12.29.2009

new art in my home

Recently I acquired two new pieces of art. One of them is a work by Ruth Whiting I'd been admiring for a long while and my sweetheart purchased it as a surprise for our anniversary in November. It took a bit of wrangling as I was all set to purchase it myself and was hard to shake off. This a quick snapshot in the process of framing it. The birch frame turned out to be a bit too light in color to satisfy me, so I'm on the hunt for a more suitable one. Ruth will be having a Gainesville show in March which I'm sure I'll mention again closer to the opening.
The other piece was made by my brother, Colin Curry, as a Christmas gift to me. It's indicative of some of the work he's done before but unusal in its limited color palate: white black and the color of the birch panel peaking through the paint.

12.28.2009

spindle tool

In tandem with returning to returning to the tangle sculpture, I'm revisiting my spindle drawings. The couple I've finished so far are quite pleasing so far, but the tool I've been using leaves quite a bit to be desired. This is the next gen, an acrylic whorl on a carbon fiber shaft. This piece turned out to be a bit too heavy for the kind of line I'm looking for, so I plan to drill out some of the mass in the center.

12.27.2009

woven

A couple of months ago, a beginning weaving workshop was offered through the local weavers' guild. It took place over the weekend and finally convinced me to dig out the little table loom I acquired years ago, but never worked out how to rewarp after the last existent warp disintegrated. My friend, Liz, joined me and over the weekend, we wove plain and twill samples, learned how to decide how much yarn is needed for a specific project and how to dress our looms to make a narrow bit of cloth. Sunday reached its end and I came home, but continued to weave into the night, watching the cloth grow quickly before me, and enjoying the created rhythm in throwing the shuttle, beating the threads and changing the shafts. I went to bed with the clack of wood and jangle of metal heddles in my mind.
I woke in the morning to the loom brilliantly lit by morning light, and continued weaving all morning. Then continued still later, when friends called me over to visit, taking the loom with me and worked there, chatting with them as they carried about on their own making. Soon enough the warp ended and I whipstitched the edge to ward off fraying and cut it loose. The length would wear well as a scarf if the grey wool used for weft didn't itch my neck quite so much. Instead I'll opt to make a messenger bag. Once I'm able, I'll redress the loom for a narrow strap and stitch it all together when I'm done.

Meanwhile, the Florida wool I was given last spring is still being processed one bathtub load at a time. The Hamilton flock from Williston is finished but the UF stock is only a quarter done. One five gallon bucket stuffed to the brim with dirty wool often takes two days to pick through and wash. Other fleece, especially those that have been coated don't take quite as much time, though it costs more and I'm thankful to those who were so generous to me. Fortunately other small tasks can be accomplished while the wool soaks in hot water, but it's a practiced juggle. Once finished with the washing, ideally I'd get my hands on a picker, a vicious looking tool to help fluff and filter out the remaining sand and begin the next stage of preparation. Little of the Florida will be used for spinning as it's not as soft and regular as I'd like (though some of it is quite sweet and I'll sort it out for spinning and perhaps weaving). But ultimately most of it will be used to felt with.

12.18.2009

studio update

My current studio project involves taking apart and remaking the large tangle sculpture I completed earlier this year. It's had a few mishaps, one of which was being knocked over in in transit from one side of my studio to the other thereby shifting the sheets of acrylic against one another and incurring a number of scratches throughout the inner faces of all 24 pieces. I'll be polishing them out for an indefinite amount of time. This one scratch is halfway through the process; this project will be a test of endurance.
In case you are wondering how one might polish acrylic sheet perfectly smooth again, Novus plastic polish is helping me along.

12.07.2009

silken kite

Silk:
light, strong, lustrous,
it flies beautifully.

Erin Curry art- silk kiteErin Curry art- silk kiteErin Curry art silk kiteseen from behind

Erin Curry art- silk kite clothThe sailcloth is what became of my table fluff. Once I worked out the clothmaking process and shape, my friend and kitemaker, Tim Elverston guided me how to make it fly.

Being of the silken persuasion, it's incredibly lightweight and deceptively strong, despite the fragile appearance. Although the cloth is somewhat porous, it needs just a little wind for the sweetest flight. It's a bit like having a furry little wind beast at the other end of the line ready to play.
Erin Curry art- silk kite


12.04.2009

framed

at last.
Erin Curry spindle drawing framed
After hanging above our bed by binder clips for nearly a year, this work may have feared it was never getting a proper frame. I like bare paper very much for its tactility, and the sculptural objecthood of a sheet of paper seems much more accessible when not under glass. In addition, the I-wanna-touch-everything-in-museums part of me takes a perverse enjoyment in leaving art bare and ready for careful caresses. This week I finally caved, in part to see how it would change under glass and to explore how I might keep the feel of drawing-as-artifact.

Erin Curry spindle drawing framing desk shotOver the last couple of days I worked out how to float it on matboard using tabs and put in custom half-inch spacers between the work and the glass. Overall I'm very happy with the look, though part of me still wants to forgo the glass and the resulting glare. One of the other permutations I'd explore in the future is making a still deeper frame and including the little skein of wool made in the creation of this work on a shelf inside, maybe stitched in place to prevent it traveling around inside the frame.

Despite my initial obstinacy at the use of frames my mind is whirring with ways I could use them in future work, and fully integrate them into the concept from start to finish.

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