Penland School of Crafts....

I taught a week long class at Penland last week; Maximalist Embroidery.  It was such a treat to be there.......

Love letter to embroidery.......

Meet a Few of Our Makers on Creativebug from Creativebug on Vimeo.

I literally just got back from teaching a long weekend Drawing/Embroidery workshop at Haystack and found this Creativebug collage in my inbox.  In it, I'm talking about loving teaching people how to draw and embroider.  It's true.  I had such a great weekend.  Thanks to everyone who came to Deer Isle to draw and stitch and eat Rosie's cookies.  I had my last chocolate walnut dream cookie on the plane ride home and enjoyed every single bite.

Oh, Roger.....

One of my favorite places to visit in Chicago is the Roger Brown Study Collection in Lincoln Park.  Brown left his studio, and his vast collection of art and objects to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago when he died, and the School has kept it preserved as a museum.  Henry Darger, Gladys Nilson, Jim Nutt and others hang from the walls in his beautiful upstairs apartment, but what gets me excited is the overwhelming collection of other things.

Hand painted signs, Boy Scout knot diagrams, popsicle stick chapels, beer trays, hurse doors.  Lisa Stone, the collection's curator gave my class a great introduction to the collection, pointing out connections that she and others have made between specific objects and specific shapes, images and themes in Roger's work.  In a city that is bursting at the seams with second hand shops, Roger Brown makes all but the most minimalist artist inspired to collect.

*The collection is primarily available to the SAIC community, but private viewings and tours are possible.  See this link for more info.

Love letter to my SAIC class....

After a month of teaching in Chicago, which was a total delight, I'm back in the borough of Brooklyn. A group of Hare Krishna's greeted me first thing Monday morning on the way to the gym and it seemed just perfect; the loud chaos of New York smacked me right in the face, but to see them dancing down the sidewalk put a smile on my face.

Thank you thank you thank you, to all the students who signed up for and took my Maximalist Embroidery class at SAIC.  It was so great to meet you all, and to Sydney and Lisa who came back to hang out and embroider this summer- big big hugs.  You guys are welcome here at Chez Ringquist anytime.  I've been loving editing the details from everybody's final projects.  You guys really hit it out of the ball park last week.

Back in the Chicago Saddle this Summer!

Registration for my summer class at SAIC opened Monday, and I've already heard from a few returning students that signed up.  Yahooooooooooo!  I'm so excited to be headed back to teach for a month.  Can't wait to see everybody and can't wait to catch up with all my colleagues there.    Here's a poster of what else is going on at SAIC in the Fiber and Material Studies Dept. this summer.....give it a click to read the course descriptions up close. 

Faster!

Last Sunday  I taught an afternoon workshop on Printing with Thickened Dyes at a local art center.  I had a great group of students- they were not shy in any way and jumped right into the layering process like old pros, even though only one of them had ever screen-printed before.  Since then,  I have really been enjoying pouring over the photos that I snapped.  In my embroidered works, I work to create dense layers of imagery and texture, and in screen-printing I  do the same thing.  While I don't often think of my screen-prints as finished pieces, I love the opportunity to work really quickly.   I am certainly a candidate for president of the Society for People who Love Tedious and Monotonous Tasks,  but it sure feels good to mix it up every now and then and make some quick marks.  Check out these prints (the first and last are my own, and the middle prints are student work).

Back to Haystack Next Week-

I am so excited to be going back to Haystack next week for New Works.    I had such a great experience there in August.  I think it was the best class I've ever taught, full of amazing, smart, hard working artists who were so fun to talk with each day.  Not to mention the amazing views, lobster feast, cakes (and cakes and cakes) and swims in the ocean.   All in all, it was a great time. 

So, I was more than thrilled when my number came up on the waitlist to attend New Works next week- a chance for people who have taught there over the years to come back and focus on their own work for five days in the fall. 

I am planning on attending all the writing workshops and otherwise spending my time meeting new people and drawing.   I am bringing two sketchbooks, colored pencils, pens, and gouache, with nothing in mind but to make lots and lots of marks.   I hope to return with a stack of  ideas for my next body of work.   

 As you might have noticed last time I was at Haystack, there is not any internet connection there, so with the exception of a post or two from NYC,  it will probably be quiet around here until the 27th.   Hope you're all enjoying the beginnings of fall.   

Packing for Haystack

I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning for Maine, where I'll be teaching for the next two weeks at Haystack School of Crafts on Deer Isle.  I am so looking forward to the cool atlantic air.  Here's a photo that I pulled from their flickr pool of what I am looking forward too most....

I can't wait to sit on a rock and look out at the ocean.  But let's face it, I'll be working while I'm there, and just look at these working conditions.  It's pretty rough out there on the island, but I think I'll make it.

I'll try to post directly from Haystack, but I'm not sure how much of an internet connection I'll have.  Talk to you soon!