How to release your art potential? Traditionally, people may bury themselves in learning painting skills at a studio and begin from drawing lines. However, Maggie Wiebe, a 21-year-old girl from Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan, has her own method.
Wiebe and her school friend Jessie Rice are trying to do something that shows their love for art and also benefits the environment. For the past year or so, they have tended a garden at their campus farm, planting a variety of colorful flowers, as well as flax(亚麻)to make linen and paper to be used in art.
Inspired by a group of old ladies in Canada who plant sustainable art materials and post their videos on social platform YouTube, Wiebe learned about how to plant, harvest and separate fibers. She planted different fruits and vegetables traditionally used to dye(给……染色)fabrics. She then put their peels(外皮)into boiled water and added hot pressurized air to make a dye. For her, it' s a demanding but enjoyable process.
Wiebe and Rice plan to eventually buy some land in Detroit to grow these sustainable art materials—a dye, fiber and pigment garden—" a bigger version of what we' re already doing" , Wiebe told Minnesota News. " We' d set it up like an organization where artists can volunteer a few hours a week and then use all of the plants that we grow. "
Wiebe also likes fiber-based art, such as quilting, weaving and sewing. She has applied those techniques to her recent works, displayed as part of the annual Senior Exhibition at her school. During her sophomore year, Wiebe joined the Michigan Daily as an illustrator, learning to conceptualize and complete complex illustrations on tight deadlines. Wiebe' s works received a lot of help from others. " Because the art school doesn' t have departments, we have studio coordinators who take care of each studio. " she said. " I see them every day, and they' ve helped me a lot. "