Early Morning before teaching in Coupeville, WA

As seen the ferry to Whidbey Island where I taught in early October.

Getting to the Pacific Northwest Art School is a days-long trip from Cleveland, Ohio to Seattle, then must hop a shuttle to take a 2-3 hour drive including a ferry ride all the way to Coupeville, on Whidbey Island, WA. Where the sun was shining when I arrived!

Coupeville, WA

Pacific Northwest Art School

My friend, Caryn Freidlander came down from Bellingham to stay 2 days before my classes began. She helped me set up my classroom and then we were off to explore.

We found a super cute cafe

And Caryn recalled shopping here once, so we went.

Caryn, in her inside out jacket from Maiwa

Jan McGregor owns a fabulous shop in Coupeville, She imports items directly from Japan and lived there for quite a while when she studied making pottery herself. Now she travels to Kyoto about twice yearly to bring new goods into the states. She has a lust-worthy variety of Japanese fabrics since she herself used to design clothes. You can imagine I added to my stash.

My friend, Caryn lived in Kyoto for 3 years and had just been again this year. Now I’m plotting to go with Caryn. The soonest I can imagine would be 2020.

Note: Click on any photos in this entire post to enlarge.

Some images looking at Penn Cove, near the Inn where I stayed. I secretly called it the “murder” hotel because it felt like I would see Angela Lansbury rounding the corner looking for a suspect in “Murder She Wrote”. What this means is that it was quaint, and old fashioned, clean and tidy, just a little dated. That said, the folks who where at the Inn were terrific, and I was also steps away from 2 of the best small restaurants I’ve eaten at lately.

Here are a series of small works participants stitched while I was there. I taught 2 workshops. A two-day and a 3-day, some folks stayed for all 5 days.
It was one of the most memorable experiences for me to teach there. The women in both sessions were serious, funny, warm, engaging and talented.

I cannot even tell you how generous each person was with sharing their process and thoughts along the way.

After the final session, I took a second ferry with the hard-working Nita Webster, my assistant for the week, who escorted me to my next destination. She made sure we boarded the ferry to Port Townsend, WA and delivered me to my friends mom’s house where I had a breathtaking view of trees and water and visited the small Victorian town where I want to be again.

A rainy vista of Port Townsend ahead from the ferry deck.

Don’t let that photo fool you. I had sunshine every day that followed.

My friend, Tracey Wickline Appleton and me.

I used to think I would be making quilts, like Alex Anderson from the HGTV series called Simply Quilts. I would record her shows (pre-DVD) and watch them on a loop, devouring each word and technique like a sugar-crazed kid. Over and over. How to make a quilt.
In 1997 I enrolled in a 6 week course at a local quilt shop and learned how to make a quilt from start to finish. I was proud of my work. I walked away from the class having made a 20” x 20” quilt. Fully pieced, quilted and bound. Made using the highest quilting standards and techniques of that time. I adored the instructor and felt I was on my way to making expertly made quilts. I continued to make wall hangings and small quilty-items. A gift for my sister, a niece, or myself.

WORK IN PROGRESS. September, 2018
Hand Stitching on Kaffe Fassett brand shot cotton in two colors that I sewed together (using a sewing machine). Placed in my 10” Hardwicke Manor hoop.
Background color at the top is SC87 Galvanized Grey, bottom is SC12 Chartreuse, half circles are SC22 Pewter

My fabric stash grew and I loved the annual fall quilt shop hop in Northern Ohio where I’d join other like-minded women on a chartered bus for an exhausting day of shopping and ‘hitting’ as many quilt shops as possible. Each visit per shop was limited to 20 minutes. While the time it took to get to a shop might have taken up to an hour. Off the bus and in to the shop we go creating a frenetic blur of pulling fabric, deciding what I must have and drooling over what I’d not seen before. Get the fabric cut, receive your tally, line up with 40 or more other women, pay and move onto the next shop.

This was pre-internet shopping at it’s finest and I was part of a tribe.

I began to challenge myself to make bed-sized quilts and then it all stopped.

A friend called to ask me to work for her for a few weeks to answer her phones while she looked to replace the office manager in her graphic design firm.

My “temporary job” lasted from October 2001 to December 2007. Six long years.

During that time I was exhausted with work outside the home. I longed to make quilts but didn’t have the self discipline to serve my creative needs.

In 2001, after the September 11 attacks in the USA, I started to knit. I think it was an organic response to the horror I was feeling, and I think others felt the same.
Within 4 months I had knit a coat and started to teach knitting a 2 local knit shops. I loved teaching Sally Melville’s Einstein Coat while also teaching entrelac scarves and totes.

From Sally Melville’s “The Knit Stitch”.

Focus: Fiber 2006. Catalog I designed.

Student work, @2003?

I was heavily invested in beadwork. (read hundreds of dollars of beads)
making cuffs by using beading.

I joined a highly regarded textile group at the Cleveland Museum of Art and within months, became the Chair of Focus Fiber: 2006. Nancy Crow juried this event, I designed the catalog, designed the entry forms, accepted all the entries, kept in contact with the artists, scanned the slides to digitize them, planned the layout, found a place for Nancy to stay, talk, and teach in Cleveland for the grand opening. And so much more.

DIVERSION

DIVERSION, 2007
First piece of hand stitching on a found handkerchief.

STILL I wasn’t making art, nor was I knitting.

Nada.

Because of the fiber exhibition, I met a curator who had been acquiring art for a very well known hospital in Cleveland for over 20 years. She sprinkled her fairy dust on me and I became her assistant and proceeded to help collect and expand the collection to well over 1000 pieces.

I was burning out. Seeing art, buying art, placing it, done and dusted. Coordinating the hospital gallery and helping my boss with the fast past and varied details of new construction.
It was cool.

But I wasn’t happy.

That and my aging mom needed help.

In 2009 I began what I call my real art career.

Seeing and stitching.

Reaching into the stillness of what is possible and doing it before I felt I was ready.

AWAKE

AWAKE, 26” X 29” Spirograph images printed onto tulle, then cut and stitched onto a base of crinoline. 2007

2009. Draw and stitched

Drawn RED MAP, 2009

RED MAP, 2009

STITCHED RED MAP, 2009

Cross Roads, 2009

2007 - ONWARDS IN STITCH

I want my stitched marks to be considered performative in that the movement of my thoughts is re-enacted in my hands.

DRESSER SCARF, 2018. 40” X 15” Hand stitched using single strand DMC floss.

I’m delighted to tell you that you can read more about how I think about my work today in John Hopper’s digital magazine. To get an instant download for £4.99 follow the link: https://payhip.com/b/uRnb

John featured me once before HERE

By the way, I gave all my quilt fabric and most of my beads and findings to my sisters and a good friend.
No need to keep what doesn’t make me happy.

click on the individual images or go to my shop HERE for more.

Cheers!

Christine

Work in process, dresser cloth from thrift store, single strand gray DMC floss.
started August 12, 2018.
What it looks like aft 30 hours more or less.
I've rip out a little bit and now I'm back on track.

I do work in a hoop, then I'll remove it and iron just to take a look and see what's happening.
I'm found of the Clover-USA brand 7" plastic hoop because it is easy to use and tightens up quite nicely.
But wait...I found a new love.

And then just today, the French General embroidery hoops arrived and I'm in love.

What I like is that it is lightweight and easy to hold in my non-dominant hand. I'm right handed and my left forearm will feel sore after several hours. Yes, I do take breaks every 20 minutes. That said, I'm in a dream-like-trance with this hoop.

It is not inexpensive, so I only purchased 5 to sell and one to demo. 
 

Drawing on photographs continues

and have started to draw on my own photography or that of friends. 
In my last post, I showed images that I drew onto Barneys New York Fall Look book. But I want to make this my own.  I decided to ask my friends for their pics. 
The 3 scenic images are from my teaching trip to Switzerland, the last image is Caitlin Ffrench, a designer in Vancouver, BC who was in Iceland this year for an artist residency. I've asked her to send more images.

I'm using two kinds of pens. 1. is a Sakura Gelly Roll pen and the other is Posca Brand.
Click to enlarge the images.

Stairs in the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec last year when I had an installation in the Biennale du Lin , in Deschambault. I will send this pic to an instagram friend in CA who will sew on it!

Here's a rare photograph of myself. I don't like 'selfies' but as you can see, I was very happy that day in Switzerland at Texartacademy.  Marlis Egger  has my endless gratitude for asking me to travel to her venue. The participants made deeply meaningful work amid the 400 + year old village of Mugena nestled high in the mountains above Lugano, Switzerland. (Don't think I didn't get a little dizzy after having been driven up the crazy steep and hairpin turned road). Yuck. Same happened going down.

I must post more pictures from that trip and the students work, but am wanting tell you that I'm not going to teach in Northern Ireland this year. 
Too many commitments. 

So...if you are one of the 2 women who wrote to me about Ireland, I'm sorry, I lost your email and hope you are reading this to know that it's not going to happen. 

My artwork will be in Portadown at the Millennium Art Centre beginning in July through the end of October. 

Meanwhile, I'm packing for Shakerag at St. Andrews Sewanee and will teach Intuitive Hand Stitching from June 16-23. 

Here are some photos I took while in Lugano and Mugena Switzerland. I've collaged (is that a verb?) the spirograph and circle images onto the photos.

Ciao!

Lake Erie

According to the calendar, Spring has arrived, although it still appears to be late Winter here along the shores of Lake Erie. 

The clock is ticking and I've been preparing for teaching a 4-day session for the Texartacademy in Mugena, Switzerland soon.

I'm looking forward to meeting new people and seeing new vistas. 
And I can't wait to meet Marlis Egger in person who is founder and organizer of TexArtAcademy.

Two of the stitched works I'll bring with me 

One thing I do like about Spring is tree silhouettes before they leaf out.

 A small work using AU VER À SOIE SOIE D'ALGER®silk thread.

And here is the same piece as of last evening. I've added 2 more shades of blue as the circle expands.

I like to stitch the circle shape because it has deep meaning for us. It is universally understood and can be drawn to be filled, empty, partitioned like a pie, colored or not, dimensional or flat, and no doubt, many more renditions can be expressed using the circle shape. 
 

For me, the circle represents time.

I plan to bring these time-based works and others with me when I teach in Mugena, Switzerland beginning Thursday, April 11 - 14, 2018. 
I think the circle will be a good place to begin our lessons. 

HERES THE IRELAND ANNOUNCEMENT

I've been invited to participate in a Linen Biennale in Northern Ireland this Summer at the Millennium Court Art Centre in Portadown, 

I don't have all the dates and details, however, I will travel there to install my work and teach a one-day workshop. Introduction to Meditative Hand Stitching. 
Probably end of July? Because the Linen Biennale will be held from August 1 - October 31, 2018.
Email me if you want to know more. Especially if you live in Northern Ireland and want to take a little class from me. 
my email is info@christinemauersberger.com
 

In early March when the weather was cold in Cleveland, I taught a 3 day Mindful Stitching workshop at Aya Fiber Studio in Stuart, Florida. Where we enjoyed temperatures in the high 70's. 

Suzanne Conner owns and operates Aya Fiber Studio and has created a perfect place for productive work. With mild breezes wafting through the open doors to the marina, and yoga on the deck provided by one of her studio assistants, we were in heaven.

Here are a few images of work that was created as the result of the "mindful" exercises I gave to the participants. Including stitching our breath.

 in no particular order

I left a gray and snowy Cleveland on a Monday and landed in West Palm Beach, Florida to teach a 3 day workshop at Aya Fiber Studio in Port Salerno, Florida. 

It was a grand workshop and I'll share pic's in the next post. 

A week prior to leaving, I started a new piece. The working title is Blue Water.

Sometimes I get asked whether I begin with knotting my thread. I do not usually, but rather leave enough of a thread tail to be able to return to the beginning point and weave the loose thread into my stitches. 

I'm also asked whether I draw out my pattern on the back.

 I do draw a few guide lines in pencil using a compass or a piece of pre-cut circular cardboard as a template. 
Then I begin to stitch the first circle on the back side and I use my favorite embroidery hoop (Clover USA embroidery hoop)  until the working area grows larger and I must switch to either a larger hoop or use no hoop at all. 

The circle is growing and I've used 3 shades of Soie d'Alger  silk thread. Each thread is a single strand I've pulled from a 7-strand skein.

I'll post more pics when this progresses. I like to post on Instagram more often than to write a blog post so please follow me there at @christine_mauersberger on insta.

Next, I will share some images from my workshop in Florida. 

 

Picture of my work as it looked during installation in the Vieux Presbytere in Deschambault, Quebec for the Biennale du Lin, 2017

I hope your transition from Fall into Winter was as fabulous artistically as mine. 
This past few months have been filled with teaching and art making. 
Here are a few moments from my Fall workshops. I'll post new art soon.

If you're interested in taking a class from me or organizing a session yourself, please email at info@christinemauersberger.com

A few from my Intuitive Hand Stitching workshop at Maiwa in Vancouver, BC

And from the Spontaneous Hand Stitching workshop at Maiwa

And a few images from Mindful Stitching during Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Open Door Session in early October. 

And a private class - Yes, I will travel to teach. Write me to set up a place and time. If I'm available and the stars are aligned, we can make it happen!

Deutch

Möchtest du verstehen, WIE DU DEINE INTUITION FÜR PROJEKTE MIT NADEL UND FADEN BRAUCHEN KANNST?

and here:

zum workshop von christine mauersberger  

In Italiano

Vuoi scoprire come trasferire LE TUE INTUIZIONI IN PROGETTI DI CUCITO?

Swiss textile artist, Marlis Egger, is the founder and organizer of Texartacademy and has a well-established track record for creating textile-based retreats. Look at the website here

WHERE?

The location couldn't easier if you live in Italy, Germany, or Switzerland (or the UK!) 
Mugena (Alto Malcantone) is situated at an altitude of 840 m, well away from the hustle and bustle of the city and is particularely suitable for people who are looking for a quiet, relaxing place to stay.

The Hotel Il Castagno offers unique rooms. All are well-furnished and airy. The surroundings (there are lots of chestnut trees) invite you for short and longer walks.

 We will spend 4 days stitching, eating good food, taking in the mountain air and views, and delve into Discovering a Mindful Stitching Practice.  For more information and to enroll, please click HERE.

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]]>Stitch with Me in Switzerland Next AprilChristine MauersbergerFri, 11 Aug 2017 23:51:34 +0000http://christinemauersberger.com/christinemauersberger-blog/2017/8/11/summer-stitching-any-chance-i-get51741368e4b05f51bd74ad52:51b68923e4b0d3107b12de71:598e36bc4c0dbfafe1e1022cI began stitching on an old piece of linen during my flight to Quebec to install my work for the Biennale du Lin (see here).  @June 12th.

The blue lines on the fabric were intended for embroidery to create a pillow top for a chair and davenport set. 

Nevertheless, I stitch what comes to mind and then let it go.
The fabric is approximately 36 inches long and 17 inches wide.

Here are a series of photos in process of this little work.

Enjoy!

I began by drawing a tear-drop shape on the back of the fabric and then stitched from the back-side.

Front 

Back

Thinking I may rip out this section and re-stitch, or maybe not.

Continued to stitch during our drive to Cincinnati to visit and held it up to the sunlight. 
 

Amid a week filled with having a 10 yard dumpster delivered so that G and I could clean the basement with the help of strong adult nephews.
 still managed to throw in a few stitches every evening

I'll decide whether to fill in more shapes with french knots to make it all black and make other decisions once it's completely stitched. 

Hope you are finding something good to do with your hands or eyes or mind or body. 
Enjoy!

I'm teaching a workshop at in Switzerland
April 12 - 15, 2018.
 

Discovering a Mindful Stitching Practice

Collection of stitching on leaves and on fabric
Christine

You will be guided through exercises to translate what you see, think, or dream into hand stitched work.The workshop has been designed with the textile artist in mind.

(if you are in the USA, you would fly to Zurich, then take a plane to Lugano, Switzerland). 

And it's only a 1 hour bus ride to Milan.