Glacier Time at Ogden Contemporary

 

If you want to see my visual data artwork Glacier Time in person, it is in the Statewide Annual UT ‘24 exhibition! Come see the show up until January 12th at Ogden Contemporary. 

Glacier Time is a visual representation of my time spent during my artist-in-residency last year at Glacier National Park. If you see the artwork in person, look closely to find when I saw my first bear, how much time I spent knitting vs. hiking, and the mousetrap incident at 3 am!

Clark's Nutcracker

 

You can see some of my Glacier artwork from my residency last year in an exhibition this summer at the Brigham City Museum. The exhibition titled Intersections: Utah Fiber Art Exhibit will open on July 6. I will be showing three bird inspired shawls. This one I finished just a few months ago inspired by Clark's Nutcracker and another Glacier inspired bird, the Calliope Hummingbird (which I showed in my last entry). I also will be showing a work I did inspired by the Redwing Blackbird from my Artist-in-Residency at Great Basin National Park (see below). 

From the pattern: Clark’s Nutcracker is a key element in a complex but  fragile ecosystem in Glacier National Park. These birds rely on the nutritious pine nuts of whitebark and limber pines. But they also germinate the trees by cacheing the seeds and forgetting about them. With climate change, the pine trees are dying out and with them might also be this industrious and striking bird. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park, Montana. 

Calliope Hummingbird

 

When I was in Glacier National Park last summer for my residency, I was lucky enough to spot a Calliope Hummingbird off the porch of my cabin on Lake McDonald. The brilliant fuschia-colored throat and teal body were eye-catching. So I knit a wing-span shawl inspired by that hummingbird. I have started publishing the patterns I create from Glacier as I finish them, so this one is on Ravelry now too. 

From the pattern: Glacier National Park, take note of its vibrant gorget.  A gorget is a patch of colored feathers found on the throat of male hummingbirds. Gorgets are typically iridescent. and the Calliope sports a beautiful fuschia patch that can be seen even when he is flitting about the park. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park. 

Glacier NP Artist-in-Residency presentations and artwork

 I finished a couple more artworks from my residency in Glacier this summer. I have a few more I would like to get done before the two presentations I have in February and March. I will be talking about my residency to the Salt Lake Knitting Guild and the Utah Surface Design Group. I am excited to share my work but a little stressed to get as many projects done as possible. The truth is that I had so much inspiration from this summer that I will be knitting Glacier works for a few years. 

This is Avalanche Chute, a fun modular scarf. Info from the pattern: Avalanches send tons of snow ripping down steep mountainsides. They follow the jagged avalanche-carved valleys made over millenia. These chutes are stripped bare of vegetation allowing new tender shoots to come up every year, feeding the diverse wildlife in Glacier National Park. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park. 

And this is Saint Mary's Falls, inspired by one of the many, many waterfalls in Glacier NP. Info from the pattern: The beauty of Saint Mary Falls cannot be overstated. With its fast current and roiling turquoise waters, it is a must see at Glacier National Park. The blue-green color is created when fine glacial material known as rock flour floods into the lakes and river during snowmelt. Rock flour is very light, and stays suspended in the water. When the light hits the surface the rock flour distorts the wavelengths of light, reflecting back more of the green and blue end of the spectrum. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park. 

More Glacier Artworks

I recently finished three works inspired by Glacier National Park:

Fireweed was in bloom all around Saint Mary Lake in Glacier National Park this summer. Its bright purple flowers thrive in open meadows, roadsides and forest edges. Fireweed’s name comes from its ability to grow rapidly in areas affected by fire. With seeds that spread rapidly by wind, Fireweed can dominate a meadow, bathing the land with vibrant color. I hope this stole captures the feeling of being surrounded by these blossoms. I plan to have the pattern available in the coming month. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park.

The stunning turquoise at Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park is created from the rock flour accumulated from Grinnell Glacier. Rock flour is very light, and stays suspended in the water. When the light hits the surface the silt distorts the wavelengths of light, reflecting back more of the green and blue end of the spectrum; making beautiful turquoise ripples when a pebble is dropped at its edge. And I plan to have the pattern available this month. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park.

Beargrass is prolific in Glacier National Park where it lines up along meadows, bright white blossoms standing starkly against the blue sky. As a member of the lily family and not actually a grass, beargrass is also known as soap grass, quip-quip, and Indian basket grass and is a favorite of the bears in the park who use it to line their dens (but don’t eat it). Remember that picking flowers in Glacier National Park is prohibited! This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park. 

Thanks to my sister for the test knit on this piece.

Glacier Time Scarf

I actually finished my Glacier Time scarf that is a visual representation of my time spent during my artist-in-residency at Glacier National Park! (I finished it right after I got home but am just now getting it photographed). 

I mentioned before that I wanted to savor all the time spent at the Park in June 2023. This meant consciously looking, observing and being present for what I was seeing and doing. The result is a unique work of wearable art that has meaning to me. The other pictures show a few close-ups and a better view of the legend to read the scarf; which is read from right to left (the way knitting is worked), with my first day being the bottom ridge and my last day the top ridge. If you look closely you can see the little yellow bit in the middle of the night where I woke to a mouse being snapped in a trap and I had to deal with it at 2:30 in the morning. 

But you can also see a lot of wildlife that I saw and various activities I did during the month. The cool thing about the scarf is the overall patterns that emerge. I really tried to have good sleep hygiene and you can tell with the big block of blue on the right side. And that I usually ended my days with a lot of knitting and a bit of reading.

An Artist-in-Residence Recap

I have been back from Glacier for two weeks now and have been under water getting caught up from work. Hopefully my Instagram updates helped give a sense of what a wonderful opportunity was. I was able to experience so much of the park, hiked a lot, knit a lot, a got so much inspiration I will be knitting my ideas for years to come. 

I was able to finish four works while I was living in Glacier:

Thimbleberries can be found all over lower elevations of Glacier National Park. A member of the rose family, they look like raspberries but are smaller and very tart. Everyone loves thimbleberries, from sparrows to grizzly bears to hikers, they are treat to find on the trail. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park.

Green Lacewings have little veins criss-crossing their wings which makes them incredibly flexible. The veins allow lacewings to fly forwards, backwards, and side to side. This dexterity makes them efficient hunters of pesky insects like mosquitoes and gnats. These delecate small hunters can be found all over Glacier National Park in the summer months, making outdoor life a little more comfortable. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park.

The view of the Livingston Mountains Range from the east side of Lake McDonald is spectacular. The soaring green peaks at the height of summer are one of the most photographed vistas in Glacier National Park, with Mt. Cannon taking center stage. Be sure to wrap up because even in summer, mountain viewing in this part of the world can be chilly. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park.

The Kootenai referred to Glacier National Park as Ya·qawiswitxuki, meaning “the place where there is a lot of ice.” Although the park is named after its famous glaciers, with global warming, all these glaciers will be gone within our lifetime. Jackson Glacier shows more signs of shrinkage every year with scratches of brown earth seen coming through the thinning ice more and more. This artwork and pattern was produced as Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park. 

And I have started so many more. Here are just a few:

Concept for Lake Macdonald Shawl

A swatch for Beargrass Stole

Glacier Time Scarf: A data visualization of what I did during my residency. I actually finished this the weekend I returned. I will post about it in the future.