Our Textile Calender will be exhibited at Nadelwelt 20.-22. March. My contribution for the month May are:
«Why?» 32×32 cm.
Why do we see something and cannot forget it. Every May the Sakura will blossom amongst the beech hedges in Byparken in Bergen, and every year I would take a moment, admire and take pictures on my way to work.
And:
«The Boat lies so Quiet» 15×15 cm.
The boat lies so quiet on the calm sea.
Next time The Calender will be exhibited is at the Biennale International d’art textile en Beaujolais in France in June.
Hope you enjoyed this.
You can also follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretahusebo/
It is finally spring although it was snowing yesterday. Luckilly it melted as soon as it fell down. But there is still frost in the ground, the crocuses gives me hope for warmer weather though. These two white beauties surprises me every year.
And these purple with the saffron stamen:
I say no more…
May is approaching and the Calender will be exhibited again. My quilts for the Calender of April are:
The boat is so quiet
Proud in its silence
These words make me think about the Viking grave-mounds and their contet.
And my second entry:
About the wind and colours of spring!
Easter is here, hopefully it will get warmer and soon my garden will be filled with colours like this, giving me new inspiration!
The Calender is going to be exhibited at Nadelwelt, Karlsruhe in Germany, in May and at the Biennale International d’art textile en Beaujolais in France in June.
For March I made two small quilts. Both on the theme «Only this moment», these small things that gives you so much!
The first one happens every year at March 8. in Longyearbyen in Svalbard. At 14:00 the sun comes back after a long dark winter, the community gathers at the steps of the Hospital to welcome the sun as it rises above the mountain again!
My second moment is from my home city Bergen. Some yesr ago I took this picture in the Park of crocuses:
So I just had to make this little quilt:
Calender will be at display at the Nadelwelt in Karlsruhe in May.
Since my last entry, I fell on the ice and broke my arm. Unfortunately it is my dominant hand! Just as I was about to start exploring a new theme. So, no sewing, only a little daily drawing with my left arm. I started a new sketchbook, my «Left-hand book», to not just sit and feel sorry for myself, but to get down ideas and thoughts. Not great art, but a challenge in itself.
Hopew you enjoyed this.
You can also follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretahusebo/
First: Happy New Year to everyone! Let us make the best of 2022, Corvid or not!
In 2018 I was invited by Juliette Eckel to become part of the Texnet 2 group.We are an international group of 20 textile artists from Europe, Canada, Australia and USA. For more than 2 years we have been working together on a project, a «textile calendar», communicating on Facebook and getting to know each other better through our work. The result is an extraordinary exhibition with 365 artworks of the sizes 15 x 15, 32 x 15 and 32 x 32. Additionally a second calendar was created by 12 of the artists who did large pieces of 90 x 150 cm for the twelve months. We chose dates and our own theme. My works are all, in one way or another, based on the words of Jon Fosse.
We first exhibited our fabulous project at EPM France, @ European Patchwork &Textile Tour Alasace France in September 2021. In May 2022 our exhibition will be shown at the Nadelwelt in Karlsruhe.
Throughout the year I will present my contribution, first January :
January 7th. «Nothing», 15×15 cm.
Is about a big and white nothing, see nothing hear nothing.
and January 23rd: «The snow that was», 32×32 cm.
About standing under a lamp post watching the snow fall.
It is impossible for me to translate Jon Fosse’s poetry so I will present what triggered my inspiration.
Since last time, I have mainly worked in my sketchbooks, trying to develope something, but it has not been easy,
I have just made two small sketchbooks connected to trees and forrests, both summer and winter.
The winter book was supposed to be in black and white, but when I glued the collage of the winterbook with gel medium, the black and white photocopies suddenly developed colour, a very subtle winter colour.
Now I just have to fill the few pages with more collage.
Even if it has bees a while since my last post, I have been making my monthly books.
In July, my garden was filled with roses and lillies, so of course I had to use them as a theme:
As usual, I printed on a large sheet of paper, cut it up and sew my little book:
For my September book, I chose dragonflies as my theme since I am back trying to finish some quilts with dragonflies.
And my book:
Thank you for watching.
Hopefully you don’t have to wait too long for my next entry…
We have passed summer solstice, and winter is comming (in a few months). With the speed of the passing days, that is not so far away. The society has started to open, people are on holidays, even abroad. Nobody knows what the autumn will bring. The Health Institute warn about a new breakout of Corona in the autumn, so we’d better be prepared.
In the meantime, life goes on. My theme for the June book was of course the Summer solstice, and we had some really hot days. So my book is filled with suns! Or circles in different sizes and yellow colours, even the spine is yellow. And I could use this varigated yellow thread I dyed ages ago but could not find use for.
the front:
This print with compressed sponge at the back reminds me so much of close up photos of the sun:
I also finally got back my entry for the Norwegian National Quilting competition. I did not win, but that is ok. I got a chance for a feedback from fellow quilters.
My quilt is a hommage to my favorite flower in the garden, Meconopsis betonicifolia, when the sun is out and it opens the flowers, it is just «Days Like This»
Some years ago I got some of my photos printed on cotton at Fingerprints, Laura Kemshall. This is one, surrounded by rust dyed fabric. Machine and hand quilted and embroidered.
I made a second one, using another photo, also printed at Fingerprints, this one is surrounded by eco dyed fabric, machine and hand quilted and embroidered. This is called «That Day»:
I hope you have enjoyed this little update from my studio. Take care and keep distance.
I really love tulips with their many shapes patterns and colours. And May in my garden was filled with tulips. I first fell in love with the flower when I read about the history of tulips and my home town Bergen.
A young Doctor, Henrik Höjer, travelled to the University of Leiden, Holland to take his examen. There he met and befriended Charles de L’Ecluse. When he moved back to Bergen three years later, 1596, he brought with him many bulbs and thus introduced the tulip to Norway. He continued to receive bulbs from Charles de L’Ecluse for years to come.
There even is a tulip that only exist in Norway, named Tulipa norvegica.
So it was natural for me to use tulips as my theme for the May book. I picked up all my tulip stamps and sprayed, printed and draw tulips on a big sheet of paper:
After cutting it up and made a book of it the result is like this:
I have also working on some ideas from my design wall, trying to get together some new quilts. Back on my Dragonfly theme, this first one is a piece of paper used to blot of some printing and painting:
I thought it would be a great background for some machine embroidery, so I bonded it to wadding, and surrounded it with strips of old sari-silk. I have never used paper in my works before, so this is a try and learn. Will the paper hold all the stitching from the machine embroidery? Time will show. It is up on the design wall while I figure out how to proceed.
The next one has been waiting for a year for me to proceed. I tried to bleach the sari strips used, but it didn’t work, so I painted it instead. The dragonfly is free machine stitched, and painted as well. Now I have to deal with the background, what to do next.
As you see, they can end up well or be total failures. Time will show.
I hope you have enjoyed this glipse into my creative life.
We’re halfway through May already! Sorry for the late update of April, but I’ve been busy taking care of my garden after winter. And since April has been filled with the comming of new life., my April-book is filled with prints using new leaves from the garden, both directly and some gelli-prints with the leaves as stencils. Not so many to choose from as it was still early spring, but I used the few I could find. Unfortunately, I was halfway through cutting my sheet of paper when I rembered to take a photo:
And here are the finished Book of April:
Corona is still affecting our daily life, even if the society has slowly started to open up.
I have been enjoying Bobby Britnells on-line course «Inspired by Ben Nicholson» and here are some of my results:
My prints on textile are still on my design-wall waiting to be processed.
I hope you have enjoyed this little update from my studio.
Two weeks ago, I were supposed to be in Stavanger for the annual meeting for the Norwegian Quilt Association. I had sendt in two quilts for the exhibition and one to the competition. Then came Corona and everything shut down. The meeting has been postponed and my two quilts for the exhibition are on their way home. My entry for the competition now awaits new time for the meeting, hopefully somtime in the autumn.
I cannot show you my quilt for the competition, but the two for the exhibition I can
This first one is called «Light and Backlight». It is in two parts, Cotton and silk, machine and hand quilted. It is a rather personal quilt, because the danser is ME! Way back in my youth!!! But still a part of my history, I danced classical ballet for about 18 years, back in the 70’s. The last years in one of those little «free» dancing groups which appeared outside the established companies at that time. I used an old photograph and traced. The grey cotton fabric, a reused sofa-cover, together with a little too soft wadding gave me some troubles. Even if the quilting is rather even it was almost impossible to get those clean straight bindings. It is too soft and I have to live with that.
My other quilt is a re-use of one of my very first, and not so good quilts from 2002.
Originaly it was my first attempt at Barghello. Last spring I decided to sacrifice it, tried first to bleach it, but the fabrics didn’t want to give up any colours. So instead I painted the background, machine-embroidered and painted the dragonfly and handstitched the background. It is based on a haiku by Matsuo Basho:
This dragonfly
can’t quite land
on that blade of grass.
We had an early spring this year, and March was filled with beautiful crocuses, so of course my March book had to be filled with crocuses. As I started by drawing, stencilling and printing.
Cut it all in pages and made myself another book:
FrontThe bindingand the back
Now I have to find a theme for my April book. Wait and see….
I hope you all are well wherever you are in the world, we shall manage this. Take care!
