2020 Utah Design Crafts Artists Competition

I have three pieces in an exhibition at the Brigham City Museum for the 2020 Utah Design Crafts Artists Competition. These three pieces are from my artist-in-residency last year at Capitol Reef National Park and reflect the varied landscape in the waterpocket fold. Sandstone Cliff shawl won an honorable mention too!

Fruita: The historic town of Fruita, within Capitol Reef National Park, is no longer inhabited by pioneers. But visitors can still pick ripe fruit from the lush orchards under the looming orange cliffs of the Waterpocket Fold.  

Sandstone Cliff: Nearly 10,000 feet of sedimentary strata were deposited in Capitol Reef National Park. This layer upon layer of sedimentary rock records nearly 200 million years of geologic history. Rock layers in Capitol Reef reveal ancient environments as varied as rivers, swamps, deserts, and shallow oceans. Fossils found in these rocks give clues that these sandstone layers were deposited when the region was at or near sea level, far below the current elevation.  

Strike Valley: Strike Valley can be seen from a spectacular overlook in Capitol Reef National Park. It is named for the geological feature where a valley runs parallel to the strike of underlying rocks. From the overlook, you can easily see the 100-mile meandering valley of roads, streams, and strikes. With the Waterpocket Fold to the west and the rugged cliffs of the badlands  to the east the valley makes for a dramatic furrow in the earth.

Mulberry Pouch

Just for fun I created this cute little pouch inspired by all the mulberry trees that were fruiting a few months ago. We have a lot of mulberry trees in urban Salt Lake City (see below) and there are many public trees that you can harvest. You can tell where they are because of the purple stained sidewalk underneath them.

 

I gathered some mulberries and died some bamboo silk which turned into a beautiful purpley-silver. I created this pattern to mimic the drupes of mulberries on a tree. I also knit one up in a mulberry colored yarn because you can’t have too many pouches! The pattern is in my Ravelry shop.

 

Notes from the pattern:

In an effort to be self-sufficient, 19th century Mormon Pioneers in Utah began raising their own silkworms to create a silk industry in the West. Silkworms must feed on mulberry leaves so LDS Church leader Brigham Young ordered 100,000 mulberry trees from France to be planted around Utah. Although Utah’s sericulture was a failed enterprise, the mulberry trees still thrive throughout the state allowing urban harvesters a bounty of berries every spring.

Visible Mending: Mirror

I have a piece in the Springville Museum of Art’s Spring Salon (happening in the fall this year). If you happen to be near there, go in (socially distant) and see this great exhibition of Utah artists. This piece is called Visible Mending: Mirror and is part of my Visible Mending series I have been doing during the pandemic. I seem to be trying to mend everything in sight to try and fix the world in some way. But the best way to visibly mend? VOTE!

Bed of Hopper Crystals

With everything being virtual now, most of the shows I have entered are online catalogs only. But it’s a great way to stay home and see art. The latest show with my work is in the Friends of Great Salt Lake Alfred Lambourne Arts Program. This piece called “Bed of Hopper Crystals” has actual hopper salt crystals from Great Salt Lake embedded in it. It makes for a heavy work and pretty impractical for actually wearing, especially in the rain. But I wanted to create the feeling of the warm summer day harvesting these crystals surrounded by the pink salty water. You can see the whole catalog of art, writing, dance, video, and sound on their website.

Description of the artwork from the catalog: The salt crystals that form on the edges of Great Salt Lake are beautiful and varied. On rare occasions, the halite crystals grow so rapidly, the interior does not have time to form, creating a geometric hoppered shape. These hopper salt crystals can be removed from the lake bed like pulling teeth, giving you a perfect crystal of receding concentric squares. This piece of wearable art immerses you in the pink, salty waters of a warm summer day, harvesting hopper crystals from the lakebed like so many encrusted jewels.

  

Wearable Maps: SLC

I was accepted into the Utah Women’s Artist Exhibition this year but unfortunately the exhibit was canceled like everything else. But you can see the catalog online and I won an award! My “Wearable Maps: SLC” won the Florence E. Ware Honor Award. I am in good company so please look at the catalog online: wvcarts.org/aauwexhibit.html

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I love these two pieces! Navigating a city can be made easier with an interactive map that also keeps you warm. Why use tech when a scarf is a more tactile way to find your destination? Pin your favorite hangout or mark your starting place. This map of Salt Lake City can be your companion around town and won’t run out of batteries.

Visible Mending: Teacup

This is what I have been doing in the midst of a pandemic and earthquakes. This piece celebrates the heroes of this time; the healers, sewers, caretakers, and makers that are getting it done amidst the bluster and blowhards. Surprisingly it is not the warriors, soldiers and industry leaders that are important now. The traditionally feminine activities are what is keeping this world together.

I hope people can see healing and mending as an act that will leave scars and is not perfect, but that is ok. There is beauty in the mending and if you are different than when you started, then you have become a wholly different person that may not function in the same way but can still give wonder and joy to the world. 

This artwork was also highlighted in the Tribune article on Sunday looking at 21 Utah artists who are making art during the pandemic. You can see it here. I will be making more in this theme over the next month or I will try to post them here as well.

The Castle

Dreaming of castles in the sky. This is the first place I want to go when this is all over. I made this fun little hat to remind me if this view I had out my front door when I lived in the park last September.

The Castle is one of the most recognizable formation in Capitol Reef National Park, It is made of Wingate Sandstone formed about 200 million years ago. Wingate is known for its blocky, vertical cliffs giving the appearance of turrets, crenellations, and towers. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park

Fremont River Reflections

Thinking about the virus-free days in Capitol Reef by the Fremont River. Wish I was there now. 

The Fremont River flows from west to east across the Waterpocket Fold into Capitol Reef National Park. On its way, the river cuts a narrow deep gorge through red rock canyons under a brilliant blue sky then slows down through fruit orchards in the Fruita historic district. The river reflects this rainbow of color, refracting and shifting the hues into a dazzling kaleidoscope. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park. #artistinresidence #capitolreefnationalpark #knitting

Capitol Reef Colors

Hiking through Capitol Reef National Park I was surrounded by the beautiful colors unique to the Waterpocket Fold. The lush green Fruita valley is dwarfed by the soaring red rock reef which then gives way to an intense blue of the dry desert sky. This piece lets me surround myself with these colors during the blahs of March. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park. #artistinresidence #capitolreefnationalpark #knitting

Strike Valley

Strike Valley can be seen from a spectacular overlook in Capitol Reef National Park. It is named for the geological feature where a valley runs parallel to the strike of underlying rocks. From the overlook, you can easily see the 100-mile meandering valley of roads, streams, and strikes. With the Waterpocket Fold to the west and the rugged cliffs of the badlands to the east the valley makes for a dramatic furrow in the earth. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park. #artistinresidence #capitolreefnationalpark #knitting

Old Mail Tree

The gnarled Fremont cottonwood tree in the heart of the Fruita Historic District in Capitol Reef National Park has had a long life. Planted in the late 1800s, it has lived longer than expected. Starting in 1918, it was the place where mail was transferred from a carrier in Torrey to another carrier continuing downriver. Later, mailboxes were attached to the tree giving the settlers a place for contact with the outside world. I spent a happy day in September designing and knitting this quick knit while sitting under the old tree. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.

Wingate Sandstone

Wingate sandstone is found all over the Colorado Plateau and is one of the stars of Capitol Reef National Park. Forming sheer cliffs and spectacular bluffs it ranges in color from light yellow to dark orange to rusty red depending on its age of oxidation. Wingate was the first thing that caught my attention during my stay at Capitol Reef. I love the deep rugged texture of the cliff faces. I tried to capture that texture in something that would hug you like the landscape does. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.

Fruita

The historic town of Fruita, within Capitol Reef National Park, is no longer inhabited by pioneers. But visitors can still pick ripe fruit from the lush orchards under the looming orange cliffs of the Waterpocket Fold. I was lucky enough to live there for the month of September and couldn’t get enough of this colorway -- green against the orange cliffs. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.

Rabbitbrush

Rabbitbrush was in spectacular bloom last September in Capitol Reef when I was staying there. The yellow flowers are so beautiful next to the red rock. I knit this piece from a skein of hand spun and hand dyed alpaca that I bought at a shop in Torrey. It is locally grown at Circle Cliff Ranch from an alpaca named Probee and hand spun by Diena. I designed Rabbitbrush specifically for this local yarn. 

From the pattern:

Rabbitbrush is a member of the Aster family with yellow flower heads arranged in dense, rounded or flat-topped clusters at the ends of the branches. Rabbitbrush flowers bloom from August to October as other plants are fading, providing vivid fall color against the red rock canyon walls in Capitol Reef. This artwork was produced under the Artist in Residence Program at Capitol Reef National Park.