Tag Archives: handmade paper

Sacramento “Guns Into Flowers” public artwork continues to grow and more seeds are sprouting

10 Friday May 2019

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It is great to see these photos of my public artwork “Guns into Flowers” that is sited at South Natomas Community Center Park, Sacramento, California. This project was done in cooperation with Natomas Charter School Academy of Performing and Fine Arts, during a 3 -week artist-in-residency during February and March.  It was installed on March 16, 2019. The seeds in the handmade paper quilt are for wildflowers in the same colors and pattern, and the handmade paper quilt has a gun motif to transform those “guns” into flowers in a few more months. One of the students that I worked with at the school is continuing to take photos of the artwork as it changes over time. It is great to have the photos to continue documenting this piece, and I will continue to post them as I receive them.  These photos were received on May 1, 2019, and I am sure they will be sending more photos soon.   There has been only a little rain in Sacramento, and the people there have also been watering the quilt to help the seeds germinate and the seedings grow.  Thanks to everyone for all the help.

Thinking of Earth Day and the Beauty of Spring

23 Tuesday Apr 2019

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Happy Earth Day everyone!  I was thinking today of the first art project I made with seeds in the paper pulp to sprout and grow over time. That was an art installation titled “Living Earth” created for the 25th anniversary of Earth Day in 1995 made with my art students at SUNY Morrisville on the campus in Morrisville, NY.  A handmade paper global map with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp changed over time into a living blooming earth. This artwork was focused on bringing more awareness to the problem of global warming and showed the continents of the Western Hemisphere and how they were projected to change from global warming. This is an even more acute problem today as global warming and climate change are becoming evident to all of us, and our coastlines are already changing.  Here are some pre-digital photos of my “Living Earth” installation in 1995.

My recent public art installation in Santa Rosa, California, also uses handmade paper pulp with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp to change, grow and bloom over time. This artwork called “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” continues to grow and bloom with more flowers appearing every day. The artwork was installed on Nov. 25, 2018, and the first blooms began appearing in mid March 2019.

The “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” art installation was part of the city of Santa Rosa public art program that awarded grants to artists to create public art in response to the devastating wildfires of October 2017. My installation is in the Fountaingrove area at Rincon Ridge Park near the children’s play area, and it consists of a “bed” made with soil and a headboard and footboard for the bed woven of local trimmed branches. The handmade paper quilt for the bed was created with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp in the same colors and pattern. I used the traditional “Flying Geese” quilt pattern and the colors of blue, white and yellow gold. The seeds in the pulp are for California golden poppies, Tidy Tips, Baby Blue Eyes, Wild Lupine, Globe Gilia, Baby’s Breath, Sweet Alyssum and White Linen Poppies. The flowers will continue to bloom over the summer, and the installation will biodegrade over time.

Hope you can go to see “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” if you are near Santa Rosa, California. Rincon Ridge Park is off Fountaingrove Parkway at Rincon Ridge Drive and open to the public. Here are some photos of the Santa Rosa artwork taken on April 20 and 21, 2019, showing many flowers in full bloom, and the handmade paper quilt has all disappeared into the earth as mulch.  Seeing all those wildflowers in bloom reminds us that the Earth is a living thing of great beauty.

I also have another installation with handmade paper and seeds for wildflowers in the pulp that is in Sacramento, California, at South Natomas Community Center Park.  The Sacramento public art project is about the issue of gun violence and called “Guns into Flowers” That project was a result of an artist in residency at Natomas Charter School, Academy of Performing and Fine Arts in Sacramento, CA, and the installation was done on March 16, 2019. The handmade paper quilt has a pattern of many different types and shapes of guns, and the paper pulp has seeds for wildflowers in the same colors and patterns. The installation was made with the participation of students at Natomas Charter School, and the “guns” will transform over time into living, blooming wildflowers as the handmade paper quilt dissolves into mulch and the seeds sprout and grow. Check back on this Blog in a few weeks to see how it progresses. The seeds are already beginning to sprout, and the wildflower plants are growing taller.

“Guns Into Flowers” Project installed on March 16, 2019, at South Natomas Community Center Park, Sacramento, CA

19 Tuesday Mar 2019

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Detail of installing first of 20 squares for the Guns into Flowers handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp.

These photos are of the installation ceremony on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at South Natomas Community Center Park, Sacramento, CA. Many people came out to see the installation and support this project that focused on raising awareness about the issue of gun violence. The Guns into Flowers “quilt” will dissolve into compost over time and the wildflower seeds in the handmade paper pulp will sprout and grow into a living blooming bed of wildflowers in the same colors and pattern, thus transforming the “guns into flowers”.

Laying down the Guns into Flowers Quilt on the prepared “bed”.

Natomas Charter School visual arts students laying down the quilt squares and staking them to the ground with bamboo skewers having a wine cork on top.

Natomas Charter School art teachers Chelsea Greninger and Jim Vetter and school founder and executive director Dr. Ting Sun speaking at the installation ceremony for the “Guns Into Flowers” art project in Sacramento, CA

Detail showing two students installing a Guns into Flowers handmade paper quilt square.

Natomas Charter School visual arts students, principal and art teachers with the artist Jane Ingram Allen after the installation is completed.

Students and teachers spoke at the installation ceremony to tell about their experience of working on the Guns into Flowers art project.

Artist Jane Ingram Allen directs the students in laying down the Guns into Flowers handmade paper quilt on the prepared “bed”

The installation of the “Guns into Flowers” handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the paper pulp was done with the participation of the visual arts students of Natomas Charter School. The students were involved in the whole process of creating a public art installation in a city park at the South Natomas Community Center. The Guns into Flowers art project was created during a three-week artist in residency at Natomas Charter School working with the students to make the handmade paper quilt and create a “flower bed” with a headboard and footboard woven of local branches. The quilt was installed in a public ceremony with students laying down the 20 squares and borders to form the quilt on the 8 feet x 10 feet “bed”.

Thanks to all the students and teachers at Natomas Charter School Performing and Fine Arts Academy for their participation in this project and to our other sponsors: Natomas Arts & Education Foundation, N Magazine, City of Sacramento, Edward L. Anderson Jr. Foundation and The Arts Engagement Foundation of Kansas City. It was a great experience working on this project with the students to create a public art installation in Sacramento.
Photos of the installation are by Timothy S. Allen (allentimphotos2.wordpress.com).

“Guns into Flowers” Art Project and Handmade Paper Quilt to be installed Saturday, March 16

13 Wednesday Mar 2019

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The public is invited to see the installation of a handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp placed on an artist-created “flower bed” at South Natomas Community Center, Sacramento, CA.  Visual Arts students from Natomas Charter School and the artist Jane Ingram Allen will be there to speak about the project after the installation of the handmade paper quilt, starting at 2PM on Saturday, March 16.  

The “Guns into Flowers” public art installation will begin at 2PM on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at South Natomas Community Center Park, 2921 Truxel Road, Sacramento, California.

Sponsors for this art project include Natomas Arts and Education Foundation, N Magazine, City of Sacramento, Natomas Charter School, Natomas Charter School PFAF, Edward L. Anderson Jr. Foundation, and the Arts Engagement Foundation of Kansas City.

This art project has been created by artist Jane Ingram Allen and students at Natomas Charter  School, Performing and Fine Arts Academy, during a three-week artist in residency from Feb. 25 to March 16, 2019.  Read more about this art project and see photos from earlier posts on this blog.  Photos are by Timothy S. Allen.

Check back to see how the handmade paper quilt with seeds in the pulp changes over time into living blooming wildflowers.  It is hoped that this project will raise awareness about gun violence and create more public dialogue about possibilities for change.

Spring 2019 Papermaking Art Classes in Santa Rosa, CA

18 Monday Feb 2019

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Announcing Spring 2019 Papermaking Art Classes
with Jane Ingram Allen
at Studio Santa Rosa, 3840 Finley Ave., Santa Rosa, CA, Building 32, Studio 107
Contact Jane by phone 857-234-2432 or email info@janeingramallen.com

Learn in an environment surrounded by original artworks that were created using the techniques being taught in the workshops.

Class size is limited to 4 people, and all materials and equipment are provided.

 

 

About the Instructor:
• Award winning international artist and hand papermaking expert with 40 years of experience.
• Papermaking teacher and resident artist in Japan, Taiwan, China, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Tanzania, France, England, Brazil, and the US. Fulbright Scholar Award artist in Taiwan and Fulbright Specialist artist in Turkey.
• Trained in traditional Japanese papermaking in Japan, and taught papermaking while living in Taiwan and Asia for 8 plus years.
• Former Art professor at SUNY, Morrisville, NY, and College of St. Rose, Albany, NY. Former textile Arts instructor at Foothill College and Canada College in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Taught papermaking workshops in US at Women’s Studio Workshop, Peter’s Valley School of Crafts, Morgan Conservancy, Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Queens Botanical Garden, Brookfield Craft Center, Mass Audubon and others.
• For more information visit Jane’s Blog at https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com and her website at http://www.janeingramallen.com

Classes in Spring 2019

Introduction to Hand Papermaking: Explore Western and Asian techniques of hand papermaking including sheet forming, pressing and drying as well as techniques of laminating, embedding and watermarking. Learn how papermaking can be used for a variety of art creations (2-D and 3-D) and make an array of handmade papers using cotton, abaca, kozo and local plant fibers.
• Saturday, March 30, 10AM to 4PM.
• Fee: $125 – Materials and equipment provided

Color and Hand Papermaking: Create your own handmade paper with colored pulps using Western and Japanese techniques. Learn to use dyes and pigments to color pulp as well as natural dyes and the natural color of different plant fiber pulps. Your handmade paper can be used for painting or drawing with watercolors, inks, dry media, acrylics, oil, encaustic and other techniques, as well as creating the art with the colored pulp. We will create paper sheets up to 11” x 17” using a variety of fibers that have unique textures and colors. We will learn pulp painting and other techniques for creating imagery with paper pulp as well as applying mixed media painting techniques on the handmade paper.
Saturday, April 27, 10AM to 4PM.
• Fee: $125 – Materials and equipment provided

Plants to Paper: Learn how to make handmade paper from local plant waste materials such as leaves and bark of common local plants. This class will cover how to make paper from “scratch” using materials found locally and easily available equipment and supplies and sustainable methods. We will identify, gather, cook, beat and form handmade paper from a variety of local plants to create unique place-connected handmade papers with a variety of natural colors and textures. We will create sample books and compile records and recipes for making paper from local plants.
• Saturday and Sunday, May 4 and 5, 10 AM to 4 PM each day
• Fee: $200, materials and equipment provided

Getting Grants and Residencies: Learn to find and make wining applications for a grant or residency. In this open session for all artists, with individual coaching and Q & A, Jane will share her experiences getting grants for residencies, public art projects and research and art making opportunities internationally. Jane has received grants from state, local and national foundations, arts councils, museums and public art commissions as well as three Fulbright Awards and grants to do artist-in-residencies in Japan, Nepal, Indonesia, Tanzania, China, Taiwan, Turkey and other countries as well as in the USA. Participants in this workshop, should bring examples/images of their artwork, a resume and artist statement and printed out information about any opportunities you are thinking about applying for. Bringing your own laptop would also be good for this workshop.
• Saturday May 11, 10AM to 4PM
• Fee $100

Sculptural Papermaking: Learn to make handmade paper sculptures and installation art using a variety of plant fibers and combining hand papermaking with various sculpture techniques, such as casting, embossing, molding, constructing, building over armatures and modeling. We will create handmade paper sculptures and mixed media works using pulps made from abaca, kozo (mulberry bark), cotton, and other locally collected fiber plants. Using three-dimensional techniques and natural colors and textures from the various plant fibers, expand your horizons and discover new possibilities in sculpture.
• Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, 10AM to 4PM.
• Fee $200 – Materials and equipment provided

Papermaking Studio Rental: Jane’s Papermaking Studio is available for your personal use (weekdays or weekends) at a fee of $15/hour (minimum of 4 hours). To rent the studio you are required to take at least one workshop with Jane and attend a special session by phone or email about using the studio and materials. Jane will prepare materials and be there for consulting. You will have use of the studio space and Jane’s equipment. Materials cost will depend on what pulp and other materials from Jane are used and will be discussed at the studio session.

To Register for a class: contact Jane at info@janeingramallen.com or phone 857-234-2432.  Look for more classes to be announced here in Summer and Fall.

Living Quilt for Santa Rosa Continues Changing and Growing

29 Tuesday Jan 2019

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My “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” public art installation with handmade paper and seeds for wildflowers in the pulp continues to change over time since it was installed on November 25, 2018, at Rincon Ridge Park in the Fountaingrove area of Santa Rosa. This project was one of four projects awarded a grant from the City of Santa Rosa public art department during the first round of Calls for Fire Response public art projects.  This  installation was created with the participation of local volunteers, and it is bringing new life to this area of Santa Rosa that was devastated by the wildfires of October 2017. The wildflowers should continue to grow, and hopefully they will bloom in a few weeks. The weather has been sunny and warm, and many trees and flowers are already starting to bloom in Santa Rosa, CA.

These photos show the art installation on January 28, 2019.  Some wildflowers are about 4 – 6 inches tall now!

New Public Art Project “Guns into Flowers” in Sacramento, CA

14 Monday Jan 2019

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During a 3-week artist-in-residency (February 25 – March 16, 2019) in Sacramento, CA at Natomas Charter School (http://www.natomascharter.org,) artist Jane Ingram Allen will create an outdoor public art installation titled “Guns into Flowers”.  The art project aims to raise awareness about gun violence and initiate public dialogue about possibilities for change. The art project will result in the creation of an outdoor sculpture installation consisting of a “flower bed” and a handmade paper quilt with a pattern of gun shapes and having seeds for wildflowers in the paper pulp to transform over time into living blooming wildflowers in the same colors and pattern.

Jane and Natomas Charter School Visual Arts teachers Jim Vetter and Chelsea Greninger

Jane standing at site for “Guns into Flowers” installation at South Natomas Community Center, Sacramento, CA.

Jim Vetter, Chelsea Greninger and Jane Ingram Allen at South Natomas Community Center, Sacramento, choosing site for “Guns into Flowers” installation.

Jane meeting with Natomas Charter School teachers, principal and Sacramento officials to plan the “Guns Into Flowers” art project

Jane and Chelsea Greninger, Natomas Charter School Visual Arts teacher hold a prototype for a quilt square for the Guns into Flowers art project. Natomas Charter School Principal Dr. Ting Sun and visual arts teacher Jim Vetter and Donald Gensler with Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission look on.

Jane meets at Natomas Charter School in the visual arts studio room to plan the “Guns into Flowers” art project in Sacramento.

The handmade paper quilt will be created by student participants working with the artist in “open studio” papermaking workshops at the Natomas Charter School, Performing and Fine Arts Academy (grades 6-12).  The quilt blocks will be created 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 by the artist and participants using local trimmed tree branches. The handmade paper quilt will gradually dissolve into mulch over several weeks or months as the wildflower seeds in the pulp begin to sprout and grow, transforming the ”guns” into flowers.

The public art installation will be created in a public park at South Natomas Community Center and coordinated with city and park representatives. The public opening and installation ceremony for the “Guns into Flowers” project will be at 2PM, Saturday, March 16, 2019 at the site, South Natomas Community Center, 2921 Truxel Road. Sacramento, CA. “Guns into Flowers” will transform over time following the natural cycle of life and emphasize working together for social and environmental change.

Check this Blog often for continuing updates on this public art project.  All photos on this Blog are by Timothy S. Allen (alltentimphotos2.wordoress.com)

Changes in the Living Quilt for Santa Rosa

04 Tuesday Dec 2018

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These photos taken on Dec. 4, 2018, show how the public artwork “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” is changing over time.   The photos were taken by Timothy S. Allen allentimphotos2.wordpress.com

We have had some rain in northern California in the last week, so the handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp is starting to dissolve into mulch.  The wildflower seeds will start to sprout and produce living blooming wildflowers in the same colors and pattern when it begins to get warmer.  The headboard and footboard of the bed woven from local branches continue to last well, and we have had no more damage from deer in the area.  It seems the bay leaves we wove into the structure do work to keep the deer away.

You can come to Rincon Ridge Park (off Fountaingrove Parkway at Rincon Ridge Drive) in Santa Rosa any time to see the artwork and enjoy this small city park.  This public artwork by artist Jane Ingram Allen is part of the City of Santa Rosa’s Fire Response art projects to remember the October 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa and promote healing.  Check this Blog for further updates on the “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” project.  Thank you again to all the volunteers who helped to make this artwork and participated in its installation on November 25, 2018.

Living Quilt for Santa Rosa Is Installed

26 Monday Nov 2018

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Jane Ingram Allen’s latest public art installation is now on view at Rincon Ridge Park in Santa Rosa, CA. You can come to the Park at any time over the next 6 months to see the progress and how nature transforms the artwork. The public art project “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” was installed yesterday, Nov. 25, on a beautiful Fall day of bright sunshine and clean fresh air at a city park in the Fountaingrove area that was severely affected by the October 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa. Many people helped with the installation and participated in decorating the headboard and footboard with colorful flowers and leaves brought by volunteers. Tara Thompson, art coordinator for the City of Santa Rosa, made an introductory presentation about the City’s public art “fire response” program and introduced the artist for this project. Then, Jane lead volunteers and community people in laying out the handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp and having the same colors and patterns. Jane used the “flying geese” traditional quilt pattern for this handmade paper quilt that was formed in strips to cover the 8 foot x 10 foot raised bed filled with soil.  A group of sketchers were also there at the installation to record this public art project.  Here is the website about the fire response sketching group in northern California: (https://sketchingclimatestories.com/index.php/sketching-fire-stories/

After the “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” was all installed and staked down with wooden skewers that had a cork attached at the top, Jane and volunteers watered the quilt with a pump sprayer since there is still no water available at the site after hose connections and water lines were damaged by the wildfires in the area last October. The City is working hard to restore water in the Park, and several houses in the area are being rebuilt after the fires. It is hoped that this artwork will bring healing and new life with colorful wildflowers to this devastated area.

Here are some photos of the installation ceremony on November 25. The photos were taken by Timothy S. Allen, and you can see more of his photos at https://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com
Please continue to watch this Blog for more photos of the public art installation as rains come, and the seeds in the handmade paper quilt start to sprout and grow over the coming months. We are all thankful that rain is predicted for later this week in Santa Rosa. Thank you again to all those who volunteered to help with this art project by making handmade paper for the quilt and building the headboard and footboard for the “flower bed.”

 

Grant Received for “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” public art project

25 Thursday Oct 2018

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Jane Ingram Allen has been awarded a grant by the City of Santa Rosa for a public art project to commemorate the October 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, that destroyed so many homes, businesses and forests. Jane’s artwork “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” consists of a handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers added to the pulp in the same colors as the quilt pattern. The quilt uses the traditional “Wild Geese” quilt pattern. The blue color in the quilt is paper pulp made from recycled blue jeans. The yellow-orange pulp is abaca (a type of banana leaf fiber) dyed with a non-toxic fiber reactive dye, and the white pulp is the natural color of the abaca. The wildflower seeds in the yellow-orange strips are for California poppies. The seeds in the blue pulp are for California bluebells and mixed blue wildflowers, and the seeds in the white pulp are for Baby’s Breath and white poppies. Community people will join the artist in helping to make the handmade paper quilt and weave a headboard and footboard of local trimmed branches for the “flower bed”. All of the materials in this eco-quilt are natural and bio-degradable and will change over time to become a living, blooming bed of wildflowers. “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” will be installed in a public ceremony at Rincon Ridge Park, off Fountaingrove Parkway, in Santa Rosa, CA, at 2PM on Saturday, Dec. 1.

Everyone is invited to visit Jane’s studio in Santa Rosa on Saturday and Sunday, November 4 and 5, from 11AM to 5PM to help make paper for the project. During these two days, Jane will be holding community participation workshops to make handmade paper for the “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa”.  The workshops will be held during the Open Studio weekend at Studio Santa Rosa, 3840 Finley Avenue, Building 32, Studio 107.  For more information email info@janeingramallen.com