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.

Cracked Open in Taos / DOL 2015

Cracked Open in Taos / DOL 2015

Oct 22, 2015 | Commissions, Creativity, Designers, Process, Studio

Cracked Open in Taos / DOL 2015

A year ago Diane Ericson asked me to be a guest teacher in Taos for her Design Outside the Lines workshop series. I immediately said yes. Why wouldn’t I want to be at Mabel Dodge Luhan House sharing what I know best with 20 women I had never met?

The excitement started building as I gathered supplies that needed to be shipped beforehand. Okay -I needed to make sloppy bags for holding scraps. Check. Okay -I need to bring all the Solvys. Check. I needed to pack what’s on my rack. Check. Okay -I needed to make some more pieces to show my technique. Check.

In the meantime my sleep is getting rattled. The energy is ramping up. It’s gonna be okay- I can do this, I remind myself.

After spending some days with my Albuquerque brother exploring Puyé cliff dwellings, I headed up to Taos via Santa Fe to see Elise and crew from Santa Fe Weaving Gallery. I met Diane at Mabel’s. We chatted and went to Love Apple for dinner. We share our life’s stories. A connection was made.

The next day the women start arriving. We set up the log cabin, where Diane has her store and we have our “products”. There we gathered in the late afternoon after dinner and introduced ourselves. My mouth is dry. 20 women.

But the room is cozy and we are all here for the same reason: to create, to share, to support the process of creativity and exploration.

Monday starts off with a bang. We do our demos. I am demo-ing my Pelt solvy technique, a thick dense composition of scraps, that could become clothing as in: what would the modern Neanderthal wear? In the afternoon, I demo the Dervish technique, how to lay out your fabric scraps with a pattern in mind.

Diane meanwhile is really speaking to the heart of playing/ exploring vs. the psychology of the workshop mentality, ie. I have to finish something to show what I did when I spent this time with myself. Doing vs. being.

What cracked me open was her talk about her “birthday” shirt. It is a special process she does for herself every year. She creates a theme for the shirt, in this case lightness, and brings that into play. She started by playing with paper airplanes, then folded airplanes out of cotton to use as a pocket, and stenciled

airplanes onto the shirt fabric. But it was really the way she talked about making time for herself and honoring herself that moved me. By the time I got up to present I broke out into tears. The thing was- that was perfectly okay. Everyone got what was happening. Everyone was right there, no judgment.

DOL is a safe place to be your most vulnerable. And as a result every one is open and supportive. Diane is a marvelous storyteller. She has comic timing. And yet there is room for the tender sharing of our hearts.

The time flew by. Some people made and completed items. Most did not. Most tried things out: stenciling, screening, pulling cording, making frogs, composing fabric, hand stitching. I made a purse/bag. I was happy to take part of the stitching process.

Next time I’ll be a student. Gwen Spencer, the very talented assistant said at the end to me: be a student. I’m taking her advice. I’m taking DOL in Taos where she’ll be the guest teacher.

The last day as we sat in a big circle I can safely say all our hearts were more open, that we were all bonded, all filled with new ideas and excited about the next creative step. I was honored to be a part of that experience.