Mark your calender!

We have been creating rocks, flowers, leaves and grasses for the installation, and the first exhibition is scheduled for December 18th, 2015 at Wave Pool Gallery in Cincinnati, OH.

In Patterned Spaces
Date: December 18th, 2015
Time: Backer's Party 6-7pm, Opening Reception 7-10pm
Location:
Wave Pool Gallery
2940 Colerain Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45225

After the show we will update our blog with pictures of the installation for everyone who isn't able to make it out to Cincinnati on December 18th.

Here's a sneak peak of the components we've making.

Rewards in Production

We are working on making quail note cards and tumblers. As you can see from the photos below we are back to working in the basement. We miss Canada and mountains. We will begin sending out rewards in May.

Casting octagonal tumblers.

Tumbler with lawn chairs.

Ah, Canada...

What's next?

It's good to be home, and we have begun the next phase of our installation. Our plan is include flowers we'll make from porcelain as an element in the installation. We've begun experimentation on how to construct the flowers. Spring is the perfect time for this exploration!

Inspiration!

We're Back!

Our last two weeks at Banff were a bit of a blur. We installed and documented our work in the Banff Centre's gallery space called the Philosopher's Knoll. We had studio visits with curators and made even more wallpaper to prepare for the Open Studios event. It was productive to get feedback from visitors from the Banff Centre and the surrounding community. Visitors especially responded to the scale and texture of the work which we found encouraging. We feel fortunate to have had the opportunity, space and time to begin working on a large-scale project.

Documenting in the Philosopher's Knoll.

Quails in Patterned Spaces.

Julia in patterned spaces.

Foam and feathers in profile.

Texture!

We made this.

Getting some love from Resident Artists Claudia and Ana.

Admiring the scenic view.

We're home! (Take note of our crafty duct tape duffel to bring home our unused paper.)

A day away from the studio and a Lake Louise hike

Christy standing on frozen Lake Louise.

It was a beautiful day for a hike and a group of almost 30 visual artists and musicians from the Banff Centre took a bus about 60km and spent the afternoon hiking around Lake Louise. At this time of year Lake Louise is completely frozen, so many people were enjoying the sunshine, walking around and even playing hockey on the lake.

View from the hike up to the tea house.

 We decided to take a 3.8km (about 2 miles) hike up the mountain. The map promised a tea house at the top and for most of the hike I was motivated by visions of hot cocoa or hot milky tea. The air was incredibly dry, and I drank all of my water before reaching the top of our hike. The snow packed beautifully, and we were surprised to find our hands dry after forming dense, hard snowballs. The water evaporated from our hands almost instantly. The altitude made for much heavy breathing as we made our way up the hill.

Tall trees (maybe spruce?) and a steep fall. It was warm in the sun.

About a half mile from the top a few hikers told us the tea house was closed in the winter. Disappointment rippled through our group, but we were still determined to make it the tea house for the view, even if there was no cocoa or snacks to be had.

Seema, Guillaume, Anna, Maike and a bold bird.

Guillaume brought some dried fruit and nuts which he generously shared and a couple of bold birds were hanging around for scraps and posing for photos. We saw two birds at the top of our climb, and I wondered if they followed us up, wanting to keep the trail mix in sight.

Taking a break with Elida and Maike to enjoy the view. 

After the hike we had snacks and warm drinks at Chateau Lake Louise, the hotel that overlooks the lake. It was lovely and refreshing to spend time outdoors. Looking forward to getting back in the studio for more quails and wallpaper tomorrow!

Testing Gold Leaf

The time is just flying by... We've been here for two weeks already, and we have gotten a ton of work done.

Even though we came with a plan and had done some material testing, many challenges have come up as we've been working on the project. It's okay though because problem-solving is one of our favorite parts about making art. We've been thinking that our wall paper is a little too subtle, maybe it needs a little oomph! Julia suggested adding gold leaf to some of the square spaces in the wallpaper. We picked up some imitation gold leaf from an art supply store in Calgary on Friday and did some testing on scraps of paper. Gold leaf is super delicate, probably the thinnest solid material that I have ever used. It is also so lovely. After testing it on the paper we wanted to gold leaf our bodies. We even put it on a scrap piece of spray foam which instantly transformed that hideous material into something almost gorgeous. That may take a few more tries.

We plan to begin gold leafing wall paper tomorrow and then hanging it on the wall. We also purchased some acid-free linen tape in Calgary which we will use to reinforce the wallpaper so we can tack it up in our studio and later remove it to ship it home. We'll post photos when we get it installed. Check out photos of the imitation gold leaf tests below, and you'll see why we want to gold leaf everything.

The gold leaf will be in some of the square spaces (where the tape is in this photo.)

So delicate! Sheets of imitation gold leaf.

 

Gold leaf on spray foam.

Gold leaf adhesive and tests on paper.

Lovely! Gold leaf on paper.

Quails & Foam & Feathers

We've made progress on our quails!

This past week we worked ever so slowly and patiently on building cardboard armatures and covering them in Great Stuff insulation foam.

That's not true. Actually, we quickly constructed cardboard armatures bound with tape and other studio waste and took them to the sculpture spray booth, which is actually a chilly wind tunnel, and covered them with around 40 cans of foam. It was a a slow, but not so patient process (on my part) that ultimately produced two large blobs loosely based on two of the quails from the Ruby Back Plate with Quails and Chrysanthemums that our project is referencing. 
I've developed more congenial feelings for them since they're out of the spray booth. 

Our quail armatures fresh from the spray booth.

After a little deliberation over feather type and direction, we started hand tearing white and a little cream colored paper to create the feathers for the quails.

Paper feathers and YES! PASTE 

We're using YES! PASTE as our glue to stick the paper feathers to the foam. I'm not entirely sure if the name of this product is fully capitalized, but it is in my heart and this post. 

I've designated this paragraph for discussing the many benefits of  YES! PASTE. Right off the bat, this is the most affirming glue I've encountered. How many products seem to actively want you to believe in yourself and your work? I can only count a few, but this one is by far my favorite. Besides the affirmative label, this paste is archival, dries matte and clear, and has a thick body. We can dip our paper feathers into the tub and stick them directly on the foam. Our lives are constantly made better by YES! PASTE. 

Beginning stages of foam with paper feathers

We've spent the last couple of days tearing feathers and applying them to our foam armatures. It's a slow process, but we're really enjoying it. This component of our project has been a nice deviation from the labor intensive process of measuring, masking, and painting wall paper. I think we're both feeling excited by the progress the quails have undergone during the last two days and are looking forward to experiencing them totally covered in paper feathers. 

If you happen to think of us during your day, know we're probably (hopefully merrily) applying little bits of torn paper to large foam forms.

Wallpaper and our first elk sighting

The mountains looked beautiful as the sun was rising on my way to the studio this morning.

Julia removing the

Frog Tape®

It takes us an entire day to complete one of these, that's both of us working together. It's roughly 4'x9'. First we plot it out. We made templates for this to increase our efficiency. Then we trace octagons onto the paper. Usually one of us plots while the other follows close behind tracing octagons. Then we mask it off with Frog Tape® for Delicate Surfaces. Frog Tape® is a brilliant product. Not only does it prevent the paint from bleeding and ruining the design, but it's translucent enough that we can see the pencil lines through the tape. This is important because we need to trim the tape to match the design. This masking is time consuming, but it allows us to paint the octagons quickly and cleanly. Then we can remove the masking from the paper with (almost) no tearing. Thanks makers of Frog Tape®! So far we have three sheets of octagons completed, and we are closing in on a fourth. These will be the backdrop of our installation.We are still trouble-shooting our hanging system, but looking forward to seeing them on the wall.

Our studio in the afternoon sunshine. Moved in another table today so we can work on covering quail with paper tomorrow.

Elk chillin' at the Banff Centre

On our way to dinner today Sasha, another artist in residence told us there were elk behind the building. The female is barely visible behind the grass at the foot of the trees. They were still there about an hour later, walking around as people watched and took photos. The male looks like he's starting to shed his winter coat. If you are wondering why every photo we take has a mountain in it it's because we are surrounded by mountains on all sides. It's an amazingly beautiful place.

Studio Progress

Here's an update on our progress in the studio:

We've been really busy working in the studio this weekend. We've blocked and painted our first two sheets of wallpaper, and learned that each sheet takes at least a day to make. We don't want to talk about how many we still have to make... 

We were really excited to start building the armatures for our large quails. We're proud of our resourcefulness in recycling our studio trash to build armatures that will hold the foam and paper for our quail sculptures. 

Check out the photos of our studio progress and evolving view!

The mountains disappeared during the first snowfall we've seen in Canada.

Masking octagons.

Painting octagons.

Wrangling cardboard.

Skeptical of our tape job. 

Quail admires the view.

Julia: Are you smiling?
Christy: No! I'm playing it straight, like we agreed...
(quail armatures from studio trash)

Still painting octagons.

We Have Octagons

We have learned that everything is made more enjoyable when you have a striking view of mountains. I think everyone could benefit from more mountains in their life.

Today was a long and productive. We finally found a supplier who can accommodate our large spray foam order.  A lesson we've learned: Canadian Home Depots operate differently than those in the US. Share this lesson with your loved ones; you will save them a lot of time and disgruntlement.

On a brighter note, we had a meeting with the sculpture facilitator and learned how to not ignite the building with the off-gas our uncured spray foam will emit. Our future is looking  more secure.

We both gave artist talks with the rest of the resident artists. It was a great to see everyone's work and to get to know people even more. Cool things are happening here.

And...we have octagons!

Tomorrow we are going start tracing and masking off our pattern for the wallpaper element of our installation. We're feeling  relieved to have finished our orientation and artist talks and excitement over spending more time in the studio!

We're in BANFF!

We're in Banff!

We arrived at the Banff Centre Sunday afternoon. The weather has been mild and sunny, which has made exploring our breathtaking landscape much easier than we had anticipated.

The mountainous terrain served as a great backdrop when our shuttle broke down on the trip from Calgary to the Banff Centre. While it is never convenient for motor vehicles to break down, this experience was an excellent introduction to the stunning view of the mountains that surround the Banff Centre. Our travel and  time on the side of the road was made more pleasant by Christy's snacks. Her food preparedness served us well while we waited for a replacement shuttle to arrive.

Today (Monday) we were given our studio keys after an informative orientation and tour of the facilities. We're happy to report that we have a decent view with windows that open!

We are excited to unpack our materials and begin work. We are currently finishing an order from Home Depot before we delve into working in the studio tomorrow morning.

Quails in Patterned Spaces, Our Kickstarter Link

Click here to help support our project:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1346369160/quails-in-patterned-spaces?ref=discovery

We are Julia Sebastian and Christy Wittmer, artists living and working in and around Cincinnati, OH. We met while pursuing our Masters of Fine Art degrees from the University of Cincinnati. While immersed in art on a daily basis, we found that we share similar interests in material, both visually and experientially. After engaging in conversations that were steeped in playful exchanges of ideas, we quickly realized that we could develop a friendship and collaborative relationship that is built on honest critiquing, critical thinking, and laughter.

Unbecoming by Julia Sebastian

Capillary Action by Christy Wittmer

Capillary Action, detail

Our first collaborative venture was a conference talk that explored the varied ways texture seduces and curates the viewer’s interaction with an artwork. We believe deeply in the ability of material to transport the viewer into a world that recalibrates their sensibilities and provides a reprieve from the routines and monotony of everyday life.

After successfully merging our individual research for our conference talk, we decided to undertake a collaborative sculpture that combined our different studio practices. At the time, Christy was making a herd of impractical porcelain tables and was using plaster and various other sculptural components in concert with re-purposed materials to construct precarious sculptures that challenge the physics of gravity while inviting the viewer to carefully explore the unexpected relationships between disparate materials.

Porcelain and Concrete by Christy Wittmer

Porcelain and Concrete, detail

Julia was working on foam sculptures that combined various textures to create abstract bodies that encompassed various states of material creation and deterioration.These bodies contrasted unruly materials with carefully layered felt strips or segments of neat color, challenging a broad range of material to coexist within one sculpture.

Unbecoming 2 by Julia Sebastian

Together we combined Christy’s porcelain table legs and plaster pedestal with Julia’s foam and layered strips of felt to create the work there there. Approaching this work, the viewer finds it transfixed in a moment of instability. Leaning, ungainly and awkward this sculpture evokes empathy in its failed attempt to find its footing. 

We visited the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio together to further our discussion and consideration of texture by examining how artists throughout history have formally engaged texture, color, and surface treatment. During our visit we were struck by a set of plates, entitled Ruby Black Plate with Quails and Chrysanthemums, Qing dynasty, c 1730.

Ruby Black Plate with Quails and Chrysanthemums, detail, Qing Dynasty, c. 1730

Using these plates as a springboard we will create a three-dimensional installation that physically transports the viewer into a world of delicately seductive color, patterns and textures. This creative referential dream space will evoke a new and vital relationship between the viewer and the installation that thrives on personal investigation and constant discovery in a space saturated with texture and color.





We proposed this idea to the Banff Centre, a highly regarded residency program in Canada and were selected for the Banff Late Winter Intensive Residency. This program will provide us the time and space to create the components of our installation within a community of experienced artists and curators and to get feedback that will enable us to compose a truly transportive environment. Our time at Banff will also provide the opportunity to forge relationships that foster critical feedback and lasting artistic dialogue.

Kinnear Center for Creativity and Innovation, Banff Centre, photo used with permission

What the residency doesn’t provide is the materials needed to create an installation of about 10 by 10 by 8 feet.   We also need to get the materials to a location in remote Canada and then ship the finished pieces home, a distance of 2,000 miles each way.



As soon as we arrive at the Banff Centre, we will begin using foam to create armatures for our giant quails, which we will meticulously cover in variety of feathers. These quail will occupy a space covered in hand painted wallpaper that will mirror the pattern and color found in the plates’ borders. Sculpted rocks and flowers will add lushness to the landscape.

We are excited by the opportunity to create a transportive environment that immerses the viewer in ornate patterned walls while they navigate the textured world of our abstracted human-sized quail!