stasis

March 21, 2024

I’m interested in how nature layers and transforms materials through growth, rot, erosion and rebirth.

And also in how we humans transform the same spaces.

Having just returned from a two week trip to the deserts of Arizona I am filled with images and thoughts. I participated in a wonderful show at the 45th annual Yuma Art Symposium where I met some inspiring artists and teachers. I traveled through deserts and into mountains and canyon lands where I found extraordinary nature-made patterns and shapes. I studied native pottery, browsed through museums and took long hikes. I met up with a family of javelinas during a hike, watched crows chatter at hikers and studied the layers and layers of rock forms at the Grand Canyon—holding on for dear life for fear of being whisked into the canyon. (It is clear that my fear of edges is getting worse as I get wiser.)

And, now, I am a little frozen on next steps. How to take all of that in and then apply it to my own work? Should I just go back to what I was working on before I left?

For some reason I am not ready to stitch. And that is really odd for me. I am ALWAYS ready to stitch. So I took out my drawing tools and did some stream-of-consciousness drawings instead. I might want to stitch something that looks like these.

And, I am reading a lot. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich, The Wager by David Grann, North Woods by Daniel Mason, Never Home Alone by Rob Dunn. I recommend them all. These stories take me to other places.

So, for now, I am working on the engineering part of my work. Knotting loose threads, adding edge bindings and hanging sleeves…all those details that bore me. I usually hate doing that part of my art. For now it gives me more time to think about what’s next.

mend

January 27, 2024

I cut things up and put them back together.

It’s process not product right? So why do I save all these “products” in my store room when I can be inspired by them to create new pieces? My work is about transformation and discovery so what stops me from using what is at hand? Nothing. So, let’s get on with it.

**I started with this piece.** It’s called *AHA! moment*s. I made it in 2010. It has traveled a bit, been shown a bit and has been part of my portfolio for these past 14 years. The fabric is printed with a black and white drawing I did and then enlarged, daubed with dye and stitched. I love this piece. **It’s about how the brain organizes and stores ideas.**

The second piece is called *Layered Chao*s. I made this piece two years ago in response to the chaos we are all witnessing in the news. **My goal is to merge the two**.

They complement each other in a way that inspires me. Those little orange dots in the white piece are reflected in the white dots and dashes in the black piece. **They are part of my stitching vocabulary.**

Beast

Beast disrobed

Herd

First I had to disassemble AHA! Moments from its secondary role as a beast in my installation called the Herd. See a story about that here.

**I wanted to cut holes into the dark piece** that would allow the white piece to show through. Here I am using white paper to experiment with where the holes might be. I wanted them to travel across the piece in a random fashion. I wanted the final white pieces to look like patches. I soon realized that I would have to cut the white piece in half vertically to show more of the drawing on each side in the final composition.

Then I had to start cutting. It was a scary moment, I’ll have to admit. I had to keep reminding myself that it is all about the process and if the end product didn’t turn out I would still have the raw material to create something else. Here’s the result of the first cuts. The middle image shows the holes cut into the black piece and the right hand image shows what happens when I cut the white piece in half I could show more of the drawing.

**Then the fun begins.** My basic concept with this piece was to convey the idea of mending and transformation. Nature does that, so why can’t we? As I stitched the white pieces into the black it felt active and purposeful. Like that darkness really needed some of those new ideas.

I love all this detail. The free-motion cross-hatching gives the piece a scratchy energy that appeals to me.

**Still a work in progress.** Here’s where it stands for now. I’m still thinking about how much white should overtake the black. The piece measures about 65” x 65” for now.

**Mending. Transformation**. Our backyard is full of examples of one thing taking over others. Rebirthing new miracles. Mending what is injured.

Registration is open! Come stitch with me

January 19, 2024

I have a number of scheduled workshops to offer this year. Here are three to consider. I hope to see you there!

At Play in the Garden of Stitch: Fearless Free-Motion Stitching

JUNE 9-15

Find out more here: Shakerag Workshops in Sewanee Tennessee on the beautiful Cumberland Plateau

Using the sewing machine as a mark-making tool, participants will focus on seeing, interpreting and completing concept-driven work. We will explore texture, pattern and story with simple-to-learn techniques.This is not a traditional free-motion stitching workshop. We'll make a mess by playing with lines that are active and reactive. We'll embrace the wonky by learning to make the most of whatever occurs. And, then, we'll stitch with abandon.
Open to all skill levels.

Alter Ego Stitch and Collage

July 22-26

Find out more here: Quilting by the Lake

Guardians, Superheros, Pets, Monsters, Divas and Villains—they will all be here during our stitch-and-collage class. This class will hone your funny bone and polish your grip on stitching. We’ll practice free-motion stitching to create narratives, textures and patterns. We’ll collage scraps of cut up quilts and found fabrics to create bodies, heads and appendages. We’ll experiment with 3D forms to break the 2D barrier. Fun? Yes. Freeing? Absolutely. Our emphasis will be on play. Channel your inner dialog into a superhero or leading lady. Make an ideal pet. Bring that alter ego forward.

Open to all skill levels

At Play in the Garden of Stitch - Madeline Island

August 26-30

Find out more here: Madeline Island School of the Arts

A spectacular island situated in Lake Superior, this site has to be inspirational to all artists. In this free-motion quilting workshop students learn to think in thread by translating visual stimuli into pathways. The first days will focus on simple-to-learn techniques to fill and grow a composition built on linework. Then, throwing caution to the wind, we’ll cut up quilted pieces to create expressive, textural collages. Learn to let go of expectations! Come to have fun.

Open to all skill levels

scraps and colonies

January 10, 2024

I work on many projects at the same time. If not, I get bored. I like how pieces morph and talk to each other as they progress. I can sometimes see similarities other times big differences. Techniques can change while concepts are basically the same. I am influenced by my readings and by the news, and by the walks I take to catch a breath. Lately I use my art to distract myself from the feeling of dread when I watch the news.

Two works in progress, *Nonsense* on the left and *Letting Go* on the right.

Play

Sometimes I just like to have fun. The piece on the left in the picture above is done on a piece of whole cloth I designed and had printed at Spoonflower. The cartoonish figures gave me a playground for stitching.

I like to layer my stitching to create a sense of movement or depth.

I’m always looking for surprises. Check out this dude peaking out from behind the black squares.

Parts are smaller than the whole

Over the course of ten years I have accumulated baskets of scrapped quilted pieces. They are not only offcuts but also pieces that I cut up after being disappointed with the results of a composition. About seven years ago I made some garlands of the scraps that reminded me of the beaded curtains that were so popular back in the day. Those curtains always seemed to signal a mystery behind them. They obscured an opening while also creating a gateway that was easy to traverse. They were a little mysterious but also enchanting and magical. So, as I accumulated more and more garlands this scraps piece has evolved to be more than its parts. These scraps represent my process, my trajectory and my history as an artist. They also stand witness to the mistakes I defined, the trial and error that I experienced, and the idea that I just have to let go. It’s a work in progress and morphs every day.

I’m starting to curate the scraps. There are days when I look around at other pieces I have created and wonder if they too should be cut up and strung together.

Colonies

We talk about colonies in space, colonies on land and colonies of bacteria. Each type of colony has an intrinsic architecture that fastens the parts to the whole. That architecture is something we have in common with other species.

Once I had the opportunity to follow the trails of leaf cutter ants from a tree that they were dismantling scrap by scrap to their colony in a dirt bank down the road. I was mesmerized. Not only were they a little army of workers but also they had guards, emergency crews, dancers, choppers, lifters, slackers, and buried somewhere deep within, a queen. Their trails, structures and actions are mirrored in our own cities, countries and families.

In the NPR series Searching for Meaning: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science Alan Lightman says that “Meaning must be found in the moment even as we yearn for immortality.” I was totally in the moment, filled with awe, while studying that leaf cutter colony. The focus from macro to micro made me a conscious witness to a separate reality.

Colonies, a work-in-progress, Paula Kovarik

“Colonies” could represent microscopic detail but also resembles aerial shots of land and developments. I am somewhere between those two ideas for now.

How does your work help you focus on the now?

taking stock

December 14, 2023

Yesterday it was Spring. We were taking stock of all the plants that were hit by an unnatural freeze. The garden changed this year. Despite losing a number of trees and cherished bushes, it regenerated. Bushes are shorter, downed trees left open space for new growth and critters found new homes. Nature shows us that growth, death, rebirth is a cycle. I often have to remind myself of that in my work. Nothing is permanent.

Each day we walk through the garden taking stock of the survivors. We tend to the broken and sweep up the debris into mulch piles. Then the cycle can begin again.

Though I know that it was not Spring yesterday it feels like 2023 passed too quickly. My sense of condensed time continues to spur me on. I have so many ideas to test out, so many techniques to try. So I took stock. I asked myself what, exactly, did I accomplish this year? How do these works inspire more? Should I concentrate on one direction? Or, continue to experiment with new techniques? Does it matter?

Below is a summary document of all the work I created in 2023. Some were successful. Some were learning tools, some were cut up and started over. Click on the image below to see the variety.