In this week's post, I will describe my experience at Art Quilt Tahoe. I spent time there during the last days of the 2024 election. Needless to say, tensions were high across the country. On Wednesday November 6th, the results were clear. Some people were happy, while others seemed to be devastated. It occurred to me that morning, that I was in a place and doing something that was healing in a tense moment.
“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity.”
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
I spent a week looking over beautiful lake Tahoe, not on vacation, but working as an artist among fellow artists. Art Quilt Tahoe occurs once a year in the fall. The event gathers students and teachers for a week of learning and creating in Zephyr Point. My week was spent using thickened dye with a variety of print methods including mono prints, rubbings, and silk screens. This was my second class with master printer, Pat Pauly.
The class is set up with limited direct instruction and longer periods of work time. For me it was a perfect combination of class and print studio. By the end of the week, my goal was to bring home usable yardage of fabric. I believe that goal was met. (I have some ideas about working with these printed fabrics to create abstract designs in the style of Rex Ray. The ideas are still percolating in my head, but I feel I have moved closer to a new series.)
Artists working together in a studio setting with a master artist has a long tradition as a system of visual arts education. Of course, in the Renaissance painters like Leonardo daVinci would have studio assistants who would mix paints, clean, etc.. Some of these assistants would eventually have their own studios. It was the system for learning in the visual arts based on the way one would learn a trade through an apprenticeship. This system has been replaced by colleges. One of the most effective models of arts instruction in the 20th century was the Black Mountain College.
Black Mountain was formed in 1933 by John Rice. Theodore Dreier, Frederick Georgia, and Ralph Lounsbury. They formed the college after being dismissed as faculty from another institution for refusing to sign a loyalty pledge. The college was created with a $10,000 grant near Asheville North Carolina.
Black Mountain attracted an influx of teachers who were fleeing the rise of Nazism in Germany including Joseph Albers. Albers was one of the founders of the Bauhaus known for its influence in art and design. Joseph along with his wife Annie were among founding faculty members. Albers taught one of the two required courses at Black Mountain. His influence was legendary.
Black Mountain was a place which encouraged avant garde explorations. It was where Merc Cunningham formed his dance company. It was the first place that John Cage’s music was heard in a performance. Buckmaster Fuller and his students created the first geodesic dome structure in a design class. Giants of the modern art movement, including Robert Motherwell, William deKooning, and Cy Twombly; all studied at Black Mountain. The college closed in 1957 due to a lack of funding, but its influence lasted into the the next century.
I have taken many workshops since I began working as an art quilter before I retired in 2014. Many people who make art quilts come from backgrounds outside of the visual arts and few from a background in art education. What I find frequently in the art quilt community is a romantic notion of creativity. That notion is that the student achieves success by following the Master Artist. That artist provides expertise on technique and style. The student either mimics the master or looks for a new master.
Black Mountain rejected the classical concept of hierarchy. Instead its educational design placed students and educators on the same plane. There were no masters or followers. Instead, the learning model was based on a facilitator working side by side with participants.
I would describe this as a constructivist model of learning. It is an action-oriented approach to learning. Students can build upon existing knowledge to understand and apply new skills. Teachers are facilitators. They assist class participants in devising solutions to a visual problem. This is an ideal arrangement for the visual arts where results are not determined by fixed outcome.
In my week at art camp I found an environment which was a good fit for my needs. It was my second year learning to work with thickened dye. The previous year I had returned home and attempted to create my own print studio. It didn’t work out as planned. I had not fully formed my ideas. I got waylaid by trying to practice printing on dish towels. Then I had the idea I could print fabric and sell it. I ran into issues with printing in the heat and dry climate of the desert.
The biggest issue was not having a clear idea of an aesthetic that spoke to me.
I was directionless.
This year I had two things working in my favor. The first being background knowledge. I knew what supplies worked and had them on hand. I walked into the beautiful classroom and was able to set up my station without assistance. I had learned some basic things, like how to use a scrapper at the right angle, apply pressure through a screen, how long to wait for that second layer of color, etc…
The second plus was the email asking students to do some research and find motifs that appealed to them. It was suggested to collect ideas on a pinterest board. I did this and I started cutting stencils with a Cricut Maker using simple shapes instead of the commercial stencils I had brought my first year. I hand cut large stencils from plastic sheets that fit the big screens with motifs I collected on pinterest.
I kept my visuals simple and stuck to a plan. I had brought 15 yards of fabric and printed all of it. Not everything I printed was successful. I was particularly disappointed that several yards ended up with muddy colors. After bringing them home and washing, I can find at least a few sections that are interesting. I plan to use these class projects to play with some abstract backgrounds.
I’ve already signed up for a third round of the classes at Art Quilt Tahoe in 2025. I’ve thought about what I want to achieve this year in my own studio. With any luck, by next year I will have cemented the knowledge I learned and will be on my way to creating a new series of work.
Until Next Time
Thank you so much Margaret for sharing your learning - its so inspiring especially for those of us not in the northern hemisphere to be able to go to these classes - can’t wait to see your work incorporating these processes
Thanks for sharing your experience. I know how it feels to take the workshop a second time around. I can't wait to see how you use this in your work.