Looking for crocheters from around the country (and globe) to join in the MMMM project this summer!

I’m eager to announce Mater Matrix Mother and Medium’s most ambitious iteration to date, and get as many people possible around the country (and the globe) involved!  This summer MMMM will flow down the streets of Bellevue, Washington, and create a striking gateway to The Bellevue Arts Museum’s 67^th anniversary of the BAM ARTSfair this July 26th, 27th and 28^th, 2013.

Crocheting at Cathedral St. John the Divine NYC

The on-going MMMM community-created fiber river project will move through the trees and civic structures around the museum, and I’ll be leading a series of community crochet workshops at the museum before and during the fair.

But I want to get anyone involved who would like to participate, not just those people able to attend in the community.  Every time I have created a new version of MMMM in a different community, I have been contacted by folks through my blog wishing they could participate and wanting to send blue crocheted pieces to be added in to the river.  I love the idea but never really had the time during the project to facilitate this.

This time I want to make that happen!  If you are part of a knitting/crocheting or crafting group or just as an individual, and would like to join in the MMMM project and don’t live in Bellevue, Washington area (or even if you do but want to work remotely!), contact me at matermmm@gmail.com!

Crocheting at Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland

Here are the directions and  information and strategies you need to facilitate your own Community Crochet Event to contribute to the MMMM project.  It includes information  about how to facilitate story-telling through handwork about our shared, rich and meaningful experiences and deeply-held beliefs about water and community.  I’ll ask that someone in your group (however large or small) be a documenter and journaler for these conversations, and that we share your words and photographs on the Mater Matrix Mother and Medium blog and social media.  You can feel free to interpret this documentation however much or little your group is comfortable with.

And your group’s crocheted pieces will be integrated into this project that included work from people around Seattle and the Northwest, NYC, Atlanta, Portland and Boston!

So if you want to join in, contact me today at matermmm@gmail.com.  We have until July 1^st for this community participation leg of this largest and most ambitious adaptation of this project!

Crocheting in Seattle’s urban forest

Crocheting at Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia

Crocheting in Seattle’s Summer Streets

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This weekend: Community Crochet at Northwest Folklife Festival

COMMUNITY CROCHET WORKSHOPS: May 25 – 28, 2012, 1-4pm everyday, Northwest Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center, Next Fifty Plaza Activity Tent ( HUGE white tent just west of the EMP)

Catch me this last weekend to participate in my on-going project Mater Matrix Mother and Medium as it returns to Seattle Center for more Community Crochet Workshops and the final weekend to see the re-envisioned installation!

‘Saltus Chori Aevum’ performance for the MMMM Project, by Rodrigo Valenzuela

Participate! Fri. 5/25 – Mon. 5/28, 1-4pm

Help create the artwork at Seattle Center at several crochet workshops during Folklife in the Next 50 Plaza Activity tent, just west of the EMP. I will teach beginners how to crochet chains and add onto the ever-evolving artwork. Expert crocheters welcome, too! All materials provided, but contributions of recycled fibers and yarns welcome, in any shade of blue!

Re-envisioned Installation, Community Workshops and New Multi-media Performance: MMMM returns to Seattle

Me crocheting at Dupen Fountain, Seattle Center

Mater Matrix Mother and Medium is back in Seattle!  I’m at the Seattle Center for the next week with artist Paul Margolis, as we re-sculpt and shape the crocheted pieces from the past three years of this project around the embankments of the Dupen Fountain at the Alki Courtyard (just outside Vera Project), opening on April 21^st until May 31st.

In process at Dupen Fountain, Seattle Center

Paul installing at Agnes Scott College, Atlanta

As I shake out the dust of 6 months at the Cathedral St. John the Divine, I come across pieces in the large panels made by people I remember in Portland, NYC, Atlanta, Kent, Issaquah and all over Seattle.  New pieces made on the lawn of the Cathedral while I was in NYC are added next to older faded pieces made by kids in White Center.  I’m reinforcing weak spots with new cloth, and seeing a friend’s blue Brooks Brother shirt, donated and cut up, and crocheted by many different people into circular pools.

Crocheting at Cathedral St. John the Divine, NYC

Delridge Library, Seattle

It feels appropriate to circle around the Fountain site, as this project seems to come back to a full circle to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the 1962 Worlds Fair with the Next Fifty program of 6 months of art installation, lectures, films, and hands-on activities.  Yet in this closing cycle, the community workshops continue this April and May, again pulling in more people to add their voice to moments of community created around busy hands; teaching and learning at the same time, active listening while strangers find connections with each other.

The Dupen Fountain site has also inspired a newly commissioned performance I’m developing in collaboration with some of my favorite Seattle-based multi-media artists; dancer/choreographer Jessica Jobaris, harp poet Monica Schley, vocalist/performance artist Saskia Delores and filmmaker Rodrigo Valenzuela.

Zoe Scofield, 2009 MMMM performance

The inaugural installation in 2009 featured a stunning performance in the woods with visionary dancer/choreographer Zoe Scofield and composer/experimental musician Morgan Henderson.  This new performance begins at the same jumping-off concepts — of the role water plays in the formation of community and how this is both ancient and contemporary – but is radically spinning off in new patterns of direction.  Inspired by the transformational ability of water to slip between three states, by the three stages of life of growth, length and finite end, and the spectrum of effects water has on the human drama from tranquility all the way to devastation, this new multi-media performance will interweave rites of passage into an investigation of the sometimes-contradictory predicament of what it means to be both an individual and a member of a group.

I’m already mesmerized by our early multi-layered soundscapes and movement scores, and am so spurred on by the talented people for whom I’m making a series of wearable sculptures and gowns inspired by Roman-era Alexandria mixed with a bit of glitz.   The performances happen just before twilight on May 5^th and 6^th, 2012, so mark that on the calendar already and follow @matermatrix on Twitter or on Facebook to get more details as they come.  What you experience will be luminous; I am almost sure of it!

In the meantime, join me at the Seattle Center for the opening of the MMMM installation during The Next Fifty Opening Day Celebration on April 21^st, 2012.  I’ll be hosting a Community Crochet event from 1-4 pm in The Armory/Center House at the Westside courtyard in the newly remodeled food court area.   There is just a huge list of activities for kids and adults, workshops, performances and exhibits happening all day from 10am -6pm.  Check out the list HERE.  Drop in and see me for a break from the activity and relax for a bit while adding some crochet stitches to panels that will be added into my installation.  This is totally for beginners with all materials provided, as well as a great place to share what you know if you are an expert crochet.  Help create community one moment at a time.

I’ll also be back at the Seattle Center the next day April 22^nd, 2012 for more crocheting for the Earth Day Celebration.  Community Crochet will be from 12-4 pm at the activity tent at Next 50 Plaza (just west of the EMP).  I’ll be there until 2pm, then head into The Armory/Center House to be on a panel discussion about Sustainability in the Arts in Conference Room H until 3:30 pm.  Again, there are a whole host of other presentation and hands-on activities for kids and adults  in The Next 50 Plaza tent happening all day from 11-5, see the list HERE.

And more Community Crochet workshops are set to happen during Northwest Folklife Festival, May 25 – 28 : 1-4pm at the Next Fifty  Activity Tent at Next Fifty Plaza,  just west of the EMP.  All materials provided, but donations of old blue yarns or fabrics are always welcome!

Commissioned by the Office Of Arts and Cultural Affairs and Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art, as a way to encourage stewardship, and to celebrate and interpret the splendor of Seattle’s urban watersheds, MMMM has brought people together in communities around the country, crocheting recycled materials, adding their voices to the conversation about personal and civic responsibility to heal our relationship to water.

Mater Matrix Mother and Medium community workshops, performances and installation probes how civic communities have always formed around water, and how we as individuals through creative acts, can tap back into the reverence for water our ancestors felt.

Terraces at the Key Arena, Seattle Center

 

‘MMMM’ installation in NYC needs your help!

If you are at all interested in my process-based installation ‘Mater Matrix Mother and Medium’, I hope you’ll consider supporting it as it travels to NYC, even if just through a very small donation, on Kickstarter.  I sincerely appreciate the support!

ALSO:  I’ll be at The Cathedral St. John the Divine this Sunday September 18th, 2011, crocheting on the grounds just behind the Peace Fountain.  If you just happen to be in NYC, I would love it if you could join me to crochet little pools for the next incarnation of MMMM.  I’ll be there from 12-3pm, and will have all materials and hooks, and can teach anyone to crochet.  If you have extra scrap blue yarn, I would gladly accept that too!  Or just drop by and say hello, and take a peak at the installation in the Cathedral.  Here’s the Facebook invite!

Thank you!

Two Community Crochet events in Issaquah, Wa.!

Issaquah, Washington is hosting MMMM this summer, with the river going up again beginning August 16th at the Pickering Barn.  Until then, I’ll be working with the community during two Community Crochet events.  The first one is coming up.

Date/Time: Thursday, July 29, 2010     12:30 – 4:30 pm

Location: Issaquah Senior Center
75 NE Creek Way (it shares a parking lot with city hall)

Here’s the Facebook invite….

The next Community Crochet will happen at the Issaquah Farmers Market on August 22nd 21st, from 10 am – 2 pm, right next to the beginnings of the river installation.  The Farmers market is held in the parking lot of the historic Pickering Barn.

As usual, beginners welcome and all supplies are supplied!

Come join MMMM in Issaquah, Washington

Mater Matrix Mother and Medium is once again on  the move this summer, as part of 4Culture’s SITE SPECIFIC network, this time to Issaquah Washington.  The Issaquah Arts Commission has invited myself and artist Paul Margolis to be artists in-residence at the beautiful park at the historic 19^th-century Pickering Barn, as we reinvision MMMM from August 17^th – 26^th, right adjacent to one of the widest and most pristine sections of Issaquah Creek.

In support of this ever-changing artwork, the Arts Commission will host me at three community crochet events throughout this summer at various locations around Issaquah.  Please come to the first Community Crochet event on July 2^nd during ArtWalk Issaquah, from 5-9pm, at the old Lewis Hardware in Historic Downtown Issaquah, the future site of the artEAST Art Center.

This free crochet workshop is for anyone and everyone to join in the continued creation of this large 225-foot community project. All skill levels welcome, especially beginners, I’ve even taught four year olds to crochet! All materials provided. Drop in or stay for a while.

Each time this giant fiber river is installed, the installation is reinvigorated — new pieces are added, old ones transformed, with the river taking on the shape of the landscape it is contained within, just as water does.  Please join in!

Sponsored by the Issaquah Arts Commission and 4 Culture SITE SPECIFIC.  Special thanks to artEAST.

WORKSHOP

DATE: July 2^nd, 2010

TIME: 5-9pm

LOCATION: Lewis Hardware (artEAST’s future Art Center)

95 Front Street North

Issaquah, Washington 98027

If you’d like to keep abreast of the movements of MMMM, join the Facebook page!

MMMM on the move….first to Kent, Wa., then…..

boxed up, under 200 lbs.

I’ve really always wanted this for this project, and it’s beginning to happen.  MMMM is hooked up with 4Culture’s SITE SPECIFIC program, and is starting to travel.  Since the issues and questions behind this work aren’t really just bound to Seattle, it only makes sense for me to try to bind as many people together as possible, from art curators, administrators and artists  to a seniors knitting club from Georgia, to preschoolers to art bloggers .

at Agnes Scott College, Atlanta

Issues such as  what makes community happen, what has happened to the “sacredness” of water that ALL of our human ancestors felt, what happens when you sit and talk with people you don’t know, what happens when you try to do something you’ve never done before and what happens when you just go with the process rather than product….I’d like to see what happens when I put these questions to as many different people as choose to jump into this.

I also want to see what happens when the piece ages.  One of my main conceptual influences was, afterall, the Clootie Well, where the very magic was in the rotting of the cloth, the knot unbinding.   What will it look like when some parts of the river are a few years old while others are new?  The piece came back from Atlanta with a slight but beautiful sun-bleached feel (please someone help me find a way to put this up in the desert!).   It also had the invigorating smell of laundry dried on the line when it returned from Atlanta, while the Seattle woods left it with the musky smell of moss and fire.  What will it smell like after Issaquah, Wa. and NYC (it’s going to both places!)

But first it’s going to interact with another artwork bound to the earth, Herbert Bayer’s Earthworks in Mill Creek Canyon in Kent, Wa., and part of Kent Arts Commission’s Earth Day celebration.  I’ll be installing it in the park from April 17th until Earth Day.  But before that, on Sat. April 10th, the Kent Senior Center, across the street from Earthworks Park, will be hosting me for a community crochet event.

So, please Kentians, come add your knots and loops to this growing piece!!

–Workshop Date: April 10, 2010

–Workshop Location:

Senior Activity Center , ROOM 6

600 East Smith Street, Kent, WA 98031

253-856-5150

-Time:      12 noon – 4pm

As always, all skill levels welcome, all genders, all ages, all backgrounds!  If you take a few deep breaths with me, anyone can crochet.  And thank you Renaissance Yarns, in Kent,  for posting about the event!!

Time to crochet again at Olympic Sculpture Park for “The Salmon Return”, 9/19/09, noon-3pm

come crochet at the Olympic Sculpture Park!!

After the whirlwind of crocheting this spring and summer, I can hardly believe my eyes that it is time again to work on “Mater Matrix Mother and Medium”, and invite you to join me, tomorrow from noon – 3pm!  I’ll be making yards and yards of the big crocheted ropes that I need to reinstall the Fiber River on the campus of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta , hosted by the Dalton Gallery, beginning on Oct. 1st, 2009.  So, if you never got to crochet with me or are dying for more, please join me tomorrow at SAM‘s Olympic Sculpture Park for their family programs event “The Salmon Return”.  They have once again invited me to come join them with a whole host of other programs for kids and adults such as….

Special performance: Roger Fernandes tells stories about salmon at 1 pm.

Visit activity stations by:

• City of Seattle’s Restore Our Waters and Seattle Public Utilities
• Colorific Kids face painting
• Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery
• Mandy Greer—Mater Matrix Mother and Medium
• The Nature Consortium
• People for Puget Sound
• Salmon-Safe and the Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability (NBIS)
• TASTE Café

University of Washington’s Wetland Ecosystem Team

Agnes Scott College (kinda looks like UW, right?)

THIS is really the last one, really! SAM FAMILY DAY

I thought last Friday at the AFTA convention was the last crochet event for MMMM, but I was wrong.  One last time!  This time at the Seattle Art Museum Family Day.  SAM Family Programs have been a huge supporter of my project from hosting me at their Teen Art Attack evening to twice hosting me at family programs out at the Olympic Sculpture Park.  I am so glad to go to this final event with them.  The two programs out at the Sculpture Park were particularly wonderful, as I got to work, share my project, as well as spend time with my own child who often gets the shaft when I get so busy on large projects.

buzzz

  If you have kids or know someone that does, bring them to SAM, the line-up looks to be really fun.  Temporary Tatoos  with Gretchen Bennett!!  My son also attends the Circus School that will be performing and they pretty much always rock!

 

SAM Family Programs: Don’t Miss the Summer Fun!
FAMILY DAY: BUST A MOVE 
Presented by TARGET
Saturday, June 27, 10 am–3 pm
SAM Downtown

Make your move through outrageous obstacle courses designed for making art in new ways, like the artists in
Target Practice: Painting Under Attack 1949–78. Create collages, recycled art, stencils and see-through paintings. Design temporary tattoos with Joshua Lindenmayer and Gretchen Bennett. Crochet with Mandy Greer. See live painting demos with ArtWorks and Pratt Fine Arts Center.

LIVE PERFORMANCES
* Madcap toymaker Rick Hartman
* Hilarious Zambini Bros. puppet show
* Electrifying tapdancing by Northwest Tap Connection
* Feats by the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts
* Plus facepainting, storytelling and more!

Community Partnerships: Visit the Barnes & Noble Pacific Place store June 26–28 and a portion of your purchases will benefit SAM.

This is it. The last crocheting event….

 

Kathleen has crocheted with me three times...

I am pretty sure this is it.  Your last chance to come crochet with me and others, in support of Mater Matrix Mother and Medium.  If you haven’t noticed AFTA is coming to town, and I have been invited to take part in a session called…

 

Knitting & Networking, Craft & Conversation scheduled for Friday, June 19, 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Renaissance Hotel, Visions Room

Description: Crafting circles can be a powerful medium for community dialogue and building social capital. Bring your knitting, crochet, or other needlecraft and join other knitters and crocheters from the field for conversation and networking. Local artist Mandy Greer, a fabric sculptor and costumer, will join us to talk about a new project that connects crochet and dialogue to water quality. All are welcome!

 Originally this event was for convention goers only, but I have been informed that I can invite all who are interested in joining in with the crocheting for MMMM!  So, please come hang with me and art people from all over this land, down at the Renaissance Hotel , 515 Madison Street, Seattle, WA 98104.  Last chance..going, going…go to Camp Long.

By the way, reading myself described as a “costumer” makes me think of this killer costume I made for me kid…

Staring at trees and chalk on the sidewalk: the last events! …. for now…

 

buzzzzz, getting polinated

I am a busy busy  bee trying to finish up the wearable element for Zoe to rehearse with, as well as the planning for moving myself into the landscape of Camp Long , but there are a few remaining crochet events, beginning tomorrow.  I will be crocheting the afternoon away under the trees near my site, further getting to know the shapes and spaces.  I always forget this important part of my process…it feels like wasting time, but I’ve come to realize sitting and staring at my work, in-process, is very valuable.

working out of the studio.....ahhhhh

 Usually in the studio, I have armatures in-process that I STARE at forever while I sew or crochet, etc.  With the armature here a living environment, as much as I wish this were possible, I haven’t been able to sit for hours under these trees that I will soon get to know very well.  Perhaps this can happen for the next outdoor works….

grass and silk

 

earlier in the spring at Discovery Park

Then later Thursday evening, I’ll be coming home to my beloved neighborhood Columbia City, with the generosity of the Columbia City Gallery hosting me from 6-8. I know there are many art events thursday night, but if you are in the neighborhood, please swing by, even just for a bit. (and whoa!  check out the jurors of their latest call for art!!, Jeffry Mitchell, Suzanne Beal, and Lisa Harris)

Columbia City Gallery

 

 

Then, this weekend I’ll be at the Morgan Junction Festival in West Seattle for a bit, with Camp Long.  It will be my first chance to visit the new interactive public art piece by SuttonBeresCuller at Morgan Junction Park…

Salon, a series of museum-style frames stamped in the sidewalk that borders the neighborhood park. Artist trio SuttonBeresCuller etched and color tinted the “picture frames” that invite the public to create their own works of art. Make a masterpiece and meet the artists! 

The guys will be there at the new park, for it’s dedication from 10am – 11am.  These guys are doing all sorts of thrilling community-based art right now, I’m inspired!

My schedule w/links!

• 11th of June, Thurs, noon – 4 pm, Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. SW at Dawson   
• 11th of June, Thurs, 6 pm – 8 pm, Columbia City Gallery,  
4864 Rainier Ave S.     

• 13th of June, Sat, 11 am – 2:30 pm, Morgan Junction Community Festival with Camp Long, 6401 California Ave. S.W.

This weekend…SCULPTURE PARK!

 

celebrate those flowers

Back into the sun I go! Hopefully this slight cooling will hold tomorrow as I head to the Olympic Sculpture Park to participate in Seattle Art Museum’s family programs “Celebrate Wildflowers” event. Back in April I took part in “Climate Day for Kids”, had a blast, and I’m sure this event will be just as fun.  Here’s a quick look at all the activity stations for tomorrow:  
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, King County Noxious Weed Board, Seattle Art Museum, Skokomish Tribe, TASTE Café, University of Washington Botanic Gardens Education, Washington Native Plant Society, Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation.

 

Please come join me!  And also, a huge thank you to writer/artist/curator Sharon Arnold for her continued enthusiasm for MMMM (and help crocheting AND yarn donations AND cheering me on in this last leg of this art marathon!)  

Thanks Sharon!

She has been posting about the project, including tomorrow, at her blog “Dimensions are Variable”.  Check it out and her posts about art – writing, making, viewing and loving.

 

 

 

SUNDAY!  I’ll be back at the Sculpture Park on my own, inviting you to join me in a little handwork, amazing views and hopefully cool and sunny weather.  I’ll be in the Cafe if another windstorm blows through.  10 am – 2pm.

MONDAY!!  You can catch up with me on Monday, of all days!  During lunch 11 am – 2 pm, I’ll be back under Leo Berk’s conference room cloud in the 4Culture conference room.  All my blue looked so good under his blue, and I forgot my camera last time, so Tina Hoggatt made it happen for me again!  If you work downtown, hope you can stop by, bring your lunch!

Leo Berk, "Low Ceiling"

New events scheduled!! (some of the last…so come join in!)

I’m not quite willing to say these are the last events I’ll be scheduling … it’s all gone by so fast!  And I have at least 60 more feet to make!  But, these are some of the last events, so if you are curious to experience what this is all about, get out your calendar and see what works!

• 7th of June , Sun,  10 am – 2 pm,  SAM Olympic Sculpture Park, outside PACCAR Pavillion (inside if rain), 2901 Western Avenue

• 8th of June, Mon, 11 am – 2 pm, 4Culture Conference Room, 101 Prefontaine Place S. 

• 11th of June, Thurs, noon – 4 pm, Camp Long, 5200 35th Ave. SW at Dawson   
• 11th of June, Thurs, 6 pm – 8 pm, Columbia City Gallery,  
4864 Rainier Ave S.     

See all the events here.

 

130 feet, approx.

Inspiration for MMMM at Columbia City Gallery: Another performer collaboration and another crochet event

This Saturday May 30th from 5-8pm at the Columbia City Gallery , I have work in a group show called “5280; Ten Artists Living Within a Mile of the Gallery”.  I’ll be showing a little bit of inspiration for MMMM — another product of a collaboration with an incredible performer. Last summer and fall, I collaborated with the luminous performance artist, Haruko Nishimura.

the Slug Princess

 

dusk at Smoke Farm

 Together we created a hybridized mythological creature, the Slug Princess — an arion slug goddess —  with my work as the lumbering undulating skin and Haruko’s work with Butoh as the mercurial spirit of this creature of appetite.  We then worked with filmmaker Ian Lucero to create a short film called “The Silvering Path”, shot at Smoke Farm in Arlington Washington.

 

filming

 

 It was an intensely inspiring experience for me, watching my work, shredded fibers and yarns crocheted and beaded, pulsing and lumbering through tall grasses, twisting around rocks, picking up dirt, moisture and life.  

 

little creature on my creature

I believe the three of us together created something really beautiful and unsettling, and I wanted more.  More collaboration, and more of seeing fiber breath to life, not just because it was wrapped around a body, but because it rubbed and caressed the natural environment.  I knew I wanted to do work that didn’t just use the natural environment as a site for action, but would become entwined, enmeshed with all the processes, however minute, of the environment.  I wanted to push my work with a performer further away from “costume” & literally interweave the body into the landscape using stones, trees and flowing water interacting with changing fabric. I wanted to explore using the environment as material not simply backdrop, to create an installation that is in & changed by the elements.  

an early sketch

Then this SPU project came up, and of course those desires and ideas from the Silvering Path directly inspired what I am trying to accomplish now with MMMM and the interaction with the landscape at Camp Long.  So, at the Columbia City Gallery I’ll be showing the slug wearable element as well as these giant magic crocheted cabbages from the film.  It’s a group show celebrating 10 years of the Gallery, as well as celebrating this little hub of artists down here in the south end.  More about “The Silvering Path”…

And the Gallery has also generously offered to host a crochet event on Thursday June 11 from 6-8 pm, so you can come crochet,see the show,  catch dinner at Tutta Bella and head to a movie at Columbia Cinema.  Columbia City has it all!!  The Columbia City Gallery is at 4864 Rainier Ave S | Seattle WA 98118 | 206.760.9843

“5,280” runs from May 27 – July 5th, 2009

Ballard coming and going; This weekend and last

 

working in the gutter

I have such a glut of images of all the events and people who have been joining in with MMMM! The weekends seem to coming at me faster and faster as this phase of the project, the community art events, move into their last month.  From June 15th till the performance, I will mostly be full time working at building the river in Camp Long, so this last month I will really be trying to get everyone involved with the project who would like to be.  So…if you are one of those people who have been telling me how excited you are about this project but haven’t been able to attend an event yet, get out your calendar and pick a day!  We all know how fast a month goes by…….and I hope you can make it!

 

So back to back weekends I will and have been crocheting in Ballard.  Last weekend, it was at another of the CAN “Seattle Summer Streets” events, this time hosted by Cascade Bicycle Club as a way to celebrate “Bike to Work Day”.  Bikes everywhere!!

bikes , bikes!!

 

 

  Sadly, I did not bike to work that day because I had so many crocheting supplies, but if I had a Bakfiets Bicycle  from Dutch Bike, Co. of Seattle, perhaps I could have!

I want one!

Dutch Bike, Co. also had another CRAZY bike that kept going up and down the street past me, each time I tried to run after it taking a picture, because it reminded me so much of what I was trying to do at the time — gather people in a circle for a little unusual creative connection with people they don’t really know.  I give you the Conference Bike!!  I enjoyed my

crazy , giggling mass of people!

there it goes again!

early evening in Ballard and had quite a few lingering loungers, a few returning friends and new acquaintances!

Here’s Diem Chau (new Ballard business owner, artist!) taking my picture as I take her picture!

 

Diem!

 

 

Now this coming weekend, on Saturday from 12 – 4:30pm, I will be back in Ballard, this time at the lovely green-roofed public library.

And then sunday, I’ll be at the Beacon Hill Library.  Please come, even for just a bit as you get out of the sun!

• 23rd of May, Sat., 12 noon – 4:30pm, Ballard Library meeting room, 5614 22nd Ave. N.W.  206-684-4089 , directions

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

Four Cultr and SOIL on Monday!!

 

Knitted Soil

Monday is going to be really fun for me, two organizations who have been my bread and butter in one way or another will be hosting me and my crocheting habit this coming Monday!  4Culture has supported me in countless ways, including at my show at the then ‘King County Cultural Arts Authority Gallery’ back in 2003 which really feels like one of my first installations in the vein of what I am doing now.  And since then, I believe 4Culture has been a part of every major show I have had.  I am truly indebted and so am thrilled to come hang out with the people who work so hard to make so much art and culture happen.  Thank you Tina Hoggatt for setting this up!  And anyone else downtown on their lunch break should come on in! Besides, you get to hang out under Leo Berk‘s  lovely “Low Ceiling”.

 

Leo Berk, "Low Ceiling"

 I’ll be there from 11am – 2pm.  Then later on in the day at 5:30 – about 7pm, I’ll be at All City Coffee with several of the members of Soil, thanks to Etsuko Ichikawa for organizing the meet -up just before their monthly meeting.  Come by!

Broadview Revisted….

After tonight’s date with the streets of Ballard, I will be heading back to Broadview Library on this Saturday  from 12-4. A few weeks ago, I took my project to Broadview on a Thursday night, already knowing that my non-weekend night library gigs were usually not well attended. I had just really wanted to get my project out of the center, south end or west seattle, so I took the Thursday and this later Saturday date. And since most of the meeting rooms in the new libraries are amazing spaces filled with light, I just figured I’d get some work done by myself in a great room, and just spread the word for this next visit.

Chandra and Mary

It was slim, but I did meet some wonderful people who detoured their evening plans to spend an hour or two with me.  Just coming in to return books Chandra learned to crochet for the first time, while her sweet daughter and I played with the camera.

working the camera

 Pretending to be superheros and dressing up in the crocheting, unraveling yarn and touching it all, I am well versed in the joys of being four.  Then Mary came in and quickly revisted crocheting from when she was a kid.  

pals!

And all three became instant pals!  Seriously!  

 

This was not the only high-five

High Fives and laughter for the whole time.  Chandra just moved here from Georgia, and Mary and I were telling her about all the stunning parks all over the city to take her little one.  Anyhow, Broadview here I come again.  

There were many high-fives!

 

This is how a super-hero takes off....

Welcome to Seattle, you two!!

Where I’ll be this weekend….

Just a quick note as we head towards the end of the week.  This weekend I’ll be participating again in a “Seattle Summer Streets” event.  This time in Ballard on Friday…

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

I had a really fun time about a month ago at the Greenwood Summer Streets Party, so I hope this rain clears up so we can all play in the street again (although playing in the street in the rain does sound about perfect to me.  Today I gardened in the rain and liked just getting soaked, try it.  But I doubt anyone would want to crochet in the rain.  But…I may be doing just that if it rains in June as I install this thing.)

Then on Saturday I’ll be heading back to the Broadview Library for another go up north.  I hope you can make it, and take some time to go to Carkeek Park while you’re there!

• 16th of May, Sat, 12 – 4pm, Broadview Library meeting room, 12755 Greenwood Ave. N., 206-684-7519, directions

It’s the weekend, so that means I’ll be all over the place crocheting!

See if you can catch up with me this weekend, because I’m not so sure I can.  The River is starting to grow like mushrooms, with piles and piles of blue whirlpools all over my house, some needing a little of this, some needing a little something else.  

Piles!

 

 

But its back out in the world tomorrow with my portable studio, just like last weekend (still need to sort through all my great pictures!).  On Friday, I’ll be visiting the High Point Library, in West Seattle, from 1:45pm until 5:15pm.  Then suddenly, I show up at SAM downtown for their ArtAttack Teen Night Out Party, from 6-9.  The teen I once was is completely jealous of this terrific program planned by SAM’s TAG (Teen Advisory Group, for teens by teens).  I’m quite honored to get asked to go.  I spent some time today with a few members of the group, giving them a demo on crocheting, so they could help me keep up with people who want to join in on the making of this giant project.  I was completely impressed with everyone’s willingness to learn chain, single and double crochet, young men and women.  Last weekend at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival, I had a chat with a few delightful women in their 80’s, who were just agasp and AGAPE that my friend Robert was crocheting.  I

 

Robert

 know they’re from a different generation, but it was nice to see the guys just as game to crochet as the ladies today, without  even any acknowledgment of any kind of gender association with handwork, crafting or whatever you want to call it.   If I’ve learned anything from my association with Ms. Faythe Levine, director of Handmade Nation, its that craft and Doing IT Yourself can be a radical action, a personal stand against mediocrity and force-fed culture.  With all that Revolutionary art in the floors above us, I hope to spread a bit of her message.  After SAM, on Saturday I’ll be heading to Greenwood Library from 10:30-3:30 with some muffins and coffee.  Then for Mother’s Day, I’ll be out at Plant Amnesty’s Festival of Trees at Sandpoint Magnuson Park from 10:30 am – 2 pm.  I hear there will be a parade of people in tree costumes, free trees to plant, the usual festival food goodies and some Mexican cowboys doing some tricks on horses.  I can’t wait, and neither can my big and little boys!  One small bonus of being involved in this whirlpool of a project is finding out about the incredible diversity of community and cultural experienece that Seattle has to offer, and getting to contribute to them in some way!  Join me!

 

DON’T MISS IT! ARTattack: Teen Night Out — American Rebels Are you ready to be a cultural rebel? We all know the American Revolution didn’t stop in 1776. Give props to your world-changing, revolutionary role models. They could be historical freedom fighters or people in your family or community who give back in a BIG way. Rock a poem, dance, make art or sing your heart out. We want to see your skills! Come make ARTattackyour stage.       Featuring local talent from:  SAM’s Teen Advisory Group (TAG) Jason Webley The Frontmen Youth Speaks Seattle Slam finalists All City Break Dancers/Arts Corps And more! Date: 5/8/2009 Time: 6-9 pm Location: SAM Downtown (near The Hammering Man) Event details >> Copyright © 2009 Seattle Art Museum. All Rights Reserved.

Come see me at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival this Sunday, 5/3, 10am-3pm

Join me at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival this Sunday from 10 am – 3 pm. I’ll have my own booth for people the hang out in for a bit and crochet.  There are a whole host of other exhibitors, Community Resiliency demos, music/performances (including the Duwamish Drummers and Dancers, and the Senior Center Line Dancers!)   And the West Seattle Farmers market is going on at the same time, so venture out rain or shine!

And Thank You West Seattle for all the interest in my project!  The West Seattle Blog has sent a ton of hits my way, and I’m just so energized by all the support for this work.

 

Crocheting at Delridge Library

small hands learning the chain stitch

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.

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

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)

 

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!

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!