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SUZANNE CARMICHAEL
DEER ISLE CREATIVE WORKSHOPS
I love fiber, in all its forms and permutations. For years, while I pursued other professions (public interest attorney & lobbyist, foundation director, arts journalist), I spent my free time exploring fiber and experimenting with a variety of techniques from knitting and weaving to creating elaborate interior design items for my home.
When I moved back to Maine in 1997, I knew it was time to plunge into textiles, find the fiber niche that stirred my creative juices, and begin the process of becoming a full-time artist. I love beautiful colors, rich lustrous fibers, and the play of light through delicate shapes. This led me to silk fusion. My one-of-a-kind lamps, boxes, vessels and sculptures are made from 100% natural silk fibers which I hand-dye, then "fuse" into graceful shapes. Very few people work with Silk Fusion, and none are using the techniques that I have developed. A few of my pieces incorporate Eastern-style paper that I make from gampi (mulberry bark), hand-dye, and transform into a myriad of fanciful forms. My pieces evoke the seasons, the splash of waves, lush flames, exotic flora, arabesques of light.
For examples of my silk fusion art, go to SilkArt Gallery
ARTS EDUCATION
Pastepaper and Surface Design Workshop, Anne-Claude Cotty. instructor, Deer Isle, Maine, 1997.
Artist Books Workshops - Anne-Claude Cotty, instructor, Deer Isle, Maine,1997 and 1998.
Eastern Papermaking and Lighting Design Workshop, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, Jennifer Morrow-Wilson, instructor, 1998.
Papermaking Workshop, Seamark Workshops, Deer Isle, Maine, Jennifer Morrow,instructor, 2002.
Silk Paper Intensive, Creative Strands Workshops, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania,Robin Russo, instructor, 2003.
EXHIBITION / GALLERIES / INSTRUCTION
Contemporary Maine Fiber Art, a juried group show, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine, April-May 2004.
A number of my pieces were for sale at The Fiber Art Center gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts, May 2005-2006.
Featured in Silkster's Gallery on the Treenway Silks website, Oct. 2005-2006, www.treenwaysilks.com/gallery.html
The Golden Paintbrush competition – one of two American silk artists with work accepted for this all-silk exhibit in Lier, Belgium, April 2006.
Invited to submit a piece for an exhibition of “shorebird” art work, The Lone Moose Gallery, Bar Harbor, 2008.
Instructor, “Silk Fusion workshop,” Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, Connecticut, Feb. 23, 24.
Instructor, Deer Isle Creative Workshops, “Silk Fusion” and “The Art of licity,” 2007-present
My Background: As a full-time journalist for over ten years, I wrote about fine arts and crafts as well as travel and food for a number of national publications from Travel & Leisure and Modern Maturity to Ceramics Monthly . For twelve years I covered these topics for the Sunday New York Times’ Travel Section specializing in American and Canadian fine crafts. In addition, for over 20 years I have assisted artists, and art organizations in promoting and publicizing their work.
Since moving back to Maine in 1997, I designed a state-wide arts database for the Maine Arts Commission; rewrote the Maine Office of Tourism’s press kit; wrote all publicity for the Deer Isle-Stonington Chamber of Commerce and the Hancock County Cultural Network; and was Publicity Chair for the very successful Maine Fieberarts’ “State of Fiber 2004,” a state-wide celebration of over 100 events. As the owner of “Carmichael Communications: Creative Publicity for Maine Artists” I provided a variety of publicity services to artists throughout the state.
A list of some of my art and craft publications is below (not included are articles on travel, food and other topics).
Author, A Traveler's Guide to American Crafts: East of the Mississippi and A Traveler's Guide to American Crafts: West of the Mississippi, two-volume book, E.P.Dutton, 1990 (reviewed favorably in many publications including the New York Times).
Essayist: An Introduction to Southwestern Crafts, FODOR'S TRAVEL GUIDES 1992: Arizona, and FODOR'S 1992: Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Taos.
Craft Articles, "Quilt-Making or Bookbinding?" Guest Editorial, Practical Traveler column, NEW YORK TIMES, (3/3/96);"An Appalachian Trail for Carolina Crafts Seekers," NEW YORK TIMES (Sunday, 10/17/93); "2-Century Tradition of Pottery in a Tiny North Carolina Town," NEW YORK TIMES (Sunday, 6/13/93); "In San Francisco, A Gallery Tour of California Fine Crafts," NEW YORK TIMES,(Sunday, 5/3/92); "Artful Airports: Stuck at the Airport? Then Look at the Art," NEW YORK TIMES, (Sunday 12/15/91, reprinted: 1/26/92 SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE); "Powerful Indian Art From the Northwest," NEW YORK TIMES, (Sunday 8/25/91); "The Art of Glass in the Northwest," NEW YORK TIMES, (Sunday, 12/30/90), "Minnesota's Native American Crafts," NEW YORK TIMES (Sunday, 10/14/90); "Parlor Paintings On Velvet," FOLK CRAFTS, (2/95); "Playful Memories," FOLK CRAFTS, (12/94); "By Mountain Hands," FOLK CRAFTS, (10/94); "A Sweeping Legacy," FOLK CRAFTS, (10/94); "Craft A Tour of Oregon's School of Arts & Crafts," SUNSET, (9/94); "Rowantrees Pottery," BON APPETIT (3/94); "Portland: The Fine Art of The Party," SUNSET (1/94); "A Treasury of Canadian Craft: Inaugural Exhibition," CRAFTS (Great Britain) Jan.-Feb.'93; "Review of Dale Chihuly Exhibit," CRAFTS (Great Britain, Nov/Dec 92); Review of Geoffrey Pagen's ceramics, AMERICAN CERAMICS; Review of Anne Perigo's ceramics, AMERICAN CERAMICS (Spring 1992); Review of Jim Kraft's ceramics, AMERICAN CERAMICS (Feb. 1992); "Homegrown Handiwork: American Crafts Take Center Stage at Washington Smithsonian Show," WASHINGTON FLYER (4/91), "The Finishing Touch: How to Display Arts & Crafts," NEW HOME (11/90); "Cruising for U.S. Crafts," USA WEEKEND (10/21/90).