Sticks and Mosses

January 31, 2008

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Ruth Asawa - tied wire sculpture from www.ruthasawa.com

I’ve been studying the art and life of Ruth Asawa, a Japanese American artist who among many other things, crocheted and wove beautiful sculptures out of simple wire with her fingers.

You can read my essay on her life and art that I wrote last night for my first contribution to the Ragged Cloth Cafe art discussion blog. What I didn’t say in my academic approach for the RCC, was my personal reflections on this artist’s life story.

In my research, I found that at age 16 she was interned in the same Japanese American internment camps that my grandparents were sent to during World War II — first the temporary housing in horse race stables in California, then one of umpteen permanent camps spread throughout western and midwest U.S. This was something that happened to people of Japanese heritage living on mainland  US. because of racial discrimination and war hysteria, regardless of the fact that many were U.S. citizens.

Asawa and my family happened to end up in the same camp at Rowher, Arkansas. I once tried to find the remains of this camp a few years ago but nothing was left. My family never says much about camp — my father was too young and my grandmother had the common Japanese attitude of shigatakani… and so it goes.

I once asked her what they did all that time in camp by the cypress swamp that smelled of rotten eggs, and she said, “oh, taught each other things, like ikebana.” (Japanese flower-arranging). “Of course,” she said, “There were no flowers in Rowher, so we used what we had, sticks and mosses.”

Filed Under other artists | 13 Comments 

Under the Weather

January 29, 2008

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If you’re wondering about all the spastic changes to my blog lately, I’ve had two flavors of colds over the last week and haven’t had much energy but to sit on the sofa and dink around with it. What is it about computers that can suck up the time? It’s still much more entertaining than watching day-time tv while clutching the kleenex box.

Haven’t been able to sleep all night, and in just a few hours, I’ll have to drag a ladder over to the Creamery Art Center to help change out our exhibition space. Things are looking a little thin at the studio lately, with almost all my work (that’s any good) out and about. Check out my new page of current exhibitions, it took a while to track it all down! You’ll have to agree that I need to feel better and get back to work.

Filed Under drawings, mixed media | 10 Comments 

Framing Work for a Group Show

January 27, 2008

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Getting ready for a group show I’m part of that will open this Friday at the Waverly House of Contemporary Craft, I’ve been trying some different ways of framing smaller pieces. The figurative pieces are sewn to stretched canvas and framed. This one is called “Cell Cat on a Date.”

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Filed Under quilts, studio, uncommon threads | 4 Comments 

Working in a Series with Distinctive Directions

January 26, 2008

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I’m excited to be part of a small group of artists including Jeanne Williamson, Joanie San Chirico, and Deidre Adams who will be showing at the Lux Center for the Arts, in Lincoln, Nebraska, April 4-26, 2008. Lisa Call who is the curator for the show will also have a solo show at the Lux called “Fencing In or Keeping Out.”

Lisa has built a website for the group called Distinctive Directions, with an accompanying blog where each of us will be posting about our art. The first topic of conversation has been “working in series,” since that is the unifying thread between all our work.

I often learn things about myself when I’m asked by others to write about my work and inspiration, so I was glad for the poke. Here’s a quote, but for my full post about working in a series go here.

“For me, creating a series was never my intention. It was more that I was looking for a personal visual language to express my insecurity and anxiety about contemporary life, as seen through my oddly humor-tinted glasses.”

Filed Under Inspiration, exhibitions | 1 Comment 

More Distressed Jean Projects

January 24, 2008

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Yikes, someone dropped a plane-load of relatives off at our house over the MLK weekend, so it was off to the studio for Distressed Jeans 201 (for 101 see this post two years ago.)

Heather picked pink stars to spell her name and the Japanese symbol for Love, but I was a little surprised when Sol picked a Jane Sassaman fabric to wrap his name around the leg of his jeans…

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Filed Under uncategorized | 5 Comments 

Solo Show at Driskill Gallery

January 20, 2008

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Contemporary Art Quilts by Pam RuBert
January 22 - February 13, 2008
Driskill Gallery
Jester Learning and Performance Center
Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, MO
Gallery hours: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., M-F
Gallery Director: Dianna Callahan 417-328-1651

Although it was short notice, I was happy to be asked to do this one since I hope to have more solo shows in the future. It’s a beautiful gallery adjacent to the fine arts department and inside a performing arts center.

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The gallery is sort of an L-shape configuration with glass walls on one side — allowing visitors to the performing arts center an almost full view of the artwork when the gallery is locked after hours.

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Looking at Deidre Adams website yesterday made me realize that websites are wonderful for show for showing art, but seeing a photo of a real-life installation can re-frame how we perceive what we’re seeing in an internet gallery. Scroll down to the very bottom photo of this series to see one.

Filed Under exhibitions, quilts | 14 Comments 

Hanging a Solo Gallery Show

January 18, 2008

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Last night as I was packing up quilts for my upcoming solo show at the Driskill Gallery, I was thinking one is easy to roll up and ship to a show, but sixteen is a lot to handle. Then I got to the gallery this morning, and I remembered why I started making art quilts in the first place. Not many other art forms can fill a whole gallery with just a couple of funny-looking burritos.

They look small in the gallery space, but wait — they are amazing exploding burritos! And out pop all the quilts, much to gallery director Dianna Callahan’s amusement…

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Filed Under exhibitions, quilts | 11 Comments 

Illustration Friday: Stitch

January 17, 2008

60min_stitch1.jpg I drew this guy while watching 60 Minutes. It doesn’t work very well to draw people on tv who are in sit-coms, because they all seem to look alike, but news shows have more interesting faces.

Thanks to Jane for getting me motivated to try turning a drawing into a stitched piece. How could I have been about to pass up this week’s Illustration Friday theme?

I almost got the fabric cut and stitched in an hour (sixty minutes — ha ha, get it?) The back is almost as interesting as the front…

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Filed Under drawings, illustration friday, quilts | 5 Comments 

This is Only a Test

January 17, 2008

If you’re visiting today, don’t be alarmed by frequent changes in the appearance of PaMdora’s Box. I’m just playing around with different themes in WordPress. A girl can’t wear the same thing everyday, can she?

Can anyone tell me what the different between “categories” and “tags” are? I’ve finally upgraded my WordPress which includes capabilities for tags.

Filed Under technology | 8 Comments 

Important Notes from Another Meeting

January 15, 2008

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Lately I’ve been fascinated by drawing ears and noses. Since I’ve drawing in my sketchbooks on a regular basis, I’ve noticed an improvement since last November’s drawings. Since I draw with a pen, I’m thinking more carefully about each line as I make it.

Also, I often complain that I have bad handwriting, but never want to practice writing. It’s interesting that seems to be improving also as a side-effect of the drawing.

Filed Under drawings | 7 Comments 

How to Survive as an Artist

January 14, 2008

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A least if I’m not getting a lot of work done in the studio right now, I’m having fun with my materials!

Here’s a wonderful picture story from cartoonist Grady Klein that uses humor and gives some advice about struggling with the artist’s “inner demon” while creating a work of artistic expression. He calls it “How to Survive Writing a Graphic Novel,” but I think it could apply to most artists. What do you think?

Filed Under other artists, studio | 8 Comments 

Announcing ThreadLines 2008 Call for Entries

January 11, 2008

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Finally after months of work on this project, I’m pleased to announce that my local group Uncommon Threads has teamed up with Missouri State University Art & Design Gallery to organize ThreadLines 2008, an exhibition of contemporary art quilts.

Our juror will be Jason Pollen — artist, teacher, and president of the Surface Design Association. Entries will be digital, due June 6, 2008, and the exhibition will be at the MSU gallery from September 5 through 26, 2008.

We are asking for work that is two or more layers, held together by stitching, but no rigid restrictions on materials, so this should be an interesting show. When I designed the logo for the show, I tried to graphically show two different ways that thread can be used, but also tried to stay away from stereotypes or preconceptions people may have of quilts.

We have put together a website that shows photos of the gallery space, background of the juror, and more, and plan to update this site throughout the year. You can download the prospectus and entry form from the ThreadLines website, and I’m hoping that many of you will enter!

Filed Under exhibitions, uncommon threads | 1 Comment 

Entering Shows: Breaking it down, Step by Step

January 10, 2008

in-basket.jpgThis is a drawing of my in-basket. I guess I’d rather draw it, than do it!

For weeks I had on my to-do list an item “Send images to Curator.” Actually it was one of several items that have to be done for an invitational show at the Lux Center for the Arts that I’ll be part of this April.

Sounds simple, why was I procrastinating? When I actually did get it done last weekend, here’s some of the nitty-gritty details:

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Filed Under drawings, exhibitions, process | 11 Comments 

You Make My Day!

January 9, 2008

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Gerrie gave me the “You Make My Day” award. Thanks Gerrie! Now I have to give it to ten other bloggers, which is hard because there are so many great ones out there. But here’s a list of some people who consistently post things that cheer me up, or get me thinking about or working on some new idea:

Judy, Joanie, Jeanne, Lisa, Alyson, Gwen, Emmie, Jane, and back at you, Gerrie…

And I’d have to say number ten is you! Thanks for reading, all the great comments, and sharing  over the past three years of blogging.

Filed Under Inspiration, awards | 7 Comments 

Tornadoes, Oh My

January 8, 2008

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This is a construction of found objects that I made. I find it relaxing and at the same time, energizing, to play with objects like building blocks.

As we approach the anniversary of the terrible ice storm that paralyzed our city last January, we continue to have freaky weather.

Last night was a scary night filled with sirens and a deathly-sounding wind. 35 tornadoes touched down in the Ozarks, one only a few blocks from our studio. Here’s the news story. We had some damage, but nothing compared to others. It tore down some buildings and smashed trucks and a huge Krispy Kreme sign that I always wanted to feature in a quilt about a donut factory. And sadly the mother of one of our clients was killed when a tornado leveled her house.

Filed Under disaster | 4 Comments 


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