 Sweet Pea ©2006 Ayn Hanna, 60"x45", (cotton fabrics, cotton batting, cotton threads) Completion
My first completed art work of 2012 happens to also be my second ever bed quilt (queen size). My first one was “Sweet Pea” (pictured above), a baby quilt for my friend Ginny’s boy, Ford. I finished stitching the binding on that quilt on the plane, en route to deliver it to baby Ford.
Down the Rabbit Hole (below) is the largest textile piece I’ve made to date. I started it back in 2009, during a rough spot I was going through. Designing this quilt top was a healing meditative act.
 Down the Rabbit Hole ©2012 Ayn Hanna & Gwen Hatchette (88"x70") Cotton fabrics, inkjet printed fabric, cotton batting, cotton threads) It was a major color study and I was thankful to have it – I spent many hours at the design wall in the wee small hours of the night, thoughtfully rearranging squares of color until it felt just right. I also incorporated a few inkjet-printed “rabbits” scattered across the surface all headed for “the exit” on the bottom right.
After piecing it all together and adding the border fabrics, this top sat unfinished in my studio for a couple years. The act of making the top had fulfilled my purpose, so I needed some other good reason to finish it.
On a recent visit to my studio, my friend Gwen Hatchette came up with the idea of us collaborating on some work – she loves to quilt pieces on her long arm. It happened that I had the perfect collaboration piece ready and waiting. I handed her this quilt top and a backing fabric I had pieced for it and off she went to her studio.
 Down the Rabbit Hole (detail) ©2012 Ayn Hanna & Gwen Hatchette A Good Reason: Giving to the Community
Gwen’s amazing quilting makes this quilt sing. She used several colors of thread and stitched many motifs across the surface. It was a great collaboration for us, made more special by the fact that we will be donating this quilt to a wonderful local non-profit agency.
We’re donating this (Barbara C, are you sitting down?) to ChildSafe, an organization which provides therapy to victims of sexual abuse. We hope this quilt will bring lots of bids at their annual art auction this summer.
Life, love, energy – there’s so much embedded emotion in this quilt. It is beauty initiated from pain, a teacher in itself, brought fully to fruition by the combined work of friends. And now, it will contribute to helping out a good cause, and hopefully bringing some warmth and joy to its new owners.
 Installing our show in the Directions gallery. Christy is on the ladder dealing with the lights, Barbara is working on installing her piece on the wall. Ladies from the 80’s (and 90)
This past weekend, Barbara Gilhooly, Christy Martell, and I hung our group show in the Directions Gallery at the CSU Visual Arts Building in Fort Collins. We were all in grad school together at CSU in the late 1980’s, Christy and Barbara graduated in 1989 and I finished my MFA in 1990.
The work each of us is doing now is much different from our grad school days. In fact, all of us are currently working in different mediums than we got our MFA’s in. Barbara and I are Printmaking/Sculpture grads and she’s now making carved paintings on wood, wire sculptures, and various other 3D mighty fine art, while I’m currently working in textiles. And Christy is a painting grad but is currently making scuplture – using wood, encaustic, and repurposed books.
 Christy working to secure one of her book sculptures on wheels to the pedestal for display. For this “reunion” show, Christy included several of her 3D book sculptures (she has another solo show hanging right now at Gallery Bleu through end of Feb, featuring many of her wall sculptures), I hung several of my latest textile paintings, and Barbara installed one of her large wire sculpture wall installation pieces along one of the large walls in the gallery.
 Barbara attaching one of her wire "doodles" to the wall. One of Christy's book sculptures is displayed on the pedestal at left. Here’s a photo of Barbara’s wall installation – She first installed the wood “landing pads” and then each wire “flag” and “doodle” had to be placed and attached separately:
 Wire and Wood Installation ©Barbara Gilhooly And a few more shots of the show. (The walls of the gallery are carpeted, so that’s what caused some of the photos to have the “spirograph” effect – it’s a “free feature”.):
 (L to R) One of Christy's scupltures, one of my textile paintings, and another of Christy's sculptures along one gallery wall.  Textile paintings ©Ayn Hanna and a pedestal ready for one of Christy's sculptures.  Book sculpture ©Christy Martell and Textile paintings ©Ayn Hanna. We think our work is very symbiotic and exhibits really well together. Would you agree?
The show is up through the end of Feb at the Directions gallery in the Visual Arts Building, CSU Campus in Fort Collins. We may plan a show closing reception at the end of Feb, and if so, will publicize that here and on facebook.
Also, for those in the Minneapolis area, we will all 3 be showing our work at Gallery 360 later this year. Opening on Nov 10th, Barbara will be the featured artist with a solo show in the main gallery space while Christy and I plan to join a few other artists in hanging our works in a group show in the front gallery area.
For those in the Denver area, I am also exhibiting my work in a Surface Design Association juried textile show, “Facets of Fiber” at the John Jellico Gallery, Art Institute of Colorado, through Feb 26. I haven’t had a chance to see this show yet myself, but hear it’s a really great show, so stop by if you can make it.
Please stop by to see the show(s) this month if you can. And if you do make it to the show, I’d love to hear any feedback you have on our work.
Thanks!
 "LineScape #1" ©Ayn Hanna, 19"x20.5", Textile Painting This is the first time I’ve published my list of Goals for the year.
I’ve established goals in previous years, often carrying them around in my head rather than writing them down. Although I feel like I’ve accomplished many of the goals I’ve set (or at least made forward progress), not writing the goals down makes it a bit difficult to keep focus and organize a plan as well as assess progress at the end of the year, and make necessary course corrections.
So, this year I’m writing down my goals and then making more detailed action plans to achieve them.
My 2012 Goals
ART
Studio Time: 960 hours (~20 hrs/wk)
Draw every day
ART BUSINESS
Enter 7 or more juried shows
Host 2 open studio events
Set up my etsy site and post work for sale
Start a newsletter, set up on mailchimp, and send out at least 4 (1/qtr). Add 20+ new subscribers
Write 96 (~2/wk) or more blog posts. Add 25+ new subscribers
Experiment with adding presentation/videos on my blog
Create landing pages and update bio on social media sites
Update social media (facebook, twitter, google+) 4 times/week
Implement Social Media plan I developed in Social Media Immersion workshop in 2011
Photograph and process images for artwork when completed and add to art inventory database and website
Update contact list monthly
Update resume mid/end year
Update artist statement mid/end year
Complete bookkeeping quarterly
Contribute graphic facilitation work to help Beet Street’s AIR curriculum advisory committee define target audience and course offerings
Conduct outreach to arts organizations in NM to gather input and feedback on AIR curriculum development
Set up our crit squad and meet 4x or more
Develop strategy and plan for product offerings
TEACHING & LEARNING
Teach at least 1 in person workshop
Give at least 1 in person lecture
Develop course outline and syllabus for 2 or more new workshops
Continue development of my fabric surface design, dyeing & printing techniques (reading books, DVDs, studio practice, workshops)
Continue development of my art business skills through 1 or more artbizcoach online courses
Attend pilot courses of the AIR curriculum launch
Bonus: Develop 1 online workshop
PERSONAL
1x/wk date nights
See at least 12 movies, concerts, theater events
Get my office re-set up in the loft and clean out the clutter
De-clutter my closet
Replace skylights
Complete build out of workshop in garage and set up band saw
Get my taxes to accountant before end of Feb
Get my will done!
Go on a real vacation
Get our grad group together for a visit
Visit galleries and museums at least 1x/month
HEALTH
Daily meditation, breathing practice, and gratitudes
Pilates 2x/wk
Cardio workout 3x/wk (yoga may be substituted occasionally)
8 hrs sleep/night
Complete 3 or more organized events (cycling, 5k, or triathlon)
Track progress of diet and exercise plan at myfitnesspal.com
Get at least 12 massages
My Approach
My plan is to begin focusing on a few top goals from each section, creating action plans and tracking progress monthly. Some things are already in progress or already planned, others not yet begun. Some are behavior changes and routines I need to establish, while others are individual projects with beginnings and endings.
I can’t really absorb the whole list all at once – it’s a little daunting. But that’s a good thing, because getting to that place I want to be requires change, action, and challenge, and small steps in the right direction.
I’m starting where I’m at and taking action, doing the little tasks that will move me in the direction of where I want to be.
What big goals have you set for 2012 and how will you achieve them? If you’ve published your goals, please leave a link in the comments section as I would love to read them.
 "LineScape #10" ©Ayn Hanna, 12"x12", Textile Painting Above, one of my new textile paintings from my new “LineScapes” series. I started this new series in Nov 2011. It is based on my love of maps. I’ll elaborate more in a future post.
As 2012 is off and running, I’m awash in looking both backwards and forwards, appreciating the accomplishments of 2011 and shaping my goals for this year. And since it’s now February, I’m clearly moving according to my own timetable on this. So, without further ado:
My 2011 List of Accomplishments
1. I enjoyed a full year of living with my wonderful artist partner, who inspires and encourages me.
2. I created a new series – the “Giddy Up” series – and made 10 small textile paintings in this series.
3. I created another new series – “LineScapes” – and made 13 textile paintings in this series.
4. Using my own hand-dyed and silkscreened fabrics and combining just about all the different textile processes I’ve learned, I created 1 new large textile painting in my Dream series.
5. I created 3 textile paintings that evolved into another kind of series, all with “Way” in the titles.
6. I created a large textile painting using my own ECO-dyed fabric, a new fabric dyeing process that I learned/researched in 2011.
7. I created a small textile painting which is included in the SAQA traveling trunk show, “This is a Quilt”.
8. In all, I created 31 new artworks: 4 large, 6 medium, and 21 smallish textile paintings.
9. I dyed ~65 yards of cotton fabric.
10. I created ~20 yards of art cloth using deconstructed dye processes and silkscreen with fabric paints (for use in my textile paintings and also to sell).
11. I sold 11 artworks – including textile paintings, etchings, and art cloth.
12. I was one of 39 participating artists in the Fort Collins Studio Tour, opening my studio to the public for the first time for the annual weekend event in June.
13. During the New West Fest in old town Fort Collins, I shared a booth at the Creative Garden Art Show. This was my first time to have a booth at an art festival. I’m damn lucky to have such an organized partner to help me pull it all together!
14. I co-juried a contemporary print show at 44T Artspace in Denver and displayed my work in the show as well.
15. Participating in a 2-person invitational show at Gallery Bleu in Nov/Dec, I displayed 17 of my recent textile paintings.
16. My textile painting Keep Your Mach Up, Always Check Your Six won the Best Use of Aviation Theme award in the Thread Tails and Vapor Trails art quilt show.
17. I entered 7 juried shows and was accepted in 4 of them.
18. We held our 2nd Annual Hanna-Hooly Holiday Open Studio event in Dec and met many new friends and fans.
19. I have one piece in a traveling show that will be exhibited in Oregon, Washington, and Texas over the 9 month long tour.
20. In all, I participated in a total of 11 shows throughout the year and my work was exhibited in multiple states throughout the US.
21. I designed and taught a workshop, Art Cloth: Unique hand-printed fabric, at the Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride. My students and I had so much fun that before I even left to come home, I committed to teach another workshop there this summer, Aug 10-12.
22. Since I love process and learning new ways of doing things, I added a few more techniques to my tool box this year. Through research, study, and practice, I learned how to do deconstructed screen printing with dyes and Eco-dyeing with natural materials that I found in my own backyard.
23. I created several pieces of silk and cotton eco-dyed fabric using organic materials found in my environment and mordants created with salt and rusted metal.
24. I expanded my repertoire of impermanent silk screen techniques, adding glue resist and flour paste resist techniques to my mix.
25. I completed a MAJOR website and blog redesign (thank you Pat!), merging my website and blog onto one self-hosted platform.
26. I updated my bio, artist statement and resume.
27. I wrote 36 blog posts. (Although I wish that number was higher, I keep reminding myself that I’m focusing on quality not quantity.)
28. I created a FaceBook Fan page for my Art and now have 142 “Fans”.
29. Embracing a need to understand more about Social Media, I took Alyson B. Stanfield’s Social Media Immersion workshop in Golden, CO and had a great time learning and meeting many new artist friends.
30. Using images of 3 of my Giddy Up Girls textile paintings, I made my first set of note cards and sold more than half of my inventory.
31. I invested in GYST artists’ software and started working on populating my art inventory data base.
32. I organized and updated my contacts and mailing lists and added 30+ new subscribers to my mail list.
33. I attended my first national SAQA conference, met some great artists who I had long admired and enjoyed my time with friends.
34. I completed my SHIFT-IT Coaching Certification! (Thank you Christina!)
35. I joined 2 Guilds and attended 10 guild meetings.
36. I’ve been invited to be the featured Artist and present an Artist Talk at FRCQ Art Quilters Guild in Broomfield this April.
37. My partner and I survived a home remodel project in which we replaced 16 windows and added 2 new doors. We were clearly in denial or completely clueless as to how big a project this really was, and really did believe them when they told us it would take 2 guys 1 week to complete it. 4 months later, it’s all finally done and the house really does look beautiful.
38. I was selected to be a curriculum committee advisory member for the Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR) Program that is being created by Beet Street and will provide a variety of services to artists throughout a 10-state inter-mountain west region, to help them further their art careers.
39. I joined the Twitter world (@ayniehanna)
40. I joined google+
41. I photographed all of my completed artwork and added it to my art inventory data base.
42. I saw Stevie Nicks in concert at Red Rocks, had second row seats, and (wow!) got to shake her hand during the white winged dove encore.
43. I got to have some family time with my Spanish family during their annual summertime visit and my brother Dave while he was here for his frisbee competition.
44. I got to see John Prine in concert with my Mom….one of her favorites!
45. I went to Minneapolis and proudly attended my partner’s opening reception of her big solo show at Circa Gallery. It was even better that our buddy Rachel was able to make it as well.
46. I continued to work 40 hours a week as a business relationship manager at the large and dysfunctional multinational company that gives me my paycheck and health insurance. I appreciate what it provides and struggle with the insanity of it all.
47. I appreciated being able to work from home and enjoying my family time. My Emma keeps me grounded and reminds me of what’s important when things get a bit nutty with work.
48. I spent more creative time in my studio and made more art in 2011 than in any previous single year of my life.
One of the insights I’ve gotten from writing down my list of 2011 accomplishments is that it was a VERY full year. In appreciation for all that I achieved last year, and letting 2011inform my plans for 2012, I’ve taken the time for all of these thoughts and information to cook together until they become visual goals I’m excited about.
Next up, goals for 2012 and my word for the year.
Have you listed your accomplishments for the past year? If so, please leave a link in the comments section as I would love to read them.
 Hanna-Hooly Open House living room view Happy 2012 Everyone! I hope your holidays were filled with good cheer.
Between our window replacement home improvement project, and 2 art exhibits in Nov and Dec, the past couple of months have been a whirlwind, albeit filled with good times with family and friends throughout. After all the festivities, I’ve had a need to hunker down and cocoon myself at home and away from people – a bit of recovery time to recharge my introvert batteries.
Our open house event was a good time and we met many new friends. For those that aren’t local/weren’t able to make it, I thought I’d share a few photos of our home “gallery space”, since we have made lots of changes in spiffing up our home to make it a showplace for our art and exhibited our newest work (some still in progress) during this event.
Check out the slideshow below to see our old dining room table which Barbara painted and carved into a new work of art, our spiffed up new entry, dining, and living room interior, and new work from our Hanna-Hooly studios:
As I’m sure many of you have, I’m putting together a list of accomplishments for 2011 and then using that to inform and help plan my goals for 2012. It’s a great time of year for reflection and renewal, appreciating all that is and anticipating what will be. We have lots of fun art shows, events, open studios, talks, and workshops already planned for 2012 and there’s sure to be more things that will materialize as the year progresses. I’ll be back soon with more to share on thoughts and plans for 2012.
All my best to you in this new year,
 Living room picture window frame which is being replaced by a large sliding glass door. Change is rarely a comfortable thing for we humans, even when it’s “good” change. We tend to be so “change adverse” that we’d rather stay stuck in a less-than-ideal-situation than risk making a change that would get us to a better place.
Figuring out ways to be comfortable between the trapezes – that “in between space” we inhabit once we’ve made the commitment to change and before we reach the “good” destination place – is an artful learned practice, one that if we can master it, helps us become more willing to embrace and be more open to initiating further changes we recognize we need to make, to get us closer to whatever it is we need to be doing to become more joyful in our lives.
One way I deal with my own change aversion is to be bold and “go for it”. Once I’ve figured out the changes that need to be made and have a vision for the end result and at least somewhat of a plan for how to achieve it, I’ve found that the best way to initiate the change is to start taking action, dive in and get going. Once things get rolling, it becomes more fun and exciting, letting the next steps unfold in the moment and seeing results of action along the way.
Another thing that helps is to have a partner that I fully trust who readily embraces change and is a creative visionary. In those moments when I’m not too sure about taking the leap, she’s there to gently nudge (or in some cases drag) me over the edge.
 One of the many piles of old windows on their way out. Big Bold Changes – New Blog, New Website, New Windows and Doors
Over the past several weeks I’ve made some major changes to support the development of my own art career, as well as the co-development of mine and my partner’s “Hanna-Hooly” art exhibition space in our home studio environment. Because we both have our studios at home and use this space twice a year for open studio tours, we have been working to “fluff up” our home environment and make several needed upgrades.
This week we are having 16 windows replaced and 2 new doors added to the home – a major home improvement project which, apparently, we were both in a bit of denial about the significance of prior to starting it. Now, 4 days into the remodel, we are ready to have our house back! It’s been a bit of a bumpy week, including a night with no heat, and feeling like we’re living in a bomb shelter with the big gaping holes all over the place once the windows were removed, but I know it’s going to be beautiful once it’s done and I keep focusing on that.
 This is normally my office space but right now has one big gaping hole on the north wall. The other big changes I’ve made are that I have a new wonderful integrated website and blog now (this is my first post on my new blog!), thanks to Pat Velte of WhiteWing design.
My Upgraded “2.0” Version of My Web Presence
I had my original website up for over 2 years now and my blog for 1.5 years. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about social media and gotten clearer about my goals for my own web presence. My old website was a nice self-hosted custom design (thank you Bill!), but I wasn’t able to easily update it or make changes to it.
My old blog was built on WordPress and hosted by WordPress.com. Wordpress is so wonderfully intuitive that I’ve been easily able to learn how to use the tools to write and publish my own posts and build out my site layout. Still, there were some functionality not available to me in my WordPress.com blog and I didn’t like having my website and blog on different platforms and hosting providers.
Ultimately, I developed a list of criteria for my newly designed website and blog:
1. Integrate my website and blog into one platform on a self-hosted site – allows me to have a common look and feel for my website and blog, a common web address for both under my aynhanna.com domain name, and full control of my site.
2. I must be able to change content and add images easily and directly all by myself – using a WordPress theme made good sense because I am already familiar with the admin dashboard since I have been using wordpress for my old blog, and I can easily make content changes and upload new images as needed.
3. I want a clean site layout and design, professionally designed by a web designer who has experience creating websites for artists – There are times when it makes sense to do it yourself, and other times when it’s a better idea to pay a professional. I was ready to work with a pro on this design, rather than bumble through trying to do it on my own and I’m really glad I made this decision. I’m really happy with my new site design, layout, and functionality. Working with Pat from WhiteWing design has been a wonderful collaborative process.
 The new window installed today in my office space. Although the past few weeks have been quite nutty and a bit stressful at times with all the changes going on, the payoff is worth it. I’ve found that the more I forge ahead boldly into that “in between” space, the easier it becomes to keep doing this when each new “change event” presents itself. While there’s always some natural hesitation at first, the results that are waiting once I reach that next trapeze are always worth it. Moving forward along every significant path involves this continuous cycle of acclimation to satisfaction, satisfaction interruption/change initiation and searching, then achievement of new levels of satisfaction. And achieving the next “IT” that I envision is always what keeps me going.
What keeps you going?
 My hand-dyed fabric stacks An Informal Fabric Stack Project
Last week on her blog, artist Lisa Call had a fun idea – have each of us that has stacks of fabric take photos of our stacks and post them on our blogs and then add a comment on her blog, so that we can all go enjoy looking at each other’s colorful stacks.
This idea sprung as a tangent of another similar project – the Paper Stack Challenge – that Seth Apter of The Altered Page posted on his blog.
The idea in either case is that multiple artists will post photos of their own “stacks” on their own blogs, and then add a link in the comments section of either Lisa’s post (if fabric artist) or Seth’s post (if paper artist), so that everyone can check out all the cool “stacks” we’ve all got.
 One of my racks of fabric. Yes, I’m a Fabric Junkie!
But really, what textile artist isn’t? Ok, some of us are worse than others. I currently have a (spouse-imposed!) limit of 4 (oops, make that 3) racks of fabric. Actually, the limit is for my own good and I need these boundaries, otherwise, well, my studio would likely become over run with fabric and I’d be so overwhelmed I’d never get anything done.
 Another of my fabric racks. I’ve acquired quite a stash in the few years I’ve been working in textiles and I do weed through it on occasion and donate some of it to charitable causes. I’m working mostly with my own hand-dyed fabrics these days, so some of those commercial fabrics I found at thrift stores don’t quite have the same appeal now that they did back when I first acquired them and I know others will put them to good use.
 A mini stack - a textile painting waiting to happen. And sometimes it’s just necessary to let go of the old to make room for the new!
If you have a stack you’d like to share, please do join in the Informal Fabric Stack Project on Lisa’s blog.
2 Opening Receptions. 2 Towns. Same Night.
Two of my textile paintings are included in this juried show which is the inaugural exhibit at the newly renovated Lincoln Center. I am excited to see not only the artwork, but also the spiffy new expanded gallery space.
I am a juror for this show at 44T, and have included one of my intaglio etchings as a sample of my work. So far I have only seen the works that were selected for this show via the digital image submissions so I am very eager to see the pieces in person. There are works included in the show by several artists living throughout the US.
Eeenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo.
As much as I’d like to be able to attend both events this Friday night, that’s just not going to happen.
And as luck would have it, the 44T Artspace is planning to do not only an opening reception this week, but a closing one as well on Nov 26th.
So, I’m going to be attending the opening reception at the New Legacies show here in town at the Lincoln Center this Friday night. If you’re in town, I hope to see you there.
If you’re in Denver, I hope you’ll stop by and see the print show. I’ll be there for the closing reception in late Nov.
And if you’re somewhere else in the world, I hope you get out and go see some original art at a local gallery near you!
 Our little black bear. The image of this sweet confused young bear’s face is burned into my mind. A week ago, we raised the deck door window shade, and much to our surprise and delight, there she was – sitting sideways under the pine tree, looking back at us with as much surprise and confusion as we at her. We shared a few quiet moments before she ably lumbered over the fence into our neighbors’ yard.
We excitedly followed her progress over the next day, hearing that the DOW was going to let her find her way back to the mountains as long as she didn’t become a nuisance. And then we got the news that 3 overzealous men from the DOW had shot her full of tranquilizers, causing her to fall out of a neighborhood tree, ultimately dying from her injuries.
What to do with that news? So much anger, sadness and helplessness. I cried a lot. I keep seeing that sweet inquisitive face, and wondering why people have to be so hurtful and well, stupid.
Bear Medicine: Introspection
I kept thinking about this bear visit all week, and the gift she brought us. It slowed me down from the usual daily race, and helped me remember that with all the crazy things going on in the world that we encounter, the only thing we truly can control are our individual reactions to the craziness.
I also started re-developing some focus again on myself, on routines that are healthful for my own body, mind, and spirit. Thanks to my bear visit, I’ve been awakened from the trance yet again.
 Ducks on the Long Arm machine. What’s on the Long Arm Machine?
One of the routines I’ve been redeveloping this past week is to get into the studio and do some art each day, even if it’s only for a short while. I had forgotten how much of a stress relief it is for me to have that daily meditative time, creating my art.
I’ve been focused on finishing a piece I started several months ago. I finished constructing the top (pieced and appliqued fabrics which I hand-dyed and screen-printed) awhile ago and now am adding the drawing/stitching on the long arm.
The idea for this piece came from one of my vivid night dreams. As I’ve worked to turn that dream image into a physical work of art, it has become a bold and graphic representation of how I felt in that dream.
Reconnecting with this piece, spending a little time each night in the studio working to finish it has helped me get back into a meditative rhythm not only with my art, but with myself.
 Ducks getting stitched on the long arm.
 Deep Spaces Show Postcard One of my textile paintings, Along the Way, is included in the “Deep Spaces” exhibit which opened this week at the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center in Tillamook, OR.
 "Along the Way" (detail) ©Ayn Hanna, 45"x18", Textile Painting The Curator/Juror of the show, Larkin Jean Van Horn, has assembled 50 artworks, and created a stunning catalog of the exhibit, available for purchase with all proceeds going to support Doctors without Borders.
Deep Spaces
From the show’s catalog:
Curator Larkin Jean Van Horn selected the theme “Deep Spaces” following a conversation with friends about the limits of space and the photography from the Hubble telescope. While it was clear that textile art dealing with the cosmos would be an appealing exhibit, the title implied so much more. Artists interested in participating in the exhibit were encouraged to interpret the theme in any manner that suited them, and the entries were outstanding.
The artists went deep into space, deep underground, deep under water, deep into the woods, canyons, and prairies, and deep into the mysteries of the heart. Each artist worked in her own style, whether photorealism or pure abstraction or something in between. Holding all this wide variety together is a common size: 18 inches wide by 45 inches long.
The Making of Along the Way
This piece is the second in a series of discharged wholecloth black cotton fabric textile paintings. Making marks by using various drawing techniques to apply color removal agents, these artworks evolve intuitively, through quiet meditative drawing and wordless conversation with the work itself. This way of working aligned nicely with the theme of this exhibit, giving me good opportunity to spend some much needed creative meditative time going inward to the deep spaces within.
 "Along the Way" ©Ayn Hanna, 45"x18", Textile Painting I began by drawing with discharge paste, which after steamed to remove the color, created the “lighter/white” areas. Next I drew with a bleach pen, which created the orange marks. Once the drawing was finished, I quilted this top layer together with batting and a backing layer of fabric on my long arm quilting machine.
My artist’s statement for Along the Way
An inward journey, intuitive drawing, mapping of a mind, lost in thought, problem-solving, the time ticks away.
 "Along the Way" (detail) ©Ayn Hanna, 45"x18", Textile Painting Deep Spaces Exhibit Logistics
Latimer Quilt and Textile Center, Tillamook, OR – Sept 5 through Nov 6, 2011.
Sam Houston Memorial Museum, Huntsville, TX – Jan 10 through March 12, 2012.
LaConner Quilt and Textile Museum, LaConner, WA – March 28 through June 24, 2012
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![dsc_0039](http://www.aynhanna.com/wp-content/gallery/2011-hanna-hooly-holiday-open-house/dsc_0039.jpg "My studio with new \\"Linescape\\" textile painting on left and work in progress on the right")
