A Compromise of Sorts
Dear Cloth in Common, I write this post with anxiety, relief, sadness, and resignation. I have been with Cloth in Common since the very beginning. I often tell my students that I was a FOUNDING member of the group. Doesn’t that sound fancy? It also sounds prideful. I am proud
The Fourth Branch
Media is our prompt. My undergraduate degree is in journalism, and at one point I actually worked as a journalist. Those were the days! My first internship was at the ABC affiliate in Topeka, Kansas which had the only computerized news room in the area. Can you image? Photographers carried
Solace
When we were given the prompt Gardens, Parks, and Green Spaces, my mind immediately went to the concept of a whiteout. A whiteout, white-out, or milky weather is a weather condition in which the contours and landmarks in a snow-covered zone become almost indistinguishable. I experienced my first real whiteout my second winter in Alaska when
One World
While thinking about the prompt Connecting & Sharing, I stumbled upon the words of Thích Nhất Hạnh. You can read more about that here. Thích Nhất Hạnh writes about Interbeing—a Buddhist philosophy about the interconnection of all things. As the world struggles to comprehend what Covid-19 means for our future,
Shelter in Place
Back in February, I gave the prompt Neighborhood to our group. At the time, I was teaching, and traveling, and preparing for an exhibition at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. I was in my perpetual state of running behind. About Mid-March, Covid-19 became a reality for all of America, and
Interbeing
I try to take a short walk every morning. That way, no matter what, I get this tiny bit of exercise in my day. While I walk, I almost always listen to Buddhist philosophy or other podcasts or books about ideas and ways of being. I am currently listening to
Maria Shell
Maria Shell Anchorage, Alaska, USA How do I get color to vibrate? How do I get a self made print to read against another self made print? How can I stitch these elements together so that the viewer sees not only hundreds of scraps of fabric but also the SUM–the
Cloth in Common: Round One—the Book is Now Available!
Cloth in Common founder Karol Kusmaul has created a book for purchase that shares the group’s journey through the first round of prompts. You can purchase your copy here. The book’s introduction traces the group’s origin story, “By August of 2017, eleven artists had agreed to join Cloth in Common. A
Neighborhood
When we first began Round Two with the general theme of community, neighborhood was the word that first popped into my mind. I thought for sure, this would be the first and most obvious prompt, but there were no takers. And now, it is all mine. So our fourth prompt
Boreal Climates
Our current prompt is Eco-Systems. I knew immediately that I wanted my response to be about color in the natural landscape of Alaska, where I live. In the winter, if we are lucky, we are covered in snow. Our natural world is white. As we
Come Fly with Me
In my previous blog post about the prompt International, I mentioned that I learned of our prompt while traveling from New Zealand back to Anchorage, Alaska. At the time I was sitting in the first row of First Class on Alaska Airlines. (Being a frequent flyer has its