surrendering to the flow

I'm a planner. Its engrained in me like my fingerprints, I'm always looking for a way to plot a course and organize the direction of what I do.

But lately I'm learning to let go. I'm realizing that not knowing how everything will go may be the way things should be.

I used to think that I had an end goal, a specific place I wanted my life and my art career to end up. As I putter along, from one project to the next, I'm learning to embrace the unpredictability of it all. I'll be honest, its not easy. Its like staring at a blank page and trying not to fill it, to allow the uncertainty of the vastness to loom large.

Somehow it feels like things would be easier, less stressful if I just allowed them to take their own course. Rather then struggling against the flow, trying to control the direction of things. Because the actions I take with my art are enough to push it forward, to continue its growth.

Perhaps the surrender is what its all about.

please meet "the thursday art group"

I'm a bit behind in introducing you to the fabulous groups I write about in Quilting Arts and its something I intend to correct.



The September/October issue of QA featured the wonderful Thursday Art Group. These women are delving into art history in a truly dedicated way - meeting once a week to wander through the past and trace how art has evolved over time.

They are a fascinating and extremely talented group. They've gained a deeper understanding of the art world through their work and it has allowed them to become more confident in their own art making.

And they keep a blog to share their studies with you, its a great read if you are interested in following along - I'm a faithful reader, love what they post. Its a fantastic way to learn more about the history of art!

where i stand sunday - in love with autumn

There isn't a single thing I dislike about this season. Its rich. In color, smell, temperature. Its alive and electric and it permeates every aspect of life.

 I see it from my studio window, leaves turning dark and moody with thick color.

 

 Its in my cup, pumpkin spiced tea warm and intoxicating.

Vegetables dressed for the occassion.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

where i stand sunday

The sun seems to hang sideways, transforming true color into something electric and poetic. The sky was shrinkwrapped in grey today, everything felt altered, more intense and washed out all at the same time. Its unsettling to watch nature rush forward, the season has a mild shade of violence at the edges. An ending that comes on schedule without regard for anything else.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

a small change of plans - etsy shop notice!

I spent this past Sunday knee deep in the pile of debris I so fondly refer to as my studio and office. (I swear, if I don't tame this soon, I'll find myself on Hoarders screaming "That's still good! Put that back!")

Its thrown into sharp relief that deadlines are approaching and I need to be much more focused about where I spend my time. When this happens, I begin to ruthlessly examine things. Sort of like lining them up against the wall and firing my "You can wait!" gun at them.

Back in this post I outlined the new schedule for my etsy shop over the next few months but its pretty apparent that I need to revise that even more. Because as much as I'd like to, I've yet to find a way to cram more hours into the day (trust me, I'm working on it).

So to make things easier on Jackie and I, I'm switching things up a little bit again - but in a way that I hope you will find exciting. 'Cause I kind of like it, seems like a nifty idea.

The shop will be closed December 2012 and January 2013, reopening on February 2, 2013. During the month of November 2012, the shop will not stock any thermofax screens but will feature artwork that would make wonderful gifts for the upcoming season from myself and Jackie.

Hear that? Pay attention - NO THERMOFAX SCREENS FOR THREE MONTHS. That means get them by October 31 or pine away until next February.

Here, let me list it out to make it clear:

November 2012 - Awesome artwork by Lynn and Jackie for gift giving - no thermofax screens

December 2012 & January 2013 - CLOSED

February 2, 2013 - shop reopens with all thermofax screen options available for your screen printing pleasure.

No, this is not being done to drive you mad - but rather to keep us both sane. The project that I'm working on that has prompted this decision is a tremendous amount of work and I want to give it my full attention because I'm thinking you all will love it as much as I do once its complete.

So get the screens while the getting is good! I'll still be blogging and facebooking and online all over the place, just not selling thermofax screens duirng that time period.

Thanks!! :)

"color + stitch" at the 2012 ASE

A couple weeks ago I taught my new class, "color + stitch", at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, MI. Kate (always an incredible sport and help) and I shuffled into the expo center super early (we didn't mind too much, we had coffee) and began setting things up.

I admit, I always get a little nervous before class. Mostly because my teaching style is a little more on the relaxed size. I'll boss you around as much as you want me to but for the most part, I give you all the space you need to do your own thing.

Turns out the bunch that showed up for class embraced it with style and boy, did we have a good time. As proof to their adventurous spirits, here is the class sample that the demos were centered around:

And these are shots from class of the awesomeness that everyone made:

 (I've noticed that I make weird faces when I talk. And there always seems to be a camera around when I make them. Oh and also? I'm quite short.)

(We made a mess. Although no one got paint in their hair.)

Not a single piece made looked exactly like the class sample. It would have been totally cool if there had been but everyone watched the demos and flung paint about in a way that suited their own artistic eye. Love that! 

I had a blast. :) I slept thirteen hours the following day but still, a total blast in every way. I so enjoy teaching, I wish my schedule allowed for more of it. But rather then lament over how rarely I do it, I'm thankful for the times when I can. :)

where i stand sunday

The rain throws the colors into a riot of saturation. I can't help but loose myself in the flow of layered liquid and the discards of the slumber season. Everything so easily gives up its grip, letting things be as they should. They fall because they should. They let the life color drain away to be replaced by the burning transition because they should. They offer a beauty that only decay can offer, rich and deep and endlessly fascinating.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

odd habits

Behold - the chaos that is my studio.

I posted that picture on my facebook page and most people didn't think it was so awful. Truth be told, its not as bad as it could be. After all, you can actually see the things that the floor is made out of. I consider that a step in the right direction.

There has been some cleaning. Minor. Enough to make it look more inhabitable. (Truth be told, a friend was coming over for the first time to see it right after I shot this snap. I swear, nothing makes you clean quicker then company.)

I've realized that I have a long list of studio habits that basically converge into an all powerful series of ticks that lead the studio to look the way it does above. I wondered if maybe I'm not alone so I thought maybe I'd post a few of them here (insanity does love company).

1.  There is no need to redefine the word "floor".  Finished with that fabric? Throw it in a downward direction. Need to move that paper? Introduce it to the fabric you just finished with. Its like trying to make a mixed media piece beneath my feet. That or I'm just trying to make myself taller.

2. Two bottles of glue is plenty. Not five, not seven and certainly not ten. (We won't say where my count is at.) Its also perfectly acceptable to use up a whole bottle at a time. We aren't running a glue museum here, after all.

3. Just because its a flat surface does not mean it needs a pile. Or does it?

4. Books bearing titles such as "Declutter in 30 days" and "100 ways to stay organized" only work if they are removed from the plastic they were shipped in and read. Simply owning them does not make your organized.

5. Same goes for the twenty stacks of post-it-notes. Possession of organizational items is a mental band aid only. (See photo above.)

6. It is unacceptable to clean your paint brush on the carpet. Period.

7. The pet's fur does not count as a duster. You may not use them to rid the room of dust bunnies.

I've accepted this room is what it is. But its still curious to me how it gets so chaotic. Its like a cocoon of creative madness. Maybe not such a horrible thing after all.

Although sometimes I do feel that I need to leave a note with a rescue squad in case I need to be rescued. You never know what could be lurking in one of those piles...

where i stand sunday

Would you?

Would you step away from the determined into the unknown if you could?

What would you do? What new choices would you make?

How would life be different?

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

find me on instagram!

I finally joined Instagram (took me long enough, right?) If you don't know what it is or were like me and just sort of heard of it but not paid attention, its a photo app for mobile phones. What's cool about it is that you can add all kinds of filters that you can use to alter the feel and look of the picture.

So you go out into the world, snap photos with the app, share them on facebook and twitter and just generally become a photo taking addict that can't help yourself. (Awesome.)

I have one whole whopping photo up there but here's what I mean by filters:

Made the picture look all vintagey and sort of worn out (it also added the black frame which makes it look like it was taken with film rather then digital). Love that.

My Instagram name is girllovespaint, in honor of all the paint flinging that I do in the studio. If you are already on there, please give me a follow and I'll do the same for you - see you on the flip side! :)

a small adjustment

My battle with my studio is no secret. In fact, it borders on epic. We have a somewhat uneasy relationship. We like each other but disagree over items such as how to lay out furniture and whether or not it should be responsible for cleaning up after itself. (I think it should. If people can shoot up into space, a self-cleaning studio does not seem like such an unreasonable thing.)

Watching HGTV doesn't help. Not in the least. I had a dream that these guys were renovating my studio. One was taking a sledgehammer to a wall and the other was neatly folding fabric.

But then I was watching Sarah's House and she did this:

 image source

That there is a craft room using IKEA kitchen islands. IKEA kitchen...hmmm...my head about exploded. Genius!! I've been working hard to contain myself from completely tearing everything out of my studio and redoing the entire thing in handy dandy versatile IKEA kitchen cabinets.

I really can't right now, too many projects with firm deadlines. And honestly, my poor studio walls leave something to be desired. The whole room needs to be emptied and the walls repaired and a nice clean coat of paint needs to go up. (One that isn't the result of me accidentally stepping on a paint bottle and shooting a stream of bright orange acrylic across the room.)

My current plan of attack is to undertake the massive change next spring. Which isn't so far. But the itch to change something just wouldn't go away. And in my twitchy restlessness, I discovered this:

Score! I have a task list as long as me (I'm 5'1" so while for a human that is not so long, for a list that is mighty) and it would be nice to have a space to write it all out and get it out of my head.

Wall space is limited. At least, wall space that I can reach with my short arms. I decided to move my design wall which was half hidden by the door anyway to a different space and paint the dry erase board in that space. It'll be big for a writing space, only something not so great happened when I moved the design board:

 

I took part of the drywall with it. Or at least the surface of it. And then I noticed all the teeny tiny little pin holes and remembered why I put the design wall there to begin with. (Reminders via post-its seems a logical interim solution.)

Spackle has been purchased and I plan to tackle the project next week. Its definitely going to be more involved then I originally thought but I think it will be worth it in the end. 

And now that I can not only see but use my entire design board, I didn't waste any time filling it up with newly printed fabric:

 

*sigh* Definitely my happy place! :)

feeling unfaithful

Cathy sent me that fabric for my birthday. She knows me well. I swooned when I saw it.

Its been lurking about my studio ever since and I just kind of keep walking by it and petting it. I have an idea for a series of heavily stitched art cloths and this is kind of like kismet, just begging me to begin.

How can you not love that fraying and texture??

What makes this different is that its not my beloved kona cotton. I admit that once I find something I love I tend to stick to it like glue. And my choice of fabric is pretty much consistent that way. I like a good kona cotton - its got real presence since its a little thicker and it stands up to surface design like an absolute champ. I'm not so much of a silk fan, could never really warm up to it.

But that wonderful puddle of color up above is linen. And not only that, but upcycled clothing that Cathy dyed for another fabric.

I'm so inspired by the way it drapes, I want to take a needle and thread to it and just stitch on it until it begs for mercy.

What about you? Are you faithful to a particular aspect of your medium?

where i stand sunday

The antique sale is a regular feature to the autumn backdrop. I took my time this visit, sifting through the closed dresser drawers I normally sail past without a thought. I found textile after textile neatly stacked inside. I wondered at the woman who made them, if she ever thought her pieces would end up squirreled away like a secret. I thought of my own work, uncertain of their future after I am no longer around to care for them. The urgency to leave my mark on them looms larger then ever at the idea.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell.  

an ending to begin again

Every year around this time I fall into what I call one of my quiet spells. Having passed the halfway mark of the year, I find myself needing solitude. A period when I can fold myself inward and simply allow myself to exist. I shed all but the most critical committments and spend time with myself.

The truth is, I can't make art if I don't feel connected to my thoughts. Its that basic for me. If I forget to take stock, to remember what imperfections and trials happened to make me who I am, I feel lost.

Falling into these spells always feels sudden somehow. But I know its not. The awareness of what is happening is slow to come but when I find myself standing in that blank space, I can see when I began to back down, began to give away obligation and have-to's.

I think as artists we feel like we must constantly produce produce produce. There sometimes feels like someone standing beside us keeping stock of our accomplishments, pointing out the new things to try and the only way to be everywhere at once is to run at full tilt all of the time.

But its okay to be quiet too. Its okay to sit with yourself, not make art, not reach beyond yourself and learn to listen what your mind really has to say.

I'm never sure what makes me want to step back into the race, to fill up the space again. Sometimes its an urgent deadline and other times its just a small passing of a thought. I suddenly remember the power of being Artist, that connection with my spirit that is heavy and mysterious and intoxicating.

The spell is passing, nearly gone. I let it go like saying goodbye to an old friend, I know it will be back again. And I know it shows up when I need it most, when I seem to have forgotten how to slow down and feel my art. I can see it again, I can reach for the paint and fabric without hesitation.

Its good to step way from the empty and back into the full.

no matter what medium

I don't care what medium you work in, this video gives voice to why we choose to be Artist.

And without a doubt, the best line to take away is this:

If you had been searching your whole life for something you loved and you found it, what would you be willing to sacrifice?

where i stand sunday

The sun hangs heavy now, the time for bare feet on the ground will soon be gone. I studied the sideways shadows and the raised bumps and had to feel them both against my skin. They pushed back hard against me, unimpressed by my presence. I find myself leaning into the struggling alliance of warm sunlight and cold air, happy for the return of the time of cold and clarity.

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

where i stand sunday

I stood in the early morning chill, with the sun slanting in from the right. The uneven light blurred the details of my toes and threw a blanket of bright shadow across the saturated pavement.  A wave of nostalgia pushed around me. Wet blacktop from a dawn rain, small yellow leaves. I remembered why I started the project, I remembered when I stood on the pinpoint of unbearable grief and was looking for a way to soothe the time I needed to spend there.

In that still moment of the beginning of the day, I realized I've lost sight of the small things. I've forgotten how to slow down and look. I've retrained myself to walk past the world and stand on it without regard or consideration. So I'll begin again, looking and writing and soaking in that tiny pause that weaves into a lifetime of experience. 

Where I Stand is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. 

*everybody* has one

I got an email a couple of days ago that's been kicking around and making me fidgety. I replied privately to it but its something I'm hearing more and more often and I feel like I need to have a sit down and just get it all out in the open.

The email was about putting yourself out there, about worrying what happens if things don't go well. Why bother trying? What if people don't like what you make?

Here's the best advice I can give you: Everybody has an opinion. They base it on personal style or past experience or even just their mood. You cannot anticipate it and if you begin making art trying to predict what people will think, you will loose the joy of it all.

I have heard every opinion under the sun about my art. People aren't shy, believe me. When it comes to the negative ones, I can never really be sure where the criticisms come from. But in the end, it doesn't matter. I have to shake it off and keep on truckin'.


When I am in my studio and I choose to set something loose into the world, its because I'm satisfied with it. I know some people will like it and I know some people will hate it. But it all begins with the knowledge that I did the best I could by it and I'm happy to have my name on it.

If I change the way I make art to a way that I know will please other people but not myself, I've failed.

All of this sounds easy. The words feel hollow because they don't capture the long hours in the studio, the consideration that goes into something as simple as where to put a two inch square of fabric, the intense connection to this thing that others will take in and judge in a matter of seconds.

The thing is, if you want to put your work out there whether through writing an article or entering a show or starting a blog - you're already half way there. Wanting to do it is the first step, the second is deciding that no matter what anyone else has to say, you'll keep going.

Sharing your artwork is like throwing a web out into the world. It connects you to people in a particular way that nothing else can. That's why I do it. Because I feel like I have a special language that can only be told through the things I make. Some people will understand and others will move on. The ones that stay and talk are worth every single second of work and effort that went into making it.

Be brave. Do what your heart is telling you to do. Its very much worth it. :)

buy art & raise money for breast cancer research! :)

Mark your calendars for Tuesday August 28.

Why? Because of this:

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine invited several artists (including your's truly) to make artwork to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Took about a nano second to say yes. :)

Cancer has touched my family many times and any opportunity I have to help make a difference is one I'm grateful to step up to and take.

On Tuesday August 28 CPS is going to stock their etsy shop with 41 pieces of mini artwork (in 5" square and 8" square sizes) for you to snag. All proceeds will go to NBCF. You will also have a chance to pick up a special set of Peerless Watercolors in a special pink palette.

Total win-win gig - get cool art and help raise money for a fabulous cause!

* The CPS etsy shop will be empty until Tuesday August 28th. But if you visit before hand, you can sign up to be notified by email when they open so you don't miss your chance! :)

studio snippet and ponderings

I feel I've been neglecting the blog lately. Truth is, this year brings a kind of quietness to me that I've never been able to explain. I slow down, find myself looking closer at everything around me.

Autumn and winter are by far my favorite seasons. I love the way they wrap themselves around everything, the way they force me inside my studio to work. Maybe my recent pausing is in preparation of my most productive times of the year. Hard to say.

But I love this brief stutter of a slower pace. I see the things that define my life more clearly and love them even more.  I feel more sure then ever that Artist is my calling.

What about you? Do you find certain times of year see you in your studio more?

RC 17 heading to ArtPrize

I'm pretty proud to be able to post that badge up above. I'll be showing one of my pieces, Remnants Collage 17, in ArtPrize in Grand Rapids this year.

Remnants Collage 17

Lynn Krawczyk

Its always exciting to show work but its especially exciting when its an all media show. My work will be at the B.O.B, you can see the other work exhibiting there as well by going here.

If you're unfamiliar with ArtPrize, here's the deal. The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan turns itself into a giant art walk for about two and a half weeks once a year. This year from September 19 - October 7. They'll be every kind of medium imaginable hanging from nearly every space available. Its truly a sight to behold.

If you're in the area and want to give my collage a wave, it would appreciate the visit! :)

etsy shop schedule for the next few months

Good morning my lovely thermofax screen addicts. :) Let's have a chat about my screen enabling etsy shop, shall we?

The schedule is going to be a bit different beginning in November 2012 through February of 2013 and I wanted to give you all a head's up so you can plan accordingly.

See these ladies?

The one on the left (me) has a huge giant project (that I'm sort of hiding but not entirely if you pay attention to the "studio snippet" posts here) that needs my full attention. Its the demanding type and I'm happy to give it center stage but it means I need to make some temporary changes to other things.

And the smiling lady on the right? That's Jackie. You all remember her from the video I shot of our show, Ragged Layers, earlier this year. (She just opened an etsy shop of her gorgeous artwork. You'll totally swoon when you see it - go look!) I've mentioned it before but just in case you didn't know - she is the other half of the thermofax screen printing enabling team. When you place an order in my shop, you work with me to get all the details just so and then I hand it off to Jackie who zips your screens through the machine and gets them to the magic mailbox portal. She's a total pro.

Well, she's expecting a new family member later this year and will be otherwise occupied with all things baby :) so she's taking a break from filling screen orders for a little bit.

So where does that leave the shop? No fear, its not closing. But its going to go into a limited state for a few months while Jackie and I tend to life. What that means is that in November 2012, January 2013 and February 2013, only certain stock designs will be available for purchase. I'm going to suspend custom screens for that time period. So if you want a custom screen and don't want to wait until March 2013 for it, you need to snag it before November 1, 2012.

Here's the schedule in non-babbling form for easier reading:

FIBRA ARTYSTA THERMOFAX SCREEN SHOP SCHEDULE

August 12 - October 31, 2012

* Business as usual! :) Everything that is normally there will be available.

November 1 - November 30 2012

* No custom screens

* Limited stock designs available

December 1 - December 31, 2012

* Shop closed. This is for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that the mail tends to consume packages during this month and I've had too many go missing. So since it makes all of us unhappy, I always close during the month of December and reopen in January of the new year.

January 5 - February 28, 2013

* No custom screens

* Limited stock designs available

After February, we'll probably go back to normal but since we're not 100% sure, I'll post a notice as it gets closer. 

So there you have it - still plenty of time to snag what you need but don't say I didn't warn you! :)

studio snippet

"thoughts with threads" exhibit

I love exhibiting at local galleries because being able to attend the opening receptions is a real treat. I've currently got work at the Northville Art House for the Thoughts with Thread exhibit.

The NAH is a fiber loving joint, as evidenced by the way they decided to decorate for the exhibit opening. They yarn bombed the front yard:

 

The place is dripping with yarn.

Inside, the show is extremely exciting. I was too busy talking to get shots of the whole exhibit but you can see quite a bit of the work here on Took's blog post.

And I was incredibly surprised and honor to see a Third Place ribbon hanging next to my entry:

And I got to meet the fabulous Jan Waller, an outstanding felter who won first place. Here she is beaming on Took's blog post (told you I was too busy talking to remember picture taking). Turns out we live incredibly close and the longer I read her blog and facebook page, I'm beginning to wonder if we were separated at birth, tons in common!

Its a really great show, such a wide variety of work representing the diversity of fiber. If you are in the area, do stop by and see it. It closes at the end of the month.

hear us roar

I've been touched by the emails I've gotten about my latest article in QA. Truly, not only that people take the time to write, but that they feel comfortable sharing. Its not an easy thing to open up about personal art viewpoints.

The thing that I found to be a common theme is that many of you seem surprised my sketchbook is so...basic. And that's a good word for it, basic. I refer to it as my little workhorse, I don't really care how it looks, I just have at. There has been a common lament in the messages I've received saying that they didn't think their sketchbooks are impressive enough. I just want to set something straight here:

There is no "right" way to be an artist.

If you are inclined to paint grand sweeping jewels of perfection or if you just want to scribble with your ballpoint pen - its your space. Make it what you want it to be.

Let me share something private with you: its taken a long time for me to accept the title of professional artist. My mind knows I am but when I'm standing in my studio in my pajamas (that consist of a John Lennon "Imagine" t-shirt and penguin print bottoms) at three o'clock in the afternoon with paint in my hair and soy wax burning off my iron, well. It doesn't really fit the ideal picturesque definition I hold in my mind of what a professional artist is.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I get how pressure or perception can make you want to change the way you work. Don't. You do yourself a disservice. Its something I struggle with too. I'll hold the paint brush in my hand, stare at the fabric and debate my choices for the billionth time.

Maybe I should work in lighter colors, more cheerful. Maybe I should put flowers on things, people might like that better. Maybe I should...maybe...maybe...

In the end I have to argue myself out of wanting to change the most fundamental things that make my artwork mine to please some obscure ideal I've built up in my mind. You know what? No one has ever asked me to work brighter or lighter or with flowers. Not a single person. Its that stupid negative voice that wants to get in the way that tells me I should do what other people are doing rather then what my instincts tell me to.

The thing that is interesting is that these debates happen far less often now. They are still there but as soon as I feel it coming on, I squash it dead. Because I've proven time and again that staying true to myself was the right course. Holding that path helps keep the angst in check, builds confidence so that in the end you find yourself left with a sense of peace that follows you through the studio and your daily life.

Being Artist is not a simple life. But you know the saying "If it was easy, everyone would do it"? Just keep that in the back of your head the next time things feel difficult. Because we are a special breed, we know how to struggle through our insecurities and come out the other side stronger and more confident. We're stubborn enough to know that the challenges make the end result that much sweeter, that its worth every single second of doubt and debate.

We are Artist, hear us roar. ;-)