"Repurposed Motherhood Memories" is in the Arte de Descartes XXII exhibition at the Stables Gallery in Taos, on view October 29 - November 6, 10 am - 6 pm. Arte de Descartes is one of my favorite annual events in Taos. If you are nearby, make the effort to stop in; you will not regret it!
This is a piece of many layers, literally and physically. It's origins stretch back to 2008, when I began a daily nested drawing practice, which reemerged in 2018 with the birth of our second daughter. This quilt is assembled and arranged from my 2021 daily drawings.
Images include detail shots, an overview and an image of @danilarumold sitting with this piece my studio. She was my mentor while I made this piece this spring. I am so thrilled it is is out in the world and so honored it is included in this show!
"Repurposed Motherhood Memories: dailyness, flecks of gold, messiness and impermanence 2021"
Pen and ink drawings printed on repurposed family bed sheet with inkjet printer, black tea, thread, wood
20" x 29" x 1.5"
My daily drawings begin with noticing: folds of fat on baby thighs, weight of snow on chamisa, salmon clouds at dawn, first pea shoot in spring, hummingbird silhouette against moon, homeschool math struggles, sticky words, toddler’s rose petal kiss. At my early morning kitchen table studio, I use the blank back of an old business card and black ink pen to absorb and transform awareness into lines and shapes. Some drawings are abstract, others representational; each is a tiny window into one fleeting moment, thought, delight, challenge, presence or insight nested within many others. I title the drawing, make a few notes and tuck it into a cigar box, my tiny drawing library. Carefully printed onto remnants of our family’s repurposed bed sheet, these observations are sewn into this quilt, dyed and stained with Irish Breakfast black tea, edges raw; a celebration dailyness, messiness, flecks of gold, off-grid family life, impermanence, mindfulness and growth.
#clairecotearts #drawing #nesteddrawings #dailynesteddrawing #motherhood #femaleartist #artistmother #slowdownandnotice #emergingartist #doitfortheprocess #upcycled #repurposed #artededescartes
