Holly’s Blog
Drop Cloth Coat
Gathering miscellaneous items in the mom studio cleanup, I found some canvas that had been used as drop cloths. Not too splattered, I considered their promise. One was an interesting weave and not too thick, the other a gorgeous, tight woven yet soft, weight. In...
The Crossroads
Having finished clearing out my mom’s apartment I have started the process of clearing my own space. I can hardly walk into my studio. I don’t know where to start. And I realize I don’t have the bandwidth or strength to work as I have all my life. I’m not interested...
The Long Journey
My mother passed away July 15th at the age of 97. She hadn’t been to her studio since December but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t working. She was still engaged with her art practice till about a month or two before she just couldn’t anymore. Those are big shoes to...
Greetings Textilians & Lovers of Beauty
I am not having a holiday show this year so I wanted to reach out to say Happy Holidays! We have all been hunkered down and dealing with this Pandemic in our own ways. I have been doing studio-lite, some small production for the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery.Playing with...
Sebastopol Center for the Arts: Art Quilt Show
It was a long time that I didn’t submit any of my work into various shows. Life got in the way and maybe I didn’t resonate with the themes. My friend and fellow “quilter”, Karen Balos, suggested I join SAQA, Studio Art Quilt Association. She told me that the...
Assemblage: The Re-contextualizing of Objects
There is an affliction some artists have of seeing potential and beauty in everything. Now that I have taken a plastic fusing class, a bookmaking workshop and an assemblage class—will I ever throw anything away again? This affliction also involves picking up trash...
Love Fest @ PenWag: Winter Presentation & Workshop
My friend Marcia Manzo called me last year to see if I would be interested in sharing pictures of my trip to Japan, two years ago, for the Peninsula Wearable Art Group. I love sharing things that are so dear to my heart. This was maybe my one and only trip with the...
Knee deep in plastic! Upcycling Plastic with Auli Sookari
I met Auli at the local Tam Valley Craft Fair in November. On my way out I noticed a sublime stack of gauzy looking scarves in divine colors. Her booth was simple and welcoming. She dyes with natural dyes and teaches classes. I took her card so I could peruse her...
Studio Sorting 106
I keep my hard patterns up a tall ladder in a loft in the studio. I accumulate the currently used ones on my makeshift closet on the ground floor. Over time the current ones get hard to access and I need to upload some to make order.Well, as 68 is fast approaching,...
Fiber Sculpture Sebastopol Center for the Arts
On our way back from Benbow in Southern Humboldt, we ducked in to see the fiber show at the Center for the Arts in Sebastopol. It’s an international juried show and a lot of my friends were showing in it. I don’t always make museum shows, so was happy when...
Port Townsend Wearable Art Show 2019
The women who lived in Marrakech in the ‘70s have started to gather together every year after one of our dears passed away, taking turns to be exposed to one or the others life, surroundings and activities. This year it is Carol McCreary’s turn. Kinza had told me for...
Recent Shows from Fall 2018 to Spring 2019
I am lax blogger when it comes to writing about my trunk shows. But the shows inform me about how my work is doing, with people I don’t know and favorite clients.
Excavation/ Creation/ Inspiration/ Reconstruction
…Many trains later we returned to Kyoto, excited about the Temple Market! The market takes place on the outskirts of an old temple once a month. Racks and racks of old cotton and silk kimonos and deconstructed kimonos were to be had; the cash stash I was saving evaporated in less than…
New Mexico and the Folk Art Festival
My textilian friend, Sheri Brautigam set up a friend’s getaway for 4 old friends last July. First, we were going to the PowWow at Taos Pueblo. But that got cancelled so we stayed at Mabel Dodge Luhan’s house and tooled around Taos, visiting the Earthships site,...
Japan with the Chigyo Sisters, Part 2
…Many trains later we returned to Kyoto, excited about the Temple Market! The market takes place on the outskirts of an old temple once a month. Racks and racks of old cotton and silk kimonos and deconstructed kimonos were to be had; the cash stash I was saving evaporated in less than…
Japan with the Chigyo Sisters, Part 1
The Background: It’s a complicated story as to how I ended up going by myself to Japan on a tour with the Chigyo sisters. I’ve known these talented women since 1984 or so. They were just starting out, as I was, in the textile world. I met them through my friends,...