A Warren of Boxes

The finished boxes are beginning to line up now in a very satisfying way. We didn't have demonstrations this weekend but everyone had enough to do to keep us busy and still allow a few hours away from the studio for visits to other studios, reading or naps.

I did two versions of a puzzle box, or Jacob's Ladder. The one on the right (blue) is the more usual version. The black box on the left is actually made up of two trays...though I know it's difficult to see because of the monochromatic colors.

I came into the studio this morning with an idea in my head...something about trying to create a hidden page on the top of a box and using a magnet to be sure that the page stayed closed. I created a model out of mat board to see where problems might exist and then did a full box with a hidden "page" on top of the lid. A tiny magnet is embedded under the bird illustration so it snaps closed. So far, no one who has handled the box without knowing about the page has found it. The question we're talking about in the studio is whether to provide a clue on the box, or simply let it be.

The final box here has been our most challenging. It's 3 trays on a wrap case which wind up and close tight with a magnet. As each tray unrolls, it's covered by the top of another tray. I think each of us has had success in the end with the box, but there have been many stressful moments along the way.

Fresh boxes

Ok, here you go!

The first set of pictures is a shadowbox with a plexiglass lid and a recessed picture in the lid.

The second box is a box with a drawer in the bottom and a lid that opens like a cigar box. A magnet keeps the lid closed tight.

We have two "core" students in our class: students who can stay on the Penland campus for two years and take any courses they're interested in. One of our core students, Andrew, is primarily interested in metals and blacksmithing. At one point we were discussing how to make and/or find good weights for holding our work while it dries. In his quiet way, Andrew says to us, "you know, there's an entire iron studio up the hill." Here's Andrew delivering a box full of goodies to the box studio: freshly cut weights for each of us!

Glass bugs and flocked wallpaper

I thought blogging from Penland would be pretty easy, but it turns out my brain is already too full to pull out just one or two thoughts, and it's only the morning of the third day.
I have a strong feeling of "senior year" this time here: I know where everything is, I'm familiar with my materials and techniques and I'm here to stretch myself as much as I can. There have been a few wonderful improvements in the school this summer. The process of returning dishes to the workstudents doing clean up has gotten much simpler: no more gridlock at the garbage pail. The rockers on the porch over our studio have lovely cushions now. And, in a nod to the inevitable, the whole campus has wireless access. Some might say that's too bad, but I don't think too many people are glued to their laptops instead of exploring materials. But you do see the glow of Apple logos (on laptops) around the campus at night.
Our studio has been approached about one collaboration (with the print studio) but we're not making any early decisions yet. There's too many interesting things going on in other studios to make a commitment now: one glass studio is only making bugs this session; the textile studio is screening wallpaper and there is a rumor that they may try flocking. You can imagine that the paper-hungry box artists would be lining up for their scraps.
Photos will come soon!

Changing Spaces

Book studio, Penland


The hike up to Northlight

For the next two weeks, this will be my home. Up on a hill in a building called Northlight is the book arts studio at Penland. The room to the right (with all of the windows) is the old print studio and I have some dreams about being able to spread out our work into that space if it's still unused (there is a gorgeous new print studio down the hill now). Our studio is lovely, tucked under the trees, it stays cool all day and there is a good breeze generally through our windows along the other side. But work space is a bit tight. Working at home, I like to have a cutting area and a gluing area, and there isn't much room for that in the Penland studio.
Why am I fretting about this? I'm not fretting really, but I do love to create my own "nest" in a space. I'm pretty flexible and can adapt to almost anything (someday I will post about my traumatic adventure in Utah for book making in the mountains...in the cold...and the snow...without heat). But it's part of the anticipation for me to think about how my little space will be set up.

2004 studio storage

I'm actually dealing with a little bit of homesickness (already!). I do love Minnesota in June. My peonies are full blown and the air is rich with the scent of them. We've had our first days in the mid-80's when a sleeveless top feels amazing. This month has been full of new efforts for me: first grant review panel, first class teaching box-making, and some interesting new directions in my job search. It will all be waiting for me when I get back.

My favorite iconic shot of Penland.

PS I'm quite sure I'll be blogging from Penland, if only to take a break from all of that box-making!

Word Clouds

Painting Speech sent me to the web site, Wordle, for a few minutes of distraction. I pasted in some text from the instructions I wrote on assembling a Jacob's Ladder book. The results feel quite complementary to the actual structure.

Penland prep

After I finish teaching this afternoon, I'll begin packing for my Penland trip...I'll ship a box of supplies and a roll of paper tomorrow.
So why am I illustrating this blog post with a restroom door? It's a photo from the current Penland page and an example of why I love the place so. Here's the description from the site:
So, two weeks ago, this was a bright white metal door, which looked a bit out of place surrounded by the weathered siding of the old barn that houses our resident artist studios. Then, we had this class is in decorative painting, and the instructor, Bob Nulf, and one of his students, Cary Bevers, made it look like it had always been there. It's amazing what a coat of paint will do. (It really is a metal door.)

Being at Penland is like being on a scavenger hunt. As you walk a new trail or turn a corner, you're bound to find something that someone has added to the landscape, hung on a wall or hammered into a spoon.

The last time I was there, we were talking about this phenomenon in our studio and one colleague said that there was a hammer nailed to the rafter in the ceiling of the Northlight auditorium. (She had observed it while taking movement classes every morning in the space.) That seemed a little unusual even for Penland so we all trouped up to check it out...it turned to be just an electrical connector for the projector. We had a great laugh, but it also says something about how Penland inspires you to see...and use...materials in different ways.

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

I'm going to be teaching the Jacob's Ladder book and box this weekend at MCBA. Each time I sign up to teach something new, it means creating the hand-out of instructions to go along with the class. I've taken classes in the past where I had to write my own notes and I didn't appreciate that, so I don't want my students to have to do it either. The "sequencing" of the pages is particularly important if you want your images or text to be right side up each time you turn the book over. For fun, I'm including some of the diagrams I've created for the hand-outs....and perhaps you can figure out how to put it together yourself!

As often as I've made this book (and its box cousin), it still fascinates me. When held upright, the blocks flip end over end to “tumble” down from top to bottom. Flip the top "page" back and they "tumble" down again. (Hmmm...maybe I'll have to make a little video of this!) The structure is named after the biblical story of Jacob (grandson of Abraham) who had a dream in which a number of angels moved up and down a ladder between heaven and earth. I think that I'll be dreaming about how to glue the pages of this structure correctly tonight.


I'll be sure to post pictures from class here after we're done!

Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center

Fire girls at Penland....I think I want to be one when I grow up.

I leave for Penland in a week and have sketched out a couple of goals for myself for this intensive. That's a little unusual for me, but I have a sense that this will be the last experience of its kind for a few years and there are a few things I want to pay attention to. While the Penland experience is about exploring and trying new things, and I certainly intend to play hard, I also want to have a better sense of my own artistic focus when I get home. I know that rich things happen when you stay in one area for awhile, but I am constantly distracted by new techniques and new materials. (I got a new book this week on making cold connections with metals and I felt as furtive and guilty about it as if I'd just brought in some porn into the house!)

The Nokomis Theater following its extensive renovation. The grand re-opening on October 19, 1929, also featured the theater’s first “talkie” picture.
(courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society, Norton & Peel, location no. Norton & Peel 78503, Negative no. NP78503)

This is the guilty preface to the discovery this morning that a new arts center is underway just blocks from my home. The Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center will support activities around blacksmithing, glassworking, welding, jewelry and electronics/LED, art activities produced by heat, spark or flame. They are now in the process of buying a building on 38th and Chicago (in South Minneapolis) that was once the home to the Nokomis Theater and is now an auto repair shop. The center has a wonderful plan in place: one that welcomes the curious or emerging artist as well as one who is experienced but needs a devoted studio space to work. They'll also have a gallery space in the front for sales and shows.

The Nokomis Theater, January 2008, currently the home of Wreck Bros. Auto Body.
(photo byAnn Dee Bashyal)

Succumbing to my own version of ADD, I have taken classes over the years in silver work, soldering and using electronics to light up books and boxes. At Penland, I find myself sitting on my hands when the blacksmithed items come up for auction and had to think hard not to sign up for this summer's course in black-smithing my own garden gate (the return shipping would have been a nightmare!). If I was really true to my intent to stay focused in one area, I would not be writing about this, much less have already signed up on their mailing list. But as the moth is drawn to the flame (ironic choice of metaphors, isn't it?), I just can't help myself.

A rendering of the restored Nokomis Theater, home of the
Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center.
(Montana Scheff)

Poetry boxes

A friend who is a poet asked me to use one of her poems in a box...a collaboration that will be a gift for her sister. I had done this once before, using a poem on the inside of the box. But as I worked this morning, I realized that the box top is essentially "reversible," that is that the owner can choose whether they want the poem on the top of their box or as an interior message.

Mixed media delight

I didn't make the book party last night at Studio Bricolage, but I won't miss tomorrow's garage sale at the same location. Here's the description from their email:

Sunday, June 7/10-2 Spring Cleaning Sale at Leonardo's Basement (4301 Nicollet Ave/Mpls.)
This Sunday will be spring cleaning day at Leonardo's Basement, readying the workshop for summer classes. Rather than throw it all away, we'll sell our junk to you (and others). And, because it is our 10th Anniversary (more about that later), we decided to sell everything for 10 cents to support the Scholarship Fund.We are also cleaning out our warehouse space so you will be able to buy everything from scores of boxes of Magnetic Poetry, to hundreds of 4'-long solid glass rods, to gazillions of really cool plastic orbs.he sale will be on the sidewalk and in the shop. You can't miss it. Kids will be selling refreshments for, you guessed it, 10-cents. Join us! Bring a friend.

I leave for Penland in two weeks and am starting to think about what fun things I'll bring to work with in the studio. The opportunity to work uninterrupted and in community (125 students and teachers are there for the same reason you are) is a great chance to try new things and stretch yourself. Julie Chen, who is leading our class, has sent along a note encouraging us to bring a few small things to "house" in our boxes, and to bring some things to share with the class. I'm counting on this sale to find the perfect items (and cheap, too!) to pack in the corners of my suitcase. I'm pretty sure no one else in the studio will have anything like what I find. And who knows what fun projects will result from it all.

Historic day after

I woke up with an usual sense of hope and pride this morning. Just across the river from me, Senator Obama claimed the top of the Democratic ticket last night. I still don't quite understand why he picked St. Paul to speak...some say it's because the Republican convention will be here in August...but it really doesn't matter. He spoke last night in the Excel arena which holds 20,000 for a Bruce Springsteen concert. At 7 pm last night 50,000 people were lined up in the streets of St. Paul waiting to get in to hear Senator Obama. I call that extraordinary.
They say that Minnesota is now a swing state, but I don't believe it. I still see Wellstone bumper stickers on cars everywhere I go. I think we just haven't had the right Democrats on our ballot for 8 years. And now we do.
(I, um, borrowed the map from News Cut, my favorite source for behind-the-scenes information on news in Minnesota. Click here for a great post on the Obama line.)

Grant is in

The deadline for the Minnesota State Arts Board grant was at 4:30 pm this afternoon. The materials were very clear that if you showed up at 4:31 pm you were out of luck and would have to wait two years to try again.
But at 1:30 today I slid my materials into an envelope and dropped it off at the MSAB office. Whew! I sort of felt like there should be some kind of fanfare. Someone standing there saying "great job! congratulations on finishing!" But there was only a receptionist who nodded her head at the table with three milk crates for collecting envelopes: one marked "theater," one marked "dance," and a nearly overflowing one marked "visual arts."
Once a month, we register new students at the Literacy Center and each one of them is greeted with a big welcome from all of us. It's a big deal to try something new, whether writing a grant or learning a new language. Maybe some year the MSAB could set up a band outside their office, like marathons have at the finish line. It's a thought anyway.

Magnetic attraction

Several years ago, a colleague in a book arts class showed me how she used magnets on the closures of her boxes. It was one of those things that I never followed up on but at the same time never forgot about either.
We'll be working with magnets at Penland in a few weeks, but I decided to get a jump on the technique a bit and work some things out myself. I ordered two sizes of disc magnets and two sizes of block magnets to try out from K&J Magnetics.
It's been fun to work with these little guys (and they are little). And then there are times when they are just fun to play with. It's like 3rd grade science class all over again. They spin across your work mat to attach to the most surprising things (like the camera). And because they are so incredibly thin, it's relatively hard to pry them off.

I used the 4.5 mm drill bit in my Japanese push drill to create a pair of holes that fit the 3/16" disc magnet. The disc is only 1/32" deep, so you don't need to drill very far into your book board. In order to keep the same measurements for the other piece of board and the pair of magnets it would need, I cut through a piece of scrap paper as well. Then I used the scrap paper jig for markings on the other board.
One of the things that came back to me from 3rd grade was the fact that magnets have poles and they only attract on the opposite sides. If I had embedded the magnets with the same pole facing each other, there would be no closure. So I marked the magnets with a Sharpie ink dot on the corresponding sides before I glued them in. With a tight fit and a little PVA, the magnets are virtually invisible when covered with paper or glue. And they hold incredibly well. I really only needed one magnet on each board, but it seemed more balanced to have two.


The magnets are so tiny that I've started thinking about other fun ways to use them. It will be great to have full days and a sharp board shear (for cutting book board) at Penland for two weeks to play!