Hanging Interwoven Traditions: New Mexico and Bauhaus in Erfurt, Germany

We arrived in Erfurt, Germany on Monday, August 30th. The jet lag was severe and I picked up a cold on the plane (from now on I'm flying internationally with a bag full of antibacterial wipes and I don't care if I look like a freak wiping down the seat and tray table on the airplane), so gelato was in order right away. Here I am with Conni eating my daily (sometimes twice daily!) ration. The poster on the door of the Erfurt tourism office is for our show.

We hung the show on Friday September 3rd. Michaeliskirche is a beautiful building which is now close to 1000 years old. I really enjoyed hanging my tapestries in such an amazing place.
Below, Conni, James, and I talk about the placement of tapestries. The woman in the salmon sweater is Frau Hecker who accepted and arranged the show for us.
Germany TV did a 90 second spot on the Saturday evening news about our show. They were at the church filming us for several hours and the resulting clip looked great! (Especially because I don't speak German and don't really know what they said.)
Conni had a banner made for the outside of the church. It was fun to walk around the corner and see it hanging there. We got a lot of publicity in Germany thanks to Conni's hard work.James hanging one of his Wheelmaker pieces while being filmed for the TV spot.

There was a wedding in the church Friday afternoon and we had to leave for a couple hours during the hanging of the show. This is the wedding party leaving (we were waiting across the street to get back in there and finish hanging the pieces). This church is so busy with events, we had difficulty finding time to prepare for and hang the show. Finally Frau Hecker loaned us her keys so we could go in on Sunday morning when they weren't open and finish the final details.
Tapestry is something that begs to be touched. As much as we'd like people to be able to do that, all the gelato and bratwurst walking around on people's hands isn't the best for the artwork. So these little signs went on the floor in front of the pieces.

James Koehler's Harmonic Oscillation series.

It was a relief to get the show hung and we celebrated with more good food. And by the way, what is the etiquette regarding hanging your work next to a tombstone? (Emergence II)

Antibiotics and other miracles

Emily and I flew back into Albuquerque from Frankfurt yesterday (well, that is a gross oversimplification. We took 2 trains, 3 planes, various trams and shuttles, and a car ride--as well as a 36 hour day and a night sitting in the Frankfurt airport before that!).

The trip to Germany was fantastic. I can't believe how much I enjoyed it. There is much to tell and hopefully I'll find some time to post photos of the show (Interwoven Traditions: New Mexico and Bauhaus) in the coming week as well as some photos of Thuringia and the Bavarian Alps of Austria.

A big big thank you to Cornelia Theimer Gardella and her husband Kurt Gardella for being at the train station when we arrived in Erfurt, for endless translation of menus as well as talking to chefs about what I could and couldn't eat, for having the patience to teach two German illiterates some language (though I'm still not sure I can spell eisbien correctly--and I'm not entirely sure it is a word I will need to use again when I return to Germany for that matter), for showing me how to buy the right train ticket and warning me how not to make a fool out of myself, for taking us to a fantastic place in the Bavarian Alps, and for being such generous, kind, and engaging people.
Bavarian Alps--Austria

The poster of our show on the door of the Erfurt tourism office.

The show opening was wonderful, the food was excellent (gelato has added 5 pounds to my belly, but it was SO good!), the towns and scenery were one marvel after another, and the friends were lovely. I will post photos of the show and our travels soon!

Right now I am glad for antibiotics and am going to return to sleeping off my jet lag and bronchitis.

Off to Germany


On August 29th I am flying to Germany. I have not been out of the United States since 1997 when I took a trip to Prague. This is a shame, but I am ready to remedy the situation. The Bauhaus project show is coming down in Albuquerque next week and we are taking it to Erfurt, Germany which is Cornelia's home town. It will be shown in St. Michael's church in the city center. The opening is September 5th at 5pm and it will be up through the month of October. The show is called Interwoven Traditions: New Mexico and Bauhaus. We had a wonderful run in Albuquerque at Open Space Gallery and are excited about showing the work in Germany. Thanks to all you fabulous people who came to see the show in Albuquerque! We got so much good feedback and a couple great newspaper articles also.

I plan to enjoy excellent libations (drink beer, or wish I could), eat regional cuisine (stuff myself with bratwurst), and visit many of the towns in Thuringia. I also hope to see the Bauhaus museum in Dessau and visit Bauhaus sites in Weimar. I'd like to go bicycling in the forest and see the Austrian Alps. And I think we might just have time to do those things. I am bringing some tapestries, my walking shoes, a rain jacket, my favorite sweater, and some socks to knit.

Anything else I need?

Randomness

The random blog post title might have come from the Yarn Harlot. She is my favorite fiber blogger and often makes me snort right out loud. Some days you just have to post random things.

Last weekend I spent a few hours helping out my sister and brother-in-law with their house. That is me and my sis on the roof. Never thought I could get up there, but climbing harnesses do help a bunch!

I finished Emergence II. It has not been photographed yet, but will be soon as it is getting a ride to Germany in just over a week. Here is the end of it on the loom with the cartoon behind it.
And here is my new tapestry bumper sticker. Kathe Todd-Hooker is the author of this one! She just finished a book called "So Warped" and I suspect that had something to do with the idea for this sticker. I love it.

Bauhaus lecture at Open Space Gallery

Today we had an event at the Open Space Visitor Center in conjunction with the Bauhaus show. James gave a lecture about the Bauhaus and Cornelia and I did some demonstration about dyeing and weaving. It was fun to hear people's questions both about the Bauhaus and its connection to contemporary art and about the process of weaving tapestry.

Open Space Gallery.
Halcyon Days II, Emergence, Inscription, Contemplative Garden.
tapestry by Rebecca Mezoff

James Koehler giving a lecture on the Bauhaus.

Cornelia Theimer Gardella talking about her dye process.

Halcyon Days II


Cassiopeia

Today is 8.9.10
That is an interesting date. It is also the 11th birthday of my best buddy Cassy. Here are some photos...
2005

2007

2010

Saturday. This now-11-year-old dog hiked 22 miles two days ago. That is twenty-two miles. She hiked the Colorado Trail with me in 2003 when she was 3 years old, all 500 miles of it. She is an amazing pooch. She even loved her visit to the vet today (a special birthday treat). Happy Birthday Cassy!