I was walking down a long empty street, both sides lined with storefronts of alternating restaurants – Chinese, Indian, then Chinese again. I walked and walked, seemed like forever. I finally chose an Indian restaurant, went in and ordered some naan and water.
 “aerial view” of LineScape #21 in progress ©2013 Ayn Hanna Next I found myself in a busy marketplace, caught up in the hustle bustle, everyone going fast in all different directions. I was captivated by the variety of small booths, each one a creative jumble of wares as interesting and unique as the sellers.
Antique and vintage textiles, so much history and life. At one booth, full of small hanks of silk and wool threads, sat an inviting woman wearing an apron. I stopped, we talked, I selected a few threads and as I reached for my wallet to pay, I realized I was carrying this huge tote bag over my shoulder – and it was filled with small household appliances!
Yes, there I was out shopping at the market, and I guess I had planned to pay for the vintage fabrics and threads I needed for my art supplies by trading these appliances. I reached into my bag, and there was a coffee maker, a waffle iron, a hair dryer, a couple fabric irons….it went on and on!
I couldn’t believe I had been carrying this big bag of appliances around without realizing it. I offered the woman a hair dryer for the threads I had selected. She didn’t seem too sure about it, but agreed to take it anyway. I was confused too, but handed it to her, put the thread in my bag and left the market headed down the road again with my tote bag full of small appliances….
 some of the +100 yards of fabric I’ve recently dyed Why China?
I’ve recently taught my new CSU student artist intern how to dye fabrics with the low water immersion process. She needed a lot of RED fabric for a large piece she has planned for her Senior Show, and the process they had been using at school to dye the fabrics didn’t yield the deep reds that she needed.
 Teaching the low water immersion dyeing process to my artist intern. So we got out the dyes. She dyed a bunch of RED fabric, and as long as we were doing this, I figured I might as well dye up some yardage for my textile painting palettes. I have a stash of PFD fabric just waiting for such occasions.
 freshly ironed Hanna-dyed fabrics Maybe it’s all the red we’ve been dyeing that I somehow associate with China, I dunno. The bigger question is: Why all the appliances? Might be a reflection of all the ironing that’s needed now, but I think it’s more likely a reaction to wanting more time to make art and less time spent doing other kinds of “daily work”.
What do you learn from your dreams?
Two Art Business trips – check.
Teaching a 2 Day Workshop – check.
My first big solo show in Boulder opening the night before my workshop – check.
All of these things happening this month – priceless (and a little nutty too)! Hardcore evidence of the law-of-attraction in motion.
 silk eco-dyed with roses, eucalyptus, and iron Eco-Dye Playshop on Oct. 26 and 27 in Fort Collins at Juke Box Quilts
How much fun can you have and what beautiful art cloth can you make when you mix water, heat, fabric, and plant materials? Our happy band of artists are going to take the challenge to find out.
1 space is still available (due to a cancellation), so if you or anyone you know would like to join us, there’s still time to register! Get all the details and register here. As Peyton says, “Hurry, hurry” (love that guy, and how ’bout those Broncos?). Based on inquiries, I imagine this will fill pretty quickly so don’t dilly dally if you want to join us.
My “LineScapes” Show of Textile Paintings Opens on Oct. 25, 4-6:30pm in Boulder
This is my first big solo show since grad school really and I’m thrilled that it’s in Boulder, CO at The Dairy Center for the Arts. In early 2012, I presented my artist talk at the Front Range Contemporary Quilters’ Guild in Denver. After my talk, I met Mary Horrocks, the curator at The Dairy Center and she encouraged me to apply to do a show at The Dairy. I got my submission in later that spring and was accepted to do a show during this year – and now, here it is!
The show will include 10-15 of my works from my LineScapes series and will be on exhibit at The Dairy from Oct. 25 – Dec. 1st. The opening is on Friday, Oct. 25th, 4-6:30pm, with artist talk starting at 4. I would love to have you join me if you can for the opening. (And yes, this is the night before I’ll be teaching my 2-day weekend workshop in Fort Collins.)
 LineScape #24 (detail), Textile Painting (deconstructed screen-printed fabric, cotton batting, cotton threads) ©2013 Ayn Hanna 2 Art Biz Trips
A big show and a workshop, why stop there? Octoblur just wouldn’t be complete without some business travel thrown in.
One weekend, I’ll be burning some brain cells along with a big bunch of other artists from across the country, learning new ways to further boost my art business during a packed 2 day Artbiz Makeover workshop. And then I’ll be visiting the land of Enchantment, looking to network and find some new prospective galleries to show my work.
That’s the thing about being an artist, isn’t it? Figuring out a way to balance being creative and making the work with being a business person and building the business. It’s just one step in front of the other, get the ball rolling, and then ride that inertia – well, at least it sounds good anyway.
Crisp mornings and sun-drenched afternoons, blue blue sky, the changing colors, and big art energy all around. What a great time of year,
water water everywhere
2 weeks ago it was the extreme heat that caused schools to be closed for a day. This week it was the rain. Upwards of 12 inches – as much as an average year’s total – in just one day. And that, on top of an already steady 2 days of rain, in a region that’s been suffering a drought.
I am very fortunate – although I live in Taft Canyon subdivision, my home is on a ridge and we’re safe from the flooding. But the devastation is all around us, roads are gone, people are stranded, and helicopters buzz overhead, making multiple rescue trips.
 fabrics dyed with plant materials and water in the rocky mountains of Colorado water and nature
Colorado is my home. I love living here. For the nature, the mountains, the blue skies, the red earth, the river canyons, and the spirit of the people who are drawn to be here.
All this water has me thinking back to just a few short weeks ago, enjoying the hot springs, the magical mineral waters of Avalanche Ranch. And, wondering how much effect this mineral rich rocky mountain water had on the results of some fabrics I dyed while at the ranch:
The wool has a good range of color, the copper “greened-up” much of it, and several of the leaves acted as resists, leaving a mark with little color, outlined by the shape of the leaf. The metal wire darkened the silk/cotton fabric, although there are also some leaf shapes printed on it as well.
Detailed images below are (top) silk and (bottom) wool:
Good variety of color, texture, and mark in all of these fabrics. And they play well together too. May use these to complete my Avalanche Ranch book, and/or make a small textile painting to go along with the book.
Either way, they’re a physical reminder of the water and nature of a special place in my special Colorado rocky mountain state.
Art, Aspen, airplanes, apple trees, campfires, cows, chickens, sheep, horses, pigs, mountains, hot springs, farms, family, and fried foods.
2 weekends, lots of travel, people, and places – a good rousting change of scenery, a momentary respite from the corporate grind, and a spinning wheel of new perspectives and gratitude.
 1 of 3 hot springs pools at avalanche ranch The natural colors of Avalanche Ranch
Inspired by the red earth, the healing hot springs, and the plethora of plants and trees (the ranch not only has the full menagerie of farm animals, it also has apple and plum trees), AND having brought along my fabric, thread, and paper to prep some book pages for dyeing, the thought presented itself – why not capture the memory and essence of this space/place by creating a book, dyed with plant materials found onsite.
 book bundle And so it was. A first (for me) stitched paper/fabric artist book bundle, pages with milk mordant-painted marks, sandwiched with plants gathered from around the ranch, dyed in a bath of local mineral water and bark from the trimmed apple tree branches, cooked over a wood campfire under the cool starry night.
Another first for me – creating a video. Lots of learning in the past couple of weeks! Here’s the reveal of the Avalanche Ranch eco-dyed book pages:
Eco-Dyeing at Avalanche Ranch from Ayn Hanna on Vimeo.
Here’s the whole group of pages laid out together (front and back sides):
Next I’ll be working on these some more to extend the story of place and deciding how to bind these together, all in good time. It may take awhile and that’s OK.
The stillness, the quiet, the healing of this special place is all wrapped up in my memory and good feeling of savoring the burst of healthy creativity that grows from slowing everything down.
Over the course of a few weeks, I’ve assembled a group of 13 silk screens with dye drawings. It was time to get to printing all of these out on cloth. Sunday became the day for the 6 hour long printing session.
 printing out one of my silk screen dye drawings onto cotton cloth One of the things I love about the deconstructed screen-printing process (DSP) is how little control I have over how the image will release from the screen, and therefore end up creating “on the fly” as the dye is being printed out.
This includes deciding to add color directly to what’s been printed, or using a colored release paste to add some contrast to the image as it’s being printed, or maybe even over-printing the cloth with a second screen/different drawn image to add some interest.
 art cloth with multiple layers of printed dye drawings Depending on how these turn out after washing, they may become bases for new stitched textile paintings, or be cut up and assembled into Hanna-Dyed pillows, or even left as whole pieces of art cloth.
 black dye line drawing – deconstructed screen print I may have to work on resolving this black and white image into a finished textile painting – I’m really loving the drawing in this one.
2 Days left for early bird registration for my Eco-Dye Playshop in October!
If you’re considering joining my Eco-Dye play shop, there are 2 days left to register at the early bird discounted rate.
 wool eco-printed with maple and eucalyptus leaves We’ll be dyeing & printing cloth with natural plant materials – it’s easy, fun, and addictive! Only 3 spaces left. Full details and registration located here.
I’m headed back to the studio now to wash out the cloth I printed this weekend and finish printing the rest of the screens. After all this printing, I’m itchin’ to get stitchin’ so hopefully I’ll have some pieces that are good bases to evolve into finished work.
Happy stitching,
An irresistible urge to Paint
Do you ever feel so constrained, and boxed-in by the stifling structure of the day job, that you need to find some way of breaking free and letting loose? I sure do.
And funny thing is, even working with the textile medium (at least in the way that I do) can be so process-intensive that it’s not necessarily a big break from the day job “structure” (although IT IS a much needed respite for my right brain to actually have a few minutes to function so it doesn’t completely atrophy)!
 dye drawing on screen, waiting to be printed out Oh how I love process, especially the deconstructed screen-printing process (DSP). I often refer to the DSP as the greatest marriage of painting and printing, combining what I love about both – the freedom of direct mark-making through painting coupled with the unmistakable look, feel, and loss of complete artist-controlled mark-making of printing.
When I’m ready to do some DSP-ing, it’s a big time commitment – I mix up several colors of thickened dye paste and then make dye paste drawings on a bunch of screens, letting them all dry before printing. It takes several days to prepare all these screens and sometimes weeks later, before I print them all out.
 dye drawing on the screen, awaiting printing Over the past few days, something inside kept whispering (or rather demanding), “just paint”, which I usually do as an add-on while printing, but this time it was a “need to do this NOW” kind of a thing.
So I did. I stretched a big 4’x6′ piece of prepared fabric on a print board and started painting with the dyes directly on the fabric – what a great release!
 a new large textile painting in progress I’m trying more and more to listen to my inner wisdom and coach myself to take more risks and just “go for it” with my work – leaving it all on the field (so to speak) while at the same time, holding that inner gremlin at bay. It takes practice getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. But the results are worth it.
What things do you need practice getting more comfortable with?
One of the great mysteries of the Universe for many Artists is how to achieve success making a living doing the work we love to do. We each have our own struggles (resistance) to overcome and have to find our own way. But how to do it, where to start?
 “LineScape #27″, 20″ x 18”, Textile painting (cotton fabrics hand-dyed by the artist, batting, cotton stitching) © Ayn Hanna. $414 – available in my online store. Below are some thoughts and practices that have helped me as I’ve been making my way. Writing them down helps me remember and get clear. Maybe it will also help others who are facing similar challenges.
1. Contrast Exists to help us get clearer about what we DO want
Pay attention to how different experiences and interactions make you feel. When you identify those that feel good and that you resonate strongly with, you get clearer about your own vision of what you want to do and who you want to be. Focusing your energy on all that “good stuff” helps draw more of it to you – that’s the Law of Attraction.
2. You’re not Alone
Find the tools and supporters that can help you do what you want to do and USE Them! I’ve achieved many successes, and I didn’t do it all by myself – I’ve engaged numerous coaches, frameworks, tools, and supportive resources and continue to do so. Christina Merkley’s SHIFT-IT framework helped me put my “1.0” first rev creative vision and plan together. I believe in this framework so strongly that I became a Certified SHIFT-IT Coach myself. Using this set of visual coaching tools has added rocket-boosters to my Art career development. It is one of the best supports I’ve found for helping individuals develop their “next selves”.
Another framework, one which I’ve helped develop (as a volunteer curriculum committee member), and have used (to develop my next “2.0 rev” of my vision and plan), and found incredibly powerful are the Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR) SHIFT and EVOLVE programs. SHIFT is a weekend workshop that helps participants shift core beliefs about the viability of Art in our Communities. EVOLVE is a 6 month long program that teaches Creatives the skills needed to launch successful creative ventures. As a participant in both programs, I’ve made another huge leap forward with my Art career, launching my new Hanna-Dyed line of work, and starting my new Playshop offerings. This is another program I believe so strongly in that I’m continuing to participate in the delivery of SHIFT and EVOLVE as a facilitator, trainer, and coach.
Artbiz Coach Alyson B. Stanfield’s book, “I’d Rather be in the Studio” and Art Biz Blog are invaluable resources for those building a creative Arts career. So are her workshops. I’ll be attending her “Art Biz Makeover” workshop this fall, using what I learn there to develop my “next rev” of my Art career plan.
Use all of the tools, coaches, and supports that resonate with you to help you do the following:
3. You Can’t Get it Wrong
Wherever you are is right where you need to be, so start where you are. Listen to your inner voice, it knows things. Set your Vision, hold tight to that, resonate with it, and trust the Process. It will come.
4. Deconstruct the Black Box: Make a Plan and Build the Runway
Make a plan, break it down and lay out your first steps to reach the furthest point on the horizon that you can see from “here” (let’s call that point on the horizon “there”). Start taking steps down the path. Once you’ve moved from “here” to “there”, you’ll be able to see further, a new horizon point emerges, and along with it, new ideas, actions, tasks will emerge that become the next steps you need to take to reach that new horizon point. And so on and so on. Soon the energy and excitement will keep carrying that motion forward – what fun!
 My “Hanna-Dyed” booth at the Spring Horseshoe Market in Denver. 5. Track and Measure Progress with Meaningful Metrics
It may be fun to look at Facebook every 10 minutes to see how many new “likes” you’ve gotten on your Fan Page (as of now, I only need 1 more to reach 400!), but is that really a meaningful metric? Nope. But recognizing that I’ve eclipsed my previous year’s total annual art income through just the first six months of this year sure is. This shows that the work I’ve been doing to build my art business is paying off. Make sure that you track progress in a way that is meaningful to you, and celebrate your successes!
6. Recognize when old beliefs no longer serve you. Soften and soothe this resistance.
“Any time you have physical discomfort of any kind, whether you call it emotional, or physical pain within your body, it always, always means the same thing: “I have a desire that is summoning Energy, but I have a belief that is not allowing so I’ve created resistance in my body.”
—Abraham
This might just be THE toughest challenge for artists – It definitely is for me! Somewhere in my early childhood the belief that artists can’t make a living doing their art was firmly imprinted on me. So, I’ve been working to soften and soothe that big resistance in me, and I need to do more of this. Being in pain gets very tiresome. Thoughts are very powerful. It’s about reaching for a better feeling place. And sometimes, the best antidote is seeing the great results from one’s hard work – nothing shuts up the ‘ol inner gremlin like literal bold success!
7. Rinse and Repeat: Keep Evolving the Plan
You are constantly changing…you’re not the same person you were last year, or yesterday, or even 10 minutes ago. As you move along your path, the horizon line changes, you see things today that you couldn’t see yesterday. You know more now than you did last week. Think of where you were in your career at the beginning of the year and compare that to where you are now – look at how far you’ve come! What have you learned? What new things are on the horizon? What new tasks do you need to do to get to that new horizon point? Always keep evolving the plan.
 That’s me doing a demo while teaching deconstructed screen-printing at the Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride. 8. Enjoy your Success and help Grow the Pie
When you’ve reached the top of the peak you’re climbing, enjoy the view! Recognize how many more peaks there are yet to climb. And finally, turn around and look back where you’ve been, and see the others still struggling to make the climb. Are you going to stand there enjoying the view or reach down and lend a hand?
Leaders help build community. With an abundance mentality, we can grow the pie and ensure there’s plenty for everyone. Using Plato’s Allegory of the Cave as metaphor, the prisoner that breaks free, leaves the cave, and sees the truth has the opportunity to go back in and help enlighten the others so they can see it too. It’s good juju to lend a helping hand.
That’s it! Easy peasy, right? There are no silver bullets or magic pills. Succeeding as an Artist (like anything else) takes a lot of work. The good news is there’s proof it can be done and many tools and resources available to help you succeed.
You just have to take the leap.
The work in this show just keeps getting better every year. It’s fun to walk through the exhibit and see work by nationally (and internationally) recognized artists and in some cases, see work that I’ve seen on the web or in a magazine and hoped I would one day get to see in person. I’m very honored to have 2 pieces of my work included in this show.
I saw lots of friends and met several new ones, talked so much I didn’t get a chance to take any photos of artists with their work. But as the reception was ending, I did take a quick moment to snap a few photos of the show so I could give you a glimpse of the exhibit. There’s also a show catalog available for purchase through the Lincoln Center.
Monday: A Quick Trip to Cheyenne to Present My Artist Talk
Even though it’s a shorter drive than going to Denver, I haven’t been to Cheyenne for years. On Monday night, I enjoyed the trip north to give my artist talk to the Cheyenne Heritage Quilt Guild, a fine group of quilt artists that sure have a lot going on (they’ve donated 80+ quilts to charitable organizations in the past year!) and they set deadlines with terms like “tomorrow, by sun down”.
I shared my creative life story and a bunch of my current textile paintings as well as some of my “Hanna-Dye” functional art wares. It was fun to visit Cheyenne – I love the old vintage signage downtown and all the retro motel signs along “the strip” (aka Lincolnway).
It was even better that I got to relax and enjoy the scenery on the way up and back, since I was accompanied by my most excellent posse who drove, set up, listened, and packed up our whole show with such precision, it felt like we were a circus act that had come to town, did our thing, and promptly headed on to the next gig. (Thanks Christy, Barbara, and Sally-Mom!)
Tuesday: Another Show is Hung
For the second year in a row, I’m participating in a group show with 2 of my grad school buddies, Christy Martell and Barbara Gilhooly. It includes Christy’s book sculptures, Barbara’s paintings on wood, and 5 of my textile paintings.
Our show is at the Directions gallery in the CSU Visual Art building on campus, now through end of August. We may plan a closing reception in late August, once the students are back for classes.
Thursday: Fun Eco-Dye Resources Arrived in the Mail
With all the markets, shows, talks, and openings, I haven’t had much studio time here recently. So, I am gearing up for some play time with my dyes, fabrics, and threads this weekend.
I’m also in the gathering mode for pulling together all the supplies and materials I’ll be needing for my upcoming Eco-Dye Playshop this October. Always looking to continue to learn, practice, and build my experience, I ordered some new resources.
I’ll forever be both a student and a teacher, reading, watching, trying, doing, and sharing my knowledge. If you’re considering joining us for my Eco-Dye Playshop, there are still a few spots left and still time to register at the early bird discounted rate. Click here for full details and to register.
The Ghost Baby
Emma’s always had a fabric fetish and needs something in her mouth at all times. One day when Barbara had a whole dryer full of stuffed animals she’d brought home from the thrift store for a kid’s project she had planned, she let Emma pick one out to keep for herself. Emma stuck her head in the dryer and came out with this little gem which we’ve called “the ghost baby” – it’s a little halloween ghost complete with a little orange treat bag attached by just a couple of threads.
Emma carries it everywhere, sometimes leaves it out in the yard face down and we retrieve it (she’s trained us well). It’s her favorite toy and she’s so gentle with it that after over a year, it still has it’s little treat bag – it gets washed every now and then too.
The other day I walked into the living room and there she was lying there with her “baby” in this pose. She brings so much joy, I love her spirit.
Just had to share this sweetness,
Ready to play with plants and fabric and be amazed by the colors and marks that are possible? That’s exactly what you could be doing this coming Oct 26 & 27 along with 11 other co-adventurers as we playfully experiment and explore the magical possibilities of eco-dyeing with natural plant materials.
Come join in the fun at this 2 day Playshop in Fort Collins, CO where we’ll bundle leaves with fabric, water, heat and metal in an alchemy of botanical mark-making on fabric.
 maple, aspen, oak, and eucalyptus leaves on wool Details of the course can be found here and early bird registration is now open. Regular course fee is $150 although from now through Aug. 15th (or until it’s sold out, whichever happens first), the fee is $120.
If this course is resonating with you, please sign up soon so you don’t miss out. Registration has been open only 4 days and the class is already half full.
And, if you’re in the Fort Collins area and looking for a way to beat the heat tonight, please join me at the opening reception for the New Legacies show at the Lincoln Center, 5-7 pm.
The annual New Legacies Contemporary Art Quilts exhibit at the Fort Collins Lincoln Center opens this week and I am honored to have 2 of my textile paintings included again in this year’s show.
It seems that this is also my summer of media fame, as I was invited by a local newspaper reporter to share my thoughts about the use of quilts as “art” as well as what I think attendees will find most interesting about this show. The article called “Fabricating Fresh Art” was published last Friday but isn’t available online. Here’s a scanned version if you’re interested:
This year’s show includes 47 quilts and will be open July 9 – Aug 31. There’s also an opening reception this coming Friday night, July 12 from 5-7 pm and I’m planning to attend. Here’s the invite for the opening, a little nudge to encourage you to join me.
 Hope to see you there!
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