Thinking Out Loud

New Website

2011-03-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

I finally got my website up and running, Check it!

www.nicolepenoncello.com/

Our Portland: Collaborative mapping with Ainsworth Students

2011-01-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

In December, I collaborated with two classes of second grade students at Ainsworth Elementary to create a collective fabric map of Portland. The project began with each student drawing their own map of Portland. I transferred a piece of each of their maps onto fabric and then had them each add their piece to a large collective map. They also drew pictures and wrote stories about important Portland places that will be added around the map to create a final fabric piece to be auctioned in March.

NQP Installation @ Field Work

2010-11-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

View from the street

Please come to this:

2010-11-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

Please join me at Field Work on Thurs., November 18th for an Open House and Sewing Party. I will provide vegetarian chili and beverages and invite you to come socialize and help make pieces for the Neighborhood Quilting Project. You are also welcome to just drop by and check out the project. No sewing experience is necessary, and most of the sewing will be done by hand. Come any time between 6 and 9 pm... it will be a fun evening of crafting, socializing, and food.

Field Work is located on SW Jefferson and 11th (map to Field Work).

YGC opening, 11/29

2010-11-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Break for brainstorming

2010-10-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

So here are some things I have been thinking about in terms of what my intentions were for my previous work and where I might be headed next...

Your Garden Cookbook is Willamette Week Pick!

2010-10-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Willamette Week online ran an ad for the upcoming opening and cooking/gardening workshops that Lexa and I will be holding in the upcoming weeks at Field Work. Check it out

2010-10-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Field Work is happening

2010-10-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

I have been assisting in the building and designing of Field Work, a collaborative public art space and classroom located in a former downtown storefront space on Jefferson and 11th. As our mission statement explains, Field Work allows the creative explorations of PSU MFA and Graphic Design students directly developing out of a visible location that can serve as the site for interaction and collaboration with multiple publics.

The Field Work student committee building furniture for the space.

Last Friday, Public Social University held the very first event in the space, Love which included performances, good eats and participatory events. The event was well-attended and super exciting after many long hours of sanding, planning, and painting.

Stay tuned for more information about events happening at Field Work, including a three-week long installation hosted by Your Garden Cookbook, complete with public workshops in gardening and cooking.

2010-09-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

TRUST FALLS

New work from the 2011 Returning PSU MFA Candidates in Contemporary Art Practice

Monday, September 27, 2010 – Friday, October 15, 2010

Opening Reception: Thursday, October 7, 2010 | 4-6 p.m.

Autzen Gallery | 2^nd Floor PSU Neuberger Hall | Room 205 | 724 SW Harrison | Portland, OR 97201

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday | 10-5

2010-09-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

Do you have a garden? Would you like a personally designed cookbook for what you are growing? Lexa and I have started a project we are calling Your Garden Cookbook. Please check out our website:

http://yourgardencookbook.wordpress.com/

We will have an informational booth at the Portland Farmer's Market next Saturday, September 18th, where will be present to make appointments with local gardens to take inventory of what they are growing in order to make them a specialized cookbook.

Relevant 2010

2010-08-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I participated in Relevant 2010, a residency held by the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah. We had about four days to complete a piece of art that was sold at the Kimball Arts Festival Opening Night Auction & Gala. It was an intense (and amazing) couple of days.

My piece: "The Park City Museum of Keepsakes (Or the Smallest Museum in Park City)"

Group shot of all the artists/mentors who participated

Collective Sense of Place Project

2010-06-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I participated in the Georgetown's Artopia Festival up in Seattle. For my project, Collective Sense of Place, I invited passers-by to share their significant places in and around Seattle. Participants wrote personal stories, drew pictures, and/or gave brief descriptions of personally significant places and with my assistance, stitched their descriptions along the outside of a large fabric map, marking the actual location on the map with a red embroidery "x". Here are some images of the project.

Map prior to Artopia

Participants discussing and writing about their significant Seattle places...

Stitching places onto the map....

Neighborhood Quilting Project Updates

2010-03-31T23:21:00.000-07:00

The Neighborhood Quilting Project has it's own blog. You can access it here: http://neighbborhoodquiltingproject.blogspot.com/

Please check it out and check back for information on upcoming events.

2010-03-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

Over the break I checked out a great show at the Contemporary Museum of Craft: Gestures of Resistance. It continues for another few months, so go see it! Below are some images from a performance and installation by Frau Fiber. She rode her pedal-powered bike/sewing machine out into the streets of Portland to invite folks passing by to help out.

Carole Lung, a.k.a. Frau Fiber

Performance near Josephine's Dry Goods in the Fiber Arts District, Portland, Oregon.

March 22, 2010

Gestures of Resistance

Museum of Contemporary Craft

As participants pedaled, powering her sewing machine, Frau stitched a jacket made from recycled plastic bags.

2010-03-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

I was recently introduced to this project by the artist Michael Swain called the Free Mending Library. Once a month or so the artist carts his custom built sewing machine (made from an altered ice cream cart) out into his neighborhood and offers the free service of stitching and mending to anyone interested. I love so many aspects of this project. You can see some other collaborative work that he is doing with the Future Farmers here: http://www.futurefarmers.com/

2010-03-07T00:15:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I went (in Portland) in February 2010

2010-02-21T21:58:00.000-08:00

Derek passed this quote along to me yesterday. I think it is fabulous.

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle"

~Ernest Hemingway

movement mapping

2010-02-20T18:39:00.000-08:00

One project I have been working on recently has been my drawing box project. I am interested in different ways that I can document my journeys. So, I designed and built a box that I can attach and remove from the back of my bicycle (my main mode of transportation) which makes drawings while I am in route. These drawings are based on the turns that I make and the terrain that I ride over.

I have been looking for patterns and I am also experimenting with layering different drawings (from multiple rides taken in the same day) on top of each other.

Drawing Box: recent test rides

2010-02-13T23:27:00.000-08:00

2010-02-03T00:34:00.000-08:00

Although I have not actually produced a "Stitch and/or drawing" every day during the past few weeks, I have made some interesting pieces. I usually make two or three of these pieces a week. This process of making small work on the spot has been fruitful. As I tend to take on numerous big projects- many of which have no end in sight- it is a good exercise to work on a smaller scale without putting so much pressure on myself.

Since I don't really plan before I make these pieces, I have noticed that the process has become somewhat like writing in a journal. I usually just thread a needle and start sewing, letting whatever I'm thinking about or feeling come out as I work. For instance, I am pretty sure I made the piece above on a day that I was feeling particularly stressed about my financial situation.

Another project I started this year includes a similar system of making a daily drawing. I have been documenting where I travel every day based on a map of Portland's streets and bike routes. Here is an image of my some of daily travel drawings.

Also: Planning sketch for drawing machine project

2010-01-17T23:50:00.001-08:00

Some artists working with thread on fabric

Megan Whitmarsh

Lisa Solomon

Resolution: Make more work

2010-01-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and I am ready to dive in. I have decided to start a few daily projects including making a sketch or stitch-a-day. So far this has been a great way to play around with ideas without over thinking and to establish a system for making more small work.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

2009-12-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

Topographic map objects

Japan-town

Fabric and thread

Japan-town, detail

2009-11-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I ventured out to the Montavilla Sewing Center in Gresham for some quilting and sewing instruction. Each week from 10 AM to 6 PM, roughly the same group of women drop by Montavilla to work on their sewing projects and to receive pointers from sewing extraordinaire Lynda. Here is a picture of Lynda and I, standing over a "practice" quilt piece of mine. I was thrilled to receive some suggestions on how to improve my sewing technique.

My experience quilting with the ladies at Montavilla, along with conversations with my neighbors while collecting fabric has led me to think more about the tradition of the quilting guild. I am interested in this idea of establishing community through the event of coming together to sew and share stories.

2009-11-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

This week has included an ongoing effort of collecting contributions to the Neighborhood Quilting Project. Here some images of recent items I have been given.

Project Updates

2009-10-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I had my first group critique of the semester/year. All in all it went pretty well and I received many helpful suggestions and ideas. So, today- filled with inspiration from the critique- I took off on the Neighborhood Quilting Project.

One of the things we talked about during the critique was the importance of not only collecting contributions of fabric from my neighbors, but also attempting to collect the stories about each piece of fabric. I received some suggestions about how to present my project, in order to help make my neighbors feel comfortable about opening up to me and participating. With my inventory chart in hand, I took off door-to-door... an activity that tends to make me a little uncomfortable.

Although it was a Wednesday morning and many neighbors were not home, I managed to catch a few people. The contributions and stories I collected were fabulous. I spent at least 30 minutes with one neighbor who was kind enough to give me pieces of fabric that brought back a slew of stories from her past. I can't wait to go out again and meet more neighbors. The interactions (with people I most likely would never otherwise have met) are so inspiring...

I also met with Lexa this afternoon to discuss preliminary plans for a collaborative project, "Your Garden's Cookbook". The logistics of this project are still coming together, but our plan is research and network around Portland in order to create books of recipes for gardeners, which will be designed specifically for what they are growing (or plan to grow).

Topographic maps, patterns, and collecting more fabric scraps

2009-10-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Life as a student again is great, though I am starting to get pretty busy. I have been trying to experiment with a lot of different ideas.

Here are some images of new works in progress. The projects I have been focused on have branched out in different directions. This is pretty typical I guess. I have also found myself on a sewing and fiber arts kick. My interest in mapping has lead me to start collecting and using shapes from maps to develop sewing patterns.

I have also started collecting fabric scraps from my neighbors. The weather has been pretty rainy but I managed to start going door-to-door, meeting people and telling them about my project. I am asking for old worn out clothing, blankets, and really anything that might be thrown away in the near future. I plan on building a better, more visually attractive drop-box, but for now I made this for neighbors to drop off their donations.

Also, I am interested in learning more about the history of quilt-making. I started reading about the uses of quilts in different cultures, as well as the importance of the actual event of coming together to sew and stitch quilts, particularly for women. At some point I would like to attend and possibly even organize a quilting event. More about this soon...

creating systems for organization

2009-10-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

Organization has become an important element in my work. I am not excessively organized in other areas of my life, though I do believe there is definitely a system to how I store all of the objects, scraps of paper, and personal mementos which I am constantly accumulating. One of the first things I made this semester was a paper-maché shelving unit to store fabric scraps I am collecting. I have several ideas for soft objects and possibly some pieces resembling quilts.

And here are some pieces I have been inspired by recently...

Ian Hundley: Bierbergen Oedelum Black

Peter Goff: listen, clean, stop

Brian Lund

2009-10-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

While perusing the Internet, I was excited find some blogs that are all about combining mapping with art making. Check them out:

creative mapping

cartophilia...

What to blog about first?

2009-10-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

The task of thinking of the right opening post on my first blog (ever) seems quite daunting. I guess I should lay out a little information about what this blog will be about...

Actually, I’m not exactly sure how I want to use this space yet. This blog will probably transform as I continue to post on it. In addition to posting my work, I plan to include some of my research and internal conversations.

As I am starting the MFA program here at PSU, I feel like I have a lot of ideas and inspiration, but I am not sure where to start. Lately, I have been working on organizing. Here is a brainstorming map that I made. These are some of the things I have been thinking and reading about, and things I would like to address in the work I am making.