ART AS A LEARNING TOOL - AT THE CREATIVE REACTIONS SHOW

My experience as an artist at shows is that some people will stop and look at your work and others will keep walking until they see something that catches their eye. And some will back away if you happen to catch their eye or say hello, wanting to be left alone, not feel pressured to make a purchase. 

But at the Creative Reactions show where I displayed my lichens fibre art piece this past weekend, every visitor stopped to look at every piece of art and spent time speaking with the artists and researchers too. The closest I had come to experiencing this is at fibre art shows where each work includes not only a list of materials and techniques, but also the artist's inspiration. Viewers do seem to take their time looking at each picture when some context is provided. 

The visitors at Creative Reactions wanted to learn the stories behind the art. And each picture had a story to tell. Each artist had been paired with a research scientist to learn about their area of expertise, then create a piece of art based on the researcher's work. The idea was to combine visual art with science, to use the art to create awareness, for education, as a method of learning.

Art often has a hidden depth which a viewer may miss at first glance, and without tips such a materials list or inspiration. We first observe the design, colours, and possibly materials and techniques. The next layer includes messages for the viewers. At the Creative Reactions show the messages were the story the researcher hoped would be told through the art. These messages may or may not be readily apparent until one studies the art more closely and depending on the artist's interpretation of the messages into symbols. Underlying the appearance and messages in the art is yet another layer - the emotional side, a reflection of the researcher's passion for a topic, the presentation of concepts for further consideration by the viewer. These are sometimes subtle yet reflected through the many creative decisions made for each piece of art by the artist. 

It's this kind of attention to detail and love of creating that enriches an art piece. The one I created, titled "Learning about Lichens" includes 5 Canadian lichens, and because Paul, the botanist I was paired with, specializes in Arctic plants, 3 of the 5 are Arctic lichens, 1 of which is very rare and therefore meaningful to the botanists. The remaining 2 lichens were no less important, one selected for its name, the other because of a cross-Canada project the lichenologists had embarked on. 

The background for each lichen was just as important as the lichen themselves to illustrate their habitats, with materials and techniques chosen carefully. And the backdrop for the entire piece was a map of Canada on which the lichens were arranged so the names of 2 of the territories were highly visible. The last feature to be added was labels for each of the 5 lichens, styled after the labels the botanists  use to identify the botanical specimens at the Museum of Nature's Herbarium, and on which I included why the lichen was chosen, and the materials and techniques used to create it.

I realized quickly at this show just how much the viewers wanted to learn and talk about each piece of art and its story. I found there was an equal amount of interest in both the research topic and the materials and techniques I used in my work. And I'm glad I had a chance to see and learn about the other works on cancer therapies, robotics, probiotics and stress hormones, fibre optics, evolution and biodiversity, and ADHD.

Did any of the works sell? I don't think so, although some were for sale. But that wasn't the point or the goal for any of the artists. This was a different kind of show, a chance to expand our horizons, to learn about the research areas, and to see potential for future. 

The team I worked with from the Museum of Nature - Paul Sokoloff, Cassandra Robillard, Chris Deduke, and Troy McMullin - shared their knowledge with me, ideas and support, through a tour and several follow-up emails. I felt like one of the team.

And now that my awareness and knowledge of lichens has grown, I find myself keeping an eye out for them, and even found a lichen in my yard. I had seen it in the past but hadn't given it a second thought until now. I'll need to create that one next in fibre art.

Will I apply for this show again in future? You bet. In the meantime one of the botanists has challenged me to create a fibre art from a specific moss.  Can't wait to get started on this one.

Links to previous posts on my journey preparing for the Creative Reactions show:

Art Meets Science: A collaboration between artists and researchers

Lichens: Fascinating, beautiful and part of an upcoming art show

LICHENS: FASCINATING, BEAUTIFUL & PART OF AN UPCOMING ART SHOW

In my previous post I wrote about the upcoming Creative Reactions art show, for which I have been creating fibre art lichens based on a collaboration with botanist Paul Sokoloff of the Museum of Nature and 3 experts Paul invited to provide input and feedback. The group of 4 botanists and lichenologists is pictured below. 

L-R Cassandra Robillard, Paul Sokoloff, Chris Deduke, and Troy McMullin

A goal for me was to create much texture and dimension in these fibre art lichens, bearing in mind it would be mounted on a canvas and displayed on an easel. During a recent Show & Tell with the Out of the Box Fibre Artists, I presented 4 of the 5 lichens I was working on - in various stages of completion - and was pleased at their interest, feedback and that they wanted to know when and where the show is. I've included some photos below but the photos don't do the lichens justice, so you'll have to come to the show on May 25 to see them in person, and to see the final art piece.

Elegant Sunburst

This lichen got my interest right away due to its striking beauty and the contrast of its orange colour against a gray background.

It seems this lichen feeds on the nutrients left by birds, and so is found in areas where there are lots of birds. And also explains the gray background colour.

I created this background on a brown paper bag, painted and scraped it with modelling paste and sand resin. To add more texture and dimension, I cut up an old tatted doily, painted it with the same gray colours, scrunched and stitched it to the painted bag.

From this doily 

To this painted and scrunched piece, and stitched to painted background

I discovered in my stash of materials a wonderful playful orange yarn, which very closely matches this orange elegant sunburst lichen. My final piece has 3 of these orange lichens on the background; the photo below shows just one section. The "leaf-like" part of this lichen swells when wet, which would be the case in the one shown here.

Elegant Sunburst

Fairy Puke Lichen

What can I say? This lichen was chosen because of its name - fairy puke - and it's brought a smile so far to everyone who has heard the name. Judging by the number of people who remembered this afterwards, they have proved that art can be used for learning. And if you try to picture what fairy puke may look like....

Since some of the reference photos shows this lichen growing on wood, I kept my eye out for some scrap wood, and found some fabulous pieces that a local handmade furniture store makes available to the public.

For the lichen, needle felted small pink over green wool "puke" balls seemed most appropriate, sort of randomly glued as if they had landed on a piece of wood.




Blue Felt Lichen

A third lichen - blue felt - was selected because of a project in which provinces had been invited to name a provincial lichen, similar to naming a provincial flower. Lichenologist Troy McMullin and researchers across the country have been leading this effort to create more awareness about lichens.

Narrowing down the choice could not be easy in each province. While I'm not sure if all have picked a lichen, I did want to highlight this project and chose Nova Scotia's recently named provincial lichen, called blue felt.

Creating this one in fibre art was challenging and it took a few starts and stops before I was happy with it.

I had played with some fabric cut-outs to create the shape and ripples, but none were to my satisfaction. Finding the right colour also proved to be a challenge. Then I recalled a piece of cotton I had indigo dyed last summer (it also has some rust marks) (see photo at right), cut circles from the dyed fabric and basted a hem which I pulled tighter to create the ripples. (Indigo dyeing is a thousand year old procedure using the indigo plant and used today to dye blue jeans as well as for tie-dyeing.)
                                                                                                     

Once I was happy with these shapes, I dry-brushed blue paint onto the surface to tone down the rust colour, and needle-felted blue and grey wool onto the fabric to tone down the rust even further and to add more depth and a felt-look texture. More blue paint was added to the edges of each lichen, then needle felted berries in shades of green and red added.

The completed pieces were glued onto one of the pieces of wood I had salvaged as this lichen is often found growing on the trunks of old trees. While not exact by any means, I'm quite pleased with the final look.



Alpine Bloodspot

The fourth lichen in this fibre art piece, alpine bloodspot, was chosen for its smooth texture and its colours, and because its an Arctic lichen.

For the background I again used brown paper bag, painted with acrylic paints and sand resin. This time I also added used coffee grounds to add a deep brown soil-like colour.  My husband had offered me some potting soil to use but as fibre artists will tell you, coffee grounds look more like soil than soil does!

With the background complete I began working on the bloodspot lichens. The red and white bits were made from polymer clay and sanded to smooth the rough edges. The white fabric background is strips from an old wool blanket, and rug-hooked onto an open weave fabric which added much dimension to the piece. I had first toyed with other off-white fabrics, but none came close to the texture I got from this blanket.

Arctic Orangebush Lichen

This last lichen took longer to choose. A number of ideas were presented by Paul and his team, but in the end this one became the  choice due in part to its texture, but more importantly because of its importance to those who specialize in Arctic plants. This Arctic orangebush lichen is only known in the western Canadian Arctic and is considered rare. 2017 saw an Arctic expedition in honour of Canada's 150th, here is a link to Paul's posting on finding this rare species during the expedition:
https://canadianmuseumofnature.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/two-rare-species-one-big-trip/

This one also took more experimenting on my part to find both materials and a technique that would work to create something similar. After a few false starts, I went back to the old tatted doily I used for the elegant sunburst lichen, cut more,  painted it yellow and added fabric stiffener. And stitched it to a background of needle felted wool roving. The roving has various sheep and llama wools in earthy colours and I was able to create small hills of "soil" in which this lichen could grow.


Alpine Orangebush Lichen

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This project for me has been a gift, one that pushed me to create more texture and dimension than I've done before. And it included an educational aspect about the lichens that I don't usually get with the subjects I work on. As I was finishing up these lichens and starting another project, I quickly realized I was already a bit bored with it without the challenge of creating  so much texture. 

I will definitely be keeping an eye out this spring and summer for lichens in the area, and will have my camera in hand to capture their beauty and, hopefully, capture them in fibre art too.

My thanks go out to Paul and his team for all their thoughts and feedback. And to Mirka Strmiskova for selecting me as one of the eight artists, and for organizing the Creative Reactions show. I can't wait to see what the other projects are and meet the experts behind them.

Again, the show Creative Reactions is Saturday, May 25 from 6:30 - 9:30 pm at the Plant Recreation Centre at 930 Somerset Street West. 

ART MEETS SCIENCE: A COLLABORATION BETWEEN ARTISTS AND RESEARCHERS

Art meets science in an upcoming show titled Creative Reactions, on May 25th, 2019, at the Plant Recreation Centre in Ottawa. It's a show of art created by artists who were paired up with academic researchers and based on themes such as the human body, galaxies, society, etc. Creative Reactions explores the relationships between art and science, the use of creativity, art as a method for learning, as a means for visual communication. And I'm excited to be one of the eight selected artists.

I was partnered with botanist Paul Sokoloff, senior research assistant with the Museum of Nature, who invited me for a tour in February of the museum's Herbarium in Gatineau which, even though I've lived in Ottawa all my life, I did not know existed.

I was wowed! A building comparable to the size of the new Amazon warehouse, Paul - whose specialty is Arctic botany - treated me to a tour: no end of ferns, mosses, lichens and other plants, plant uses, some history, some Botany 101 and even a peak through a microscope. So many botanical species, old and new, scads of which I had never heard of, but all documented and innumerable added into a searchable database accessible by the public.

One of many photos I took of the samples at the Herbarium

A close-up of the information one of the Herbarium's samples

My visit lasted about 45 minutes and, with my creative well full of ideas to consider for an art piece for this show, my challenge was to narrow down the possibilities, bearing in mind the goals of the program. 

Possible subjects included climate change and its effect on plant habitats, medicinal uses, plants of the Arctic, expeditions, and so much more. But I found I kept coming back to the beautiful and enchanting lichens, a fascinating world I could journey to and learn more about, and one that presented me with so many artistic possibilities to create a piece of art. And lichens, I learned, are actually a combination of fungi and algae. 

As fibre art is all about texture, I knew this would be a good fit. And while I had played in the past with various fibre art techniques and materials covering a variety of subjects, I had never explored the subject of lichens. I knew lots of experimenting would be needed to identify the best options to fabricate the three-dimensional textures of these organisms and the surfaces on which they grow.

As we narrowed the search to select 5 or so lichens, Paul included several lichen experts on the emails to provide their input and thoughts, as we looked at lichen colours, textures, properties, a focus on the Arctic but also other regions of Canada, unusual names, beauty, and projects related to lichens.

The 5 lichens were selected throughout March and April, some I have now completed and some are still in progress for my fibre art piece. All 5 will be mounted onto 1 canvas, and a background designed to provide more information about each. My next couple of posts leading up to the Creative Reactions show on May 25 will cover the 5 lichens, why each was selected, the materials I chose and the techniques. 

In the meantime, here are some links to some of Paul's postings on his own botanical journey and explorations with the Museum of Nature. Some fascinating - and educational - reading:

Adventures in botany, on Earth and Mars
Northern Plants in the Capital: Mer Bleue Bog
Botanist Paul Sokoloff on his journey to the Arctic
The “Martian” Flora: Extreme Life in Extreme Environments