Tag Archives: Oregon

Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley After One Year

13 Saturday Aug 2022

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

This past week I was teaching two workshops at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology in Otis, Oregon, and had an opportunity to visit my art project done last year “Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley” created with students in the Summer Youth Art Program of the Sitka Center in cooperation with the K-12 School and students from the Nestucca Valley school district. I was the Guest Artist for this program and worked at the school for two weeks in August 2021, with the students to create and install this work before going back to my home in Santa Rosa, CA.

It is great to see how this “quilt” has changed over time and to see so many wildflowers that were in the handmade paper quilt blocks still blooming! The photos below were taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen when we visited the Nestucca Vally School and viewed the art installation in the school garden on Monday, August 8, 2022.

“Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley” shown on August 8, 2022, photo by Timothy S. Allen
Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley one year later!
Another view of Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley after one year.
Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley on August 8, 2022, showing detail of blue bachelor buttons and golden poppies blooming

The Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley was installed on August 13, 2021. I have also attached one photo below of the quilt when it was first installed with the handmade paper quilt blocks each having seeds in the paper pulp in the same colors and patterns in the design of fish, waves and trees. Hopefully the wildflower seeds will disperse again this Fall and come back in the Spring of 2023 with more blooms. For more about the Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley, see this link to an article from Sept. 2021, in ART NEWS: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/jane-ingram-allen-living-quilts-1234603170/

Jane Ingram Allen, Living Quilt for Nestucca Valley, Cloverdale, Oregon (in school garden of K-12 Nestucca Valley School) shown at installation on August 13, 2021, 8 feet x 10 feet x 5 feet, mixed media art installation of handmade paper, dye, thread, soil, boards, branches, created with participants in Summer Youth Art Program of Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, photo by Timothy S. Allen

Another Papermaking Workshop in August at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology in Oregon

12 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Due to so many people wanting to take the class “Papermaking Around the World” Jane will be offering another workshop on this topic at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, Oregon, on August 6 and 7, 2022. Jane will also be teaching Papermaking Around the World at Sitka Center, August 9 and 10, which is already full and with a waiting list!

See this link to register for the recently added workshop: https://www.sitkacenter.org/workshops/3317-papermaking-around-the-world

Taiwan Site Maps, created during Jane’s Fulbright Research Grant residency project in Taiwan, 2004-05.

Here is a description of the two-day Papermaking Around the World workshop.

In this workshop participants will learn about hand papermaking techniques, equipment and plant fibers used in different countries around the world (Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Bali Indonesia, Brazil, Tanzania and Turkey). The instructor will share her experiences as an artist in residence in these countries where she made handmade paper from local plants to create her handmade paper artworks. Participants will use such fibers as lotka from Nepal, kozo from Japan, abaca from the Philippines, palm leaves from Bali and Taiwan and banana leaves from Tanzania. The instructor will share images, sample books, fibers and equipment used around the world. Participants will learn to use Asian, Japanese, Nepalese and Western techniques for sheet forming as well as creative techniques on authentic and improvised equipment to achieve expressive and creative handmade paper art pieces. 

No prior papermaking skills required. This workshop is also suitable for experienced papermakers who want to explore new techniques and different fibers from around the world.

Salmon River Estuary Site Map – made at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology Residency

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Image

 

During my recent residency at the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, one of the artworks I created was a “site map” of the Salmon River Estuary.  The Salmon River in this part of Oregon goes into the ocean near Sitka Center. Hiking in and gathering materials from this area for my handmade paper artworks was one of the highlights of my residency from October 16, 2013 to January 10, 2014.  The Salmon River Estuary Site Map is about 4 feet across and about 3 feet high, and it is two sided suspended in space.  Image

One side of this piece is more like a map of the area and shows a view of the land and rivers, streams, roads and mountains.  Image

The other side shows details about this part of the world with the birds, trees, lighthouses and other tourist sites.

Image Image

This work uses collage techniques and acrylic painting with natural and found materials.  All of the paper for this work is made from plants I collected in the Salmon River Estuary.  The handmade paper is joined with string, and the piece can fold up like a map for easy storage and transport.  I enjoy making “site maps” wherever my art travels take me, and find that this is a great way to get to know a place.  ImageImageImage

Making Trees

13 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Image

During my artist in residency at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology from Oct. 16, 2013 – January 10, 2014, one of the things I have been working on is a multi-part installation of suspended handmade paper sculptures inspired by the tall Sitka Spruce trees in the area.  We took a trip up into the national forest land nearby and saw a whole forest of the tall evergreen trees, and the atmosphere was very special.  We were told that these trees came back after a big fire in the 1960s that destroyed most of the trees.  It is a wonderful place, and I wanted to create an installation of many trees that would be made from the materials of the place.  The handmade paper is made from Sitka Spruce bark collected there and prepared at the Sitka Center studio where I am working now.  The bark from these trees is easy to collect from the ground around the trees because chunks of bark fall off from the birds or other animals or the tree just shedding.  I also found one tree nearby that had been trimmed and was able to collect some bark there.  The other pulp used for these trees is from the marsh or wetlands in the Salmon River Estuary that is nearby the Sitka Center.  The plant I used is the Sitka Sedge, and I collected some leaves from this sedge and prepared it into pulp.  When I cooked and beat this one to a pulp, I was so excited that it was a beautiful green color that looked just like the moss growing on the Sitka Spruce trees.  Even thought the pulp dries to a lighter tan color it is still a good contrast to the very dark rich brown of the Sitka Spruce pulp.  These photos were taken by Timothy S. Allen and one shows me making a tree in the Boyden Studio space at the Sitka Center, and the other photo shows a couple of them hanging in the space.  I plan to keep making more trees and make as many as I can during the residency and then find a place to install them for an exhibition.

Image

Continuing my artist in residency at Sitka Center – Inspired by “hex signs” on local barns

17 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Image

There are many barns and other businesses in the nearby town of Tillamook, Oregon (famous for cheese, and yes we toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory too) that have these colorful quilt pattern squares on them.  Each barn has a different pattern and makes a trail for tourists to follow in the area.  Sitka Center is located at the very southern edge of Taillamook County and actually closer to Lincoln City, Oregon, in Lincoln County, but Tillamook is an interesting place to visit about 29 miles north on the coast.  Since I am from Alabama and all my female ancestors were quilters, I am familiar with quilting patterns and wanted to try and this with handmade paper.  I started making a new series of handmade paper quilts.  Here are some photos of the first quilt and how it was created. ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

I used “buttercut” stencils on three different moulds to make the quilt squares and played around with the order and color sequences.  I joined the handmade paper quilt squares with thread glueing it with acrylic soft gel matte in my usual way so that the quilt can fold up for easy storage and transport.  It is interesting to hang this quilt in space with the light coming through and see the threads that sew this quilt together and how they contribute to the layered look.  The Boyden Studio at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology (www.sitkacenter.org) where I am lucky to be working during this residency is a wonderful big and light-filled space.  Check back later for more updates on my 3-month artist-in-residency at Sitka Center from Oct. 16 – Jan. 10.