Another of the silk bundles
wrapped with maple, cotinus, and eucalyptus
then cooked in a brew of botanicals
bubbling in an iron pot
the magical alchemy of plants, water, heat, and iron
make their marks
a dance of purple, orange, and green
The first of the bundles to be unwrapped – a silk/cotton blend which takes the plant dyes beautifully, wrapped together with a silk organza (bonus fabric).
The best part of the whole process – Here’s a short video of the unbundling:
Would you like to join me and a small gathering of other like-minded creatives in a blissful weekend of bundling here in the Rocky Mountain region?
I’ll be teaching an Eco-Dye Playshop at my studio on Oct. 18-19.
There’s one week left to register at the early bird discount rate.
Details and Registration are located here.
Looking forward to having you join us.
Saturday was all about the eco-dyeing and printing and it was Hot. I wrapped and cooked 11 bundles, fabrics I’ll use to make some wall pieces for my upcoming show “Must Love Art”.
As the sun was going down, I felt like a kid that had been playing in the dirt all day and I liked it.
Here’s the bundle bounty as of Sunday am. Now to let them rest awhile….
Sunday was even hotter, a perfect day for some breakdown screen-printing and direct drawing with dyes.
I’m still working to complete some more dye drawings for my show that opens on Sept. 1 at Metro Frameworks/ 44T Artspace Gallery in Denver. It’s a bit tricky making art for 2 shows that open the same time at different venues, but I’m not complaining. I have lots of lists, they keep me sane.
I have until end of July to finish up work for the 44T Artspace show, so once we’ve finalized which work will be in that show, I’ll be able to devote all my art-making energies to our big “Must Love Art” collaborative show. I’m even going to have a “stay-cation” week of full-time studio time to kick off the month of August where I’ll be singularly focused on our big “Must Love Art” show – can hardly wait for that.
A couple of notable transient “states of being” I acknowledge
Wait for it….
 “Patience”, 5 x 5 inches, mini textile painting, ©2014 Ayn Hanna At times that patience wears thin and passion takes over…
 “Angry Girl”, 5 x 5.5 inches, mini textile painting ©2014 Ayn Hanna And a nod to my favorite ride (ASR5 trail bike) and tribe – the Yeti. I’m proud to count myself among those who have a Yeti bike made right here in Colorado. Great memories of this awesome bike carrying me through the Buffalo Creek Xterra triathlon trail ride.
 “Fat Tire Yeti Tribe”, 5 x 4 inches, mini textile painting, ©2014 Ayn Hanna Each year, 100’s of Yeti freaks make the trip to the CO mountains for the tribe gathering (this year it’s in Durango, this weekend) where they camp and ride and have a great time (no, I’m not going – I’ll be in the art studio, sending good vibes out to the tribe).
Have fun y’all!
A good-sized batch of my scarves will be winging it’s way toward the east coast soon
It will include 12 of the eco-printed variety
And, 12 of my breakdown screen-printed kind, too
If you live near Princeton, NJ, chances are good you’ll find them in the University Museum Store
sometime later this summer
Willow-An Artisan Market
Well that holiday weekend was sure a whirlwind blur wasn’t it?
Barbara and I spent Saturday afternoon at Willow – An Artisan’s Market in Littleton, CO doing an artists’ meet and greet event. We loved the artwork and the feel of this shop when we first happened upon it while doing a tour of artisan handmade shops in Denver last fall and now the shop is carrying both of our work (they have some of my pillows, scarves, and dye drawings and some of Barbara’s furniture, paintings, and wire drawings). Willow carries work from over 200 artists, 90+% majority are from CO, and primarily the Denver metro area.
 Myself, Helen, and Barbara with some of our work on display at Willow – An Artisan’s Market 
Are you ready to Bundle? Eco-Dye Playshop Announcement
Registration is NOW OPEN for my next Eco-Dye Playshop which I will be teaching at my own studio location in Fort Collins, this coming Oct. 18-19. Come join in the fun as we explore nature’s colors and mark-making possibilities on fabric. Check out all the details here – register before July 31st to receive the early bird discount!
New Legacies Show Opening this Friday
The New Legacies: Contemporary Art Quilts Exhibition will open this Friday at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins – Please join me at the opening reception from 5-7 pm on Friday night.
I am honored to have 3 of my pieces included in this international juried show, (two from my LineScape series and one of my dye drawings). Overall, there are 49 artworks by 28 artists in the exhibit which will run from July 11 – August 30th.
Hope to see you there!
More work in progress – a couple of new large textile paintings, a continuation of my LineScape Series.
 LineScapes #30 and #31 in progress With 3 art shows coming up within the next 3 months, and high potential for a 4th one later this fall, I’ve got good incentive to get a bunch of new work done, including some larger pieces to fill some of the larger exhibit spaces.
 LineScape #30 in progress. LineScape #30 is another Pelican Lakes piece, a place holding so many great memories where I have spent lots of time swimming, biking, and running. It is the largest textile painting so far in this series – 4.5 by 6 feet. I’m building out the base composition by pinning cloth pieces together on the wall and will then cut, shape, and hand stitch these pieces together. More layers of fabric, paint, and stitch will be added on top.
 LineScape #30 in progress I’ll continue to show progress updates as they happen…my goal is to have this one done before end of July – Wahoo!
What big challenges are you taking on this summer?
More Badges
Here’s a few more I’ve made in the past week:
 “Catcher”, 5 x 4 inches, mini textile painting ©2014 Ayn Hanna Softball…One of my great loves. I would play on any day in any way. I would play in the snow and on the go, in any weather or with a feather. I caught fast pitch softball for 11 years, mostly in the sweltering summer heat and humidity of Kansas City. My favorite summer memory was playing for 3 different teams in 3 different leagues – games and/or practice almost daily! And also playing for 2 different teams in a round the clock weekend tournament playing games all day and all of the night at Miller’s Woods, the greatest softball complex in KC – will never forgot playing a game at 2am.
 “French Horn”, 5 x 5 inches, mini textile painting ©2014 Ayn Hanna As a 4th grader, I was offered the chance to join the school band. The band director demo-ed each available instrument and I chose the french horn because I liked how it looked and sounded – the round and winding metal tubes and the mellow alto sound resonated with me – plus it was one of the instruments the school district owned and loaned out to students, which worked well since I knew we didn’t have the money to buy one.
I lugged that huge case onto the bus, back and forth from school to home so I could practice. The band teacher rewarded my efforts by awarding me the brand new silver french horn in a blue crushed velvet case which the district bought when I was in 5th grade. Then in 6th grade, I got my first (and only) french horn solo, playing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire at the grade school Christmas party in the gym – I was so nervous and played so off key I’m not sure anyone recognized the song.
My competitive nature kicked in during Jr. High, where I regularly competed with my friend Janet for “1st Chair”. Since our french horn section sat just to the right of the saxophones, one of the incentives for me to make “1st Chair” was that it meant I got to sit next to Becky B, my entertaining friend and pitcher from my softball team, who played the baritone sax. My fun yet short-lived french horn career ended in high school when I was required to choose either band or sports, couldn’t do both.
 “PC Board Certified”, 4 x 5 inches, mini textile painting ©2014 Ayn Hanna Fast forward a bunch of years, past art grad school and NYC artist printmaking studio days. In debt up to my eye balls and needing to earn enough to pay my rent and my student loans, I began my high tech career in a computer manufacturing operation, soldering parts on PC boards through a microscope during the wee hours of the night. Back load, hand load, solder pot….there were lots of certifications to be achieved. Thus began my 21+ year long corporate career.
That’s it for today. The ideas are flowing and I’ve been making lots of drawings….I’ll have more to share soon.
With 3 exhibitions coming up within the next 3 months, I’ve been focused on getting my studio practice revved back up and have several new works in progress.
One of my upcoming shows is “Must Love Art”, a large collaborative show with my partner Barbara Gilhooly, opening on Sept. 5th at the CCC Gallery in the Carnegie Building here in Fort Collins. It’s a beautiful 2200 sq ft. gallery space. We’re planning to include works that we collaborate on making as well as pieces that we individually make, yet are mutually influenced.
The exhibit will include multiple themes and mediums (Barbara and I both earned our MFA’s in printmaking and sculpture) and showcase work mutually influenced by two artists that live and work together. This show IS our “gettin’ hitched” celebration.
Badges
One of the themes in “Must Love Art” will include a number of small personal badges. I’ve been thinking about making these for some time now, and created the first few last week. These are my personal patches, in some cases, autobiographical badges of honor.
 “Fat Iron”, 5×5 inches, mini textile painting (fabrics and stitching) ©2014 Ayn Hanna I consider these a visual diary, an introspective honest representation of self. Imagery and text emerge intuitively, while stitching or out walking. Each little badge honors some aspect of my life, those things I’ve chosen as notable in some way. Some, such as “SBR: 70.3” are celebratory, marking my accomplishment of my first Half IronMan Triathlon race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run = 70.3 miles).
 “SBR: 70.3”, 5×5 inches, mini textile painting (fabrics, stitching) ©2014 Ayn Hanna Others are a way of acknowledging learning, growth, imperfection, and impermanence. Some are perhaps a way of naming things I’ve held on to but am ready to leave behind. Wabi-sabi.
 “Bag o’ Rocks”, 5×5 inches, mini textile painting (fabrics and stitching) ©2014 Ayn Hanna And still, creating this group of badges is about more than creating a visual autobiography. It’s also about practicing and sustaining a professional art-making process, becoming a better artist. Working the creative process to develop an idea realized through a quality body of work that has meaning, interesting drawing/mark-making, and all “hangs together” well.
The badges are each ~5 inches square at the largest and include layers of my hand-dyed fabrics with hand and machine stitching. In the exhibit, I envision a large grid and/or multiple groupings of these intermixed with complementary works that Barbara will create in response. We shall see.
For now, I’m enjoying my contemplative studio time. It’s so good to be back making Art again. I’m curious what you think of this new work. If you have a reaction to it and are willing to share, please leave a comment below.
Thanks!
Around here we have a saying: You do what you can, then you go to bed.
For the first part of this year, I’ve done what I can – 2 big shows in a 3 month span (including travel), entered the wholesale market and wrote my first orders, and kept up the full time day job. After returning from the ACC St. Paul show, my body said “that’s enough, time to go to bed”.
And it was a full smack down. I’m now 3 weeks back from being diagnosed with pneumonia and am finally feeling my energy returning. I’ve never been so ill. It’s scarey not being able to breathe.
 “Orchid Grid #1 through #9” nine 8 x 8 inch textile paintings mounted to birch panels, ©2014 Ayn Hanna. Available at Gallery 360, Minneapolis, MN. A Forced Rest = A break from my Monkey Mind
One of my strengths is tenacity and seeing my vision become reality. I don’t give up. I accomplish many things. But I’m not as good at recognizing and celebrating my accomplishments. Being sick allowed me some time to contemplate and acknowledge how much I’ve achieved and how the world seems a little smaller because of the network of new friends and business associates I’ve come to know through doing the work.
In my right mind, when relaxed and not stressed, I know things will continue to evolve and develop as I envision. All is good. On those days where I’m trying to juggle the day job and the art biz deadlines and/or trying to be creative (gasp!), I sometimes also have to battle to keep my Monkey Mind from taking over and sabotaging the day with all the fear, anxiety, and doubt.
Rest has renewed my energy and calmed my impatient Monkey Mind. Now to keep this perspective and patience with myself going forward….
Back on my Horse
I’m ready to get back in the studio and make some art! I have some upcoming exhibits in the next few months that I need to make new work for, and this weekend will be my first creative block of time in the studio since mid-April. I can hardly wait!
Happy Creative Weekend,
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