field trip to Olana

Olana was home to Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), a major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. His home (which is now a museum near Hudson, NY.) overlooks parkland designed by the artist. So he didn’t just paint landscapes - he created a landscape (excavated, planted trees, had a pond formed, etc). The house and land have been carefully preserved.

The house is situated for maximum visual impact for arriving visitors, with 2 sides meeting at the huge corner tower facing the driveway.

Inside, each window frames a perfect view:

There were so many magical reflections on glass and in mirrors that they have to have been intentional:

Church decorated the house for theatrical impression. This dining room (below) looks formal and stiff in the gray daylight. It was meant to be seen by candlelight, after dark, to create an intimate atmosphere . The paintings on the wall here are cheap ones he picked up on his travels. Beautifully framed, they are meant as mere props.

(below) Church’s painting of Petra, seen from the narrow path between the stone cliffs, along with my photo of the same view of Petra. I have no problem with his dramatization of the lighting, but wonder why he added lush foliage to this dry, dry landscape.

(below) Church’s studio….with Oriental carpets and velvet chairs. So he must have been a lot neater than I am. Most of the info on this blog came from the guide who gave the tour. She explained that Church came from a wealthy family and was a good money manager. His paintings sold well, and he died a wealthy man.

None of his four children was interested in keeping Olana, the furniture, artifacts and property ( my head spins around as I write this). A family friend raised money to buy the whole deal and keep it as a museum. So today, you can see it all pretty much as Church left it.

Info from the signs:

To learn more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=attmZeJsGCk a 10 minute video that’s the next best thing to an actual visit.

https://www.olana.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olana_State_Historic_Site both have lots more info and images.

Stay Safe. Stay sane

Diane

a happy development

Most of you know that during this pandemic, my art faltered a bit…enough that I was able to clean out my entire studio. Well, the mess is back: scraps everywhere, all horizontal surfaces covered, dishes and laundry piling up. Art is happening! (Picture dancing little emojis here) Here’s why I’m so happy -

I told you how few sculptural sewing images were available. I started looking at paintings of women sewing. Lots more, like the ones above.

Maybe I could sew individual figures, like I did for the border of my Opus Mundi?

And that might still happen, at some point, but then I came across this quilted image of a woman sewing (Below) and remembered the mola I had seen which pictured a woman stitching a mola.

(picture a light bulb flashing here) What about sewing images of women creating textile art, with each one done in the technique she is using????

A quilted piece showing a quilter.

An embroidered piece showing a woman doing embroidery.

A woven piece of a woman weaving?

An applique of a woman stitching her pieces together? YES!!!! Let’s jump right in:

In India, I saw women sewing like this, attaching 2 pieces of cloth with row after row of lovely stitches. This photo was found online.

I photoshopped a design (Above), rummaged through my stash of fabrics, and…

… I started sewing. Not finished, but enough done to be very excited and think this will work. Now - what about her face and hands? Well, I wouldn’t want this to be simple, right? No, of course not. Each one will be constructed as a riza. What’s a riza?

Glad you asked. Basically a riza is a cover for a Russian icon. Usually constructed of metal, the riza protected the painting from the heavy smoke in the churches. Openings were left to see the hands and faces. This blog https://catalogueofstelisabethconvent.blogspot.com/2017/12/understanding-meaning-of-riza-and-oklad.html gives a nice explanation, with illustrations.

By constructing these pieces as rizas, I separate the women from their work. The work - the textiles they created - may live on, but the women are usually forgotten. So I will show their faces as blurry images, with individual identification being impossible. Or I may just leave some of them empty…?

So I am a very happy camper here, stitching away and photoshopping images to create other rizas.

Stay safe. Stay sane.

Diane