Kristen Gilje Studio

August 21, 2012August 12, 2015

Carey Institute Silk Painting Workshop

Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Carey Institute is on the campus of the University of British Columbia. It’s a beautiful location, on a peninsula surrounded by woods, hiking trails and beaches. I found this out AFTER our class….we were all too busy painting to do much exploring. Although our hosts introduced us to authentic Chinese food and bubble tea.

We had a group of 16 students, some from Vancouver BC and surrounding area, but also some that traveled from Alberta for the workshop.

Alex at Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting

Sarah, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Edna and Hildie, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Jennifer's Ice, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop — Jennifer’s Ice, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

We had so much fun and made such good work. Here are 50 pictures for you to see!

Edna and Hildie, Carey Institute Aug. 2012 silk painting workshop

Click on one image to make it bigger, then follow the arrows for the next picture. When you are done with the first batch, then go to the next. There are 3 batches!

Following are just a few of my favorites…There are so many. Thanks for such a good week, students!

Sarah's Stars, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop — Sarah’s Stars, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Florence's Flowers,Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop — Florence’s Flowers,Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Setting the Dye, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Joyce, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

Alex's Fish, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop — Alex’s Fish, Carey Inst. Aug 2012 silk painting workshop

August 20, 2012August 12, 2015

Grunewald Guild July 30-Aug 5

Emily Wagnitz "Labyrinth" Detail, Handpainted Silk, 60" x 11".

Silk Painting Workshop

We had beautiful hot sunny weather at Grunewald Guild this summer. A lovely, lively group of 14 students, from age 12 to ?65? or so, we helped each other make some wonderful silk pieces.

Silk painting workshop,Grunewald Guild, Aug 2012 — The youngest member of our silk painting group, and the scarf he made. Carefully.

Unwrapping Mary Ann's piece, Grunewald Guild Aug 2012 — Unwrapping Mary Ann’s piece, Grunewald Guild Aug 2012

Singing Silk Painters, Grunewald Guild, Aug 2012

Unwrapping Mary Ann’s piece, Grunewald Guild Aug 2012

Singing Silk Painters, Grunewald Guild, Aug 2012

2012 Emily Wagnitz, "Gabriel", Detail. Hand Painted silk, 60x11". Grunewald Aug 2012-5 — ©2012 Emily Wagnitz, “Gabriel”, Detail. Hand Painted silk, 60×11″. Grunewald Aug 2012

©2012 Jane Middleton, Grunewald Guild, Aug 2012

July 20, 2012August 12, 2015

Nature Journaling

Drawing and Painting the Wild Journal

Sept. 6-9, 2012, North Cascades Institute’s Learning Ctr

http://ncascades.org/signup/programs/the-wild-journal/program-registration

Preparations for this 4-day workshop are getting me excited! September is my favorite month to be in the mountains here. The weather is cooler but more predictably sunny, the bugs are fewer, and every plant and animal is putting for a last burst of beauty and wholeness before the early mountain snows and cold winds push them back beneath the surface. High mountain summers are brief and beautiful.

We”ll be brushing up on drawing and watercolor skills in the morning, and using those skills to record our high mountain excursions in the afternoon, the easy way: we’ll be shuttled by van to places our resident naturalists choose for us. When it’s time for dinner we’ll be driven back to the Learning Center for a good meal and a warm bed.

Click on this link for more info on the workshop

http://ncascades.org/signup/programs/the-wild-journal

and click on this one to register:

http://ncascades.org/signup/programs/the-wild-journal/program-registration

July 12, 2012August 12, 2015

Figure Drawing

Recently I’ve re-discovered my love of figure drawing. July 6th I was invited to draw portraits of visitors to the Whatcom Museum here in Bellingham, in conjunction with the Ray Turner show “Population.” I brought my easel, a 6B pencil, sketch book and kneaded eraser, and drew 10 quick portraits in 2 hours. I was exhausted but satisfied.

I’ve also been attending 2-1/2 hour life drawing sessions at a local art school, Bellingham Art. Here is one drawing:

©2012 Kristen Gilje "Youth" 24x18, graphite — ©2012 Kristen Gilje “Youth” 24×18, graphite

July 5, 2012August 12, 2015

Manasquan, NJ banner finished

©Kristen Gilje "Servants' Entrance" hand painted silk, 28x94 inches.

Here’s a new banner to hang over the sanctuary exit of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Manasquan NJ.

The symbol is of a butterfly, resurrected from the dark of the cocoon into a thing of great beauty. Maybe the sanctuary is like a cocoon, resurrecting us into things of beauty, ready to be servants in the world.

April 16, 2012August 12, 2015

Philadelphia Red Banners Finished

Kristen Gilje, Philadelphia Seasonal Banners, Red

Commissioned by Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia’s senior class of 2012, these red banners will complement and add to the set commissioned last year. I just got back from photographing them, in the same place as last year, an office building with lots of tall open spaces with convenient balconies. In my photos the colors never come out exactly like the real colors of the silk, but this gives a fair idea. I see the colors as less orangey, a deeper scarlet, and more nuanced. You’ll just have to wait and see them yourselves!

April 5, 2012August 12, 2015

New Red Banners for Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel

LTSP Red in Progress-37-2 — Painting in the living room

I’m honored to be making another set of banners for Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia this year. The graduating class of 2012, LTSP, has chosen to commission a pair of banners to continue the set ordered last year by the class of 2011.

Last year’s banners were also in pairs: Green, purple, and gold/white. You can see two of them in the picture below.

Philadelphia-2 — Two of 3 pairs of banners from last year’s gift hanging in Schaeffer-Ashmead Chapel at LTSP

Here’s a peek into the process:

I start with white silk pinned to a wooden frame the size of the banner, which my husband has made. This frame is 16 feet long and 45 inches wide. We set it up in the living room and adjacent shop area, after moving all the furniture away.

First I experiment with the colors I’d like to use, see how they mix together. Then I mix up a batch big enough to cover all the silk.

I use techniques similar to watercolor painting when I do these nice loose silk paintings. The silk is made damp first, so that the dyes will move and blend into each other softly. Then I apply the dye with sponge brushes.

LTSP Red Banner in Progress — Detail First Red Banner: this process is very much like watercolor, only on a large scale

LTSP Red in Progress-6-3 — Dry silk banner ready to be rolled in paper

After the silk is completely dry, usually over night, I remove it from the frame, lay it over newsprint paper, and roll it up in the paper.

Here you can see the whole first red banner, with paper underneath, extending from the living room into our shop.

Next I roll the silk and paper up together, drill a hole into the top of the roll (avoiding the silk of course), and stick it into a piece of stove pipe.

LTSP Red in Progress-2 — Steamer for “fixing’ the dyes

The silk roll then hangs vertically down in the center of the stove pipe. I top the pipe off with newspaper and a towel as a lid.

I carry the stove pipe outside and put it into a big pot full of water, with a propane burner underneath. After sealing the pot to the stove pipe with aluminum foil and masking tape I light the fire. The water boils, making steam. The moist heat chemically bonds the dyes to the silk.

The silk steams for 4 hours. After letting it cool for a while I bring the pipe back into the house and unroll the silk. Usually the colors are brighter after they are steamed, so it’s always a pleasure to see what’s inside. Very much like opening a potter’s kiln, to see what the new pots look like!

For these banners, I cut the bottoms into an inverted arch, to match the arches in their new home. Then the hems are hand-stitched, so I can control the tension of the thread. This way they hang better.

All that’s left now is to finish the hemming, pack them into cardboard tubes, and send them off!

March 21, 2012August 12, 2015

Workshop Schedule 2012

Students at Grunewald Guild Silk Workshop 2011

July 30-August 5, 2012, Grunewald Guild, near Leavenworth, WA

Liturgical Arts Week: A Spiral-Shaped God

Students Working — Proud students at Grunewald Guild 2011July 30-August 5 Grunewald Guild, near Leavenworth WA

Jan Richardson with Garrison Doles: Advent Portfolio: To Illuminate the Season
Kristen Gilje: Silk Painting in the Season of Creation
Gilly Sakakini: Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Fresh Approach to Creative Prayer in a Changing Culture
Laurie Richardson, Artist in Residence

Haimish Guild 2011 — Feasting at Liturgical Arts Week 2011

August 13-16, Carey Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Carey Worship and Arts Summer Schoo l: A Creative Exploration On the Psalms

I believe my friend Reed Carlson, from Icicle Valley Photography, will be one of the other teachers, as well as possibly a calligrapher. I’ll be teaching silk painting. Stay tuned.

September 6-9 near Nwhalem, WA

North Cascades Institute Environmental Learning Center: Creative Arts Retreat

Kristen Gilje: Painting the Wild Journal
Jocelyn Curry: The Artful Map: A One Page Journal
Melinda West: Designing an Artifact: Weaving an Artistic Basket

Holden Lake Trail — ©2005 Kristen Gilje “Storm on the Way Home” watercolor 10×14

In our Wild Journal workshop we’ll start the morning with some basic drawing and watercolor skills, to prepare us for our outings to high mountain meadows with our journals.

September is one of the best months to be in the mountains. Come and join us!

March 21, 2012August 12, 2015

Trinity Lutheran, Couer d’Alene, ID

1-at-cda-installationlightroom-0002_4 — Kristen Gilje with “Come to the Water” ©2008Kristen Gilje in Coeur d’Alene, ID

Here is a mural I completed for the entryway of Trinity Lutheran Church, Coeur d’Alene Id. in 2008. The four arched panels are 5.5 feet tall by 3.5 feet wide each. The three panels above depict a small quiet pool with a waterfall that I used to frequent in the Cascade Mountains, at Holden Village. I considered it a sacred place.

16-cda-2008-11-1-panel-1lq — ©2008 Kristen Gilje Panel 1 “Come to the Water: All Water Carries the Sacred.” Acrylic on masonite, 65 inches by 42 inches.

The first panel, seen here, is an image of Lake Coeur d’Alene, and is closest to the main door of the church.

I designed this panel to have an outward, rather than inward, view. If I were to title this panel alone it would be”All Water Carries the Sacred” or “Go out with Good Courage.” But all four panels together are called “Come to the Water.”

Someone at the church took a couple of pictures of all the panels together, and spliced them. It was the only way to get an image of all four panels together after they were installed.

2-at-cda-trinity-oct-08_0 — ©2008 Kristen Gilje “Come to the Water.” 5.5 feet by 17 feet, acrylic on masonite,

20 Couer D'Alene Installation 017 — Kristofer installing “Come to the Water”

WELL. You may be wondering how big a STUDIO I have, in order to make such big paintings? At the time we were renting a house from a friend who had an attic studio. It was good to have a space, and I could stand straight up right in the middle of the room.

11 CDA 2008-01-17 Attic Studio j — Kristen at Harris Street Studio

March 16, 2012August 12, 2015

St. Marks by the Narrows, Tacoma WA

St. Marks Lutheran has a new theme every year, and the past two years they have commissioned silk banners to depict those themes. For 2011 the theme was “Come to Us Creative Spirit.”

2011 St. Marks Lutheran Tacoma — ©2011 Kristen Gilje “Come to Us Creative Spirit,” 6 feet by 45 inches, hand-painted silk.

This year’s theme was ” Listen, God is Calling”, and they commissioned another silk piece.

Listen-2 — “Listen” in St Marks by the Narrows Lutheran Church

Here’s a close-up of just the painting:

Finished Banner for St. Marks by the Narrows, Tacoma, WA — ©2012 Kristen Gilje “Listen God is Calling,” 6 feet by 45 inches, hand-painted silk.

I was pleased to hear that the pastor referred to the silk painting in each of the sermons the following two Sundays after it was hung. I wonder what he said?