Jane Ingram Allen and Volunteers have been busy working at Rincon Ridge Park in Santa Rosa building a “flower bed” for the Living Quilt for Santa Rosa Public Art Project.  The “bed” is almost finished and a big “thank you” to all the volunteers who came out these last few very smoky days to help build the bed and make the headboard and footboard of local trimmed branches.  Here are a few photos taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen of the bed making in  progress.  We used lots of willow and other tree branches and decorated it will colorful fall leaves and some bay leaves.  We are hoping the bay will keep away the many deer in the Park as some of the “bed” in process was damaged by deer on Saturday night.

The “bed” will be ready for the installation of the handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp at the installation ceremony on Sunday, November 25, at 3 PM.  Everyone is invited and below is the invitation to the installation.

“Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” Installation Ceremony

Sunday, November 25, 2018

3PM

Rincon Ridge Park

3960 Park Gardens Drive

(off Fountaingrove Parkway at Rincon Ridge Drive)

Santa Rosa, California 95404

Everyone is invited to join artist Jane Ingram Allen and volunteers to help lay down the handmade paper quilt with seeds in the pulp that will change over time to produce living blooming wildflowers in the same colors and patterns as the “quilt.”  Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make this public artwork, and we hope “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” will bring new life and beauty over the coming months to this area that was severely affected by the wildfires last October. Hope you can join us for the installation and dedication of the public art project on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 3PM.

These photos show the City of Santa Rosa Park Crew Supervisor, Tim Finegan, gathering trimmed willow branches to help with the Living Quilt for Santa Rosa Public Art Project. The art project will be built in Rincon Ridge Park, off Fountaingrove Blvd. at Rincon Ridge Drive, in Santa Rosa, CA. Artist Jane Ingram Allen and community volunteers will be working at the Park from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 each day 11AM to 4PM to build a “bed” with a headboard and footboard of trimmed branches gathered locally. Volunteers are also bringing other branches to use in constructing this public art project.
The public ceremony to install the handmade paper quilt with seeds for local wildflowers in the pulp will be held on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 3PM at the site in Rincon Ridge Park, Santa Rosa.
Keep watching here to see photos of the “bed” in progress.

On Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3 and 4, participants made handmade paper for the Living Quilt for Santa Rosa public art project during Open Studio time at Jane Ingram Allen’s studio, 3840 Finley  Ave., Santa Rosa, CA.  Many people of all ages joined in making handmade paper with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp to create the panels of the quilt in the traditional “flying geese” quilt pattern.  The white pulp has seeds for white poppies, white cosmos, Baby’s breath and other white wildflowers and the blue pulp has seeds for California bluebells and other mixed blue wildflowers.  The quilt will  have yellow-orange borders with seeds for California poppies and other yellow wildflowers.  The handmade paper quilt will be installed on a prepared bed of soil with a headboard and footboard woven of trimmed branches by volunteers working with the artist at Rincon Ridge Park, off Fountaingrove Parkway, Santa Rosa, CA.  The artist and volunteers will be working at Rincon Ridge Park from 11 AM to 4PM Nov. 17-20.  If  you would like to  volunteer, please contact Jane by email at info@janeingramallen.com or call 857-234-2432.

We also need lots of trimmed branches that are flexible to use for weaving the headboard and footboard for the “bed”.  Call or email the artist if you  have  branches to contribute.

The installation ceremony for Living Quilt for Santa Rosa will be Sunday November 25, at 3 PM at Rincon Ridge Park.  The public is invited so please  join us!

It was a great group last Saturday for the Introduction to Hand Papermaking Workshop held in my studio in Santa Rosa, California. The participants in the workshop learned how to make paper using a variety of pulps and Western and Asian techniques for hand papermaking. We used abaca pulp (a banana relative), blue jean pulp (from recycled cotton blue jeans), Eucalyptus bark (prepared from local roadside Eucalyptus trees) and Sitka Spruce bark (gathered on the Oregon coast where Sitka Spruce trees are growing). Below you can see some photos of the workshop, taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen (allentimphotos2.wordpress.com)

Take a look at my Post on August 7, 2018 for a full list of the other Fall 2018 Papermaking Workshops. I will also teach a special class on the weekend of Oct. 20-21 at the Laguna de Santa Rosa, “Plants to Paper”. This workshop will be a chance to learn how to make unique handmade paper from plants found in the Laguna de Santa Rosa area and create a variety of papers during the two-day hands-on workshop. We will gather plant materials, cook, beat and make paper from several local plants. To register for the Plants to Paper Workshop go to the website for the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation: http://lagunadesantarosa.org/laguna_walks_classes.html Scroll down to see the workshop on Oct. 20-21 and click the link to register. Or, email me at info@janeingramallen.com for more information about upcoming papermaking art workshops.

During February 2018 Jane Ingram Allen will work in Sacramento, California, as an artist-in-residence at Natomas Charter School, Performing and Fine Arts Academy, to create an outdoor public art installation “Guns into Flowers” that will raise awareness about gun violence and possibilities for change. The “Guns into Flowers” project will be installed in a park or other sunny outdoor spot and consist of a handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp to transform over time into living blooming wildflowers. The handmade paper quilt will have multiple quilt blocks featuring guns in various shapes and colors. The quilt blocks will be made with stencils in the handmade paper sheet-forming process and individualized by each participant. The “Guns into Flowers” handmade paper quilt will be installed on a raised “flower bed” about 8 feet x 10 feet x 8 inches high with a headboard and footboard woven of local branches. The handmade paper quilt will gradually dissolve into mulch over several months as the wildflower seeds begin to sprout and grow. The installation “Guns into Flowers” will transform over time to emphasize the natural cycle of life and working together to change our society and environment for the future.

Jane did a similar public art project “Living Quilt for Newnan” in August 2017, in
Newnan, Georgia, during a 3-week artist-in-residency at Newnan Art Rez
(www.newnanartists.org) working with community participants and the City of Newnan. For more information about the “Living Quilt for Newnan” project see the artist’s Blog posts at https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com/2017/08/ and
https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com/2017/09/

This is a view of the “Living Quilt for Newnan” installed on a raised “flower bed” with a
headboard and footboard woven of local branches.

Living Quilt for Newnan, installed on 8/29/2017

The handmade paper quilt is dissolving and the wildflowers growing on Sept.29, 2017.

The first blooms occurred in early November 2017.

This photo shows the “Living Quilt for Newnan” in May 2018 blooming again after the winter.

Jane has received a grant to support the “Guns into Flowers” art project
from the Arts Engagement Foundation of Kansas City, and Natomas Charter School will be matching the grant and hosting the project in Sacramento. Keep watching this Blog for more posts about the “Guns into Flowers” project in Sacramento.