, each month, each day, each moment, we experience a dying of sorts as we transition from one to the next; each, i think, a preparation for what will come as we leave this earthly experience and transition to another way of being.

it's reassuring, i think, to be aware of our small dyings...

for me, being aware of them is an act of faith; a confirmation of my confidence in the eternal spirit of my soul.

*   *   *

the end of 2014 finds me embracing quiet spaces - within and without.

no more craving the cacophony of pattern expressed in my last post, no more wanting to chase after whatever it was i thought i should be chasing after; selling my work? seeking recognition? just "more" of all of it?

*   *   *

to be still.

to be aware.

to express myself in a creative way each day; in my work, in my way of dressing, in my keeping of our home, in my cooking that nourishes me and those i love...

these small, sweet moments of just being are what i cherish now.

it feels as if my old ways of being have died their small, necessary deaths and allowed me to move forward into this moment, teetering on the edge of a new year.

it feels like i've been here before; comfortingly familiar.

today, as this year ends and i let myself feel fully the quiet endings of each small dying, i am beginning to recognize myself again.

i'm remembering.

i'm returning.

wishing you the blessings of small dyings, and a year filled with joy.

: : karen anne

the happy pitter-patter of patterns...

okay.

i tried.

i really did.

several months ago i cleared my closet (storing most of it in another closet in another room) and tried to live with a minimum of basic items, all in an easily interchangeable black, white, and beige palette.

after a few weeks i noticed black and white stripes were beginning to creep in...some from the stored items, some new.

i noticed that i was combining stripes with the solids.

than i started combining the stripes with other stripes.

than i happened upon some sale items at tj maxx; glorious prints on floaty, chiffon-y separates...

what was i to do?????

i added the happy pitter-patter of patterns to my closet.

and then i played...

i played with all sorts of print combinations.

here are some of my favorites:

wearing all these patterns together just makes me happy.

it fills me with joy.

it makes me want to dance through the day.

and the black, white, and beige items? 

well, they are the absolute perfect backdrop to the cacophony of colored patterns layered and swirled on top...

: : karen anne

dipping my toes back in...

i'm slowly working my way back into studio mode after having been on a delightful 10 day cruise from NYC to Quebec, and then flying off to Colorado for a short visit to help my youngest daughter choose her wedding gown and to meet her future in-laws. both trips left me happy and relaxed...

maybe a bit too relaxed as i'm just now beginning to dip my toes into studio work. there will be a few more delightful interruptions to my normal studio routine over the course of the next few months, too, but that is what makes my life the joy that it is...

anyway.

i came up today and uploaded the photos i had taken and couldn't resist (always a good sign!) playing with a few of my favorites from the many i shot on the ship. soooo many great lines and shapes and plays of shadow to be found onboard! (note: the titles are just tentative to make things simple; they will probably be changed at some point.)

Shipboard I. manipulated digital photograph. 2014

Shipboard II. manipulated digital photograph. 2014

Shipboard III. manipulated digital photograph. 2014

i can see adding some stitching/embossing/perforations to each of these after i work with then some more, but i'm pleased with them just as they are here, too.

three toe dips... more as i get time and inspiration.

: : karen anne

midtsommer bål...

rather than just cut up the oil canvases and use them just as they are (as i have done in the previous works), i decided it was time to add my own marks; with sanding, nail scratches, and areas of oil pastel:

Midtsommer Bål (Midsummer Bonfire) 

7" x 8" x 1.5". recycled oil canvas collage, oil pastel, MDF. 2014

Midtsommer Bål (Midsummer Bonfire)  detail

i titled this work after the huge bonfires that fascinated me as a child when i lived in Norway.

the bonfires were (and still are) lit each midsummer's eve along the coast of Norway to celebrate the summer solstice.

: : karen anne

red square...

working more with oil canvas collage today, and refining my technique a bit. this is mounted on mdf and then framed with pine lattice strips:

Red Square. 6" x 8" x 1.5".discarded oil on canvas, mdf. 2014.

Red Square (top) and Sunset at Sea (bottom)

they seem happy together, don't they?

: : karen anne

sunset at sea...

cleaning the studio came to a dead stop today because i came across my stash of discarded canvases; throwaways from first year oil painting students at a local college. stripped from their stretchers and piled high under dad's old standing desk on the landing, they called to me to quit cleaning and make a collage. 

a lovely way to exercise compositional skills, and a nice break from cleaning:

Sunset at Sea. 2014. collage of discarded oil canvases. 6" x 6" x 1.5"

this is the first time i've tried using lattice strips to frame a canvas. definitely need a bit more practice. and i glued the collaged pieces over a ready-made 6"square canvas. i think i'll try gluing them onto mdf next time; it will be easier to get the lattice strips flush to the edges without having to deal with where the canvas is folded.

: : karen anne

ja vi elsker dette landet...

Ja Vi Elsker Dette Landet. 2014.

fused and layered mixed fiber on linen, ink drawing, machine stitching, 

transfer, recycled oil painting, wood stretcher bars

17" x 17" x 1.5"

another work inspired by my norwegian heritage and the courage of my ancestors to leave all they knew, the land they loved, and sail into the unknown. it features the first three lines of the norwegian anthem:

Ja, vi elsker dette landet, 
som det stiger frem, 
furet, værbitt, over vannet, 
med de tusen hjem. 
Elsker, elsker det og tenker 
på vår far og mor 
og den saganatt som senker 
drømmer på vår jord.

Translation:
Yes, we love this country 
Which rises up, 
Rugged and weathered, above the sea, 
With its thousands of homes. 
Love it, love it and think 
About our mothers and fathers 
And the saga of past ages 
That sends dreams, sends dreams to our earth.

Ja Vi Elsker Dette Landet. (detail )

Ja Vi Elsker Dette Landet. (detail )

: : karen anne

a good question...

words from an old song.

words that resonate today.

are you who people think you are?

do what you feel and what you project match up?

are you as real as you can be?

most days i can answer "yes" without a moment's hesitation.

but other days? hmmm...

well, other days i just have to hunker down, get back to basics, and believe in myself.

and then remind myself of that: 

Once you are real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.” 

                                                                  -Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

                                                          

so... there you have it.

: : karen anne

thought for a tuesday afternoon...

came across this today on an old flash drive.

a good reminder for any day, but especially a rainy tuesday...

hope you're having a good day!

: : karen anne

improvisational sewing...

sometimes, just as a way of relaxing, i sew a garment.

my grandmother taught me to sew when i was 11 and now, 53 years later, i feel pretty competent. sewing something to wear is absolutely pure pleasure for me.

so today, after i cleaned the studio, i set to work.

not having enough of the green linen, and not having enough of the grey-blue, i had to improvise. i decided to combine them, alternating the colors for the four pieces needed for the short swing top i wanted to make.

i added a circle of a great black and white linen to both the front and back, and then a long rectangle on one the side. (the black and white linen was, in a former life, a napkin i bought years ago at pier 1 imports.) i satin stitched around the shapes with orange thread.

and there you have it - one top improvised from what i had on hand! i think i'll wear it tomorrow...

: : karen anne

a sneak peek...

it's been a long time coming - filled with fits and starts and frustration - but i've finally decided to get going on moving my site to squarespace and consolidate everything; my work, my blog, and: a store! 

i'll be getting my etsy shop down to a bare minimum and gradually listing products in my new online shop that i've named solo - a simple, straightforward word that aptly describes both my nature and way of working.

below are a few screen shots of what i've worked on so far:

(what you see right now if you go to www.karenanne-glick.squarespace.com)

(a possible new home page)

(what the store page might look like)

and, lastly, what the new blog page might look like:

any further work on the whole move will have to wait for awhile though. 

i have 10 pieces of work to get ready to ship to a show in Omaha, in addition to continuing to work on wedding details for my youngest. and somewhere in there is a cruise, visits to family, and all the other things that fill a life to brimming!

not complaining. life is good these days!

: : karen anne

small town...

five little wooden house shapes i cut several months ago.

combined with cutouts from a study in pink and yellow.

a small sculpture.

of a small town:

small town. 9" x 13". wood, digital photos, canvas

 : : karen anne