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The piece was based on a book by Bruno Schulz titled Street of Crocodiles. The imaginary Street of Crocodiles in the Polish city of Drogobych is a street of memories and dreams. The collections of short stories focus on memories … Continue reading
I created 3 pieces for The Healthy Art Program: An Energy Smart Exhibition. The trio is inspired by different life cycles; cycles of nature, animals, creating, etc. The pieces depict a bird’s nest with eggs = birth, bird wings = life, and a bird skull = death. Each piece was made completely out of Eco friendly materials most of which were provided by the Art Inspector. The materials included FSC wood, handmade oil paint, GreenPix Photo Matte paper, Eco Bond and natural bees wax and dammar resin (tree sap).
During this process one area that inspired and interested me was the concept of Cradle-to-Grave. Cradle-to-Grave or life-cycle assessment is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s (in this case a finished piece of artwork) life from-cradle-to-grave (i.e., from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling). I wanted to explore how this applied to art making on a conceptual and real life basis. Unfortunately I couldn’t find much information or material about the cradle-to-Grave concept as it applies to creating artwork. From my own experience I know that there are a lot of waste and hazardous materials that are produced through art making depending on the medium. This is an area I would like to explore more. I feel it would be beneficial for artists to know where their materials come from, how they get to them and how they should be disposed of.
BURST!
The inspiration for creating my sun collage was multi-faceted. The sun gives us life, but it can also easily take life away. Too much pollution in our atmosphere, which might block out the sun, and we’re done. Too much sunshine, we burn up. Just the right amount, and we thrive.
It seemed to make sense.
Eco-friendly paints
The materials I was give by The Art Inspector, which included eco-friendly paints, papers, glue, and wood, were perplexing to me at first, but after working with them for awhile, an idea began to emerge.
eco-friendly papers
The papers, as given to me, were not useful…but, given my history of collage, which began 12 years ago when I spent one entire summer making paper in my backyard, I realized I could manipulate the paper by using it to make new paper, which I knew would be more textured, colorful, and aesthetically appealing. I combined the papers she gave me with scraps I had been collecting in my studio, and spent a weekend making paper. (Luckily, the sun was shining which helped in the drying process! So I used the sun, to make my sun!)
Paper scraps
Here’s a photo of the scraps I used to make some of the paper. I sorted my scraps into color families…white, yellow, orange, red, blue, green.
I tore the scraps into small pieces, soaked them in water, then put them in a blender along with sawdust, dried leaves, and dried flowers. Next, I blended them up, and poured the pulp into a tub.
Pulp in the blender
Then I scooped out the pulp using a square deckle or embroidery hoop with screening in it. After blotting out the excess water, I put the deckle in the sun to dry.
Pulp in the deckle
Peeling the paper off the screen was the most fun part of the process!
Paper drying in the sun
I ended up with a pile of beautiful hand-made papers. I tore them into semi-circles, then glued them onto the wood panels.
Pile of hand made papers
Laying out the paper, ready to be glued onto wood panels
Almost finished!
After adding some string to make the sunburst, my piece was done!
BURST! It's DONE!
The process really fun and gratifying, and I love my finished piece. Thanks for taking a look and reading about my process! -Lori
Backing spread out on the patio
Making this quilt was different in that I used some batting provided by the Art Inspector which was made in the USA. This batting is very fragile, so I needed to have a flat surface to lay it out, hence putting the bottom layer out first.
Laying out the Batting
The batting is all in layers that come apart very easily so I need to be very careful as I work with it.
Spreading the Quilt Top over the Batting
I carefully place the quilt top over the backing and the batting.
Showing the thickness of the batting
As you can see, this batting is very thick. If I had been more knowledgeable, I would have removed some of the batting, to make a thinner quilt, but, no, I didn’t want to do it over!!
Laying the three layers over the longarm machine.
I usually load the longarm machine by stretching the three layers one by one over the various bars and tighten the gears to give a nice taut surface to quilt on. This particular batting made the process a bit different in that I spread the components onto the patio and then brought them in and carefully laid them over the bars and attached it all to the rollers.
Stretched onto Machine for Quilting
Now, I’m all ready to quilt the piece!
On the Studio Wall After Quilting
I have a couple more things to add to this piece. One is to put some glowing L-Wire around the flame shape, and the other is to add some Eco-friendly paint to the surface of the piece. Making this quilt has been a great experience and made me think more about what goes into my work and the meaning of it. I not only have used recycled fabric, but most of it has meaning in that significant people have given it to me. I even used parts of a quilt that I made during the 1970′s.
photo by Wendy Crockett
The Art Inspector brought several materials for the studio and took others with her that were less environmentally friendly. Among the items I need to go without are my chemicals for printing (including Van Dyke solution, fixer and other developing powders), and a few of my toxic adhesives. She gave me a whole line of Eco Friendly materials for printing black and white film, which I can’t wait to try out. She also brought several sheets of paper, some plywood and ecobond glue. I can’t wait to use the materials!
Eco Pro: B&W Paper developer, stop bath, fixer and Hypo wash
I used these photo chemicals to print a series of images, one of which was included in the show. The chemicals seemed to up the contrast slightly more than the chemicals I was previously using, but they were easy to control by changing my filter. The blacks were rich. Overall I was extremely happy with the outcome and the fixer didn’t smell nearly as bad! I would definitely recommend these products!
Wax- Artemis Modeling Beeswax made with plant colors
I was previously using beeswax that I had bought through Dharma Trading Company in Berkeley. The wax is from the US. All the information I could find indicated that it was very environmentally friendly.
The Artemis wax was not the best quality. It dried with an extra cloudy film and had sandy bits of pigment. I ended up not using it.
Green Prix Recycled Photo Paper- matte
The paper printed beautifully! I can’t wait to get more! The colors were saturated and even.
EcoBond adhesive clear sealant
So far so good! The sealant did dry clear as promised and seems to be holding well. I used it for the legs of the trunk and a few other small things that needed adhesive. It takes a little longer to dry than the instructions say.
As part of the Healthy Art Program I am putting on an Art Supply Swap Meet and Hazardous Art Supply Drop Off.
Who: Everyone is invited to sell, shop, barter or drop off hazardous art supplies.
What: To sell or trade – Paint, paper, studio furniture, frames, tools, fabric, craft supplies, equipment, building materials, film, if an artist can use it then it’s fair game.
Hazardous art supplies to drop off include: Paints, solvents, preservatives, markers, glazes, glue, spray cans, lacquer, resin, etc. (no house paint)
Why: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Where: KALEID Gallery – 88 South 4th Street San Jose,
When: Saturday March 31st 1:00pm-6:00pm
Open to the public admission free
It’s time for some Spring cleaning. Clean out your studio and head over to KALEID Gallery for a good old fashioned Art Supply Swap Meet! During this event you can drop off your hazardous and toxic art materials. These items will be disposed of in an environmentally safe way as part of the Healthy Art Program.
Just $10 a space for anyone wishing to sell, and we accept donations of art supplies if you can’t make it.
Space is limited; sign up by March 28th to participate.
For more information or to participate contact Shannon Amidon at shannon@shannonamidon.com
Info for participants:
Space is limited, sign up by March 28th to participate.
You must provide your own table
You are responsible for all sales
Set up is from 12:00-1:00pm -Break Down 6:00-7:00pm
Payment can be made before the event at KALEID Gallery by stopping in the gallery or calling (408) 947-1785 with your credit card.
All fees must be paid by March 30th.
Down to Earth Quilt
This is my quilt so far. I have the sections of it pinned to my design wall in my studio. I have done no sewing on it as of yet except for the beige squares. Any piecing you see was already done and I am using found objects, ie, unfinished patchwork or clothing parts given to me by other people. Tomorrow I’ll start assembling the sections while using the Kilawatt meter connected to my sewing machine. I call it the “Down to Earth Quilt” because I have to slow down a lot, get grounded and think very carefully about every step I take in the creative process and where each piece of fabric comes from and how much energy is used. The finished piece will measure about eight feet wide by twelve feet high. It’ll be exciting to see it hanging in the window at San Jose City Hall.
In conjunction with Kaleid Gallery’s Two Buck Tuesday Event, and the Healthy Art Program I will demonstrate how to make non toxic, eco friendly oil and egg tempera paint.
Join me:
Tuesday February 21st
7pm – 9pm
Kaleid Gallery
88 S 4th Street
San Jose, CA 95112
https://www.facebook.com/events/111383305654965/
Why go to the trouble of making your own paint?
(1) You can make pure paints free of toxic fillers and additives
(2) The colors are likely to be stronger and more brilliant
(3) You can customize the paint to suit your needs
(4) It can save money
(5) You can make colors that are not available from artist’s paint manufacturers
(6) It puts you in touch with your artist heritage
(8) By making paint you learn to understand more about paint and can get more out of it
(9) Natural paints are derived from organic materials and contain no synthetic
ingredients. Due to their organic nature they are compostable and some are
edible
(10) Natural paints also contain low or no VOCs so they are healthier.
Recipe and resource lists will be available to take home.
Two Buck Tuesday is a monthly event hosted by Kaleid Gallery. Come enjoy an inspired evening of art demos, performances, live painting, scrumptious tastings, $2 art & quirky people get together!
It’s free and open to all ages!
The past few weeks I have been working on my pieces for the Healthy Art Program: An Energy Smart Exhibition. Admittedly it’s been more difficult than I anticipated. I was struggling with the content/subject. Most of my artwork is already directly inspired and influenced by nature and natural history. So why would I do anything different? I know whatever my subject is that it will relate to the environment. Does this make my work Eco art? Is this the point of this project?
From the Greenmuseum’s website, a definition of Eco Art
In a general sense, [Eco-art] is art that helps improve our relationship with the natural world. There is no definition set in stone. This living worldwide movement is growing and changing as you read this. Much environmental art is ephemeral, designed for a particular place (site-specific) and involves collaborations between artists and others such as scientists, educators and community groups.
See “A Brief Introduction” by Clive Adams of the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World.
Some environmental art:
The more I thought about it the clearer it became that for me this should be about the materials and process. My art subject already speaks to some of the above statements and for me, this project isn’t necessarily about making eco art. What I want to explore is a more practical approach; like how to use new materials, how to reduce waste. Is this something that is cost effective, easy, and convenient? Materials are expensive already, will using earth friendly products cost more, are they harder to obtain.
So while I am making my artwork I am also doing a lot of research. I think it is worthwhile for artists to use earth friendly materials even if they are not “eco artists.” I have been experimenting with making my own paints, oil and tempera, as well as finding non toxic solvents, earth friendly paper and other goods. I have also been measuring my energy use. Although I am not quite sure aside from the basics (CFL or led lights, etc) of how to change that.
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