Drop Cloth Coat

Drop Cloth Coat

Dec 13, 2024 | Creativity, Process

Holly B with Celeste in her Sausalito, CA studio

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 January I signed up for a couple of activities to bring some structure to my life:  a lecture presentation at PENWAG in May, the Peninsula wearable art group, second a fashion show in Santa Clara for the Pacific International Quilt Festival end of July! 

Slowly the creative wheels started to turn. After the years of being in charge of Mom’s care, it was challenging to hop back into my own hemisphere. Having a deadline always helps. 

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”
Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

So back to slowly. The drop cloth-into-clothing-idea was a way to transform my grieving into action.  My niece, Taya, had a wonderful coat that I made a pattern from. Step one. Then, I thought I wanted to embellish the canvas as if it had been splattered. That meant getting really loose and even messy. How fun! How liberating!

Get those juices going!

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”
Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

The first coat made me happy. It was a big departure from my usual painting style. 

It looked marvelous and when I did the presentation at PENWAG it sold! I was a little tender about letting it go, but I knew the woman who purchased it and she knows how to wear it and I am happy she was the one to treasure it.

The second white coat was thicker. I couldn’t even turn the edges in for the facing and collar, so I just topstitched it and let it fray for a really deconstructed look. I’m not sure this coat will sell. It’s more of an object/art piece. But there it is, an inspiration for me going forward. 

Maybe clothing can be sculpture, 3D. And that’s okay.

Images by Badgley Photography:

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The Crossroads

The Crossroads

Oct 5, 2023 | Process, Productivity, Studio

Holly B with Celeste in her Sausalito, CA studio

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 in production and I’m not sure there is still a market for “wearable art” like in the past.

So I have to search my soul and see what I can let go of. One of the key things about sorting and clearing is: where is it going to go? Most of what I want to shed is white fabric that can be dyed or painted. So that’s what I’ve been doing. Measuring, bundling and tagging all the white fabric I am not ever going to get to. I have one woman who I took an eco printing class with who is taking some. That gives me great satisfaction, knowing where it’s going and what marvelous things can happen to those yards of silk, wool, linen and misc.!

I have to search my soul and see what I can let go of.

In my mind’s eye everything I see has potential, rusty bottle caps on the street, papers of all sorts, plastic bags. And fabric. Getting rid of white fabric allows me to shop for Guatemalan cortes (skirts), and African indigos, and kantha blankets. In order to get current with myself, and what I want to be doing, it helps to go through all the bins of fabrics and reorder them, see them.

I love making clothes. I love dressing. I love color. And I love the scraps in my cutting wastebasket and the little swirls of thread on the floor that magically make a neat composition. I want to explore all of the magic and potential that my studio contains. Now I have time. I can make my own schedule. I can ask myself-what will give me pleasure and take my art to the next level?

Stay tuned. And if you want some fabric let me know!

The Long Journey

The Long Journey

Oct 3, 2023 | Creative Space, Process

Holly B with Celeste in her Sausalito, CA studio

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 fill. You can check out her website and see for yourselves: ebaart.com.

My care of her started in 2020. It was our first look into her mortality and it was sobering. She went to the hospital and after her “spa” treatment there, went home now taking pills. She’d only taken vitamins before that. Covid was upon us and life was looking different. I started out coming to her 2 days a week. Then after a bit, hired one companion, then another and then a third. We became her “Team Elaine”.

In those ensuing years, she made a bronze sculpture of a kneeling man in honor of George Floyd, a 7′ x 9’ diptych of the siege of the White House and, mostly completed a large painting of a cello player playing in front of bombed out buildings in Ukraine. She was very political in her later years.

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

Mom’s unfinished painting of Ukranian cellist in front of bombed-out buildings in Kviv. This was her last painting that she worked on.

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

Mom with London Breed at City Hall in San Francisco, posing with her last mayoral painting.

Diptych of the January, 6th. seige on the US capital in Washington D.C.

Header image: Kristina, mom’s main helper, taking a selfie at Artworks Foundry in Berkeley, CA.

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

Mom with Andre Hines, her muse for the Kneeling Man sculpture.

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

Sketch of Andre Hines posing for the kneeling man, which was later turned into a bronze sculpture.

Group photo at Artworks Foundry with helpers and family. November 2021.

I’m telling this story to illustrate the process of a very prolific artist coming to grips with the inevitable from a daughter’s perspective. Everyone’s journey is different according to who they are. I had the privilege to assist mom with her projects and daily needs. It wasn’t easy, but it was such a valuable experience for me. I am still weighing the need to finish everything you have wanted to do, (did I mention she also published a memoire!), or to be quietly introspective and real about what is going on. My mom was very driven, and I think at the end she accomplished all the things that she wanted to say with her work. And we had sweet times of connection: watching our PBS Masterpiece shows, eating yummy food and looking out her window and telling stories.

I miss her very much.

ebaart.com

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Sebastopol Center for the Arts: Art Quilt Show

Sebastopol Center for the Arts: Art Quilt Show

Jul 4, 2020 | Creative Space, Process

Holly Badgley discussing her art at the Sebastopol Center for The Arts

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 definition of “quilt” had been revised and loosened to include a more freeform style of working.

Marj City by Holly Badgley, Size: 36”x24”

As a result I entered three pieces into the Art Quilt Show, a collaboration between Sebastopol Center for the Arts and SAQA. One piece was accepted. I was thrilled. The piece was one I made from couture scraps belonging to my, many years deceased, mother-in-law Marjorie Stern.  Collected from her trips to Paris couture houses (mainly Dior), ranging from the ‘30s to the ‘60s, the rolled up bits of cloth fell into two categories: city clothes and country clothes.

I made two wall pieces as a result. The one selected for the show was called “Marj City”, a collage of beautiful greys with some black and white mixed in, as well as a splash of coral. In her closet were the finished garments lending inspiration to my process. One gown, (how often do we see gowns these days?), was a strapless Lanvin in a large brushy, painterly print, topped with coral soutache. The soutache gave dimension and a strong graphic pattern to the gown. It has an honored place at the De Young as part of their textile collection. And the scraps have a place on my wall hanging!

Holly Badgley discussing her textile art at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Holly Badgley discussing her textile art at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts
It has an honored place at the De Young as part of their textile collection. And the scraps have a place on my wall hanging!

I wasn’t available to attend the opening of the show, but offered to come up for the SAQA members talk a couple of weeks into the show. It was wonderful to see the variety of work present and I was happy to be in such an appreciative crowd.  The talks went well and my friend Marla recorded mine. I am grateful to the Center for the Arts for the opportunity to show my work.  Now that I have gone through the application process, I know there will be more chances to show my work.

Looking back to January and February, it seems like a lifetime ago we could go to art galleries and openings, many prayers that we will again. In the meantime- Let’s make Art!

 

Resources Mentioned in this Blog Post

Sebastopol Center for the Arts

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Studio Art Quilt Associates

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Karen Balos

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Marla Brillart

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Making yardage for Catherine Bacon’s art kimonos!

Making yardage for Catherine Bacon’s art kimonos!

Feb 18, 2016 | Commissions, Creativity, Designers, Process, Studio

Making yardage for Catherine Bacon’s art kimonos!

I make fabric for Catherine Bacon about twice a year. When I was doing yardage for her a couple of years ago, it became more full-time than I wanted. I liked having a steady paycheck, but I missed out selling at other venues ie: the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery, and at the Acqua hotel sales.

As I do love keeping my hands in many pots and in keeping with how Catherine’s business was changing, when she decided to hire surface artists to make one of a kind yardage for her Art Kimonos, I jumped at the chance.

She sends me old remnants of her double georgette, this time in “butt ugly” colors (her words). I love the challenge of painting them into something beautifully mysterious at the same time using up the old fabric from previous collections.

In the past I have planned the fabric to fit her pattern, motif-wise. This time I painted and screened a design not knowing where the pattern would lay. That was a holdover from the Diane Ericson/ Gwen Spencer way of working at the Taos Design outside the Lines 2015. Very freeing.

I would love to see how they turn out. However, Catherine doesn’t usually document each one. That’s another reminder of the fleeting connection I have to these wonderful pieces.

3 Cruzianas: Winter Painting

3 Cruzianas: Winter Painting

Jan 22, 2016 | Classes, Creative Space, Creativity, Process

3 Cruzianas: Winter Painting

The group is getting distilled. From eleven to five to three. And the three are passionate painters. Because they have already been en studio, there was an idea of what was possible. Sharon brought a packet of images to be made into silk screens she had designed. Each had brought pre-washed fabrics to sample. I had mixed 3 large jars of “chem”,  the thickened mixture we add the dyes to for flat painting. And I had extra mesh for making the silk screens. Set to go.

The 1st day was getting our priorities established.  Silk screening first so it can “batch” and soak up the black dye. Then getting started on painting yardage of different fabrics. They had purchased some natural wool flannel at my source, and had bought the striped cotton/linen they had fallen in love with at the last workshop. Plus bits and pieces of other interesting cottons and velvet. Lisa brought a dynamite shantung organza. I’m going to go right out and get me some! Such body and texture. Love it!

The time seemed to tear by at a rapid clip. Every available rack and ladder was covered with drying fabrics. We ran out of painting tables. I mixed more dye. There was still more to work on. So much so that we added on a day  in order to let the pieces dry, make the silk screens  and possibly paint one more hunk of fabric.

All the while I was fighting a cold, and what I noticed was as the days progressed and  the excitement of sharing in the creative process, by the last day I felt healed. It was amazing. There was such a flow and sympatico between us, these women who have spent time together in a creative container. I was very honored to be part of their history and provide new horizons for their work.