1998: Transitions

December 29,1998
Athens, GA

This fall was one of the longest, mildest, and most beautiful in color that I can recall. The ginkos were the most brilliant yellow, the maples were the richest ranging from deep greens to flaming reds — on the same tree. My neighbor’s maple however, waited until the last minute and was suddenly all golden like a Thai Buddha. The sun was out for months on end it seemed and the days warm as toast — often downright hot. It was the length of this long period of splendor that most amazed me. You see, I have not been in Georgia for the full fall experience in over 15 years! Oh how I missed this change of the seasons in Kyoto, my ancient second city, where the mountains and the temples, the old neighborhoods, like mine, and the rivers all add to the dominant atmosphere.

This has been a busy year, but it did not include a trip to the East for work in the studio and renewal in my other lifestyle. Several changes have taken place in my life this year that made it impossible to plan a long trip away. First, the University changed from the quarter system (10 weeks) to a semester system (15 weeks). My summer was short as we morphed from one to the other with the fall term starting in mid-August and no fall term off to follow those Eastern Muses that beckon each year. Second, my mother lives with me full time now and needs someone with her all of the time. I have had good day care persons, since early in the year, while I am at school, but I am in charge at all other times. I could not arrange any long term care this year. She gets around the house with the help of a walker and out on the town with the aid of a wheelchair.

We keep a busy schedule of activities including sport and the theatre. We have attended the UGA Women’s Gymnastic events for several years, seated in the wheelchair section and cheering on the Gymdawgs to the #1 Spot in the USA! Numero Uno. Ichi Ban. The crowds are big (seven thousand for the opening event) and noisy and it gets the juices flowing. Our Classic Center Theatre opened a few years ago and we attend most of the events there. This year we have seen “How To Succeed”, “Dreamcoat”, “West Side Story”, “Stomp”, “Jolson” (pre-Broadway), “Fiddler”, “Holiday on Ice” (7 tons of it), and in Atlanta, the premiere of “Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida”, with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice (also pre-B’way). It was quite spectacular, very campy and stylized with great costumes and sets. We both loved it. Sponsored by Disney, with too much cash to squander, it is undergoing major revisions and may end up as “Figaro” in NYC in 2000!

April was my month to shine and travel. I had two solo exhibitions and a trip to Anchorage to jury a show! The first show, at the Joanne Rapp Gallery, The Hand and the Spirit (now under new management) in Scottsdale, AZ, opened just as Spring Term began and I was unable to attend. I showed work from my Bangkok Series of several years ago. Most of my friends received the announcement of my show at Brown/Grotta Gallery in Wilton, CT opening later that month. There I showed a wide range of work which is ideal for the “home'” setting of the gallery. I was able arrange Mother care and spent a full week in NYC catching up on many activities. I was able to see dear friends, catch “Rent” on B’way, visit the galleries and museums with the highlight being “When Silk Was Gold” (ancient textiles from Central Asia) at the MET. The work was amazing (even for someone who thought he knew something about these textiles). My friend Anne Wardwell of the Cleveland Museum (now retired) was co-curator of the show and co-author of the beautiful and informative catalog. At the same time the Guggenheim had a really comprehensive China show that was a great compliment to the show at the MET. The Tibetan finely woven silk tapestries in both shows boggled even these jaded eyes! I shared the Brown/Grotta Gallery with friend Hisako Sekijima, then of Tokyo and now in CA, with her delicate sculptural work in natural materials. We were invited to give a joint lecture on our work at the Japan Society just after the show opened. This was an occasion to see many of my friends in the NYC area.

At the end of the month I traveled long (but not hard) to arrive in Anchorage to jury an international tapestry exhibition that has its sole exposure on the Internet. It was a great experience with dedicated and gracious hosts, beautiful weather, a murder mystery almost under my eyes, snow dusted mountains, a bit of glacier, the native white goats and even, finally, the last night one of the “very common and ever present” (according to local lore) moose. Great hospitality and grandiose nature made the short visit memorable.

We had visits from family throughout the year. Son Page, his wife Jeanne, and grandson Lee, (now almost 6) were frequent travelers from Atlanta, just a little over an hour away. My sister Karol and her husband, John, came out of the winter in the U. P. of Michigan to see us in February for a few days. My nieces Kris with husband John, and Kari spent a long weekend sampling the delights of north Georgia in June. Their brother Kurk and his family were here over July 4th for a very local parade, GA barbecue and a picnic at our little lake with Page, Jeanne and Lee. All this climaxed by our Athens hanabi (fireworks) extravaganza. Wow! My cousin, Mick, from back in the ole hometown in WI, came down to join us for complete relaxation at the beach on our most Golden Georgia Isle, St. Simons. We had a prefect condo, ocean view, with all the amenities and we relaxed to the max for a week. At the end of August, we celebrated Mother’s 89th birthday with a big gathering of friends here in Athens. Unfortunately, none of the family were able to attend, but we had a grand time, and she was the radiant Queen for a Day.

Soon after, this semester thing started, greeted by silence by both faculty and students. I was only teaching two days a week, and did get some studio work done, but not what I had hoped. I did have work in a small show of Georgia Fiber Art at our campus museum over the summer and then a show with my colleague, Ed Lambert, at nearby Gainesville College in September. The gallery is not large, but the lighting was perfect, and I was delighted with the results. Just give me the lighting and both I and the work are aglow. I showed Bangkok work and the first of the Malaysia Series. “The Station/Kuala Lumpur”, card enclosed, was one of the two in this new series. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa and there CAN be color in Glen’s work.” And, hold your breath, perhaps more to come. I was delighted to sell two of the Bangkok works out of this show.

I had a brief but memorable trip to Cleveland in September to give a lecture to the Textile Alliance who sponsored the purchase of one of my large works in 1997. The lecture went very well, I reconnected with good friends there including Louise Mackie, the new curator of textiles and Islamic art, an old friend from The Textile Museum 15 plus years ago. There was a superb show of Buddhist Art from Nara and my own work on view in the 20th Century American and European Gallery. If you have been to Cleveland and know the University Circle area you will know what a grand time I had exploring every corner on early morning walks and late afternoon strolls. If you don’t know it, go.

November provided another compelling reason to travel to NYC for a short week — “Contemporary Japanese Textiles” at MOMA. The show’s major focus was on production and experimental work in yardage with a small number of works in fiber art mostly by friends from Kyoto. It as an interesting mix that, along with the installation, generated a lot of discussion. Japan Society sponsored a film screening on designers in the show and an all-day symposium on Japanese Textiles attended by Japan Fiber-o-philes from Japan, Europe, the West Coast and all around. It was a wonderful substitute (if one had to go that route) for not being in Japan this year. Many friends, movers and shakers, organizers, et al made the event one to remember. Although Japan dominated this trip to the City, it was not the only high light in my life. Seeing dear, dear friends was an essential renewal. An extended visit in the new Ratti Textile Center at the MET blew me away. The whole collection is digitized and available to view on the computers. The conservation lab (I was five inches from the back side of the Unicorn Tapestries from the Cloisters!) and storage areas (Momoyama Noh robes) are to be experienced only in textile heaven. This visit just preceded word that I received a significant grant to create a digital database for our study collection at UGA. Yo. Ho. Heaven can wait.

The Holiday season has almost done me in. B. S. (before semesters) I just breezed back from Japan and Hawaii and did the Christmas thing — not always easy, but I did manage. Try the same with umpteen reports to read, final critiques and grade computation. But I carried on in the Kaufman “restaurant tradition” (you did know we are a restaurant family) with a sit-down party for 20 students, two smaller dinner gatherings, a spur-of-the-moment luncheon and then Christmas lunch and dinner for Page, Jeanne, Lee and a Japanese student. Now is serious work time to get ready for the next Semester.

TO YOU NONE BUT THE BEST OF GOOD CHEER AND WARMEST WISHES FOR A HEALTHY AND PRODUCTIVE NEW YEAR OF THE RABBIT. Hoppity, Hop.