Fall harvest

Monhegan Sunset

I’m harvesting a bounty of creative projects and activities this fall. The highlight was my 5 week residency on Monhegan Island .

My island studio home

I’ve posted many images on my Instagram and FaceBook pages – so be sure to check those out. I suspect that this time and the work I accomplished out there will have significant affect on my work moving forward. I’ll do my best to share my work as it progresses!

detail of work in progress

Beyond my studio I am in shows this fall:  Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit, MA. “Twisted, Twined, and Woven”  Opening November 2, 2018 4:30 – 6 PMCenter for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland ME – Biennial Show   Opening November 3, 2018 5 – 7 PM

Lobstering on Trap Day.

In an effort to bring closure to “Well Used, Well Loved” I have begun to return towels and journals to the participants in the community art project.

Well used and loved towels and journals going home.

And FiberArt Now magazine just published a feature article about my work. I am honored and so excited for this exposure. Thank you to writer Janet Mendelsohn for her well-crafted piece about my journey and vision.Now it’s time to get back to work…….

Spring is bursting forth!

Each One: The Button Project at the 9/11 Museum

NOW: Letters By Hand

After the coldest spring I can recall in decades, we finally have the delicious days of spring that we dream of all winter.  Not only are the buds luscious and full, but my calendar is ripe with shows, new art and other events. Here are the highlights:

• “Well Used, Well Loved”. – this two year community project will be exhibited at George Marshall Gallery. Opening May 26 from 5-7. 
• Artist Talk - Sunday June 24th, 3 PM, George Marshall Gallery
• Members Juried Biennial, Fuller Craft Museum,  Opening May 20th, 2-5 PM
• Monhegan Island Artist’s Residency - I have been awarded a 5 week residency for the fall!
• “Each One:The Button Project, a 9/11 Memorial” is on exhibit at the September 11th Museum and Memorial. I was finally able to visit the museum last month.

In the studio,  I am exploring new works, weaving, stitching and dyeing. More images and updates will follow soon!

Samples with indigo and rust dyes

The heart, the voice and a vision.

Love: a visit with village elders

I am back from a five week pilgrimage to southern India. This is my third trip to Tamil Nadu, each time I feel a deeper connection to my own heart as well as the heart of the world. Even though I visited many of the same temples, the same ashram and the same villages – my heart and my eyes were opened anew.Back home in my studio I feel a stronger connection to my creative voice and vision. I know without a doubt that the depth of my connection to truth, love and reality while in India is playing out in my art work.

Sketchbook: A quiet time with the ashram cows

An invesigation of impermanence has captivated me for a decade and driven my two most recent community art projects.    This awareness of impermanence is part of a Hindu’s daily life – and makes the present moment so alive and expansive.So here I am home….with a heart that has had time for deep reflection as well as being broken open by the devotion and love of these beautiful people. I have a wide horizon of time to create, to make new art and give voice to these new stirrings in my heart. Stay tuned for works in progress and continued reflections on this trip!

The Ashram weave shed where they weave shawls and saris

Namaste ~ Sarah

Back at home

Fall leaves on hand-woven linen

I am back from a transformational trip to the hills of northern Georgia. I had the good fortune to be selected as a fellow to The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA, where I was an artist in residence for 2 weeks.While I was at Hambidge I was able to complete “Now” Letters by Hand” – a 22 month project using the American Sign Language alphabet as a platform for inner reflection. This project is a 13′ by 3′ installation – so a photo of the whole project is a bit of a challenge. I will be posting a link to a  video link soon.En route to Georgia I stopped at The Bancroft School in Worcester, MA. I spent a day working with the Middle School to complete an installation for the school entry way. Here we all are at the end of a very successful day, sitting underneath the prayer flag installation!

Bancroft School installation

Now back here in Maine, I am diving into new projects as well as connecting with continuing projects. My favorite season is approaching – snow season – when I can settle inside my studio, warm and cozy while the snow piles up outside.Be sure to check out my Face Book art page – Sarah D. Haskell – and give it a thumbs up! Thanks! 

Georgia on my mind

Hambidge Center

I’m off to Georgia! I will be at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, GA this month for a 2 week residency. I am SO excited and pleased to have this opportunity!

Installation materials

As I travel south I will stop for a one day workshop at The Bancroft School in Worcester, MA. Working with the Middle School, I will guide the creation of an installation for the school entryway portico. We will use marine buoy flags, ribbons with messages, wire, zip ties and markers to create a colorful and positive way to greet everyone as they enter The Bancroft School campus.Then I will drive south taking 4 days to travel to Northern Georgia. While down there I will be working on the series “Now” Letters By Hand”. This past month I wove ten yards of white linen to mount this alphabet on to. I also plan to hike, draw and just be available for new ideas and fresh insights. This is truly a gift of time and space.I almost to forgot to announce – I have been selected as a finalist for the NH Charitable Foundation’s Artist Advancement Award. Feeling happy and pleased!

eight woven, two to go

ten yards off loom

Warm days. portable art

Summer in Maine goes by like the blink of an eye. We wait and wait for it to get warm, to feel the heat of the sun, and perhaps swim in water that is above 65 degrees! And here it is August 13, with a few trees sporting tinges of red just to remind us that fall will be stepping in before too long.

Casco Bay, Maine – Island Beauty

Witness- our 30′ Nonsuch sloop

I try to spend as much time outside and in/on the water in the summer. We have a 30′ sailboat – which is cozy and perfect for two – but she cannot accommodate a loom!

Portable art rules my summer days!

Since I have an inner urgent need to create constantly – I have found ways to adapt to our summer lifestyle and home. I knit, draw, paint, stitch – any creative effort that is small and portable.I have completed my embroidery series “Now: Letters by Hand”. Poignantly I used my beloved Faye as my model for letter Z – the last letter of my alphabet. And in mid-July, we had to say a very sad good bye to her. The text here says “A kiss before you go.” I miss my studio assistant.

Now: Letters by Hand – Z

Pride and progress

Bridgeport Neighborhoods

detail – Bridgeport neighborhoods

Hands at work

Bridgeport shoreline

This week I was artist in residence with the two 5th grades at Classical Studies Magnet School in Bridgeport, CT. We completed two tapestries that illustrate two of the wonderful features of this small CT city – the shore line and the many diverse neighborhoods. I loved working with these energetic and happy students! They have much to be proud of in their work and their community.In my portable studio work I have completed two more embroideries from “Now: Letters by Hand” Letter V and W. I’m closing in on the end of this series!!

Letter V

Letter W

Warmer days, bluer skies

Snow piled up above the windows!

In my last post, I spoke of the blizzard…and in case you haven’t heard, we just exited the snowiest February on record here in York. For about three weeks the snow just piling up and piling up. We’ve had the roof shoveled and the drive way piles are over ten feet tall now! Today is bright ans sunny, so there is the sweet sound of melting, gutters running with water and even a few birds singing a happy tune.  All of this snow time gave me the opportunity to be grounded in the studio – no complaints from this happy weaver! I am one of the few people who loves winter weather – I love to x-ski and I love how snow storms create a giant pause in my busy life.I have added a new piece to the gallery from my “Unhinged” series – check it out!

Woven Mandala

The winter residency at Lewiston Middle School is completed. I am quite pleased with the drawn and woven mandalas that these students created in the after school program.

Personal drawn mandala

My own work is progressing – a new piece in the “Unhinged” series almost ready to be off loom for the embroidery. And speaking of embroidery, I have completed Letter U in my project “Now: Letters by Hand”.I will be traveling for 3 weeks leaving March 12…heading to a warm island in the Caribbean, Bequia. I’ll have email – so feel free to keep in touch – I love hearing from you!

Letter U – “Letters by Hand”

Rhythm and blues, new work in progress.

Loose ends

Loose ends refers to threads that are unattached or astray, to unfinished business and to the little things in life that cannot be categorized. The last definition fits this post – a  bunch of stuff that is newsy and not particularity related. So here goes!

Now:Letters by Hand – letter S

I finished Letter S from my current project “Now: Letters by Hand” an embroidered alphabet series done on linen squares. This letter is inspired by symbols of change and a body that is frequenting my loom woven work. These letters are works that can travel with my as I am on the road teaching, visiting family or caring for my 93 year old mother.

New loom!

For the first time in MANY (like 35 years) I have bought a new/used loom. It is a 40″ B5 Macomber that is almost 40 years old – but is in mint condition! I will be adding more harnesses and another plain beam soon and look forward to weaving on it soon!Speaking of new equipment, I have a new computer stand for my 56″ loom’s weaving bench. Built by my dear Ben – it holds the net book and power supply that run my dobby loom. I am so happy! I am so lucky!

Computer stand on bench

“The Art is the Cloth” the tapestry show at NHIA has moved on to its new location at The George School. The show runs from Dec. 4 to Feb. 9th. If you are in the Newtown PA area be sure to check it out!“Unraveled” the exhibit at Old York Museum will close on Dec 6th. Check out the article that the Portland Press Herald wrote about the exhibit.This past month I have been doing a fair amount of studio cleaning – selling yarns, small looms and generally trying to organize my work space. I know that sometimes this effort is an avoidance/procrastination activity. But this time it has been amazing – I LOVE the way my work space feels! I feel like there is space for new ideas, for dancing, for dreams, for creative energy to flow.So that’s about it for loose ends this month! Thanks for all the great feedback on my work in these exhibits this fall.~~ Sarah

R-R-R-Ready? Letter R!

Detail of Letter R

It’s October 31st – Halloween! This is one of my favorite holidays because we it is about fun, fantasy, food and fright!Two days ago I completed Letter R in my alphabet series titled “Now: Letters by Hand”. I haven’t created a gallery of all these images yet and I haven’t figured out exactly what category they should be filed under (studio, community or public art). I suppose this is because this series is all about being rooted in the moment, not planning for the future or reflecting on the past.I am not entirely clear what to do with them all when all the letters are done. I have 8 letters still to embroider, so I suspect by letter Z, I’ll have figured something out!So enjoy this glorious fall, soak up some brilliant colors, fall into a pile of leaves and then leap into November tomorrow!

Letter R swirls with fall energy and colors!

Meet Letter Q

Letter Q

Letter Q dips into the Atlantic.

Early September,  just off Merchant’s Row, Stonington, Deer Isle, ME.Letter Q dips a finger into the Atlantic waters confirming what we already know, the water is cold but feels so good.Letter Q the 17th letter of the alphabet series titled “Now: Letters by hand“. Nine more letters to embroider in this project. Now onward to letter R. 

Now ~ Letters by Hand

Letter N inspired by a pair of mating White Admiral butterflies in Port Cldye on July 4th.

Highlighting this work in progress – “Now – Letters by Hand”Letters M and N are completed.Summer continues……luring me away from my studio but inspiring me, filling me with visions, nurturing my spirit. I am off all next week for my annual women’s retreat on Yarmouth Island.

Summer sunset over the water in Maine.

Letter M inspired by pea shoots, tendrils and flowers