The threads that bind us

"Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart"

Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart

In the beginning, I designed "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart" as an effort to bring more positive energy to the world through a creative doorway. This international community art project was inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, Shinto paper prayers, and the Buddhist concept of impermanence. Reflecting back on this four year endeavor, I see that in parallel with my efforts to change the world, I have changed myself. In a manner of speaking I have unconsciously embodied Gandhi:"Be the change you want to see in the world." [1]

            The image of the spiral rings true to illustrate my path of learning from "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart". Throughout this four year project, lessons would appear with a slight air of familiarity. Round and round, I revisited these lessons, practicing the art of repetition, seeking fresh wisdom and insight each time I encountered a recognizable lesson.

            The first lesson was that this project had a life of its own, I was simply the facilitator. Originally I had envisioned a six to eight month time table, during which I hoped to collect a few hundred messages of hope and peace, then I would weave them into a series of prayer flags and give the flags back to the message writers.

            Within two months of launching the project, it became clear that I could not adhere to this self-created time table.  "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart" was being fueled by a need from a larger community consistently longing for connection, justice and well being for all. My call for messages of positive intent had sparked interest and participation from people all ages and corners of the globe. My challenge was to figure out how to adjust my vision for the project and to accommodate the interest in others to participate at multiple points of entry. I began to understand that "Woven Voices" had become a classroom and my role was that of both student as well as educator.  The first of many lessons was the art of letting go and honoring what shows up. Through this lesson, the teacher-me asked the student-me to be present, to listen and to honor the energy that my invitation for messages of peace and hope had elicited. As mentioned in the three founding objectives for this project, "Woven Voices" was not about furthering my career but about bringing positive energy for the greater good of the universe.

            As I bring closure to "Woven Voices" I have teased out nine core lessons that were the foundation of my personal and creative growth from this project, in other words nine lessons of art and healing.

The 9 lessons from

"Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart"

1.     The lesson of letting go: the ability to suspend attachment to something or someone.

2.     The lesson of authentic vision: commitment to an idea or attitude that is true to one's nature.

3.     The lesson of showing up:  to be present in mind, body and spirit even in the face of fear and the unknown.

4.     The lesson of no expectations: the ability to focus on and trust the process rather than the product.

5.     The lesson of holding space:  the ability to create a container for growth that offers no attachment to outcome and invites possibility.

6.     The lesson of the present moment: the ability to be firmly rooted in the here and now.

7.     The lesson of faith: the ability to have trust in a vision, an ideal or a person.

8.     The lesson of  impermanence: to understand that all of life is in a constant state of change.

9.     The lesson of mystery, the unseen: the ability to accept the there are some things in this material world that cannot be seen and cannot be quantified.

                                                                  

            All of these lessons can be applied to making art and all of these lessons can be applied to a path of healing. These nine lessons are fundamentally linked together like a prayer flag woven with fragments of this and that. Over the four years I guided "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart" these lessons spiraled around me.

            Upon examination these lessons hold wisdom that is found at the core of many world religions. The lesson of letting go is at the heart of Buddhism. Tibetan monks create a sand mandala for 5 or 6 days, only to sweep it into a brass urn and pour the sand into the closest body of water; this is the practice of letting go. Over and over again, I would weave prayer flags and then send them off,  often with no response or acknowledgement of their arrival.

            In the winter of 2010, I traveled to South Africa staying in the Cape Town area for a month before I embarked on a trans-Atlantic sailing voyage to the Caribbean island of Barbados. While in Cape Town, I made contact with a peace and justice organization in the Johannesburg/Soweto area and I sent them over 30 Woven Voices prayer flags. I eagerly awaited a reply that they had arrived. I waited for three weeks. I made phone calls, sent emails and I put in a "lost article" claim through the South African Post Office. Nothing. No one had seen them or received them by late January when I had to set sail west across the Atlantic. Upon my return home in late March, I emailed the Soweto contact person and again heard nothing. Slowly I began to notice how attached I had become to these prayer flags going to the place I had sent them. And then ever so slowly I began to shift my attention to just letting the flags go; go to wherever they needed to do their good work, whether that was a landfill in Johannesburg or a postal worker's private quarters. I let go. I let go of needing to know and I let go of trying to control the outcomes. I began to trust the process ~ to embrace the lesson of no expectations.

            Then one morning in mid-June I had a very sweet surprise when I opened my email in-box. There I found a note and photos from an Phaphama, the organization in Johannesburg, South Africa that I had sent the prayer flags to in January. In the photo, two of the prayer flags were being given to a women's group called Kopanang, an embroidery project run by women who are infected by HIV/AIDS. Little did I know that the ripple of love and peace that began months ago with the gathering of messages was weaving magic thousands of miles across the globe.

            The lessons of faith and authentic vision manifested at that moment. I came to understand that my primary job was to hold fast to my authentic vision, the original idea that ignited this project and to invest in the faith that if I did hold steady with my eyes and actions on this authentic vision, then everything would fall into place. I began to trust that my primary effort needed to be on the process, carrying out the core work of the project: the collecting and reading of messages, the weaving of flags and the sending of flags around the world. This work was my authentic vision revealed in physical activity. Once the prayer flags were given away,  I had to let go with the faith that I had done good work grounded in my authentic vision.

            The lesson of showing up was offered to me each time I went to Portsmouth NH to publicly read messages of peace and hope. I recall the very first time I went to the town's Market Square to do a public reading; I felt nauseous, nervous and close to tears. I was convinced it was a foolish idea and that no one would come to join me. Two hours later, over 400 messages had been read and over 100 people of all ages had participated in the event. With the support of a clear and authentic vision, hundreds of people and the faith that this public reading was the right thing to do, I had shown up at noon on July 8, 2008. According to Angeles Arrien's "Four Ways to Wisdom" I had taken up the mantle of the Warrior. She writes: "The task of the warrior is to show up, to be visible and empower others through example and intention." [2]

            Inherently entwined with the lesson of showing up, are the lessons of holding space and no expectations. The initial lesson of "Woven Voices" was that of letting go of my agenda, adopting an mind-set of no expectations and trusting the process that I had initiated.  Each time I arrived at Market Square to read, I challenged myself to show up with an attitude of no expectations and to simply hold the space for what needed manifest. Each time I opened my studio for the community weavers, I held the space with no expectations, simply being present unconditionally to what and who arrived to join me in carrying out the project vision. 

            It was during one of my intensives at Wisdom University that I came first to know the lesson of the present moment. Angeles Arrien would emphasize throughout her 5 day course, that the present moment is the most powerful, potent creative place to be. To paraphrase Arrien: "The present moment course corrects the past.  The future enters us long before we are aware of it; in fact the present moment holds the seeds of the future." [3]Being present is perhaps the most important consistent action I can choose. The power of change and transformation reside in the present moment.

            As I traveled through the different stages of working on "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart" there were be numerous occasions when I would suspend my frequent musings on past actions and agendas for the future. I would anchor myself in the present moment by listening, inhaling, feeling, tasting and observing all that was offered in that brief and fleeting space. This pause, this grounding action would "course correct" my path to keep me on track towards my authentic vision. I discovered that there is all the time in the world in the present moment.

            The lesson of impermanence was a core principle from the outset for "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart". Modeled on the horizontal style of flags Tibetan prayer flags called “Lung Ta” which translates to mean “Wind Horse”, the community woven prayer flags are installed outside.  When the wind blows, the prayer flags flap in the breeze and the sacred messages are carried out on the wind to all beings. The hand-woven prayer flags are meant to deteriorate slowly over time to release the blended messages, creating a universal prayer of compassion, wisdom and renewal. I believe that these prayer flags are impermanence made visible.

            Unquestionably embedded with the lesson of impermanence is the parallel lesson of letting go. Just like the Tibetan monks who make sand mandalas and then release them to the ocean, we (myself and the community weavers) made over 1,300 prayer flags and gave them away. Repeating this lesson multiple times, creating beauty, releasing it, again and again had a  subtle way of shifting my spirit. I did not fully understand the changes that had transpired until a heartrending event occurred in my life.

            August 18, 2011 my dear brother was killed in a tragic construction accident. Weston was my only brother and my ally. He was my traveling companion to South Africa  last winter, sailing back across the Atlantic Ocean to Barbados. In a split second he was gone. The lesson of impermanence confronted me on an unparalleled scale. I believe that I was able to see my way through those first dark days of shock and grief for several reasons, one of them being that I had been practicing the lessons of impermanence. These lessons enlightened me to consider that even though my brother's physical body was no longer present, his energy was/is is still present. I have come to believe that impermanence does not mean that something is here and then it is gone. I believe that impermanence implies transformation or change, and that change is an inevitable part of life in this physical world. I believe that my brother's energy has transformed from a physical plane to plane that is unseen, not visible.

            This lesson of the unseen or mystery embraces all the afore mentioned lessons. I believe the eight lessons of impermanence, letting go, showing up, holding space, authentic vision, faith, the present moment and no expectations are braided together to shape the lesson of mystery. Accepting mystery or embracing the unseen is an ability to accept that there a force or energy that is not quantifiable. This force is ever changing, ever present, a container for possibility with unconditional acceptance for what is. I believe that healing and creativity are anchored in this mystery, this basket of woven of these nine lessons. As John Muir said: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."[4]  Each of these "Woven Voices" lessons is akin to a thread; a thread intricately woven into a whole cloth of learning, growing and healing.

            As a visual artist for over 45 years, I have used my creative efforts to explore these nine lessons. My studio has been a refuge for honoring my authentic vision, a platform for showing up and letting go of expectations,  a sanctuary for holding space for mystery and inviting the unseen, a temple for embracing faith, a laboratory to explore impermanence and an haven to anchor me in the present moment. Guiding "Woven Voices" has allowed me to take these lessons and extend them beyond my studio walls, to offer my experience and the insight I have gained to others.

            But perhaps there is a tenth lesson to be learned here: the lesson of intentional closure. In the spring of 2011, after three plus years of guiding "Woven Voices",  I felt it was time to bring this community art project to an honorable and intentional closure. One of the characteristics of a good artist is to know when to stop working on a piece of art; to know when enough is enough, to know when a piece is done. In May of 2011, I knew that the time had come for "Woven Voices" to draw to a close. So in early June I designed and launched a fund raising effort through Kickstarter, an on-line pledge system for creative projects. I set a goal of raising $4000 in 30 days. These funds would be used to carry the overhead to complete the project, to weave 1000 prayer flags and to install hundreds of them at Ground Zero on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, while distributing the rest worldwide. Through Kickstarter I successfully raised the necessary funds to support an intentional and honorable closure. Contained within this box of evidence are the Kickstarter documents: the project initial posting and project updates.

            Parallels between art and healing are to be found in all these ten lessons. My original intent for "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart" was to design a community art project that would offer a healing opportunity to all people, regardless of geographic location, income, artistic skill or physical ability. As the first months of the project unfolded, I began to see that my desire to heal/change a larger community always seemed to point back to me and the lessons and healing that I need. Over the years of working on "Woven Voices" it became clear to me in a very concrete way, that my healing and global healing are intricately woven together and that one pathway to healing is through art. I believe that I am a microcosm of the universe and if I find that making art heals me, makes me feel more resilient, more compassionate and more whole, then it must be so for others.

            As a weaver, my work is building webs , creating connections. Weaving is a process where individual units are put together in a pattern or structure to create a whole.  As an artist/healer I use my skills to create visual art works and opportunities that nurture, support and inspire connections between people, animals, nature and the invisible mysteries of this world.

            I believe that just as the threads of my woven art pieces are intrinsically linked together, our human lives are linked together in a manner that makes our destiny inseparable. As Chief Seattle said "Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, We do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."[5] As I continue to grow, change and heal, so too, you are growing and healing. If I help you grow, change and heal, I am better for this too. Our lives are woven together.

            "Woven Voices: Messages from the Heart" has officially concluded. But as in any spiral path, there is no real ending, only a pause. The ten lessons from "Woven Voices" will continue to shape my work using art as a vehicle for healing, change and building community. I believe that my art and ability to use my creativity to lead people to grow and heal is a direct  manifestation of my deep compassion for my fellow beings.

            When the work of individuals is fueled by love, guided by intuition and grounded in their authentic voice, their unique potential,  this world will be moved towards peace and justice for all.  In the words of Kahlil Gibran:

"And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart,
even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection,
even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy,
even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching.
........Work is love made visible".[6]

References

Arrien, A. (1993). The four-fold way: Walking the paths of the warrior, teacher, healer, and visionary. [San Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco.

Arrien, A. (2009, July). Lecture presented at Graduate Intensive: The Nine Muses: in Wisdom University, Oakland, CA.

John Muir Quotes (Author of My First Summer in the Sierra). (n.d.). Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5297.John_Muir

Khalil Gibran Quotes - BrainyQuote. (n.d.). Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/khalil_gibran.html

Seattle, Jeffers, S., & Tehon, A. (1991). Brother eagle, sister sky: A message from Chief Seattle. New York: Dial Books.

Talk:Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. (n.d.). Wikiquote. Retrieved from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi

[1] Talk:Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. (n.d.). Wikiquote. Retrieved from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi

[2] Arrien, A. (1993). The four-fold way: Walking the paths of the warrior, teacher, healer, and visionary. [San Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco.

[3] Arrien, A. (2009, July). Lecture presented at Graduate Intensive: The Nine Muses: in Wisdom University, Oakland, CA.

[4] John Muir Quotes (Author of My First Summer in the Sierra). (n.d.). Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5297.John_Muir

[5] Seattle, Jeffers, S., & Tehon, A. (1991). Brother eagle, sister sky: A message from Chief Seattle. New York: Dial Books.

[6] Khalil Gibran Quotes - BrainyQuote. (n.d.). Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. Retrieved from

 

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/khalil_gibran.html

Macomber Looms and Me

1979 teaching weaving classes above the shop in York

Early 1980s at the Sunapee NH Crafts Fair - demonstrating the newest system ~ the Atari!

1980s leaning on the castle of a Macomber with the box covers for the jacks - the dobby system was air driven and could pinch fingers!

Traveling with my CP loom to teach all ages and abilities of weavers.

Since the 1970s I have had a wonderful relationship with the Hart family, Eddie Carbone and Macomber Looms. Beginning in 1979, I ran weaving classes out the upstairs of the shop – guiding and teaching all levels of weaving classes. I traveled with Rick and Eddie to several Convergences and other regional weaving gatherings.

This was taken in my Newmarket NH studio whereyou can see the Designers Delight keyboard attached to my loom.

I consulted with Macomber Looms as they grew into the electronic era– from the very first Designers Delight, to the Atari run program and then later the air assisted CAD/CAM system dobby systems.

I knew that there was no manual for these looms and that I had a vast knowledge of and access to much information about all things Macomber. So in 2009 I started a blog I cheekily called “Macomber Looms and Me”.  This blog was meant to serve as an information center for folks who use Macomber Looms as well as a newsy format for what I was doing in the studio.

 

As the blog posts grew, I added the capacity for folks to buy and download a PDF of the blog – which included all kinds of technical and some not so, information about Macomber Looms (an me).

And then it was time.

In 2016, I ended my sales and consulting relationship with Macomber and decided that the blog posts would much less frequent.

I still sell the PDF of the manual – and the blog gets a random post every now and then.

I continue to receive calls and queries from weavers with questions about their looms.

I love hearing from old friends, colleagues, former students and customers – reminding me the threads that connect us – those on our Macomber Looms!

 

Seriously? Reflections on Legacy

Is my math right?

Almost 55 years ago I discovered the art of weaving.

At this point in my life, it’s interesting to reflect on legacy - what did I do? Did I make an impact on another’s life or creative journey? Did my actions or my art change anything/anyone?

I’ve decided through a series of blog posts I’m going to reflect on and follow the thread of my creative career.

Age 20 Martha’s Vineyard

I was introduced to weaving at 19 (a college freshman) when a local weaver came and did a series of workshops at the college. Up to that point I was dabbling in whatever art form I came across: pottery, sculpture, painting, photography and printmaking. My greatest resource became this visiting weaver (Susan Rumsey) – an innovative and talented woman who had attended Cranbrook Academy of Art. I later became her apprentice and with her encouragement pursued a BFA in textiles at Rhode Island School of Design.  

Weaving answered questions that were elusive to me with painting, sculpture and printmaking. As a medium that is built with three dimensional lines (threads), weaving offered me a method to build texture, pattern and most importantly to manipulate color.

Because weaving is constructed of many threads that intersect and over lay each other, I found that I could create a surface of pixelated colors that mimicked the multidimensional color I saw in nature. The natural world around me has been my inspiration, my teacher and my solace for as long as I can remember.  With the language of threads and the structure of weaving I felt like I was finally able to bring what I felt and saw in nature into my art.

  Like many beginning weavers I made rugs, clothes and domestic cloth. Coming from a practical New England Yankee heritage, I thought if I failed as an artist I could make a blanket or coat to keep myself warm.

I spent my first few years as an apprentice and then as an art student learning the language of patterns, weave structures, drafting, dyeing, spinning, knitting, embroidery – basically anything that involved threads. I explored ancient weavings of Peru, Egypt, Indonesia, China and colonial America.

Student at RISD 1974

All the while I kept testing the waters, experimenting how threads could be used to make art. And ultimately I grew the confidence to call myself a textile artist.

 

Entering the new

2024

 

I am here

You are here.

And we are here together.

 

January is one of my favorite months to be here in my studio.

The holidays are over.

It’s quiet and often I get to be snowed in.

I hope that you, too, find a quiet place to reflect and create.

 

Maine Jewish Museum exhibition “Narrative Thread, Conversations with the heart”

            Opening January 11th 5-7 PM

Artist talk February 11th 2PM

 

 

This tender moment

Monson Community weaving in process.

Last week I was in Monson Maine, guiding a Community Art Project. This was truly a collaborative effort. The quarry shaped loom was built by one of the staff of Monson Arts, the fabric we wove with was all donated by the community and volunteers helped cut and prepare the materials for our weaving.

With the loom and work tables set up in a prime location next to the Monson General Store, we wove and made small people to tell the story of Monson, her people and her quarries. The finished creation will be assembled soon — I can’t wait to see the pictures!!

Monson Community Weaving. The loom is shaped like a quarry!

The Monson Community!

Clothespin Momma holding a baby.

Along side this Community Art project, I continue to guide my apprentice Katherine Ferrier through the Maine Crafts Apprentice Program, make my own art and play in the summer waters.

Monson Love Letter #2 - slate shard woven with hand-spun paper

Indigo stone cozies




Nurturing, Tending and Cultivating

Surround yourself with love.

Here in Maine, April is a tease, a long slow awakening to the warmer, greener months ahead. April is a time for nurturing, for tending the tiny seedlings in the greenhouse, for opening windows and leaning into beginnings.  We get a day here and there in the 70s, but for the most part April is rainy, wet, foggy, damp, chilly, dreary and grey. And then…like a long overdue freight train, the greens and floral brilliance explode and we quickly forget the dim days of April.

Here is what I have been cultivating in my studio and beyond:

·      Two workshops for middle school students at Sedomocha Middle School in Dover Foxcroft Maine – teaching paper weaving/poetry and a workshop using found object for sculptural weavings. Supported by Monson Arts, Monson ME. Be sure to check out my Instagram feed for news about these workshops!

·     Attleboro Arts Museum - 200 of my crocheted stones “Hold Me Tight” are on exhibit in a NE Regional Surface Design show. Until May 6, 2023.

·      I am two months into my apprenticeship with Katherine Ferrier, a textile artist, poet and educator from Rockland Maine. I’m teaching her how to spin, use natural dyes and weave on a floor loom. This program is supported by the Maine Arts Commission and Maine Crafts Association

Katherine’s indigo hands with her hand spun wool

·      A lovely interview with Textiel Plus Magazine – a Dutch arts publication. Look for the translate button!  https://textielplus.nl/artikelen/sarah-haskel/

·      “Hold Me Like A Mother: Pink” has been accepted in the Surface Design Association exhibit titled “Safe Keeping” . The exhibition will be held at 108 Contemporary Art Gallery, Tulsa, OK from June 2-July, 23 2023

·      Bar Harbor, Maine – I have a mini-exhibit- four pieces on display at Island Artisans. If you in the area - please check it out!

Hold Me Like A Mother: Pink

Here’s hoping you are finding ways to nurture and tend those around you….and that you feel cared for as well.

What Can I Tell You?

Monson winter moonscape

It’s been several months since I have written a blog post — and simply put I have been absorbed in the joys and challenges of life. Making art. Taking care of a wee one. 

And most importantly — loving life so completely….embracing the chaos, the  messiness, the heartache and the celebrations, that I ache with emotion.

I make art - to try to put into concrete terms this immeasurable joy of living in this physical world. 

The elegant simplicity of hand- spun linen, dipped in indigo.

Monson slate shards woven with hand-spun paper. My tribute to the industries of this region - past and present.

Currently I am up in Monson, Maine on the tail end of a month long residency. Being in this community of hardy rural folks with my cohort creatives has nurtured a steady stream of work, exploring new techniques and revisiting familiar turf.

Winter has traditionally been a vibrant and productive time in my studio - and this winter retreat has nurtured my curiosity and opened my eyes and heart.
The FiberArt Now exhibit “Yarn Rope String” is still up at the New Bedford Art Museum check it out before it closes on March 12th. And in other news — I have been selected as a Mentor in the Maine Crafts Associations Craft Apprentice Program. For the next 9 months I will be working with quilter/poet Katherine Ferrier of Rockland Maine. We will explore making and dyeing threads, weaving from start to finish and building a cohesive body of work. Read more about this fabulous program!

Check out this on line exhibit at Speedwell Projects! So happy and honored to be included.

As always - the latest images and news can be found on my Instagram page.

Stay beautiful, my friends - Sarah 

"PRAISE FOR LIFE"

Praise For Life #9 “Praise for the power of forgiveness and letting go”

In 2005 I created a series of 10 small (16” by 16”) framed works that celebrated and illustrated the poem “Praise for Life” a Kaddish prayer adapted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow.

PRAISE FOR LIFE

Praise for Life.

Praise for all the senses of the body

reaching out and plucking the universe like an autumn apple.

Praise for the dream of justice here upon the earth,

equity and well being for the whole of humanity.

May our children’s children harvest the dreams

            we plant in our brief lives.

Praise for Life.

Praise though all of our philosophies and explanations

 trickle through the fingers of our experience like water.

Praise for Life.

Praise for it though it is brief before the lives of stars,

            and the lives of worlds,

                        and the lives of even the trees that shade us.

Praise for Life.

Praise for the sacred power of remembrance.

Praise for the sacred power of forgiveness and letting go.

Praise for Life, the beginning, the middle and the amen of this prayer.

 These pieces have been exhibited in many galleries, and other exhibits and now it is time to let them fly off on their own. So rather than selling them as a collection, I am selling them as individual pieces. One has already sold and others are being contemplated. Please contact me if you are interested. Each one comes with a copy of the full poem as well as the story of the individual piece.

These pieces are for sale in the gallery now - so please explore this powerful collection of works that illustrate a poem that sings a song of love and celebration of life. Please let me know which one speaks to you.

 

Casting Off

Casting off

These words have a few different meanings.

Stone cozies in a huddle. Maine beach stones with crocheted linen dyed with madder.

 One of them is textile related – as in “to finish a knitted fabric by casting off all the stitches.”

Another definition is a mariner’s term for unfastening or untying a boat line.

And lastly a dancing term: “to turn one’s partner in a square in a square dance and pass around the outside of the set and back.”

 This week I cast off from the mainland, heading to Monhegan for three weeks.

I will be binding off one season’s end and casting on new threads for the fall.

I will loosen my ties to one chapter and turn round to face a new one.

Solo exhibition - Maine State Capitol, Augusta Maine.

 Closing out this season I highlight the following:

·      Solo exhibition at the Maine State Capitol, Augusta, Maine. I have 13 pieces up in a one person show that runs until December 31, 2022.

Biddeford Blooms - the mill building.

·      “Biddeford Blooms” a yearlong community art project was completed and unveiled at the Fringe Fest on August 19th. This quartet of tapestries that illustrate the life and history of Biddeford, will be on display throughout the community for a few months – and eventually will be permanently installed in either the city library or the mill buildings.

 

Sunset from Indiantown Island

·      The language of color - I look back at my year long journey into learning new dye techniques and marvel at the depth of my new palette. I am keenly aware that my work hasn’t taken full advantage this new vocabulary. I have been dabbling here and there –making stone cozies that honor the small and unpretentious. I’m not sure what lies ahead, except that there will be a horizon line awaiting. Because, you know, every sailor who casts off, has to set sights on something.

Summer in Maine

This ever so brief slice of warm days perfect for cool salt water swims, blueberries and lobster on the menu, low tide explorations, osprey calls across the bay and even the foggy mornings that keep us in the harbor.

Need I say more?

As is our tradition here in Maine — we soak up every minute of every day, with deep gratitude for our good fortune to live in such a magnificent place.

I took a collection of recently completed stone cozies on the boat with me this weekend. We had fun rearranging them on rocks, logs, crushed shells and sea grass.

And when I got home I was delighted to see that the Madder red series of stone cozies has been featured in the summer 22 issue of FiberArt Now. Thank you juror Michael Rohde!

Stone Cozies get highlighted in the summer 22 issue of FiberArt Now!

Seedlings and sprouts

    If you are a gardener you will know what I am talking about. It’s that moment when the efforts of your labor and your vision show real evidence. Those tiny leaves that seem so tender and fragile push up through the damp spring earth, beginning the way for a cornucopia of vegetables, flowers and dye plants.

     Today feels like that kind of day for me – when the fruits of many months of labor are evident. Today I take months of art work to the photographer to be documented. And this week I announce my new community art project.

    After months of contemplation I am ready to launch my fifth community art initiative - WHITE FLAG  - motivated to by a desire to foster openness and transformation through conversation, creativity and reflection.  As with all my previous community art projects, WHITE FLAG uses a textile as a vehicle for healthy communication and creativity to encourage understanding between individuals and communities.

    The centerpiece for this project, a WHITE FLAG, has been recognized for centuries as a symbol not only for surrender or truce, but a willingness to have a dialogue and negotiate. If we are going to survive as a species, as a planet - we need to find ways to come together peacefully, to listen and to be vulnerable.  This community art project builds on that concept – asking participants to sit at a table, talk, listen and use embroidery threads, sewing trims, buttons and writing/drawing tools to embellish the WHITE FLAG with words, images and patterns reflecting their dialogue. This project will have 10 handwoven linen WHITE FLAGS and 10 – 20 hosts (an individual, family, school, household, institution, restaurant/café or collective) who will support the project at each site, using prompts and guidelines.

    Parallel to the creative embellishment of the handwoven flags, I will ask people to write about “making peace” on kozo paper. I will spin this paper will be spun into thread and later weave it into one large WHITE FLAG.

    WHITE FLAG is centered on encouraging conversations for understanding and connection through interactive and engaging activities, appropriate for all ages and abilities. Throughout the project, the hosts and participants will witness how the WHITE FLAG changes with each get-together, becoming more and more layered with threads, stories, ribbons, images and text. The project will culminate with a public exhibition of the 10 embellished WHITE FLAGS, the large WHITE FLAG woven with “making peace” paper threads, along with photographs and videos of the white cloth community events. Through curiosity, action, listening, observation, responding and reflection this project aspires to transcend conflict and transform communities.

   Keep your eyes open for WHITE FLAG events near you! I will be soliciting folks to be event hosts and participants later this summer. Please contact me if you are curious to know more and/or want to participate.

 SOON in my gallery I will have several new pieces - so excited that I finally got the last several months of art work photographed!! Stay tuned to my gallery for seven new pieces!

OTHER NEWS ~

LightsOut Gallery featured a short YouTube video interview of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOWameeGv-I&t=7s

“Well Used, Well Loved” is on exhibit in “the PERFECT AGE: reflections on the passage of time”  HERA Gallery Wakefield RI. May 14 – June 18. There will be an artist Zoom talk on May 26th at 7 PM Zoom link on the gallery website.

“Hold Me Like A Mother” has been accepted to “Yarn Rope String” FiberArtNow Juried on line exhibition. July 2022

 

“Live Your Truth” and “Indigo Nights” have both been accepted to the Handweavers Guild of America’s Convergence Symphony of the Mountains exhibit in Knoxville TN. July 2022

 My piece titled “Sinking House #1” is included in “Unraveling Women’s Art” by P.L. Henderson SuperNova Books, England, 2021

 

 

 

Blush

I am deeply honored for the opportunity to share my work in the latest edition of Creative Maine Magazine.

I hope you enjoy reading the story behind each piece.

Much gratitude to the editor and publisher Nancy Gordon.

When We Remember (detail)

Watery World

I am 70% water. 

Swimming at age 5.

(And so are you.)

The Earth is 71% water.

I’ve been thinking about the qualities of water a lot lately.

Water is flexible – easily fits and flows around other more concrete objects. 

Water is open to change --  rapid change. 

Water reacts and responds to the environment around it – the wind, shoreline, air temperature. 

Water can gently changes the shape of things over time.

Water can wear down things that are difficult, heavy and resistant, such as stones at the beach. 

Water flows easily, goes where there is least resistance.

And yet there is so much hidden under the surface of water.

I can immerse myself in water. 

Submerge. 

Rounded Maine Beach stones.

Float, sink.

Swim through.

Dive and dip.

 

Detail: “One Bright Island”

Water has been a muse for my work for a long time. 

And so on this breezy March day – I tip my hat to water. 

 Without water, I could not make my art, dye my threads, or paint.

Without out water, I would not exist.

Thank you water.

Detail “Dissolving Boundaries”

Material Meaning

The materials we select to make our art are embedded with many layers of meaning, metaphors, messages, political implications, historical connections and more. I’ve been exploring this topic with my textile colleagues and giving it much thought as I work alone this winter in my studio.

The material I use to build my art is thread. Threads in general are a metaphor for connection - the threads that bind us, our common threads. Thread also is a line - a continuous line of thought (the thread of a message), a line of reasoning, a continuous element. 

A thread is a group of filaments twisted together to make a long continuous strand. And within the realm of threads there are many fibers from which to construct this long line, this connective strand, this flexible linear element. 

My preference is to use fibers that have organic origins such as paper, linen, cotton, silk and rayon (made from cellulose fibers). Threads made from these organic materials are effected by humidity, light, wind and abrasion. I find the susceptibility to change of these organic fiber materials parallels the changes I observe in my own changing/aging body. Exploring these parallels of impermanence, I treat my hand woven linens to rust dyeing, weathering, bleach and compost dyeing. These transformative and dye processes allow me to be a witness in the process of metamorphosis and to challenge my attachment to what I once deemed as precious. 

These materials are not only metaphor for change but a vehicle for personal growth and reflection. This avenue of thought about materials and meaning is only one of many. What does the material you use mean to your message, to your process, to your growth as an artist?

My interview with the Handweavers Guild of America can be found on FaceBook (no account needed). Enjoy!

Stone Cozy: Beach stone with crocheted madder dyed linen

Native Tongue

I just completed a four month course on Natural Dyes from Maiwa School of Textiles.

I sing high praise for this amazing on-line class - with concise easy to follow directions and videos, easily accessible support, well written PDFs and community with other students.

I am grateful the Maine Arts Commission who supported my pursuit to learn a new palette with a Project Grant for Artists. As an experienced artist, it is daunting to take the risk to forge a whole new direction - and this foray into natural dyes is just that. Although as a young weaver/artist in the 1970s I did natural dyeing, it was a half hearted attempt with out the technical support and knowledge that is available now.

In a recent interview with Warp And Weft Magazine I explain my love for color, nature and woven threads.

https://www.warpandweftmag.com/field-notes/sarah-haskell

“Weaving answered questions that were elusive with painting, sculpture and printmaking. As a medium that is built with three dimensional lines (threads), weaving offered me a method to build texture, pattern and most importantly to manipulate color. Because weaving is constructed of many threads that intersect and over lay each other, I found that I could create a surface of pixelated colors that mimicked the multidimensional color I saw in nature. The natural world around me has been my inspiration, my teacher and my solace for as long as I can remember.  With the language of threads and the structure of weaving I felt like I was finally able to bring what I felt and saw in nature into my art.”

The entire palette of over 80 dye samples.

My dye journal with notes and samples.

This palette feels like a home coming to the colors of nature that inspired my first forays into weaving - a return to my native tongue.

So now it’s time to begin a narrative with this palette… time to make art.

Seeds

Last fall I received a Fellowship from the Maine Arts Commission . Over the past winter I used these funds to build a dye so that I could expand my dye skills and create new methods of using color in my work. Color inspired by the natural world is central to my work — and now I have the equipment and space to dye my handwoven cloth or threads with botanical dyes. And this summer I received a Professional Development grant from the Maine Arts Commission to learn more about natural dyes.

So here I am …. deep into the learning curve. Starting with planting dye plants this spring, to harvesting the flowers and dyeing - I’ve been experimenting and playing in the dye lab like a mad scientist. I’ve taken two on-line workshops learning a variety of techniques for indigo vats, shifting colors with iron and methods for mordanting to assure long lasting colors. And this month I’ll take another on-line workshop to learn about making paint from dried indigo leaves.

Drying the harvested marigolds.

Drying the harvested marigolds.

All this activity is building a foundation for new work. Like the seeds I planted last spring for dye plants, the seeds I’ve planted in the dye lab are just starting to blossom into projects and ideas.

My very first effort in the dye lab has been a baby blanket for my first grandchild due in mid-October. The warp was dyed in an exhaust bath of marigold and weld then quickly immersed in the big indigo vat. The color came out a gorgeous light sea green. The weft was dyed in the same exhaust bath (only more exhausted!). I used an 8H undulating twill for the structure.

Cotton baby blanket in 8 H twill.

Cotton baby blanket in 8 H twill.

And next up — some art! I’m so eager to see what I can make of this new palette and new methods for using color to tell the stories that tug at my heart.