Above are the Wool Felted Rugs that Ashley Helvey created especially for Ashes & Milk.

Nikko: I am familiar with the process of felting wool but a lot of people have no idea what is involved from start to finish. Can you tell me about how you obtain the wool material and about the process of creating your rugs?

Ashley: I source all my wool from either local or organic farms. Living in San Francisco, I happen to be close to a lot of farms that are not USDA certified, but practice organic ways of raising sheep. Visiting farms and meeting the people and animals involved is a nice way to begin my process. When I worked with plant-dyer Sasha Duerr to create the Sheep and Weeds installation in Oakland, I used a mixture of pure California sheep wool that I sourced from one of the only wool mills in California, Yolo Wool Mill. In addition to farms being organic, some even call themselves “predator-friendly” which ensures that no lethal controls are used on the sheep’s natural predators. It’s very important to me to support this way of farming because it brings integrity and quality to the fiber and to my work.

Above is a sheering of raw wool taken from one sheep. The highlights of light-brown on dark-brown are natural fluctuations of color that are caused by sunlight.

Ashley: As the oldest textile in human history I was immediately drawn to the organic nature of the felting process, which begins with a sheep fleece that has been skirted and washed, put through a picker, and then through a carder to create large, brushed batts. With the batting I create layers upon layers of wool, intentionally crossing the fiber enabling it to entangle easier. The wool is then wet with hot, soapy water, which causes the scales on the fiber to open up and slip into one another when agitated. To agitate it, I roll it up onto a large PVC pipe and pull it either manually or, in the case of the larger pieces, pull it with a tractor back and forth. After the piece has somewhat entangled I then begin the fulling process, which is basically rubbing it back and forth against a washing board to further felt it.

Ashley agitates the wool by rolling it up in a PVC pipe and pulls it back and forth with a tractor.


To ‘full the wool’ Ashley gets to work on her hands and knees.

Nikko: Also, I couldn’t help notice that you often work outside in really beautiful places. Do natural settings affect how you work with wool or influence the style of your work?

Ashley: I am very fortunate to have a boyfriend whose grandparents operate an olive oil ranch (Regina Olive Oil) in Napa County, which allows me to work in such a beautiful environment. I would definitely agree that this influences the way I work. I have become very dependent on the weather and have developed a sort of relationship with the environment. The process itself becomes reliant on these different components, causes and effects, and the work in a sense is a result of the interconnectedness of the entire process.

Creating the Gray Wool Felted Rug – Small.

Nikko: When I look at your textile pieces within a space they remind me of sculptures or installations. How do you describe your work as a medium and what is your favorite way to present it within an interior space?

Ashley: Yes, I like to think of my work as installation-based because I am not really producing a product, I’m engaging in a process. Within interiors, I think the medium brings a very raw, primal, and exposed beauty to a space that makes you kind of want to curl up in a ball, it’s very womb-like. This is actually how I feel when I am felting. I use the repetitive motions of fulling the wool as a meditation to practice consciousness and bring my mind home.

Ashley created a large wall-hanging as an installation at Iko Iko in LA.

Ashley: I also really enjoy creating site-specific work, which again is challenging because it is dependent on so many different elements. In my most recent installation at Iko Iko in Los Angeles, DEPENDENT-ARISING, I created a large wall-hanging that was introduced to the space by my friend Cameron Mesirow of Glasser with a song [ shown above ] she wrote that was based on ancient Scottish waulking-fulling songs. In Mongolia and Tibet people sing prayers to bless their gers or loovuz and the people and spaces it will live with.  There is definitely a spiritual element to my work and I try to convey that in the way it is presented, whether it’s singing a song or preparing a feast of lamb ragu and sheep cheese raviolis to honor the sheep.

Nikko: What are you plans for the future?

Ashley: I am very passionate about collaborating with other artists because it adds a different perspective to my work and keeps things fresh. I am currently working with Creatures of the Wind to create textiles for their Fall 2010 collection, as well as working on more costumes for Cameron Mesirow’s band Glasser. Other projects include collecting bison moltings with artist Alison Pebsworth for a research project documenting lost America and building a sleeping tent for a music gathering in Ukiah, California.

A long term dream of mine would be to raise sheep and process my own wool like my wonderful mentor, Dutch felter Claudy Jongstra. I would love to see the process all the way through from the sheep to the finished piece!

Ashley Helvey is a post from the Ashes & Milk Blog

Also, I want to thank artist Lynn Basa, and CAC editor Alyson Klobas for the opportunity to contribute to the Chicago Artists’ News, May 2009 Issue. The experience of writing this article has not only given me a deeper understanding of how I value art, but has also provided a platform for conversation. I’ve received some really wonderful responses. One of my favorite things said was by the artist, Charlie Spear:

“Inspiration, for me, is the most vital aspect of value. When I look at a work of art I must be inspired to create also. I must be drawn into the process (of art-making) for art to have lasting power…and immediately charged as if I was in a conversation with the artist and (thus) it is my turn to respond.”

[ To read the full article above, click on the image or download a PDF version of it right here. ]

At the Heart of Value is Desire is a post from the Ashes & Milk Blog

I am so excited to welcome artist Deborah Weiss to Ashes & Milk whom created the above collection of graphically eloquent woodcut prints called the Architecture of Nature. Through relief carving and a distinctive print technique, Deborah pieces together deconstructed silhouettes of botanical imagery onto Nepalese paper.

Deborah in her Connecticut Studio composing ‘Architecture of Nature – Vine.’

Nikko: Can you tell me a little about your process of creating a woodblock print and how you come up with your ideas?

Deborah: I have a degree in graphic design and art history. -That said the textile studio was my second home in college. Also, textiles to this day remain an unending source of inspiration. I found my way to printmaking about 6 years ago when I began spending time at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Connecticut.

The printmaking world is vast, traditional techniques and new digital media offers a limitless opportunity for artists.  However, I became enamored of the woodcut print. About 5 years ago I began to commit my time and energy to solely exploring the woodcut print. For me it is a technique which is boundless and fascinating. Although I have had the opportunity to work with a couple of established woodcut printmakers I consider myself for the most part self taught.  It is through endless experimentation that I arrive at a body of work.  I thoroughly enjoy the carving process and print all of my own work.  Unlike the traditional edition – I use and reuse my carved blocks – reinventing them and printing them in different ways.

The exquisite detail of Deborah’s hand-carved print block.

Deborah: I work in a very non traditional way – my initial concept is based on the carved block not the finished print.  When I begin to carve I am thinking about form or imagery that inspires me. When the block has been carved I begin to explore the possibilities as I print it in numerous different ways. -I can rotate the block, overprint several layers and in the case of the Architecture of Nature series I began to print only selected sections of the carved block.  When I had numerous selected areas of the block printed I began to reassemble them. I “rebuilt” the plant/flower form in a way that is recognizable yet fractured. The title “Architecture of Nature” seemed like the appropriate title to this body of work as I do feel like I am building a natural form block/piece by piece.

[ You can see the Architecture of Nature collection by Deborah Weiss here. ]

[ For those of you in the Connecticut area, you can personally experience the artwork of Deborah Weiss at ArtSpace located at 555 Asylum Avenue in Hartford. ]

Deborah Weiss – Architecture of Nature Woodcut Prints is a post from the Ashes & Milk Blog

Nikko: First off I wanted to say thank you for doing this interview with me. I wanted to do it as a thank you for doing my business and gift cards. It’s good timing too because you guys are going to have your show February 11th, 2009 at Lula Café so you’re probably full of…

Nick: Anxiety.
Nadine: Yes, it’s true.

Nikko: I have spent a good amount of time examining your prints and paintings and love what you do and wanted to know more about the new body of work you’ve both created.

Nick: With time and by working on thirty different things at once, I start formulating ideas. Nadine and I are also doing some record covers and some of those ideas get translated back into this work. I like the texture of simple shapes with screen print dots over them. It’s sort of an experiment of printing techniques. To me it’s like still all these different pieces, but with a week left I have to make decisions and finish. I am not good at finishing stuff unless I have a deadline. I can just go forever…

Nikko: Like everything is a work in progress.

Nick: Yes, it’s never finished. Previously my pieces were getting really quiet, stripped down. There was a lot of work put into it, but visually not a lot of impact. The new direction is a larger introduction whereas my old stuff you can just walk by and not see it. The new work has more of a focal point. Before I wouldn’t use a hard black or make things so colorful. Now I am finding out that I want to make things a little bit louder.

On the left is Nick with a silk screen created by Nadine. Right is a view of the studio with paintings Nick is finishing up for the Lula Café exhibit.

Nikko: What are you submitting for Lula and how did you come up with ideas for these pieces?

Nadine: I wanted to do something more painting installation-y. I’ve been into using textural spatial stuff as elements for composition. -Like found drawing boards, canvas stretchers and green bars which are old type spacers.

Nikko: I think those are the textures that are on my business and gift cards!

Nadine + Nick: Yes they are!

Nadine: I like it when paintings are out and about in a studio and are treated nonchalant. I can put something on it and it becomes it’s own composition. It has stillness to it that I feel it’s different when it’s hung in a gallery which is like “now it is done and there is nothing more to it.” -But for me it’s like I hang it up and the composition is not yet done. The contextual part is always evolving and the one part that I am interested in. Imagery is all about what you read in context. I feel like painting can be a little bit dead. It’s this thing where you wear your gloves and you hang it on a wall and its done. A painting in someone’s house is going to feel a lot different than a painting the Guggenheim. The way I like art to be is this organic thing in people’s lives.

Nikko: I think that the best part of going to artists’ homes or studios. Art is treated like a daily object like a coffee cup, something to interact with.

Nadine: One of the reasons I like abstract things is it seems like there’s room where anything is possible. It’s funny because when I work in abstract I associate figurative things to it and if I do something figuratively I see the abstract in it. I think it’s a possibility to see boring or ugly things in a new way.

Nikko: When you were creating my business cards, we had a conversation about your style, how it is textural, subtle and abstract. -While some people do figurative, illustrative work. I guess it’s a certain type of mind who likes to play around with stuff like yours.

Nick: I like both. I do both. They each sort of magnify the other. When I get bored doing one thing it’s nice to have another place to go. It’s like what Nadine was saying, when you see the abstract you want to make sense of it.

Nadine: The reason why I do the things I do is that I am not good enough to do photo-realism painting. Maybe I don’t have the patience for it. I think people gravitate to a solution that is within their skill set.

Nick: I think it’s something you can work towards, Nadine. You are making things that you are happy with and you can use it as a testing ground. From there you can slowly make your way to realism.

Nikko: I agree with that you do what you’re capable of. I like the abstract and organic style too. When I draw I am slow, my style is blocky and textured where some people are very line based and they can just zip it out. -So I never really thought of it that way. I was just like,“This is my preference, this is what I like.” Haha!

Nadine: Haha! –Which is fine. I think that its good to critique yourself, to school your skills and remain open to the fact that there’s more to be learned. -To venture into other parts. The best thing for me is when I discover the art masters did something that I did before, but I didn’t know it. Like when I was into book covers, Nick was like Rauschenberg did that. I didn’t know what he was doing! The fun part is to discover an epiphany in my own rightful way, not trying to be big or anything. It’s really empowering to see these stages that I can attain myself, and it’s the same activity fields that big names have done. That feels reassuring in a universal way. -That a lot of people can get that experience from making art and can be out of the spotlight.

Nick: For me I need to have my work totally finished and done before anyone sees it, whereas Nadine can show her work at any stage. She always wants to show something new.

Nadine: We’re totally opposite. I work and when the deadline comes, I stop. For me putting a deadline to a painting is cutting a painting’s life off.

Nick: I wish I could work like that. I am inspired to try but it’s so hard to let it go where Nadine is much more free. Our personalities are opposite. In life I am laid back but when it comes to art it has to be finished. No questions.

Nadine: That’s the one part of art that doesn’t have to do that for me.

Nick: Maybe that’s why I reserve that for the rest of my life.

Nikko: In regards to your paintings when they sell, it’s like the person who is choosing to buy it is deciding that it is complete. -Cause if they don’t buy it, the painting would come back to you and you’d work on it more.

Nadine: Well, unlike me Nick sells all of his paintings.

Nick: That’s not true…

Nadine: I don’t have that experience so I am going into it with no expectations and am totally cool showing stuff raw. It’s a very honest way of working.

Nikko: It is a very pure approach! Thank you Nick and Nadine for speaking with me today and for taking the time to do an interview with Ashes & Milk! I can’t wait to see your show at Lula.

Nick + Nadine: Thanks it was fun!

All images photographed by Nikko Moy and hosted on flickr here + here.

[ You can see more work by Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi right here. ]

[ For those of you in the Chicago area, you can personally experience Nick and Nadine's new body of work at the Lula Café from February 11th - April 15th. ]

Nadine Nakanishi + Nick Butcher is a post from the Ashes & Milk Blog

Above is a piece by Suzanne Carlsen called “Animal Relocation.”

On the left is Suzanne Carlsen whom is wearing a fabulous brooch that she made. On the right is another fantastic piece of her’s which was exhibited at SOFA Chicago 2008.

N: I wanted to do this interview to give people a better sense of who you are and the work that you create. How did you get started in making art and what is your background?

S: I am actually from out west in the British Columbia area. I moved to Vancouver and did a two-year graphic design program in which I focused on 3D prop building.

After that I wanted to study textiles, which brought me to Toronto where I went to the Ontario College of Art and Design. The program there was really neat because it’s based on material archives so I studied textiles, jewelry and ceramics all in my first year. Initially I meant to do just textiles but ended up really enjoying jewelry making.

For one semester I went to Glasgow for an exchange program that was super concentrated in printed textiles and realized I didn’t want to do it. I did it so intensely that I got it out of my system and realized that there’s more to this than I wanted. -And I actually really missed the jewelry. I wanted to print things and make it into things and my teachers in that program were like “make it just about the printing.”

Then I came back to Toronto and decided to focus more on the jewelry program than the textile program. In my last year we do a thesis project and that’s where I started doing what I do now. I did some projects that were all metal and then some pieces all in fabric. There was a big pressure in school to pick one or the other but I didn’t want to pick one or the other. So I kind of made it so I would work with both.

People have a hard time with my work. -Like what to do with it. Jewelry has to be so durable right? People have a hard time with the textile part because they think its fragile. But there’s so much embroidery on our clothing that I never really thought about durability.

N: It’s kinda interesting because we assume metals age well like through patinas, though textiles age well too but just in different way.

S: Yes and then we just go with it. I’ve actually had a few of my pieces go through the washing machine. Like I’d be wearing a piece on my clothing and before I realized it I’d thrown it through the washing machine. -But the pieces came out like brand new!

N: Oh really?! Haha! So your pieces are very durable!

S: Well you don’t want to do that but if you happen to toss it in the dryer, it’s fine!

N: I have spent a good amount of time examining your artwork and have come up with my own personal interpretations but would like to hear more from you about the narrative content within your work.

S: Well I always start off with the metal, thinking of it as the framework. Then I apply the textile to fit the scale. The narrative aspect – I always have something sarcastic coming through a lot of the work. Most of the stuff from school was based on nostalgic activities, places, objects, things that people find really comforting.

When I finished school I wanted to do bigger stuff – I guess like real issues around me that are more serious. Also I think because of the colors and imagery of my work, people think that they are really cute and playful. -Which I struggle with because when they do actually read the title or figure out really what was going on with the imagery, it is kinda negative.

In regards to the framed pieces – you  have a piece of jewelry that is worn and then what do you do with it afterward? Does it just get beat up in your jewelry box? And so that’s when I started choosing to use the shadow boxes and creating an environment to hold the jewelry.

N: That’s neat, I guess when I looked at these pieces I saw them as a whole, then I focused in on the jewelry. So I kinda saw it opposite as to how you created them.

S: I’ve always worked narrative and love illustration and drawing and imagery. I’ve thought about just doing textural stuff, but I am not there yet.

N: I would love to know what else inspires you?

S: Most of the stuff I am showing at SOFA Chicago are from social issues and they come from where I live. -Things that I think are important but don’t know what to do with exactly. Like the piece with the deer and two beavers with the houses all along the bottom comes from where I grew up. The town I am from is really small and is expanding really quickly. There are a lot of problems with the animals and their habitats. The piece has the title embroidered on the back “Animal Relocation.” So I am not necessarily dealing with the issues, but definitely presenting them.

N: I like your approach. Aesthetically the fabrics and techniques you use are very classic and people have no problem approaching your work and thinking “I recognize this, I like it.” It allows them to look into the details and then read your message.

S: And then they can flip it over to read the title and think about it even more. -And think, “Oh wait, what’s actually going on here?”

N: Are there any artists or designers that you are influenced by or align yourself next to?

There’s one jeweler Felieke van der Leest and she does these sort of crocheted animals. It’s totally crazy and I can’t even explain her work. It’s all very humorous and meant to be worn. Like for example, she took a plastic figurine of a penguin and crocheted a little jacket for it. Then out of gold made a necklace for it to wear. She’s definitely a favorite artist of mine.

The above jewelry was created by artist Felieke van der Leest. The left piece is a ring and titled “Seahorse” while the right piece is a brooch called “Emperor Penguin Freddie with Polar Bear Claw Necklace.” (Photos are courtesy of  the artist. Thank you Felieke!)

N: Where do you create your work and where is your studio?

S: I have a studio residency at the Harbourfront Centre in the arts and cultural center of Toronto. The program is government funded so they encourage the public to walk through to watch us create our art. The building is an old warehouse and the jewelry studio is a tall narrow space that is located at the old loading base.

N: Thank you Suzanne and I can’t wait to see what comes next from you.

All images of Suzanne Carlsen’s artwork were photographed by Nikko Moy and were exhibited by Lafreniere and Pai. (Thank you Megan Lafreniere for bringing Suzanne to Chicago!)

[ You can see more work by Suzanne Carlsen right here. ]

[ For Suzanne and those of you in the Toronto area, you can personally see more work of Felieke van der Leest here at the Visual Arts at York Quay Centre. Opening reception is on Friday, January 23, 2009 from 6pm – 10pm. ]

A Personal Interview with Suzanne Carlsen is a post from the Ashes & Milk Blog

Living next to an old mill, Bryan is able to procure beautiful specimens to his studio. The above image shows Bryan preparing the surface of a Hemlock tree cross section into a print block.

Ink is rolled out and a piece of handcrafted washi paper is placed over the print block. Pressing little by little with his fingertips, Bryan imprints the texture of the wood on the surface of the paper. I love the idea that Bryan had to literally touch each tree-growth-ring in order to deposit its mark.

When meeting and writing about the artists whose work we represent on Ashes & Milk I enjoy the opportunity to learn new things and to engage in a sort of personal self reflection. In respect of Bryan Nash Gill, I am especially pleased to say how much his prints reminds me of a collection of my own, which I will share with you one day in detail. For now here is a peek.

I also like to compare similar themes running through some of my favorite pieces of artwork and the artists who create them. Bryan’s work makes me think of the science of dendrochronology, as well as this etching by Claudi Casanova and Kia Neill’s Graphite Drawings.

Bryan Nash Gill created Hemlock 82 exclusively for Ashes & Milk.

[ You can see more here. ]

Bryan Nash Gill Relief Prints is a post from the Ashes & Milk Blog