1999: Study Abroad

January 2000
Athens, GA

After a hiatus in 1998, I was able to return to Japan in 1999.  We converted to the semester system at the university in the fall of 1998 and the only positive aspect of that change for me was the creation of a summer pre-session from mid-May to mid-June.  This seemed like an ideal time to try a Study Abroad Program in Kyoto.  I was very late in getting the program started but with my many contacts in my “second city” was able to pull it all together on a trip to scout out all the details in early March during our spring break.  That was my first time to visit Japan in March and I was delighted by the cool, but not too cold, weather and the plum blossoms in bloom.  The Kitano Shrine has a deservedly famous plum tree orchard with many varieties in bloom and many visitors as well.  It was a delight.  My housemate, Jay, had everything in fine order in our ancient Kyoto machiya and in the 10 days I was treated to lunches, dinners, and teas without end.  All was in readiness for the summer session.

I had 10 students which was a few under my maximum but worked out very well.  We arrived a day before the Aoi (Hollyhock) Festival on May 15 which was a perfect introduction to traditional Kyoto.  We stayed for the first week in a ryokan near the Kamo River and Botanical Garden and could walk to the parade route of the festival along the river and follow it to the Kamigamo Shrine, its final destination.  We spent the following week touring all about the city plus a day trip to Nara.  Temples, shrines, galleries, museums, the two big flea markets, traditional workshops, artist’s studios, many contacts with my friends’ various student groups from their colleges and universities and more were on the agenda.  The contact with the student groups was a unique and outstanding feature of the program and many friendships were forged over several meetings.  Two students from one of the groups visited us in Athens in August.

The remaining three weeks were spent at the Kawashima Textile School where the students stayed in hotel-style rooms and dined in the school cafeteria.  We had three workshop sessions with visiting Japanese artists as teachers.  The whole experience was very positive, and I had good reactions from everyone.  It was a great satisfaction for me to share some of the many experiences I have had in Kyoto over the last 20 years — yes, our first trip was in the fall of 1979!  I will repeat the program again this year, with a much earlier start and, hopefully, a good pool of students to draw upon.

The rest of the summer seemed to be a succession of front-to-front events.  Just a few days after return from Kyoto I was off to St. Louis for a multifaceted Japanese fiber event.  The major exhibition of Japanese Textiles that was at MoMA in the fall of 1998 was at the St. Louis Art Museum and many other fiber shows were planned around it, plus workshops.  I was in a group show of artists who were Japanese or had some contact with Japan.  St. Louis is a grand city with a very active arts community that all pull together for events of this sort.  It was a chance to meet artists from the US and Japan in a stimulating environment.  With the help of my students, I moved my studio on campus from a location far away to one close to the teaching facilities.  It is much more convenient and before getting settled in I was at work on some new pieces for a show at West Georgia University (announcement included).

My mother is with me now and we have excellent in-home care for her while I am at school, and I am responsible for the balance of the week.  When I travel, a complex schedule of additional staff is juggled into place.  While I was away in Japan for a month my sister, Karol, came down for half of the time and cousin Mick from Wisconsin for the balance.  By some miracle all of this worked out.

In July, we went to the beach for a week at St. Simon’s Island, staying in a condo in the same complex we stayed in 1998.  My friend Stephen, whose young son is in Athens, joined us and we had a delightful time.  Mother was at her humorous best with the help of Stephen’s delightful personality.  In mid-August most of the family joined us in the north Georgia mountains in a pair of cabins near a lake and surrounded by forests for Mother’s 90th birthday celebration.  All the immediate family was there with the exception of one grandson and his family who were in the process of moving from Illinois back to Wisconsin.  She was pleased to have everyone together — although so many people at once can overwhelm her at times.  The weather was perfect, not too hot, and we enjoyed many hours out on the deck surrounded by the birds, bees and the deer.  Then on the birthday, August 28, I had a party of Athens friends who joined us in celebration.  This milestone in Mother’s life was well marked.

In addition to the group show in St. Louis, I had the solo show at West Georgia with works utilizing photos and fabrics from Malaysia and Thailand — a first to include these two groups of work, completed over the last several years, in one setting.  The lighting was low and effective to allow the reflected light to glow from the surface of each work.  A gallery talk filled the room from wall-to-wall with good questions and reactions.  On another occasion, the art department there organized a discussion between several of us who have been influenced by working in a cultural environment different from our own.  I also had a three-panel work in an international exhibition of fine crafts at the Singapore Art Museum curated by a former UGA student who teaches metalwork in an art program in Singapore.

In October, English weaver and old friend Peter Collingwood had a retrospective exhibition of his work at The Textile Museum in Washington.  I had not visited there in many years, and this was the perfect reason for a return.  I was asked to participate in a dialogue with Peter at the Museum and was delighted at the opportunity.  My friend Stephen teaches at St. John’s College in Annapolis, and he invited me to stay with him there.  I had never been to Annapolis and was completely enchanted by the city.  Much of it dates from the late 17th and early 18th centuries with the old state capitol as the hub with streets radiating from it.  It is an enchanting place filled with old and fascinating buildings, interesting shops and restaurants, the harbor, the Naval Academy and the St. John’s campus all within a few minutes walking distance.  Early morning walks took me all around the center of the city with friendly greetings by the other early birds out in the streets.  Stephen added his own charm and the whole experience in Annapolis was sheer delight.  If you have not been there, you are missing a unique experience in American history.  Please visit!

I spent several days in The Mall museums with more time in special exhibitions of African Kente Cloth at the African Museum that was a complete immersion in that aspect of African cloth — brilliant fabrics filling gallery after gallery.  The National Gallery had just opened “Archeological Treasures of China”, an exhibition of artifacts not shown in this country before.  Some work was already familiar from publications, but many were a completely new experience for me.  Treasures, indeed!   One after another revealed the overwhelming diverse nature of that ancient culture.  While lunching at the National I met Peter and his wife Elizabeth with a chance to catch up on our lives after many years without contact.  Witty as ever, Peter was a pleasure at every turn of the conversation.  His exhibition was extensive, covering many areas of exploration over his years of work and study.  The exhibition catalog covered the history of his life in weaving and reminded me once again of his noteworthy accomplishments.  The “dialogue” was sold out and with his biographer and exhibition organizer as discussion leader we had a lively exchange — filled with Peter’s special humor and my reflections on how our lives intersected and diverged.  Lots of questions for Peter brought the program to a close, followed by a dinner party at an Indian restaurant — piquant and delicious.  The whole excursion a pleasure to savor.

Early December brought the fall semester to a close with a round of parties and festivities.  Mother and I saw a Russian ballet group do “Nutcracker” followed by Tap Dogs and the Athens Symphony’s Christmas concert.  I had my students over for a sit down Christmas party for 20; a farewell party for a Japanese former student who is returned to Kyoto in January; dinner with dear friends visiting from Maine; Page, Jeanne and Lee (now  six and very much into the natural world and Pokémon) for Christmas on the 24th (we went to spend Christmas day with them in Atlanta); and finally my usual New Year’s preview party for Athens friends on December 29.  Yes, I can pull off these social events with the house all bedecked for Christmas, but rest assured that my office and studio (and a few rooms at home) are in complete and utter chaos with little hope for improvement in the near future.

Cheer and love and good health for 2000 — THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON — breathing fire, but with gentle kindness and only a bit of scorch.