Studio News November 2025!

Terrain Biennial

I was in the Terrain Biennial! Here’s Balance & Tension, Scaling Up:

Sculpture by Elaine Luther in the Terrain Biennial, 2025. Artwork and photos Copyright Elaine Luther 2025.

This is my third time being in Terrain, but my first time with my own artwork. The previous two events, I had the outdoor version of the Angelica Kauffman Gallery, each time with the show changing out every two weeks!

My piece was installed at the house that also hosts the OPRF Free Little Art Gallery.

Public Speaking

Cool things I did in October and November where I didn’t take pictures:

• Presented at Maker Summit in Chicago.
• Served on a panel + more at the Self-Employment in the Arts Conference at North Central College in Naperville, IL.

One of The Healing Quilts, shown with the Arduino that runs the speaker. Artwork and photo Copyright Elaine Luther 2025.

The Maker Summit was held at Douglass Park in Chicago and is organized by the Chicago Public Library Maker Lab staff. I gave a short presentation on the build of the speakers with motion sensor that are part of the quilts you can walk into, The Healing Quilts. My teen, who actually did the building, soldering and computer programming came with me to answer any tech questions. While I have given lots of speeches, this was the first time the talk was about a tech aspect and building a thing, probably because this is the first time I’ve made art with tech as part of it. The audience was super interested and asked great questions. And the other projects presented were really great to learn about.  It was a terrific event.

Self-Employment in the Arts is an annual conference held in Naperville, I’ve been a speaker/panelist there a number of times. They switched to virtual in the pandemic and this is the first year that they’ve been back, really back, as a full conference. A student asked some of us speakers why on earth we do this? And the answer included that it’s great networking for us, the speakers, as well as that we genuinely want to help college students find their way in the arts.

Since I’ve been a speaker for years, though not recently, there were lots of familiar speakers, and new ones, I had a great time. That I was only a panelist this year and didn’t give a speech made it more relaxed. Am I already coming up with ideas for panels and speeches for next year? Yes, yes I am. (I do love writing and giving speeches.)

New Work – Cyanotype Scrolls

Two Cyanotype Scrolls by Elaine Luther, Copyright 2025

These are not quilts, how’s that for a change? They’re textile scrolls – a friend in an online group declared them scrolls – with cyanotype photograms and photographs.

Regular readers will know that I’ve been printing photograms and quotes, mostly on vintage linens, for a few years now. I use both cyanotype and SolarFast dye for that work. This is a fun new direction, of making these small compositions, sewing them up as not-quilts, I mean, as scrolls. I’m pretty happy with how these turned out!

(For sewists who want the details – I made these pillowcase style.)

Applying for Things

I have often said that applying for things is my weird hobby. Residencies, juried shows, grants. I check the listings websites almost daily. My strategy for a long time was to apply for a lot of things and then forget about them. And sincerely, sometimes I get a no thank you email and I 100% cannot remember what the opportunity was. Hard to be upset when you don’t remember the thing.

More recently, I’ve slowed down on applying for things, and also, started applying for things that are maybe a level (or 2) up, or maybe even a long shot. For that reason, or some other reason, I’ve just had a long string of “no thank yous”. I don’t mind, that’s the game. But it’s… unusual for me. One of them was particularly nice, they said that they really enjoyed seeing my art. Whether that was true or not, I thought it was a lovely thing to say.

The emails where they make it all about them and say, “Oh, we had 275 applicants and it was SO HARD to choose!” don’t make me feel better, I always think, “I think my art could have beat out 275 people.”  (That’s the kind of confidence that’s required, to endure all the rejection that comes with the territory.)

As an artist, I’m definitely at the point where I don’t need to be in group, juried shows any more, or very often, unless it’s a show at a gallery that really makes sales (or is a super cool theme, or show, and I want to be a part of it). And also, now what?

This year has been amazing, with the solo show at Art Reach of Mid-Michigan and the public art installation at the Orland Park Public Library. And I’ve managed to keep up my studio hours in spite of teaching a minimum of three classes a week, but sometimes as many as 5-6-7 or even 9 classes a week! Right now it’s 6 and it’s been 5 for months. Being a teaching artist can be a bit of a boom and bust career, so I tend to say yes to opportunities, knowing that there will be a slow time.

It’s too soon to write a year in review post, though the above is basically the summary, and also, I’m in a place of reflecting on what do I want to do next as an artist?  Where do I want to go?

What I know so far is that I definitely would like to:

• do more public art projects

• work more with art consultants

• travel to teach (more on that below)

• emphasize earning more, and do more of what’s working

If you hear of any opportunities like those, please let me know!

“No Mordant” Natural Dye Samples. Artwork and photo Copyright Elaine Luther 2025.

New Classes

I’ve developed a couple of new classes and will hopefully be able to announce soon when and where these are taking place. One is for “No Mordant” Natural Dyes. There are very few dyes that truly do not require a mordant, a more accurate name for this class might have been “Using Mordants as Dyes,” but it is true that we will not be doing the standard, two step mordanting process in order to get these amazing colors.

Cyanotype Photos on Fabric, Samples from Elaine Luther, 2025. Artwork and photo Copyright Elaine Luther 2025.

I’ve gotten lots of lovely compliments online about how clear and sharp my photographic cyanotypes are! (Encouragement is always appreciated.) I’ve developed a workshop where you’ll learn to expose and develop prints like these, combine them with a quote and sew up a scroll, like the ones above!

Feel free to contact me if you’d like me to teach at your local guild or art center!  I can travel!

That’s the round-up, those are all the things I forgot/was too busy to post about!

Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter and add this blog to your RSS reader, if you have one.  I hear they’re starting to make a comeback!

Oh!  And check out this article I wrote for the Craft Industry Alliance: How to Organize a Community Craft Project.