Home Share with Frank and the gang Another fun-filled, jam-packed week at the residency, beginning with an interactive event hosted by Sarah Haas on her traveling stage. Sarah's community engagement project, titled Home Share, invited anyone to come on stage and tell stories about intimating domestic space. The first session in the afternoon drew all of the resident artists out of the studio to read, relax, talk, and listen. Local Frank Galante showed up and told us exciting tales of living in New York City for 58 years, before relocating to Pentwater three years ago. He brought two of his 18 guitars and switched places with us, playing on the ground to an audience on stage. The evening session of Home Share brought a group of female friends from Ludington, and as it got dark they got cozy inside of the trailer, laughing and talking in a loosely directed conversation about homes and memories.
Sarah left the next day, and we were sad to see her pull away with her trailer in tow, but happy for her to be on her way in the next episode in her touring adventure. She is traveling with her project through the Midwest and into the Southwest this winter. She is raising money for the trip on Indigogo, and will keep us up to date on her Raw Art blog.
While in residence, Sarah also completed a chapbook of writings and drawings made here and elsewhere, finished a glass mosaic to be installed in our meadow sculpture park, learned the useful basics of Photoshop, and of course she made friends.
Sarah left the next day, and we were sad to see her pull away with her trailer in tow, but happy for her to be on her way in the next episode in her touring adventure. She is traveling with her project through the Midwest and into the Southwest this winter. She is raising money for the trip on Indigogo, and will keep us up to date on her Raw Art blog.
While in residence, Sarah also completed a chapbook of writings and drawings made here and elsewhere, finished a glass mosaic to be installed in our meadow sculpture park, learned the useful basics of Photoshop, and of course she made friends.
Our west-coast Sarah, Sarah Applebaum, worked to finish her community project this week as well. She found a stock-pile of white stones at one end of our property and decided to move them out to the meadow to improve on our homestead fire pit. The stones are aesthetic as well as practical, creating a safely zone around the pit, snubbing any stray cinders that may float out. She also made a series of small clay pieces to be installed among the stones in the pit.
On a windy afternoon, Sarah and Rose and I ventured into the Silver Lake Dunes, to climb and tumble and shoot a video dramatizing a lone wanderer's plight in the desert.
On a windy afternoon, Sarah and Rose and I ventured into the Silver Lake Dunes, to climb and tumble and shoot a video dramatizing a lone wanderer's plight in the desert.
Fire Pit Phase Two
Sarah & Rose mid video shoot
Sarah was also the first to take advantage of our resident tattoo artist, Jeffrey Kriksciun. As he shared in his slide talk on Sunday, he is new to tattooing, but it is something he wants to do for the rest of his life. Relating to his illustrative work that explores taboo and rebellious subjects, the action of tattooing is also repetitive and rythmic, relating to the abstract side of his practice that relies on a meditative state of creation.
Sarah's tattoo Jeff's tattoos permanently imprint his signature drawing style on friends and strangers, and for Sarah this little "XO" on her arm will be a mark of her time here. We said farewell to Sarah on Friday, after eleven days in residency.
Jeff realized his community project this week as well, building a sculptural shelf from found wood to house our studio's collection of self-published materials. The Zine Library is a new edition to our main room, and we already have limited edition publications on the shelf from former residents Paul Richardson, Mary Rothlisberger, Marlee Grace, Josh Kermiet, and of course Sarah Haas. Jeff has added a couple of his own zines with comics, photography, and painting, and will be completing more while in residence. He explained a bit of zine culture to us in his talk on Sunday, describing the collectable booklets as a type of currency, and as a container in which he can organize and distribute his own work in pencil, paint, sculpture, and collage.
Jeff realized his community project this week as well, building a sculptural shelf from found wood to house our studio's collection of self-published materials. The Zine Library is a new edition to our main room, and we already have limited edition publications on the shelf from former residents Paul Richardson, Mary Rothlisberger, Marlee Grace, Josh Kermiet, and of course Sarah Haas. Jeff has added a couple of his own zines with comics, photography, and painting, and will be completing more while in residence. He explained a bit of zine culture to us in his talk on Sunday, describing the collectable booklets as a type of currency, and as a container in which he can organize and distribute his own work in pencil, paint, sculpture, and collage.
Jeff and his ZINE shelf
A variety of reading and listening materials are already on the shelf
Grant takes time off of sewing to watch and listen to our drop-in concert from Frank
Our favorite bow-tie wearing resident, Grant Heaps, left us this week as well. In his last week in residence, Grant took up the habit of riding a bike into Pentwater to have coffee at our small-town cafe, Good Stuffs. There is a tradition there of the over-50 crowd meeting to gossip in the mornings- the women at one table and the men at another. Grant was able to integrate with the locals there as well as maintain his own daily tradition of working at a cafe in the morning.
Along with stitching his ever-growing fabric mural, Grant took on a project for the local Bra Art fundraiser. Artists are asked to decorate a plain bra to be auctioned off in an event that will benefit breast cancer research and awareness. Grant integrated pine needles and scraps of fabric with tight stitching on a piece dedicated to those he las lost to cancer.
Grant headed home to Toronto on Sunday morning, after DJing a studio dance party, starring in our impromptu Karaoke night, and throwing us a pizza party on his last night in town.
Along with stitching his ever-growing fabric mural, Grant took on a project for the local Bra Art fundraiser. Artists are asked to decorate a plain bra to be auctioned off in an event that will benefit breast cancer research and awareness. Grant integrated pine needles and scraps of fabric with tight stitching on a piece dedicated to those he las lost to cancer.
Grant headed home to Toronto on Sunday morning, after DJing a studio dance party, starring in our impromptu Karaoke night, and throwing us a pizza party on his last night in town.
Rose Beerhorst wowed the crowd at our Sunday slide talk this week. She shared her experience of being un-schooled in a family of eight, with strongly artistic temperaments. She chronicled the beginning of her artistic career, from collaborating with her family to distinguishing work of her own. Growing a small business with the singular goal of supporting herself with her creative work, Rose has made a place for herself in Grand Rapids and online as a unique maker of sustainable and comforting housewares. With the rag rugs perfected, her next adventure is in quilting, and developing a way to efficiently produce and market patchwork quilts. She finished her latest quilt this week, and started a new piece of patchwork, as well as completing two rag rugs and capturing her process in a time-lapse video. Rose will be in residence with us for one more week of crafting and play.
Brian & Rose on the Shared Space Blanket
It was a week of saying goodbye to three resident artists, but we were happy to say hello to new resident, Brian Perkins, who arrived from Seattle on Friday. The landscape here is familiar to Brian, as he is a native of Wisconsin and went to arts high school in Northern Michigan. He is taking a break from post-production on his first feature film, and came here with a plan to write the outline for a completely new screenplay in ten days. In the first two days, Brian got to know the town and connected with Grant on obsessive interests in film and music. In the studio he has found a niche, typing on his laptop in the big room, quietly writing while Rose crochets, and Jeff draws. Brian is keeping a log of his time here on his own blog: thewatchingpatch.blogspot.com
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