Our Session One resident artists have already manifested their projects, packed up, and gone home. The last week was so very busy that we need to recap it one day at a time.
On Tuesday, Heather was relieved to have finished her animated music video for Ghostkeeper, and freed from her laptop she instigated the first meeting of plein air drawing club. The whole gang donned their jean jackets and headed down to the Village Green to sketch and paint as Pickin' In Pentwater played in the gazebo. Our young artist mentee Hannah and her friend Della joined us as we took turns drawing each other on the grass. We crossed the street and made it to House of Flavors in time to each grab a cone and head to the beach for sunset. Heather started her series of drawings for her new zine Cone Lickers, a document of the ice cream culture of Pentwater.
On Tuesday, Heather was relieved to have finished her animated music video for Ghostkeeper, and freed from her laptop she instigated the first meeting of plein air drawing club. The whole gang donned their jean jackets and headed down to the Village Green to sketch and paint as Pickin' In Pentwater played in the gazebo. Our young artist mentee Hannah and her friend Della joined us as we took turns drawing each other on the grass. We crossed the street and made it to House of Flavors in time to each grab a cone and head to the beach for sunset. Heather started her series of drawings for her new zine Cone Lickers, a document of the ice cream culture of Pentwater.
By Wednesday, the resident artists were deep into their projects in the studio, and took the morning to work hard, with the promise of a beach trip in the afternoon.
After her slide talk on Sunday, Melissa was invited to visit the multi-faceted maker space in Pentwater, Patterson Marine. After Patterson passed away last year, his business was taken over by a group of local men interested in setting up a shop to do a wide variety of production techniques. Because they have a new 3-D printer, Melissa came to talk about her experience with 3-D printing and show her work to some of the guys. We had a great conversation about plastics and adhesives, and she even got some feedback on rope choices for the hammock she was planning. The very special thing about an artist residency in Pentwater is the connections that are made- retired doctors and engineers can talk shop with a young artist and they can each learn from the other's perspective.
We caught the high sun at the beach in the afternoon, trekking out to the magical Bass Lake Outlet, our favorite spot for a long beach day, and found that no one else was there. Although Lake Michigan is still only fifty-six degrees, everyone took a quick dip before heading to the warmer water of the outlet. Kenny built a series of impromptu sculptures, staking and balancing pieces of driftwood in the shallows. We made sure to stock up on snacks from the newly re-opened Wishing Well convenience store, and after hours in the sun, we all had dinner at the 117-year-old Bortell's Fisheries.
After her slide talk on Sunday, Melissa was invited to visit the multi-faceted maker space in Pentwater, Patterson Marine. After Patterson passed away last year, his business was taken over by a group of local men interested in setting up a shop to do a wide variety of production techniques. Because they have a new 3-D printer, Melissa came to talk about her experience with 3-D printing and show her work to some of the guys. We had a great conversation about plastics and adhesives, and she even got some feedback on rope choices for the hammock she was planning. The very special thing about an artist residency in Pentwater is the connections that are made- retired doctors and engineers can talk shop with a young artist and they can each learn from the other's perspective.
We caught the high sun at the beach in the afternoon, trekking out to the magical Bass Lake Outlet, our favorite spot for a long beach day, and found that no one else was there. Although Lake Michigan is still only fifty-six degrees, everyone took a quick dip before heading to the warmer water of the outlet. Kenny built a series of impromptu sculptures, staking and balancing pieces of driftwood in the shallows. We made sure to stock up on snacks from the newly re-opened Wishing Well convenience store, and after hours in the sun, we all had dinner at the 117-year-old Bortell's Fisheries.
Thursday began with a group trip to the Pentwater Farmers Market, and our favorite local coffee parlor and wifi hotspot, The Village Grounds. They generously donated five pounds of coffee to the studio this summer, so residents have been enjoying their roast day and night.
Joey had already had coffee of course, as she continued her new ritual of joining the silver-haired crowd of local men at Good Stuffs cafe each morning. She had the chance to meet a local artist who showed her his art collection and eclectic home, and a gentleman who makes pickles from his mother's recipe who brought pickles and fresh strawberries for the studio. As she listened to stories and shared her own, Joey realized exactly how to conclude her project with a gift- she made coffee mugs that will live at Good Stuffs and be used by the coffee crowd daily. After a week of working with clay again, she deftly added three mugs to her growing table full of clay vessels and dishes.
Cara continued her work in the ceramics studio as well, with a second clay cat, that she dropped from an eight-foot ladder this time. As these sculptures are a bit of an experiment in clay, the process was well documented:
Joey had already had coffee of course, as she continued her new ritual of joining the silver-haired crowd of local men at Good Stuffs cafe each morning. She had the chance to meet a local artist who showed her his art collection and eclectic home, and a gentleman who makes pickles from his mother's recipe who brought pickles and fresh strawberries for the studio. As she listened to stories and shared her own, Joey realized exactly how to conclude her project with a gift- she made coffee mugs that will live at Good Stuffs and be used by the coffee crowd daily. After a week of working with clay again, she deftly added three mugs to her growing table full of clay vessels and dishes.
Cara continued her work in the ceramics studio as well, with a second clay cat, that she dropped from an eight-foot ladder this time. As these sculptures are a bit of an experiment in clay, the process was well documented:
Friday was a steady work day in the studio, as residents prepared for Monday's event and Sunday's slide talks. Melissa built an installation with neon string, hung from the ceiling of the big room. With Cara's cats and Joey's vessels finished and dry, we ran a bisque fire in the studio kiln. Kenny attended another screening of his film in Detroit and collected supplies from the hardware store on his way back.
Friends from Grand Rapids joined us in the evening, when Pat took eleven passengers on a sunset pontoon cruise. After our big boat ride, we roasted marshmallows over a fire in the meadow homestead and had a slumber party with screenings from our VHS library.
Friends from Grand Rapids joined us in the evening, when Pat took eleven passengers on a sunset pontoon cruise. After our big boat ride, we roasted marshmallows over a fire in the meadow homestead and had a slumber party with screenings from our VHS library.
Those who were motivated on Saturday were up bright and early to go treasure-hunting at the town-wide yard sales. When we opened the kiln, we were not entirely surprised but somewhat sad to discover that both of Cara's cats had blown out in the kiln. The bottom of one of Joey's mugs also suffered a small explosion, and so we learned a lesson in hand-building and firing times.
The afternoon was dedicated to the National Asparagus Festival, the pride of our neighbor town Hart, the Asparagus Capital of the World. We had been eating fresh asparagus all week, but now was the chance to try deep-fried stalks and asparagus tamales. The Royale Parade on main street included Asparagus Queens, trickster remote controlled cars, antique tractors, two marching bands, and even a visit from Officer Pizzarelli.
After watching live music at the festival and having a proper dinner, we ended the day for the third time at House of Flavors in Pentwater. By then the crew had befriended John, the owner, who told us about his favorite flavors (which Heather recorded for the zine) and about the legend of the Super Pig- the biggest banana split in town.
The afternoon was dedicated to the National Asparagus Festival, the pride of our neighbor town Hart, the Asparagus Capital of the World. We had been eating fresh asparagus all week, but now was the chance to try deep-fried stalks and asparagus tamales. The Royale Parade on main street included Asparagus Queens, trickster remote controlled cars, antique tractors, two marching bands, and even a visit from Officer Pizzarelli.
After watching live music at the festival and having a proper dinner, we ended the day for the third time at House of Flavors in Pentwater. By then the crew had befriended John, the owner, who told us about his favorite flavors (which Heather recorded for the zine) and about the legend of the Super Pig- the biggest banana split in town.
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As residents recovered from their ice cream hangovers on Sunday, Kenny was building an olympic standard Cornhole set. Cornhole is a yard game proudly hailing from the midwest, that has gained recent popularity across the country. Kenny said, "Everybody loves Cornhole," and decided to make a set for the studio as his community engagement project.
Heather was busy finishing her community project, her Cone Lickers zine, and we took a field trip to Ludington to print zines, buy hardware for Melissa's hammock, and see what we could find at the thrift stores.
Joey spent the day glazing her pots to fire that night, and we all prepared for the weekly slide talk. This week we had three artists sharing their work, and a record number of attendants that had us scrambling to find more chairs.
Cara told a story of her origins in the wild west of Mormon Utah, and her smart investigations into the history of that place. She talked about the collective American history of heading west, suburbs, manicured lawns, domesticated animals, and organized religions. Her work is often looking at larger tropes as well as looking at itself as an art object. Heather was up next, and explained her practice as three parts of a whole; drawing and animation, collaborative public projects, and multiples and illustration. She made us laugh with her collaborative invention of a contemporary art museum in her Calgary home, and subdued the crowd with A Woman Comes Into The Room- a softly articulated animation with rhythmic jumping edits. Fresh copies of Cone Lickers were on the shelf for the crowd to peruse. Our last speaker had drawn a few more locals out to the talk- Joey's new friend from coffee was in attendance, and was tickled to see a photograph of himself in her slideshow. Joey talked about her development away from the structure of her education in printmaking, towards the realm of social practice art where she makes her own structure for interactive projects. From quilting bees to tee shirts to pinch pots, Joey is always considering personal interaction as the primary medium for her work.
Heather was busy finishing her community project, her Cone Lickers zine, and we took a field trip to Ludington to print zines, buy hardware for Melissa's hammock, and see what we could find at the thrift stores.
Joey spent the day glazing her pots to fire that night, and we all prepared for the weekly slide talk. This week we had three artists sharing their work, and a record number of attendants that had us scrambling to find more chairs.
Cara told a story of her origins in the wild west of Mormon Utah, and her smart investigations into the history of that place. She talked about the collective American history of heading west, suburbs, manicured lawns, domesticated animals, and organized religions. Her work is often looking at larger tropes as well as looking at itself as an art object. Heather was up next, and explained her practice as three parts of a whole; drawing and animation, collaborative public projects, and multiples and illustration. She made us laugh with her collaborative invention of a contemporary art museum in her Calgary home, and subdued the crowd with A Woman Comes Into The Room- a softly articulated animation with rhythmic jumping edits. Fresh copies of Cone Lickers were on the shelf for the crowd to peruse. Our last speaker had drawn a few more locals out to the talk- Joey's new friend from coffee was in attendance, and was tickled to see a photograph of himself in her slideshow. Joey talked about her development away from the structure of her education in printmaking, towards the realm of social practice art where she makes her own structure for interactive projects. From quilting bees to tee shirts to pinch pots, Joey is always considering personal interaction as the primary medium for her work.
With one event after another, Monday was a bustling hustle to prep artwork and food for A Pleasant Evening. This was our first official fundraising dinner party event, modeled after our resident artist Amanda Kennedy's project last year, where she served dinner in handmade bowls that each guest got to take home with them. The title is a nod to one of our favorite local events, the annual A Pleasant Afternoon, in Mears. We invited guests to come for a shared dinner and an interactive showcase of our resident artist's on-site work, and asked each resident to contribute to the event in whatever way made sense to them.
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After a successful glaze fire, Joey's mugs found a new home at Good Stuffs, and Cara finished her sculptures by patching them back together with expanding foam. Cara had been working all week on another project that came to fruition on Monday, a landscape painting and performance that happened during the event. After learning that the chain store Dollar General will be moving directly next door to our studio next summer, she decided to make an action painting by hiring a local lawnmower man to mow the footprint of the store in the currently untouched meadow. The sound of the riding mower and smell of fresh-cut grass interrupted the dinner with a buzzing reminder of what is to come.
Kenny finished his Cornhole set and prepared a favorite appetizer, Melissa decorated the tables with interactive neon sculptures mirroring her installation overhead, and Joey set up a table of her ceramics and collected objects with instructions for a poem-writing game. The dinner was a great success with twenty guests in attendance, and enough baked potato bar to feed them all. We discovered that sloppy joe turkey is amazing on a potato, watched episodes of the BeachCam Variety Show, and bought tickets for the 50/50 raffle that Heather organized. The evening was packed with time-based art, from a screening of Cara's video, Kenny's short film and Heather's animations, to Joey reading the poems that the guests had collaborated on, to a somber visit to the mowed section of meadow where Cara read her romantic essay on lawns. We even had a Super Pig from House of Flavors to go with the rhubarb cake that Melissa baked, and the night ended with an indoor tournament of Cornhole.
Kenny finished his Cornhole set and prepared a favorite appetizer, Melissa decorated the tables with interactive neon sculptures mirroring her installation overhead, and Joey set up a table of her ceramics and collected objects with instructions for a poem-writing game. The dinner was a great success with twenty guests in attendance, and enough baked potato bar to feed them all. We discovered that sloppy joe turkey is amazing on a potato, watched episodes of the BeachCam Variety Show, and bought tickets for the 50/50 raffle that Heather organized. The evening was packed with time-based art, from a screening of Cara's video, Kenny's short film and Heather's animations, to Joey reading the poems that the guests had collaborated on, to a somber visit to the mowed section of meadow where Cara read her romantic essay on lawns. We even had a Super Pig from House of Flavors to go with the rhubarb cake that Melissa baked, and the night ended with an indoor tournament of Cornhole.
Tuesday was our last day of Session One, and residents were busy packing up and saying goodbye. Melissa installed her hammock in the meadow and we all took it for a spin. This will surely be a favorite nap spot for many Shared Space resident artists of the future.
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