Views from the South Rim

The sun setting on the canyon- the reds are so brilliant.

Silhouette in the snow

The canyon is so expansive, deep and wide, that even while standing right on the edge it all seems unreal. I walked about 7 miles along the rim to a place called Mather point. The trails were so deeply covered in snow that for the majority of the walk I was knee deep. The views at every step will absolutely take your breath away.

Tomorrow I begin my hike into the canyon!!

The Journey to Grand Canyon

I have gone back and forth in my mind about how much I would share with you about my travels and tribulations to get here- but I decided that it is all part of the journey and therefore relevant (and a bit funny). So here goes- what it took to get to Grand Canyon:

Departure from Raleigh, NC was a breeze despite the fact that TSA didn't allow me to bring some of my tools. I boarded the plane to Phoenix, we sat in the the plane at the gate for over two hours- not a problem, we eventually took off and that is truly all that mattered. The flight was seven hours including the two hour delay but I had great neighbors and the flight went well. Yey! I was in Phoenix! I jumped off the plane running, my next flight into Flagstaff-Canceled. After several cancellations into Flagstaff (they were under 4 feet of snow) the airlines decided not to travel into Flagstaff at all, they advised all passengers to get a hotel room and re-assigned flights for the following day. My re-assignment was for 8:30 pm- Yikes! In the meantime I met Gloria and Bob, a wonderful couple from Australia, we had great conversations and yummy dinner.

I woke up Saturday morning , rushed to the airport and got on the standby list for the am flights. And they actually called my name( I really wanted to kiss the flight attendant)- I got on the flight to Flagstaff, which was absolutely amazing I was seventh on the stand by list. As we waited for the plane to depart the pilot announced that this would be the last flight of the day- wow was I feeling lucky. The view from the plane was astonishing! We arrived in Flagstaff to find a landscape blanketed in white- Beautiful.

The last leg of my journey required that I get to the Amtrak station in downtown Flagstaff to catch a shuttle to Grand Canyon. I called Friendly Cab, and they were there within minutes. Myself and another fellow (Jordan) hopped in the cab and started off, through streets lined with 6 foot snow drifts. The cab driver said "Oh, that's not good" and then black smoke began to fill the cab of the car. This poor car was in bad shape, we had to open our doors, as we rolled down the street, to allow the black smoke to escape. We pulled into a gas station and filled the car with oil, then took off again. We made it about a block and the car died again. This happened four times, four different gas stations until finally we had to push the car to its final resting place (at least for that day). I new cab came to our rescue and we were off to the station. I dropped off my bags and found a fantastic restaurant called Macy's in downtown, the food was delicious and affordable.

The shuttle ride from Flagstaff to Grand Canyon was amazing, as the sun began to set it seemed to be below us, radiating out from the snow covered trees and rock formations. I finally arrived at "The Hole" in the last moments of light- it made me cry, it was so spectacular! That moment made all of my traveling tribulations obsolete.

I am honored to be here.

P.S. next post will have lots of pictures

Preparing for departure- WOOHOOO!!!!!

The adventure begins!

I leave early( 4:00 am) tomorrow morning to catch my flight to Arizona. I have everything packed ( I think) in two suitcases- tools, clothes, the works!

So, here is the interesting news- Flagstaff, AZ (where I am scheduled to land) is expecting 4-7 feet of snow by late friday, that is taller than me. At this point it looks like I may be in Pheonix for a few days until things clear up- we will see!

Though sad that there are delays in my plans I am eager to see the canyon covered in snow- sounds pretty spectacular.

Enjoy this photo by Kaldoon.

Exhibition Schedule January - April 2010

WITHIN, Wearable Objects by Erica Stankwytch Bailey, Piedmont Craftsmen, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
http://www.piedmontcraftsmen.org/

Materials: Hard and Soft, Greater Denton Arts Council, Denton ,Texas

http://www.dentonarts.com/gdac99/about_gdac/programs/materials_hard_and_soft.htm

CHARMED, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA

http://www.contemporarycraft.org/The_Store/Splash.html

The Ring Show, Pullen Arts Center, Raleigh, North Carolina

A.I.R at Grand Canyon- The Countdown

There are only 20 days until my departure to Grand Canyon! This whole opportunity still seems so surreal to me- I can't believe it is actually happening and yet I am so excited. As an artist I am sure that the experience will have a profound affect on my work and my ways of seeing.

So much of my work is about the small within the large- the cell within the larger organism, a shell in an enormous sea- and now I will represent the miniscule being within the vastness of Grand Canyon.

This is were I will be staying!!! Look above the Verkamps sign and you can imagine me standing there looking out over the Canyon.

I plan to blog frequently while I am there as a means to document my experience. I have a lot of fun things planned so I hope you will join me (via my blog) on this amazing adventure! You can subscribe to my blog by clicking a link in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Meeting Gloria Steinem

It began like this-

I old freind called a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would be willing to donate a piece to be presented to Gloria Steinem- I said YES!!! What a great chance to give a small token of gratitude to a woman who has given so much to humanity for almost half a century. Shaking in my boots with excitement I began to plan what I might create for her.

The next phone call went something like this:

There is a chance that you will get to meet her in person if you are able to be here. The East Carolina Women's Studies Department is planning a breakfast and would like for you to present the piece to Gloria yourself. WHAT? OH MY? that would be amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Next call:

The breakfast was cancelled, her schedule is too full. (Bummer)

Next call:

Great news you will get to meet her after all, be here next Friday at 4:45 with the piece.

_____________

So last Friday I drove to Greenville to meet Gloria Steinem. The whole week builidng up to the trip I was so excited and worked feverishly on several brooches not sure which would make the final cut. I included an excerpt from a poem by Alice Walker about Gloria Steinem written in the mid 90's and updated on Gloria's 75th birthday, this year. The lines are simple but seemed to say so much:

SHE IS THE ONE

WHO IS THERE
This brooch was inspired by icons, that people who are icons have an effect that radiates out across many groups and generations.

Late Friday afternoon I met Gloria Steinem. She was amazing, gracious and kind. I was struck by how interested she was in the small group of women that were there to meet her. She seemed genuinely interested in each of us. She is thoughtful and funny, intelligent and everything that I imagined she would be.

I am grateful that I had the chance to meet her, to say thank you and be inspired!

Artist Residency at the Grand Canyon

YIPPEE!!!!!! I am going to have the most amazing experience in early 2010. I have been given the opportunity to do a 3 week artist residency at the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service offers the residencies to help promote the various national parks. I will live in a building that is over 100 years old and looks out over the Grand Canyon - the views will be spectacular.

During my residency I will offer three programs to the public visiting the park. I will lead a scenic sketching walk, a drawing with wire workshop and a residency conclusion discussion/presentation. I will be free to spend the remainder of my time in Arizona exploring and creating works inspired by my discoveries.

When I return home I will give a presentation to my local community, sharing with them my experience with the wonders of the Grand Canyon. I see this experience as having so many possibilities!!!

I plan to blog about the experience while I am there, if I have access to the Internet that is!