Where I've been, Where I'm going?

My family moves house. Not as much as some, but I think more than most. It's part of being in the military. While the Army often asks us where we'd like to go, when it comes down to it, they make the final decision of where my husband is needed. This makes mapping out future plans a bit difficult. But we've been fortunate enough to live in many very interesting places along the way. Where we've been and where we are going has been the focus of my pondering on the Twelve by Twelve map theme.



Usually, I ask myself if there are any textile references related to a given theme or subject I want to pursue. My first thoughts were of maps printed on the silk linings of some WWII era bomber jackets. According to Wikipedia,

Some jackets had a map of the mission area sewn into the lining, which could be used (in theory) for navigation if shot down. Some jackets (famously, those from the China Burma India Theater, and of the Flying Tigers) had a "Blood chit" sewn on the lining or outer back, printed on cloth, which promised certain rewards to civilians who aided a downed airman.

I liked that a map could signify the future, or a road out of danger. I wrote in my sketchbook that perhaps I could embroider on silk, but have it be a map of an inner journey. What do I want? Where do I want to go? Dead ends? Dangerous or unknown places? Rewarding places?

Then I got to thinking that all of that might be a bit obtuse, and considered souvenir state tea towels like these from the Sundance catalog. If nothing else the size and proportions are much closer to our 20x12" vertical format. Conceptually, this idea would be less "escape route," and more "banal life in general." And I'm OK with that.

So, I set about listing things I could incorporate. Thoughts on moving. Places we've lived. Icons of those places. The sense of criss-crossing the globe. Then I started drawing. With Google Maps to help I made drawings of neighborhoods in which we've lived. With tracing paper, I finessed placements.

My next step will be to transfer my drawing to a plain tea towel and get to embroidering. I'm liking where this is going, and it was fun reminiscing where I've been in the process.

Painted Map

In late 2010, I created this quilt for the Thread Tails and Vapor Trails traveling quilt exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of Naval aviation. Since my husband is a navy pilot and I am an art quilter, of course, I had to enter.

It's titled Orion Odyssey. ("Orion" is the nickname of the P-3 which my husband flew.)

You can see lots more pictures on my blog here.

Below you can see part of the map section of the quilt. You can read about creating that map here.

Creating this quilt was a real struggle. I rearranged, sliced, painted, re-stitched, re-cut, removed, layered and fussed with this quilt way too much. The quilt recently came back to me after more than a year of traveling around the country. I'm glad it have it home -- there are a lot of things I really like about it. (And some I don't.)

The map is one of the things I really like! The gold dots you see in the photo above are actually tiny gold beads that mark all the places Jeff has landed a P-3.

I recently pulled out some of the freezer paper stencils I cut to create the map. After all that work, I couldn't throw the away. Here's Africa.

Here's Europe and Asia. I think North and South America are curled up on the left.

I cut this entire map with an exacto knife. For the quilt, I used the opposite cut-outs which I guess I threw away. I could only find the positive shapes in my stencil files.

I've been thinking about what I'll create for this new map challenge. I'm thinking of cutting more freezer paper stencils. I need to add exacto blades to my shopping list.

I Love New Yorker Maps

I picked up last week's New Yorker and there was another map. The one above is the iconic New Yorker's view of the US which I have always loved. If you google New Yorker cover maps, you can see many of them.

Body Mapping

I've been thinking about maps and body images and came up with a few ideas for our next challenge.  I tried looking up some images to show you on some copyright free sites, but what I want to do is not on any of those sites.  Here's what I found for  brain mapping, which seems more like problem solving.

I tried heart mapping next, and this is what I got, which is really cool, but not what I'm looking for.

Whatever I decide to do, it will be abstract, so I am not worried about copyright infringement, and hopefully it will be a series.

Maps on fabric

Today I printed maps on fabric. Do you wonder what I will do with them? I wonder too.

 I had a great idea, but it would only work as a horizontal. I'm sure these maps will speak to me soon!

Beneath the Southern Sky Exhibition

Beneath the Southern Sky is a travelling exhibition of 30 textile works exploring the title theme. Brenda is curating the exhibition and it includes an African-inspired piece The Things We Carry by Helen.  You can view the exhibition online by clicking the image below and there will be regular insights on tour on the Beneath the Southern Sky Facebook page:

  

Even better, you can view the exhibition up close and "in the cloth" at the following events in Australia, New Zealand and the United States:

• Craft and Sewing Show, Sydney: 8-11 March 2012;
• Craft and Sewing Show, Auckland: 15-18 March 2012;
• Craft and Sewing Show, Brisbane: 22-25 March 2012;
• Australasian Quilt Convention: 12-15 April 2012
• Craft & Quilt Fair, Perth: 23-27 May 2012;
• Craft and Sewing Show, Newcastle 16- 19 August 2012;
• Craft and Sewing Show, Townsville: 4-7 October 2012;
• Craft and Sewing Show, Melbourne: 25-28 October 2012;
• Craft & Quilt Fair, Adelaide: 8-11 November 2012;
• AQS Quilt Show, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA: 13-16 March 2013;
• AQS Quilt Show, Paducah, Kentuckey, USA: 24-27 April 2013; and
• Gosford Regional Gallery: 1 June- 3 July 2013.

Further exhibition venues are under investigation.

Mapping a Stragegy

As I contemplate the map theme, I find myself captivated by map imagery as it pops up in my online reading. Today, I rediscovered the work of Bonnie Peterson. Take a look at her website and become inspired.

Eveywhere, maps

 My husband is in the habit of recording all the TV programmes we watch even if we are actually watching them live.  This is partly because our family has a talent for ringing right in the middle of the good bits but mostly to enable me to yell, " Stop! Go back a bit. Pause it when I says so. Now!" .

It is for these moments of inspiration that the ipad camera was invented.

This still from Upstairs Downstairs caught my eye tonight.

 

Mapping Twelve by Twelve

Deborah has selected such a rich and inspiring theme.  Maps, of course, are everywhere! Looking back through the Theme Series and the Colorplay series, there were several "mappish" works. Deborah has already mentioned Everlasting from the Shelter theme. When I was touring with the Theme Series in New Zealand in 2010, I stayed at Kirsty's parents home for a few days. They were travelling overseas and it was my first visit. Yet, somehow, thanks to Kirsty's schematic - it all seemed very familiar.  Here are some other pieces with a map element:

Everlasting by Kirsty

12N 12W by Helen

Terra Incognita by Nikki

Flight Path by Diane

As illustrated in the BBC series The Beauty of Maps (click for map highlights and video tour), cartography is full of art, intrigue and discovery.  I can't wait to see what 1 May reveals!

Swotting Flies

Maps sometimes have unexpected uses...

You want me to what?

Sometimes maps can be puzzling.

Ted's Mosaic

With Ted's completion of Karen's dish, it seems only fitting that he should have his very own mosaic.  Actually, he gets two!  On the left is a display of the inspiration quilts and on the right is Ted's rendition in glass. (Click for a larger version.) Thank you Ted for these beautiful, thoughtful gifts.

   

PS:  Look in the Ted Rips category for all our posts showing Ted's work.  Also see Ted's blog at
www.sanityartglass.blogspot.com

The Shoemakers Children...

After months of ignoring me, glass wise anyway, Ted has made a Twelve plate for me.  He picked one of my favorite pieces and I think it turned out really nice.  The figures are copper which turned a beautiful reddish/brown.

You can read about his process here http://sanityartglass.blogspot.com/.  I'm thinking his kiln will hold a 20 x 12 size, so hmmm, maybe that's next.

Another El Anatsui

I saw an exhibition of his work at the SDA conference in Kansas City in May 2009. I love how this piece, from a distance, looks like a brid's eye view from on high. You can see how he has grouped the found objects to create pattern. If you click on this, you can see some of the detail a bit better. I think it was the beginning of my love for connecting small bits of ephemera in a grid.

More El Anatsui

Well, since we're talking about El Anatsui (scroll down a few posts), I must share this picture.

It was taken at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City just this past summer. I took the picture and that's Kristin in the center -- in the brown tank top with the tan back pack. The two of us joined some other fiber artists for a wonderful long weekend in NY including this trip to the Met, mostly to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit. But, we all really liked this El Anatsui piece too. It's titled Dusura II. According to the artist, the title can be translated as a "communal patchwork made by a team of townspeople."

If I were to relate all these ideas to the theme of maps, I might say it would be fascinating to create a graphic, visual list or pattern of connections.

Helen posted about El Anatsui...
which reminded me of the El Anatsui work I'd seen...
with Kristin...
who is another member of 12x12...
and we are certainly part of a "communal patchwork"...
which reminds me of patchwork quilts...

Sometimes maps really can connect disparate ideas and experiences.