Date: Fri 15-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-9

Quick Words:

Lehmann-fibert-artist-feature

Full Text:

(feature on Newtown artist-teacher Carol Lehmann, 3/15/96)

Always Fascinated With Fiber Arts, Carol Lehmann Practices What She Teaches

(with cuts)

By Shannon Hicks

When Carol Lehmann creates a piece of artwork, she really creates it!

Carol, a fiber artist who divides her time between a few months in the Newtown

home she and her husband bought 25 years ago and the rest of the year at the

Vermont home they bought 15 months ago, works in mixed media that includes

handmade papers, pigments, silk and metal threads, and beads. Her works are

fairly small in size, but huge in talent and creative input.

"It's a fairly involved process," she said last week from Plymouth, Vt. Carol

makes her own handmade paper that is then dyed or altered in some way, then

maybe painted or covered with wax for different surfaces and textures. With

the threads, beads or whatever, Carol then embellishes her works. To say the

pieces go through a number of changes before becoming a final product is an

understatement.

"It's also a slow process," Carol continued. Between making the paper, or

waiting for glue, paint or wax to dry before proceeding, the works are very

time-consuming. To alleviate the possibility of wasting time, Carol generally

works on several pieces at once.

The resulting work is beautiful. Tiny stitches form patterns and designs, the

manipulated paper gives each work its own texture, the colors are natural, not

bold, and with the amount of minute, detailed work each diminutive piece calls

for - the works average 14 by 14 inches each - it is a wonder Carol has not

lost her eyesight from years of watching her needle go back and forth through

the fibers.

Other than labeling them "fiber arts" or "needlework," it is difficult to

categorize Carol's work. The artist herself is somewhat befuddled when asked

about her art, but that won't stop the artist/teacher from enjoying her

output.

"I don't really call it anything," Carol said over the phone last week.

She will be coming back to Newtown within the next few weeks, in time to begin

her third year of teaching "Needle Arts" for the spring semester at Westover

School in Middlebury. The class is an elective arts class, open to all grades

of the all-girls high school.When she walks into Westover for the first day of

the spring term on March 26, Carol will be welcomed not only by her students,

but also by an exhibit of her works in the school's main exhibition area: the

walls of Westover's immense dining hall. The works in fiber and handmade paper

are on exhibit, open to the public, at Westover until March 29.

The small-format works are generally assemblages in the artist's favorite

materials, each elegantly housed in shadow box frames. In addition to the

fiber arts pieces, the show also includes "Breast Mamorial: A Juxtaposition in

Clay and Fiber," a pair of breastplates Carol did in collaboration with artist

G.R. Boggs.

The show is one of a series of "Artists Who Teach" exhibits at the school. The

series was organized in 1995 by Westover photography teacher and exhibitions

coordinator Michael Gallagher.

"My main focus is to provide a spotlight for artists to show their work," Mr

Gallagher said last week. He toyed with the idea of focusing on artists who

teach for a few years before deciding to present his idea at the school. "I am

trying to focus on artists who teach.

"So many students study with teachers who don't necessarily practice their

field; [the teacher's] primary function is to teach. I think it's very

different from studying with an art teacher who creates.

"It may be a mild distinction, but I think it's an important one.

Like a hockey puck going towards an empty net, Carol Lehmann could not have

fit into Gallagher's ideals for this series any better. The teachers featured

in "Arts Who Teach" do not necessarily have to be Westover teachers -

Gallagher, in fact, would like to be able to send out invitations to most of

theartist-teachers across New England - but the fact Carol also teaches at the

school makes her more familiar to the students viewing the current exhibit.

"I have been trying to entice Carol into putting up a show for several years,

but last year the scheduling didn't work out for us," Mr Gallagher said.

"She uses a wonderful variety of materials. Her work is just magnificent.

"There is great subtlety, delicacy and depth in her work."

A natural at teaching, Carol's parents gave her a good base from which to

begin a career in education. Her father was assistant commissioner of

education for the state of New Jersey, and her mother taught home-bound

students. Carol graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a bachelor of

fine arts, received her art teacher certification (K-12) from Montclair State

College, and has continued to study with leading fiber artists. (Carol's

daughters will follow their mother's footsteps: Courtney, who has a Phd in

Renaissance literature, wants to teach Shakespeare at the college level, and

Brooke is studying at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia for her

masters in social sciences).

"I love teaching," she enthused. "Absolutely, yes! It adds a dimension to your

life, especially teaching in the art department. They're so open, so free in

their approach, which is something you tend to lose sometimes."

Before Courtney, now 26, and Brooke, 24, were born, Carol used her bachelor's

degree to teach and develop art curriculums for grades K-8 in New Jersey

school systems, during summer sessions and regular school years.

As much as she loves teaching, Carol did make the decision to "put it on the

back burner" for the years while her daughters were growing up. She and her

husband made the conscious decision to be there for their children, so Carol

put away her rulers, chalk and classroom planners, and took out her stroller,

car seat and Crayolas, pretty much becoming a full-time mother. She even took

out her sneakers, as both daughters became - and still remain - very involved

in athletics.

The 850 students at Westover School come from all over the world, which makes

studying art - a language in itself sometimes - even more interesting from the

students' and the teacher's point of view.

"There is good interest in her class," says Joan Anthony, a librarian at

Westover. "She demands a lot of her students.

"Some of the students think it is going to be an easy course, and they find

she is in fact quite demanding. It's usually more work than the girls think it

will be, but it is a quite popular class."

Each of Carol's students will try to emulate the same style of needle works

their teacher produces. Hand-eye coordination is a very important part of the

lesson plan, but each girl walks away with something of a lost art at the end

of the term. The needle arts are no longer widely taught, so Carol's students

take home more than just a piece of art. They will have an appreciation of

something their teacher has always held very close to her own heart.

"I have always been interested in needle-created textiles," Carol expressed.

"Not only the textiles, but the women who created them."

Carol's works have been shown throughout the state, from Gallery 53's

(Meriden) "Woman Vision" exhibit of March 1992; "58th Annual Society of CT

Craftsman Exhibit" at New Haven's Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, March

1993; to inclusion in "Mamorials/Memorials and Icons," a show in honor of

Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Lyman Center for the Arts/Southern

Connecticut State University, October 1994.

The work she presented in "Mamorials/Memorials," which was subsequently shown

at the Peter Madero Gallery in New York City and selected for inclusion in

"Women in the Arts `95" at the Erector Square Gallery in New Haven, is

included in the "Artists Who Teach" show at Westover. (Slides of the work are

included in the Archives of the National Museum of Women in the Arts,

Washington, D.C.)

A double breastplate, Carol collaborated with clay artist G.R. (Geri) Boggs on

the emotionally charged piece, entitled "Breast Mamorial." Two separate

pieces, each nearly three feet tall, "Breast Mamorial" is a sculpture the

women created to honor women and help raise public awareness of breast cancer.

Geri's work on the piece is in clay; Carol worked in paper, fabric and silk or

cotton threads.

Names inscribed on the breasts and plaques of the piece are representative of

women around the world, including several the artists have known who have

suffered through the potentially fatal disease.

It is a stronger piece than that which Carol typically creates, but it is as

close to her heart as her self-made needle works, and just as impressive.

Potentially controversial, Carol discussed the piece with Michael Gallagher

before deciding to include it in the Westover show.

"[`Breast Mamorial'] is quite unlike the rest of her work," Mr Gallagher said.

"We spoke at great length about it [before deciding to use it], and I told her

I thought it was quite appropriate. I've told people [`Breast Mamorial'] is

akin to an AIDS quilt.

"When you get close enough to read the names, it drives the message home."