desertsong studio

north rim redux

Dennis & I took a lovely trip to the Grand Canyon near the end of August; I had good intentions of posting before now, but the two weeks since we’ve been back were filled with numerous appointments & engagements for car, canines, & self… twelve to be exact. Add in the final proofing of the review I wrote about Silvia Heyden’s soon to be released documentary, & another birthday (51!)… poof! Like magic, time has just evaporated. Needless to say, not a ton of weaving has occurred during this time, but I am anticipating settling back into more productive loom time after I return from another trip I am heading out on tomorrow to visit Silvia Heyden for several days at her home in North Carolina.  Even though this last couple of weeks have been frustrating, some very important issues were resolved during our time at the Canyon & it has given me a renewed sense of the importance of this tapestry, & for that I am grateful. I know that my time with Silvia will allow me to return home fresh for the loom.

 

Our visit to the North Rim was wonderful, allowing us a chance to escape the heat of Tucson, celebrate a birthday for Dennis & get in some good hiking time. I have come to realize that my creativity is so locked up in this tapestry that I am unable to dabble in any other artistic pursuits, with the exception of shooting photos, which always seems to be effortless. And I have realized that is ok. Even though I carted along a bunch of drawing & painting supplies on the trip, I didn’t lift a brush or a pencil. Dennis was the artist on this trip! The only things I lifted were my pack, camera, wine glass, fork, & my own two feet on our many hikes…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dennis & I also had the opportunity to listen to very interesting Ranger talks & programs, like the sobering “Death in the Grand Canyon” & the informative “Condor Talk”, which was given the night we attended by Ranger Jeremy… have a look at this incredible condor flight feather!

 

I was able to spend some very important time with two of the Rangers I met during my residency last year— Gaelyn, also known as the “Condor Ranger” & now also involved in the AiR program (the photo below is of she & I in the Visitor Center)…

 

& with Robin, the Ranger who oversees the AiR program (& the other interpretive rangers). Robin & I had quite a discussion regarding the placement of the tapestry in the Visitor Center.

 

The tapestry will be hung suspended from the rafters, in a similar location as the currently displayed life-sized plywood condor (which the tapestry will replace), but the tapestry will hang closer to the wall; the top edge of the tapestry will be angled slightly down towards viewers. In the second photo below, you can just barely see the end of the plywood condor’s tail feathers at the top left of the photo, just to give you an idea of the height of the rafters.

 

We want it to be visible & make an impact when people walk in, yet not be accessible to the hundreds of thousands of hands that will be tempted to touch it. The North Rim gets close to 800,000 visitors a year, so things on display have to be bomb-proof, covered, or out of reach because no matter in how many languages a sign proclaims “Do Not Touch”, everyone thinks just one little touch won’t hurt, will it? A special frame will be constructed to attach the tapestry to. The Park has an employee who is a woodworker artist & can build it to my specs. Thanks to the loan of old ITNET tapestry journals from Janie Hoffman earlier this year, I was able to research the conservation articles on how best to prepare large tapestries for display to prevent distortion. During discussions about this topic that Janie & I had when Dennis & I were visiting her Blue River Retreat in May, she & I also devised a design for a frame to hang the tapestry from. Thanks, Janie!

 

Most importantly, I now have a “due date” for my beautiful diva… she is to fly to her home at the North Rim Visitor Center around the last of September or beginning of October in 2012. I had thought that the Park would want her to arrive at the beginning of their season, but Robin told me that time is too frantic & crazy… near the end of the season, everyone is in their groove & used to the routine of NPS life which will make for a more enjoyable experience of hanging the tapestry. I will bring the tapestry there myself & I am planning to spend as many days there as needed to help them in any way I can.

 

As we drove down off the Rim to head for home, I found myself daydreaming about what it will be like to bring the tapestry back next year & what it will be like to see it hanging there. I can hardly imagine it. As I stared out across the desert that stretches from the Vermilion Cliffs to the Echo Cliffs like a red sea studded with silver green sage, I drifted back in my mind, remembering how it felt when I first found out I had been selected as a North Rim Artist in Residence. All of a sudden, through my open window I noticed a lone bird, flying low enough to suddenly make me snap out of my reverie, yet just high enough to not be quite sure what I was seeing… too big for a raven… um… the flight is too solid & steady to be a turkey vulture… OMG! “A CONDOR!!! Stop the truck NOW!!!”. Thanks to Dennis not having a heart attack & instead quickly following my “suggestion”, we piled out of the truck with just enough time to get a decent look through binoculars as the lone condor circled ever higher in the sky. A sign.

spreading my wings

Just like that, one year that seems just begun has ended, & a new year is upon us; 2010 left in a huffing swirl of rain & snow, 2011 greeted us with a cold shoulder. Hard to believe that my father has been gone for over a year now, my sorrow experienced in different ways with the passing of the seasons, but no longer raw. Hard to believe that the condor tapestry for Grand Canyon National Park is now finally, really, under way after a slew of delays, distractions, & procrastinations.

Delays came in the form of a total lack of energy, the result of what I thought was the same cold/sinus infection that was cycling itself over & over for a solid two months, but which finally was diagnosed as allergies & fixed right up just before Thanksgiving with allergy medication (thank goodness!). Most likely, as I have never had allergies before, it was brought about by all of the blowing dust I was exposed to during my Canyon stay (so Dennis was right, it was “canyon fever”!).

Distractions were provided by the Words & Images art class I took (interesting, but not exactly what I thought it would be & not sure how it will affect my creative process at this point), & a fantastic 3 day Charcoal class that will definitely enhance my creative process. A neat & particular person used to working in a medium that doesn’t create much mess, I wasn’t sure how I would handle becoming covered in black stuff, but it was very addictive, fun, & loose. Just don’t scratch your face while drawing with this stuff. I found I don’t enjoy drawing staged still life, but understood that doing so was an important tool for understanding how to work with charcoal; since class ended I’ve done a couple small spontaneous drawings that I enjoyed very much. Later this month I will start an abstract painting class that meets once a week for 8 weeks. Amazing, a year ago I never would have thought to either work with charcoal or learn to paint abstractly.

 

These explorations, including my work with Silvia Heyden last year, are all part of my quest to let go of rigid realism & to begin trying to achieve an abstracted realism in my work. In working with Silvia I realized that if I wanted to change how I weave, then I need to change how I approach my design… or as she so succinctly put it “Don’t weave like you draw, draw like you weave!”

Procrastination, was, obviously, fear of flying! The thought of how large this tapestry will be, how long it will take, & how public the finished results will be, even though very thrilling, was also very daunting. I also had warp-a-phobia. Although I enjoy putting a warp on the loom--it is very meditative & helps me to start the process of entering into the creative energy of work --I have an issue with numbers that at times results in miscalculations & mistakes in figuring length, appropriate epi, getting the tension right when first tying on, & [insert any other warping worry here]. Thank you to Tommye Scanlin & Barbara Heller who answered my warp-related-to-size-of-tapestry questions! Add in the plaguing feeling that just as I had begun my journey to explore more abstraction in my weaving I was now going to be locked into producing this realistic work that will take so much time to complete. Finally, appreciating that any depiction of the Grand Canyon is at its best an approximation & therefore an abstraction of sorts, I realized that most of what I learned from Silvia could be used in representing the Canyon itself & I can rely on my ability with realism for the condor. In many ways, this experience will be transitional.

And now for the details…

The tapestry will be about 6 feet wide by 9.5 to 10 feet high.

I first designed my cartoon in a very small format, 6” x 9”, hand drawing the Canyon scene in outline & using Photoshop Elements to erase the background from around the condor so I could print her on a transparency. This allowed me to position her repeatedly over the background until I could decide what position was best.

The condor photo was enlarged to life size at FedEx Office in black & white, which was very cost effective. I will use color photos of her features enlarged on a much smaller scale for color reference.

I did several 6” x 9” watercolor crayon studies of the Canyon background to try to get a feel for the color & value scheme. This informed me that the colors should be somewhat muted… the condor is to be the main focus in this work, not the Canyon.

                                     

The background was enlarged to 12” x 18” for one last study. I tried using strokes in my drawing that loosely mimicked the weaving techniques I plan to use—eccentric & pick and pick.

This enlargement process also gave me the idea of how to create a BIG cartoon without having an expensive print made. First, I taped 24” wide sections of white craft paper together to create the size needed for the cartoon. Then I drew a grid of 1 foot squares to equal 6’ x 9’. Using the original cartoon with its 6” x 9” grid as reference, the background was drawn to the enlarged size one square at a time, at the scale of 1 inch = 1 foot. Because the Canyon shapes are so simplified, this process was quite easy.

This background was then transferred to heavy vellum, a translucent paper I use for my cartoons. Two 36” wide sections of vellum were taped together onto which I traced the Canyon background from the plain paper. Although it seems like doing twice the work, I like my cartoons to be very clean & as free of extraneous marks as possible. Graphite smears on vellum & doesn’t erase completely. I also needed to be able to trace the condor on top of the background. I like using vellum because it isn’t shiny like Mylar & it isn’t made of plastic.

Upon beginning to trace the condor, I realized I had made a big error in not having the condor enlarged with the background sky removed, which represented as a grainy grey in the enlargement (see the first photo in this post) & made tracing the condor’s outline onto the vellum almost impossible. After removing the sky, I had the condor enlarged again, enabling me to more easily trace her outlines.

But, the enlarged size still did not represent the details of her head, feet, wing & tail feathers very well, so those had to be hand drawn in using smaller photos & an ornithology anatomy manual (it is really helpful being married to an ornithologist!). Her wingspan is 9.5 feet, which caused her top wing to extend just beyond the original 9 foot height I had planned for the tapestry. This wing tip will be in the sky, so I’ve allowed myself enough warp to decide what the final tapestry height will be, with a maximum possibility of 10 feet.

The warp is Bockens 8/5 linen sett at 6 epi & 5 yards in length (epi is ends per inch if you are a non-weaver… it means how many warp threads {the vertical ones} are in one inch). It took nearly four 500 meter spools of linen for this warp, (or 2150 yards-- just a little over a mile!) which I wound using a warping mill. The whole warping process, from winding warp to dressing the loom, which included putting on the heddles (& put blisters on my fingers!), took about 10 days, working a few hours each day. Dennis helped me wind the warp onto the top beam, using 3/4” x 1/4” pine screen molding in the warp to stabilize its tension on the beam.

As for the heddles, during my time at the Canyon in September I seemed to discover the final (so far!) configuration for the redesigned Shannock heddle bars that I have been puzzling over. It turns out that as Mies Van der Rohe believed, “less is more”. I am using Mirrix Texsolv heddles on 25” plain steel 1/4” diameter rods attached to the pulley assembly S hooks. On the ends of the rods are #90 rubber O-rings to keep the heddles from sliding off. 

The Canyon & sky background will be woven in mixed weft bundles of wool, the condor’s weft bundles will be of linens, perle cottons, sea silks, & wools which will give her feathers & skin sheen. The combinations will be decided as I weave, & I am delving into this process now as I weave the bottom header. I am also starting to compose a list of possible titles for this tapestry; many times before I’m even into the weaving of a piece I’ll know what it is supposed to be called, yet this one seems to be taking its time in revealing itself to me…

of carolina & condors

Nothing could be finer than to have been in North Carolina last week with Silvia Heyden, her daughter, Françoise, & all of the weavers who have been working with Silvia during the past year in her “Loomish Eyes” distance mentoring project.

We had a wonderful three days together, seeing & discussing each other’s work for the first time, visiting Silvia’s home, seeing many of her tapestries there & in the homes of her friends, getting a taste of Durham, getting a sneak preview of the documentary being made about Silvia that is soon to be released, & spending brief yet beautiful time wandering the banks of the Eno River, Silvia’s constant Muse.

Last year we met as fellow students; this year we parted as friends. Like a mother bird who knows she must give her scrawny fledglings a quick shove out of the nest so they can strengthen their wings & learn to fly strong & free, Silvia has sent us into the world with the few basic tenets she has used with passion for decades in her own weaving & which she generously shared with us during our studies with her. It is now up to us to use them to make our way on our own weaverly paths, wherever they may lead.

When I returned home from the Canyon, a nasty virus got me in its grip & I have been struggling to recover from it ever since… after returning home from North Carolina, I actually felt even worse, but now seem to be on the mend. I had been stuck in the land of bomb struck studios, mine a tangled pit of art supplies & yarn, a giant mish-mash from finishing the last Heyden tapestry, preparing for the Canyon, coming home, preparing for the Words & Images class I’m taking at The Drawing Studio, preparing for North Carolina, coming home. Unwell & unable to focus on tackling the clean-up, not feeling inspired about anything.

Last weekend, a pigeon had flown down our chimney & wouldn’t come into the fireplace where we could rescue it. Finally, two days ago the poor bird suddenly crashed down into the fireplace with a loud clang against the glass doors & I was able to capture it. Holding it carefully against my chest, feeling its warm, firm feathers & rapidly beating heart, I felt sad to notice that its breast bone felt sharp… it had lost weight. Outside, I slowly opened my hands, & the pigeon launched strongly into the air, flying towards its flock. Just like the pigeon, I have suddenly launched into my studio, cleaning & putting away the detritus of the last few months. The design for the condor tapestry has clanged into my head, as loud as the noise made by the pigeon beating its wings against the glass fireplace doors, seeking freedom.

Before the trip to Silvia’s, I had discovered the perfect condor photos, taken by a fellow Tucsonan who has generously given me permission to use them (thanks, Ned H!). In looking them over, I chose two of Condor #27, basing my decision solely on flight position & detail. Any condor that is tagged can be looked up online with Condor Tag Charts, so I decided to do a little research to learn about “my” condor. I felt so sad to learn that Condor #27, a female, died in December 2009 of lead poisoning at the young age of 14, but thrilled to learn that in 2003 she had laid the first egg to hatch & fledge a wild born condor in Arizona. Sadly, that chick died at just 2 years old, also of lead poisoning. But its hatching & fledging was a landmark event in the California Condor Restoration Program. Condor #27 also figures largely in the book, Condors in Canyon Country. Without knowing so while making my selection, I’ve picked the perfect cover girl for this tapestry. And she’s just beautiful, don’t you think?

condor wings & celestial bling

 Sat 9/25

A frenzied early morning finishing stuffing the Rover with all of my things, then like the wind that blew up before daylight, I was flying away. It is ok; this part of my experience here is done & it is time for the next artist to start her relationship with the Canyon!

Down, down, down I drove, off the Kaibab Plateau to the floor of House Rock Valley, getting more excited with each passing mile that I was going to see condors.

From the research I have done, I knew that the release site atop the Vermilion Cliffs is very far away from the viewing area. It is extremely important for the newly released condors not to have human contact or associate the carcasses placed to attract mentor condors with human activity. Even though I arrived over an hour before the release time, there were plenty of people already there. The atmosphere was charged with tangible energy & Peregrine Fund staff (the organization responsible for the California Condor Restoration--Conservation Project) had placed high power spotting scopes focused directly on the release pen.

With my first glimpse through one of the scopes-- OH!!! There the free condors were, their unbelievably immense wings spread wide as they swooped & glided effortlessly over the Vermilion Cliffs, while the four debutante condors being released waited somewhere inside the flight pen. The crowd of people grew as time passed, & at the appointed hour of 11 AM there was a flurry of condor activity as the release cage door was opened & the gathered crowd ooohed & ahhhed with each wing flap, just like people watching fireworks. Even with the spotting scopes, the condors only appeared about an inch long, but when you see them you can tell you are looking at a very special & large bird, especially when ravens swoop in for a size comparison. There is also a nest site further south on the cliff face & I was able to see the juvenile bird with its parent sitting on the nest ledge. I can’t even begin to say how extremely thrilled I was to be able to observe this special event… to have the privilege of seeing condors in flight at the end of my residency gives me a feeling of validity for the project I am about to begin that no photograph could fulfill. Did I actually see one of the newly released condors in flight? I have no idea, but for me, just knowing that they were up there getting ready to take their first free flight was pure joy.

I was also able to meet the Condor Project’s program director & several biologists from the Peregrine Fund. I introduced myself & told them about the condor tapestry & in return received their contact info, offers of photos of the birds, & info on where to see condors at closer range during the year. Some of the NPS (National Park Service) crew from the North & South Rims were there, including Gaelyn, a NPS crew from Glen Canyon NRA (National Recreation Area), Bureau of Land Management staff (the release site is located on BLM lands), tons of condor enthusiasts, & most likely representatives from other official entities. I even heard that the release had been advertised on NPR (National Public Radio)! A festival of freedom celebrating the success story of a bird that was almost wiped out from the planet.

After a wonderful lunch at Cliff Dwellers with Gaelyn, she headed back up to the Rim & I went over to Navajo Bridge, a known hangout for condors (& to see if I could conquer my fear of heights & walk out on the span that is suspended 467 feet over the Colorado River). I was able to walk out on the footbridge, but realized that no condor in its right mind would be there when the fast food carcass take-out was over at the release site! But, the crew from Glen Canyon NRA was there with sun telescopes set up & I met their Education Specialist Ranger who was excited to hear about my North Rim residency because they have just started their own AiR program. She told me they are extremely interested in hosting artists like me who are local. I love this part of Arizona & would be very excited to come here for a future artist residency. Later that night, I drove over to Lees Ferry campground where the Glen Canyon crew had set up night telescopes under the velvet dark sky next to the rushing roar of the Colorado River. We gazed at the big, glowing moon, the Andromeda galaxy, Jupiter & her 4 moons, Uranus, star clusters, & talked about Galileo & light years.  From condor wings to celestial bling, (as one of the astronomers described it) all in one day.

  Sun 9/26

Down here in the desert, my eyes have the fiery Echo & Vermilion cliffs to fill them up & a distant horizon across solid red ground dotted with silver green sage to fix my gaze upon. Although I love visiting different environments, whenever I come back to the desert, I know it is my home. I’ve decided to go back over to the release site this morning before heading for Phoenix, one last look in the quiet desert morning at the place that is giving a special bird a strong foothold on life.

When I arrived, a group of dedicated Peregrine Fund biologists were monitoring the newly released condors’ activities, & had brought along a Peregrine Falcon for company. It is important to determine that the condors are displaying appropriate behaviors so that they can survive on their own. If not, they will have to be recaptured & released again at a later time. For example, if a bird is not perching high & safe, it is at great risk of being killed by coyotes. I have great respect for the efforts of these scientists; although field work seems romantic, it is tough, dirty, & requires very long & odd hours. Dennis has told me enough about his prior biology career studying endangered birds to know that this work is not for those ambivalent about the effort required. The people who are involved in helping a fragile species endure & thrive are very special. There were plenty of condors sailing over the release site & I was able to get a good last look at these amazing birds before heading south through the desert.

I arrived at D.Y.’s place in Phoenix in late afternoon, greeted by temperatures nearing 100. It seems the desert needed to remind me that it isn’t quite ready to let summer go. D.Y. & I enjoyed our brief time together, feeding each other with inspiration as we always do, & looking forward to the time when four weavers will gather at her hogan next spring.

Fri 10/1

So this week I have been adjusting to being back home, adjusting to the heat, working on the mass de-mobilization of putting everything I brought to the Canyon back in its place & settling back into my place. Catching up on emails, phone calls, life. Preparing for a local exhibit at Tohono Chul Park next week that will include three of my tapestries…

 

& also for an art class I’ve signed up for, Words & Images: The Artist Book, that starts next week at The Drawing Studio. Hoping to get all of this done so I can get back to weaving & finish widforss wizards. Anticipating my upcoming trip to North Carolina that will close my mentoring experience with Silvia Heyden. Hoping the desert realizes this is now October & it is time for fall weather. Taking a deep internal breath to prepare myself for the designing & weaving of the condor tapestry.

A very big & sincere thank you to all who have been reading along during this adventure, for the wonderful comments left on my blog, for the interest in my work, for the wonderful energy you’ve all sent my way!

Below is a slide show of a selection of the images I took while I was at the North Rim. I shot over 500 photos; thank goodness I culled through & organized them every few days while I was there! If you would rather view them individually instead of slide show format, you can visit my GC AiR photo set here. 

p.s. the photo at the beginning of this post is for Barbara S. & Mary W.!

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