Just One Week in the Country

The charm of country roads and weathered barns and dandelion patches just never seems to get old for me. Maybe it's because I was raised in the country and I have that healthy longing for childhood nostalgia. Or maybe it's because I've lived the past 12 years between major US cities and nothing but a country life could seem further from my reality. Or maybe it's just something aesthetic or intuitive that clicks on in me for no obvious reason. Regardless, I am charmed by a sundress and a fiddle and a barn.

A few photos from our recent trip to the New York countryside followed by a weekend wedding in the Berkshires. I mean, doesn't everybody want an accordion player at their spring wedding? A barn with a weather vane in the distance? A smattering of canning jars transformed into lighting fixtures? A roadside ice cream stand complete with picnic tables?

Okay, what about an excuse to wear boots and sundresses just about every day? Le sigh.

xoxo,
k.

Carefully Knotted: A Large-Scale Yarn Installation

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If I had to guess, I'd say I had over 30 skeins of red yarn in my studio at some point in the last few weeks. My very first set design (shown above) was comprised of red yarn, mostly knotted into an abstract woven web, along with knitted rectangles, found sweater parts, a smattering of small twigs collected from the sidewalk, and a few red doilies. The design was commisioned by Hope Mohr Dance as part of the San Francisco International Arts Festival. (Thank you, Hope.)

The wall measured 17 feet long, roughly 7 feet high, and strung across the back of the stage, suspended between two existing columns. There was also a human-sized nest of red fiber and one lone skein of thread used by the performer to wrap the space. We also tucked a small pair of golden scissors into the yarn wall--a secret tool for the performer to retrieve and ultimately "set herself free".

Now I keep dreaming about how the yarn wall would look strung between two Redwood trees, or hung above the Pacific Ocean tangling in the wind. It seems to want to be installed outside as a public art installation, perhaps with a group of knitters or in homage to the marvelous woven webs of spiders. Maybe one day, it will resurface from the theaterical lights and find its place under the big bright sun. xoxo, k.

Ps--I am back from my trip to NY and will share some travel photos here soon. Dear friends, I hope your May has been delightful.

Greetings from New York

Greetings from afar!

I am traversing my native New York, spending the week with family and friends and wishing the week was actually several weeks longer. How dreamy to imagine a leisurely road trip through the upstate countryside, absorbing the vibrant greens and yellows and pinks of a heroic budding spring. Then visiting our beloved Brooklyn to discover favorite spots and rediscover old ones--to indulge in New York museums and performances and readings until we've had our fill.

Alas! This trip is short and sweet and will have to hold us over until a longer visit is possible. I've brought along a few skeins of red yarn so that I might continue working on the set installation from afar-- draping the knit work across my lap at various kitchen tables and living rooms and porches. I'll be back before you know it. In the meantime... have a lovely week, lovely yous.

xoxo, k.

Fiber Art Research (that Makes me Swoon!)

Source: lisa-cooley.com via Katrina on Pinterest

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Source: mischertraxler.com via Katrina on Pinterest

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Source: bitrebels.com via Katrina on Pinterest

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Source: neoimages.net via Katrina on Pinterest

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Source: mackenziefrere.com via Katrina on Pinterest

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Source: designspongeonline.com via Katrina on Pinterest

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I've been collecting images of swoon-worthy textile and fiber art installations. I could spend the better part of each day just amassing images of thread and yarn and fabric and fiber-based art that incorporates surprising use of scale, installation, or complete viewer- immersion. I love this research! And I love all of the above images for their refreshing and amazing use of yarn or thread or fiber. I want to visit each one in person and spend hours gazing at their construction. Oh, swoon!

In 3 weeks I will install my very first "set installation" for theater. I've been hired as the set designer for Hope Mohr Dance as part of the San Francisco International Art Festival at the Southside Theater at Fort Mason, May 20-22. I am configuring ways to make a hanging wall that is 18 feet long and 13 feet high and made almost entirely of red thread. I am stringing up red thread from end to end in my little studio-- configuring knots and stitches and loops and tangles into an assemblage or wall hanging.

When I find myself weeks away from a deadline, I always dream about having a small army of artists and crafters as part of my studio life. I imagine we would be a very welcoming small army-- complete with thread and sewing machines and letterpress equipment and stacks of books and fabric and wood type and also mandatory tea breaks and a daily delivery of fresh-baked scones. Yes, please! In the meantime, I am happily experimenting with stitches and knots and tangles.

Hope you are well, dear friends. xoxo, k.