Balancing on the Solstice

Here we are….on the official commencement of summer and the beginning of our days decreasing in sunlight (sorry to ruin your day!) This is the Solstice balance, balancing the light and the dark, the positive and the negative, the hot and the cold, plus for us on coastal Maine, the tourists and the townies!

CT workshop for families

For me it is the end of my school residencies and teaching. And today, it being almost 93 here in York, I went for my first swim!

Jim Wilson shows off his vintage reed making equipment.

Yesterday Ben and I went down to Central Falls, RI to visit The Gowdey Reed Co. I have started a blog about Jim’s family business as I am gearing up sales for them. Please check out this new blog, Gowdey Reeds, Heddles and Handweaving, where I explain how this company has been making reeds for 4 generations. The basic process has changed little, and each hand loom or industrial reed is made to order for the customer.Tomorrow I head back up to Haystack MT School of Crafts. I was up there last month, cleaning and repairing all the looms in the Textile Studio. Friday and Saturday, I will return to complete the job with a van load of parts from Macomber Looms. I think we picked the perfect week to be up there, as the temperatures here are going to be unseasonably warm.

My Woven Voices thesis with it's clamshell box

And here is a BIG TAH- DAH…drum roll……. I received my Masters of Art and Healing from Wisdom University this month. I am so proud of my thesis which is a series of hand-bound books that document and illustrate this four year global peace project.

Happy and proud boy with his self portrait for the Mandala

Thanks for checking out my website. I always love hearing from each one of you.Happy Summer!!~~ Sarah

Making books for Kenya

Printing the Adinkra inspired papers

In late April I had the wonderful opportunity to return as Artist in Residence to The Great Oak Middle School in Oxford CT. For five days I worked with 6th, 7th and 8th graders to design, print, weave and bind small books.  Our goal was to create two printed sheets of paper inspired by Adinkra images of West Africa that would be cut into strips and woven together to make the cover for a book. Prior to my coming to school, Karen Giannamore, the art teacher worked hard with the classes to help them generate wonderful stories based on a choice of writing prompts. These stories were printed on paper to be inserted as the text for these handmade covers.

More printing!

Printed papers for book covers

When I arrived on Monday, we jumped right into designing the stamps, and printing two sheets of paper per student. I just love the bright colors and the bold designs that the students came up with.  After everyone had printed two sheets, we then cut them into strips to that they could be woven together to make the book covers.

Weaving the printed strips together

The printed and woven strips were then laminated to make a durable cover for the books. We then sewed the previously written and printed stories inside these gorgeous covers. Each student also illustrated their story and added reader’s questions as well as notes about the author. These books will now be shipped to a school for the deaf in Wamunyu, Kenya through a program called Kenya Connect. We understand that the students in Kenya are learning to read and write in English so these handmade books will add over 120 new books to their school library!

Illustrating the text.

Helping a partner to sew in the text pages.

The laminated book covers waiting for the pages of text to be sewn inside.

Winter play and winter creativity

It has been an entirely snow-less winter so far.  I cannot recall a winter that has not only been so snow-less but so warm.  Last night at a non-profit board meeting the Chairwoman opened with the question “How you you feel about this winter? Do you miss snow?” The answers were as diverse as those attending the meeting. My answer was YES… I miss snow days. I miss playing in the snow. I miss the unbelievable quiet that a heavy snow fall makes as it muffles all other noises.

1st Izzy's installation

I have been involved with a new arts organization in Portsmouth called 3S Artspace. Last fall they put out a submission call for a winter long installation in a local ice cream shop that is closed for the winter. This collaborative project has three artists rotating installations once a week for nine weeks, culminating in a group installation for the final two weeks. My first installation was inspired by our road trip to Florida in January. Riding in the car ave me the opportunity to sky gaze for hours on end. I saw so many beautiful hawks soaring along the highways edge, and the sky was so wide and beautiful. Each installation is supposed to build on the previous one. I used the red sticks and blue background from the artist before me, stenciled the cranes and added more sapling branches.

2nd installation at night

My second installation followed the same artist who had built these trees out of bark and created this forest scene with glass balls inside the trees and rubber snakes. I added these balls out of Styrofoam and plastic spoons and forks. I covered the windows with paper snow flakes and red cellophane, plus added more rubber critters. The spoon/fork balls were on motors and slowly rotated. I felt wintery and bizarre to me.

beginning the mandala at Izzy's

My third installation was this past Friday, and I followed a different artist who is much more of a minimalist. All of the previous materials had been removed and the space stripped clean. She painted stylized mountains on the walls and hung painted pieces of bark (from the a fore mentioned trees).

the mandala completed

close up of the mandala, spoons, forks, twigs, oranges, styro-balls

So on Friday, I came in with the idea that I would take down the bark, but not remove it, and create a 6 foot mandala on the wall using any/all materials from previous installations. Here’s the result. I love it! I also wrote a short quote from Rumi along the edge of the mountains and their shadows.This installation will disappear on Friday when the third artist returns and creates her final installation. What an amazing process!This winter I am also bringing to an end”Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart”. Please check out my blog and learn more about the closure of this four year global community art project. I am in the final stages of completing my Masters of Art and Healing, with a non-traditional thesis on this project.

the last prayer flag

All is well, even without the snow.Namaste ~ Sarah

Bursting, reaching, green

Yup. It is clearly Spring here in Maine. Actually late Spring.  But what the heck…it has been raining for about 12 straight days. And we finally have sun. So everything is bursting, growing, exploding and green.  Just want to share a few images from a residency that I did last month down in Connecticut.

Great Oaks School

This Mandala Community Weaving is the largest one that I have done to date. It has 500 clothes pin people on it, and is about 4 feet across. I am not sure how much it weights, but it is heavy! It has a special cross structure in the back to support the weight of the clothes pins. Isn’t it amazing?

Great Oaks Mandala detail

Openings, closings, beginnings, endings

December 3, 2010. The third candle of Hanukkah is lit tonight. In nineteen days we will celebrate the Winter Solstice; the tilting of the earth back towards the sun, the return of warmth and light to the northern hemisphere. Transition, change, ritual, celebration and tradition are all apart of our environment as well as our culture.

The sun returns

In my teaching and studio work, these patterns hold true. Wednesday the show at Maine FiberArts and the exhibit at USM Lewiston came down. I spent the better part of this morning repacking, rehanging and storing the exhibited works.On Tuesday I completed my eight week residency at Sweetser School in Saco. I LOVED teaching at this school! Our last day we made birds…birds because I believe that birds are a symbol for being uplifted, for hope and imagination. It is a documented fact that making art can build resiliency. Our felt birds are lifting us up while we are creating them.

a bird in the hand

I am so inspired by the work that these students create. Full of light, love and SO imaginative.

American Kestral

With each ending there are good byes, thanks yous and hopes for future projects, opportunities.Moving on. Just like the sun, we keep moving on with our lives.So in the spirit of light, love, letting go, and moving on, I salute the sun.The sun inspires me to rise each day, to move, to smile even if clouds block my ability to see the light.Namaste, Sarah

Community Mandala, Nov 2010

Autumn 2010 ~ Colors in my studio

The “Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart” project continues to grow and to captivate the attention of many individuals and communities. To date there have been close to 1,800 messages received and read out loud in Market Square, Portsmouth. Over 400 prayer flag have been woven by over 50 volunteers. These prayer flags hang from Italy to Indonesia, Africa to Oakland, CA and from New York to New Delhi, and more. I continue to learn personal and creative lessons as I extend this project into its third year. Check out the Woven Voices section on this website or the project blog to read the latest news and learn how to participate.

Sunset at Tanah Lot on the south western edge of Bali, June 2010

This past year has been quite busy with travel, new works of art, teaching, residencies, commissions and graduate course work. One highlight was a trip to Bali in June which I have written about in my two blogs, Macomber Looms and Me and Woven Voices.

In the small village of Tenganan Pegringsingan, Kadek supports her family by weaving on this simple loom

While in Bali, I had the opportunity to meet a few weavers. One special visit was to Ni Kadek Trisnawati a traditional ikat weaver in the village of Tenganan Pegringsingan. She is from a long lineage of weavers, and uses the loom that her grandfather built.

"Caught Between Us", Public art installation on the Hanover St. parking Garage

Another highlight of this spring was the installation of my large public art piece “Caught Between Us”.  This piece, inspired by the idea that the water that separates the shores of New Hampshire and Maine is also what unites us, was a part of the city of Portsmouth, NH’s OverNight Art event.  This site-specific work pays homage to the men and women who work on the Piscataqua River, the marine life that inhabits these waters, and the Memorial Bridge, which connects the communities of the Seacoast.

Detail of "Caught Between Us"

Built from fish and shrimp nets, this piece references the web of life and the net-like construction of the bridge. The title, “Caught Between Us,” evokes the uncertain future of the Memorial Bridge as well as the fragility of our marine environment. 

"Tree of Life" Temple Israel Portsmouth NH

Also this summer I completed and installed a large woven commission for the Temple Israel of Portsmouth.  This piece titled “Tree of Life”  was commissioned to celebrate the life of Kathy Krasker Ramras. This piece, hand dyed hand woven linen and four feet by seven feet was installed and dedicated on July 16th.

detail of "Tree of Life"

I have not yet had the opportunity to get this piece professional photographed…so please forgive my amateur attempt to capture this magnificent piece.And finally I am having a one person show this fall at Maine Fiberarts. “Thread by Thread” is up until November 30th. I am delighted to have this opportunity to gather art works from the past 20 years and exhibit them in one show.  Come to the reception and artist talk on November 6th.

Season of Light and Love

Receivng the Bahai Seacoast Peace Award August 2009

The “Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart” project continues to grow and to captivate the attention of many individuals and communities. In August I proudly received the “Sarah Farmer Peace Award” from the Seacoast Baha’i Community. Selected from several nominated organizations and individuals, I accepted the award in recognition for my global art project, “Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart.”This global art project continues to blossom and teach me lessons. Please participate and join the thousands of voices that speak for peace through this project. Check out the Woven Voices section on this website or the project blog to read the latest news and learn how to participate.My residency and teaching work continues to blossom and expand. I guided several major projects in schools this fall. Check out the Educator and Mandala sections of my website to see these in detail. My education work continues to bring personal as well as professional rewards and lessons.Back in my studio I am hard at work on several projects. I recently completed a small commission for the Krempels Brain Injury Foundation. Here is an image of the completed piece on my work table. I am in the process of sewing it to the mounting board, getting it ready for the frame. The piece includes hand-spun colored paper with writings of good wishes for the retiring executive director.I am also working on a commission for the Temple Israel in Portsmouth. This 4′ by 7′ Tree of Life weaving that will be dedicated and installed in the temple lobby in the spring. Here is a sneak preview of the piece on the loom.This winter and spring I will be taking two courses towards my Masters in Art and Healing through Wisdom University. I am excited and ready to deepen my commitment to this work.Besides this website and the Woven Voices blog, I also maintain a blog for Macomber Looms. Check out this blog for all kinds of information about these hand-looms, built right here in York, Maine!Please check out my gallery and send me a note with your thoughts about my work. I appreciate hearing from you!As ever, thank you for your interest and support of my artwork and teaching. I hope the beauty of this earth brings you joy.Peace to all in this season of light and love,