A few more new events! and something to feast your eyes upon

 

 

I’m still adding more events where you can come join in the creation of  Mater Matrix Mother and Medium.  Here are some new ones just added………

 

You can see all the events here.

-18th of May, Mon, 11 am – 2 pm, 4Culture Conference Room, 101 Prefontaine Place S. contact: tina.hoggatt@4culture.org

-24th of May, Sun, 12:30 pm – 4:45 pm, Beacon Hill Library meeting room, 2821 Beacon Ave. S.  206-684-4711, directions

-30th of May, Sat, 11am – 4:45pm, “Delridge Day”, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way S.W., 206-935-2917

-10th of May, Sun, 10 am – 4 pm, “Festival of Trees” with Camp Long, Sandpoint Magnuson Park, 7400 Sandpoint Way NE, Seattle

-7th of June, Sun, 10 am – 2 pm, West Seattle Farmers Market with Camp Long, the “Junction” at California Ave SW and SW Alaska

-13th of June, Sat, 11 am – 5 pm, Morgan Junction Community Festival with Camp Long, 6401 California Ave. S.W.

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Installation Site….Camp Long in West Seattle!

Polly Wog pond (look for salamander egg sacks)

 

Mater Matrix Mother and Medium  finally has a home (a temporary one) for the installation of this fiber water everyone has been helping me make. Camp Long, a City park with a kind of Secret Garden- meets- 194o’s Boy Scout camp feel, is a pretty wonderful place!   I feel some excited anticipation to site this work in this delightfully quirky place.  I have heard it referred to several times as the “best kept secret”, and come across a lot of Seattleites (even West) who haven’t been to it.  You can camp in a little cabin in the middle of the city (you can even see the City skyline from an amazing lower trail).  At some point this summer it will be my outdoor studio for about a month, and I’m thrilled.  Camp Long has a unique and round-about timely history, which I need to investigate more and post about, but a quick chat with Sheila Brown, the Camp director, revealed that the Camp was built out of a time of economic crisis by the WPA, with much of the Lodge being constructed of salvaged materials, green building before there was Green Building.  More on that, later…

Take a quick trip to Camp Long with your sleeping bag…you can still make it to the office in the morning!

Thank you SAM for a great “Climate Day for Kids” at the Sculpture Park!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of participating in SAM’s “Climate Day for Kids” in celebration on Earth Day.  Jackie White, Environmental Steward at SAM, and her crew put together an incredible event for kids and families at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

an invigorating studio for a day

 I brought my own family, and now seem to hear daily from my son how to “reduce my carbon footprint”, the catch phrase of the day.  

recycled art sponsored by SAM's Teen Advisory Group

Worm bins, scavenger hunts, Tesla coils, recycled art projects, eco-gaming, walking school buses, and free organic trail mix all made for a big crowd and many, many engaged crocheters. Several of the people I worked with were just in the park that day, and were just drawn to all the crazy fun ( the hair-raising Tesla coil!) It also continues to be my great pleasure to teach really young children to crochet, as well as work with families making together!  

learning how to add on to other's patches

 

brought her own glittery crochet hook

There were moments were I was teaching the basics over and over breathlessly, which feels good and grounded for this project where I am trying to connect with and connect together as many people as I can.  The little repeating loop stitches are visual reminders of a few minutes of conversation or a few minutes of quiet with oneself.

Thanks, my friend, for your patience and appreciation

 I’ll also be heading back to SAM for their “Celebrate Wildflowers” Day on June 6th.  I  continue to fall more in love with the park every time I go, and plan to go back with my picnic blanket for more crocheting on my own, and with whoever would like to stop for a few minutes.  

See more images here.

 

for a few moments

my first volunteer

 

mom and daughter hung out for the whole day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

circle of hands working

 

TAG volunteer helps out for a bit

All you new crocheters, remember…..

 

Beautiful hands working at SAM Olympic Sculpture Park

……..insert, wrap, pull through one, wrap again, pull through two, insert, wrap, pull through one, wrap again, pull through two…

Many many thanks to all who have joined in!

Meet me at Discovery Park this Sunday 4/26 from 10:30am – 2pm

Come meet me for coffee, doughnuts and crocheting at Discovery Park this Sunday from 10:30 am – 2pm.  Bring a picnic blanket, if you like (I can only pack one!)  My family and I will be hanging out, I’ll be working while they run around!  I’ll be in the meadow at the pink dot (in the map snip).  It is actually a very quick walk from the south parking lot.

I will be at the pink dot

 

 

You can see the full map, and get directions at the Discovery park link above.

It’s an incredible place to spend the morning!  If it’s raining I won’t be there, of course.  But if it’s blustery, chances are we’ll still go.  I’m Scottish, apparently, and really get into the bluster.

THIS is our urban scene

Crocheting at Libraries! (Douglass-Truth, Columbia City…)

 

The River taking on a little bit of shape

 

This patch made from small bits from a workshop at Cornish

Many of my crocheting events are hosted at Seattle libraries around the city, utilizing a fantastic public resource, the community meeting room.  They are free to use, as long as the meeting is free, open to the public, not selling anything (and a few other common sense rules).  And because of “Libraries for All”, most of the meeting rooms, and libraries are gorgeous wonderful places to work.  Anyhow, I love Seattle libraries. Here are some images from some recent meet-ups with people around the city.  I’ll also, today, be at the West Seattle Library from 4-7:30, and on Sat, at the Delridge Library from 12-4:30.  Hope to see you!

 

Robert Shavin is an artist who helped me on a earlier project, and Cindy came again after the Greenwood street party

Georgene's hands: George was trying to find a way out of the library and happened in. She ran some errands and came back for several hours. Thanks George!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor, a junior at Garfield H.S. stops by the Columbia Branch and learns REALLY fast (she also knits)

Some new events added, and Wallingford Earth Day Happening “Free” celebration

 

 

 

join in!

I’m always adding new events to the list, so please keep checking back to see where you can join it.  Or better yet, give me suggestions!  Want me to come to your neighborhood?  I will do it, at the library, or park, coffee shop or local community event.

 

 

For instance, I just 10 seconds ago found out about Sustainable Wallingford holding an Earth Day Happening this Wednesday, 3-6  in the parking lot of QFC, all about neighbors giving away free gifts to neighbors.  I’m going and bringing my handy portable studio!  Free treats, free massages, free advice and some free art.  Free!!  Come join the freeness, come share something!  Everything cost SO darn much and none of us have any money, so I just adore this idea.  Like Stone Soup.

Otherwise, here are the other new events, and you can always see the whole list of events over on the right under “Crocheting  Events”

-30th of April, Thur, 4 – 7:30pm, Broadview Library meeting room, 12755 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-684-7519

-3rd of May, Sun, 10 am – 3 pm, “Sustainable West Seattle Festival- Building Resilience”, Wells Fargo SW Alaska St. & 44th Avenue SW

 -9th of May, Sat, 11 am – 3:30pm, Greenwood Library meeting room, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N.,  206-684-4086

 -15th of May, Fri, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Ballard “Seattle Summer Streets” Party,  22nd Avenue connecting to Bergen Place Park 

-16th of May, Sat, 12 – 4pm, Broadview Library meeting room, 12755 Greenwood Ave.

 -31st of May, Sun.,  11 am – 4 pm , Alki “Seattle Summer Streets” Party,  Alki Avenue SW from California Way SW to 63rd Avenue SW (Not sure of my location yet)

 

Last Friday, Greenwood/Phinney “Seattle Summer Streets” !

 

Last Friday, at the Greenwood/Phinney “Seattle Summer Streets” giant block party, I rolled out my traveling studio-on-a-cart down the middle of the street, sat down and got to work!  

 

settling in on the yellow lines

 

At first the empty street felt pretty eerie, but once things started going I had more people than I could handle wanting to crochet or find out about what was going on.  It was  a real blast, with kids wizzing by on bikes and stopping to talk, giant bubbles and squealing toddlers.

 

proud of the ring she's done

Special thanks to Wyly Astley for all her help!

 

 I felt like I handed out a hundred or so cards, so I hope to see those faces further on this spring.  It was a great kick-off to this project, and the conversation veered mostly to people talking about who they learned to crochet from, who crocheting reminded them of — mostly grandmothers, aunts, 70’s crocheted vests one was forced to wear as a child, and the way our hands seem to remember things we thought we had forgotten.  A lot of kids stayed to keep crocheting even after it got dark and cold.  Thanks for hosting me Greenwood/Phinney people, I had a blast!

See the whole set of images on my flickr

 

The family that crochets together

 

 

still going

 

 

a very special contribution!

 

At dusk, things got kind of messy and exciting

 

Very focused

Connect with MMMM on Twitter and Facebook

I’ve hooked this blog and project up with Twitter and Facebook, to get the word out and help people keep up with where I’ll be.  If these are tools you use, please check me out and spread the word to friends on both.  I also find it kind of interesting the parallels between social networking digitally, and the network of handwork that happens in the body of this project.  Tiny moments of strangers, neighbors and friends all interlaced together.  Anyhow, hope you’ll join in in the flesh!

This Saturday, April 18th, “Climate Day for Kids” at SAM

learning to crochet at Phinney/Greenwood street party

I’m really thrilled to be bringing this project to “Climate Day for Kids” at  SAM’s Olympic Sculpture Park, this Sat.April 18th from 12-3.  It’s an event for kids, of course, and it seems like I have been teaching kids to crochet a lot lately with this project.  They really force me to be up on my game with teaching; if I’m confusing they let me know it right away.  So, in a very short time I have refined how I teach several of the steps to chain, single and double crochet, and I’m seeing people (big and small) learn to crochet a lot faster. And watching small hands work always reminds me that most of the ways I make my artwork today were not learned in art school, but from other children on the playground. (I have a vivid memory of the magic of leaning to do handweaving during recess)   Anyhow, I’m excited to share my work next to worm bins, eco-gamers, Tesla coils, and puppets shows in the gorgeous PACCAR pavilion.  Please come join me, kids or not.  If you know how to crochet, teach a child!

Zoe Scofield, Jennifer Zwick and the amazing postcard collaboration

I’ll continue to add more of the stunning images that artist/designer Jennifer Zwick shot for my postcard and blog and general publicity.  And of course, our subject Zoe Scofield, is a natural at conjuring up an elemental mystery.  Please check out the sites of these two endlessly talented Seattle-based artists.  

 

 

Zoe Scofield

Join me at the Greenwood-Phinney “Seattle Summer Streets” on 4/10

This friday from 6-9pm a huge section of Greenwood/Phinney Ave. will be closed for a giant community block party, from N. 65th Ave through N. 87th Ave! And I will be there with my River asking anyone who would like to to sit down and work with me. I’ll have an abundant supply of crochet hooks and tons of materials. I’ll be approximately at 72 Ave. and 74th Ave. Please come by and talk with me, work with me.

Come work with me!

 

As always, all skill levels welcome, and I welcome the challenge of teaching even the most hardened anti-crocheter! These “Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets” block parties are pretty terrific, there was one in my neighborhood last summer, in Columbia City, down Rainier Ave. It’s pretty liberating to run and jump down the middle of a major city street, stopping to blow bubbles or draw with some chalk. Kids seem to be the best at taking advantage of the absence of cars.

kids having a blast on Rainier Ave.

I remember the door-tag before the event said something like “see what the City would be like without cars”, and it really was that cool, joyful even! There are many “Seattle Summer Streets” events this year, so go have fun. I’m hoping to also be at the Alki and Ballard events, as well. This really is my first official crocheting event for this project, and I wanted to take my work to the streets, so I am particularly excited about actually sitting in the street. Come visit me!